Extreme Shawn

A few days after the X Games here, but first off, a word about Shawn White. We watched Skate Vert finals from the crowd of Home Depot Center, outdoors, standing in the beating sun, not in our usual VIP and/or Athlete Pass hook-up spot, damn me for losing Linda at EXPN's number. Linda? Are you out there? Give a shout because you're great and I know you want to hook a sister up again.

Saw Dr. Chang, or Chin, umm . . . yeah, Chang, when we walked into the BMX Vert finals. He was the first line of defense when I blew out my knee at Winter X 10. The doctor for the San Diego Chargers, and a real nice guy. Gave him a hug and sanuntered on by. He'd be proud to see my muscle and how I've built my leg back up nicely. Had them under long shorts, though next time I see him I just might flex a thigh. You know, for fun.





Anyway, back to Shawn White. Another stellar performance under the heat and pressure of the Skate Vert line-up. They changed the format this year so that the moment a skater falls, their time is up, and that's the score. No charging back up the transition in the pipe to start again. Some guys fell after 15 seconds, some around 30. I believe the time frame was a 1:15. It was a little dry in the beginning there, with Bob Burnquist and Bucky Lasek all chumping in the pipe, falling and cutting sessions short. Jon and I glanced at each other, up at the sun, back down through the crowd . . . yawned a bit . . . back over all of the heads to the pipe.





So Shawn pulls out another spectacular performance, above and through the mess of the other skaters. Who does this? X Games Gold, Olympic Gold, Gold in Summer X Games now, along with all the other crap he does, and wins. He's unstoppable. One of the most stellar athletes I've ever seen under pressure. I wonder what is going in his brain. Truely. He was emotional, grabbing his nappy red head, kneeling in the pipe, throwing his arms up in the air, thanking his grandma, who they interviewed right before his run. A pistol of an old woman. Very entertaining.



I would like to pick Shawn's brain. I fear he'd just give cheeky answers though, about his visualizations, mental focus, and alien ability to find calm and force in those down to the wire performances over and over again; that I'm more and more curious to know about. He's very funny, when they ask him questions in competition. Maybe he just doesn't think at all. Maybe he's all visualization. I need this kid to write a book. Or Terry Gross from NPR should interview him. She's does great interviews. I'm sure I'd get all the information from his interview with her. But hopefully, a book. It'd be a good read, and cute.





That kid's performance was the lasting impression for me for X Games 13. God bless him. We walked away, satisfied for sure, and Jon and I continued our horse-play rough-housing scene through to the parking lot, that we always do. I bloodied up my knee and elbow, pretty narly like. I ran after him, caught his heel, and flew through the air to the pavement. I chased him and fell down. Symbolic, I thought.





Thanks Shawn, for the entertainment