Extreme names
Originally posted by JanSolo
Seriously though, I think 'extreme' isnt about the actual/real danger involved in the sport. I believe that 'extreme' relates to the attitude of the people who play it.
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The actual danger involved in the sport is irrelevant; its the differences in the minds of the people who play it that make a sport extreme.
The nature of an extreme sport attracts a type of person who needs more stimulation to enjoy an activity. That's psych talk for a brain wired up diffrent than most folks. "BASE" jumpes are usually VERY calm people in the real world, and also they tend to be 'bored' of most stuff.
Pikachu also asked about playing without masks. 5 years or so ago it was the rage, goggles only. Then a few magazine editors threw a fit, and they made tournament players wear full face masks. Then JT invented the flexi-bottom.
And, one more quote.
Originally posted by Buddha 3
Another thing: most of these extreme sports appeal to a certain type of person. Skateboarders all dress the same(ish), mostly listen to the same type of music, and so on. This applies to other extreme sports quite often as well. (Hell, skateboarders and snowboarders are almost interchangable) Paintball is a game that is played by so many diverse people, that it is difficult to point at the strereotype paintballer.
That's a stereotype too. I snowboard. I dress in the snowboard clothing, because it's what's offered to me to wear. Burton, Bonfire, Sims, Obermeyer... they all make clothing in which form follows function. And, dammit, those cargo pockets ROCK!
I live near a place called
Mt. LaCrosse. There's this old dude, he's GOTTS be 75 at least, who snowboards. He wears ski pants, a ski jacket, a racing helmet, hard boots and his board. I think he's the oldest cool dude in the world. He doesn't stunt, but he rides. And he rides regular, which only adds to his cool factor.
Point is there's a lot of people who snowboard too. Women, parents, little kids, buisnessmen, and cool old dudes. And they may dress the same, becasue they get to buy wha thte companies offer in waterproof gear, and they may ride boards with "xtreme graphics", but they listen to a diversity of music, go to a diversity of movies, and enjoy riding. To say that snowboarding attracts one kind of person is similar to saying that paintball only attracts military wannabees who wish to play war in the woods. Same kind of statement.
Come to think of it, park riders, free riders, racers, and pipe riders don't, in my expirence, rag on each other for not riding the mountain the way they do. As long as you're riding, it's cool. And even the skiers have stopped calling us "Knuckle-draggers", and don't sneer at us as we go down the hill. It's all about enjoying the winter, the snow, and the mountain.
I think paintball can learn from this.
-Tyger
