Olympics 2022 (spoiler alert)

[Jonny]

It was NEVER showboating. It was call-out to the roots of the sport and the skateboarding roots of the roots. Jacobellis was an accomplished half-pipe rider and skater and entitled to grab whenever she felt like it. In that circumstance, NOT to grab would have been a concession to the idea that SBX had gone over entirely to the race world and there was, in 2006, only eight years after Terje/Nagano, still a lot of resistance to the olympic approach to snowboarding.

The fact that she fell is sad and really bizarre, but I gave and still give her a lot of credit for the move

[inkaholic]

1 hour ago, Jonny said:

It was NEVER showboating. It was call-out to the roots of the sport and the skateboarding roots of the roots. Jacobellis was an accomplished half-pipe rider and skater and entitled to grab whenever she felt like it. In that circumstance, NOT to grab would have been a concession to the idea that SBX had gone over entirely to the race world and there was, in 2006, only eight years after Terje/Nagano, still a lot of resistance to the olympic approach to snowboarding.

The fact that she fell is sad and really bizarre, but I gave and still give her a lot of credit for the move

Like Brushie in '92

https://nevingalmarini.ch/whats-the-superlative-of-badass-jeff-brushie-jeffbrushie-did-this-method-grab-during-a-giant-slalom-run-back-in-1992-whatever/

ink

[Jack M]

2 hours ago, Jonny said:

the idea that SBX had gone over entirely to the race world

You mean like with speed suits?

The commentators certainly thought it was showboating.

[BlueB]

2 hours ago, Jonny said:

It was NEVER showboating. It was call-out to the roots of the sport and the skateboarding roots of the roots. Jacobellis was an accomplished half-pipe rider and skater and entitled to grab whenever she felt like it. In that circumstance, NOT to grab would have been a concession to the idea that SBX had gone over entirely to the race world and there was, in 2006, only eight years after Terje/Nagano, still a lot of resistance to the olympic approach to snowboarding.

The fact that she fell is sad and really bizarre, but I gave and still give her a lot of credit for the move

No matter how many jumps and rollers you put in, the SBX is as much of racing as it gets. Actually, it's the original racing, like the kids would do, all together, top to bottom, winner gets the bragging rights. 

Also, the roots are in surfing and skiing. The skateboarding has high-jacked the sport. 

[GeoffV]

2 hours ago, inkaholic said:

Like Brushie in '92

https://nevingalmarini.ch/whats-the-superlative-of-badass-jeff-brushie-jeffbrushie-did-this-method-grab-during-a-giant-slalom-run-back-in-1992-whatever/

ink

Cool you found that Derek, I remember Brushie pulling that stunt 

[Neil Gendzwill]

2 hours ago, Jack M said:

The commentators certainly thought it was showboating.

I did as well.  It was just a dumb thing to do.

[west carven]

howdy

ester does it again … haha! … she was for a little while … 5th place is pretty darn good ...

Edited February 11, 2022 by west carven

[lordmetroland]

7 hours ago, Neil Gendzwill said:

I did as well.  It was just a dumb thing to do.

And had she stuck it, she would have been the female Badass Jeff Brushie. And people would have emulated her. And then judging would have been added for tricks. Then direct racing would have been eliminated because it interferes with individual style. And then courses would have been shortened because it's not racing anymore. Ultimately, it would have turned into boring moguls skiing and no one would watch it. Every day, I give praise to God Almighty for causing Lindsey Jacobellis to botch that grab and keep snowboard cross pure.

[daveo]

I was not surprised to see Allflex still dominating the plate world.

Thought I'd see some other plates like sinline and iron rock, but they were almost non-existent.

Edited February 11, 2022 by daveo

[Jonny]

9 hours ago, lordmetroland said:

And had she stuck it, she would have been the female Badass Jeff Brushie. And people would have emulated her. And then judging would have been added for tricks. Then direct racing would have been eliminated because it interferes with individual style. And then courses would have been shortened because it's not racing anymore. Ultimately, it would have turned into boring moguls skiing and no one would watch it. Every day, I give praise to God Almighty for causing Lindsey Jacobellis to botch that grab and keep snowboard cross pure.

Well, that's a very sound argument. Myself, I liked her move (and Brushie's too) although I come from the ski racing world where we obviously don't grab, and from the early days of ski freestyle, when we didn't,  and not from skating. I thought it was exuberance, and if showboating then a very particular kind of showboating for a pretty narrow, skate audience who like to hoot good moves.

I also get the argument that skate has hijacked the freestyle (skiing and snowboarding) world. A grab is purely a skate and surf move and functionally irrelevant to fixed-binding snow sports. What would the pipe look like if there weren't a grab requirement?

[Neil Gendzwill]

15 minutes ago, Jonny said:

 What would the pipe look like if there weren't a grab requirement?

A lot less stylish. The grab is secondary to the body position required to make it. 

[Jack M]

1 hour ago, Jonny said:

Well, that's a very sound argument. Myself, I liked her move (and Brushie's too) although I come from the ski racing world where we obviously don't grab, and from the early days of ski freestyle, when we didn't,  and not from skating. I thought it was exuberance, and if showboating then a very particular kind of showboating for a pretty narrow, skate audience who like to hoot good moves.

I also get the argument that skate has hijacked the freestyle (skiing and snowboarding) world. A grab is purely a skate and surf move and functionally irrelevant to fixed-binding snow sports. What would the pipe look like if there weren't a grab requirement?

IIRC, Brushie's jump was during the era where you had to race to win the overall.  If that's right, then I think that move was not only a stylish joke but also a middle finger, as if to say "we shouldn't have to race".  It was obviously an event he didn't give a rat's about either way.  Completely different situation.  As for Lindsey, put me in the showboating camp.  Not saying I wasn't that dumb at the ripe old age of 20!

I agree with Neil, grabs are necessary to get into the right position.  Can't tweak without a grab.  A method without a grab is just... fruity.  Rails on the other hand... now that is just skateboarding for dummies. 

[bucky]

Not racing, but man did those Japanese halfpipe riders go big - Japanese air force.  Of course carving is a critical skill for halfpipe. Justin Reiter posted a a picture with the caption that they were going to need thermal shields for atmospheric reentry.

[TVR]

Valentino Guseli beat my son in SL in 2018 Nationals riding softboots against my son on hardboots. He took 1'st and my son took the Silver....

Valentino took 6'th in halfpipe representing Australia this Olympics ....   The kid can certainly carve man....  and he chases the snow year round.....  

[Neil Gendzwill]

3 hours ago, bucky said:

Not racing, but man did those Japanese halfpipe riders go big - Japanese air force.  Of course carving is a critical skill for halfpipe. Justin Reiter posted a a picture with the caption that they were going to need thermal shields for atmospheric reentry.

Ayumu was 18 feet out on his first hit. 

[BlueB]

4 hours ago, bucky said:

Not racing, but man did those Japanese halfpipe riders go big - Japanese air force.  Of course carving is a critical skill for halfpipe. Justin Reiter posted a a picture with the caption that they were going to need thermal shields for atmospheric reentry.

No thermal shield required - in Japanese Air Force, your first real deployment is the last one! 

[lowrider]

Funny to read comments about a bunch of young kids who can bend by a bunch of old guys that wish they still could. 

[Neil Gendzwill]

1 hour ago, lowrider said:

Funny to read comments about a bunch of young kids who can bend by a bunch of old guys that wish they still could. 

I never had any flexibility to start with.  Any sort of contorted position was out of the question for me.  Below is me at about the max flex I was ever able to display.  Picture may be a couple of years old.
 

[lowrider]

Couple of years more like a couple of decades. I am so old my skateboards had steel wheels. Nice bandana by the way ! Mind telling us if you landed that grab.

[ShortcutToMoncton]

Check that little grab on the last jump in the mixed. Jacobellis a complete legend.

[Neil Gendzwill]

52 minutes ago, lowrider said:

Mind telling us if you landed that grab.

Looks like it was a make. Little frontside airs like that were pretty routine for me then. I also had a reliable lien to tail and a frontside ollie that hovered around the coping but not much over.  Couldn’t make a backside air to save my life. 

[rjnakata]

During the team BX coverage, Seth Wescott said he proved in '06 that ankle flexibility is needed to win thus eliminating hardboots from BX.

and...Congrats Lindsey and Nick Baumgartner!  Old gals/guys rule!

[philw]

4 hours ago, rjnakata said:

During the team BX coverage, Seth Wescott said he proved in '06 that ankle flexibility is needed to win thus eliminating hardboots from BX.

Didn't they also "prove" that baggy pants were a requirement, back then? 
 

Quote

No matter how many jumps and rollers you put in, the SBX is as much of racing as it gets. Actually, it's the original racing, like the kids would do, all together, top to bottom, winner gets the bragging rights. 

I like that aspect of it, and it's clearly more satisfying because of that. I guess I'm less convinced by the berms and stuff, which enforce a specific type of riding - the compressions and arm flapping - which seems kind of inelegant. 

For the "showboating" thing Shakespeare had that a fair while ago:
 "Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself, And falls on th'other."
To none Americans it was funny at the time. Coming back and nailing it, that's the good bit of the story: redemption in full.

[daveo]

On 2/11/2022 at 1:55 AM, Jonny said:

It was call-out to the roots of the sport and the skateboarding roots of the roots.

Pretty sure that wasn't what was going through her head.

[Deuxdiesel]

I was standing and screaming in front of the TV for the  gold BX race.  It seemed to help.  BX is certainly entertaining to watch, even though they sometimes look like geese trying to take off from water with all the flapping.  It may be inelegant, but it serves a purpose, unlike our body- dragging eurocarves, which is for aesthetics.