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Vic Wild Wins GOLD for Russia!!


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White Salmon, Columbia River? Another windsurfer hooked on the g-force of a planing jibe!?

Yep!! Thanks for that!!

Mike Jacoby lives near by too!! Must be something in the water!

He is all over the local news for sure!

Really nice article with photos

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Won't let me watch because I'm in the US. Any way around this? NBC won't let me watch (or even buy) their online streaming because I don't have cable TV with them as one of my channels. What a crock of ****.

I've been getting CBC clips on youtube (even though in Canada) to avoid the commercials. Coverage might be shortened though...

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I've been pretty taken aback at the jingoistic comments I'm seeing about Vic Wild. Instead of thinking that USSA abandoned Vic in favor of the Shaun Whites of the world, many Americans see him as a "traitor." Best comment: "Snowden on a snowboard." (Because apparently Snowden shouldn't have revealed the NSA's illegal data gathering...)

In my mind, the whole situation is an indictment of the way that USSA allocates funds, but very few seem to see it that way. Wonder if there's been any internal conversations at the USSA about this.

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"Snowden on a snowboard."

That is a higher praise or badge of honor than just about anything I can think of! In one moment he demonstrates physical prowess and also character comparable to a future Nobel Prize winner. WOW!

How about keeping it simple - Man falls in love with beautiful woman with similar interests and moves to her country where there is more opportunity. Who can object to that?

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I've been pretty taken aback at the jingoistic comments I'm seeing about Vic Wild. Instead of thinking that USSA abandoned Vic in favor of the Shaun Whites of the world, many Americans see him as a "traitor." Best comment: "Snowden on a snowboard." (Because apparently Snowden shouldn't have revealed the NSA's illegal data gathering...)

In my mind, the whole situation is an indictment of the way that USSA allocates funds, but very few seem to see it that way. Wonder if there's been any internal conversations at the USSA about this.

I must say I've seen quite the opposite, I've seen almost no one talking about him as a traitor, with almost everyone saying how the ussa sucks.

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I understand his motivations, what I don't get is why the Russians would cheer for this guy or pay him money. Unlike pro sports, the olympics is about cheering for the home-grown team, is it not? I mean, Canada could buck up a few million and buy some medals by importing the Dutch long track team but why? Who would cheer for these suddenly Canadian guys?

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I understand his motivations, what I don't get is why the Russians would cheer for this guy or pay him money. Unlike pro sports, the olympics is about cheering for the home-grown team, is it not? I mean, Canada could buck up a few million and buy some medals by importing the Dutch long track team but why? Who would cheer for these suddenly Canadian guys?

Hmm, looks obvious to me, but here it is: he is Russian citizen, he lives in Russia, he is training and competing for the Russian team. Moreover he is married to a Russian girl (she is from my hometown). If you take a look at his results after he had joined the team you may see the significant improvement, so I think overall it is quite enough to cheer for him ;)

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The local take, pretty warm and fuzzy. "He was pretty hyper" , nice PNW folks proud as punch!

White Salmon is a very small town and the folks are really friendly, I have enjoyed stopping there over the years to enjoy the small town favor. Always pleasant, always kind. Vic can be proud of his hometown too!

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I understand his motivations, what I don't get is why the Russians would cheer for this guy or pay him money. Unlike pro sports, the olympics is about cheering for the home-grown team, is it not? I mean, Canada could buck up a few million and buy some medals by importing the Dutch long track team but why? Who would cheer for these suddenly Canadian guys?

The Olympics have meant a lot of things in the past. You're Canadian, you remember when NHL players weren't allowed to play for Canada, while the Russian national team was putting out teams that were composed of professional players, somehow without professional status.

In the end, the IOC had to adapt the games to the changing times and economic landscape. I believe Kieran already mentioned the corporate sponsorships in another thread. I mean, at this point, do you really think Russia cares how they get a gold medal? Canada was pumping money into Own The Podium for the 2010 games, Russia's doing the same for Sochi. I believe I read that Vic was getting a 300K bonus for bringing "home" the gold. When the games are over, the only thing anyone remembers will be the medal total. They currently sit in second place with 10 golds and 27 overall medals, so I doubt anyone will be scrutinizing the origins of their Men's Snowboard PGS gold.

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I understand his motivations, what I don't get is why the Russians would cheer for this guy or pay him money. Unlike pro sports, the olympics is about cheering for the home-grown team, is it not? I mean, Canada could buck up a few million and buy some medals by importing the Dutch long track team but why? Who would cheer for these suddenly Canadian guys?

Cold war rivalries live on. In the past when Russian athletes or performers defected to the US and thrived, achieving wealth and celebrity in the process, we embraced the opportunity to take credit for their success. It's a chance to show the world that "our" country's way of doing things is better than "yours".

Vic Wild's 2 golds is unprecedented in snowboarding and amazing and couldn't have been a better story for our sport!

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