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Go Back   WakeWorld > >> Wakeboarding Discussion Archives > Archive through July 12, 2006

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Old     (hoosairboy)      Join Date: Aug 2005       07-10-2006, 8:17 AM Reply   
I was talking to some friends and I was telling them how wakeboarding/skate should be televised more. After all you have poker, bingo and spelling bees. They brought up a good point on why action sports in general have a hard time capturing a tv audience. When you see 13 - 16 year old kids (males) winning contest it takes away from it being taken legit.

Most pro sports the guys have to put some time in to advance. Tiger was out of college before he played pro. Action sports athletes are retiring by then (almost). Even when a kid signs to the NBA out of high school he's at least 18 and a physical beast. You look at some of these kids on tour, especially wakeskate, and they look 12 years old. Now these kids ride but I see what they mean. How many young males who don't ride are going to watch a 13 yera old. It's like watching Little League World Series. I watched some World Cup soccer and all those guys are athletic and have years of experience. It has the legitimacy o being a real sport.

If a kid can start riding and be on Pro Tour after 3 or 4 years at 13, 14 or 15 it make sthe sport seem to easy. More of a novelty entertainment than a real sport. I saw "The Simpsons" where Tony Hawk was on and Homer strapped on a board and called it a "psuedo sport".

I didn't like it but I got admit they had a point. I still think it could do well on TV just focus on the more athletic guys and stay way from the little kids. Outside of Soven there really isn't that many kids on wakeboard tour. And Soven isn't that a little of a kid anymore. I remeber watching nationals or X Games 3 or 4 years ago on TV and they interviewed "Froggy". He couldn't interview well at the time and he looked like he was 12. I remember thinking how it made wakeboarding look weak that a little kid was one of the top riders. Anyway, intersting thoughts.
Old     (melanie_g)      Join Date: Jul 2002       07-10-2006, 9:53 AM Reply   
I don't like to watch it on tv because I will never learn half of those tricks they throw in comps. It just makes me frustrated that I don't get to ride more or get to put the effort in to become better. I'd rather watch newbies learn a w2w or someone learn a 180 than watch someone throw a trick that the announcer has to tell me what it is.
Old     (lfxstar)      Join Date: Jul 2001       07-10-2006, 9:54 AM Reply   
It isn't watched simply because to an outsider, it all looks the same. They can't tell the difference between a crow mobe or a whirly bird or a 7 to a blind 5. The way to incorporate wakeboarding back into the X-Games is to have an indoor rail jam with the rest of the events or an outdoor rail jam with the structure built in the middle of the freestyle arena. They need to build the most dangerous and big rail jam structure they can and then people will find it appealing. Like a 3 story jam similar to nokia fise but even gnarlier
Old     (wakeslife)      Join Date: Jul 2005       07-10-2006, 11:12 AM Reply   
Yes... It's all about the death-factor involved.
Old     (hoosairboy)      Join Date: Aug 2005       07-10-2006, 11:45 AM Reply   
I think if it was produced right it would be interesting. You don't just show the riders doing their set. You have some personal interviews set up before the comp to show little clips before and after their run. Get to know somre of the riders. You explain about the boats. You slo-mo tricks with the right angle to show what they ar doing otherwise theay all look the same. Put in a freakin huge obstacle that launches the rider for geat show.

It is about presentation. I guarantee it could be made very interesting to watch. Put emphasis on style and amplitude so they throw big cool looking tricks. I think a HUGE Indy Glide is way cooler to watch than a bunch of mobes that are executed so quickly you can't tell what they are doing. But slo-mo would be cool to see a whirly 5 or bs 7.
Old     (dcervenka)      Join Date: Sep 2002       07-10-2006, 11:50 AM Reply   
Kyle brings up a good point “it all looks the same…” Why do you think non-wakeboarders like to see someone do a Raley rather than a crow mode 5..? Well because to them, it looks cooler..

Now about the age argument.. I would have to disagree. Shaun White has been killing it since he was a little kid, but that doesn't seem to deter people from watching him snowboard on TV.

I think there are many reasons why wakeboarding is not televised. One of those contributing factors is the sports in-ability to be SUPER-SIZED..

For example take a look at Skateboarding and how Danny Way's world Record Big Air turned into a regular event at the X-games.. Now if you can't be amazed at a guy throwing himself over a 60'+ gap on a skateboard.. Well then you should just watch Dominos in High Def on ESPN2.

Same with snowboarding. Compare the kickers and half pipes from 5 years ago to the 80' + kickers and 18’ super pipes they are hitting now. You cannot help but go "oh and ahh.."

And then there is Moto-X freestyle… you get the point

Now if you were to televise more events like the Park Double or Nothing contest in prime time then we might start seeing some more of an interest. It’s funny how BIG equates to more attention (no pun intended). I remember last years Reno Pro stop when the crowd went absolutely crazy after seeing Keith Lyman hit the kicker and at the end of his run..

We’ll see what happens with the indoor rail jam at the X-games. It's just shame that it will not be behind a boat.
Old     (lfxstar)      Join Date: Jul 2001       07-10-2006, 12:15 PM Reply   
Exactly Kung Fu, when someone that hasn't really gone wakeboarding before and they come out on the boat for the first time, all they want me to do is raley's...it gets annoying but that is what looks cool to them
Old     (more_betterness)      Join Date: Sep 2004       07-10-2006, 2:41 PM Reply   
I agree with kyle and kung fu, but the most important reason why is MONEY. The cost to start wakeboarding is way more then any other sport especially if you consider basing your purchase off of what you see at the X-games.
X-star:$80,000
Gas:$400
Board&bindings:$600
Lake Fees:$X
Truck to pull:$X
and the list goes on.
Now compare that to skateboarding,snowboarding, and even Motocross is still cheaper.
Old     (fbroen)      Join Date: Apr 2002       07-10-2006, 3:19 PM Reply   
I think going to live coverage was a mistake for wakeboarding at the xgames. It is just too slow to watch dead time between rider exchanges and the boat turning etc. A well edited segment lends itself much better to all of us with add.
Old     (wakeboarddad01)      Join Date: Dec 2003       07-10-2006, 5:03 PM Reply   
If you think about it...... doesn't it all come down to selling time for the commercials? When you watched snowboarding at the winter olympics the venue was sold out weeks before the event. The hype they had going had the advertising agencies tripping over themselves to get their client/commercial shown durning this prime time event. I agree it would be nice to have rider interviews like they did for the snowboarding segement at the olympics. This gave you a sense what it was like being a Shaun White or one of the other boarders. The cost associated with wakeboarding also must be taken into consideration as it is pretty expensive when you add in a top of the line boat,gear and coaching.... I have two daughters that compete at different tournaments through out the season and I can tell you from first hand experience this sport is not cheap by any means especially when you add in the plane tickets,rental cars and hotels it all adds up.... Yes it would be great to have our sport on national tv and especially on espn even if it is late at night. Atleast we would get the exposure we need to get the attention from the audiences.... Hopefully we will see this soon......
Old     (jpk)      Join Date: Sep 2005       07-10-2006, 6:33 PM Reply   
If people will watch sixth graders in a spelling bee, they will watch college age kids wakeboard. Wakeboarding and wakeskating just don't have big PR and promoters behind them yet and getting a lake venue for a large audience isn't easy. Even motocross can be done indoors these days. The biggest wake competitions still only have a small crowd.
Old     (hoosairboy)      Join Date: Aug 2005       07-11-2006, 8:32 AM Reply   
I agree with the "big factor". The kicker at Reno was the coolest part to watch.. Thats why I said its all about production. How to produce an interesting show. Wakeboard has the elements just produce it right. And you are right about live not being good to watch. It needs to be well edited (produced)to be interesting. We are talking entertainment factor. The NFL and all other major sports realized they were in entertainment first and athletic competiton second.

That is why you have personalities, good slow motion shots on cool tricks and some huge obstacle that launches the riders and looks risky. Entertainment. Nothing to do with how many people participate in the sport. Only how many people will watch it. Why not have a super hot female do color- tell about boats, interview riders, demo a few tricks herself. There are a couple of pro riders like Majors who would be pretty entertaining to watch. I don't know there on air skills but...
Old     (mike_mclin)      Join Date: Oct 2004       07-11-2006, 1:37 PM Reply   
It isn't on primetime because the demographic isn't big enough. Go to a random place (like a restaurant). Then look around, and count how many people you think would be interested in watching a Wakeboard event on TV. Maybe 1 out of 20? Probably less even. Age has nothing to do with it. The most popular winter Olympic sport for USA television audiences is women's figure skating (not snowboarding), and that sport is dominated by 13 year old girls. So age doesn't play a factor.

Also, as previously mentioned, all of the tricks look the same to someone that doesn't know the difference. It loses its luster real quick. I am actually interested in the sport, and I even get bored watching it after about 15 minutes. I think Wakeboarding, like many board sports is all about the person riding. The feeling you get when you do the sport. For everyone else watching, it gets old. Just like watching surfing at the X games....what a nightmare. All of these sports are more about doing, not watching.

One more point that was brought up was the expense that comes with wakeboarding. Not everyone can wakeboard, they might not have access to lake, equipment, etc. For those people, it is hard to relate to seomthing you've never seen or tried before.

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