2006 gives new meaning to the phrase “White out.”

Last year, Shaun White won every con-test he entered. From the Torino Olympics to the X Games, White was an unstoppable force not to be messed with. However, White started out 2007 on a much different note. He missed the gold medal in Slope style at the eleventh Winter X Games as well as the gold in Superpipe.

Did the “Flying Tomato” step out of the spotlight gracefully and celebrate all the new talent that was showcased?

No he did not.

White’s self absorbed manner was shown in his extra run after the most recent X Games Slopestyle. He knew he got the bronze, yet he felt he was entitled to another run.

Why should he be able to exhibit his prowess more than any other athlete?

This run simply proved that he needed the last word and would do anything to get it.

That is on par with Lindsay Jacobellis’s infamous showboating fall of the 2006 Winter Olympics. Jacobellis got a fair amount of negative press, so why didn’t White?

When Kelly Clark, gold medalist in the 2002 Winter Olympics, came back to compete after her whirlwind year, she tanked and she knew it. She chalcked it up to not practicing enough, spending too much time on endorsement deals and not enough time on the slopes.

Why can’t White do the same?

There is no denying the fact that Shaun White is an extremely talented snowboarder. The guy went pro at age 13 for God’s sake, and was the first fourpeat male athlete to win in one discipline at the X Games in Slopestyle.

While White has been celebrated as a progressive rider that pushes the limits of the sport, his runs are all very similar and have not been driving the sport forward.

He stays with his flat 900s and 1080s, and although he did attempt a 1260 at the end of his Slopestyle, he never went inverted.

Going into this year’s X Games, there was a mass of media surrounding the crop of young snowboarders that were to compete.

In the qualifying round of Superpipe, riders like Louie Vito, Danny Davis and Scotty Lago threw down huge airs and massive, corked spins, while maintaining amplitude that is rarely seen.

Their runs were very progressive, ever more so than White’s, but not many people know about them because they went huge and fell, thus not making the finals.

2007 gold medalist in the Pipe Steve Fisher expressed my sentiment perfectly. “There are so many people here who are so good and so talented. And nobody cares. These are the best riders in the world,” he said.

So then why was White the talk of the press tent? He didn’t even win.

Step back and grow up, Shaun White. It’s time to remember your love of the sport rather than your love of yourself and share the fame you’ve brought to snow-boarding.