know, I know...I shouldn't be watching so much TV. But since I rarely buy videos, this is one way to see some riding. And why else am I getting cable but for such fine programming... The riding is, of course, great. But, since I'm a complainer, here I go: First, the crowd. Well, actually, I'm not going to go off on them -- they're just watching the best thing the X-Games have to offer. What else are they going to watch? Street losers...er, lugers? I'll tell you, watching every barefoot water-skier do the exact same thing gets old fast. Let me now say that I have utmost respect for Matt Hoffman, Dennis McCoy, and Dave Mirra. These guys are some the best riders around and have done so much to bring riding to the point it's at right now. But from watching the X-Games, you'd think there weren't any other riders. I know there's limited air time and Web space, but it's starting to turn into the riding magazines of the 80's, where only a few riders got 90% of the coverage. The announcers sometimes say stupid things, but that's easily fixed by killing the volume. Unfortunately, the visuals are harder to hide. It's kind of gross to see all the commercialism all over the place -- not only the banners everywhere, but the stickers on riders' bikes and helmets. And I'm not talking about bike and clothing sponsors, but Slim Jim and other non-riding corporate sponsors. I realize that the money's got to come from somewhere, and I don't want to sound like I'm screaming "sell out", but it's just not something I'm used to seeing. I'm wary when corporate America jumps in when something gets big, 'cause you know they're not gonna be around when riding's not so cool (and profitable) anymore. There are two roads available: milk 'em for all you can while the getting's good, or ignore them now 'cause you can bet they'll be ignoring us later. I guess I prefer the latter. Another annoyance is the attitude that is generated by ESPN. The commentators try to make riding seem so competitive, but let's face it -- this isn't the Super Bowl. We ride because it's fun, and I think it's safe to assume that the pros feel the same way. Nobody rides for fame and fortune -- the era of the "rock star" rider living the charmed life ended when Mike Dominguez and Eddie Fiola left the sport. (And before you email me saying "Eddie hasn't quit -- he still does shows", trust me when I say that as far as the riding world is concerned, he's gone.) In the end, even though ESPN isn't doing a perfect job of representing freestyle, at least we don't look as dumb as fruitbooters...