12/21/24
May 19, 2003
LeBron who? Sixteen-year-old Shaun White has taken the snowboarding world by storm, cleaning up at almost every competition he enters, including this week's ESPN Global X-Games, where his first-round score secured him the gold and he used the second-round as a victory lap (and then scored even higher). Oh yeah, he's also qualified for this Summer's X-Games in the Skateboarding half-pipe.
posted by Ufez Jones to extreme at 09:23 AM - 3 comments
Ufez, I'm not a snowboarding fan so I don't have much to say on your link. But as far as your comment goes, yes we are hypocritical. And you can extend that beyond sports. Nobody questioned high school computer whizzes who eschewed college to join start-up companies. I had about a dozen people drop out of my business program (out of 45 students) because they had chances to hit it big with up-and-coming startups (none did, but that's the chance you take, they had a window of opportunity). That's the key word. If you're 5 or 15 or 55, you seize (or perhaps your parents seize) whatever opportunity you can based on your skills and the market. You can always go back to school later. Maybe not with a scholarship but if it's important enough you can and will do it.
posted by vito90 at 10:14 AM on May 19, 2003
Dude, that dude is extreme! Hypocritical? I suppose. But as you point out these hypocrises are exposed according to sport, and not according to the individual. The blame should be placed on the sports organizations that penalize (be it eligibility, monetary loss, or press-released criticism) an athlete for not following the pre-arranged course. Follow the loot, and you'll have your culprit.
posted by garfield at 11:30 AM on May 19, 2003
However: Are we hypocritical to allow sixteen year-olds to go pro in some sports but then damning people like LeBron? Why is it okay for someone to forgo college for Ice Skating or Tennis (or snowboarding) but not Basketball?