VinRouge,
Pressure to achieve a task on operations is one thing - and you are right, there is a move towards better management of risk in recent months. However, lives are at stake on ops, and soldiers might die if the rescue helicopter / CAS asset / supply drop (delete as appropriate) is cancelled purely due to "the rules".
There are only a few things at stake at an airshow. The end-of-season display prizes are one. Another is the display pilot's pride. The only other thing at stake is public reputation, and arguably the steady stream of display practice accidents does more harm than good in that regard. I'm not saying that we shouldn't have displays - I just wonder why this C17 pilot thought that his 'special' display would impress the viewing public so much more than the cleared one; why a Tucano pilot thought a stall-turn below a low cloudbase would win him a trophy; why the already world-renowned Red Arrows' synchro pair ended up colliding on the opposition manoeuvre (which looks impressive enough from the crowdline without needing to actually graze paint). I get the feeling that all of these guys are trying to impress either themselves or their fellow professionals - the average hamburger-munching airshow spectator couldn't give a monkey's about the technical merit, he just wants to see a competent display and not bear witness to a fireball.
Sorry to get all that off my chest but risk-taking and rule-bending of the level seen recently belongs nowhere except the front line, and even then only when the operational situation demands it.