Kaneone

i want to hear people opinions of competitions and their importance for the growth of the sport, most specific the portions of which are most needing attention and peoples opinions of how to fix them.

which is more important for the growth of stunting?

1) A competition including the "best/biggest" names in the sport with extremely questionable non sanctioned judging, as well as mild (at best) media coverage with a minor in number but interested sportbike stunting specific spectator viewing. even more, moderate at best sponsorship investment or caring.

OR

2) An exhibition highlighting 3-4 big to mediocre named riders amongst a receptive sportbike buying enthusiast crowd with industry eyes near-bye and focused. even if only a slightly larger or equal to, spectator viewing size.

Do you think current competition rules and fluidity (as a whole: IE: Stunwars/XDL/Stunfest/etc) properly educate and otherwise unknowing crowd as to what is the multiple varieties of freestyle that is stunt riding?

Do you think the biggest investing sponsors of this sport AS A WHOLE care more about competition, or exhibition?

just curious, and interested in responce.
opinions?

with that said.. ill see yall at stuntfest.

-kane

Kaneone

bottom line, which is more important, and which do you think influences our growth more..

competition or exhibition?

Darius

J-Boogie

both are equally imp. i mean i think it would be great if there was a points series to where the true talent can shine i.e. have a whole season to win overall points to win a championship.
which will show hard work and dedication from ones training regimine.
and will attract a sports and motorsports enthusiast crowd who desires to pick a "fav" rider and support them throughout the series
merchandise can come from this etc
basically following the footsteps of ama motocross/supercross and road racing


then even if i have a bad weekend i could potentioally earn my way back up the points scale.

competition drives improvement of a sport and individual
and attracts attenttion of people who want to see points scored like in a football game...etc

MattMingay

exibitions are more important if you Stunt for a living and your sponsors care about how many eye ***** are watching you and exposure you are recieving for them.

Competitions are more important for the growth of this sport, important for newbie stunters to get the Stunting Bug by watching many stunters battling it out and for the stunters who are yet to earn themselves a name in this industry.

Without a name you cannot earn yourself a living and do relatively large Exhibitions/performances.

so its 2 seperate areas that i believe both help in the growth of our sport!

For myself......exhibitions are more important, comps dont do **** for me or my sponsors nor does it pay my massive monthly bills!
i do on average 27 exhibitons(shows/events) per year, so its #1 for me!

Z-UNIT

which ever gets more spectators to view the sponsors products...so i would hafta say shows/exhibitions....people dont wanna see 10 runs that generally looked forced and pretty much all the same.......they wanna see sum assshole doing a standstill burnout shredding rubber with sum other ******* doing circles around him, while almost being clipped by a 3rd ******* doing combos at mach speed.....then after all the carnage, wrecks, blood and fast pace....they wanna talk to the riders, and look at all the PRODUCTS on their bikes to see how they are doing that and wat they need to do it....1/2 the progression of this sport is going to be how well of a people person the riders are....if u got guys who dont like to talk or dont know really wat they are talking about when they are asked questions then its guna slow down sales, and slow down progression
ie)end of a show
spectator: so how come you use this lever as the brake for the rear arent they all the same
rider: uh cus its a brembo
spectator: oo whats that mean is that good
rider: yah like everyone on stuntlife reccomends it
spectatorconfused look on face) ooo so wat do they like about it
rider: uh its liek um good..de de de

also since we all cant have sweet looking bikes like XDL wants LIE people LIE when some asks you about your bike yes tell them its your practice bike even though your broke *** rides it to work, tell them you have a minty one at home, and u even own a harley....relate to the people who have an intrest in you......ask the lil kids if they want to sit on the bike, as the guy if he rides...take intrest in them an they will take intrest in you and your SPONSORS PRODUCTS, which means your sponsor takes more intrest in you...which is what you all want........dont make this **** confusing like if they ask u to explain circles, just say u dip it in and use gas and brake and crash alot until u get it.....people in america are all about instant satisfaction...so give it to them...

you want this sport to progress get rid of the stunters.

bruno_z

i agree with Matt, exibitions is where it's at...but I will go little off topic...this morning I just watched snowmobile freestyle on the x-games (didn't even knew it's the x-games sport)...and it's sad that, objectivly speaking more interesting sport such as sportbike freestyle, isn't...it is not that I underestimate snowmobile freestyle, but it is "limited" to some MX tricks of which are most pretty similiar...

Kaneone

haha.. no drama this time.. really.. lol..

seriously though bro. your actually one of the people id really like to hear your opinions about this on... I mean you do as many comps as you can, as well as have a packed schedule of shows. what do u think!?

--

me personally I like comps a lot, but always have way more fun at my shows.
I completely agree with Matt when he says that overall I think shows are more important. at least when it comes to paying rent. but i do think competitions regardless of drama, are very needed to help legitimize the sport aspect of stunting, as well as help push the riding, and keep "big name" riders on their toes. i mean you slack to much and your gonna get stomped by a newcomer.

--

I can also see how some riders (Jason Britton for instance) can get tired of the competitions. I mean in the end do comps affect anything Jason does? not at all. he is still on top of his game, kills it at what he does. rides great, keeps his sponsors more than happy and is a great rep for the sport. i cant blame him for not wanting to deal with a lot of the drama and BS that does go along with comps.

--

maybe its cause i love drama so much that i know ill be at as many comps as possible hahaha?
-kane

havok

umm... i think exhibitions are more important for the sport as of right now..due to the fact that its still a new and up incoming sport...(i know people have been doing it for years,but 85-95% of the world has no clue it exists....) with the more exhibitions hopefully the more fans will come and come out of it with a understanding of what the sport is and means....(to the average eye..everything (tricks) will look the same...now some have different styles yes but theres only so much style you can put on some tricks.....and what people wont understand is ,is the diff in style and execution/difficulty..etc...but by the more shows people can see what it takes to do this sport...

now on comp..they are pretty important (but i think more for the progression of the sport due to the fact of having to out due the one another,to set the bar alittle higher....a necessary need for the sport to not get bored out due to the lack of new tricks/ways of doing them etc..

now im a newbie and my opp means notta... but i am also a fan of you guys on here and i buy a **** load of vids/clothes etc.. not just to help out a fellow stunter but i enjoy watching you knuckle heads tear it up....and it makes me want to get better.....

but if the sport goes from what it should be about which is fun and for the love of it...then the sport wont go anywhere...
everyone

SIC Nate

I agree with everything said so far...

Exhibitions are better, but Comp's are a necessary evil. I am pretty sure that Kane having "#1" under his belt helped get him where he is now with sponsors and exhibition shows.

Competitions by definition are great for satisfying the competitive people out there to prove "who is better" or "how good are you" etc.

I also think that it is good that there are different formats of competition out there. Comp's like XDL force riders to be more well rounded to make maximum points, which make all participants work harder and improve their game. This also means that a better rider could get beat by a less skilled rider that followed the rules and hit the points...

Comp's that do not make you follow a format let the individual's stlye shine more, kind of like an exhibition.

Exhibitions in general will always be a better show to the spectator and the rider since there is no time limit to the riding and no pressure to the rider.

that's my

edit: I'd also like to add that if there were no Comp's, alot of riders would not ever get together with riders from other areas and styles. Comp's definitley help the progression of the sport as that is where you see all the "new ****" and people bite off eachother and bring new stuff to out do eachother which all helps push everything forward

DSOG Thomas

FYI a points series will not work..

I mean if you guys complain that you dont care enough, or dont have enough money to make your bikes nice, then how the hell are you going to care enough, or have enough money to travel to a set number of mandatory events to earn points?

I think its both... shows keep FMX riders paid well, but there is 1 small comp that guarantees them TV coverage and makes them a star every year so that they can sell hundreds of thousands of DVD's and licensing rights for kids toys and ****

Righteous 1

+1

TheRomanSF415x

you know what gets more attention to the sport than anything.. when someone who doesnt even ride a bike see's somebody doing a wheelie and spreads the word to his buddies and so on and so on and so on... all these competitions only attract ppl that actually know something. you gotta throw out a commercial showing someone doing some stunts to attract even more ppl. instead of stuntlife and myspace.

Z-UNIT

^^ so u mean kill the streeets

little arnold

I personally would rather go somewhere that i can do whatever the hell i want to do and no one is worried about winning this or showing off for the right person. I would rather see riders having fun against each other because you guys are show men hands down you can be out just practicing and peps will be in complete amazment even if it wasnt the best trick. dont get me wrong i would love to see the sport grow and progess but with progession comes bullshit i guess what im trying to say is it would be nice to go to a track ride all day have a few comps nothing big and just try to out do each other get crazy and peps will watch and thats my

jayrizo

This sport is like celebrities, any exposure is good exposure
Comps are what make the sponsors want to support the best and most popular riders and they both bring in money

E RacK

i wonder if we start racin around in a big cirlce on harley's if we'll be hot like nascar?

Hobie

Seems like you are slanting the questions and already have your mind made up, so why make the thread?

mofat01

Stunt riding is not a sport

MattMingay

Your WRONG Mr Mofat (this topic is so old now) here is the dictionary meaning of "sport" just for you.

sport

• noun 1 an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others. 2 informal a person who behaves in a good or specified way in response to teasing, defeat, etc. 3 success or pleasure derived from an activity such as hunting. 4 dated entertainment; fun. 5 chiefly Austral./NZ a friendly form of address, especially between unacquainted men. 6 Biology an animal or plant showing abnormal or striking variation from the parent type as a result of spontaneous mutation.