This clip from Shaun White’s Bomb Hole interview gets to the crux of the issue Shaun and snowboarding have always had. And what no one pointed out to him is that the “issue” has nothing to do with what he has done or not done for snowboarding or snowboarding culture.
The bottom line is that Shaun White is, and always has been, a total sweat. He takes things very seriously. From the time he started in action sports he’s put every single waking moment into getting better at whatever he is doing. He has very little time for anything (or anyone) else. Every move he makes is calculated to get him closer to his current goals.
Even as a kid skateboarding at the Encinitas Y he attacked it with the complete lack of joy one sees in German fetishists. Doing a trick over and over and over, not noticing anything else. Many snowboarders (and even more skateboarders) don’t like sweats. It’s that simple.
Shaun is trying to be nice in this interview. He wants to show that he’s just a regular guy who loves snowboarding like everyone else. But that’s not really true. He approaches it like no one else. As a result, he became the best in the world. He doesn’t need to apologize for the way he approaches life and shouldn’t feel bad for even a minute. But if he’s wondering why he was (and is) treated the way he is by snowboarders and “the industry” (and that seems to be his question in this clip) then that’s the reason. Glad we could help.
[Editors’ Note: Donna Carpenter is also a sweat. A business sweat. So, yeah, it’s funny she would call out Shaun. Then again, we are all most critical of what we are.]
[Link: The Bomb Hole Podcast]
