<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"\"&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=\\\"\\/files\\/2009\\/01\\/22\\/15_x_bigair.jpg\\\"&gt;&lt;img class=\\\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-1000086909\\\" title=\\\"15_x_bigair\\\" src=\\\"\\/files\\/2009\\/01\\/22\\/15_x_bigair.600x400.jpg\\\" alt=\\\"\\\" width=\\\"600\\\" height=\\\"400\\\" \\/&gt;&lt;\\/a&gt;&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Mikkel Bang. Photo: Chris Wellhausen&lt;\\/em&gt;&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;This year\\u2019s big air played out a lot like last years. And then again it didn\\u2019t.&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;The format was the same. 4 riders. Two go head-to-head, one advances. Mikkel Bang, Torstein Horgmo, Andreas Wiig and Travis Rice were the dudes doing the damn thing. Mikkel and Andreas got knocked out in the first round, despite some seriously heavy tricks.&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;So, this year, like last, it was Torstein vs. Travis in the finals. Tor did a switch back 12. And Rice did a double back rodeo. And that\\u2019s how it went down again this year.&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;But, this time around the people were empowered. The judging was based on text messages. The viewers voted and in the end it was Travis that took it.&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;When the audience has the final say, flips will. They always do. And that isn\\u2019t to say that Travis\\u2019 double back rodeos weren\\u2019t gnarly. They were. But when it came down to it, this year\\u2019s big air was a popularity contest.&lt;br \\/&gt;\\nThis sentiment was echoed throughout the night. Everyone agreed. The recognizable names got the most votes.&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;Consider this: Mikkel Bang put down two perfect switch backside 1260s. Tonight was the first night he\\u2019d ever done \\u2018em. But, Mikkel was pitted against Travis in the first round and Rice came out flipping. And when the texts settled, Travis got 92 percent of the votes and Mikkel got 8.&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;8 percent of the votes for stomping a switch back 12. Really? Kinda weird right? Even Travis said Mikkel deserved more credit.&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;Those that know, knew. But, ESPN decided that that\\u2019s how\\u2019d it go down. And so it went.&lt;br \\/&gt;\\nTravis and Torstein advanced to the finals, each rider took two runs, both dudes did their respective tricks, and the crowd gathered, and those watching at home texted their mind.&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;Travis got 78 percent of the vote, and Torstein pulled in 22 percent.&lt;br \\/&gt;\\nIt was the democratic process applied to snowboarding and that\\u2019s it. Was it right? Did the best man win?&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;Talk amongst yourselves. Fill that comment board. Let\\u2019s here what you think. Is the double back rodeo 10 gnarlier or does the switch back 12 deserve the win? Or I guess the more important question is: Should big air be judged by the people?&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;What d\\u2019ya say?&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-1000086908 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-thumbnail'&gt;&lt;figure class='gallery-item'&gt;\\n\\t\\t\\t&lt;div class='gallery-icon landscape'&gt;\\n\\t\\t\\t\\t&lt;a href='http:\\/\\/snowboarding.transworld.net\\/uncategorized\\/x-games-xiii-big-air\\/attachment\\/15_x_bigair\\/'&gt;&lt;img width=\\\"176\\\" height=\\\"117\\\" src=\\\"http:\\/\\/snowboarding.transworld.net\\/wp-content\\/blogs.dir\\/442\\/files\\/2009\\/01\\/22\\/15_x_bigair.jpg\\\" class=\\\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\\\" alt=\\\"15_x_bigair\\\" \\/&gt;&lt;\\/a&gt;\\n\\t\\t\\t&lt;\\/div&gt;&lt;\\/figure&gt;\\n\\t\\t&lt;\\/div&gt;\\n\\n&lt;h3&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Results&lt;\\/strong&gt;&lt;\\/h3&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Heat 1a&lt;\\/strong&gt;&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;Torstein Horgmo: 67%&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;Andreas Wiig: 33%&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Heat 1b&lt;\\/strong&gt;&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;Travis Rice: 92 %&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;Mikkel Bang: 8%&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Finals&lt;\\/strong&gt;&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;Travis Rice: 78%&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;Torstein Horgmo: 22%&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n\""^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://snowboarding.transworld.net/uncategorized/x-games-xiii-big-air/?pid=30742>