Realising a pipedream
IT sticks in my head. I’ve never forgotten.
Every time I see it on television I think to myself, “Man, how could anybody be so wrong?” But I was. Twenty-two years ago I was standing in a kitchen and this guy was holding court.
He was excited, he was tall. He was a tall photographer. He was pretty cool. In fact, he was a lot cooler than I could ever aspire to be. e.
This smooth prosnapper had just returned from a long weekend in the snow and nd was bursting with good news about the future.
“This is going to be huge,” he told the assembled friends.
“They love it, the kids just love it and it is going to be the biggest thing that ever happened to winter sports.”
As a football follower, I naturally met this proclamation with a healthy dose of quiet cynicism.
“Winter sports? Mate, nothing is ever going to be bigger than footy.
“I mean, have you ever been to the MCG to see Carlton versus Collingwood? That’s massive. Not going to get any bigger than that.”
There was a pause in the room and I smiled knowingly. Felt I had “mansplained” to the tall man, prosecuted the winning argument.
But then he started laughing. Was this guy laughing at me?
“No, no, I’m not talking local, no ... I’m talking “global” ... This is world wide, man.”
Clearly my footy versus rugby was not cutting the mustard.
He started handing around some of his photographs. “Exhibit A: This is snowboarding.” He had captured some amazing pictures. Gravity-defying stuff. This was what he was talking about.
There were no blokes in footy boots, no pig skin in sight.
Just powder snow and young people locked onto boards a little bigger than skateboards and a little shorter than surfboards.
They were creating new ways to get down the mountain.
“This is going to be in the Olympics one day.”
He is right and I was wrong. Snowboarding is amazing. This is the hot ticket at the Winter Olympics.
Armchair experts all around the world can acknowledge the skill, the power and the grace that is required to stick the landings and the courage it takes to push into the competition.
On Valentine’s Day this week, Scotty James got his hands on a bronze medal for his work in the halfpipe.
He is the first Australian men’s medallist in this competition in a Winter Olympics.
He was the flag-bearer in the opening ceremony and now he gets to carry home some history.
James tallied 92 points (which sounds like a heck of a lot to me) but still wasn’t able to topple the American snowboarding genius Shaun White.
The gold medallist dragged in a 97.75 with his final run. That’s a huge score in anybody’s language.
Snowboarding is not my favourite sport, but every time I see it, I am impressed.
It takes more than just strength, more than just speed or balance. It requires all of these qualities and still demands creativity — in the air.
That is inspiring and it’s only getting bigger.
Makes me wonder why 20 years ago I tried so hard not to be aweinspired. Now, I get it.
Congratulations, Scotty James. You were amazing in the halfpipe and you represented our country with skill and agility.
You rocked. And I loved your run. It’s going to stay with me for years. It’s going to stick in my head. Ross Mueller is a freelance writer and playwright