Author Topic: So now that the Olympics are over.....  (Read 8858 times)

Offline D

  • Deathtrucker
  • ********
  • Posts: 800
So now that the Olympics are over.....
« on: March 01, 2010, 09:43:38 PM »
It's worth it to ask, again, why figure skating, like our own little sport, is a impossibly complicated technical sport, performed professionally by an extremely small number of people, featuring moves only people who actually do it can understand the importance of, can be consistently presented in a way to mass audiences that makes it engaging and dramatic and personal, but flatland, for years and years and years, can't seem to be able to do this.  Why do you think this is?  There's no right or wrong answer to this, just something to think about. 

Offline i_cant_ride

  • Hitchhiker
  • *****
  • Posts: 146
Re: So now that the Olympics are over.....
« Reply #1 on: March 01, 2010, 09:58:54 PM »
Because most figure skaters are gorgeous females that spread their legs numerous times throughout their routine while wearing very skimpy outfits. Flatlanders on the otherhand are generally unkempt dirty derelicts who usually are skinny, pale and riddled with scars from riding. If women's figure skating didn't exist in the Olympics you can bet men's figure skating wouldn't exist there either.

Offline D

  • Deathtrucker
  • ********
  • Posts: 800
Re: So now that the Olympics are over.....
« Reply #2 on: March 01, 2010, 10:00:12 PM »
They're definitely good at building up the drama.  One fall and the best skater there can go from 1st to 10th....it makes it pretty dramatic to see on TV.  On the other hand, I've overheard random people on the sidelines of the Athens contests not even sure whether or not it's okay to put a foot down in the middle of a long flatland link, or even if that's PART of the link.    

Offline D

  • Deathtrucker
  • ********
  • Posts: 800
Re: So now that the Olympics are over.....
« Reply #3 on: March 01, 2010, 10:01:55 PM »
Because most figure skaters are gorgeous females that spread their legs numerous times throughout their routine while wearing very skimpy outfits. Flatlanders on the otherhand are generally unkempt dirty derelicts who usually are skinny, pale and riddled with scars from riding. If women's figure skating didn't exist in the Olympics you can bet men's figure skating wouldn't exist there either.


we need Krys Dauchy to make a comeback then.....

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://farm1.static.flickr.com/71/173275002_10f1daabd1.jpg%3Fv%3D0&imgrefurl=http://flickr.com/photos/37996615450%40N01/173275002&usg=__0vMWlreLvpD0dIBOYJW5hWe6fhI=&h=500&w=400&sz=92&hl=en&start=3&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=zjQxZI9gZHkVWM:&tbnh=130&tbnw=104&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dkrys%2Bdauchy%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Den%26tbs%3Disch:1

katobmx

  • Guest
Re: So now that the Olympics are over.....
« Reply #4 on: March 01, 2010, 10:03:42 PM »
Mens gymnastic floor exercise=break dancing. I think including BMX racing was a major step for us. Its only a matter of time. the only thing too me is the bikes. Our bike setups are drasticly different from each other. The Olympics usually regulates peoples machinery, but how will they regulate our bikes for fareness sake. All competitors ride a DK opsis etc???

Offline D

  • Deathtrucker
  • ********
  • Posts: 800
Re: So now that the Olympics are over.....
« Reply #5 on: March 01, 2010, 10:11:07 PM »
The judged Olympic sports all have extremely strict judging standards that everyone agreed on ahead of time.  That's one thing that flatland just doesn't have, despite many attempts. 
Is a spinning hitchhiker harder than a spinning deathtruck?  How much better?   Meanwhile, one of our most visible moments was when our sports (at the time) youngest and most
promising star didn't like the judging at the '99 XGames, so he complained until they changed the rules in the middle of the contest.  Stay classy.   

Offline Ultraman Zoffy

  • GF Inhabitant
  • ********
  • Posts: 1886
Re: So now that the Olympics are over.....
« Reply #6 on: March 02, 2010, 01:40:25 AM »
I tend to not compare them, but instead always wonder what type of riding progression we'd see from someone nationally funded with the same coaches, facilities, etc. as a world class figure skater. Incredibly dialed, perfect form, combined with the hardest tricks and links possible? Seeing the results of Martti's coaching of the Thai riders and their performance at that Korean competition a while back probably gave us the closest thing to it, and those guys killed it at that contest.
And for the record, Kiira Korpi from Finland and Mao Asada and Miki Ando from Japan for the win...  :rolleyes:

Offline tafkat

  • GF Inhabitant
  • ********
  • Posts: 1048
    • Jon Lavigne Dot com
Re: So now that the Olympics are over.....
« Reply #7 on: March 02, 2010, 02:29:11 AM »
Y'all want to end up practicing for the compulsories as well as the artistic program?

Offline Pralex

  • Deathtrucker
  • ********
  • Posts: 750
Re: So now that the Olympics are over.....
« Reply #8 on: March 02, 2010, 04:01:50 AM »
The only reason you all talk about compulsory runs and sh*t is because you compare flatland to figure skating.  Compare it to snowboarding halfpipe, they do not have compulsory tricks, its freestyle, they go down and do whatever the f*ck they want.  It seems to work.

Offline D

  • Deathtrucker
  • ********
  • Posts: 800
Re: So now that the Olympics are over.....
« Reply #9 on: March 02, 2010, 05:23:58 PM »
I'm thinking more about how figure skating is the same kind of technical, subjective sport like flatland, yet it enjoys much more widespread appeal.  The compulsory part of competition doesn't have anything to do with that part of it.   People will tune in for hours and 99.99% of them couldn't tell you one figure skating thing from another.  Whys is it so watchable, but flatland isn't?   
 

Offline Revig

  • Cliffhanger
  • *******
  • Posts: 446
Re: So now that the Olympics are over.....
« Reply #10 on: March 02, 2010, 05:59:48 PM »
I'm thinking more about how figure skating is the same kind of technical, subjective sport like flatland, yet it enjoys much more widespread appeal.  The compulsory part of competition doesn't have anything to do with that part of it.   People will tune in for hours and 99.99% of them couldn't tell you one figure skating thing from another.  Whys is it so watchable, but flatland isn't?
Among others differences, one thing you won't find in bmx flatland is the choreography that goes with a selected music that defines figure skating very much also. I think it's a very important part of the figure skating that makes it enjoyable for the people watching it, and it's a thing the judges look at closely also.

Offline D

  • Deathtrucker
  • ********
  • Posts: 800
Re: So now that the Olympics are over.....
« Reply #11 on: March 02, 2010, 06:51:02 PM »
I'm thinking more about how figure skating is the same kind of technical, subjective sport like flatland, yet it enjoys much more widespread appeal.  The compulsory part of competition doesn't have anything to do with that part of it.   People will tune in for hours and 99.99% of them couldn't tell you one figure skating thing from another.  Whys is it so watchable, but flatland isn't?
Among others differences, one thing you won't find in bmx flatland is the choreography that goes with a selected music that defines figure skating very much also. I think it's a very important part of the figure skating that makes it enjoyable for the people watching it, and it's a thing the judges look at closely also.

Old school flatland contests let you pick and ride to your own music.  You were out there for anywhere from 1.5- FIVE minutes.  It was all part of a "showmanship" score  that also included how you were dressed!  Riders didn't seem to like it though and eventually it was changed.  But choreography was a big part of flatland back in the 80's.  It might be worth mentioning that people made tens of thousands of dollars doing hopping tricks back then.     

Offline Revig

  • Cliffhanger
  • *******
  • Posts: 446
Re: So now that the Olympics are over.....
« Reply #12 on: March 02, 2010, 07:27:44 PM »
Old school flatland contests let you pick and ride to your own music.  You were out there for anywhere from 1.5- FIVE minutes.  It was all part of a "showmanship" score  that also included how you were dressed!  Riders didn't seem to like it though and eventually it was changed.  But choreography was a big part of flatland back in the 80's.  It might be worth mentioning that people made tens of thousands of dollars doing hopping tricks back then.

I should have write "modern flatland"... (I didn't coz 2010 it's the actual year for everybody).
I know about bitd stuff, the jerseys and off course you can choose your music when you ride at contest, that's not the point here.
Unfortunately, you can't talk (seriously) about choreography when it comes to the similarities between figure ice skating and flatland bmx. There are emotions in figure skating because of the choreography ; something created (and with the music) that can provide goose-flesh for the mass. You can get that goose-flesh when you watch flatland off course but only if you know and like flatland, not if you are not keen about it.
(and seriously again, I suppose it will be very hard to find proficient riders nowadays that will do the same kind of stuff than the os riders. But tell if it's possible if you think it is, why not)
So at least, it's difficult to compare that sport to flatland, and that's not the only difference.
And I regret flatland is not a bigger sport (if it's really a sport) that could come to the Olympics  -_-
« Last Edit: March 02, 2010, 07:30:40 PM by Revig »

Re: So now that the Olympics are over.....
« Reply #13 on: March 02, 2010, 07:48:05 PM »
personally, i am so glad that flatland is not a part of the dramatic chaos that the Olympics represents.  and if it were, you'd be hearing about some pro rider getting sh*t on by the media for drinking a beer at an after-contest gathering or better yet, for riding with no shirt on and causing a huge media circus scandal because it was too provocative of a performance.  the thing i have to ask myself in the context of this thread, is would i really want to be compared, in an Olympic context and thusly, on an emotional level to an ice skater?  no.  i like my drama right where it is, inside my car while driving on the freeway, not on the television or in the tabloids.   
« Last Edit: March 02, 2010, 07:56:46 PM by råbe »

Offline D

  • Deathtrucker
  • ********
  • Posts: 800
Re: So now that the Olympics are over.....
« Reply #14 on: March 02, 2010, 07:54:37 PM »
True, the Olympics generates all kinds of scandals for TV, but I think it might be worth it for the advantages the money would bring to the sport.  More exposure = more endorsements =
more pro riders can make a living riding bikes.  If Bode Miller or Michael Phelps lived like even the wealthiest "pro" flatlander for one day, he'd probably kill himself.  Those athletes are well taken care of for
the most part.  As it is it's been more than 20 years since anyone could earn anything more but the most basic living riding flatland without endless touring.