Anthony Boronowski on halfpipe being in the Olympics

I forgot, not posting in the regular forums anymore, how significant an expectation it is that anyone actually read, comprehend and absorb before replying to a post. Neither of you apparently did that.

The point is not that national pride does not exist. The point is that using that sense of visceral excitement as an argument for why this should be done is misleading. Playing on peoples' emotions does nothing to address the main issue, which is: how can this be accomplished with as great a benefit and as little downside to the sport as possible? If your point is simply "won't it feel great to cheer for Justin Dorey in 2014", well, yeah, it will, but so what? That's just superficial cheerleading, it's not useful, and it doesn't address the legitimate concerns some people (including Anthony apparently) have. And cheerleading is all one tends to hear from the pro-olympics side. I'd like to hear less about how great it's going to be and more about how to do it right (well, I wouldn't actually, because I'm not 100% sure I care at this point, but if I did care).
 
Do you really think snowboarding has "sold out" or that theres no camaraderie? Thats rather naive.
 
I think it is commonly accepted that the snowboarding world is way looser and less communal than that of skiing, because of the amount of weekend warriors and city slickers who have gone out and bought a board. When someone wants skis, he will buy shaped skis, unless he has heard from an inside source that twin tips are the way to go. When someone wants a snowboard, he can go down the street to a walmart and buy a snowboard. What sets apart freeskiing *at this point in time* is that it takes an extra step to obtain freeski gear rather than ski gear. What I am saying is that this may always be the case because of the foundation freeskiing was built on, that being a very community oriented sport, as NS has striven to accomplish
 
lol. once again newschoolers starts showing how outside of snowboarding they are.

true snowboarders (not to say that weekend warriors arent snowboarders, but i cant think of a better term) dont need to see some dudes equipment to determine who he is. a wallmart snowboard isnt equivalent to a good freeride board, its pretty obvious. they are just as tight of a community, and probably better off without a snowboarding equivalent to newschoolers, since they spend less time in front of mirrors taking pictures of themselves, and more time actually riding. i genuinely think that at this point NS does more harm than good to skiing.

if you are genuinely judging who is a core member of the community based on the gear they are standing on it, you quite simply dont know what skiing is about.
 
wow. This guys nose is so high, he's going to lose it in someones butt here pretty soon.

Sir, either you are a poser or misinformed and misguided. I'll assume the latter (once again genuinely giving you the benefit of a doubt). I'm struck again by the amount of pride and arrogance so many people have in their opinions here on NS, and how we as a group are so closed minded. But, in the hopes that you actually read this post, COMPREHEND and ABSORB it (as you put it) before putting down my intelligence, ideas and respect for you (though i do not know you personally), I will once agian repost my previous comment, break it down for you and let you draw your own conclusion. (To be clear: I am not expecting to change your mind, rather defend what you have so flippantly put down as fluff.)

"If the draw of the Olympics is purely for the international competition then why do we want in at all??? We already have that! No, the reason the Olympics are such a hot topic in our sport is that we want recognition on the biggest world stage. And WHY is it (the Olympics) the world's biggest stage?

Because of National Pride."

What I am trying to say can simply be put into two points:

1) We already have plenty of international competition that includes most countries that would be in the Winter Olympics.

2) The reason then for wanting to get into the Olympics is for a bigger stage.

Why is this stage so big? Because of national pride.

Now I'm not saying that this is a good reason, I'm not saying that its not sentimental (it probably is, come to think of it) BUT it is what it is! Even for an obscure sport like skeleton this is true. Granted, it's the highest level one can get to but at the same time there is no difference in competitors or even venues (at certain olympics). The difference lies in the fact that these athletes' respective countries come together once every four years to recognize and celebrate them. That in my opinion is the only logical reason! Especially in our 21st century world of international competition.

Listen, the way to do the Olympics right is to UNDERSTAND what the Olympics are and DEDUCE whether or not we actually agree with that reality. and then go for it...or not.

PS If you've got this far i'd also like to say that i am not sold on putting skiing in the olympics either and i hold you as a person in the highest regard.
 
why do you want freeskiing to be represented on the biggest world stage? sorry, I am just not that into the olympics.
 
You went from being insulting to being argumentative, to being reasonable, to finally holding your adversary in the 'highest regard'.

Quite impressive work JD, you've created an argument that automatically turns the debater into your buddy.

 
Apparently, now I just have to figure out if there was a point buried in there somewhere.

"Now I'm not saying that this is a good reason, I'm not saying that its not sentimental (it probably is, come to think of it) BUT it is what it is!"

K... um, what?

"Especially in our 21st century world of international competition."

I don't know what this means either.

"Listen, the way to do the Olympics right is to UNDERSTAND what the Olympics are and DEDUCE whether or not we actually agree with that reality."

And I have no clue whatsoever what this is trying to say.

I do know that this is true:

"Even for an obscure sport like skeleton this is true. Granted, it's the highest level one can get to but at the same time there is no difference in competitors or even venues (at certain olympics). The difference lies in the fact that these athletes' respective countries come together once every four years to recognize and celebrate them."

Because I was downtown when J.M. won gold for us in that event and it was insane. Craziest night of the olympics imo, even more so than the gold medal game. But that's exactly what Tony was talking about, that one night every four years is all the sport is about. And that is just sad. 1460 out of every 1461 days, no one really cares about it. It's not a good comparison but it is an example of the olympics not being good for a sport.
 
snowboarding:
look at the difference between snowboard pipe competitors (eg. shaun white) and professional snowboarders who film backcountry/jump film segments (eg. john jackson). there is a huge divide between these two aspects of the sport. pipe competitors are generally not respected on the same level as movie pro's because they are basically doing gymnastics in the pipe, not representing the core aspects of snowboarding.
skiing:
although the freeski community currently includes halfpipe skiers, i think inclusion in the olympics would expand the already existing divide between pipe skiers (eg. kevin rolland) and freeski film athletes (eg. tim durtschi). not to say there would be animosity between the two sects but we will inevitably end up with a sport that is distinct from freeskiing, not a part of it as it exists now. halfpipe skiing will be up there "on the world stage" (as so many of you wish it to be) with ski racing, aerials, ski cross etc. while freeskiing will continue to exist as a fringe sport.
as for the argument that pipe skiers deserve the attention of the world and the chance to fulfill olympic dreams because of how hard they have worked to get to this level, i find this is bogus. anyone with olympic dreams should have been training for an olympic event (racing, aerials), not getting to a certain level and then selfishly wanting more exposure. we have the dew tour, x-games, these are the stages where freeskiers establish themselves. correct me if i'm wrong but i thought we all belonged to this sport because it was 'free' of the suffocating restrictions of FIS (or any) judgement. we got into this sport because it is a unique way to have fun on skis and express ourselves, not to race against the clock or perform specific maneuvers seeking judges approval.
i support the athletes and love to watch them kill it in the backcountry, park, and pipe, but i don't have the desire to see them in an archaic competition that includes figure skating, ski jumping, and curling.
 
Yah Good debate. I think it should be in, but for the reasons trennon stated. Not for myself walking into the stadium or some other athlete down the road, but because it's exciting for myself to watch, think about and talk about my own sport. with friends.
That was agood thread. Who interviewed tony? They were wiked smart too.
 
Hopefully skiers realize that its stupid and start to focus on slope or bc and sort of boycott the pipe scene to show that skiing is getting too serious and its all about being a FREEskier.
 
Thanks first of all to Anthony for bringing this to the table, because to me that was what he was trying to accomplish. He wanted people to vent some opinion since there wasn't a lot other than "oh great !".
I think alot of smart and stupid things have been said and now pipe's in and no one'll read this but I need to say something anyway, so you could hear the "scando" view.
It's really cool that all the athletes that work hard on their skiing, wether it's all for fun or for making a living as well(cus no one does this just as a job, everyone competing must have alot of passion to do what they do), get a chance to compete in the worlds largest venue. My favorite skiers are guys like Hornbeck, Holson, Dale, Liam and so on. I still love to watch a good, versitile piperun- hell I love watching everyone from Dumont to Dorey to Duncan. How could you not be stoked that they'll have the chance to participate in the olympics.
The downside though:I live in Sweden and actually get supported by companies like Atomic and Giro for doing what I love most in skiing; handrails and park(some backcountry too recently which is baller but urban still holds it down). I'm also the producer for my brothers skifilm company TFJprod. This just so you know where I'm coming from.
Snowboarding has eaten skiings' dust over here ever since Jon Olsson came along so we're actually already kinda the mainstream majority. We're producing some of the worlds steeziest and best skiers over here with Jon, Henrik, Henrik, Jacob, Niklas and a whole lot more in both park and backcountry skiing. A swede has been on the podium in virtually every FreerideWorldTour event and I think every Mammoth Jib Academy final has been won by a swede(Henrik, Kim, Simon, Axel) and so yeah, we're one of the big nations in this.Therefore I fear that the future is dim for people like me. The ones who want their non-competitive freeskiing funded and for our little skifilm company that needs more money as it is so that we can eat something other than ramen. Now that the olympics has come along the ski companies will spend more money supporting comp skiers and not us because wether or not skiing gets more money, we'll be getting less. I think that's safe to say when it comes to comps and webisode series as well. Line will keep doing their thing with TC and Orage probably will keep doing the Masters but it's not going to get easier. Companies like Rossi, Salomon, Dynastar and Völkl who have been in the game for a long time will likely not be putting their money into things like this because they have traditions in other big olympic sports.
I'm not trying to be a downer but I fear this olympic thing alot so if anyone sees this, tell me what you think.
 
Truly, I like that freeskiing is small, I like that for the most part I can talk to someone with twins on the chairlift and we will be incredibly similar. I like that if ever i see someone with an Armada, Saga, Salomon, Jiberish sweatshirt or tshirt on, I can go up to them and instantly begin a conversation. because that is a similarity we have, that not many people have. think about how many people you see in a day with snowboard shirts, or burton stickers on their car. those people don't necessarily have that same bond that two freeskiers have, because everyone snowboards, snowboarding is what's 'in.' like its been said before, i dont want skiing companies to become like burton.
 
i feel this is very important.

i also would like to remind everyone that until recently, the olympics DID NOT ALLOW PROFESSIONAL ATHLETES for this very reason. i never really understood that, but it makes sense to me now
 
Pipe skiing was bound to happen eventually. As long as slopestyle stays out, I'm okay with watching the select few throw down like robots in the pipe.
 
You keep referring to everyone on NS....thats not the whole skiing population. Obviously this site is focused on one aspect of skiing. If you are so concerned about monotony, visit NS one day and then TGR the next. YOU'RE the one who needs to branch out bro, not everyone else.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top