Watch the X Games tonight

Last nights' qualifiers were good, but tonight White will probably throw down one of if not the best runs in history. The X Games pipe is longer than the Olympic pipe so they get more hits/tricks in, thus the run will likely be better than his Olympic run.
Plenty of International competition on his heels too, if he slips up. Like him or not, it will be something special to see however it may go down.

I would be shocked to see White slip up. The guy is dialed in. He makes everything look so easy.

Did anyone notice Elija Teter throw down with a roast beef grab on one of his hits last night? The announcer said it was "so old school, I don't even know the name of that grab."

What station is showing the qualifiers

Mctwist 1260 WHAT THE F-

Rob,

Pipe Elimination round was last night, you can watch it on ESPN360. Tonights finals are 9-11pm Eastern.

Slopestyle quals are today during the noon-3 showing on ESPN2 and ESPN360...

This is the TV schedule for today, and if you click on Live Video Schedule that shows what will be on ESPN360

woops... http://espn.go.com/action/xgames/2010/wx14/news/story?id=4785156

I always think that the other guys are stepping up and will catch him but there in nobody in his league. He goes so big and is the only one that makes the double cork flippy things look stylish.

How about those 22 foot Backside Airs he was booting last night.

^^I read this year Shawn blew off his usual skateboarding while everyone else got a couple of months practice in on him. He decided to concentrate on snowboarding and it showed last night. Nobody close to being in his league except maybe KP. Love him or hate him, the dude's got the DNA.

No doubt Shaun is in a league of his own right now. That massive backside air on his first hit was ridiculous. I can appreciate the flippy, spinny stuff, but to me nothing looks better than a huge stylish air with a grab like that. It was fun to watch for sure.

Danny Davis is probably the only guy who can give SW a run for his money. He beat him at the Mammoth Grand Prix with probably one of the best pipe runs ever.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cH91bscPPf4&feature=related
Check how long he holds the tail grab on the first hit.

But then again Davis is injured so no one is standing in Shaun White's way

Thanks A-dub!

check this out!
http://www.shaunwhite.com/projectx/?fbid=AzfggALillT#/doctricks

Depending on the level of competition tonight, you may see White hold back and wait for the Olympics to reveal his full potential. He can beat the competition without his full bag of tricks and I'm sure he doesn’t want to risk injury. That being said, as amazing as he is in the half pipe, I still feel there are better more rounded snowboarders out there. Check out Eero Ettala, Terje Haakonsen and Travis Rice.

how come ppl dont like white? im not a follower of snowboarding but anytime ive seen him on tv he's always seemed like a nice guy without pretension

Similar to why people hate on Phil Soven, just not some people's style. I would say that White is pretty darn well rounded, although I'd put Rice, Tornstein Horgmo, and others up there with/above White. White is likely the main poster boy for US Winter Olympics, there's going to be some haters that come with that. I don't necessarily like him a lot, but can realize he's by far the best currently

Terje is a legend. Eero and Rice along with other bangers were on during the day today, can watch that on ESPN360.

I was wrong.

Coverage starts at 7pm Eastern

I just think there is more to snowboarding than halfpipe contest. He is one of the all time greats, but represents the "Look at me! Look at me!" (insert energy drink and Target add here) side of snowboarding".

Many like me respect the "sole rider" side of the sport. Terje would have won the first snowboard Olympics, but turned down the invite because he felt commercialism would take advantage of snowboarding.

Eero has an amazing work ethic and has put together the most amazing video parts in the past few years, but most non-snowboarder have never heard of him. Is because he doesn’t wear women's jeans or claim to be ghetto?

Snowboarding, wakeboarding, skateboarding is not always about contests and sponsors. Get paid, but do it with some dignity. Let your riding speak for itself. I feel Byerly and Murray have done this for wake. Sorry for the rant.

Shooter, Terje and Eero freakin' rock. They took different avenues than Shawn took. Shawn still kills it in the back country, maybe not to the level that those 2 do. There's probably dudes out there that would put all 3 to shame that you've never heard of because they ride for themselves. Shawn is the face of snowboarding, but don't hate him for that because Terje and Eero are commercialized, but just at a different level.

Watching these riders is just mind blowing. They are all at a different level that I could never imagine.

On a side note, why doesn't wakeboarding have a best trick contest? I realize double up contest is somewhat the same but it isn't the same caliber.

I never heard of Eero until "Tracking Eero" on fuel. Awesome show and great rider.

Jason, I think the double up contest is basically the closest we will get (especially Parks Double or Nothing). While comparing the two, has anyone else noticed the difference between execution standards in wakeboarding vs other boardsports? In snowboarding if you put your hands down, slide out and butt check, or fall, that run is automatically out the window. Probably no higher than 50/100. In wakeboarding, you can have some sketchy landings and maybe even fall and still win if you have a great rest of the run. I feel like in snowboarding a trick doesnt even count if a body part touches the snow on the landing. In wakeboarding thats definitely not the case. I guess our sport is newer/not as big so maybe execution standards will escalate but its something I definitely noticed and want to make a personal effort to improve.

I respectfully disagree with the "Look at me! Look at me!" (insert energy drink and Target add here)" in reference to snowboarding and Shaun White. He is marketed by his sponsors, just like all the other riders, and for good reason he is at the top.

How many pro snowboarders can say they've won pro snow AND skate medals at X-Games? Someone help me out here bc I can only think of one.

Have you seen his backcountry riding? Ridiculous! Travis Rice and Shaun killed it in First Descent and that's not even current.

If I remember right he was the ONLY X-Games 11 snowboarder to throw a 1080 diagonally between the kickers on the Big Air event (someone correct me if I'm wrong).

Superpipe represents the same concept that RedBulls WakeLab does, it is spectator friendly competition. You can only film backcountry just like freeride wakeboarding. Without commercailism none of the sports would grow.

IMO he rides with exceptional dignity and represents the sport on/off better than anyone else.

That was pretty ridiculous, did anyone see his crash during practice? OUCH!

^^^ That crash was rough. And he just shook it off! damn

Yeah, and then he goes right out there and throws the same trick into his winning run... if that happened to me, I would never even consider the trick until after the olympics...

I saw his crash in practice, IMO he is lucky to walk away from that.

Did anyone catch the snowmobile freestyle? A few guys did a hart attack backflip-crazy!

I can't even get the x-games tonight yet because the b-ball game went into OT.

White is on 60 minutes on Sunday nite. 7pm EST. Interesting to see how he comes across. I don't know why people have a problem with him? Seen as being too commercial maybe?

this thread was good until all the negative comments...why can't this discussion board be cool?

some people take this forum way too seriously when they start finding a way (which is pretty much impossible) to take something away from a guy like shaun white. shooter: u shot urself in the toe with that one

"...why can't this discussion board be cool?"

Lol,are you serious?

You might need to read my thread again Poke. I would not consider my post negative. I made mention that I feel there are better riders out there. Someone asked why White is disliked and I gave my opinion. I just wanted to open up the perspective of others. I think fletch nailed it, White excels in a area of the sport that is spectator friendly.

I have been around the snowboarding industry for a long time and saw it before it was commercialized (It was much like wakeboarding is now). Commercialism can be great because it brings money to the sport, but it is also a double edged sword. I could go into much detail on this, no need. Go buy a Mack Dawg video and enjoy!

Shooter, Terje boycotted the Olympics because it was going to be run by the FIS (skiing's governing body). He said "snowboarding is not a discipline of skiing." It wasn't because of commercialism.

is Robbie Malinoski Rustys brother?? im pretty sure he is

They both come from the same town so it's more than possible.

Yes, it's Rusty's brother.

Correct, Robbie is Rusty's brother.

And yes the Freestyle Snowmobile was sick.

Saw SW on 60 minutes last nite. Earns $10 million a year (can that be??) and drives a lamborghini.No wonder none of these people think wakeboarding is legit.

Apparently Red Bull pays Ryan Sheckler 1.8 mill a year so I'd imagine the pay Shaun White around that. Plus his other sponsors and prize purses I don't have much trouble believing 10M a year.

I was wondering the same thing about Robbie Malinoski being Rusty's brother or is it the other way around????

Shaun rips and on interviews come across as genuine and I will be pulling for him in the olympics, endorsements and all. He earned some riding after that practice wreck.

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=4874598

In case you didn't see this last night. Be blown away by science

10 Million sounds pretty on point, I was guessing more. I bet he gets more than Sheckler from Red Bull, then he has his video game, his seperate collections with Target and Burton, and then probably a few other smaller sponsors.

"White's endorsement take is greater than any baseball or football player outside of quarterback Peyton Manning."
That really says it all right there.
This taken from a 2009 Forbes article seen here: http://www.forbes.com/2009/02/17/shaun-white-tony-hawk-business-sports_0218_action_sports.html

What is the most a pro wakeboarder has made in a year? 2nd who was it? 3rd what year was it?

p.s. i do not know the answer

It's a good question, Jim, that no one on here probably has the answer to.
My gut tells me that it was either Parks or Shapiro, but their biggest pay days were around 10 years ago. I don't think any wakeboarders have come close to making 7 figures in one year.

Darin made $500,000 one year and that was back in the mid-90's I believe. Not sure what guys are making now, I would guess it could be more than that but consider inflation in there.

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=4874598

man thats kick ass. I wish I could see more footage without all the editing.

Its what I do, albeit on a much more insignificant level, on a backroll