SabreJoe 1 #1 February 6, 2004 Im seeing a lot of shows like "Real TV," "Outdoor Outakes," etc. showing a lot of swooping accidents especially smackin into the swoop pond. Is this hurting our sport you think?=============================== Don't Die Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pleifer 0 #2 February 6, 2004 Nah I think it is doing a lot of good PR... really I do.... It shows that we take our sport s..... Ok I can't hold a strait face any longer _________________________________________ The Angel of Duh has spoke Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
downwardspiral 0 #3 February 6, 2004 I think it sucks they don't show successfull footage as well so wuffos understand what is suppose to happen.www.FourWheelerHB.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KawiZX900 0 #4 February 6, 2004 I'm lining it up don't worry. It is my fucking mission from god (blues brothers) to get skydiving covered like any other sport. Don't you worry bout it. Someone is working to get that to change. Working Hard too. looks at phone with "Great vengance and Furious Anger" (Sam Jackson stylie) In factamundo on Feb 18th at 2:00 I'll be expecting a phone call to get it done. wish me luck, and buy me a beer or five. Accelerate hard to get them looking, then slam on the fronts and rollright beside the car, hanging the back wheel at eye level for a few seconds. Guaranteed reaction- Dave Sonsky Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lee03 0 #5 February 6, 2004 Yes, I'm afraid it is. I wish someone would do a modern, updated virsion of the old TV show, "Ripcord" or show the original series, and give a positive image of the sport. Sadly, good news and good things, the TV doesn't want, only things tht put up a negative light! -------- To put your life in danger from time to time ... breeds a saneness in dealing with day-to-day trivialities. --Nevil Shute, Slide Rule Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shawndiver 0 #6 February 6, 2004 I think overall the skydiving image portrayed on TV has come a long way. Back when I first started in 1982, if you saw anyone with a parchute on television, 99.9% of the time, that person was gonna die. Over the years I have seen skydiving being shown in more favorable scenarios, from the X games to advertising. You see it in TV show plots, (yes, usually showing the whuffos scared out of their wits, but at least they usually live now!). I think tandem skydiving has really helped people understand that this IS a survivable sport, while obviously not everyone has done it, most people at least know some one who has, and that person is still alive, and, may have actually enjoyed the experience! As far as the reality shows go, there is a plethora of tape out there thanks to digital camcorders, and of course, human misery/misfortune is great for ratings. Although occasionally, I even see positive footage (record loads, specialty skydives usually) on these shows as well. There is still plenty of room for improvement, but overall, I think we've come a long way in the last few years!! Shawn_________________ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dkf1979 0 #7 February 6, 2004 before we know it there will be a 100way over the olympics. shaped as the olympics rings. wouldn't that be cool? http://bodypilot.bounceme.net Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SkydivingNurse 0 #8 February 6, 2004 Quotewish me luck, and buy me a beer or five. Get skydiving on like any other sport and I'll buy you a whole damn keg of a beer of your choice. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CornishChris 5 #9 February 6, 2004 The Headline: "Today 293 succesful parachute descents were made from a plane in ****" does not carry quite as much punch to the reading/watching public as "Skydiver Plummets to Death" When you watch the reality shows I bet there aren't many shots of cars being driven normally either - but I bet there are crashes. Keep the public happy. To be honest I/you/we as skydivers generally don't give a fuck. CJP Gods don't kill people. People with Gods kill people Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bch7773 0 #10 February 6, 2004 I've think that if the people with a tape of a skydiving injury didn't sell it to the shows, we wouldn't have all this negative press. but, something tells me that isn't gonna happen. MB 3528, RB 1182 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
happythoughts 0 #11 February 6, 2004 Skydiving has become pretty mainstream. Out of any crowd of 6 people under 30yo, one of them has done a tandem. If a jumper hammers in, the general public is not surprised. Tandems are viewed as some kind of relatively safe carnival ride. This is all good until a well-known person is injured doing one. Then the press does a "Are these unsafe wackos endangering your child?" story. Personally, I like the idea that non-jumpers think it is unsafe. That way, the ones who come out to the dropzone will respect the sport and do less stupid junk. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kramer 0 #12 February 6, 2004 QuoteOut of any crowd of 6 people under 30yo, one of them has done a tandem. Wow, I'm not doubting you, you know your stuff. But does that seem really low to anyone else? I woulda guessed like 1 in a 100, and even that's a longshot to me. -Kramer The FAKE KRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMER!!!!!!!!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
happythoughts 0 #13 February 6, 2004 From the Skydive City webpage 2003 2670 tandems 2002 2418 Tandems 2001 2594 Tandems 2000 2939 Tandems I haven't got any scientific evidence to say that 1 out of 6 is the right statistic, but it seems that a lot of the 20-30 crowd has done one tandem. For that 4 year period, that is about 10,000 tandems. SC does a huge amount of business. It has always seemed to me that someone in the crowd has done a tandem. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Douva 0 #14 February 6, 2004 In the early '90s, skydiving (okay, mostly skysurfing) was receiving pretty decent coverage on ESPN. This ended about the same time the X-Games dropped skydiving from the lineup. Apparently, street luge and lawnmower racing are huge draws, but skydiving doesn't quite have the audience ESPN requires. Also in the early '90s, skydiving started receiving a more positive portrayal on the big screen. Point Break brought modern skydiving to mainstream audiences, followed a few years later by Drop Zone and Terminal Velocity. The advent of modern computer graphics quickly turned cinematic attention from amazing stunts to amazing computer generated characters and worlds, and skydiving was replaced by CGI dinosaurs. These days, any skydiving on the big screen was probably shot in front of a blue screen. These things always come in cycles, so skydiving will probably return to public attention at some point. The trick will be for somebody to have the wherewithal to run with the proverbial ball and turn that attention into consistent, positive mainstream media coverage. Blue skies, DouvaI don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
peacefuljeffrey 0 #15 February 6, 2004 QuoteI'm lining it up don't worry. It is my fucking mission from god (blues brothers) to get skydiving covered like any other sport. Don't you worry bout it. Someone is working to get that to change. Working Hard too. Please don't work too hard at that. I'm sorry, I just do not share the feeling that skydiving must be made to be like every other sport out there, over-exposed, over-marketed, over-popular. There are a lot of jerkoff idiots out there in the general population. At the current time, I think that those who get into skydiving and stay in it are sort of a "cream of the crop" in a way. If the sport gets overpopulated with too many people doing it, we are bound to increase the idiot-density at our DZs. I don't mean that I wish skydiving to be unpopular. I just don't think it would serve those who love it to have it become "huge." And I sure as shit don't want Coca Cola and AT&T making skydiving into their whore. That's what happens. I've been concerned with the same thing beginning to happen with Disc Golf. Those who are interested know that skydiving exists and they will do it if they wish to. I don't think that a few sensationalized snippets of footage on some stupid t.v. shows are enough to drive the sport under. And I think that if people are so stupid that they are able to be scared away by videos of events that are obviously not the norm, they are not the kinds of people we should want to share a potentially dangerous sport with anyway. Ignorant and gullible and impressionable couch potatoes are not the future of this sport, so there is no loss in them not coming out to the DZ. ---Jeffrey-Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MikeJD 0 #16 February 6, 2004 I don't think this sort of thing is really hurting the sport because that is what people expect to happen to skydivers, whether they see it on TV or not. Heck, even I'm amazed sometimes that we can take part in this freaky activity safely. I find it's damn near impossible to convince anybody outside the sport that we're not crazy - and from their point of view I don't think that's too surprising. I think if there's one perception we do have a chance of altering, it's that skydiving is just a test of courage or an adrenaline fix rather than a proper sport that tests skill and experience. And TV coverage of competitions and lots of different disciplines can certainly help fix that. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ian84 0 #17 February 6, 2004 QuoteI think if there's one perception we do have a chance of altering, it's that skydiving is just a test of courage or an adrenaline fix rather than a proper sport that tests skill and experience. And TV coverage of competitions and lots of different disciplines can certainly help fix that. It pisses me off when people say skydiving is easy and all you have to do is fall!!!!!! I usually show those people some footage of arizona airspeed. That usually has an effect. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skyrose7 0 #18 February 6, 2004 you took the post right out of my mouth. I completely agree.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The mind is like a parachute--it works better when it is open. JUMP. MaryRose Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
happythoughts 0 #19 February 6, 2004 Quoteyou took the post right out of my mouth. I completely agree. Jeffrey said it very well. QuoteIgnorant and gullible and impressionable couch potatoes are not the future of this sport, so there is no loss in them not coming out to the DZ. I agree too. People who are not serious about life should stay out of a sport with very serious consequences. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Antithesis 0 #20 February 6, 2004 QuoteIgnorant and gullible and impressionable couch potatoes are not the future of this sport, so there is no loss in them not coming out to the DZ Skydiving also takes a lot of hard work, effort, interest and sacrifice.. I think that those gullible and impressionable couch ptoatoes get filtered out after they find out what skydiving is really about. Nevertheless I see nothing wrong with those people fueling the tandem industry I travel the land, Work in the ocean, Play in the sky Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
