Winter Olympics For the Grays on Trays, there's little chance that any of us will be interested in duplicating the stunts and feats of competitive athletes who are in many cases decades younger than us. But there's no denying that high-level A cynic might say that the United States invented snowboarding so that it could have some events that it could win at the Olympics. But the truth is that when snowboarding was added to the Olympics in 1998 (the Nagano games), many top snowboarders were disgrunted. Terje Haakonsen, for example, was a snowboarder on the level of Michael Jordan in his sport. He refused to participate, and staged a sparsely attended alternative event instead. Haakonsen even compared the International Olympic Committee, the IOC, to the Mafia. Others were sympathetic to his stance. What was that all about? Some experienced riders objected to the idea of competition at all. Others did not like the fact that the IOC recognized the FIS (the world ski organization), rather than the International Snowboarding Federation (ISF), as the gateway to the games. By the lights of the critics, snowboarding was all about anti-skiing--or at least being not at all like skiing. Being absorbed into it was an assault on snowboarders. But the FIS has become the gateway, and in 2002, the ISF folded. Some snowboarders, trumpeting the idea that riding is a lifestyle and not "merely" a sport, complained about the alleged stifling of creativity through requirements to wear national uniforms, train with national coaches, and the like. All this violates the "soul" of snowboarding, they said. And more than one voice was raised against drug testing policies. As if to confirm the stereotypes of snowboarders, the first winner in the men's competition, Ross Rebagliati, was temporarily stripped of his gold medal after testing positive for pot. (He received his medal back, on procedural grounds, though he also disputed the allegation that he had recently smoked marijuana.) But today, a peace endures, as leading U.S. athletes strive to make the Olympic team, not reject it. Snowboarding is so mainstream, in fact, that when the United States Postal Service issued a commemorative stamp for the 2010 Winter Olympics, the stamp featured a snowboarder There are several good things about snowboarding being in the Olympics. First of all, it's a place to showcase any sport to the casual audience. While there are non-Olympic events such as the Dew Tour, most people don't know about them. The Winter X Games, though, are widely watched. The bad thing about the Olympics is that it's incredibly bloated. There are, to start with, lots of commercials. Capitalism generates wealth, and commercial advertising pays the bills, but the commercials can get to be too much. The same for promotional spots for the network's other shows. Don't forget the "up close and personal" biographies (which may or may not be interesting) and other sports. Then there's tape delay, which seems very out of place in today's world. But we watch them anyway. Links 2010 Winter Olympics 2006 Winter Olympics Return to the Grays on Trays home page.