Canadian snowboarder Ross Rebagliati is profiled by the
CP's Jim Morris under the header "Rebagliati Finds Pot Of
Gold." Morris writes that "while Rebagliati has flourished"
with endorsement deals, "other snowboarders say some
sponsors have been scared away by snowboarding's raunchy
image." Two-time Canadian giant-slalom champion Darren
Chalmers: "If you were sponsored by McDonald's, they won't
sponsor you anymore. Certain sponsors don't want any of
that sort of image anymore" (CP, 12/10). But Rebagliati
said snowboarding isn't suffering from an image problem of
"marijuana hanging over the sport." Rebagliati: "The
sponsors that have been coming to the table right now
haven't regarded it as anything negative at all. All the
sponsors I deal with have taken it into consideration and
feel it's not really an issue for them" (OTTAWA SUN, 12/10).
LOVING THE OUTDOOR NETWORK: Chalmers said that more and
more people are becoming familiar with snowboarding, largely
through additional TV exposure at the Olympics. Chalmers:
"Before the Olympics, 90 per cent of people had never seen
snowboarding before. Now, they come up to us and say
they've been watching regularly on the Outdoor Life Network
and can't believe the stuff we do" (GLOBE & MAIL, 12/10).
