OK, I know you are asking yourself, “But how can I help the racer ex community thrive? Or, “What’s in it for me?” This is the place where it all comes together, where you can vent or rant or set the record straight or simply take  trip down memory lane.  If you want to discuss or opine on a topic this is a place to start.

I’m not blog savvy in any way, and think there are much better uses of people’s time, BUT in a nod to full disclosure I am writing another book (this time about skiing) and I for one am interested in all your stories. I have no idea how this will all shake out, but it will take some usable form at some point.

Some good fodder:

Formative, entertaining, memorable or otherwise significant aspects of ski racing (or any sport), as a participant at any level–fan, spectator, parent, coach, groupie, etc…

Hall of fame: The best and worst of coaches, roommates, training methods, gear, etc…

Trips from hell: 8 hours across Italy and up a dead end pass, stuck in Miami for two days with nothing but winter clothes, 80 mph on narrow roads in a Passat with one windshield wiper and no defroster, 10 days on tour in a station wagon with an annoying passenger that ate too much dried fruit. Let’s hear ‘em.

Let ‘er rip on anything, but keep it clean and respectful. You can always call me with names and details!

Life goes on. With any luck we evolve. Check in and let your people know where you ended up. Post your site so we can go buy your goods and services or just look at your photos and wonder if that’s your real hair color. C’mon! Come clean.

Beijing, as seen from Etna, NH

We interrupt this long blogopause to bring you an Olympic viewing rant. I can’t help myself…
Prime time Olympic coverage. I have been waiting for it all day. Waiting to be able to collapse on the couch and absorb the Games. I accept that my Olympic experience will be filtered by whatever NBC chooses to show me because that is a far better alternative to whiling away hours on the Internet for video clips. I know that my Olympics will come with a whole lot of swimming and gymnastics, excruciating up close and personal teary heroes tales at the expense of actual sports coverage. I will get a smattering of the sports I care about in exchange for tolerating long sessions on the preparation of Peking Duck and TV hosts failed attempts at Chinese culture. Irksome as it is, I accept this contract.

Still, I expect that prime time will be reserved for something important or at least engaging. So when I discover that my precious viewing hours—between the conclusion of my domestic duties and the moment I can no longer deny my eyelids their final resting place—are to be filled entirely with women’s beach volleyball, well, I get pissy. I click off the TV feeling cheated after seeing nothing but four women in skimpy bikinis bat a ball over the net three times in succession (at best), hearing riveting commentary about how one met her spouse, and seeing close ups of the tape that keeps her wedding ring in place (after also seeing precious prime time minutes of said ring’s rescue from the sand). The only salient technical insight of the broadcast was the explanation of how the player in front uses hand signals to alert the rear player on position. Of course, this provides yet another opportunity to give a close up of that player’s backside. Puhlease!!!!!!

The next night men’s beach volleyball makes its appearance. The action was a bit more riveting, but most interesting is that the men wear CLOTHES, with enough yardage to display names and numbers. Apparently it’s not THAT hot. And you know, they have something to wipe their hands on and perhaps even a little hidden pocket for chapstick. You could even put some lip gloss there, girlies. OK, you get the drift.

Even in downhill racing—the king daddy of danger– you need the right camera angles to even begin to show the speed, terrain and difficulty. The athleticism required by most sports simply can’t be aptly captured on TV. To compensate for that inevitability those sports are not given much airtime. Beach volleyball is one of those sports. You’d like to think we could make some time for the wide variety of different sports that make the Olympics what they are rather than see two hours of 9/10ths naked women romping around for a berth in the round of 16. We’re not even at the quarters and we have to see every short-lived point. Ping pong never looked so appealing. So we know why we are really seeing this exhibition. Let’s just cut to the chase and make pole dancing an Olympic sport. Eliminate the pretense of sets and expensive venues. A pole a dim room and some spotlights. Ba da bing! Prime time is solved.

I’m so over it that I am psyched to see the interviews with the disappointed parents of a team of tiny silver medalists. At least that—however bizarre–is authentic Olympic drama.

Check out this article by Bryon Friedman and the discussion that follows.

http://www.yardbarker.com/skiing/articles/US_Ski_Team_Comes_Up_Short_again/267646

Here’s my two cents. Feel free to add yours…

This still makes my blood boil. Back in my day, and now we’re talking wayyy back, we had much less funding, but still, the administrators and trustees got the rain suits and the C team got one set of sponges to wear for the season. Badly injured athletes rode back across the pond in the smoking section while the CEO/ AD of the moment rode in first class. I found out my nine years of service–with two Olympics, WC podium and first seed in two events–was over by getting a letter canceling my medical insurance. It’s always been a real class act. As for the “pipeline” or the development program du jour here’s the irony. The most succesful athletes on the USST historically have been the ones who were decidedly off the program. Why? Because when you weedwhack instead of fertilize, only the toughest, wiliest, most audacious and often nastiest weeds can get through the cracks to the surface. The salary thing truly makes me ill, but much less ill that the bazillion dollar center for excellence. Puhleeez! Spend the money on funding gritty athletes, not on a Gucci monument to the organization. As a parent now, regardless of what skiing gave me, I can’t say I’d put my kids down a path that would lead them to the hands of the US Ski Team. And that makes me sad. I hope they love sking and ski racing, but I want them to have the option to succeed long term.

The Utah Edge women’s hockey team won the nationals for Senior C class yesterday.

Beth’s quote:

“WE WON!! IT WAS SO EXCITING! We were the underdogs!We got
pretty beat up by some of those young girls, but someone kicked in when someone had too. It was SO much fun! You can read about it on USAhockey.com Senior c womens hockey. WOW! I’m I sore! 6 games in 3 days. And the 2nd to last one was a triple over time.
weee wooo! Love Beth”

WAY TO GO PUP WE ARE PROUD OF YOU!!!!!!