Sven Kilchenmann
July 25, 2007 @ 12:08 PM
HE doesn’t seem to have it easy. The only thing you hear about him is bad stuff. Kids mutter about what a wanker he is, eventually souping it up a little:
If he passes a group of skaters at some Swiss competition, he has a good chance of hearing whispers about an arroganter Zürcher. What you’ll hear most is eternal squaller, and when worst comes to worst, there’s always the cocky asshole. It’s not all bad though. There are actually folks that don’t talk bad about him, but wherever rumours have more weight than personal experiences, he’s being annihilated. From kids to photographers, whenever someone talks bad about him, all you can see is nodding heads.
Where does Sven Kilchenmann’s reputation come from? And is it valid?
Let’s start with the young ones: disappointed kids. Kids are reckless. They either love, or hate you. And whatever the case might be, they give it 150%. There’s only one truth, and that’s their own. Snake them once, or cut them off by accident, it’s enough for them to make you become the antichrist. Maybe they visit your demo with high hopes, and you can’t live up to their expectations? Bad luck buddy, you’re done. They’ll tell their friends about it, embellishing it.
Whatever the case might be, this can happen to everyone. Sven is not exactly a textbook-pro, and he doesn’t smile 24/7, so it’s not exactly a wonder that he always ends up in the gossip. This might play a role in the development of his image, but it definitely is a minor role.
The way he acts when he skates might be more of a reason. Admittedly, he’s loud. He complains. To be honest, there probably isn’t another skater in this world throwing tempers because of really trivial things. The wind, the corn, a loose bolt, even the smell of some street corner can push his buttons. His distress quickly becomes anger, and this anger needs to be vented. “At those points in time, I’m really angry, otherwise I wouldn’t fret. But I think I’m not as bad nowadays,” he says. But why is he talking to himself, asking why he’s still at the spot? If you address him—to cheer him up, or to motivate him—he acts absent. It seems like he concentrates so hard that everything around him vanishes from his consciousness—including his own behaviour. “It’s all in the mind. You have to forget about everything else, and just go for broke. It’s really that simple.” In the process, he projects his subconscious feelings on objects, and then thinks a bit too loud. That would explain why he threatens to murder his board. “Off to the nuthouse,” Guy Kämpfen would say. The rest of his friends just roll their eyes, shake their heads, and prepare for the show: Sven live! They’ve gotten used to it. If you never met Sven, his behaviour might just scare you off. Photographers and filmers need to be very patient at this point, and calm skaters will end up irritated. Yes, it is kind of difficult to concentrate, when the guy five feet away gives himself shit and insults the mother of the crack in the pavement on top of the stairs. And the photographer will end up asking himself, whether the wind will take the indirectnesses concerning its sexual orientation personally.
It’s true. Whenever Sven steps on his board, his behaviour might end up somewhere in between strange and not acceptable. Strange, because his hyperactiveness will make him do frontside rodeos on quarterpipes (I kid you not, Sven can skate transitions). Not acceptable, when his absentmindedness forces him to snub some passerby, like:
“What the fuck are you looking at?!”
“I used to do really dumb things when I was on tour, but I’ve calmed down. I know I might seem arrogant, but I also know that I’m not. Whoever gets to know me up close will see that.”
Unfortunately, most people do find their opinion before they get the chance to get to know him, and so it’s set. Whatever their friend Joe Schmoe told them seems to be true, and just like the kids, they’ll spread this ‘truth’; Sven this, Sven that, and they’ll simply forget the fact that they actually don’t know anything about Sven, and that it’s impossible to fully understand a human being- if you only meet it for a minute. Before you spread your wisdom, you should always make sure that its proper. You might end up with a different outcome.
Get the latest Skateboarding Videos on Mpora.com
