Apperantly you need to train.

Training to me is like going to the gym with protein drinks so you can get some tan on your tribal tattoos while sporting your new Dolce shades and Ed Hardy hat.

It´s jock, it´s lame.

I do understand that exercise is healthy, duh, but I never liked the attitude of people who practice, practice, practice, practice to become great and make money and get medals. I just can´t relate.

Sure Peter Forsberg practiced A LOT, but he has the talent too, and it shows + hockey is a jock sport to start with.

When the jock mentality hits skate/snowboarding I tend to look the other way. I totally understand why it´s there, I just don´t want anything to do with it. Hell, "our" sport is run by skiers, at least the olympic part of it. But then again I´m not associating myself with an olympic snowboarder, half pipe or slalom (haha, slalom.. ). Some of those olympic boarders, well most slalom ones, think like skiers.. old school skiers. Like racing gates skiers..

I like snowboarding that takes place on powder and to some extent jumps. Urban snowboarding is what it is and I like documenting it but it´s not what gets me psyched to get in the car (or subway here in Stockholm).
Gigi, Nicolas, Parker and others take care of that for me.

So while reading this article ( I couldn´t read the whole thing, so sorry if I missed something) on Bud Keene who´s a coach for the US olympic team or national team or whatever.. I got a little confused. Like.. really.. he just said that..?
I was never one to really understand what he had to do with any American taking a medal at the olympics.. I mean yes I understand that there are team managers, friends, filmers, riders etc who travel with the talent and push the riders to do better but a coach? Like, oh your head is a tiny bit lower on your double cork than it was last week.. try chucking it harder.. like that? And full time? And probably making over 10k a month doing it, hell probably 20k a month.

Here´s a quote from the article:
What did you think of Vito's dance career? Good or bad for his snowboarding? Or is it a just a totally "snowboard" thing to do on an Olympic year?
No, not really. He could have been down in N.Z. learning a new trick instead.

Yes, he said that.
I also think that my job as filmer, editor, driver, team manger, baby sitter, drink buyer and coach has been and is rewarding.
I just don´t totally understand Bud´s point of view, or the people who pay him. Cause I do understand it, just not totally.
In the late 90´s a traveled a fair bit with the Swedish and Norwegian national teams and Petter Levin who coached both of them (I think) was a really good guy to have around, but he was more of a friend and possibly team manager and I never saw him as a coach, in the jock sense of the word / profession.

Here´s another:
Do you do any intelligence snooping on foreign halfpipe comps and athletes?
People have been inspired by Shaun's private training ground last winter, and so have been working to get their own special situations set up. We know about most of those situations, and what was accomplished at each, but I can't help feeling that we don't know about all of them. We'll see.

I wouldn´t use the word "inspired". At least that´s not what I´ve heard. And no I don´t see his "special situation set up" comparable to the DC Mtn Lab if anyone made that connection.

I´d like to give the riders more credit and not involve some coach. But when you´re expected (and yes Shaun you will with 99.5% certainty) win the olympics I can see why it would be good to talk to a mental coach who helps you focus and get in the zone. But I´m certain Torstein Horgmo and Halldor Helgason got their gold medals without a couch telling them what to do and they didn´t even get mercy points (Salt Lake pipe olympics + X-Games big air 2009).

My $0.02.

Would have been great to see Danny Davis take the gold.. but not this time. Hope he and Kevin Pearce makes great recoveries and I´m happy Shaun didn´t hurt himself in that nasty, nasty slam from the X-Games (which made Espn hold the broadcast for 30 min.. completely different post/subject though..).


Don´t get me started on the Swedish "national team" and their $2,000.000 budget for the 2006 olympics... gees. Get me into a meeting with those who are/were sponsoring that sinking ship.