Winter Olympics by @beantownboy

Hello folks; it’s been a while; lots of distractions—many of them very good ones! Have been following the “Winter Olympics” in South Korea which, of course, is being played out on a much, much larger geo-political stage, making this year’s games all the more interesting.

But, if you forget about the potential broader implications and just focus on the amazing athletes competing, you (or at least I) come away just shaking your (my) head in disbelief at the athleticism on display; some of the events defy description. One that has really caught my attention has been “snowboarding slopestyle”. While I know it has been around for a few Olympics, this is the first time I have paid any attention. And, when I say it defies description, just read the below excerpt taken from a piece written by Shaun Smith for BBC News as he describes the “winning run” by a 17-year old American (Red Gerard) that won for him the gold medal:

“During his run, his creativity was on full display, as he repeatedly used features of the course that other riders were ignoring.

(Here is where it gets really interesting!)

“In the second rail section, he transferred over the hitching post with a stylish, tweaked-out frontside air before doing a 50-50 to tailslide to 270 out combo on the rail.

“On the first jump, he landed a switch backside 1260 on the angled jump, spinning against his natural direction of travel in the air for added difficulty.

“On the second jump, he opted to do a double cork off the quarterpipe takeoff instead of the traditional kicker that other riders were using.

“Then, on the final jump, Gerard stomped a clean backside triple cork 1440 to put an exclamation point on his run.

“The result: Gerard was rewarded with an 87.16 from the judges, putting him in first place.” And, that’s where he stayed to take away the gold medal!

(Photo courtesy of Denver Post)

I gotta’ tell ya’ it all sounds pretty awesome, but I don’t understand a word of it—“stylish tweaked-out frontside air”, “50-50 tailslide to 270 out combo”, “switch backside 1260 on the angled jump”, “double cork off the quarterpipe”, “clean backside triple cork 1440”. I’m sure there are many, many people who fully understand this and can’t understand why I don’t!

It’s not unlike when I first heard about cryptocurrencies, blockchain technology, and distributed ledgers—which wasn’t all that long ago. I had to ask many questions and learn the nuances before I really began to understand what it all meant and where it might go! I’m certainly not comparing the “crypto world” with the “snowboarding slopestyle world”; but, like anything, you need to spend some time at it to begin to understand it!! I think I’ll stick to the “crypto world”; it’s been many, many years since I’ve seen 17, or even 27 or 37, so, for me, crypto presents more manageable risks than “snowboarding slopestyle”!

But, if you haven’t tuned into the Winter Olympics, do yourself a favor; as I said, the athleticism and talent of these remarkable athletes is awesome!