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Post by A.O.Freak on Feb 4, 2009 17:44:40 GMT -5
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Post by skaterswaltz on Feb 4, 2009 18:33:03 GMT -5
19- great article. Thanks for posting. Interesting that the only Olympic athlete quoted is Apolo. He's just so aware/smart and hopefully Michael will heed his advice. It's true - with cameras on almost every cell phone, you're never alone. And there's always some creep out there that is hot to sell that kind of exploitive photo to some sleazy tabloid. The News of the World is one of the worst in the UK -- along with The Sun. I wonder if they first shopped that photo around to US tabloids?
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Post by mtnme on Feb 4, 2009 19:30:32 GMT -5
Here's another article on the same thing. It appears from the article this was a comment made by Apolo recently in reference to the current interview, as opposed to comments he made at an earlier time. I'll add my two cents on the subject. I think the part that is highlighted in blue says it all. As an athlete, you may be doing this for yourself, but when you put on that USA uniform, you do represent us as a nation, like it or not. I certainly would prefer to be represented by an Apolo, as opposed to a Bode (hey, he partied with the best of 'em at the 2006 Olympics. -his words, not mine) As a result, he didn't come up with a single medal either, despite having an amazing amount of talent. Unfortunately, he has an amazing amount of 'tude as well. None of it appreciated by the American public. Nor his sponsors I would imagine. Which bring us to another issue. There are only a handful of Olympic athletes that make the 'big time', meaning: fat paychecks from a variety of corporate sponsors and endorsers. Those entities bought a spokesperson, and were obviously thinking they got one they could be proud of. Nothing croaks your sponsorships and endorsements faster than trashing your image. Plenty of athletes (and celebrities) have found that out the hard way. With the perks and publicity, also comes public scrutiny and responsibilities. Cold harsh reality check for Mr Phelps. That's something Apolo figured out pretty early in his career, and decided for himself he was going to be a positive role model and conducts himself accordingly. Which is why we love him.  ____________________________________________________________________________________________ USOC sends letter, seeks meeting with PhelpsThe Associated PressPublished: February 4, 2009 The U.S. Olympic Committee is offering Michael Phelps a refresher course in good behavior. CEO Jim Scherr said Wednesday he'd like to have a face-to-face meeting with the star of the Beijing Olympics, and spokesman Darryl Seibel said the federation was sending Phelps a letter offering its assistance. Phelps, winner of eight gold medals in Beijing, has apologized after a photo surfaced showing him smoking from a marijuana pipe at party. The USOC wants to help Phelps avoid a repeat. "Based on this occurrence, we at the USOC, as we said in an earlier statement, are exceptionally disappointed in him, as he is in himself," Scherr said during a conference call that was set to preview the 2010 Winter Olympics, but also included several mentions of Phelps. "We'll follow up and have a direct conversation with him and people close to him." The USOC can't do much to penalize him. Anti-doping rules don't call for sanctions against athletes who test positive for marijuana when they're not competing. And the USOC's code of conduct doesn't apply to athletes once the games are over. Phelps is trying to avoid backlash on the sponsorship side, where most of the feedback so far has been positive, and in the public perception side, where things are still shaking out. "I think, obviously, his sponsors and people close to him will be and are concerned about whether this may be a recurrence or whether this is a pattern of behavior," Scherr said. Phelps was arrested for drunken driving a few months after winning six gold and two bronze medals at the Athens Olympics in 2004. Also on the USOC call was speedskater Apolo Anton Ohno, the biggest star of the Salt Lake City Games, who is trying for his third Olympics next year. He fielded a couple of questions about how to handle fame in an age of camera phones and the internet.
"Once we're allowed to call ourselves U.S. Olympic athletes, there are certain guidelines and protocols that go along with that," Ohno said. "I think it's important to represent what you'd like your mom to see or what you'd like little kids to see. It's important to be aware of your surroundings and the choices you make." Athlete behavior has become a significant issue for the USOC over the past two Olympics. A slew of bad behavior by Bode Miller and other winter athletes became a prime topic at the Turin Games in 2006. The USOC set up its "Ambassador Program" shortly after that to coach athletes on how to act in the spotlight, especially on foreign soil — a move also timed to help summer athletes maneuver their way through the tricky political climate of the Beijing Olympics. Scherr said the USOC's help doesn't end once athletes are out of the Olympic program. "Our focus has been making sure they understand the obligation of being an Olympian whether it's competing in the Olympic arena or in their post-Olympic lives," he said. |
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sk8er
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Post by sk8er on Feb 4, 2009 20:18:52 GMT -5
Sorry, I got no sympathy for Phelps. He had a DUI and gave a big public apology etc. etc. Now he's hauling down a gazillion dollars when millions of people have lost their jobs and are really hurting. Is this guy just dumb, or callous? Apolo hit the nail on the head. In public he's been a great role model for an Olympian, especially a gold medal winner.  SusanG |
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Post by mtnme on Feb 4, 2009 20:39:42 GMT -5
. . Spot on sk8er, and this columnist was reading our minds! 
Now THIS is a columnist after my own heart! Delivered with just the right amount of 'snark' LOL!  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Phelps earns a gold medal in stupidityMike Lopresti • Gannett News Service • February 3, 2009 Alas, Michael Phelps. Clearly, a little too much chlorine water has gotten into your thought process. Is this what you had in mind when you said you wanted to keep swimming in the headlines in non-Olympic years? Nice picture. Not quite as charming — as far as possible shots for the next ad campaign — as the one of you standing on the award podium in Beijing, though, is it? Let's be clear. Best not to get hysterical about this transgression. The News of the World showed you inhaling from a pipe, not hitting senior citizens over the head with it to take their Social Security checks. No, what you're most guilty of is felonious stupidity in the first degree. Perhaps you missed this during your daily 122 miles in the swimming pool the past few years: Every Tom, D ick and online contributor wannabe out there has a camera. Nobody gets away with anything. Someone gets a picture of Big Foot and flying Martians and movie stars with no makeup, they're bloody well sure going to get an eight-time Olympic gold medalist apparently partaking of marijuana at a public party. Here's something to remember. There are three foolproof ways to get rich quick, even in recessionary America. Win the lottery. Become coveted as a free agent by the Yankees. Come up with a photo of a celebrity acting naughty that would look great in a tabloid. You, with your mouth around a pipe like it was a Popsicle, for instance. Another thing, Flipper. A lot of people are hurting out there. They've lost their jobs. They're not sure about their homes, their cars, their kids' college educations. You, on the other hand, have a first class seat on the gravy train. Not that you haven't earned it. You invested much of your childhood, and you swam enough laps to circle Australia. When crunch time came in China, you produced. Eight times, you produced. So nobody should complain now that the sponsors are throwing money at you like rice at a wedding. The people who sign the endorsement checks want you to sell me cereal. They want you to sell me cars, and lunch, and credit cards. To cash in, you've already done the heavy lifting. All you have to do now is be you. Another thing. You stood before us after your gold rush in China and said you wanted to be the leader in making swimming a more popular sport, especially in your home country. There is not the slightest doubt you're sincere about that. But this is not the way to lead. So the deed was done, and one British tabloid was happier over the weekend than Pittsburgh Steelers fans. Your apology was issued in about the time it takes to swim the 400-meter freestyle. Meantime, this opened the door for that old DUI charge to be recalled. See how this fame business works? I suspect your sponsors will stand by you. And it's a long time until 2012. Plenty of time to spruce up the image before the first trials. But take this to heart. You cannot — absolutely must not — be this foolish again, if you want to still be Michael Phelps. You did honest and arduous work to become an icon, so you have the right to the booty. And at the moment, everyone else has the right to call you a knucklehead. MIKE LOPRESTI is a columnist for Gannett News Service. |
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Post by skaterswaltz on Feb 4, 2009 20:52:05 GMT -5
Man, is this kid lucky -- Michael Phelps' sponsors like Visa and Speedo are supporting him. Wonder if the "Three Strikes -- You're Out" rule applies to him?
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Phelps: 'I have to live with fallout from photo'
Wednesday, February 4, 2009 5:56 PM EST
The Associated Press
By DAVID GINSBURG AP Sports Writer
BALTIMORE (AP) — Olympic champion Michael Phelps said Wednesday it has been difficult coping with the fallout from a photo of him smoking from a marijuana pipe. "It's something I am going to have to live with and something I'll have to grow from," Phelps told The Associated Press outside the pool where he trains. "I know with all of the mistakes I made, I learned from them and that is what I expect to do from this. By no means it is fun for me, by no means is it easy."
It was the first time Phelps had publicly addressed the photo since issuing an apology Sunday after it surfaced in a British tabloid over the weekend.
Wearing a black sweat suit and shaking off the remaining drops of water in his hair after a workout at the Meadowbrook Aquatic Center, Phelps said the most important thing for him is that he was back in the pool training.
"I'm back to my routine, the thing I love, the thing I care about most," Phelps said. "To be able to get back in the water and get back to a normal schedule is what I am happy about most."
Phelps and his coach, Bob Bowman, in November took over operation of Meadowbrook and the North Baltimore Aquatic Club, where the swimmer began training at age 7.
Phelps declined to address the possibility of criminal charges and reiterated his desire to put the furor behind him.
"You know, it happens," he said. "When stupid things are (done), bad judgment is made and mistakes are made, it happens."
Phelps apologized to his fans and sponsors after the tabloid News of the World published a picture that appeared to show the Olympic champion smoking marijuana during a November house party at the University of South Carolina.
The photo wasn't the first time Phelps has been in trouble for his activities away from the pool. After the 2004 Athens Games, an underage Phelps was arrested for drunken driving, pleaded guilty and apologized to his fans.
Several of Phelps' sponsors — including Visa, apparel company Speedo and luxury Swiss watchmaker Omega — have expressed their support of the athlete, who won a record eight golds medals at the Beijing Olympics last summer.
"I have a relationship with all of my sponsors and they are really like family," Phelps said. "It's been like that for our whole partnership together. And it's good to have support in a time like this. This is when you most need it." it."
He was also appreciative of the backing he's gotten from those close to him.
"Right now, at a time like this, this is when you really know who are your real friends and family," said Phelps, 23. "At a time like this, you really notice who is there in good times and in bad. And I have had a lot of support and that is something I am thankful for."
On Wednesday in Switzerland, swimming's governing body praised Phelps for his public apology.
"As a citizen, Michael Phelps displayed inappropriate behavior," FINA said in a statement. "But his sincere regret and the promise that such a situation will not happen again are sufficient guarantees that this great star will continue generating respect and appreciation to all fans of our sport around the globe."
But the CEO of the U.S. Olympic Committee said Wednesday he'd like to have a face-to-face meeting with Phelps, and spokesman Darryl Seibel said the federation was sending the Olympic star a letter offering its assistance.
Phelps has apologized. Now the USOC wants to help him avoid a repeat.
"Based on this occurrence, we at the USOC, as we said in an earlier statement, are exceptionally disappointed in him, as he is in himself," Jim Scherr said during a conference call that was set to preview the 2010 Winter Olympics, but also included several mentions of Phelps. "We'll follow up and have a direct conversation with him and people close to him."
The USOC can't do much to penalize him. Anti-doping rules don't call for sanctions against athletes who test positive for marijuana when they're not competing. And the USOC's code of conduct doesn't apply to athletes once the games are over.
———
AP Sports Writer Eddie Pells and AP correspondent Todd Karpovich contributed to this report.
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Post by gasp on Feb 4, 2009 21:41:18 GMT -5
It is difficult for me to know where I am concerning this situation w/MP. On the one hand, he's crazy. No one's life is private anymore. There are cameras everywhere. They report the good, the bad, and the ugly. Example: The security cameras that captured the Miracle on the Hudson plane landing.
Everybody has a camera somewhere. I SKYPE every night around 7:30 pm to see my grandson on line. There is very little we do anymore that somebody, somewhere is not watching and Michael Phelps got caught.
Do I think the sheriff has a dog in this hunt? Absolutely not. He's just looking for his 15 minutes of fame. Do I think USOC should intervene? Absolutely.
There are standard behaviors that are expected of me daily when I walk through my office door. The same goes for Michael. If you're gonna wear it, be prepared to play it, 24/7. If you can't do that, retire. London 2012 will rehash this every time he swims. He will not be able to avoid the media, and that is ALL they will want to discuss.
So on the other hand, this really ticks me off. It will not matter how many more medals he wins, they'll be tarnished.
Should he take this opportunity to exit gracefully? I wish had the answer to that.
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Post by gasp on Feb 4, 2009 21:46:00 GMT -5
And Skaterwaltz---do we all see the irony in "SPEEDO" continuing their relationship with Phelps. LOL in a big way----
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Post by mtnme on Feb 4, 2009 22:39:14 GMT -5
And Skaterwaltz---do we all see the irony in "SPEEDO" continuing their relationship with Phelps. LOL in a big way---- LOL But really, given the drug of choice, 'speedo' is the last thing he'd be. A serious case of the 'mucho munchies', maybe - in slow motion... |
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Post by mtnme on Feb 5, 2009 0:52:24 GMT -5
. . This was just posted on Ohnozone (now if those comments would only get fixed....)  www.ohnozone.net/__________________________________________________________________________________________________ Apolo Ohno is way smarter than Michael PhelpsPot-smoking roundtable: Ohno and Rebagliati on PhelpsRon Judd's Olympics Insider Ron Judd, an Olympics junkie and Seattle Times columnist who has covered Olympic sports since 1997, will use this space to serve up news and opinion on the Summer and Winter Games -- also inviting you to chime in on Planet Earth's biggest get-together. February 4, 2009 6:18 PM Two giants of the Winter Olympic world were speaking out about the Michael Phelps bong-smoking hoo-haw today, both coming at it from different sides. Seattle speedskater Apolo Ohno, a five-time Olympic medalist, said his own behavior in public has changed markedly in the modern world of cell-phone cameras and real-time uploading. Since entering that very public world of media and sponsorship morals clauses, "My behavior has changed dramatically," Ohno said. "There's certain guidelines and so-called protocols" that need to be adhered to, Ohno said. "I think it comes with age, too," he added.  Dean Rutz/Seattle Times Bottom line: "It's important to represent what you'd like your mother to see," said Ohno, who aims to cap off his career by competing in the Vancouver 2010 Olympics a year from now. "It's hard, you know. You're in a glass bowl." (No pun intended, we think.) On the other side was, no surprise, Canadian snowboard/cannibis legend Ross Rebagliati, who was famously stripped of the first-ever snowboarding gold medal in the Nagano Games of 1998 after testing positive for pot, which he claimed he had ingested through "second-hand smoke." Rebagliati's medal was returned after it became evident that the world ski federation did not list pot as a banned substance. He told Reuters today that the Phelps incident was overblown. "I think marijuana is less taboo than it was back in 1998 when my incident occurred," Rebagliati said. It definitely is not a performance-enhancing substance. I personally think it is safer than alcohol and cigarettes." "I guarantee, even with that one bong hit, Phelps is 100 percent healthier than the average human being," he said. Also, showing great courage - or great something - in the matter was the world swim federation, FINA, which normally blanches when one of its athletes gets caught with a hand in the drug jar, but chose to praise Phelps for his quick apology. Operative quote from FINA statement: "FINA certainly counts on Michael Phelps to highlight the next editions of the FINA World Championships and other prestigious swimming competitions in the future." Likewise kissing the ring of Phelps was none other than the International Olympic Committee, which, along with networks such as NBC, reaped millions in profits from record ratings as the world watched the Baltimore lad win eight gold medals in Beijing. "Michael Phelps is a great Olympic champion. He apologized for his inappropriate behavior," IOC spokeswoman Emmanuelle Moreau said Monday. "We have no reason to doubt his sincerity and his commitment to continue to act as a role model." U.S. Olympic Committee Chairman Jim Scherr offered similar sentiments in a media teleconference today, but said he understood why some sponsors might get nervous if Phelps' actions were construed as a "pattern of behavior." |
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Post by gasp on Feb 5, 2009 1:23:59 GMT -5
All joking aside, because I'm sure this dead-d**n serious for MP, I stated before I can't decide my position on this. So here's another thought.
Since most everyone here has had the opportunity to attend the short track events and get to know the skaters and their families or various levels, one thing stayed "fixed' for me. There is an assumption that these athletes are worldly. If you look at their travel schedules you think how wonderful it is that they travel abroad and get to see so many interesting things and experience other cultures.
In speaking with the skates, we find the reality is they do very little of that. They land at their destination, head to the hotel, get settled in, eat dinner rest and then hit the training regimen in preparation for the competition ahead. They see the venue, the hotel, and whatever is outside the bus window as they go to-and-fro. For those who don't qualify to move on they may have a little more "free time", but I just don't see them wandering around a foreign country without their teammates or at least a coach in tow.
So the competitions end and everything is done in reverse order. IF there is any free time afforded these Olympic athletes they may take in a few sites and visit some trendy local restaurant, but that's pretty much it. During the "off season" they are still training with the occasion breaks for family vacations etc. Even then most of the skaters we know are out promoting themselves in their community or working with their local skate rink where they skated as kids.
So one could say, these Olympic athletes live in a vaccuuum. I'm sure when you are a M Phelps or AAO, it is very difficult not to be seduced but the other side of the world who wants to celebrate with you following your well-noted accomplishments.
Maybe it is at that point that the USOC should have a "vetting" process for the athletes and isolate them for a week after the Olympics so they can cousel/help them before they are let loose on every late night show and party from the Pacific to the Atlantic.
I feel sorry for Michael Phelps. It's gonna be rough. I am glad he took immediate responsibility though. I would not want to go home to his mamma though. I'm sure she was disappointed and nobody wants to do that to their mammas. To heck with the world.
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Post by mtnme on Feb 5, 2009 2:33:41 GMT -5
All joking aside, because I'm sure this dead-d**n serious for MP, I stated before I can't decide my position on this. So here's another thought. Since most everyone here has had the opportunity to attend the short track events and get to know the skaters and their families or various levels, one thing stayed "fixed' for me. There is an assumption that these athletes are worldly. If you look at their travel schedules you think how wonderful it is that they travel abroad and get to see so many interesting things and experience other cultures. In speaking with the skates, we find the reality is they do very little of that. They land at their destination, head to the hotel, get settled in, eat dinner rest and then hit the training regimen in preparation for the competition ahead. They see the venue, the hotel, and whatever is outside the bus window as they go to-and-fro. For those who don't qualify to move on they may have a little more "free time", but I just don't see them wandering around a foreign country without their teammates or at least a coach in tow. So the competitions end and everything is done in reverse order. IF there is any free time afforded these Olympic athletes they may take in a few sites and visit some trendy local restaurant, but that's pretty much it. During the "off season" they are still training with the occasion breaks for family vacations etc. Even then most of the skaters we know are out promoting themselves in their community or working with their local skate rink where they skated as kids. So one could say, these Olympic athletes live in a vaccuuum. I'm sure when you are a M Phelps or AAO, it is very difficult not to be seduced but the other side of the world who wants to celebrate with you following your well-noted accomplishments. Maybe it is at that point that the USOC should have a "vetting" process for the athletes and isolate them for a week after the Olympics so they can cousel/help them before they are let loose on every late night show and party from the Pacific to the Atlantic. I feel sorry for Michael Phelps. It's gonna be rough. I am glad he took immediate responsibility though. I would not want to go home to his mamma though. I'm sure she was disappointed and nobody wants to do that to their mammas. To heck with the world. I have to agree with the above columnist. MPhelps is mostly guilty of just being young and stupid. Any one of us can probably look back in our pasts and find some incident that wasn't exactly our most shining moment. Putting anyone on a pedestal has it's pratfalls, including our young Olympic athletes. The biggest difference is WE don't live our lives under the microscope of public scrutiny - where even a moment of impatience, frustration or anger will be played by the media ad nauseum and shown in the most ugly of lights. What we really fault Michael for, is that KNOWING he has a high public profile, that he should know better. Silly boy.... And let's face it, we ARE talking about something rather minor in the grand scheme of things. (Ya want to see arrogant, heinous crimes, take a look at wall street....) It's just that the minor item was played out to impressionable kids who consider Michael a hero. Heck, WE adults consider him a hero. It always rubs some when that halo we the public place on those revered heads gets a little tarnished. But the guy is 23, and as gasp pointed out, these athletes don't live the kind of glamorous, worldly lives we assume they do. It was interesting talking to Jordan last fall, commenting on the move from Colorado Springs and the Olympic training center, where every need was taken care of - to SLC, where they had to fend for themselves, including places to live, cooking and cleaning for themselves. He thought it was a good thing in the long run, even though it was hard. It also gave them the opportunity to grow as adults and take care of themselves. (He also said one of his male roomies was a great cook! Somehow I got the impression that was Anthony! LOL) Some athletes on the other hand, continue to live in that athletic bubble, never being forced to move past emotional adolescence. There is also something to be said for the culture of the sports an athlete competes in. Living here in ski country, the area has produced plenty of Olympic athletes. But ski culture IS by nature more like Bode Miller's view- let's party, dude. The sport gets a lot more visibility- and a lot more in hefty sponsorships. It practically feeds the "I don't wanna grow up, I'm a toys are us kid' mentality. And they don't, which is why it's hard to get the warm fuzzies about them as Olympic athletes and role models. With short track, the competition is so fierce and fit, the sport so unforgiving, the sponsorships so limited, the attention to them (the skaters) even less, it has bred a group of athletes who are gracious and humble...and grateful for attention and recognition they very seldom get from the public at large. Which is probably why we are so smitten with them. |
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Post by mtnme on Feb 6, 2009 17:58:57 GMT -5
Winter Olympics get torched by battered economy
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) -Here's another big business that needs a bailout: the Olympics.
With a year to go before the start of the Winter Games in Vancouver, much of the focus is on making ends meet.
The organizing committee has dipped into its contingency fund to the tune of $40 million to cover rising costs because of the slowing economy. The city just approved a new budget that will allow it to borrow $350 million or more to take over building of the athletes' village after the original lender stopped payment.
The Vancouver Games, which begin Feb. 12, 2010, have an operating budget of $1.63 billion - a $104 million increase over the original budget that was developed about two years ago.
Yet those in the Olympic movement say that's still an acceptable amount to pay for the world's biggest sports extravaganza, even in rough financial times.
"There's no shortage of cities willing to put forth the energy and effort and economic considerations to host the Summer or Winter Games,'' said Jim Scherr, CEO of the U.S. Olympic Committee, which wants to bring the 2016 Summer Games to Chicago at the cost of $4.7 billion. "From that perspective, things are robust, the movement is being served.''
Still, the sour economy impacts more than just the municipalities trying to put on a good show. It trickles down to individual athletes, especially those who compete in less-popular sports.
Apolo Anton Ohno, winner of five medals over the last two Olympics and hoping to close out his career in Vancouver, said speedskating is doing fine in the lead-up to the games. But because the sport doesn't have a huge membership, or big TV revenues, funding threatens to go downhill quickly after the games.
"The current state of the global recession has taken its toll on funds for post-2010,'' he said. "That's where it'll be kind of scary to see what's set up. Usually, there's a lot of reserve in the bank. It will be interesting to see how they'll be able to swim through the uphill stream this time.''
Despite the rough economy, the USOC has increased its financial assistance to national governing bodies for winter sports by 49 percent, from $8.9 million in 2004-05 to $13.3 million in 2008-09.
And for top athletes like Ohno, sponsorship deals can help augment the cost of living and training, though he expects a bit of a pullback there, as well.
"Now, instead of throwing money this way and that, they're looking for value, maybe something with some longevity,'' he said.
Those who are lower on the food chain have found themselves scrambling even more.
Bobsledder Brock Kreitzburg, a 2006 Olympian who is trying to overcome an injury and make the 2010 team, recently lost a chunk of money when Home Depot decided not to renew its USOC sponsorship that included a jobs program for American Olympians.
Kreitzburg will still get support from the USOC, but without the job, he has to find other ways to pay the rent.
"I'll get work, raise my own sponsors,'' Kreitzburg said. "I've been there, done that. At one point, I stopped asking people for money because I got tired of people telling me 'No.' It's a pride issue, as well. But you do what you have to do.''
As almost every athlete knows, a good performance brings with it more than just a gold medal.
The athletes get a $25,000 bonus for gold, $15,000 for silver and $10,000 for bronze, but the buzz that an emerging star can generate if he or she gets on a roll affects way more than that.
On an individual level, there are endorsements, appearances, book deals and more. And shortly after the Winter Games, the International Olympic Committee will delve seriously into negotiations for a TV deal with an American broadcaster to cover the 2016 Games and beyond. TV revenue makes up about 53 percent of the IOC's income, and U.S. TV dollars provide the lion's share of that money.
A good American performance in Canada, on top of the United States' medal-leading effort in Beijing, can only help, as advertisers and the networks settle on the financial stake they want to invest on the Olympic product.
The United States won 25 medals in Turin in 2006, down from the 34 it won in Salt Lake City, but still a success because it nearly doubled the best output for the American team in an Olympics on foreign soil.
Scherr is making no predictions this time out, other than to say that several countries - including Germany, Norway, 2014 Winter Games host Russia and, of course, Canada - are matching America step for step in trying to build strong programs.
"That said, we're going to field a very competitive team,'' Scherr said.
One spot the United States is lacking, however, is the breakout star in the signature event of the Winter Olympics - women's figure skating. There are no Michelle Kwans (or Tonya-Nancy dramas, at least not yet) on the horizon and the top contenders figure to be from Japan, South Korea and Italy.
Which could open the door for someone like Lindsey Vonn to be America's big female star. Earlier this month, she became the first American woman to win a world championship in the super-G.
"I'm going to remember the feeling I had today,'' Vonn said after she won. "I'm going to remember mentally how I was in the start and hopefully I can do the same thing in 2010.''
Bode Miller won his second World Cup title in 2008 and should be a top contender, as he tries to avoid a repeat of his embarrassing Olympic shutout in Turin.
The United States usually owns things in and around the halfpipe. Defending gold medalist Shaun White is the most famous snowboarder in the world by most accounts. He just won his fourth X-Games superpipe gold and figures to be a favorite in 2010.
"Incomparable to anything,'' White said when asked about taking his success from the familiar climes of the X-Games into the Olympics. "I walk through airports and the whole airport would just start clapping.''
Lindsey Jacobellis has won five of the last seven X-Games titles in snowboardcross - including this year's championship - but the top entry on her Wikipedia page remains the story about the gold medal she gave away in Turin when she hot-dogged the last few yards down the course and fell. She'll be a favorite to win gold in Vancouver.
A new sport, ski cross, will be added to the freestyle schedule. It's basically snowboardcross on skis, and its most familiar face could very well be a skier used to the more traditional way of getting down the mountain: Daron Rahlves.
A 12-time winner on the World Cup circuit, Rahlves took up a new sport for this Olympic cycle. At 35, he is still looking for his first Olympic medal.
"I want to be known as a skier more than just a ski racer,'' he said recently. "It's fun to change it up a little bit, getting into something that's a new challenge.''
The new challenge for the organizers of the Vancouver Olympics is how to make them a success without hemorrhaging money.
"We had to stop and start again,'' John Furlong, the CEO of the Vancouver organizing committee, said of the economy's impact on the games. "We had to rethink everything.''
The good news is that sales of tickets and merchandising are brisk - a preliminary sign, at least, that interest in the Olympics doesn't wane when the going gets tough.
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AP Sports Writers Nancy Armour in Chicago and Rachel Cohen in New York contributed to this report
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Post by gasp on Feb 10, 2009 13:44:08 GMT -5
This is ESPN article is dated 2/10/2009. I acknowledge this could be an old comment by Apolo dredged up for the article that debates chin hair. I think it's time for a little lighter new article here--
Olympic skater Apolo Anton Ohno had an article written about his choice of facial hair on ESPN.com, and the author had this to say about the soul patch:
"The soul patch is the "I meant to do that" of facial hair. Unlike a Grizzly Adams/Ted Kaczynski full-on beard, the soul patch doesn't require a lot of scratching or checking for ticks. And unlike geometrically correct goatees, it doesn't say, "I'm on Satan's team." Instead, a soul patch says things like, "I'm cool" or "I'm a little rebellious" or "I'm sensitive" or "I'm a little hung up on myself" or "I can grow hair right there on that spot right below my lip, and some of my friends can't."
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Post by gasp on Feb 12, 2009 14:16:59 GMT -5
And now a word from an American in Paris discussing Razor Scooters, rollerblades and Apolo Anton Ohno.....
Les Razors, les Rollerbaldes et les Tiddy Bears ... Mon dieu!
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February 12, 2009 - 12:00am
By Lauren Herget
So I’m living in Paris for the semester — the “fashion capital of the world” — yet sometimes I feel like I’m stuck in a horribly warped version of the years 1997-2001. Let me give you two loosely held-together examples, embellished with my biting wit and sarcastic quips. All set?
The first is that Parisians have gone bat-crap crazy over Razor scooters.
… Really?? I know that walking is — God forbid — a horrible inconvenience, but these devil boards can be a serious death trap. Here is but one of many examples of scooter-related trauma: Freshman year I was walking down Tower Road to get to a 10:10 lecture. That year I was really into wearing my Patagonia messenger bag so that I would look “edgy” and “hip,” yet “thoughtful” and “environmentally-conscious.” Some dude on a freaking Razor scooter comes barreling down the slight incline from Baker Hall, loses control of his person and double dead-legs me from behind. We both go down, having a collision at that huge intersection where Day Hall is located. The worst (and funniest) part about this story, though, is not simply that he made me topple at one of the most populated intersections on campus, but that his effing handlebars got all tangled up in my messenger bag’s strap, therefore rendering us awkwardly and nearly permanently attached. I barely made it to class on time, and Razor Scooters™ have thus been placed on my very short crap List™.
Yet the French seem to have an ache in their hearts for those three pieces of soldered metal and two PVC wheels. I’ve seen a family (mother, father and daughter) holding hands and scooting down the street, I’ve seen business people in Gucci suits weaving in and out of traffic and I’ve seen young boys try to take their scooters to the XTREME LIMIT by sprinting down the sidewalk and then hopping on. All of these examples, to me, point to civilization’s sure insanity and general malaise.
Mark my words (Nostradamus v. 2.0 BETA©): the end-time will come when everybody gets all tangled up in each other’s Razor in a freak scooter accident.
But disregarding the inherent danger associated with any conveyance that is not walking, the second example is even more hilarious than the Razor Scooter’s revival: Rollerblades. When oh when did they regain acceptability, I wonder?? These craps are getting almost as popular as scooters, and are nearly as annoying. Why, do you ask?
Well, the answer is two-fold. First, it seems that in the interim period during which Rollerblades were heinously mocked, most people have forgotten the tricky dance of coordination required of a ’blader. Most people, as a result, roll slower down an uneven sidewalk than they would normally walk, with both arms out to the side for balance.
… And then there are the others: the crazy, gung-ho rollerbladers who treat every to/fro as if they were one of the Mighty Ducks. You know what I’m talking about — the folks who pretend their commute to be life or death while leaning into every turn and aggressively stopping at “do not cross” signs. They usually pant louder than is necessary and wear rip-away Adidas pants.
(I guess an easier way to put it is that they really want be Apolo Anton Ohno, when everyone else around them is all, “Apolo Anton OH NO. I just want to walk in peace!”)
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(not that he did anything to humiliate himself in public)
