OT - Olympics Men's Halfpipe
Vito got robbed, it should have been a US sweep of the podium.
Shaun White is a beast. Besting a gold medal score with his victory lap was redunculous. His qualifying run score would have taken the gold. He looked super-human, definitely way ahead of all other mortals at what he does.
Anybody else catch the finals?
February 17th, 2010 at 11:37 PM ^
He's an absolute freak. I can't even come up with anything else to say about it. He absolutely destroyed everyone.
February 17th, 2010 at 11:38 PM ^
I don't watch the X-Games or any of these extreme sports, but as I watched Shaun White do that last move...I think my mouth fell to the floor. He has sick skills. That was crazy.
February 17th, 2010 at 11:41 PM ^
Shaun White just plain isn't human. The comparison shot of him six feet above the other rider's highest point was absurd, and that last trick was almost as mindboggling as his thought process must have been:
"I've already won the gold, and I lost a ton of speed off that last trick... I really wanted to be hitting this last one faster for this ridiculous trick that's never been seen before. Umm... nah, f it, I'm gonna do it."
February 17th, 2010 at 11:50 PM ^
He probably had the same thoughts going through his mind, as Desmond did when he was trying to decide if he should strike the heisman pose..."Should I do it? Should I not? Fuck it! I did it!!"
February 17th, 2010 at 11:47 PM ^
Shaun White is a total beast. Two absolutely amazing runs. He is just better than anyone else in that sport.
February 17th, 2010 at 11:58 PM ^
I also liked the conversation White had with his coach at the top before his last run. White asked what he should do. The coach said 'whatever you want, just STOMP the SHIT OUT OF IT!'
Classic live television. I have a Shaun White mancrush.
February 18th, 2010 at 12:33 AM ^
I couldn't tell if he was being serious, but the best part was when he suggested he just go down the middle because he had already won.
February 18th, 2010 at 1:35 AM ^
he definitely dropped a couple "f" bombs in there too
February 18th, 2010 at 12:01 AM ^
Great haul for the USA today, makes me proud to be an American.
February 18th, 2010 at 12:06 AM ^
I'm pissed I didn't see it now. I started getting sick of NBC's coverage, especially since the results were being posted on espn.com well before the events were televised, and turned the Olympics off. Oops.
February 18th, 2010 at 12:50 PM ^
is available at nbcolympics.com, with video. The halfpipe competition was mind-boggling; the most amazing event I have seen in 46 years of watching the Winter Olympics. Shaun White is not just competing, he's defining the sport.
Agree about NBC coverage; without a dvr, it would be unwatchable. NBC shows the skaters arrive, warm up, perform, cool down, get their scores and then go back to Bob Costas' and Dick Button's analysis of what we watched. But there's only enough time to show, what, five (?) men ski in the Downhill. Jeepers.
Agree about NBC coverage; without a dvr, it would be unwatchable. NBC shows the skaters arrive, warm up, perform, cool down, get their scores and then go back to Bob Costas' and Dick Button's analysis of what we watched. But there's only enough time to show, what, five (?) men ski in the Downhill. Jeepers.
February 18th, 2010 at 12:17 AM ^
Shaun White = BG ???????
February 18th, 2010 at 2:10 AM ^
Unfair comparison for White.
Shaun White = Charles Woodson
February 18th, 2010 at 10:02 AM ^
Pump the brakes, Beavis. Let's not go overboard here.
February 18th, 2010 at 1:12 AM ^
missed the mother f'in pipe. Too busy watching my parlay play out (and win, FWIW) with the stupid Mavs game. I've seen so many FB statuses as well as Tweets about this and couldn't be more pissed I missed it. I feel like watching the videos on YouTube won't do it justice.
February 18th, 2010 at 1:20 AM ^
I'm going to go with most here and say that Shaun White wasn't just the best one out there, it was almost as if he were playing a different, more advanced sport.
Oh, and you got the feeling that he wasn't even trying as hard as he could have..... and I mean that in a good way.
February 18th, 2010 at 1:53 AM ^
Meant in the same good way that also describes Usain Bolt slowing down to win the '08 100m with a new world record time
February 18th, 2010 at 7:54 AM ^
Analogies to the Delaware State game.
The guy is absolutely incredible.
February 18th, 2010 at 1:37 AM ^
The Pipe was awesome. No disrespect to the other riders, but White looked like a professional in a semi-pro league. He was amazing. OTOH, did anyone else think the announcer was ridiculously pro-american and didn't say anything good about any of the other riders?
Example:
Finnish rider completes a run where his air is described as "sick" and a trick is described as "monster." After the run is over the announcer said he didn't see anything special about the run, it just didn't have the spectacular pantomime a medal run deserves. The Finn took home silver.
February 18th, 2010 at 10:50 AM ^
That announcer added a strong degree of unprofessionalism to the Olympics. I was waiting for him to plug Mountain Dew or something
February 18th, 2010 at 12:45 PM ^
did give the Finnish team some props, but yeah, they were definitely rooting on the US team.
February 18th, 2010 at 2:54 AM ^
White killed it for sure. The rest of the field has some catching up to do if they want to beat him. At this point he has set himself apart from every other rider. He's ridiculous on a skateboard too. Maybe we should recruit him for the slot.
February 18th, 2010 at 7:47 AM ^
could definitely be a slot ninja. And he's still eligible. Somebody tell Magee to get on that kid.
February 18th, 2010 at 8:01 AM ^
In MY day we did a FULL pipe, uphill both ways.
/get off my lawn
February 18th, 2010 at 8:01 AM ^
Shaun White's SECRET TRAINING FORTRESS. It's apparently this custom build training area at 11000 ft that is only accessible by helicopter. If I was Shaun White, I'd just go all out and have the mountain my training facility was built on carved to look like a skull face and start wearing Nehru jackets everywhere...
February 18th, 2010 at 12:54 PM ^
I thought of Superman's Fortress of Solitude. I'm sure the helicopter was for the reporter and cameraman; Shaun flies there under his own power, most days.
February 18th, 2010 at 8:22 AM ^
I give the kid credit he could have just mailed it in on that final run, and instead proved why he is far and away the best in the world.
February 18th, 2010 at 9:07 AM ^
watching Shaun White destroy his competition. He didn't even need the double mictiwst to win. I guess maybe the rest of the world will catch up to him someday...The evil side of me really enjoyed watching the women wreck nasty on the downhill ski event. Did you see that? OUCH --
February 18th, 2010 at 9:29 AM ^
Why do a bunch of the competitors start halfway down the starter hill instead of at the top? Shaun White starts right at the top, and if I remember right, enters the pipe from behind the right edge so he gets a straight shot all the way across the pipe for his first trick on the left edge. He just carries so much more speed and I don't understand why the other competitors don't recognize that.
February 18th, 2010 at 10:22 AM ^
He is like the Usain Bolt of snowboarding. He just looks so much more comfortable and solid when he's going through his tricks (and that's against other guys who have been snowboarding their whole lives!). Takes some balls doing what he does, especially when you slam your face against the lip of the pipe like he did during the X-games. Bravo, flying tomato.
February 18th, 2010 at 10:29 AM ^
is he makes about as much money a years as most of the US basketball team members. Where the basketball team had to stay in a 5 star luxury hotel. Shaun and Vito are staying in the village dorms with the rest of the poor amateurs.
February 18th, 2010 at 10:45 AM ^
I think the best comparison between White and the rest of the field was Yost's football teams playing against all the other schools. He is just so insanely talented and works so much harder, they don't have a chance. Nobody is on his level.
Eventually I have to believe that the halfpipe will become like figure skating, where the top people all approach the limits of what the human body can do, so that basically everyone among the elite is basically doing the same tricks--imagine how much more exiting it would be if the top six all put up runs like Shaun White's.
February 18th, 2010 at 10:54 AM ^
The kid is a hero for this country. I love the patriotism and the gusto. He's also very polite with reporters, seems like a class act (though probably a bit of a party animal, too)
February 18th, 2010 at 11:09 AM ^
He is a good representative of our country, a welcome ambassador in the international sports world, but a hero? People, people, get ahold of yourselves.
February 18th, 2010 at 12:19 PM ^
A hero is a person of exceptional ability who is celebrated for their bold exploits. Why doesn't White fit the bill?
February 18th, 2010 at 1:16 PM ^
I think Shaun White is awesome, and deserves $, acclaim and respect.
I only use the term "Hero" to describe someone who puts themselves at serious risk for something other than personal gain.
So as an example, I'd call every single firefighter on the planet a hero before Shaun White.
February 18th, 2010 at 10:59 AM ^
The first straight-board trick is what got me out of my chair. He got sooo much height on it! When NBC superimposed another snowboarder, Shaun was about six feet higher. Major cajones to get twelve to thirteen feet above the wall.
February 18th, 2010 at 11:13 AM ^
The distance he put between himself and the pipe there was just nasty. Most people would crap their pants looking down from that (with a board strapped to their feet).
February 18th, 2010 at 1:08 PM ^
Soaring through the crisp, clear, Canadian sky, he flew 25 feet above the halfpipe at the top, linked a pair of spiraling, double-flipping moves in the middle and stayed on his feet the whole way down.from nbcolympics.com. Oh yeah, the wall is 22 feet high, IIRC.
February 18th, 2010 at 11:32 AM ^
The only thing that could have made this better would be a more staid announcer coming unglued.
It would have been great to hear someone like George Will lose it watching White do such remarkable feats.
February 18th, 2010 at 12:40 PM ^
even better is that he skateboards in the summer (he took this year off)... the kid is the best snowboarder in the world and has worked hard enough to become one of the top vert ramp skateboarders also... how many athletes can say that???
February 18th, 2010 at 12:58 PM ^
Big Ten QB and rap star in the making.
Oops, I was supposed to give up sarcasm for Lent.
Oops, I was supposed to give up sarcasm for Lent.
February 18th, 2010 at 1:51 PM ^
(Obviously) I've heard of him before but I really became a fan of his after last night. Not only did he crush the competition, but he's all smiles and a gracious winner. He was up all night yet did an outstanding interview with the cast of the Today show this morning at 7.
I don't know if I'd be too fired up if my teenage son came to me and said he was pursuing a career in Snowboarding. But if he turned out like Shaun White, I'd be an extremely proud father.