 Poster: A snowHead
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ESPN, creator of the Winter X Games, announced this week that 2 of the winter version’s longest-running events have been eliminated from the 2013 schedule. Both snowboard and ski cross will be left out when the event returns to Aspen in January, and the X Course, which is widely claimed to be the best cross course in the world, will not be built for the first time in the event’s history....ESPN X Games senior director of content strategy, Tim Reed, said in an ESPN.com report: "There wasn't one single factor that led to this decision. It just comes down to filling the schedule with how much we believe we need to make the event enjoyable to the fans and deliver on what we need from a product standpoint."
Snowboard cross has been in every Winter X Games since the first one in 1997, and ski cross has been in 15 of 16 events.
ESPN’s decision is being hailed as a blow to the sport. Is it? Or could it be a sign that snowboard and ski cross are now maturing to a new level? Are the best riders in the world now focusing on the next Winter Olympics?
For more, see: http://espn.go.com/action/xgames/story/_/id/8297792/snowboarder-x-skier-x-dropped-x-games
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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deliver on what we need from a product standpoint
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To explain:
X-Games = Sponsorship = Money
Freestyle = Über Cool = many many middle/upper-middle class white kids with lots of money for the same super gansta kit as that guy on TV!
Boardercross = Race kit = Not Cool = Nobody will buy what they are wearing = no Money!
Too much Sceptimism?
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You're probably not far wrong. I think some of it is just trying to keep current, or at least maintain the perception of being current.
Even the olympics are doing it. They are dropping wind-surfing in favour of kite-surfing
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/olympics/17980607
I know kite surfing is a cool sport, but has it really overtaken windsurfing in terms of global popularity?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Shame they've dropped it as it's likely to have a big impact on sponsorship for athletes, and one of the few outlets sit skiers had to reach a major audience. But afer both cross sports hit the Olympics I guess it was always a matter of time before they were too mainstream for the X Games. Also arguably too openly competititve to nail a great narrative story to - fine in the early days when Palmer was the Don, less so when they want to present Shaun White style 3-peats etc.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| too mainstream for the X Games |
The real irony being that X games is not a real sports competition, its just a giant corporate advert for Red Bull / Monster etc.
Suspect the simple answer is that skier & boarder cross courses cost big bucks to build.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Haggis_Trap, No doubt - but I don't think it's course costs after all they're bringing back snomobile cross. More likely they have viewing/tweeting/social media data parsed for every event and cross isn't generating the buzz to keep sponsors/advertisers happy.
In a way I can see the parallel with Olympic windsurfing which looked as dull as ditchwater as a spectator sport.
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I don't think we should mock windsurfing while the shooting and speed walking events remain!
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Bizarre it is in the Olympics and not X Games it all seems backwards but since it is an Olympic sport probably not surprising it get dropped, none of the cool kids want to buy race skis.
| feef wrote: |
| I know kite surfing is a cool sport, but has it really overtaken windsurfing in terms of global popularity? |
It probably will do soon, windsurfing (or in the olympics, air rowing) is a sport that has been in decline for many years.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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2012 Olympics saw the some of the best conditions for windsurfing and it was a great show, relatively speaking. But could windsurfing as an Olympic sport be hugely improved of course it could. What about freestyle competitions, even wave competitions if the conditions were right. The fact is the RX board that is used solely for Olympic events is like a dinghy with a sail, it’s huge just in case there is little wind. So with its limitations it makes viewing pretty dull.
For those who have never kitesurfed or windsurfed it takes about a year to be pretty advanced at kitesurfing and the same length of time windsurfing you will have made beginner intermediate. It’s a shame everything seems to be dumbed down these days!
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