X-Games Homerism

Capping off perhaps the most controversial event in X-Games history Simon Dumont took home the gold medal in ski big air, topping Jon Olsson’s switch kangaroo flip with his own double front flip. This comes on the heels of Friday’s bungled snowboard big air in which Travis Rice snagged gold despite reverting each time on his signature Double Cork 1080. Conspiracy!!! Corruption!!! Sadly neither can be blamed for the state of affairs at the 2009 Winter X big air.

This year ESPN decided to throw a bone to the spectators and let them determine the winner of the head to head big air match ups by texting in the initials of their preferred aeronautical maneuverist. In theory this idea has a lot of merit. Big air has long been unrivaled in its ability to draw crowds until the recent surge in halfpipe attendance. (I have no figures to back this up but my eyeballs tell me its true.) Why not let big air go to the dogs? Slap a wireless title sponsorship on the event for increased revenue and provide an avenue for fans to interact with the brand. (Wait, Winter X- did this without even having a wireless associate sponsor, D’oh) If anything it should create some drama and unpredictability.

After two nights letting the crowd judge it turns out that nothing could have been more predictable. In both events Americans (Dumont, Rice) advanced through semis and finals over foreigners (Olsson a Swede, and Norsemen P.K. Hunder, Torstein Horgmo, and Andreas Wiig) who had clearly executed better jumps. Dumont’s double front layout, while impressive, could not hold a candle in difficulty to Olsson’s switch kangaroo or Hunder’s switch double cork 1260. In Rice’s case the issue wasn’t difficulty but simply that he scrubbed the landing on his dub cork 1080 while Wiig and Horgmo each threw near flawless switch backside 1260’s.

Ordinarily I am not one to get fussy about judging. It is always subjective and almost antithetical to the underlying spirit of these sports. However, with only one medal being awarded for each big air discipline valued at $30,000 it betrays my sense of justice to turn a blind eye to this issue. During Friday’s semifinals Wiig egregiously could only muster 8% of the vote in his matchup with Rice. Leaving judging to a fan base that is so clearly lacking knowledge on the intricacies of these sports makes the event into a popularity contest.

Now that the athletes have a better understanding of the fan judging aspect, maybe it would be better to retain the format for somewhat of a mockery competition. (Calling Tom Dolezel and Rory Bushfield) As my sister said it could be the People’s Choice awards to the X-Games Oscars.

Nevertheless, the American/foreigner dynamic troubles me such that I think ESPN should scrap the text judging. There should be no place in sport for this type of bias.