F.I.S. Control in Snowboarding - Thoughts?
To me, this is a non-issue. Why? Well, there is nothing that I can do, by voting or purchasing something that would change the situation. Also, this situation does not affect me at all. It only affects pros who are competing. Yes, it’s shitty and I would like to see it changed, but the only way that would happen would be if EVERY pro refused to show up to FIS events and EVERY pro boycotted the Olympics. What a hit to the IOC that would be! The IOC would come running to the TTR or whoever represents snowboarders. But this will never happen because there will always be people who will do anything for a chance to be in the Olympics.
Do you vote in elections? If you do, why bother? I mean, what can you, as only one person, really achieve?
Or is it that if you actually stand up for something, there’s a chance that others may do so as well? And before you know it, your collective voice is so large, people have no choice but to listen?
This isn’t just about snowboard competitions and those who participate in them, this is about SNOWBOARDING - and our collective desire NOT to be butt-raped by people who would love nothing more than to see us disappear off the face of the earth. Their aim is to achieve this little by little - just a tiny bit at a time until there’s nothing left of us. What if we went back to the days where snowboarders were banned at resorts - THEN might it affect you enough to do something? If the FIS had their way, that’s exactly where we’d be.
Not at all. The FIS is just interested in money. They don’t hate us. Snowboarding has proved that it makes money and that’s why they like it now. I highly doubt I will be butt-raped by the FIS. It’s the same thing as complaining about FIFA being corrupt. Like was said before, they live in a different world to us.
I really think that if you want things to change you have to hit them where it counts:the wallet, and the only way to do that is to have a boycott by ALL the pros so that nobody shows up to the qualifyers and nobody shows up to the Olympics. I think that if nobody showed up to the qualifyers the IOC would backpedal pretty quick and count TTR points.
Voting in elections is completely different because governments ARE elected by the votes. The likes of the IOC, FIS and FIFA having nothing to do with punters like us and aren’t held accountable to anybody pretty much except each other…as I said - completely different universe they live in.
The FIS is just interested in money. They don’t hate us.
No, they hate us - they ONLY like the money.
I highly doubt I will be butt-raped by the FIS.
It’s already happening. Not to you directly, of course, but to competitive snowboarding - and if regular snowboarders don’t give enough of a crap about snowboarding to try to stop it, WHO will???
It’s the same thing as complaining about FIFA being corrupt.
No. It would only be “the same thing” if, for example, you were a Rugby player and FIFA tried to take control of Rugby and make a total mess of it.
I really think that if you want things to change you have to hit them where it counts:the wallet . . .
Of course.
. . . and the only way to do that is to have a boycott by ALL the pros so that nobody shows up to the qualifyers and nobody shows up to the Olympics.
Not necessarily. That wouldn’t really help the general public’s perception of snowboarding or snowboarders. It’s an awesome threat to hold over the heads of the FIS/IOC, but not so great to actually put into practice. Still, if all the best riders in the world agreed not to compete in FIS qualifying events, then they’d have a good shot at forcing the FIS to adopt the existing tours as qualifiers.
However, if enough regular everyday snowboarders could rally together and voice their intent to boycott the products and services of every sponsor associated with Olympic snowboarding (none of which, incidentally, are snowboard companies), and make sure that every sponsor associated with Olympic snowboarding was well aware of this, the FIS/IOC would be in HUGE trouble. In this age of social media, it’s not that hard to achieve.
Voting in elections is completely different . . .
Nope, it’s a lot more similar than you think. (besides, the analogy was only used to make the point that one person CAN make a difference)
These governing bodies are nothing without their funding, so that’s where you hit them. You pull politicians into line by threatening not to vote for them - just as you’d pull the FIC/IOC into line by threatening their revenue source (see above). It’s just a different kind of ‘vote’, and all it takes is enough people to get behind it.
Can’t say I’m at all happy about this, more I read the more hatred I have for IOC and the FIS. It’s just so blatantly obvious that it’s all about the $$$
sooo….. who wants to get stickers made up F.U.C.K. F.I.S. 
sooo….. who wants to get stickers made up F.U.C.K. F.I.S.
. . . or ‘Don’t get FISted!’
This sums it up perfectly!
Ha ha gays on trays. It does crack me up how despite snowboarding being a legit sport and being loads of fun. That skiers think they can dictate how things are run.
Example of someone that organises something and knows what to do. Jamie Stenner, pro blader and shop (owner) of ESP in Chichester. Has recently had a skate park get built in Chichester. He asked local skaters, bikers and bladers about the design knowing that the park was going to be used by all. So the features are usable and friendly to all sports.
In a recent jam he organise to offically open the park had comps for bladers, skaters and bikers. Instead of judging the comp himself and seeing it from 1 viewpoint, he got another blader to judge blading, skater to judge skating and biker to judge bikers.Moral behind this long winded story is the fact that if you want something to be done right and to be enjoyable, let the people who do the sport organise and judge the sport.
Exactly, snowboarding SHOULD be run by snowboarders, NOT skiers!
Surfing
The ISP is now run by pro-surfers and ex pro’s. Their input has designed the events, destinations and the scoring layout. IT WORKS but will not become an olympic sport.
IOC (International Olympic Comity)
Are a handful of extremely rich and powerful people. The Olympics are designed to make these people money, every decision is made by them.
Even using the term “Olympics” is fraught with the danger of legal issues.
They are untouchable and if a sport, sportsman or country want to be involved they have to play by the IOC’s rules.
NO country that has hosted any Olympics have made a profit - it costs them billions.
NO athlete is the best at their sport because they win an Olympic gold.
The power the IOC exercises make the world believe the are the best - they aren’t. They just have convinced the world they are.
THERE IS NO SOUL IN OLYMPIC SPIRIT.
Real people have spirit - the IOC have only money & power, they require us to provide what they lack.
Money will always win an IOC decision.
If it’s an Olympic event it’s been ass-raped no matter if it’s snowboarding, skiing or running.
THIS is what we get, when we allow the FIS/IOC to make snowboarding their b!tch:
I’m curious as to how you link those two.
Pretty sure that is what you get when shaun white “sells out” (whatever that really means). He was always in with the FIS/IOC anyway and has always competed in their comps so he can get olympic glory.
Surfing
The ISP is now run by pro-surfers and ex pro’s. Their input has designed the events, destinations and the scoring layout. IT WORKS but will not become an olympic sport.IOC (International Olympic Comity)
Are a handful of extremely rich and powerful people. The Olympics are designed to make these people money, every decision is made by them.
Even using the term “Olympics” is fraught with the danger of legal issues.
They are untouchable and if a sport, sportsman or country want to be involved they have to play by the IOC’s rules.
NO country that has hosted any Olympics have made a profit - it costs them billions.
NO athlete is the best at their sport because they win an Olympic gold.
The power the IOC exercises make the world believe the are the best - they aren’t. They just have convinced the world they are.
THERE IS NO SOUL IN OLYMPIC SPIRIT.
Real people have spirit - the IOC have only money & power, they require us to provide what they lack.
Money will always win an IOC decision.
If it’s an Olympic event it’s been ass-raped no matter if it’s snowboarding, skiing or running.
Um maybe ask Bobby Martinez what he thinks of the current ASP world tour system. They had something that worked and now they have gone and overcomplicated the sh1t out of it. What I’m getting at is it is not a shining beacon of the competitors running their sport. They have a union which has one or to surfers elected to represent their views on the ASP panel. To think that surfing in it’s competitive format is free of commercial influences would be a huge mistake. They have done a great job of promoting it as being altrusitic to the roots of the sport but the reality I feel is far from it.
Thats a whole other discussion better suited to the surfing section!
I haven’t paid much attention to the Olympics since they were in Sydney, the vast majority of sports I have no interest in and I have felt for some time that it is a money driven corruption machine. Having said that I wouldn’t mind being at the top for a year two, just long enough to finance my own south pacific island hideaway with pumping surf on the lee side, solar and wind generators on the windward side that power the indoor snowpark in the middle….................................
If you wanted to compare whats happening in the winter games to surfing, imagine surfers running and judging bodyboarding comps?
I’m curious as to how you link those two.
Pretty sure that is what you get when shaun white “sells out” (whatever that really means). He was always in with the FIS/IOC anyway and has always competed in their comps so he can get olympic glory.
No, Shaun White wasn’t always like that - he became that way as he gradually transitioned into the poster child for Olympic snowboarding, and started to shun those who got him there.
If you wanted to compare whats happening in the winter games to surfing, imagine surfers running and judging bodyboarding comps?
Well said!