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Will Shaun White and Kevin Pearce become a rivalry that matches the Andy Irons and Kelly Slater rivalry of surf?

Sports have a long history of rivalries, usually the world's best fighting out that top spot in their respective sport: Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier, Arnold Palmer vs. Jack Nicklaus, Andy Irons vs. Kelly Slater, Tom Curren vs. Mark Occhilupo, Wilt Chamberlain vs. Bill Russell, Shaq vs. Kobe, to throw out a handful.

In snowboarding, historically the biggest has been not between snowboarders but with a different sport entirely—skiing. Sure there's been guys like Jimmy Halopoff or Shaun Palmer that at one point or another in their career simply went against everyone and everything, but never has there been a rivalry in the traditional sense between two snowboarders at the top of their game.

Perhaps, until now. It's been quietly building for a couple of seasons now, but during the US Open it became directly addressed in this New York Times article, which ostensibly was just a profile of the Frends crew. But from it an interesting thread surfaced: the rising tension between Shaun White and the seven riders that make up the Frends crew.

For example, take this quote from Kevin Pearce:

"I feel the last couple years, Shaun has kind of dominated snowboarding," Pearce said. "I think that people are getting sick of it, and they're getting sick of seeing him."

And then there was Mason Aguirre to drive the point home, distinguishing the Frends crew from Shaun White:

"If they (the media) want to talk to genuine, authentic normal people like the Frends crew, then call us up. We don't make $15 million a year. We don't drive Lamborghinis. We come from real life and real experiences."

White responded in the article, though his quote felt perhaps a bit pretentious and rather dismissive toward the group:

"The Frends crew is a gathering of snowboarders from the East Coast that ride together and decided to make a company from their friendship," White said in an e-mail message. "I get pushed more by individuals, but I do admire their creativity."

The consensus from the Frends crew is that if it's a rivalry, it's not a typical one because it's the seven of them—Pearce, Aguirre, Danny Davis, Luke and Jack Mitrani, Scotty Lago and Keir Dillon—against one, Shaun White.

But the feeling I get is that this is more Kevin against Shaun than it is the rest of the crew. Maybe it's because Pearce has had the most success competing against White. Maybe he just seems like the most natural rival to stand against White among the rest of the Frends crew. Maybe it's the personality of Pearce, but something tells me of this group, he's the one. Though as the article points out, a rivalry with Shaun White on the competitive circuit right now seemingly requires just that, a collective like the Frends, rather than just an individual.

At any rate, it's good to see some spit flying.

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