Photo: Squire via Getty Images

There was an article on Grind TV about the women’s PGS that happened on Friday. At the end or the article they had a paragraph that said there are rumors that PGS may not be around by the time the Winter Olympics get to Russia and it could be replaced by Slopestyle because of its popularity. The only stipulations would be that Russia would want to keep PGS because they are good at it and they could probably rake in a couple medals. That and the IOC usually likes to keep events that are races rather than ones that are judged to cut down on disputed medals.

It will be interesting to see what happens since the IOC and snowboarding have never really gotten along. Personally I think they should keep PGS and still add Slopestyle. Look how many different events there are in skiing.. I think they can give us that one.

Bronze medalist Scotty Lago

America’s halfpipe bronze medalist has left the Olympics. Snowboarding’s Scotty Lago is packing his bags and heading home after getting a little too friendly with a female fan.

The muckracking Web site TMZ.com took a break from stalking Hollywood celebutantes long enough for one of their photographers to get these photos of Scotty showing off his medal in his own special way.

Lago’s not facing any further punishment, but the IOC heads apparently weren’t impressed with his actions so he got Vancouver’s equivalent of an honorable discharge.

The media is going to love this. All week long the curmudgeonly critics across the cable stations have been complaining about everything the snowboarders do. First, Kazuhiro Kokubo drew some attention and was forced into an apology for taking the Japan travel outfits to the G level. Then, during the competition broadcasters were complaining about how baggy the guys’ pants were. One expert even had the bright idea that our competitors might be able to “perform an extra twist if their clothing wasn’t so baggy.” Some people also complained about the denim pants that made up the U.S. uniform, even though it was pretty fitting of America in a cultural context.

Despite snide remarks from nearly senile sportscasters, people were definitely awed by Shaun White’s runs. It’s pretty amazing how far ahead of the field that kid is. White and Lago hinted at hopes for an invite to meet Barack Obama at a post-competition press conference, but this little incident will probably put the kibosh on any White House welcome for Lago.

So will the media look down on snowboarding for this? Definitely. Are many snowboarders going to care what the media thinks? Absolutely not. Snowboarding was born out of rebellious acts, and the fact that Scotty is still doing what he wants proves that snowboarding has not “sold out,” like many will say about its Olympic presence. He was even wearing a Team USA shirt for the photo op! So props go out to Mr. Lago for keeping snowboarding edgy because these Olympics have seriously been lacking in drama now that the snowboarding events have wrapped up.

The Women’s Olympic Halfpipe competition was held last night at Cypress Mountain and it was a bit of a nail biter. The first runs of the finals had Hannah Teter sitting in first and Torah Bright sitting in dead last after she fell on her switch backside 720 and fell again when she was playing around in the pipe on her way down. Kelly Clark also unfortunately included a fall in her first run. The girls had to put down something amazing to make it to the podium and they did just that.

Torah was the first to go for round two since she had the lowest of all the scores. She was able to put down an amazing and solid run that the judges scored a 45, which knocked Hannah out of first. Kelly Clark came into her next run getting herself mentally prepared by doing what Todd Richards (1998 Halfpipe Olympian) was calling the Kelly Karaoke, which was Kelly singing along loudly to her ipod. Kelly Karaoke must work because she was able to drop in and put down a run with her signature massive airs which was worthy of an Olympic bronze. Hannah Teter was the last to go in round two after her first outstanding run landed her at the top of the list. She put down a strong second run, but it was not good enough to unseat Torah from her gold medal position and Hannah finished with a silver medal.

Yahoo had a good article on Torah Bright and her parents coming all the way from Australia to surprise her at the Olympics after she had asked them not to come. Check it out HERE.

Any of us who were watching TV last night will know that Shaun White was successfully able to defend his Olympic gold metal. As he usually does Shaun put on quite a show for millions of people. Fellow American team mate Scotty Lago threw down a run with mad style and brought home a bronze. And Peetu Piiroinen representing the Finland team put down a run worthy of Olympic silver.

Shaun actually won the gold with his first run in the finals as no one was able to beat his initial score. He was then left with a victory lap at the end where he put down his ever popular new move the Big Mac (double McTwist 1260) and actually upped his score. When discussing what to do for this victory lap his coach Bud Keene let a couple “naughty” words fly which NBC was lucky enough to pick up live. Oops… Hopefully every little ear was ear muffed at that moment.

Peetu has been a halfpipe competitor that has had eyes on him for some time, and everyone knew that he would be a big threat coming in to the Olympics. Peetu proved he had the stuff when he took first in halfpipe in the Burton European Open and now here at the Olympics he showed the world he is top world class pipe rider.

Scotty Lago had a huge following coming into the Olympics. So many people were pulling for him to make the team in the Grand Prix because he was praised for having the best style along with huge amplitude tricks. He put all that down in Vancouver last night and dedicated his bronze medal run to his Frends Kevin Pearce and Danny Davis.

Shaun and Scotty both made an appearance on the Today Show, and TransWorld has posted the two sections you can see HERE.

Photo credit: Snowboarder Magazine

There’s this event going on today, north of the border, maybe you’ve heard something about it? Apparently Vancouver’s got this little grassroots halfpipe competition going on called the Olympics!

That’s right, the stunt ditch will fill up with stars this afternoon, and by bedtime the world will have a new men’s pipe champion. The United States Olympic Team is looking good too.

Shaun White has been training like a man possessed with private pipes and foam pits and he’s coming in hot off an X Games victory. Does the world have a secret weapon out there that can de-throne the defending champ? Iouri Podladtchikov and Kazuhiro Kokubu put up a decent fight at the X Games, too, garnering second and third, respectively.

Joining Shaun for the stars and stripes are Louie Vito and Scotty Lago, two high-flyin’ young guns in search of their first taste of Olympic glory. Both guys have been using this season as a coming out party, affirming that they have the ability to become legitimate contenders on the global stage.

Also making his debut is up and comer Greg Bretz, out of Mammoth Mountain, California. He’s proved to be part of the prestigious double-cork club and could be a serious medal contender after narrowly missing out on a share of the X Games podium.

The United States team already has one gold in the bag, thanks to Mr. Seth Wescott and his photo finish in snowboardcross earlier in the week. Snowboarding action continues tomorrow too, when the women take to the vert, led by Kelly Clark, Elena Hight, Gretchen Bleiler, and Hannah Teter.

Be sure to tune in to NBC for the first man to drop-in at 4:05 ET. Qualifications and Semifinals continue throughout the afternoon, and the first of two final runs are scheduled to begin at 10:15 ET.

Keep checking back here for Olympic updates and beyond!

Direct from Grind TV:

Elena Hight and Greg Bretz have a lot in common. Hight, 20, and Bretz, 19, are the two youngest members of the Olympic halfpipe team, and they were the final two riders to qualify in their respective fields for the trip to Vancouver. Not surprisingly, they’re both considered huge underdogs as well.

Apparently, there’s even more to this bond. Yes, the two youngest riders on the Olympic Halfpipe team are officially a couple. And on the surface they certainly seem to be lifting each other’s game. They both performed well during the high-stress season of qualifying. If they can handle that they should be fine taking on the world.

The last stop of the Dew Tour is happening this weekend in West Dover, Vermont Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so be sure to watch for that. The big one, the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, will be happening pretty much all month. The torch will be lit the 12th and burn till the 28th. Snowboard events go as follows:

Skiing also has a lot going on with its many many different divisions and variations, but one to watch is Ski Cross, which is making its debut to the Olympic games this year. That schedule goes as follows:

February 21, 2010

February 23, 2010

To see a schedule or to learn a little more about all the events at the Olympics visit their Web site.