Extreme Sports, Extreme Culture

Answer 1

What makes a sport “extreme� has been the subject of debate for some time. Sports like Motocross, Skateboarding, and BMX have long been defined as extreme sports, but few people are able to pinpoint the exact reason the word extreme is placed before the word sports to describe these competitions. After years of debate about these relatively new forms of sporting events, a few common characteristics have emerged that explain their name. What sets these sports apart are youth, individualism, and force behind the games that earn a spot as extreme.

Youth

Every generation of young people help make extreme sports a household term and bring national prominence to its competitions. T-shirts, Video Games, sporting drinks, and brands of skateboards, bicycles, and motorcycles are born from the success of extreme sports. What makes a sport extreme is often its following.

Individualism

It’s reasonable to place individualism side by side with youth culture as a defining aspect of extreme sports. Most of the sports judge a competitors performance based on their creativity. These sports aren’t organized. They allow a measure of freeform competition that allows each player to express their individuality. It serves the youth culture and sport very well.

Force

Extreme sports are wild by design. Sometimes a “routineâ€� has no rhyme or reason. It can’t be predicted or judged by the book. It has to be taken as it is: Freeform and beautiful in a disorganized way. The force of these sports doesn’t mean impact or taking another opponent down, but creating something so inspirational during a jump or a freestyle routine that it is extreme on its own. It doesn’t have to defeat someone else. It’s just powerful on its own.

These sports and the culture surrounding them bring sports to another level of fun and intensity. It gives players the ability to create a new world and culture every time they step on a skateboard or bike. Spectators get to enjoy the creation from the sidelines, but they can also grab up some T-shirts and extreme drinks to become a part of it all for awhile. In the end, extreme sports and culture carry on neatly together.