Kazu Kokubo on giving the finger to the 2013 Winter X Games halfpipe judges

By Gerhard Gross
Sat, Jan 26 2013 4:01 pm | Comments

Kazu Kokubo on the 2013 Winter X Games

You wouldn’t have seen it unless you were in the crowd at the 2013 Winter X Games Superpipe elimination on Thursday night but after his second qualifying run a frustrated Kazu Kokubo unstrapped and then unleashed the finger, which appeared to aimed at the judges. Kazu sets the record straight here and shares his thoughts on X Games as a whole. Kazu qualified 13th with a score of 46.33 and didn’t make finals on Sunday.

Kazu is a badass. Photo: Joel Fraser

Click to the next page to see Kazu’s second qualifying run and read his Pro Spotlight interview here: snowboarding.transworld.net/1000173952/featuresobf/pro-spotlight-kazu-kokubo/

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CATEGORIZED: Videos
TAGS: 2013 winter x games, featured videos, Kazu Kokubo, Winter X Games, x games

Erik Brockhoff:

January 27th, 2013 at 6:23 am

Fuck yeah Kazu. Screw Xgames. Should have grabbed more boot and less board.

Evan White:

January 27th, 2013 at 6:32 am

his first hit was sick with that alley oop. This whole double/triple cork thing is the downfall of snowboarding style. I realize it's difficult to judge based on style, but this is snowboarding not gymnastics.

Fumitake Oguchi:

January 27th, 2013 at 3:50 pm

カズやべー

Bruce Persinger:

January 27th, 2013 at 5:16 pm

I don't think double and triple corks are trhe downfall of snowboarding. It was the years of judges scoring any type of flip tricks low, that really held the progression of those tricks down. I know for a fact that Marylands Joey Kramer was doing them 15 years ago, but because Burtons Team didn't have them the scores where kept low. Normally when there is something you don't like about Snowboarding, you will find the Big B behind it.

Adrien Biggar:

January 27th, 2013 at 5:27 pm

I'd rather see a dirty front blunt dane off like a 50 foot step down that spins and airiiels , kind of wack.

Rob Madden:

January 27th, 2013 at 5:30 pm

Such a cool guy.

Kane Guthrie:

January 27th, 2013 at 5:42 pm

Kazu = the man.

Christopher Sheets:

January 27th, 2013 at 6:35 pm

He drug his hand. The low score was was a good call.

David Lambert:

January 27th, 2013 at 7:08 pm

YES, everybody knows that! Contests suck

Cass Leroux:

January 27th, 2013 at 7:13 pm

if its for style, Lago would be in 1st....just watched kazu again, i think he has an unrealistic take on what his run looked like.

Joey Fritz:

January 27th, 2013 at 7:23 pm

WINTER X_GAMES SUCKS MY NUTZ, a bunch of rich kids with gymnastics facilities....lame...all this crap is these days is trampolines and foam pits.

Jørgen Fallet Mosand:

January 27th, 2013 at 7:53 pm

They should just make a style contest where you can max do 720 and single flips, cool grabs, nice spins, and tweaks are rewarded.

Sean Cole:

January 27th, 2013 at 8:27 pm

X is a overly hyped AD CIRCUS. Heard SW is riding against his five clones and will receive a score somewhere around 106. Other have already said it, gymnastics.

Dan Mayers:

January 27th, 2013 at 8:33 pm

def not a top 8 run, but he def has one of the nicest styles...always loved kazu.

Matt Corrigan:

January 27th, 2013 at 10:00 pm

Its called the X Games for a reason.. its extreme competition.. soo ya the format will be go big or go home. and obviously whoever's style is the sickest while doing those extreme tricks, will win. Kazu get Burton and your other sponsors behind you and make your own halfpipe comp. format that would be siick! idk about everyone else I enjoy watching Torstein and the boys huck massive tricks.

Kyle Gardner:

January 27th, 2013 at 10:32 pm

wow you all have real funny things to say about the snowbaording industry this sport is the same as all the others its called progression! you think we sould be bashing on the double backs on dirt biks, the three filps to 50/50 down a flight of stairs on skateboards , or flips on surfboards. I agree about the style thing but pull your heads out of your asses this is where snowboarding is today and you can't handle it go rollerblading. and they do have style compitions where you don't spin anything more then a 7. if it wasn't for the xgames and other big comps you think all the mountians would sink millions into there parks for people to ride I think not!

Mitchell Matacia:

January 27th, 2013 at 10:55 pm

Everything in the x-games is so over-hyped. I couldn't believe all of the fake drama behind the slopestyle final yesterday afternoon. I can't stand the announcers. But I do agree style is vanishing in snowboarding. that's why I loved Helgason in big air, he was trying to implement these method grabs into his double corks, so stylish. Kazu is a great rider but he has to know what to expect from a competition like this. I think he was just saying fuck you to the judges though.

Liam Kelley:

January 27th, 2013 at 11:35 pm

Methods all day.

Joey Tee:

January 27th, 2013 at 11:35 pm

Bird? that's the lost spirit of snowboarding. glad to see its back its been missing the last 10 years.

Giedrė Balsevičiūtė:

January 28th, 2013 at 12:12 am

Idk, in response to what so many over here were saying, I wouldn't say that Torstein's triple in the final wasn't stylish.

Cody Houle:

January 28th, 2013 at 7:18 am

Id say Torsteins Switch back tripple 14 was the essence of style and I think people are just frustrated the bar is being raised higher every day. They cant keep up. I also remember when double backs where considered "stunts" not tricks... now you have riders like Halldor making it look boss. Give the tripple some time, I'm sure it will live up to your standards.

Aaron Stacey:

January 28th, 2013 at 10:11 am

damn straight kazu! I saw a video a while back of you doing a fucking massive backside 180 off a 130 footer. I can't remember which video it was... I've been looking for it for about 4 months now, if anyone knows what I'm sayin please post that video in the comments! anyways good on ya man, fuck what the judges score as "good" just a popularity contest to be honest.

Kody Yarosloski:

January 30th, 2013 at 1:46 am

X-Games should have a Best Method Contest.

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