Start it out with the old news: Danny Davis got brought down last Saturday night/Sunday morning. And the desk jocks at yahoo sports have chimed in and gone Berzerker. People all over there and even on snowboarding forums are getting pissed, calling for contract clauses limiting the risk for this kind of accident. For the most part the 500+ comments on that story are from poeple who have as little right to comment on snowboarding as fat-mouthed, Christine Brennan.
These people are actually out there saying what DD did was stupid, and acting as though he has no right to be out after dark because he might make the Olympic team. He just cost the USA a gold medal! I guess that’s what important here, winning a gold for ‘Merica.
But here’s the thing-I doubt many snowboarders, Sean Blanco excluded, care too much about the Olympics. What the masses see is hardly a simulacrum of what most of use do with our friends. The exposure is a horrible misrepresentation of the sport. The one trait the bonds all snowboarders is the simple fact that it’s fun. It’s the only reason to do it. You get to be outside, fucking off with your friends, and just enjoying your life. This aspect is completely omitted from any broadcast of the sport. When it’s no longer fun, people move on, for others it stays with them forever. You can outgrow playing football and video games, but for many there isn’t a day that goes by that they don’t at least think about riding.
I don’t think the same can be said about many of the events in the Olympics. Never once have I been told “OMG, you need try figure skating. I’ll take you. We’ll wake up at 5 a.m. drive two hours, and get on the ice just as soon as the Zamboni rolls off.” Yet with snowboarding this happens all winter long, all across the country, for people of all ages. Whether it’s to snowboard some shit hill that’s actually a covered-over landfill in Southeastern Wisconsin, or driving into the 600 inches of fresh Tahoe got this week.
Now I’m not saying that all Olympic sports are not fun. Skiing, fencing, soccer, those are all legitimate good times. And I suspect there is some secret enjoyment in curling that I have yet to figure out. Team sports obviously can be a fun beyond the peak competition phase. I know plenty of grown-ass people who still get stoked to play in their local soccer/basketball/volleyball club. But with most of the individual sports it seems once you’ve been eliminated from competition, you’re done. Sure you can still run, or swim lap, but then it seems to be more about fitness.
Rarely do you see people who have realized their competition days are over, just going out for a day of pole vaulting. Even my homey Nate used to ski jump, and at some point he realized a) I’m not going to make the Olympic team. b) shradding is way more fun. And at the time snowboarding wasn’t even in the Olympics. The only person he had to compete with was me. This competition has been going on for 20 years now, and still all I ever want to do is better him for the day and have a drink with him when we’re done.
This is how snowboarding differs from everything else in the Olympics. It’s not a rigid discipline. It’s hardly even a discipline. You can take any of the top ranked pipe riders and drop them on another part of the mountain and they will still rip. And if there’s a contest they will probably still place. Most importantly, if they’re doing it with their friends they’ll be 100% stoked on it.
That’s just how snowboarding works. You’re out there because you like it. And if you’re competing, you’re most likely competing with the people you enjoy riding with. And when the day is over you celebrate a day well lived.
Now enter in the professional shrad-kid. This person has devoted their whole life to feeling good about what they do everyday. Hanging out with friends, and having someone pay you to fly around the world, looking for the best spots to ride. And more importantly if you’re personable and have a marketable image you’re going to get a lot more money.
Danny Davis has the mix of amazing skills, personality and money behind him letting him do whatever he wants. So he rips it up everyday, he’s pushing himself against people like Kevin Pearce, Scotty Lago, and Mason Aguirre and there is no denying the friendship they’ve got. And when Kevin went down DD was dedicating his runs to him. That’s what seemed to be pushing him. And he was doing well. He bangs down a couple of ridiculous wins and happens to be well on his way to the Olympics. Then he gets hurt fucking around. I’m sure Danny’s a little bummed he won’t be in the Olympics, but I would guess he’s more upset that he’s not riding.
For snowboarding the Olympics are like an afterthought, not many are working to be “the best in the world and bring home gold for the USA.”At this point if the games are there for the taking, you might as well go for it. But if mainstream society wants this to happen, it needs to understand snowboarders. They are not you typical Olympians. They are not commercial ready like Apollo Ono (of course, except for Sean Blanco). They are dirty. Their attire, boards and attitudes glamorize the underbelly of society. Make no mistake, snowboarders are the offspring of surfers and skateboarders, not figure skaters and skiers. They will stand at the top of the halfpipe, with a hangover, take one last pull off a cigarette and still put down one of the best runs in the world. Snowboarding should not compromise this. It’s what makes shradding so great. To have contract clauses limiting what riders can and cannot do when they aren’t standing at the top of a halfpipe is to truly limit snowboarding. The the heart of snowboarding will be gone. And to all those who said snowboarding died 15 years ago this won’t even be a recognizable.
