When it comes to iconic locker room speeches one’s mind quickly drifts to the likes of Team USA Hockey coach Herb Brooks’ 1980 “Miracle” speech or Knute Rockne back in 1928 telling the his Notre Dame football players “Win one for the Gipper” but there’s one from the world of skiing that goes largely under the radar and its certifies Tanner Hall as one of the best hypemen in the history of sports.
The scene played out at the 2013 X Games Ski Big Air Finals as Swedish freestyle skier Henrik Harlaut was walking up the steps before his final run where he was met by his friend Tanner “The Ski Boss” Hall.
Harlaut is soft spoken and humble by nature but an incredibly talented skier, Hall in contrast is over the top braggadocious but 100% has the skills to back up his words. The following raw footage captures the moment Hall boosted the confidence of his fellow athlete to achieve something that would write his name in the history of the sport:
Hall: “Dollo, you know what we need to do?”
Harlaut: “No.”
Hall: “If you’re feeling it, Nose Butter Trip, but let’s set fucking you in the history books, son… You will be fucking in the history books. You got it dog, that’s your trick dude. It’s basically 180 to switch triple to forward. You got that.”
Harlaut: “It’d be so ill, though, to win without it.”
Hall: “I know but it’s still like, yo, put yourselves in the history books, you know…”
Harlaut: “Yeah.”
Hall: “Just stamp it, stamp your approval cuz…I know you have it. I know you’re going to stomp it… You know exactly what you’re doing, son. Let’s put it in the history books. Let’s take skiing to the next level. Ain’t even snowboarding got that sh*t!”
Might not be the conventional inspirational speech one would associate with legendary coaches like Phil Jackson or Nick Saban but these spur of the moment confidence instilling words delivered at the exact right time and in the exact right way helped bring about one of the greatest tricks the world of skiing had ever seen. Still gets me fired up every time.
