[HN Gopher] Gary Hunt, the greatest cliff diver
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       Gary Hunt, the greatest cliff diver
        
       Author : robaato
       Score  : 41 points
       Date   : 2023-02-16 07:26 UTC (15 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.theguardian.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.theguardian.com)
        
       | kevinali1 wrote:
       | Messi can be compared to billions of ppl are the world who play
       | or dabble in football. This dude can be compared to what - a
       | couple thousand?
        
         | __derek__ wrote:
         | The Messi comparison threw me, too. Maybe Alex Honnold would be
         | a better comparison, or Ueli Steck for the European audience.
        
           | swores wrote:
           | As a European (a Brit) I haven't personally heard of either
           | of those two people. Whereas I do know Messi, and I assume by
           | comparing to him they mean "someone with rare skill for doing
           | what they do better than anyone else (probably while making
           | it look easier than it is)".
           | 
           | Anecdote of 1 of course... but I'd also guess that I'm not an
           | outlier, and Messi is much better known than your two
           | suggestions in pretty much any country.
        
             | __derek__ wrote:
             | Consider my comment in the context of the one that I
             | replied to: I named big-wall climbers because their sport
             | is similarly extreme and unusual in the broader population,
             | unlike soccer/football which is neither.
             | 
             | As for the climbers, Honnold achieved some normie fame as
             | the subject of an Oscar-winning documentary[1]. Steck was
             | also among the best climbers ever, but his speed records
             | centered on the Alps (hence my joking aside about the Euro
             | audience).
             | 
             | [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Solo
        
       | bleuuuu wrote:
       | cant wait until he becomes the Jordan of the sport
        
         | ultrasounder wrote:
         | He has already completed cliff diving. Messi style. But, If he
         | wants to start a cliff diving shorts brand empire sure. Then
         | "Air Hunt it is.
        
         | 867-5309 wrote:
         | the arab nation or the British model?
        
         | evrimoztamur wrote:
         | "He is, unquestionably, the greatest cliff diver of all time,
         | "the Michael Jordan, the Muhammad Ali, the Tiger Woods" of the
         | sport, as Steven LoBue, an American diver who had the
         | misfortune of competing against Hunt for many years, put it in
         | 2021."
        
           | dr-detroit wrote:
           | [dead]
        
       | rsyring wrote:
       | > Gary Hunt was 24, skinny and pale. He was still so
       | inexperienced from such heights that he wore two pairs of Speedos
       | for extra protection.
       | 
       | So, it's the second pair of speedos that ups the protection? Is
       | one pair that much better than two pair when hitting the water at
       | 50 MPH?
        
       | dang wrote:
       | Ok you guys, I've taken the Messi bit out of the title above.
       | Please focus on something more interesting now.
        
         | aliqot wrote:
         | [flagged]
        
       | zwirbl wrote:
       | Messi has no trainer and no ego. Good one
        
       | cobertos wrote:
       | Interesting that Red Bull didn't respond to his request for
       | sponsorship. He said himself that he doesn't fit the mold (no
       | self promotion, plays piano, no other extreme sports), but that
       | seems like it might be a great strength, to attract a different
       | audience? An odd introvert looked up to by other odd introverts?
       | 
       | Or maybe everything about marketing/advertising will always lean
       | towards catering to extroverts/neurotypical people.
       | 
       | (Also unrelated, I wonder if there is a link between less anxiety
       | and getting into an "instinctual" state. Like how he does
       | juggling before a dive)
        
         | hummus_bae wrote:
         | > but that seems like it might be a great strength, to attract
         | a different audience?
         | 
         | No. It's a liability. Brands are about focusing on niche
         | markets with common interests.
         | 
         | > Or maybe everything about marketing/advertising will always
         | lean towards catering to extroverts/neurotypical people.
         | 
         | No. It's about being able to sell to them and promote to them.
         | Being able to promote what you're selling is a prerequisite to
         | being able to sell it.
        
           | cobertos wrote:
           | > No. It's a liability. Brands are about focusing on niche
           | markets with common interests.
           | 
           | A fair assessment.
           | 
           | > No. It's about being able to sell to them and promote to
           | them. Being able to promote what you're selling is a
           | prerequisite to being able to sell it.
           | 
           | I'm not sure what your "no" is disagreeing with here. Is it
           | that marketing will not have a lean because they will always
           | choose to market toward their audience?
           | 
           | I would disagree with that. Marketing/advertisers think in
           | generalizations. The formal processes of audience description
           | and creating example personas are fully based on those
           | generalizations. These methods are extremely helpful, I've
           | done them before myself, and they produce useful methodology
           | and next steps.
           | 
           | But these generalizations are built on popular culture, which
           | is dictated by societal normalcy, past media (generational
           | upbringing), etc. Those generalizations always contain
           | normalcy/socially acceptable leanings, which means marketing
           | as structured currently would need to go out of its way to
           | combat this leaning. Which they don't, no one cares, the
           | workers complete the work, get paid, and go home.
        
         | aliqot wrote:
         | Somewhat related, Monster bev has a 'no nerds' policy. Just
         | tongue in cheek I emailed them about sponsorship for an OSS
         | project that was practically built by Monster Ultra Fiesta and
         | the email response spelled it out in no uncertain terms, no
         | nerds.
        
           | teruakohatu wrote:
           | Can you quote the email specifically?
        
             | cobertos wrote:
             | I would love to see their wording as well.
        
           | abfan1127 wrote:
           | this seems like a business opportunity...
        
             | scottyah wrote:
             | Tons of esports energy drinks for nerds
        
         | dokem wrote:
         | I think the extreme part is the height. And the impression I
         | get is that we already maxed out the height in the 80s because
         | you can only jump from so high. So the sport is kind of dead. I
         | haven't looked into it at all because, like most people, i just
         | don't find it very interesting.
        
           | imglorp wrote:
           | The scores are computed as degree of difficulty x judge's
           | rating. So the higher up, the more moves can be fit into a
           | ~3s fall. So there's a lot of zero sum thinking there: do you
           | do one medium-hard thing very well, one hard thing mediocre,
           | or three things strung together? That's a little of the
           | appeal for me.
           | 
           | Also, I did a little 10m which is just a taste of this.
        
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