Winter X Games Starts today

Gumbi · #1 01-27-2011, 01:00 PM

Anybody in to the x games!
funny little vid
http://www.youtube.com/user/Rockstar.../0/_xEI3GACPNE

Rockymtnx · #2 01-27-2011, 03:01 PM

The snowmobile events always interest me.
I wish they still had Hillcross as an event.

Okotokian · #3 01-27-2011, 03:05 PM

Sponsor-driven pseudo-sports. But harmless, and good for the local economy. Bong sales must go through the roof when the X-Games come to town.

Gumbi · #4 01-29-2011, 11:40 AM

sled recap
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKVkn...&feature=feedu

mudkid · #5 01-29-2011, 08:21 PM

Mad Props.

matt 270WSM · #6 01-30-2011, 03:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mudkid

Mad Props.

no just regular props

Gumbi · #7 02-02-2011, 12:02 PM

snow board slope style!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEy9E...&feature=feedu

Okotokian · #8 02-02-2011, 01:54 PM

OK, I caught some sort of sled jumping competition. Actually very impressive. But my question is this... HOW DO YOU LEARN TO FLIP A SLED OVER THREE TIMES IN THE AIR AND LAND ON TOP OF IT? It's not like learning to dive in a pool. You must destroy 100 sleds along the way learning to jump and flip it. Who can afford that? Or survive that?

chubbdarter · #9 02-02-2011, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Okotokian

OK, I caught some sort of sled jumping competition. Actually very impressive. But my question is this... HOW DO YOU LEARN TO FLIP A SLED OVER THREE TIMES IN THE AIR AND LAND ON TOP OF IT? It's not like learning to dive in a pool. You must destroy 100 sleds along the way learning to jump and flip it. Who can afford that? Or survive that?

guys practice all non snow months into a huge bins filled with foam...like the stuff inside a sofa cushion.

these guys are like gods and are heavily sponsored

TheClash · #10 02-02-2011, 02:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Okotokian

OK, I caught some sort of sled jumping competition. Actually very impressive. But my question is this... HOW DO YOU LEARN TO FLIP A SLED OVER THREE TIMES IN THE AIR AND LAND ON TOP OF IT? It's not like learning to dive in a pool. You must destroy 100 sleds along the way learning to jump and flip it. Who can afford that? Or survive that?

actually they do learn in dive pools and foam pits just like ski jumpers..but with a crane to life the sled out. although many guys just pile up lots of snow and bail and hope for the best..too nuts for me.

and psuedo sports??...come on....I played most of the mainstream sports all through highschool and was able to excel in most of them...as well I skateboard, surf and snowboard and I will tell you this...hands down all of the board sports I do are much harder to learn, become proficient at and eventually excel at than any of the main stream "real" sports...don't believe me? I bet that within 45 minutes-1 hour I could teach someone that has never shot a basketball before, but has some decent coordination how to shoot free throws and actually start to sink a good number of shots. this is a basic pretty easy but totally fundamental part of basket ball....now come to my half pipe and see how long it takes someone that has never been on a skateboard before but has decent coordination to learn a frontside grind...which is also a basic 'simple" yet fundamental part of skateboarding. psuedo sports, I think not.

Okotokian · #11 02-02-2011, 02:12 PM

I was probably overly harsh with the "pseudo-sport" jab. My bad. But I do suspect a few of them were devised when TV producers and sponsors or equipment manufacturers sat down and put their heads together. Still, they do beat sports like biathalon, decathalon, and ski jumping, which I suspect probably have a grand total of under 1000 people doing it worldwide.

TheClash · #12 02-02-2011, 02:30 PM

actually, what I do like about the Xgames is that competitions are set up in a way that mimic how people that participate in these sports usually have fun. For example...boardercross vs. the giant downhill in skiing...now when I go riding or skiing with my friends we never have one guy go at a time and keep track of the time it took to get down a run and then see who the "winner" is that way...what we do is all race at the same time...and some pushing and cutting off and jockeying for position is all part and parcel of the experience....just like boardercross.....just an example. But to me, the xgames events are exactly the kinds of activities that my friends and I pushed each other in when we all ride etc. together.

The Fisherman Guy · #13 02-02-2011, 04:06 PM

Pseudo sports?

Winter X is raditude.

Torstein Horgmo for the win, in any snowboard event. That guy is consistently pushing the limits of what it means to ride a board on snow.

As for progression: When was the last time someone seriously overhauled the style of biathlon to achieve top honors? The last time I saw something of that sort was at the 2006 Winter Olympics when none other than Duff Gibson began his push start of Skeleton Luge with one arm instead of two. At that Olympics, many of the other Skeleton athletes took notice of Duff's start times, and adopted the same technique. Duff won the gold at that Olympics, achieving his childhood goal of winning a gold medal in the Olympics, after several years on the Canadian National Bobsled team. He remains the oldest person to ever win a gold medal in the Winter Olympics. Now that's progression!