To put this in proper perspective, the last Winter Olympics that American snowboarder Shaun White did not compete (2002 in Salt Lake City), the Fan Teaser’s editor was in just their second full year of teaching. Today that editor is happily retired and is, in fact, in northern Italy enjoying the Milano-Cortina Olympics (no snowboarding, however).
The image used for this week’s Fan Teaser was captured four years ago when White, then in his fifth Games, finished off the podium in his specialty event – the halfpipe – for the second time in his Olympic history. He placed fourth in Beijing, China, as he did in 2014 in Sochi, Russia.
His other three Olympics were golden, placing first in Torino (2006), Vancouver (2010), and Pyeongchang (2018).
Though retired at the ripe old age of 39, White – who’s nicknamed “The Flying Tomato” thanks to his flowing red locks in his early years – is at the Milano-Cortina Games working for NBC. His stated goal for the Games is to “Get Snoop (Dogg) on a board.” (Read his plan for the 2026 Olympics here.)
Just to review, The Fan Teaser was the creation of former Ann Arbor News Sports Editor Geoff Larcom. Longtime friend and fellow Ann Arbor News alum, Pat Schutte, took it to heights previously unknown. We aim to keep it alive here at The Sports Fan Project. The cropped photo and the accompanying clue give you an idea as to who or what the image is of. We invite you to use the Comment option to take a crack at solving the Teaser and, if you’re so inclined, participate in some good-spirited banter with your fellow sports fans. The Fan Teaser will appear each Friday morning with the reveal coming to you Sunday.