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The first downfall of our sport
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On the front page of NS there is a discussion about winter X-games athletes. The X-games purpose was to establish a top notch competition for extreme sports, which were not in the Olympics. However, in the Olympics the athletes are not selected, instead earn their spots by making it on to the Olympic team, and must win a World Cup etc... Many of our industries big names have arrived through working their way up and proving themselves by qualifying for the X-games and proving their skills amongst the already profound riders. Take for example Tanner Hall, Simon Dumont, Peter Olenick, Corey Vanular, Dan Marion, Nick Mercon, Iannick B. and countless others.
Nothing against any of the athletes that will be competing this year because most of the tricks that will be thrown will be un-paralleled by any other skiers on the planet, however shouldn't you still have to earn your spot on the most exclusive and elite competition our sport has? The producers of X-games may argue that it is for T.V. ratings because people like to watch big names, but lets be honest. Aside from a few people, most of the skiers in the X-games are new names to people watching the event outside of the ski world. Ratings would probably go up if there were complete no names who came up and stunned the X-games with unseen tricks and innovative style. If our sport wants to continually be re-freshed with new names, styles, and tricks we should do everything in our power to bring back the qualifiers, to bring back X-games to the athletes. That is what it is for isn't it? Live spectators at the X-games pay $0 as well as T.V. viewers. The money comes from sponsors regardless. With so many amazingly talented athletes in our sport today dozens of various ways skiers may have shown they should be in X-games how can a panel simply sit down and pick 20?
So let's keep helping progressing our sport, and keep it going for the athletes.
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i dunno about a downfall but it would definatley be better to do it with qualifiers in my opinion.
but people can argue that all the other compatitions have qualifiers, and winning those gets you to the x-games, so if these up-comers are really that good they should just win the other comps
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they are good points, but do they not have the x-trials? which is a serise of competitions that qualify athletes to compete in the x games? And then on top of that i think they invite like the top 10 from the previous year ot something like that? im pretty sure thats how it works for summer x games at least.
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Yeah the X-Games is all about fucking ratings. They used to have rollerblading in the summer X-Games but they took it out because no one watched it i guess.
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good points
but most of the prequal athletes would qualify anyways
plus they need them to come for ratings
X games is such bull shit
the way they select the athletes and events and the way they air it is so annoying
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real good pts made and i agree
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i always liked the qualifier, it's like put up or shut up, no politics involved, i agree with you totally awickes
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Well spoken...its funny that they do that kind of stuff...they start the x-games to rebel or whatever to the olympics not accepting it in they way that they want it...and then the ruin it with more corporate bullshit...
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the open is for making a name for urself. The x games are a perk once u have made a name for urself.
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X-Games is nothing but bullshit. The athletes are picked because more of their back stories than their talents.
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that is a great point. i deff agree.
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well ive noticed that alot of "no names" have become quite popular on NS and in the skiing world. i.e. shea flynn, matt walker, cedric (even tho hes on level 1), khol, cosco etc. patton was new last year...or i might be wrong. skiing is still somewaht of a underdog sport. so give it some time, and let the names progress. weve barely been through a generation of pros, same with snowboarding. Mike wilson and Mike Nick (to name a few) are still alive and kicking, but yet slowly out of the limelight. give it some time for tanner and others to be threatened by a new comer. sammy carlson and dumont arent THAT new.
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i agree, they need to bring that back for folks......
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Yeah most def, id like to see some other peeps. A lot of kids have talent but not enough to beat Pros in US Open and other events. It should definately be open to all pros and ams who can qualify.
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yes i agree, lots of great names come about our sport without x-games however it is impossible for them to get the same cred for what they do or same sponsor backing
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i think the biggest downfall of our sport is matt walker.
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You earn your spot by making lasting impressions on the people that matter's minds, not by technical performance.
You think that's a downfall? The X-games is also skiing's way to present itself to the public who may otherwise never witness what we do, and you think there's honestly a problem with choosing the people who represent our sport the best?
There's more to skiing than the number of rotations you do, and that is why selecting athletes to compete based on overall competency, not how many competitions they have hucked themselves at, is respectable.
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Well said, I am not saying that it is going to ruin our sport, however it is not helping it. I think you missed my point I never said I didn't agree that the athletes picked were worthy, because they deserve it more than anyone else. I think the ski community would benefit more if it were still qualifications
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I don't think that this is necessarily a downfall, we cant look at the xgames as a replacement for the olympics because our sport hasnt progressed enough in the eye of the public to be seen as a test of athleticism (which is why the sport hasnt made the olympics) i think the xgames should be used more to publisize skiing through media (which it is doing) until the sport reaches a critical mass where the IOC is saying damn, there are alot of great skiers out there, and the sport is large enough to self sustain. Until that point there are tons of comps to prove who the best in the world is, but shouldnt we be pushing for progression in numbers in order to be recognized by the greater public before limiting who gets to ride where?
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I think that what people need to remember, is that the athletes aren't getting picked on word of mouth and film segments alone, but probably more heavily on how they have fared at various competitions throughout the world.
Like, the people being chosen for X-Games aren't going to be Random McNobody, unless that Random McNobody has podium or at least done well at various important competitions. The people that will get picked will probably not be chosen unless there is faith that their competition skiing will give them a genuine chance at doing well in a competition environment...
But that's kinda just my take...
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the x games should definitly have qualifiers but you make it to the qualifiers through other comps
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yeah this year they're having the ski tour which is basically you pay a cover charge and your in. and its gonna be on national t.v. thats gonna be the thing to watch rather than the x-games for up and comers
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its not just like shitheads randomly picking the atheletes, there picking big names that cnstantly kill it, and its not all invetational, if you win us open your gurenteed a spot
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finally a worthwhile thead on newschoolers. Thank god. I totally agree, petitions anyonef?
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HAHAHAHA if you think for a second that the people in the Olympics, in skiing atleast, are there because they legitamately earned their spots through qulaifications you are sorely mistaken. It may not be as direct as the X games in that the olympic "commitee" doesn't just sit and chose people...but over the course of a few years the team governing bodies and FIS members have a say in round about stab you in the back kind of way. Much worse and much more sneaky and underhanded than the X games. This is one of the reason why freeriding needs to stay free and not go to the olympics...but that's a whole other ball of wax.
I don't know about you, I haven't been in the "scene" for a couple years now but I've competed in a few xgames. Everyone who competes in the xgames understands that it is a TV show more than it is a competition. Everyone also understands that this is our Olympics and it's way cooler even if it is just a TV show. X games should not be an "open" that's what the US Open is all about. The cadidates picked for the X games are FOR THE MOST PART established, well spoken and used to the spotlight and pressure. There's more to being a professional than doing sick tricks.
This was already touched on in one respect. Alot of people ask what makes a pro and what makes an amateur. Well the difference is simply money...but in addition, my opinion is that a proffessional understands that they are an ambassador and that they have other obligations in the sport and business beyond spinning fakie unnatural 1080 octograb ollie tail pipe misty rotations...amateurs are under the impression that if they do a fakie unnatural 1440 octograb ollie tail pipe misty rotation to rail that they are then pro. X games is making television and it has to be entertaining to watch...beleive it or not the people watching skiing to actually know who everybody is...and they know it because of ESPN and the X games. The last thing I think that skiing needs during its very fragile stages of expansion is an over abundance of criticism. Just be a skier and do skier things...if people like it then growth will continue. We don't need to follow anyone. Not snowboarding, skateboarding, rollerblading, the olympics or freestyle walking. Be a skier...it's cool.
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yeah well what do you think it is? a charity even? It cost thousands to run the show, pay people to run it, tape it, judge it. They get most of there money from commercials, better ratings, more commercials, more money, period. They have to do what most people want to see... But i Do agree with what the original post says, there should be people who qualify, not handpicked.
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they used to have snowblading too if that tells you anything
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Yeah but roller blading was around since X-Games first started.
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i was the first to land that. WORD
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oh really? i thought it was a preschool project team deciding on the athletes. that has all been taken into account, once again all the athletes have earned their spots. but shouldn't their be a equal way that athletes earn their spots? yea the US Open is Open (kind of) but that is how the x-games started too, all im saying is it is going to be hard to get the same type of hype behind athletes like the up and coming tanner hall's of our sport
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skiing rules like we own the planet!
forever, and ever, and ever, and ever!
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yea if you were born from a crack head mother and had a 90% chance of being a blind crack baby at birth and survived the odds and you can now do a 270 off a rail you are a prime candidate for the x-games.
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you dont get to the top uf you suck...bottom line
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it basically all comes back to FIS
but seriously some of your assholes are going to get halfway through this sentence before you realize that they picked the best 20 riders in the world because they're the best 20 riders in the world.
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people invited to x-games get invited because they deserve it and kill it more than any other guys out there. END OF STORY.
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this is why THE X GAMES ARE FUCKING GAY
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the x-games should have the qualifiers like they once did. how did marion get there? he won a qual. they should let 3-5 athletes or so in via quals. and i disagree that the x games suck. the athletes seem to like it and being there first hand is a really fun time. x games is great for freeskiing in many ways.
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true dat...the x-games gets our sport out there for more and more people to love. it gets the older guys who just stick to parabolic to maybe think were not just a bunch of losers who can't ski a real mountain cuz we hang in park
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Ratings a restrictions make Televison suck
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they should have qualifiers solely on the fact that it could open up the way for more people to blow up instead of just having the one or two oppurtunies(US Open, VT Open etc..) Even though i know already that X-Games is not for kids to blow up, i think it would be better.
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sounds like you need to convince the sponsors that fresh talent needs a chance to get into the x-games. theyre the only ones throwin down money. x-games is probably afraid of losing sponors if they dont have big names.
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i thinkt hat there should be a level of seniority in the x-games. but ya you should have to earn it
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I definently agree with mr. wickes. The bottom line is that most people need an economic influence to change what they do. In this case (in the minds of the decision-makers), eliminating the qualifiers directly changes the talent in the x-games and the level of skiing bumps up a level, and the majority of viewers (tv) see better skiing. Now in my opinion, although they do see better skiing, they have nothing to compare it to. Most people watching nationally or internationally have never skied. If they have, only a small portion has been in the terrain park, hit a jump, or slid a rail. If there was slightly "worse skiing" by the qualifier-winners (as the decision-makers see it) then the viewers would have comparison to the invitees as to their individual skiing ability. I see it as a huge reason why qualifiers should stay. This is my theory of relativity.
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i think they shoulld bring back qualifiers, and the open isn't that "open" anymore. there are prequalified competetitors for it, and there is limited spots for no-names and up and comers to enter (like 100, and it gets filled within the first 10 minutes of online registration). i think the x-games should definitely invite deserving athletes, but then also let uninvited people compete in qualifiers for the last quarter of the spots (ie 5 for slope and 4 for pipe). i think WSI is just as open for up and comers the the US Open, and it's not such a problem to enter.
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