ESPN Freeskiing

A couple weeks ago, I had the pleasure of running the Freeskiing Live Blog during Winter X 13. During the event, in an effort to give credit where credit is due (and to strengthen my credibility as a guy who knows what's going on in the sport he's covering), I did an impromptu interview with female slopestyle contender Kaya Turski. Kaya hails from Quebec, and was a professional aggressive inline skater (rollerblader) before bringing her superior bag of tricks over to skiing. Naturally, then, our little interview touched on her rollerblading. And of course, there was a little playful ribbing about her being involved in a sport as uncool as rollerblading. However, there was also the caveat that rollerblading was the reason for Kaya's skiing excellence, and that being cool isn't really as important as having fun. Nevertheless, some hypersensitive blader (I can only assume) found me on Facebook, sent me the following string of messages, and because the first friend request I've ever declined, as my usual policy is to indiscriminately accept all requests — except for this one (whose Facebook profile photo was, during this exchange, updated several times with photos of different Pittsburgh Steelers, and one other photo that I could only guess was a split-screen of his own face and the face of some other famous football player):

A Letter To The Editor (Do Read The Kaya Interview First)

Insulted Inliner:
I read your interview with Kaya Turski after she got Bronze in the Women's Slopestyle. Wow, John Symms, can you be any more disrespectful to alternative sports and what the X Games attempts to do? They made a big deal this year about how "It's all cool between skiing and snowboarding now — there's no hate," and "they're all athletes," etc.

You must not have been around long enough to remember, but freestyle skiing, snowboarding, skateboarding — everything — dealt with years of being unwanted and unaccepted. Now that they are "cool" and acceptable to the public, what do the writers, newscasters, ESPN employees do? Keep promoting hate against rollerblading and giving it no respect. It used to be in the X Games, if you recall.

Not to mention the Newschoolers edit, where one of the best rollerbladers in the world, Chris Haffey, who had never even BEEN ON SNOW in his life, dropped a few 9s and switch 7s over a 40-footer.
Sincerely,
Insulted Inliner

John Symms:
Maybe I can't be any more disrespectful. Maybe you couldn't notice that interview was conducted and posted BEFORE the women's slope to highlight Kaya as one of the standouts in the field. Maybe you couldn't catch the way that the interview was meant to imply that Kaya's blading is what makes her so damn good. Maybe you didn't observe the question that gave Kaya the opportunity to say that she likes to blade and doesn't care whether it's cool or not. And maybe you don't understand that that is a pretty COOL attitude for her to have.

Or maybe you're just a paranoid little horsey and every time you read the word "rollerblading" in print, you turn your brain off and immediately assume that it's meant to promote hate. I tried to show that rollerblading, no matter how uncool the general public thinks it is, has some cool effects on the sport of skiing. And you still thought I was hating. So maybe that makes you the hater.
Lovingly yours,
Symms

Insulted Inliner:
I'm glad as a writer you decided to make note of the fact that Kaya used to rollerblade. If your sincere attempt was to imply that blading could have positive effects on a skier, then good for you. But I think in all honesty that wasn't the purpose of how you geared your questions. Maybe it's because I'm reading it in print and i didn't see it live. Maybe it's because I'm not used to reading blogger-style humor/sarcasm and that's why the tone was lost to me. But hey, if you think you were respecting a sport that is very similar to the one that you love, I'm honestly glad. Who knows? Maybe you could do a "10 Reasons Why Rollerblading Is Cooler Than Skateboarding."
Peace peace,
Insulted Inliner

John Symms:
Nice Backpedaling.
Blade on,
Symms

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