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Part I of V What is the difference between Dar Robinson and Jackass?? Evel Knievel was a successful stunt man and I believe some of his wipe-outs were caused by sabotage. I saw the shark pit jump live on TV. It looked like he hit wax on the ramp and slipped. When I told my dad who was watching with me he said "No one would make him crash." I still believe someone did! This is the world of extreme sports enthusiasts. Our eyes are different from others; we're often called insane for doing the things we have planned and practiced even when we are successful. We are usually only shown in the news when we wipe-out; but we are successful where no one else goes, we survive wrecks in which others would die. I saw some snowboarders discussing what they do when they set-off an avalanche. They have techniques that allow them to set-off and survive, sometimes still snowboard in an avalanche! That knowledge would save lives if ski instructors would teach it. That is what society gains from Extreme Sports Enthusiasts. You must respect men who wipeout pushing the limits but Where is the line between intelligent risk and stupidity?
Some people believe it is stupid to attempt world record jumps and think Evel Knievel an idiot even if he had been successful at Caesar's Palace. Such people fail to realize that the very food they eat was discovered at the cost of the lives of men who reached beyond their present limits of knowledge to try something new. I believe that the original purpose for enslaving others was to have them serve as testers of new food. If they died you didn't eat it. If Benjamin Franklin hadn't flown a key on a kite you wouldn't have the computer you are using right now. Proving a basic law of physics almost cost Franklin his life.
Extreme Sports are very unforgiving, that is why they have been labeled extreme. If you miss a basketball hoop the worst of all possibilities is that the guy who got hit in the head by your ball might start a fight with you. Let's take a look at Robbie Maddison who just set a new motorcycle jump record on New Year's Eve 2008 clearing 322 ft. If memory serves me I think it was Maddo who had a spectacular wipeout that he credits to his own stupidity. He broke his face and that was only the beginning of his injuries. Maddo did not prepare properly for the jump that day. He took off on his motorcycle without looking at the wind speed or direction and overshot the landing ramp. The first difference between sport and stupidity is preparedness. Ben Franklin was as prepared as he could be with the tools available at the time. He planned to get his kite struck by lightning. He miscalculated the amount of electricity that could be transferred down a kite string. Thus, he is not stupid, but a sportsman. I would classify him as an extreme sports participant who practiced extreme kite flying =) Robbie Maddison's World Record Jump was done in honor of Evel Knievel's jump at Caesar's Palace... one of the most spectacular wipe-outs in history. Unlike Franklin, Evel Knievel had correctly calculated what was necessary to successfully complete his goal. His accident was caused by a momentary fluctuation in engine performance on the launch ramp which kept him from achieving the speed necessary to make a good landing. That is one danger of participating in Extreme Sports there are things completely outside of your control that can kill you. Even with the best planning Geoffrey de Havilland Jr. died because there are things you do not know that can kill you and some of them you can't find out about until you do it. Extreme Sportsmen ride the envelope, that's how we learn new things. That is why shows like Jackass are so stupid and the only thing worse than being stupid is wasting your time watching stupid people. I hate MTV's Jackass. Those goof balls hurt each other and perform antics knowing they'll injure themselves. They are beyond stupid, they're malevolent. People watch Jackass and they laugh; then when they see someone trying something they think, "It would be funny to throw a stick in his way" without realizing that the guy you just torpedoed will lose his job if you break his arm. Someone did that to me once but I was able to jump off my skateboard instead of landing badly. Then everyone grabbed me to keep me from pummeling that jackass. Later when I explained to him how my angle of attack on the stick he threw would have broken my arm he laughed at ME for trying the trick. That was my introduction to the imbecilic fans of those Jackass idiots. Their dumbass "Warning Label" is another crock. They do not do stunts!! Those blockheads do moron; heck I could find a retard capable of understanding the worthlessness of the whole Jackass crew. People inadvertently mistake that for Extreme Sports because Bam Margera is a pro skateboarder. The cause of that misjudgment is TV which dislikes real Extreme Sportsmen so people are accustomed to seeing Extreme Sportsmen crash because that's what TV wants to show. Those idiots make people like me look bad. Millionaires spent time and money to make Jackass. Hey, MTV executives: You are a bunch of enema nozzles! Go produce something else!! I was going to interview a guy in part II of this series. He jumped off of a two story house. He agreed to the interview and I went to his website to look-up some info on him so I could ask informed questions. He's got a video of himself and a friend hitting each other's balls with a stick, I didn't watch that video nor did I interview the idiot. That's such an ignoramus act that it only classifies as slapstick comedy for S&M Dungeons and should never be related to Extreme Sports in any way at all. The only thing learned from from Jackass is we now know that little Johnny will jump off a cliff if Bam does. I just want to make sure its the Grand Canyon and that everyone is in the shopping cart when it goes over the edge. Purposefully wrecking yourself is not a sport, it is a pastime for ninnies. Fans of such cretins are inferior to them. Jackass is stupidity, not sport. Sports bloopers have been sold for decades. Then along came Extreme Sports where more often than not we do not make it. I saw one movie that was a continuous uncut run filming of a single practice session. The riders were trying such difficult tricks that only two or three of them landed on their skateboards during the whole session. Although very boring, its the kind of film that's very educational to Extreme Sports Enthusiasts. Then producers started making film of big wipe-outs and odd accidents. Some are very funny and I laugh hard at them, but I learn from them. The extreme sports community buys film of wipe-outs. So, how does that differ from watching purposeful self-destruction on MTV? Why is it intelligent to watch one kind of wreck and stupid to watch another? It has to do with intent. When Extreme Sportsmen watch our compatriots crash we are studying the best set-up for a stunt and we look for the little things that resulted in disaster. Even the best planning does not guarantee your stunt will be successful so someone who is intending to wreck is not worth watching. Wipe-out videos are studied to help us avoid making the same mistakes our fellow Extreme Sports participants make; we don't watch for laughs! Sometimes you see the real cause of a crash occurred very early in the run and sometimes you can't figure it out until you see how the parts fly through the air after the accident. During a red flag in an F1 race one car wreck was replayed several times until an announcer figured out that a wheel on the race car had broken loose and that is what caused the strange motion of the vehicle during the accident. Extreme Sportsmen do not watch for the purpose of laughing or gawking. We watch to learn, that is our intent. That is the reason I am very upset that it's illegal in America to sell film in which someone dies. The government is keeping us from being able to see the fatal mistakes Extreme Sports Enthusiasts make. That knowledge is used so we can make corrections in how we approach various stunts. That law has increased the risk to those who imperil their lives as ultimate adventurers; we who are the Extreme Sports Enthusiasts. This is part one of a five part series on Extreme Sports. I'm trying to find some videos and will post Part II when its finished. Writer wishes to thank dictionary.com & thesaurus.com for their assistance in writing this article.
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