Originally posted on FaceLevel.com
He’s one of the craziest wingsuit pilots on the planet, and this time Jeb Corliss, the man who wears a solid black wingsuit, has done the most insane proximity flying ever seen in a wingsuit.
At times he was only a few feet / meters above the ground as he zoomed down the mountain.
They didn’t allow the video to be embedded but you can watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTEG3fF_0G4
I noticed a lot of the comments on the video are pretty antagonistic toward the guy, mainly for his melodramatic style and tendency to say things like “I expect death”.
But is that really fair?
In some ways, he reminds me of another athlete whose documentary was also called “Fearless” and who has a personality that tends to rub people the wrong way – whitewater kayaker Tao Berman.
People love to hate on them for their uber-egotism and penchant for saying really over-the-top things for the sake of showmanship, but is that really the right response to them? How’s that phrase go, “don’t hate the player, hate the game”?
In my opinion, it’s the same thing with both of these guys as it was with a mainstream athlete who did the exact same things and was worshiped for it – Michael Jordan.
But now that he’s no longer wowing the world with his skills on the basketball court, there’s been a lot of people hating on MJ too, after his cocky and seemingly bitter Hall of Fame acceptance speech.
But get real for a second – the REASON that MJ was the greatest of all time is because he was a “killer” on the court and the REASON he’s the most famous athlete ever was because that hypercompetitive nature allowed him to BE the greatest of all time.
And the reason that pro athletes command multi-million dollar contracts and endorsement deals today is because Michael Jordan paved the way for that business model. He couldn’t have done it by being Mr. Rogers.
If you don’t like strong, confident, in-your-face athletes who win, then you’re probably a Cubs fan, and have a poster of Phil Mickelson and his moobs on your wall. Kudos.
You can’t always have your athletic heroes be the nicest guys in the world (which, to Phil’s credit, he supposedly is). At least if you like heroes that win, and win, and win some more. As MJ has said, the toughest thing in the sports world isn’t getting to the top, it’s STAYING THERE.
That’s where the mental side comes into play.
In the world of athletics, that competitiveness and seeming arrogance is on display more publicly than in any other area of life, but it’s a feature that everyone who breaks new ground and changes the world has. CEO’s, brazen politicians, great warriors in history, you name it.
Life isn’t hollywood, where the warrior hero is also the sweetest guy a girl could dream of – real-life heroes are just as human as the rest of us, only they happen to have such mental fortitude that they know – and care about – nothing else but winning.
You can’t have your real-life heroes any other way.
At the core, it’s Darwinian – survival not of the nicest, but of the FITTEST.
I think from a marketing perspective it is dumb of Jeb to not allow a youtube video to be embedded – that’s kind of the point of youtube.
But when it comes to his flair for the dramatic, his all-black everything, his hyperbolic statements about risk and death, you know what? Everyone knows the name Jeb Corliss in relation to wingsuit flying, just like everyone knows the name Tao Berman in relation to kayaking.
Sure, there are other ways to make a name, there are other ways to push the limits of one’s sport.
But the people who hate on these athletes still watch the videos, still look at the pictures, still read the magazine articles about them. And that’s the point of what they do – because at the end of the day, they’re in business.
Sure their business might be about them. It sure as hell worked for Michael Jordan. It has worked for Tao and Jeb as well.
So before you deride their cockiness and criticize how they’re going about their business, ask yourself: “am I Jeb Corliss’ customer?”
If you partake of his media, you are. So stop being jealous. Because they don’t give a damn about you, and your jealousy just fuels them to keep beating you – they get off on winning!
That’s all that matters – as long as they’re at the top, they are probably fulfilled in life.
And you say that’s wrong? You, who have never won anything in your life, but like to hate on dynasties and athletes who pound their chest while crossing the finish line 10m ahead of the competition in the olympics, YOU are going to say that these winners are wrong?
I think it’s great. Athletes are entertainers. And as long as somebody is destroying the competition, I WANT them to entertain me by making a show of their awesomeness. Barry Sanders was electrifying running with a football, but boring as beige in the endzone.
But being an a-hole isn’t for everybody, and if you’re not wired like that, don’t try it (maybe Barry wasn’t).
There’s nothing worse than athletes TRYING to be like Mike but failing to prove their words by their actions. The list of that type of athlete seems to grow longer and longer and longer (especially in professional sports – NBA / NFL particularly). Don’t dance after a routine play and then go 0-fer the rest of the game. You look like an idiot then. Etc.
But if someone is out there clearly head and shoulders ahead of their competition? They have every right in the world to arrogance.
Because if they’re willing to live life with the proverbial bull’s-eye on their backs, all it does is serve to speed up the evolution of their sport, as those chasing them look for ways to beat them, while they look for ways to maintain their edge.
Michael Jordan showed that a great offensive player could also be the best defensively. Now that’s every NBA superstar’s goal. Tao Berman broke the 100′ waterfall barrier a scant 7 or 8 years ago. Since then it has nearly DOUBLED.
Jeb Corliss might run his mouth and attract gratuitous attention to himself, but I don’t see anybody else doing what he does in a wingsuit.
I, for one, hope he doesn’t meet an untimely end, and wish him the best of luck.
And yes, I also like the Yankees (and the Dallas Cowboys, and Kobe, and the Patriots’ undefeated season – oh, right…)