I’ve gone bananas, and I’m back

Had the privilege of listening to Catfish again. The thing is, Catfish’s partner, Paul Roberts, is pretty good. I guess the biggest problem I have is that the two guys act as if the relatively customary tricks are unheard of. The entire atmosphere then becomes forced and fake. I think the best way to explain it is as a manufactured atmosphere. Most of the fans here aren’t knowledgeable enough to realize which moves are special and which ones are not, but I doubt ESPN wants to admit it. Thirteen years into the event and no one really understands the technical moves? Not a good thought.

Some of the "better" lines by the announcers:

“That is one of the hardest tricks to perform on vert in the world!”
“We’re about to go live to the world, Los Angeles. This is where we need you to go bananas!”
“Keep it up, Los Angeles, you’re all going to be on television live. Let’s get crazy! It’s X Games 13.”
“Jimmy Walker has taken care of business!” (He got a whopping 85.00 on that run.)

I spoke with Bucky Lasek earlier, and he told me he thinks most of the fans do appreciate the incredibly technical nature of skateboarding on the vert. I asked him if he worried that people were just tuning in for the crashes. He said he wasn’t, but that he thinks people who did back in 1995, 1996 and 1997 have grown to appreciate the finer points in the sport. I’m pretty sure that’s a bit of a stretch.

The only big applauses come when the announcers beg the crowd, and it’s rare to find a even a decent-sized cheer without prompting by the P.A. system. The only exception was Simon Tabron’s alley-oop 900. But, then again, it’s a lot easier to recognize massive spinning than it is to see difficult maneuvering of the handle bars.

-- Ken Fowler

Comments

[Vanessa]

Here's my 2 cents worth, if you don't mind. And sorry for it being so late, but better late than never, right?

First off, I'd like to say that Paul Roberts and Catfish weren't being too enthusiastic about the "relatively customary tricks" at the X Games. Sure Jimmy Walker received an 85.00 on his run, but that didn't mean it wasn't a stellar run to a REAL fan of BMX. And the reason why Grotbags (that's what everyone in the BMX world know Paul Roberts by, but I don't believe you would've known that) and Catfish had to practically beg the audience is because most are not real fans of action sports. Most of the people that attended just wanted to see a mere stunt show. It's sad that this is what the X Games have become.

And ESPN is to blame.

ESPN have been trying to attract a larger audience by making the X Games a circus, with flying athletes on BMX bikes, skateboards, and dirtbikes. What the corporate monsters at the ESPN headquarters don't know is that they're pushing away the TRUE fans of action sports, and they are the more valuable audience than those mere spectators at the recent X Games. Look at what they've done to BMX Dirt. They've taken out an event that has been with the X Games from the beginning. And they've added rally car racing and super moto - 2 separate sports that have their own circuits and give their athletes the opportunity to make BIG money, MUCH more money than BMX athletes. Many BMX fans and riders turned away from the X Games when it was announced that BMX Dirt would no longer be an event. And ESPN wants to help the action sports world??...

Oh, and may I ask why you're writing about the X Games, Mr. Ken Fowler? From reading your blogs about X Games 13, it seems to me that you don't fully comprehend action sports. But I do hope I enlightened you about them, in some way or another, with my comment. Cheers!

[Sam]

Hey everyone I was just reading over this upcoming Action sports world tour thats coming to Pomona here pretty soon and im so pumped to get to see this. Theres gonna be an ALL Freestyle Moto-x event with a few pro riders stickin it out for number 1. Anyone thats ever been anywhere near an FMX should hit this up cuz this is gonna be sick, i cant wait to go to this tour.