With a second Olympic gold medal in the bag everyone wants a piece of Shaun White. So what has the "White Wonder" been up to?

He's been garnering as much media attention as possible, igniting a fire in the limelight and making it undeniable that it's good to be Shaun White.

2/17/10

Shaun White etched himself into history proving once again he is the best half-pipe rider in the world.


Shaun White claims second gold medal

2/18/10

The unprecedented win triggered full-on media madness. White pulled an all-nighter to appear on the Today Show at Grouse Mountain early Thursday. The "man of the morning" showed up to talk about his gold medal moment and gave a play by play illustration of the Double McTwist 1260.

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The TODAY SHOW

Following the morning chit chat with the Meredith Vieira, Matt Lauer, Al Roker, and Ann Curry, White got cozy with NBC's Bob Costas in Vancouver. White talked about his ability to "rise and delivery a win" under any circumstance.


Shaun White and Bob Costas
Photo: Gabe Le'rouex

Watch the fireside conversation here: BOB COSTAS

With two televised interviews under his belt, it was time for White to claim his prized prize. He rolled into the Men's Halfpipe Medal Ceremony at BC Place in Vancouver to receive his hard-earned hardware.


Shaun White and his gold medal Photo: Getty Images

With the new bling hung squarely around his neck, it was off to the Vancouver party scene for some celebration.

The first stop was the USA House's Official Celebration- Check out Shaun White and Scotty Lago showing off their goods here: USA HOUSE.


Then to the Red Bull sponsored 'Shaun White Party' at Shine Lounge in downtown Vancouver. This was the same party Scotty Lago was snapped doing this:Oh Scotty!.

2/20/10

White didn't have time to stay and watch DJ Steve Aokie spin it up for him at Shine because he had to hop a private jet straight to Chicago to catch up with Ms. Oprah Winfrey.


Shaun White on Oprah

2/22/10

No time for rest for White because it was straight unto to New York City for a little action with Regis and Kelly. White breaks down the Double Mctwist 1260 and says its "the hardest trick in his bag."


Live with Regis and Kelly

After hanging with Philbin and Ripa, it was time for some rock and roll at a Rolling Stone Photo Shoot. The shoot is under wraps as of now, but the mag should be coming out in a few weeks.

Following the shoot, White beamed into Larry King Live straight from NYC for yet another interview.

King asks White for reasons why he snowboards and what's next for "the Animal." Check it: LARRY KING LIVE


Also on this day, the latest issue of ESPN the Mag came out with White gracing the cover-

The article, written by Alyssa Roenigk, offers keen insight into White's perception of himself, and reveals SW's admiration forJim Morrison.

To cap off the day White sat down with Steven Colbert. The conversation gets interesting as they discuss figure skaters and the necessity for over the top outfits. Check out White's scarf.

Hilarity ensues.

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30cShaun Whitewww.colbertnation.comColbert Report Full EpisodesPolitical HumorSkate Expectations
Steve Colbert and Shaun White

2/23/10

It's 7:00 a.m. on a Tueday morning and Shaun White is ready to begin another day of mainstream media madness. To kick things off he heads to ABC's Good Morning America, stands in 3 inches of fake snow and explains how he is built to do tricks like the double Mctwist 1260.




Good Morning America

Two and half hours later, White gets friendly with Kyra Philips on CNN's American Morning. He talks about growing into "his own skin" and how he going to "keep it smooth" from here on out.


CNN American Morning with Kyra Philips

With the CNN interview complete, it was time to talk to everyone's favorite foodie, Rachel Ray.

The episode features "Sex After 50 & Gold Medalist Shaun White." White and Rachel talk about steak, "The Rog" and surprise! The double McTwist 1260. Check it out here:Rachel Ray



Shaun White and Rachel Ray
Photo: Gabe L'Heureux

After rocking with Rachel, White and crew headed to the New York Stock Exchange for the golden boy to ring the golden closing bell.

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The dow might have been down, but stock in White is definitely up.

2/24/10

According to White's Twitter account, the face of snowboarding is in London. A break from all this media madnes? Of course not! He's feilding questions from reporters acorss across the pond. Follow him on twitter here: Shaun_White.

2/25/10

So what's next for the most recognizable face of action sports? He's set to appear on Jay Leno alongside Sarah Palin on March 2nd.Shaun White on Leno


So there you have it. A week in the life of Shaun White.

He's clearly taking the world by storm and we congratulate him on his extraordinary performances, but we're over thisfanaticalmedia frenzy...

What are your thoughts??

After turning in another round of heart-pounding performances at the Vancouver Olympics, the world's best snowboarders are trying to enjoy what time they have left on the world's biggest stage.

While the athletes' dizzying moves in the halfpipe are something they have command of, navigating the rapidly-evolving media -- where every camera phone is potentially as powerful as a satellite truck, and every Twitter post is fair game -- has proven much more challenging.

Bronze-medalist Scotty Lago is the latest snowboarder to be caught in an embarrassing situation after pictures of him partying Thursday night appeared on the gossip website TMZ on Friday.

That Lago would be partying is hardly surprising or even controversial. But fears that his behavior may have offended the IOC's reverence for their Olympic medals (which were starring in the photos) compelled him to apologize to U.S. Olympic officials on Friday before "voluntarily" packing his bags and heading home.

Several U.S. snowboard stars have been caught in sticky situations during their time in Vancouver, some more hilarious than others. Greg Bretz, 19, won a McNugget eating contest two days before his halfpipe event started. Hannah Teter is all over the headlines for selling her underwear to charity, and has been bogged down defending the decision to media. Even Coach Bud Keene's expletive-laden pep talk to Shaun White was captured on live television on accident by NBC.

Snowboarding and snowboarders have had a tenuous relationship with the Games and the omnipresent media ever since its 1998 Olympic debut in Nagano. Minutes after snowboarding's first gold medal was awarded to Canadian Ross Rebagliati, the IOC marked the milestone by rushing through the door and stripping it away.

Rebagliati tested positive for marijuana. Whoops.

Back then, snowboarders had enemies, too. None bigger than the skiing community, who cited Rebagliati's bad PR as more proof that snowboarders -- the young, unruly and unwashed tribe of rebellious little fringe dwellers -- remained a threat to their very way of life. The battle between mountain tribes was already fracturing the cultural fabric of families, businesses and even entire towns at the time.

To this day, snowboarders are to skiers what bicyclers are to drivers. And, you might say, skiers are to snowboarders what cops are to convicts. But a dtente was eventually achieved thanks to the smell of money.

The ski industry has now made billions of dollars off snowboarders. And snowboarders have pandered to the skier class to gain entrance to their bank accounts, their Games and most notably the hallowed mountain-sides they were once barred from even using.

But after years of bending to other people's rules, snowboarders have definitely found their place. Even this year's U.S. team uniforms speak to this. The clean, conforming Yankee pinstripes of 2006 have been abandoned in favor of flannel tops and big, baggy, tortured denim pants (actually bomb-proof Gore-Tex fabric with high detailed graphics) that pay homage to the sports' rebellious past.

Thanks to Shaun White's popularity, snowboarders are much more willing to let their guard down and be themselves again while under the bright lights. That's a dangerous proposition in a TMZ and Twitter age.

Snowboarders are proud to be here in the Olympics, and they're unquestionably athletic, but it's important to know that most of them couldn't care less about being "athletes."

Bretz (who also was captured in the background of one of the TMZ photos) summed that point up best when he spoke of his pre-Olympic workout routine: "I was planning to go to the gym last year, but it didn't really work out."

A little too much light on our heroes can be a dangerous thing. But we certainly shouldn't be surprised that some snowboarder got captured acting silly on a night of celebration. We should, however, be saddened that he had to flee his Olympic moment simply because he was TMZ'd.

Scotty Lago and Shaun White in the right kind of light. Photo: Dennis via Getty Images

Wednesday night was another step forward for Olympic snowboarding. The men's halfpipe competition elevated the sport to another level thanks to Shaun White. But White wasn't alone when it came to impressing. Here's five things that stood out to me:

1. The ultimate time stamp: By landing the Double McTwist 1260 on the final move of his final run in Vancouver, White put a nice mark on the level of performance that halfpipe snowboarding has hit at the 2010 Games. He didn't have to do it. But I'm glad he did because it's nice when a new benchmark is set on the biggest, brightest stage there is. When you're getting 5 feet farther out of the pipe than the rest of the field, it's impossible not to stand out above the rest. Shaun proved Wednesday that he remains in his own league.

2. Two out of three isn't bad: Coming into this season, the U.S. had a decent shot at sweeping in Vancouver, but those chances were hurt when Kevin Pearce and Danny Davis went down to injuries last month. Both were huge favorites to make the team. That the U.S. managed to take two of the three spots on the podium without them is a huge accomplishment, and I was happy that it was Scotty Lago, a close friend of Pearce and Davis, who ended up there with White.

3. The big hustle: Halfpipe riding is a lot like knowing how to work a pool hall. You really don't want to let the cat out of the bag while you're trying to lure somebody into a trap. In practice earlier this week guys were holding back -- not just to stay healthy -- but to keep any last minute secrets under wraps. But Wednesday the level of riding went through the roof -- much higher than I expected. It was night and day from practice, so I guess you can say they had me fooled.

4. The pond is growing: Kazuhiro "Kazu" Kokubo finished in 8th place, but his effort and performance was medal worthy. He put on a fantastic show for the crowd with his chicken-wing McTwist. Unfortunately, he fell on his last move during both final runs that were otherwise perfect. Meanwhile, Peetu Piiroinen of Finland proved he's one of the most stylish and dynamic riders out there. But what really surprised me was the young Chinese riders. None of them made the final but they did show they're serious about snowboarding, and there's no telling what that means for the Winter Olympics of 2014. There's a lot of snow in China, and I hear they're recruiting kids into snowboarding from gymnastics, ala Louie Vito.

5. This must be the front row: There were a lot of people spending a lot of time stressing on the condition of the halfpipe coming into Wednesday. The amount of care and work that went into maintaining conditions at Cypress is a ringing endorsement of just how far snowboarding has come in its 12 years as an Olympic sport. I was there in Nagano in 1998, and there wasn't a lot of concern when our pipe was melting in the pouring rain. To see snowboarding be center stage under the bright lights of prime time during the world's biggest sporting event is something I thought never possible. But guys like Shaun White take their sports to new heights. Luckily, there's no sign of him slowing down.

Headlines the world over are ripping Lindsey Jacobellis to shreds this morning after another loss in snowboardcross. Fair or not, one has to think all this negative attention would be leading to her death by a thousand cuts.

But one would be wrong.

Let's review for a second: Jacobellis arrives at the Turin Olympics in 2006 as a favorite to win the exciting new sport of snowboardcross. She proceeds to dominate the competition and grabs a hefty lead in the final when self-imposed disaster strikes.

With the finish line in view -- the gold medal in her hand -- she elects to do a little showboating off the final jump by trying a method grab and takes a tumble. As she's climbing to her feet she's passed, yet she salvages a shiny silver medal to show her grandkids.

OK. Enough history. Now the pop quiz. Had Jacobellis not fallen so foolishly in 2006 do you think we'd even know who she is today? Wait. Let me answer that question with a question. Do you remember who passed her and won the gold? Me neither. But I get paid to cover this stuff. At least you have an excuse.

Mine is this: Let's face facts. We love our losers in the Olympics. The agony of defeat is much more agonizing when one has to wait four more years just to have a shot at correcting the error. Waiting sucks. Time is worse than gravity. We don't have the technology to beat it yet. The Olympics are one of our greatest reminders of this...and that's why we watch.

Of course wins are great. But life's most powerful lessons involve pain. And we prefer other people endure that pain for us. Another reason to love the Games.

But lose just the right way in the Olympics and it can be pretty profitable. Visa, Kellogg's Frosted Flakes and Dunkin Donuts have been lining up to throw money at Jacobellis in the buildup to the Vancouver Games.

Compare that to, say, I don't know, Seth Wescott, who made the very unprofitable decision to cross the finish line first during his 2006 run in Turin. Man, how dumb is that guy? He just won again the other day. He even became the first snowboarder to win back-to-back gold medals. Which means give it another day or two and he'll disappear.

But Jacobellis? Nah, we're stuck with her for at least four more years. Because like I said, in the Olympics, the biggest losers win.

Photo: Squire via Getty Images

Tuesday was a brutal one for the women of snowboardcross. Bad weather and a nasty looking course didn't make anything easy on them, but it did make for an exciting competition. These were the five things that stood out to me...

1.What went wrong with Lindsey Jacobellis: Tuesday's mistake was nothing like her blunder at the 2006 Olympics. That one was bone-headed. Back then she lost doing a completely unnecessary move within view of the finish line. This was nothing of the sort. It's hard to say she did anything wrong Tuesday. Lindsey is strongest on the flat features: the jumps, doubles and step offs are where she gains ground on her competitors. And she was handling all of them well early on. But the mistake she made was going a little too big on a jump that feeds directly into a heavy turn. She had an off-balance landing that required corrective action. She overcorrected and went sliding into the gate. Vancouver Games over.

2.It's ugly out there: While Lindsey's latest incident is another reminder of just how cutthroat life is in snowboardcross, a lot of the women competing there Tuesday will be wearing the black and blue evidence. The course at Cypress was brutalizing them, especially when the fog made visibility a problem. Just getting to the bottom of the run was an issue for half the competitors. Canada's Dominique Maltais, who won a bronze in Turin, didn't get past the qualifying round. Callan Chythlook-Sifsof had to walk off the course twice. That's brutal.

3.Second chances: Missed opportunities are what make the Olympics so harsh -- and so exciting. The reason the Lindsey Jacobellis' saga is so compelling is we all know those opportunities don't come often. It stings even more now. But on the flip side, Maelle Ricker was extremely lucky. Weather delays nearly cost her a shot at gold, because she wiped out on her first run in the qualifier. For a time, officials were considering canceling the second round of qualifying runs, which would have sent her packing. But Tuesday Maelle was lucky and good. Obviously, she made the most of her second shot.

4. Fair warning: Swiss riders Olivia Nobs and Mellie Francon really impressed me. I think the European riders are really starting to step up in snowboardcross, which is great to see. Deborah Anthonioz and Nelly Moenne Loccoz of France were also excellent.

5.Home field advantage: The last few times the Olympics have been in Canada there's really been no such thing. That's why the Canadians go absolutely nuts when somebody from their country actually wins. The Canadians have put a huge emphasis on owning the medal stand after getting blanked on golds for decades. Vancouver's hometown girl, Maelle Ricker, played the challenging conditions of the course well after her opening round stumble. She should have. The Canadians had use of a training course built by the same guy who designed the Olympic one.