shaun white gets his own half-pipe…
some sponsors give their sports stars a pair of shoes. maybe, a car. red bull went further. it carved a half-pipe into the side of a mountain so shaun white could practice for the olympics. that’s like nike building a basketball court in the middle of chicago for michael jordan or yonex building a tennis court in the outback for lleyton hewitt.
imagine having access to your own snowboarding facilities. a guy waits for you at the bottom with a snowmobile that will speed you up to wherever you want to go. instead of a mountain full of people, you’ll be alone with a few staffers who are paid not to laugh at you when you fall down and windmill back to base.
even if i became a movie director, what kinds of benefits will i get? will someone build me a movie theatre or a director’s chair that keeps me filled with dr. pepper? thing i’m wondering, will anyone think this is unfair? granted, many athletes get their own training facilities, but this is above and beyond what mere mortals can hope for. some olympic athletes train with dollars scraped together for just the hope of getting an endorsement that will make sure they’re taken care of. shaun white’s a pioneer in snow sports, and he’s definitely looking to keep it that way.
