Let me start this off by apologizing to any diehard newschooler member; I am very inexperienced with this site, and in fact have never left a post anywhere in this site, and to post this I had to recreate/make a username-noob I know. Over the past year or so I have simply read the many posting and thoroughly enjoyed the passion and enthusiasm that people bring up in their posts. However, there is one issue that I feel that I (like so many other people) must put my input in on and that is: skiing in the Olympics.
Let me start off by saying I am a person who would rather watch college football than the NFL, would rather listen to Sage Francis than jay-Z, ect ect, I am a sucker for raw talent, and genuine excitement than I am of overly polished perfection. A felling that is echoed knowing or unknowingly by this site, they way we collectively cheer for wallisch, stepp, brogan, (no offense to the thousands of kids I out, I am just trying to build a feeling of the type people I am highlighting) and all the other newschoolers favorites. However, I do feel that it is extremely ignorant of anyone to say that the Olympics will be bad for our sport. The main argument is that the sport will become overly commercialized; point taken, however that is a risk that did not turn to fruition for the great sport of crew. (you know? The one where they all row together in a skinny little boat?)
Second, if our sport is going to be commercially driven, I personally would rather have it be by companies that want us to by shaving creams, or to lease a new car. We already see our sport commercially driven once a year-the X games. The X Games are an incredible platform for the leaders of our sport to display their talent. However, it is slightly distibing that the the Navy, the Army, and the Marines are waiting arounf every corner to encourage young, risk seeking males to join and go into battle. Since when did enjoying watching a ski run, or a bicycle big air run qualify anyone for duty? Or even give off the impression that we should think about it? (Granted the armed forces give opportunities to many people who would otherwise not have them, and some people do strongly agree with out current fighting, I am just alerting people that we are already being prayed upon without being in the Olympics)
Third, and most importantly, I think that we need to trust the judgment of the leaders of our sport. If Hall, Dumont, Olson, ect. Think that the Olympics will be good for skiing, than I think that we owe them the benefit of the doubt. No matter who “core” you may be, before any of the big time guys were big… they too were small, and “core”, as they have grown up they have had different realizations. And if you like the position you are in now, than I think that you owe the people who brought us here, and that we should support their efforts to where they would like to bring the sport that they have brought.
I thank anyone who actually read all of this…..
