Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
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SALT LAKE CITY -- As Dew Tour weekend rolls in, iconic snow/skateboarder Shaun White can't wait to show off in his home-away-from-home.
During Thursday's media blitz, the Olympic, X Games and Dew Tour Gold Medalist shared his enthusiasm. Like most things in White's world, timing is everything.
"That's really why I compete. It's exciting. It's something that pushes you to do things you've never done before," White said.
White just turned 24, and now seven months after boarding rings around his Olympic competition and adding another to his Torino Gold Medal, he's back in Salt Lake City.
It took a while for KSL to get our time with the Dew Tour icon. First network reporters got to talk to him, for as long as they wanted.
"At least it felt great. I was coming through, and I put the combination together -- Fakey 540 to Fakey 540 into 720," White told network reporters.
Finally, it was KSL's turn.
"How much time to I have?" Tom Kirkland asked.
"Two minutes," replied Nicole Mancuso, Dew Tour media manager.
"First of all, why is there such a great vibe between the fans and the Dew Tour here in Salt Lake? They set attendance records all the time. What is it?" Tom asked.
"You know, it's crazy because you have the mountains so close and get all the fans from the snowboarding and the winter sports. In the city you have the skate parks -- which I saw this morning, and they are great parks around the city -- so you get both of those crowds flood in here," White said.
"Does that kind of geek you up?" Tom asked.
"I love it," White said. "The crowd cheer, and you can feel the vibes of everyone else."
"You like it here, you have a place here. This is kind of your own back yard?" Tom said.
"Yeah I do. I have a place up in Park City, and I come here all the time to go riding and mess around," White replied. "The half pipe in Park City, they've had a 22-foot half pipe for years and years."
"You ever pinch yourself and say, 'Hey, it can't get any better?'" Tom asked.
"I've always been competitive, but it slowly grew into something at a young age; and your dreams seem so close, and I've kind of ran to them," White said.
"It's cool being Shaun?" Tom asked.
"It's not bad," White said.
With that, our two minutes with the uberstar were up, but now the real fun begins for White. You can bet his Dew Tour show will wow and amaze just like the X Games and the Olympics.
E-mail: tkirkland@ksl.com
