DiveBomber Posted January 12, 2010 Report Share Posted January 12, 2010 Todd Richards: The Worst Interview Ever "FUEL.TV: Why isn’t boardercross cool? TR: I don’t know. Parallel Giant Slalom sucks cause it’s skiing. Anything racing sucks really. Boardercross is too…they haven’t figure out how to make it stylish. It’s way too jockey. Unfortunately the guys who win are the ones who have horrible style snowboarding outside of boardercross. Maybe it will take a good freestyler switching to style up boardercross. The weird thing is that it’s not like it isn’t fun and they guys who do it are amazing snowboarders. The problem is simply it doesn’t matter how you get from A to B in boardercross. You just have to be first no matter how it looks. The style guys care what it looks like and so they are not doing boardercross. With the exception of Shawn Palmer no one has pulled it off. Nate Holland is a good boardercrosser and has some style and people know it but he’s still not known in snowboarding." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keenan Posted January 12, 2010 Report Share Posted January 12, 2010 It looks like he's an announcer at the Olympics, do you think he'll cover the PGS? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Gendzwill Posted January 12, 2010 Report Share Posted January 12, 2010 I responded in an appropriately adult way in the comments section. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martyagt4 Posted January 13, 2010 Report Share Posted January 13, 2010 I don't feel insulted. Just another idiot with a mic. Should prove to be amusing during the Olympics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonbordin Posted January 13, 2010 Report Share Posted January 13, 2010 I responded in an appropriately adult way in the comments section. Nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrapster Posted January 13, 2010 Report Share Posted January 13, 2010 Funny, the Olympic sports that award medals based on style are usually the ones that I take least seriously. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonbass Posted January 13, 2010 Report Share Posted January 13, 2010 It is a pretty typical attitude of the younger generation of park rats...Richards hasn't seemed to grow up so... It is pretty funny how he is glorified for his rockstar lifestyle. It is hard for snowboarding to be considered a serious sport when the spokespeople sound like fratboys. No offence meant to fratboys. :D He makes it sound like freestyle is the only authentic snowboard activity. Style comes first. I wonder if Usain Bolt is thinking about how much better he looks than the other runners or is he trying to cross the finish line first. I'm sure Jasey J is thinking "Man that turn will look really good in an ad." as he is racing :rolleyes:. The problem with a judged sport is that the judges all see the same athletes over and over again. They can't help but be affected by their preconceptions. Especially when they are in a scene that is filled with people who focus on their image. Halfpipe is the figure skating of snowboarding. ;) I'm not saying that I don't like freestyle snowboarding. I don't doubt that the freestylers are great athletes. They have amazing skills. I sometimes wonder how their training regime compares to other world class sports like cycling, track and field, swimming, cross-country skiing when it comes to diet, strength and cardio. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonbordin Posted January 13, 2010 Report Share Posted January 13, 2010 Events that are judged are competitions. Events that do not need judges and are based on quantifiable data are sport. Sport = great. Competition not so great. IMHO. YMMV. etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allee Posted January 13, 2010 Report Share Posted January 13, 2010 " ... problem is simply it doesn’t matter how you get from A to B in boardercross. You just have to be first no matter how it looks. " Ah, yeah, cos that's the point of racing. So it doesn't matter if you don't win, as long as you look good? Ask Lindsey Jacobellis how that worked out for her at the last Olympics ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tex1230 Posted January 13, 2010 Report Share Posted January 13, 2010 Thanks for the new sig! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MUD Posted January 13, 2010 Report Share Posted January 13, 2010 The mentality difference between freestyle and racing is HUGE! There is no explaining it to either side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjvircks Posted January 13, 2010 Report Share Posted January 13, 2010 Thanks for the new sig! me too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Call me jack Posted January 13, 2010 Report Share Posted January 13, 2010 so how well do you guys think he can carve?.. i hope he enters a sbx just so he can do 360 melon grabs and stuff, while racing lol... or try doing a 360 on a sbx board... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Gendzwill Posted January 13, 2010 Report Share Posted January 13, 2010 so how well do you guys think he can carve?..He's a pro, he can probably out-carve most of us on his two-strap softies... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonbass Posted January 13, 2010 Report Share Posted January 13, 2010 Thanks for the new sig! No prob! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chucklebeast Posted January 13, 2010 Report Share Posted January 13, 2010 He's a pro, he can probably out-carve most of us on his two-strap softies... Dunno bout that, all the best freestyle, and all mountain riders around here are one-edge willys. They have cat like balance and reflexes, but skid through all the groom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Gendzwill Posted January 13, 2010 Report Share Posted January 13, 2010 Dunno bout that, all the best freestyle, and all mountain riders around here are one-edge willys. They have cat like balance and reflexes, but skid through all the groom.Richards is a half-pipe guy. They need to carve or they can't maintain their speed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chucklebeast Posted January 13, 2010 Report Share Posted January 13, 2010 agreed, that was what I was just thinking, along with the fact that I have no idea who Richards is, LOL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guido591 Posted January 14, 2010 Report Share Posted January 14, 2010 Well, based on this one interview, he's a 40 year old, underemployed gentleman without much of an appreciation for snowboard disciplines other than those in which he participates. I suspect that frisbee and hacky sack are "sports" that he would find acceptable, as they don't put much emphasis on a bottom line with respect to competition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave ESPI Posted January 14, 2010 Report Share Posted January 14, 2010 I've ridden with a bunch of "PRO" riders and have to say that the majority of them are absolutely crap anywhere except in a park. Sure they can free ride, but they are busy looking for stuff to lip-off, jib-on, and pop-ollies from rollers and dropping switch and butter/ manuals. More interested in showboating than making a nice fluid run with flawless tracks in the snow rather than haphazzard willy-nilly "prankzorz" on the trails. I get more head nods from people than the parkers do, so I say TR is a toolbag with a little bit of luck. In a few years he will see the light ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobdea Posted January 14, 2010 Report Share Posted January 14, 2010 OMG someone just said one of the best pipe riders ever won on luck guys, all of you, TR was ****ing unreal if any of you had seen the dude ride in person you'd really not be ****ting on his riding. his comments, yeah, I hear you but his riding was insane and the guy could probably be really competitive in any type of snowboarding he wanted to compete in when he was younger. he chose pipe so that's where he killed it. as far as espi's comments go, yeah, okay, what pros? most of the really good riders I know, pros or not kill it everywhere. then you attribute TRs career to luck. that's ****ed up. like many atheletes he has a mouth. like say friggin' palmer, his dominance was not luck either, it was being gifted with talent and a lot of hard work. personality aside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kent Posted January 14, 2010 Report Share Posted January 14, 2010 x2 on most of what Bob said. I hate to say this...but TR is right. Unsure why you guys are upset. Most of the good snowboard racers started as ski racers. Up until all the PGS bologna, it was more like ski racing...heck, you can even go back to the PSL long poles. Let's go back to the roots. BX was supposed to be a freak show and a way to promote snowboarding as a bandit sport (Remember Warren Miller?). It wasn't a legit sport until NBC aired it in the mid-90s...and Rippey went on to do a back-flip in the finals. No one remembers who won the race, but EVERYONE remembers Jim's backflip. Banked Slalom was a legit event and rec'd coverage in the magazines, but isn't TV friendly. At the same time, halfpipe terms were hard to understand. (McTwists?) BX was easy enough for the couch potato to understand. BX is certainly "fun" and I love to do it...but not a fan of it being anything larger than a Chinese Downhill/freak show/have fun. Yawn. SkierX is more exciting than BoarderX and certainly more competitive as there is a larger margin of error allowed which creates a tighter race. Terje Haakonsen is (IMO) the greatest technical snowboarder of all time. CK (RIP next Wed, btw) would be next. TR might make my top 10, but the dude SUCKED late in his career, mostly due to injury. JJ would be the highest ranking alpiner in my books....but when was the last time he actually rode hardboots? Just my 2 cents...look at the history and TR is on the money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skategoat Posted January 14, 2010 Report Share Posted January 14, 2010 Dunno bout that, all the best freestyle, and all mountain riders around here are one-edge willys. They have cat like balance and reflexes, but skid through all the groom. Help me out here but isn't there a former gymnast on the Canadian or U.S. half pipe team (female)? She couldn't ride a lick before she converted over the the pipe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Gendzwill Posted January 14, 2010 Report Share Posted January 14, 2010 Help me out here but isn't there a former gymnast on the Canadian or U.S. half pipe team (female)? She couldn't ride a lick before she converted over the the pipe.I know they do that all the time with freestyle jumpers, take them from gymnastics or diving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobdea Posted January 14, 2010 Report Share Posted January 14, 2010 Help me out here but isn't there a former gymnast on the Canadian or U.S. half pipe team (female)? She couldn't ride a lick before she converted over the the pipe. yup, taking a world class athlete and finding they are amazing at something else is no stretch. I'm betting some gymnasts would be incredible racers as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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