So, Shawn White's teammates don't seem to like him...

• ZWICK 4 PREZ

  

  Raw Dawgin' it;1579602 wrote:i hope you choke on a chicken nugget.

  
  Does McDonalds deliver? B/c i don't think he leaves his house.
• SnotBubbles

  

  I've heard from a pretty good, close source that the guy is a complete fucking ass. Fellow competitors have tried to befriend him, but the dude doesn't understand what friendship is. He got famous way too young...he will be a lonely, lonely man some day if he isn't already.
• thePITman

  

  So Shaun White crashed. Finally. For once, Shaun White didn't get the score to get a gold medal. But 8 years, 20 years from now we'll still be talking about how he's the greatest snowboarder to have ever lived. Not only did he revolutionize the sport, but he was the most impressive person to watch snowboard. I'll never forget the first time I watched him do a halfpipe run at the last winter opympics. I had heard and known all about him, but had never seen him compete before. So FAR and AWAY better than everybody else - higher, better tricks, smoother - perfection. So he had 2 bad runs in the finals and finished 4th in the WORLD at the olympics. I think he'll be alright.
• dlazz

  Raw Dawgin' it;1579602 wrote:i hope you choke on a chicken nugget.

  That's awful harsh, especially since I wasn't the one who (more or less) made a duplicate thread.
  

  ZWICK 4 PREZ;1579608 wrote:Does McDonalds deliver? B/c i don't think he leaves his house.

  Everyone knows Wendy's has the best chicken nuggets. And I have to drive about an hour to work everyday, so that counts.
• ernest_t_bass

  

  ccrunner609;1579452 wrote:I have met numerous Olympians and am friends with a gold medalist. This character trait is obvious with all of them and probably necessary to achieve massive success in these individual events.

  Not sure if CCRunner or ManhattanBuckeye.
• Raw Dawgin' it

  

  dlazz;1579646 wrote:That's awful harsh, especially since I wasn't the one who (more or less) made a duplicate thread.

  idgaf
  
  Hope this helps.
• dlazz

  Raw Dawgin' it;1579660 wrote:idgaf

  You must gaf because you took the time to comment.
  
  Enjoy!
• Raw Dawgin' it

  

  dlazz;1579662 wrote:You must gaf because you took the time to comment.
  
  Enjoy!

  I did enjoy.
  
  Hope this helps.
• TedSheckler

  

  SnotBubbles;1579615 wrote:I've heard from a pretty good, close source that the guy is a complete fucking ass. Fellow competitors have tried to befriend him, but the dude doesn't understand what friendship is. He got famous way too young...he will be a lonely, lonely man some day if he isn't already.

  I'm not relying on some unnamed source. I will rely on what I have seen. Every interview I have ever seen him in, he has been humble and down to earth. Why did Redbull build his own private halfpipe? Because he earned it.
  
  Until you can name a source that says he kicks puppies, I'll go by what I see and hear.
• SnotBubbles

  

  TedSheckler;1579700 wrote:I'm not relying on some unnamed source. I will rely on what I have seen. Every interview I have ever seen him in, he has been humble and down to earth. Why did Redbull build his own private halfpipe? Because he earned it.
  
  Until you can name a source that says he kicks puppies, I'll go by what I see and hear.

  The owner of the radio station I do some broadcasting for and his son who will be on your next McDonald's bag/cup.
• Manhattan Buckeye

  ernest_t_bass;1579654 wrote:Not sure if CCRunner or ManhattanBuckeye.

  It isn't me, my peeps are in the summer olympics.
• Tiernan

  I'm good friends with a female athlete who took gold in the Fall Olympics.
• vball10set

  Tiernan;1579767 wrote:I'm good friends with a female athlete who took gold in the Beer Olympics.

  : thumbup:
• dlazz

  Tiernan;1579767 wrote:I'm good friends with a female athlete who took gold in the Fall Olympics.

  I think you mean special Olympics.
• thavoice

  dlazz;1579868 wrote:I think you mean special Olympics.

  I envision that Tiernam would pull a cartman stunt just to be a part of the special olympics....
• Scarlet_Buckeye

  

  Heretic;1579391 wrote:http://sports.yahoo.com/news/shaun-white-leaves-olympics-without-a-medal--or-many-snowboarding-friends--as-new-era-in-sport-begins-214448669.html
  
  Semi-interesting column where the main thing I took from it was that Davis doesn't seem to like White and, after he finished 10th, referred to White's fourth-place halfpipe finish as a gift. I mean, it was one thing when the rival Canadians ripped into him for pulling out of the slopestyle or whatever it's called, but this seemed a bit weird.
  
  Is there a reason for any bad blood? Him qualifying in one event and then deciding not to compete, essentially taking a place away from another potential Olympian? Him being the main face of the sport for pretty much the entire time it's been considered a legit competition, meaning everyone else winds up going below the radar in comparison? Or one other American who doesn't like him and a writer making it sound like he's a hated figure (since Davis was the only one providing comments that could be read as taking jabs at him)?
  
  I don't really follow snowboarding, but do find it fun to watch when it's on TV and I'm home and always thought he was awesome to watch because of some of the stuff he could pull off and make look routine, so I was wondering if anyone here follows it more and has any clue.

  It is well known within the snowboard community that Shaun White is not very liked among his fellow riders. Shaun is seen as "distant" and "smug/arrogant/self-righteous" among the other riders. He's definitely not an "athlete favorite" like, say, Louie Vito, Danny Davis, and/or Kevin Pierce, where the other riders all have glowing remarks about those guys. They're seen as "brothers" almost amongst the riders. Whereas Shaun is seen more like a red-headed diva child that no one wants to even associate with.
  
  Personally, I have a very tough time with this one. I like the Shaun White I see on television... there's no denying that he's the greatest snowboarder to ever ride the pipe; and therefore, you kind of have to say, "well, perhaps he can be / deserves to be arrogant"... but then I see some interviews, hear testimonials from other riders, etc, and I'm just left shaking my head like, "man... that guy is a d!ck."
  
  The whole "qualifying for the slopestyle, and pulling out" is a perfect example of why riders hate Shaun White. I'm not sure there's a single other rider that would have made that decision. Yeah, everyone gets it... everyone understands that Shaun wanted to win gold in the halfpipe, as the halfpipe is the crown jewel of snowboarding; but don't take the spot of another rider who could have competed in slopestyle. If you're so set on winning the halfpipe and that's your #1 goal and you're not going to do anything to jeopardize that, then don't make such a big deal then about needing to qualify for slopestyle in the Olympics. Many of you may not know, but Shaun had to win one of the last events of the year in Mammoth to even qualify for slopestyle at Sochi. Shaun was talking about how beat-up and bruised he was from several injuries, etc. The other riders don't want to hear that. You think they aren't taking the same nasty falls as you are? Just because no one goes as big as Shaun does doesn't mean they aren't taking pretty gnarly falls either. But yet you don't see the other riders with the primetime television interviews talking about this-and-that injury they had 2 years ago, and because of that (rightly or wrongly), a lot of riders resent Shaun for all the attention he gets.
  
  Another example...
  
  It's well known that a lot of the riders ride/train in groups. Which group does Shaun ride/train in, you ask? Answer: none. Shaun trains by himself (or with his "team"). Shaun (again, rightly or wrongly) gets all the endorsements and gets teams like Red Bull (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1Zoh2JC_XA) and Go Pro (http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2013/10/15/shaun-white-custom-halfpipe-australia-go-pro/2988211/) to finance his own private pipe. And then you see Shaun skipping events like "The Dew Tour" or "The X Games" (yeah, I know... this year was the 1st year he skipped the X Games, but that's not to say he hasn't skipped other snowboarding events).
  
  So... yeah... there you have it.
• Scarlet_Buckeye

  

  gut;1579395 wrote:
  He mad a comment on an interview with Costas - last night before today's competition - along the lines of Costas saying "you finally have peers who are in your class" and White said something like "who are they?". He laughed and seemed like he was making a joke, but based on what I've been reading and hearing it sounds like he's just extraordinarily arrogant. Just because you've been the best doesn't mean you have to disrespect the competition.

  This is another excellent example.
• Scarlet_Buckeye

  

  sportchampps;1579505 wrote:The reason his teammates hate him go back to the last Winter Olympics. Snowboarders feel like practice should be them all going out together and practicing the same moves as each other. They got mad when Redbull built White his own secret half pipe that only he used and kept some of his new tricks secrets for the games. That is when the other Americans formed a clique (without White of course) called frends (because there's no I in friends).

  Here's an article in the NY Times about Frends (I couldn't remember the name, so thanks for the help).
  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/22/sports/othersports/22frends.html?ref=sports&_r=0
• I Wear Pants

  Shaun White seems to be in a similar situation as Tiger Woods. If they don't win everything they're over the hill/suck and lots of people don't like them due to a mixture of probable jealousy and actual poor actions/words.
• queencitybuckeye

  Scarlet_Buckeye;1579899 wrote:It is well known within the snowboard community that Shaun White is not very liked among his fellow riders. Shaun is seen as "distant" and "smug/arrogant/self-righteous" among the other riders. He's definitely not an "athlete favorite" like, say, Louie Vito, Danny Davis, and/or Kevin Pierce, where the other riders all have glowing remarks about those guys. They're seen as "brothers" almost amongst the riders. Whereas Shaun is seen more like a red-headed diva child that no one wants to even associate with.
  
  Personally, I have a very tough time with this one. I like the Shaun White I see on television... there's no denying that he's the greatest snowboarder to ever ride the pipe; and therefore, you kind of have to say, "well, perhaps he can be / deserves to be arrogant"... but then I see some interviews, hear testimonials from other riders, etc, and I'm just left shaking my head like, "man... that guy is a d!ck."
  
  The whole "qualifying for the slopestyle, and pulling out" is a perfect example of why riders hate Shaun White. I'm not sure there's a single other rider that would have made that decision. Yeah, everyone gets it... everyone understands that Shaun wanted to win gold in the halfpipe, as the halfpipe is the crown jewel of snowboarding; but don't take the spot of another rider who could have competed in slopestyle. If you're so set on winning the halfpipe and that's your #1 goal and you're not going to do anything to jeopardize that, then don't make such a big deal then about needing to qualify for slopestyle in the Olympics. Many of you may not know, but Shaun had to win one of the last events of the year in Mammoth to even qualify for slopestyle at Sochi. Shaun was talking about how beat-up and bruised he was from several injuries, etc. The other riders don't want to hear that. You think they aren't taking the same nasty falls as you are? Just because no one goes as big as Shaun does doesn't mean they aren't taking pretty gnarly falls either. But yet you don't see the other riders with the primetime television interviews talking about this-and-that injury they had 2 years ago, and because of that (rightly or wrongly), a lot of riders resent Shaun for all the attention he gets.
  
  Another example...
  
  It's well known that a lot of the riders ride/train in groups. Which group does Shaun ride/train in, you ask? Answer: none. Shaun trains by himself (or with his "team"). Shaun (again, rightly or wrongly) gets all the endorsements and gets teams like Red Bull (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1Zoh2JC_XA) and Go Pro (http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2013/10/15/shaun-white-custom-halfpipe-australia-go-pro/2988211/) to finance his own private pipe. And then you see Shaun skipping events like "The Dew Tour" or "The X Games" (yeah, I know... this year was the 1st year he skipped the X Games, but that's not to say he hasn't skipped other snowboarding events).
  
  So... yeah... there you have it.

  Don't care much either way, but to play devil's advocate, would these competitors have the same level of distaste for him if he were just another rider, and not the guy kicking their asses for a decade?
• Scarlet_Buckeye

  

  thePITman;1579643 wrote:So FAR and AWAY better than everybody else - higher, better tricks, smoother - perfection.

  Sadly, this really is true. Shaun i far and away better than everyone else (or at least he used to). You heard it hear first... the next "Shaun White" is Ayumu Hirano. I called this kid TWO XGames ago. The kid is about the only one who is going as high, big, and as smooth as Shaun is. And he's only 15. Here's a nice little article on him >>> http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2013/12/10/ayumu-hirano-may-challenge-shaun-white/3972209/
• Scarlet_Buckeye

  

  queencitybuckeye;1579906 wrote:Don't care much either way, but to play devil's advocate, would these competitors have the same level of distaste for him if he were just another rider, and not the guy kicking their asses for a decade?

  Same level of distaste? No.
  Still not like the guy? Probably.
• like_that

  

  dlazz;1579662 wrote:You must gaf because you took the time to comment.
  
  Enjoy!

  Just like you dgaf about the Olympics, yet you have found your way on every Olympic thread. LOLFAIL
• queencitybuckeye

  Scarlet_Buckeye;1579912 wrote:Same level of distaste? No.
  Still not like the guy? Probably.

  I heard part of the issue is not only are they bothered by him not being one of the "brothers", it's that it bothers the "brothers" that he has interests beyond the activity, when apparently many of them do not.
• dlazz

  like_that;1579915 wrote:Just like you dgaf about the Olympics, yet you have found your way on every Olympic thread. LOLFAIL

  I've just been pointing everyone to the thread they should be posting in.
  Hope this helps.