The five-ring circus just proved its uptight colours—all blue, black, red, yellow, and green of them—when Japanese pipe slayer and Burton rider Kazuhiro Kokubo had both officials in his home country and media the world over in a frenzy this week over the steez of his ensemble—shirt untucked and tie hanging loose, gasp!—when he showed up at Tokyo's Narita Airport before departing to Vancouver. Rebel, rebel, your face is a mess!

According to The Daily Telegraph in the UK, when he made fun of the incident, saying the Games were "nothing special" and "just another snowboarding event," a veritable media buffet ensued like it was Britney in the tabloids circa her shaved-head/crazytown period. He was then forced to apologize before the media but managed to do an even better job at pissing off officials by sarcastically dragging out his words. At first, the Ski Association of Japan (Japanese FIS, so tells you they're likely a bunch of anal, cable sweater-wearing types) wanted to have him shipped home right back over the Pacific but both Kazu and team manager Fumikazu Hagiwara (for not having a shorter leash on him) were thrown into the proverbial dog house and banned from the opening ceremony. That'll team 'em to act like such hooligans, right?

Ironically, in its muscle-flexing attempt at reigning Kazu in, all that the Ski Association of Japan, and the subsequent media uproar, illustrated, was just how out of touch they really are. More importantly, it heightened the wall between snowboarding and FIS more than it ever has been, and cemented in the minds of shreds across the world that the organization is indeed not looking out for snowboarding's best interests. This example is a microcosm of just that. Just because they love wearing tight turtlenecks and penny loafers, and discussing the fine points of schussing on-piste, doesn't mean they need to strong-arm one of Japan's best hopes for a medal to bring back to the land of the rising sun.

The upside is that Kazu's final attempt at an apology was sufficient enough to "allow" him to ride in tomorrow's pipe contest at Cypress. It's here that these same officials and the media who bought into the whole ordeal will have their real apology when the baggy-pant sportin', dreadlock-growin' rider lays a beatdown on the pipe with his samurai warrior skills.

Kazu — way to bring us back to the days where going against the grain of the establishment was the norm, and pissing off a few anal kooks along the way was just what we did! —Dean Seguin

Kaz looking prim and proper at the 2010 X Games. Bakke/ESPN photo

You'd have to hear straight from the mouths of the riders, but the Cypress pipe appears to be in far better shape than it was just a few days ago. Probably the combination of a short dry spell (and by short I mean 24 hours or so) and some good ol' fashioned elbow grease from the hard working groomers and snow farmers trying to keep it all together. Add to that a slight dip in the mercury up here and things are looking better all the time. We still have a couple days to go before any pipe competiton gets underway so let's not get carried away. Bad news is, and this depends on who you talk to, there's a good chance of, yes, you got it, more rain in the forecast for Cypress Mountain.

Below are some shots of Monday evening's training session and comments riders had to say through Twitter following it. Enjoy. —Dean Seguin

http://twitter.com/scottylago
Pipe was better today except the right wall was way too verty and the flat bottom was mush didn't stop @Shaun_white haha

http://twitter.com/HannahTeter
First day of Halfpipe practice in Vancouver. The pipe is in rough shape. Hopefully they can get it together.

http://twitter.com/JeffBatch
Have you ever heard that saying..."oh well, it's the same for everyone"...? - gnarly day at the pipe; pipe-slipping disasters

Practice was sick! Despite the bomb holes and ruts in both walls, I actually managed to boost!

http://twitter.com/louievito
@gregbretzz took a lil slam tonight but all good. May have a lil shiner tomorrow. http://tweetphoto.com/11548237

Practice was better today but so mushy in the flat bottom. Got a lil more done than yesterday but maybe a lil cold turkey for the contest??

After a full day of watching Olympic level snowboard cross at Cypress Mountain and all of its neck-to-neck glory, from sketchy banked turns to disappointing crashes and crowd-crazy photo finishes, at least one thing is certain: there isn’t much predictability in this sport and the podium truly is anyone’s for the taking.

Case in point: Based on his decorated resume and 2006 Olympic title, Seth Wescott was the favoured American heading into the Games. But after placing 17th in the qualifying round, the American fans in the crowd at Cypress were left scratching their collective heads. It seemed he had fallen out of contention. But when you put a final run like his up against another three riders, throw a shot of tension into the mix, and add a mixed bag of variable conditions to the course, you end up with results like his — another gold medal win.

Even at the top of that last run of finals when Wescott was matched up with teammate Nate Holland, Canada’s own Mike Robertson and Tony Ramoin of France, the shifting dynamics of the playing field meant things were still far from being able to call a clear winner. After Holland, who was expected to make a run for the title, spun out near the top of the course, it looked like the younger underdog Mike Robertson had the best chance at taking it. After all, he had been riding exceptionally aggressive all day so it just made sense. Then, in the dying moments near the bottom of the course, Wescott pointed it and, not only closed the gap between himself and Robertson, but managed to sneak out ahead.

“It was a tough one out there today,” he said after finishing his winning race. “The conditions left things a little up in the air, and keeping yourself plugged in to exactly what was happening was key today.”

Plugged in and plugging away. While the fastest shredding qualifier, Australia’s Alex Pullin, had a crowd-gasping wipeout in the first race, and 2009 World Cup champion Markus Schairer, riding with broken ribs, had to bow out after a crash of his own, it was Wescott’s hard work and quick tempo through the four final rounds that helped him. A testament to the many years he’s spent riding on and off snowboard cross courses, Wescott’s veteran status helped him navigate the challenging conditions today to catch up and narrowly beat Mike Robertson and reclaim the victory of his defending title.

So, if past behaviour does predict future outcomes, and Wescott won the gold, it would seem there is certainty to snowboard cross after all. —Dean Seguin

Canadian Robert Fagan leads Germany's David Speiser, fellow teammate Francois Boivin, and Italy's Stefano Pozzolini in Heat 4 of the quarterfinals at Cypress Mountain on Monday. credit: Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Over the past year, and particularly in the last month, there have been a ton of rumours and innuendo flying around about the pipe events at Cypress. Will they be a repeat of last year's World Cup? Will they have the snow? Will I-Pod unleash and dethrone Shaun White's gold status?

It's anybody's guess at this point but I got a first-hand look at the venue yesterday... in the absolute pouring rain! I'm not talking a little Wet Coast dampness here, I'm talking a torential downpour. Vancouver has been much praised about the promise of a "green" Games, but this is taking it to the extreme. Cypress has already been scrambling to horde what little snow they've got this season so the mild weather and rain is just compounding an already desparate situation. Organizers are using hay bales and wood to protect the snow, tractors and dump trucks to import more, and industrial-sized, post-apocalyptic-looking choppers to heli in emergency back-up. It's like a warzone and the efforts seem like a Band-Aid solution to a severed limb of a problem. But the Games must go on!

For those riders coming off contests dropping into rock solid pipes in Calgary at the Burton Canadian Open or Aspen for X Games, things might be a bit dissapointing unless the weather does an about turn in the next few days. But we really all knew this when the venue location was announced way back — Vancouver shredding is always a roll of the dice. You never quite know what way the gamble's going to go. Let's hope for the best and some colder temps in the coming days. —Dean Seguin

Look at these steps! It's like the Stair Master trying to get up into the pipe grandstand.

Now that's some scaffolding. Can you imagine showing up to work on a Monday morning to your boss telling you to put this together?

Looking up the grandstand.

One soggy pipe.

It will be remembered as 'misty.'

Straight salvagin'

Everyone loves a big dump but this looks a little wet.

Last night Oakley invited media from all over the world to the top of Grouse where they've established an Olympic home base of sorts. It was a wet one but a swath of reporters, broadcasters, and otherwise industry dirtbags showed up to check out what Oakley has in store in its upcoming men's and women's outerwear lines. To beat the soggy Vancouver rain, Oakley staffers served up hot toddy's, cafe tiramasu, and all sorts of fancy ass coffees.

Oakley sports marketing manager Matty Swanson took the mic to explain the concept of Oakley's Signature and Pro Rider Series lines and described how the upcoming collection was brought together with the help of R & D from the team riders. Positive reaction from the crowd was unanimous.

Things kicked into high gear, and trust me when I say mainstream media went absolutely berzerk, when Swanson brought out Gretchen Bleiler and introduced her to the scrum. Gretchen went over her collection, especially the eco line she's really stepped up to help develop, and spoke about the next days ahead when she'll be charging the pipe at Cypress. When one intrepid reporter asked her how the rain will affect it all, she said she was stoked to have fun in a soft pipe.

Next up, Shaun White came out in straight rockstar fashion when he rolled up in an Oakley-wrapped cat with concert lights flashing all over the place. Of course, reporters went nuts again to catch a live sighting of their beloved "Flying Tomato" (note: SBC does not endorse this nickname). White was a lot more candid than Gretchen, probably testament to just how much he's had to deal with bloodsucking media throughout his career. He talked about his new sunglasses and goggles about to drop and, when asked about why he needed his own private pipe with Project X, he made it clear that there are just far too many kids rolling around the mountain asking for autographs and trying to snap a blurry photo on their iPhones. Damn, if that's the biggest problem you've got, you're doing pretty good there, Shaun. It was truly amazing to see what kind of attention level this guy is seriously on. Gretchen is one thing, but Shaun White is a regular celebrity these days without a doubt. —Dean Seguin

Not a bad greeting. Not a bad greeting indeed.

Gretchen Bleiler in the hot seat.


Oakley's Matty Swanson fires questions at Gretchen Bleiler to the media's delight.

A to Z, and all sorts of bright and poppy and tight and sloppy — Oakley's entire 2010-11 outerwear collection.

Shaun White takes the stage. Note the badass Oakley-wrapped cat he rode in on.

While media were under a heated canopy, Shaun White weathered the rain to answer questions. Good thing he had an entourage of personal umbrella holders.