11-15-07 Corporations Rule Action Sports
The start of the action sports corporate industry was probably around when the X-games first aired on ESPN. In the beginning I loved watching the X-games, seeing guys putting it all on the line for a small purse but mainly to show off what no one even knows about. I really enjoyed watching these 'new' sports. Here is a quick list of sports which used to be on the x-games: super modified shovel racing, sky surfing, barefoot jumping, wakeboarding, ice climbing, speed climbing, rollerblading, speed downhill snow mountain biking. I'm sure there are others but those are what I came up with real quick. Those were the things I tuned in for. Once the money flowed in the gnar flowed out. It isn't even fun to watch anymore. Just a bunch of dipshits acting like fools to promote the 'lifestyle' the corporations are selling to you.
My solution. Hold a snowboard comp like this. Send groups of the top riders to the back country for a week. This would be a team event. Each team would be supplied with a film crew, build crew and plenty of PBR or Miller High Life. Make a 5 minute movie filled with gaps, grinds and gnar. Bring movies back to watch fueled by live music and more PBR. Best vid wins. Simple.
