Sorry, but the word extreme has got to be stopped.

It?s everywhere you look these days. The XFL, the X-games, extreme wrestling, the list goes on and on. What?s next, extreme fly-fishing?

Hasn?t anybody learned that the word extreme is nothing but a moniker, used solely for the purpose of gimmickry and a quick sale, for sports that can?t make it in the mainstream? It seems like everything that?s “extreme” we buy, and at some point are embarrassed that we ever thought it was legitimate.

If a sport can?t sell itself to an audience, based on the merit of the skill and competition involved, without the extreme rules or stunts, then it just has no business being a sport. An extreme sports? league is nothing but a bunch of second-rate participants, a bunch of sponsors, and a marketing team that uses outside influences to make the sport more appealing. For example cheerleaders, glorified advertisements of hyped-up products that are somehow related to the league, and just a bunch of pure hype.

Take a look at the X-games. It?s nothing but a Mountain Dew advertisement that runs throughout the competition as people perform crazy stunts, or compete in routine recreational activities. And one?s performance in those recreational activities may, or may not be enhanced by the use of marijuana. Then, to make it interesting, they get some caffeine-loaded commentator to describe a skateboarder?s move on the half-pipe with a 35 word soliloquy of nonsense that could simply be translated: “He went backwards, jumped, and spun around.”

It?s not that it?s easy to be good at skateboarding, snowboarding, or any of the other events involved in the X-games, it?s not.There is skill involved. It?s just getting to be so tiresome to turn on ESPN and be sold a bunch of gimmicks. The ideas get abused, and eventually lost forever.

Think about what extreme really is, and who, in the past has claimed to be extreme. Vanilla Ice was “to the extreme,” because he “rocked the mic like a vandal.” Enough said?

If you want to watch a real extreme sport, try taking in a rugby game. I promise you, you won?t be sold a damn thing. But you will see a bunch of rugged, hard-hitting rugby players ripping each other?s guts out. They don?t wear pads and the thought of a helmet is quite an insult.

Sac State has two rugby teams. We have the men?s team, and guess who?that?s right, a women?s team. Neither of these teams is a part of our athletic department, but they play at the highest level of competition and they bleed, sweat, and live rugby.

That definitely sounds more appealing than watching some guy, with a nickname like “He Hate Me” on the back of his jersey, who?s not good enough to hack it in the NFL, and plays a secondary role in the game broadcast to the cheerleaders. How many gimmicks can you pick out of that scenario? How many of them are smart gimmicks? How many of them make you feel like you want to spend some money to go watch the game?

Let?s do ourselves a favor and stop buying into this whole “extreme” phenomena. It?s not worth our time.

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