Shaun White

[Temporary_User]

This guy is essentially miles(kilometers) ahead of his competition. IMO probably the best athlete that was at the games this year. The guy came in all but guaranteed gold, and with the way the games went he could have won gold and silver with his runs.

There were many great athletes at these games, who do you guys think is the greatest to compete at the games? What you all think of Shaun White?

[stang]

I like Shaun White.

[3 Justin 3]

This is going to be a good ######ing thread.

[IceMan]

Ya Shaun White is by far the best at what he does. It's fun to watch him.

[Displaced Flames fan]

His maturity has always impressed me. Even when he was 13 and already a superstar he was grounded and gracious.

Good kid.

Poor Justin, someone complimented an American.

[socalwingfan]

I echo DFF - Shaun White is a great kid in addition to being an amazing athlete. One of the rare guys that feeds off of pressure and always puts on a show for the fans.
His first run at the X-Games this year - he smacked his head on the lip of the half pipe, sending his helmet flying - and he still made his next run.
No one would have blamed him if he packed it in, being that close to the Olympics but he went out and killed on his next run. Huge fan of the kid

[Table 5]

Shaun White's great at what he does and is clearly one talented dude, but when it comes to pure athleticism, it's hard to be more more impressed then by those guys who cross-country ski 50 freakin kilometers, and still have the juice to sprint it at the end. Unreal stuff.

I realize the kids like the snowboarding/half-pipe, but to me it's still too much about the lifestyle of it all to be a great Olympic sport. Half the competitors couldnt even complete their runs without falling. Seems to me that sport needs to pay less attention on posing and looking like they dont care, and more attention on training. No wonder the Chinese are starting to take over, they are the only ones who seem take their training like it's a real sport.

You can see with Shaun White what happens when you get a guy with talent AND drive...he makes the rest of them look like unprepared amateurs. As an outsider who wanted to see what the fuss was about, a lot of the competitors looked very sloppy in comparison to other athletes.

[GreenLantern]

It must be hard growing up in the shadow of a Dad as famous as Carrot Top...

[ricoFlame]

Guy is an awesome at what he does, absolutely amazing...but the best athlete at the games...there were so many.

[Flashpoint]

He's great, no doubt. And seems to be a good person too.

But... watching NBC, it looks like Red Bull built him his own halfpipe up in the mountains, and provided him a helicopter to get there. It's got a huge pit of foam so he can practice new moves without risk of injury. Called "The Bullrun" I think.

That's a pretty hefty advantage over the competition, and it raises questions in my mind as to if it's fair. Is he really the Gretzky of snowboarding? Or is he the product private financial support?

Then again - we have NHL players at the Olympics. That's pretty unfair too I guess.

[pylon]

I think inclusion of snow boarding at the Olympics is great. It has broken a ton of barriers for equality and sport. After hearing a couple of them interviewed, it was obvious to me that they are letting Special Olympians compete in the regular games. Very progreesive thinking on the IOC's part.

[valo403]

Shaun White's great at what he does and is clearly one talented dude, but when it comes to pure athleticism, it's hard to be more more impressed then by those guys who cross-country ski 50 freakin kilometers, and still have the juice to sprint it at the end. Unreal stuff.

I realize the kids like the snowboarding/half-pipe, but to me it's still too much about the lifestyle of it all to be a great Olympic sport. Half the competitors couldnt even complete their runs without falling. Seems to me that sport needs to pay less attention on posing and looking like they dont care, and more attention on training. No wonder the Chinese are starting to take over, they are the only ones who seem take their training like it's a real sport.

You can see with Shaun White what happens when you get a guy with talent AND drive...he makes the rest of them look like unprepared amateurs. As an outsider who wanted to see what the fuss was about, a lot of the competitors looked very sloppy in comparison to other athletes.

That's largely due to the fact that to have a chance to compete with White guys had to amp up their runs beyond tricks they could stick 99% of the time. White was doing stuff that nobody else could come close to on a consistent basis, the only way to compete was to do big and hope you could put together the run of a lifetime.

Olympic snowboarders may act the part that matches up with the image, but they bust their asses training just as much as any other athlete.

[Peanut]

He was pretty awesome, but in general I have a hard time respecting the atheleticism of a sport where they can compete wearing baggy jeans halfway down their asses. ;)

[valo403]

Those weren't jeans, they were snow pants designed to look like jeans. That makes it better doesn't it?

[Clever_Iggy]

Guy is an awesome at what he does, absolutely amazing...but the best athlete at the games...there were so many.

It's too hard to decide on one athlete.

I will say, however, Shaun White may be the furthest ahead of his competitors of any other sport at the Olympics.

[mykalberta]

I like the fact that everyone else hates him because he has sponsors. And yet they cant come close to beating him.

Best athlete at the games is a stretch - best athlete by far in his sport - probably.

[troutman]

His apperance on Colbert was great - seek it out. In fact, Colbert should release a DVD of his Vancouver shows - great stuff.

[JayP]

Shaun White's great at what he does and is clearly one talented dude, but when it comes to pure athleticism, it's hard to be more more impressed then by those guys who cross-country ski 50 freakin kilometers, and still have the juice to sprint it at the end. Unreal stuff.

I realize the kids like the snowboarding/half-pipe, but to me it's still too much about the lifestyle of it all to be a great Olympic sport. Half the competitors couldnt even complete their runs without falling. Seems to me that sport needs to pay less attention on posing and looking like they dont care, and more attention on training. No wonder the Chinese are starting to take over, they are the only ones who seem take their training like it's a real sport.

You can see with Shaun White what happens when you get a guy with talent AND drive...he makes the rest of them look like unprepared amateurs. As an outsider who wanted to see what the fuss was about, a lot of the competitors looked very sloppy in comparison to other athletes.

If that's the case then alpine skiing isn't much of an Olympic sport either.

[burning_acid1]

This ginger has some mad skills and can impress the crowd.

[Russic]

Those weren't jeans, they were snow pants designed to look like jeans. That makes it better doesn't it?

I loved those pants. Loved them. If we're going to rip olympic attire I'd like to point out the amount of camel toe I saw in other events. Men. Women. Didn't matter. Camel toe everywhere.

[Komskies]

Male camel toes are called moose knuckles. At least I think they are.

Edit: yup: Male organs showing through clothes at the crotch may be called moose knuckle.[3] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mooseknuckle#cite_note-Games2007-2) This slang was depicted in the film The Weather Man (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Weather_Man).

[Yeah_Baby]

nm

Thats what you get when you don't read the last post.

[Schmidtyboosh]

Shaun White's great at what he does and is clearly one talented dude, but when it comes to pure athleticism, it's hard to be more more impressed then by those guys who cross-country ski 50 freakin kilometers, and still have the juice to sprint it at the end. Unreal stuff.

Those guys that ski 50KM or run the marathon in the Summer Olympics are somthing else, but that doesn't mean they have athletic ability. If Shawn White, Sid Crosby trained hard enough, they could do those sports, but no way could the marathon guys do what Snowboarders, Hockey/Basketball/Football players do.

The difference is great cardio vs pure athletic ability

[robocop]

Shaun White's great at what he does and is clearly one talented dude, but when it comes to pure athleticism, it's hard to be more more impressed then by those guys who cross-country ski 50 freakin kilometers, and still have the juice to sprint it at the end. Unreal stuff.

I realize the kids like the snowboarding/half-pipe, but to me it's still too much about the lifestyle of it all to be a great Olympic sport. Half the competitors couldnt even complete their runs without falling. Seems to me that sport needs to pay less attention on posing and looking like they dont care, and more attention on training. No wonder the Chinese are starting to take over, they are the only ones who seem take their training like it's a real sport.

You can see with Shaun White what happens when you get a guy with talent AND drive...he makes the rest of them look like unprepared amateurs. As an outsider who wanted to see what the fuss was about, a lot of the competitors looked very sloppy in comparison to other athletes.

the half-pipe is much much larger than what most competitors get to practice on. second, the elite of the sport are so much better than the rest that the average riders have to attempt tricks that are beyond their comfort level because they want to atleast have a chance at making a decent finish. You just insulted an entire sport and thousands of people who take it very seriously, you should walk up to the edge and look at how big the halfpipe really was. Trust me, the other competitors all have drive and talent but they were pushed so far beyond their boundaries because of Shaun White, they would't have been so sloppy if getting on the podium wasn't so hard to do.

The fact is guys like Shaun White, Wayne Gretzky, Michael Jordan and Ali all made their opponents look bad because they were so good, you don't rag on the work ethic of everyone else in the sport for it, now go sit in the corner and shut your piehole.

[gargamel]

Those guys that ski 50KM or run the marathon in the Summer Olympics are somthing else, but that doesn't mean they have athletic ability. If Shawn White, Sid Crosby trained hard enough, they could do those sports, but no way could the marathon guys do what Snowboarders, Hockey/Basketball/Football players do.

The difference is great cardio vs pure athletic ability

Cardio and skill are both elements of athletic ability. Training wouldn't make Crosby or White world class marathoners any more than training would make an African guy that you've never heard of a world class snowboarder or hockey player.

[Schmidtyboosh]

Cardio and skill are both elements of athletic ability. Training wouldn't make Crosby or White world class marathoners any more than training would make an African guy that you've never heard of a world class snowboarder or hockey player.

No, but Crosby and White have a much better shot at becoming a marathon runner, because what they have is God-given skill and ability.

Anybody can finish a marathon if you train for it, but no everyone can do what those 2 kids have. Pure athletic skill and ability. I'll take it one step further with Crosby's ability to read the ice and the play. You can't teach that

[metallicat]

I thought the half pipe was one of the worst events at the olympics. Boring.

[Tron_fdc]

I suggest some of you drop into a superpipe sometime, and see how it feels. Then imagine even ATTEMPTING some kind of manouver, and come tell me it doesn't involve a HUGE amount of skill as well as brass nards the size of my head (and that's pretty big).

While I admire an athlete who can run 50k and somehow manage to sprint at the end, how can you not admire a guy who does this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4EnXs20T6A

Then takes his next run and blows away the competition like nothing ever happened.

The guy is a robot. Plain and simple.

[3 Justin 3]

His maturity has always impressed me. Even when he was 13 and already a superstar he was grounded and gracious.

Good kid.

Poor Justin, someone complimented an American.

Damn it all!

(My first post was referring when the coach was talking to him and NBC caught him swearing)

[henriksedin33]

I suggest some of you drop into a superpipe sometime, and see how it feels. Then imagine even ATTEMPTING some kind of manouver, and come tell me it doesn't involve a HUGE amount of skill as well as brass nards the size of my head (and that's pretty big).

While I admire an athlete who can run 50k and somehow manage to sprint at the end, how can you not admire a guy who does this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4EnXs20T6A

Then takes his next run and blows away the competition like nothing ever happened.

The guy is a robot. Plain and simple.

agreed, its hard to really get a sense of how huge these walls are on tv and how much air the guys are actually getting...

just look at the guys standing on top for scale
http://www.boardistan.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/010510m_-81.jpg

[Canada 02]

Shaun White is so much better than the competition that the IOC should consider eliminating this as an Olympic sport

[Temporary_User]

Shaun White is so much better than the competition that the IOC should consider eliminating this as an Olympic sportI see what you're going for. :bag:

[Displaced Flames fan]

Damn it all!

(My first post was referring when the coach was talking to him and NBC caught him swearing)


That was a nice reference then...but you have to admit, given your behavior in this forum (The Olympics forum) over the last two weeks, it isn't a stretch that I came to the conclusion I did.

So much hate.

[Vulcan]

His gold run

A0blU7Gh8xk

[Temporary_User]

His gold runWhile that would have been good enough for gold, that wasn't his gold medal run. His final run ended with a final score of 48.4. I unfortunately haven't been able to find a video of this run yet.

Edit: try this link and FF to 01:02:30
http://www.ctvolympics.ca/snowboard/results-and-schedules/event=sbm060000/phase=sbm060100/replay.html

[Bill Bumface]

Cardio and skill are both elements of athletic ability. Training wouldn't make Crosby or White world class marathoners any more than training would make an African guy that you've never heard of a world class snowboarder or hockey player.

I agree. Crosby and white could easily train and complete a marathon, but it's a very safe bet neither would be world class at it. A huge component of all of this is genetics.

Saying finishing a marathon is the same as being an Olympian marathon runner, is like saying I can train at the half pipe and just ride right down the middle of it all the way down.

[Vulcan]

His maturity has always impressed me. Even when he was 13 and already a superstar he was grounded and gracious.

Good kid.

Poor Justin, someone complimented an American.

I don't know much about Justin but he is a top athlete but if you want to know why some Canadians have a poor attitude of the United States, just look at the thread where the Texas reporter refers to our games as comparable to the Nazi games of 1936 just because Canada showed a little patriotism.

[Displaced Flames fan]

I don't know much about Justin but he is a top athlete but if you want to know why some Canadians have a poor attitude of the United States, just look at the thread where the Texas reporter refers to our games as comparable to the Nazi games of 1936 just because Canada showed a little patriotism.


I've seen it. I understand the poor attitude, I really do. My country (and countrymen) annoys the hell out of me quite often.

I just think the generalizations are ignorant and way too pervasive.

I also think that, when so many of us in this forum have relatives and close friends on either side of the border, it can be offensive. I would hope my brother-in-law would defend me against those generalizations if his buddies were spewing. I've seen a few around here defend me in that situation. That makes me smile.

I defend Canadians at every opportunity.

One of the things I love about Canada is that the maple leaf is everywhere, btw. I love your guys' patriotism!

[Vulcan]

I don't think you're anything like that Texas reporter Dis and although we've had our disagreements, I think you're a standup guy like many of your compatriots. Some of the recent trouble between our countries arose because we didn't go to war with you in Iraq. We became the butt of many bad insults in the States and I guess it continues, not that the British are any better.

It's not bad in a way. At one time we could rely on the British and Americans to give us support, at least moral. Now we understand it's a dog eat dog world and we have to stand on our own on the international stage, we did pretty good this time, eh.

[Displaced Flames fan]

I don't think you're anything like that Texas reporter Dis and although we've had our disagreements, I think you're a standup guy like many of your compatriots. Some of the recent trouble between our countries arose because we didn't go to war with you in Iraq. We became the butt of many bad insults in the States and I guess it continues, not that the British are any better.

It's not bad in a way. At one time we could rely on the British and Americans to give us support, at least moral. Now we understand it's a dog eat dog world and we have to stand on our own on the international stage, we did pretty good this time, eh.

It's important to me that you know that I know this. Thanks for saying it, but I didn't think for a minute that you had me lumped in with that tool.

It's always tough for me. I have close ties to Canada. If I'm not hearing it about Americans I'm hearing it about Canadians and both piss me off!

[SebC]

I had a ticket to see him, it got cancelled... it was the one event I was really pumped to break out the 3D camera for.