freestyle + xgames = y not?

[CarFanatic]

Ok so I got my copy of the addiction on friday and popped it in to watch. Great movie, and its was funny to see so many faces that go with the screen names on this board. In the video everyone was talking about promoting the sport, and wanting more exposure etc. I began to think, I've been riding jet skis since 94 which was when I got my first one. I'm new to the stand up scene, but Until now I wasn't able to get one. I'm totally addictied to the stand up, and its all I ride now. What I remeber though, was back then Jet sking was so much bigger. It was on espn, racing and freestyle, and there were at least 2 magazines that I used to get on a monthly basis. I still remeber all the guys who used to compete.. then it all just kinda disapeered. I have no idea why it went away, and I hate the new trend of skis. We all know there not pwc anymore, more like mini boats. Anyways, this all got me thinking and wondering why the hell isn't freestyle in the summer X games? That would be great exposure... Thats exactly how motox freestyle got big.. Why couldnt jet sking?

 

[danjrowan]

i was watching malones 'rampt' and he mentioned the x games
i no alot hjave tryed but i cant see why it hasnt been done?

 

[94SJrider]

from what i hear its the fact that there are certain ppl against it because of the 2 stroke polluting the waters.

 

[WaveDemon]

its not popular enough.

 

[danjrowan]

funny saying that it aint popular enough about our pride and joys, we all love it so much but most people just dont wanna hear it. wave demon is unfortunatly right, i wish we were as popular as motox

 

[WaveDemon]

funny saying that it aint popular enough about our pride and joys, we all love it so much but most people just dont wanna hear it. wave demon is unfortunatly right, i wish we were as popular as motox

I'm personally happy this is a small niche sport. My ride spot couldn't handle dozens of people. if the sport doubled in size is still wouldn't be a blip on the radar of main stream media. Just be happy we've got want we have and have fun with it. :biggthumpup:

 

[CarFanatic]

I like the smallness of the sport aswell. With exposure though, I would hope maybe manufactures would come back around and start building jetskis right again.

ITs funny you say not enough interest, yet they have street luge... who gives a crap about that. OR even now they have motogp, yes cool, but not alot of interest there either. All those moto freestyle bikes are 2 strokes, so whats so bad about a jet ski...

 

[Nascency Chris]

wasn't there another thread similiar to this one already?

ah well, its neither here nor there...

like i said before, change happens slowly when trying to build up something like this...

people have to know we exist as riders and competitors. i still have a ton of people who either see The Addiction or trailers online, etc and the first words out of their mouths is (get ready for it:biggrin "I didn't even know people did that!"

the problem, as i see it, with staying niche is that personal watercraft are in a precarious situation in regards to regulation, out and out hatred from the eco-nuts, etc...its a hell of alot easier to roll over one person with an agenda than 1,000...dig?

if motocross was not as mainstream as it is there would not be as many places to ride because someone would have shut them down, but they have the power of numbers behind them and it provides them with some sense of safety...

this is why myself and others such as ronnymac are constantly pushing people to travel to freerides, competitions, etc and show people that we do exist...that we have a voice...because once you have a voice, people start to listen...

and people are listening...riders are securing larger sponsors, and sponsors outside of the freestyle/freeride industry, which in and of itself could do huge things for the sport...only time will tell...

the best thing we can all do to get back to the mainstream exposure that people want is to go ride...educate people...and promote riding any way you know how...and have a blast while we do it...

thats just my 2 pennies though...

 

[StandupWI]

I realize that getting into the x-games would be tough and probably take at least a year or two to get started and when it did start very little broadcasting would take place because of the rating and viewers risk. But what I think is realistic is getting on Fuel TV, I have never seen The Addiction however all I here is how great it is. Fuel TV every Sunday and other random times has Insane Cinemas which are about hour long videos of skateboarding, surfing, motocross, etc. All the films are rather low budget and defiantly not done as well of what I have seen from The Addiction. So to me I think if we pestered Fuel TV a little they would put The Addiction as an Insane Cinemas come on lets face it they aren't exactly loaded with shows and often show the same ones over again.

 

[Nascency Chris]

I realize that getting into the x-games would be tough and probably take at least a year or two to get started and when it did start very little broadcasting would take place because of the rating and viewers risk. But what I think is realistic is getting on Fuel TV, I have never seen The Addiction however all I here is how great it is. Fuel TV every Sunday and other random times has Insane Cinemas which are about hour long videos of skateboarding, surfing, motocross, etc. All the films are rather low budget and defiantly not done as well of what I have seen from The Addiction. So to me I think if we pestered Fuel TV a little they would put The Addiction as an Insane Cinemas come on lets face it they aren't exactly loaded with shows and often show the same ones over again.

i have tried to contact both fuel and spike and aside from "friend of a friend" contacts i have not been able to speak with anyone who could even, at the very least, point me in the direction of the correct person to speak with regarding something like that...i keep trying though...:banghead:

keep in mind also, you can drag the xgames anywhere.. a few dirtramps, a few halfpipes, a street skating mini-park, ..etc.... you're done.

the problem with jetskiing is that people will only want to watch the big air surf stuff.. (please don't flip out, i'm not trying to piss anyone off by saying that)... and.. you can't plan the surf months in advance, much less put a bunch of big bleachers out IN the break so a few thousand people can get a nice close-up of the action while theyre buying red bulls to drink, tshirts from vendors, hot dogs from the concession operators, ....etc... there's only so many double up flatwater backlips a spectator will want to watch. (let's not even talk about insurance, handicap accessibility, enviro eco-nuts, etc)


the fmx guys are also pushing the envelope WAY further than we are. look at all the backflip variations... those guys are NUTS!!!!! they go BIG!!!

honest .02

geez, yer such a hater saki...you should ride a streetbike lol...

seriously though, good points, i had not thought of the whole venue thing...

but...but...

if we think outside of the box for a second...could we not build obstacles like ramps, funboxes, etc for flatwater that would give the "wow" factor to a crowd, be portable like fmx ramps, and allow the coordinators of the x-games to say when and where?

we would probably have to reinforce skis a little different but man it would be awesome to see someone hit a wall ride, do a can can air over a funbox and throw a flat water backy as they turn around to hit the funbox again...

you gotta say that would get people pretty stoked...

and as far as backflip variations go...just look at ross, pete, jerry, and others throwing backy combos now...give them a year and think about where they will be with it...

 

[CarFanatic]

all very good points. I love the sport, I dont want to see it get any more regulations then we already have. Any promotion that gets information out there and like chris said help give us a voice. I hate to see jet skis get larger and larger to the point were nothing new comes along that is worth riding. We all would be forced to keep make old new, and searching for parts to keep our skis running. Thats my biggest fear facing this sport.

 

[Adam]

Things are going slow, but definatly moving forward.
Just think of how many people are exposed to the freestyle shows at the orlando theme parks alone!

 

[thegoldenboy]

from what i hear its the fact that there are certain ppl against it because of the 2 stroke polluting the waters.

Maybe. They could always build it in a nice sized pool, so no toxens are released, than drain accordingly.

They ran oir used to run 2 stroke dirtbikes. And everyone still runs 2 stroke sleds in snowX. Both of those are in the X games...

Not a big enough market, Demon is right.

 

[Mark44]

its not popular enough.

And it would get real boring for people watching back flip after back flip and roll after roll. Maybe we need a pool of fire to ride through.

Mark44

 

[wydopen]

I'm personally happy this is a small niche sport. My ride spot couldn't handle dozens of people. if the sport doubled in size is still wouldn't be a blip on the radar of main stream media. Just be happy we've got want we have and have fun with it. :biggthumpup:

x2

 

[CarFanatic]

well the summer x games has wakeboarding, so there is or has to be water somewhere near by.

 

[onesojourner]

screw ramps. just get 2 of the wake boarding boats and give every one that is competing 3 double ups. best 2 of 3 wins. that way its short and sweet. we get exposure. The X games has no new equipment.

 

[Dubs chops]

i agree start off with what is comparible to big air in the mx. three doubleups per run best score after three runs wins. plus im sure someone could engineer something to make the doubleups even bigger.

 

[onesojourner]

now some one like ross or Eric Malone need to get the idea out there. we don't need anything big. give us one small comp and 5-10 minutes of tv time. thats not much. with something that short you know people are going to see previews and think hey thats new I will check it out.

 

[onesojourner]

it really would take very very little effort for the x games organizers to pull it off. just stick it in before or after wake boarding and its done. they can even use the same judges.