Snowboard

[Souris]

Hirano dared the judges to eff it up again. Thankfully they did not.

I’m sad Shaun didn’t get a medal, but I think it really was a long shot this time.

[festivus]

I wish Shaun could have gotten a medal but at least he did lay down one last great run. He's the person that made me care about the winter Olympics. It's always been so exciting to watch him. Now I'm into anything snowboard. 

[greyhorse]

Wow, what an emotional farewell interview from Shaun White.  Amazing that at 35, he's still competitive with these young pipsqueaks that can defy gravity and fly out of the pipe.  He left it all on the pipe today.  Yeah, it wasn't the storybook finish that we all hoped for him.  But he said he was satisfied.  What a great career.  Inspired so many here in America and the world to pick up a snowboard.  This sport owes this legend everything.

[blackwing]

I'm disappointed that Mark McMorris (bronze in slopestyle) has publicly complained that his countryman and teammate Max Parrot was overscored and shouldn't have gotten the gold medal.  They aren't going to change the medals.  Max was a great story, overcame cancer and got his gold, but now people will view his medal and say he didn't deserve it.  I know that fans of the Chinese silver medalist were already saying this, but there's no reason for McMorris to throw shade against his own teammate.  Makes him look selfish.

On 2/10/2022 at 11:57 AM, greyhorse said:

I haven't been paying too much attention to the puff pieces.  (As an aside, I don't think Mary Carillo is covering these games?). The only one I saw a bit of was Shaun White sitting pensively staring at a large tv showing his Japanese rival.  Or maybe it was just a teaser.

I think the reason why Jacobellis hasn't gotten any hype is because this was now her fourth shot at redemption.  Ho hum.  But the bigger reason is that nobody cares about snowboard cross.  Which I always find interesting.  The halfpipe is always the glamour event, yet it's something that very few people when they strap on the board can do or relate to.  The majority of us riding the lift to the top of the mountain just want to get down, and it's a thrill to go fast.  So we should more relate to snowboard cross.  Yet nobody cares.  Collectively everybody is just enthralled with all these twists and tricks that we don't know how to do, don't understand the difference between all of them, and can only really know that something was good if the rider lands on his/her feet.

I don't know when the snowboard slalom event is supposed to happen.  I remember the event only because last Olympics there was the American that was competing for Russia because he got more support there.  Why isn't there a Snowboard downhill?  I'd love to watch something like that.

I agree that people don't seem to care about snowboard cross.  I think it's really exciting, I like seeing the little hills and jumps and turns.  Snowboard cross should rate higher than parallel giant slalom.  And yes, Victor Wild, married a Russian and left the US team because he complained that US snowboarding association didn't give any money/attention to slalom.  He won two medals 8 years ago, don't know what happened to him in Pyeongchang, but he got a bronze this year in parallel giant slalom.  There doesn't seem to be a parallel slalom event this year for some reason (probably too many events and some get cut?  like how there is no longer an alpine skiing super combined event, there's only the regular combined).

I'm not sure why snowboard slalom isn't more popular.  Plenty of people snowboard.  The event seems like it should be as popular as the alpine skiing events, but it isn't.  Why not?  Is it because it is slower?  There aren't as many known "names"?

 

Edited February 11, 2022 by blackwing

[galaxygirl76]

The problem with Parrot is that he was over scored. He got points for a thing(board grab) he didn't do. 

[blackwing]

43 minutes ago, galaxygirl76 said:

The problem with Parrot is that he was over scored. He got points for a thing(board grab) he didn't do. 

Yes, it seems he grabbed his knee but the judges thought he grabbed his board and gave him points for grabbing his board.

I would think that this kind of situation can arise in any judged sport like figure skating, diving, gymnastics.  Unless there is evidence of any kind of collusion/undoing (like the 2002 pairs skating French/Russian scandal), it should be accepted that this is a subjective sport.  In the men's figure skating competition, I saw one of the Japanese medallists clearly put his hand down on the ice, but he didn't get any deduction.  Maybe the judges didn't see it.  Maybe it was the same here.

I think that if there are complaints about the way the men's slopestyle was scored, then the sport itself needs to institute instant replay and the ability for judges to do a video review.  But until then, it seems to me that the competitors should just accept the judging and not complain about it.

[twoods]

I don’t know why McMorris is bellyaching- the gold should have gone to the Chinese snowboarder Su and McMorris would have gotten silver but he seems to think he should have gotten the gold. The fact that McMorris thinks he had the best run is subjective when there was another snowboarder above him. Even the Chinese coach told the fans to stop complaining and nothing is going to change the outcome.What a douche. 
 

The judges did admit to not noticing he grabbed his knee instead of board because of the camera angle they had. Maybe they will get better angles for the future or have replays, which is what the poster said above. 

Edited February 11, 2022 by twoods

[Dots And Stripes]

Mixed snowboard cross! That Team USA win is exactly the story that keeps me hooked on the Olympics.

[SophiaD]

Lindsey. Freaking. Jacobellis.  That is all.  OMG.

Can I just say how delighted that a 36-year-old and a 40-year-old just won a team gold medal?  What a great race!  I'm so happy for them!

[festivus]

Yeah, I can't see why anyone wouldn't find snowboard cross exiting. That was a great race.

[LexieLily]

1 minute ago, SophiaD said:

Lindsey. Freaking. Jacobellis.  That is all.  OMG.

Can I just say how delighted that a 36-year-old and a 40-year-old just won a team gold medal?  What a great race!  I'm so happy for them!

Bomgardner's reaction live-watching the end of Lindsey's run was everything

[KAOS Agent]

I watched Nick Baumgartner crying and saying he felt like a failure and apologizing to his family for being such a disappointment a couple of days ago and I was just willing them to get a medal. Any medal. I am so, so happy for him. 

[Demian]

Quote

Can I just say how delighted that a 36-year-old and a 40-year-old just won a team gold medal?

Absolutely fantastic.

Also fantastic:  How all these snowboard athletes support each other.  Amazing.

[shoregirl]

2 minutes ago, LexieLily said:

Bomgardner's reaction live-watching the end of Lindsey's run was everything

Right?!? I loved watching him and the Italian guy with their arms around each other cheering on their partners . 

I am so excited for the Baumgartner and Jacobellis.

[Souris]

15 minutes ago, shoregirl said:

Right?!? I loved watching him and the Italian guy with their arms around each other cheering on their partners . 

That was a lovely display of sportsmanship.

Seriously, I had never heard of mixed snowboard cross when the evening started, and now I think it’s one of the most important things ever. The Olympics, man!

What an amazing race and outcome. So thrilled for my fellow olds. My heart is still pounding.

Edited February 12, 2022 by Souris

[Irlandesa]

19 minutes ago, Souris said:

Seriously, I had never heard of mixed snowboard cross when the evening started, and now I think it’s one of the most important things ever. The Olympics, man!

I tuned in late and saw her win. I was very confused why the announcers were giving credit to this "Nick" person and how he finally has his medal.  I thought it was kind of sexist giving her coach the credit until they finally put Team Mixed up and I finally understood he was her teammate.

[BuckeyeLou]

Did not know anything about mixed snowboard but happened to tune in tonight & was thrilled with the race!  This is what the Olympics is all about!  Excitement, friendship, emotions from previously not well known athletes.  Congrats to Nick & Lindsay!

[kittykat]

That was awesome!  Stoked for Nick and Lindsay (TWO GOLDS!).  All the teams cheering each other on, in a depressing time like this, was a much needed reminder of why Olympics are so special.

[Souris]

Somebody is going to use some version of the headline “Golden Oldies,” aren’t they?

[Quickbeam]

Baumgartner gave a lot of local interviews (I am in WI) and stated that he got very low support from the US Olympic committee in terms of financial support and gear. He works pouring concrete full time and shoehorns practice around that. Set up a snow course in his yard. Kind of points to how uneven the funding is.

Edited February 12, 2022 by Quickbeam

[choclatechip45]

9 hours ago, Quickbeam said:

Baumgartner gave a lot of local interviews (I am in WI) and stated that he got very low support from the US Olympic committee in terms of financial support and gear. He works pouring concrete full time and shoehorns practice around that. Set up a snow course in his yard. Kind of points to how uneven the funding is.

Most US Olympians don't get much funding from the US Olympic Committee. It usually comes from the federation so in this case US Ski & Snowboard.  Most of the top athletes get $$$ from endorsements that can pay for training costs and don't need to get a second job. 

[blackwing]

Mixed snowboard cross was a great race, congrats to Nick and Lindsey.  I get that they are Americans on NBC, but I was hoping that they would show a replay of what happened to Meryeta.  I felt bad for Eliot Grondin standing there against the wall while Nick and the Italian guy were cheering.

Apparently on that one hill, the other Italian girl LANDED on Meryeta’s head!   And they both went down.  She got up and was able to get the bronze.  
 

Is snowboard cross not like short track speed skating?  Is this just bad luck and oh well?  No penalties are handed out?  If there are no penalties, what if the one Italian on the #2 team had been tasked with making Jacobellis or Odine crash to give a better chance to Italian #1?

[greyhorse]

6 hours ago, blackwing said:

Is snowboard cross not like short track speed skating?  Is this just bad luck and oh well?  No penalties are handed out?  If there are no penalties, what if the one Italian on the #2 team had been tasked with making Jacobellis or Odine crash to give a better chance to Italian #1?

I believe there are judges.  Intentional contact is an automatic disqualification.  Casual contact that just seems unavoidable is deemed just to be part of the race.  I also seem to remember hearing that you couldn't block an opponent who is trying to pass, which I always thought seemed silly because isn't that the point?

If there is a disqualification, I don't know what happens to the racer that was interfered with.  In the final, what would happen?  I don't imagine they would rerun the race.

[KAOS Agent]

4 hours ago, greyhorse said:

If there is a disqualification, I don't know what happens to the racer that was interfered with.  In the final, what would happen?  I don't imagine they would rerun the race.

They don't re-run anything in any events. It's just that in earlier heats sometimes someone can get a pass into the next round if it's determined that they were fouled in some way and a qualifying person is the one who did it. Short track is the same, except anyone who was interfered with gets in since they don't have the starting space issues snowboard cross has. Once you hit the final, if you're knocked out, tough luck. The front runners here were not involved, so the results stand. In this case, Canada came across third anyway, so it didn't matter whether they penalized the Italian.

[PrincessPurrsALot]

On 2/11/2022 at 7:31 PM, shoregirl said:

Right?!? I loved watching him and the Italian guy with their arms around each other cheering on their partners . 

I am so excited for the Baumgartner and Jacobellis.

I am now in love with the Italian snowboard cross racer, and I don't even know his name.  That was a great race to watch.  Jacobellis is incredible, and Baumgartner put his whole heart into this.  I prefer snowboard cross to halfpipe.  It's exciting to see them race against each other.  Also, the judging is not subjective. 

Shallow note: When did Shaun White become so handsome?  

[legaleagle53]

46 minutes ago, PrincessPurrsALot said:

Shallow note: When did Shaun White become so handsome?  

When he hit his 30s and stopped taking his hairstyling tips from Carrot Top.

[festivus]

I always thought he was a cutie. I loved the wild red hair he used to have. It was cracking me up when they'd be like "Shaun's family is watching. And his girlfriend Nina."

That's Nina Dobrev, fools. She's not just Shaun's girlfriend Nina. Lol.

[Mittengirl]

Shaun was cute as a young kid, based on the pictures they showed in his puff piece, so there was a good chance it would re-emerge after his Carrot Top phase.  And it did.  I remember how shocked I was with his looks when he showed up in Sochi (?) and I was confused if it was the same guy, ‘cause I never thought the potential was there.

Who is Nina Dobrev?  I take it she is “famous” for something?

Edited February 13, 2022 by Mittengirl

[stealinghome]

Nina Dobrev is an actress and was the lead of The Vampire Diaries for most of the show’s run.

[estellasmum]

5 hours ago, PrincessPurrsALot said:

Shallow note: When did Shaun White become so handsome?  

According to my husband's friend (who spent years working at Red Bull travelling the country to handle the "talent" at various events where they had major sponsorship, and has had many interactions with him) when he started the transition from Shaun White GOAT snowboarder to Shaun White business mogul.

[Rootbeer]

5 hours ago, legaleagle53 said:

When he hit his 30s and stopped taking his hairstyling tips from Carrot Top.

Shaun has often told the story of meeting Carrot Top whose only advice to him was to cut his hair before it was too late.  That CT had waited too long and now he was stuck with it.

[Daisy]

On 2/11/2022 at 4:39 PM, twoods said:

I don’t know why McMorris is bellyaching- the gold should have gone to the Chinese snowboarder Su and McMorris would have gotten silver but he seems to think he should have gotten the gold. The fact that McMorris thinks he had the best run is subjective when there was another snowboarder above him. Even the Chinese coach told the fans to stop complaining and nothing is going to change the outcome.What a douche. 

honestly - i don't really fault anyone for feeling they felt ripped off if a mistake was made- or saying it publicly. I'm not going to call Mark McMorris a douche for saying he felt his run was better and that Parrot was overscored when there was a mistake. It's a judged sport and these things happen. but I also think by speaking about it publicly  - it helps the sport because it had come out that the judges in snowboard don't have proper replay (and if they did, they might have caught the mistake). Vocalization like this has helped other sports (diving, ski moguls etc). 

And if it was really that big of a deal Mark and the Chinese guy could have filed an appeal over it (which they didn't). 

On top of all that - Mark also very publicly apologized for what he said and sounded very contrite. 

[blackwing]

14 hours ago, Rootbeer said:

Shaun has often told the story of meeting Carrot Top whose only advice to him was to cut his hair before it was too late.  That CT had waited too long and now he was stuck with it.

In watching the 16 year retrospective... his hair used to be really red.  They called him the "Flying Tomato".  Now his hair looks like a medium/light brown.  Is it only red when it grows out?  Did it just change colour as he aged?  Or does he dye it?

[greyhorse]

9 hours ago, blackwing said:

In watching the 16 year retrospective... his hair used to be really red.  They called him the "Flying Tomato".  Now his hair looks like a medium/light brown.  Is it only red when it grows out?  Did it just change colour as he aged?  Or does he dye it?

It was indeed really red.  And out of control wild.  I'll admit that I thought he was a bit of a punk when he was younger, but that's the old man in me telling people to get off my lawn.  I've admired the person/athlete/teammate/GOAT/mogul that he has become.

Lots of griping about the snowboard scoring, good article on ESPN.  Most egregious error was indeed the Max Parrot score.  I still understand why fellow Canadian McMorris would then claim gold when he only finished in bronze.  

And didn't expect it to be reported anywhere, and I don't think I've seen it...but the US judge was the one that gave the really low score to Ayumu Hirano when that run deserved a 96-98.  Was he trying to keep the door open for Shaun?

[PattyG]

4 hours ago, greyhorse said:

And didn't expect it to be reported anywhere, and I don't think I've seen it...but the US judge was the one that gave the really low score to Ayumu Hirano when that run deserved a 96-98.  Was he trying to keep the door open for Shaun?

The US judge gave an 89 but there were at least 2 other judges who gave him 90 which counted for the low total, so it wasn't at all out of line. I started scrutinizing the scores after that and it seems that the US judge was just a hard grader in general. 

[twoods]

Congrats to Yiming for getting the gold in Big Air. He was all class accepting his silver in slopestyle instead of complaining the missed grab by Parrot, so all his good karma paid off. And he’s 17! 

Edited February 15, 2022 by twoods

[galaxygirl76]

There were no medals but despite that the snowboarding felt very successful for the Dutch team. Two 6th places by the men and women on Big Air last night were a big surprise because they were so happy to even make it to the final and then do this in the final was fantastic, and a 4th place in women parallel giant slalom was an even bigger surprise. The sport is gaining fans and I hope that at one point in the future we can get another medal to join our lonely one snow medal from Vancouver.