World Cup AVOIDANCE Travel, Courtesy of Qwest?:

The World Sprint Championships were held last weekend in Heerenveen, and there's a sprint World Cup scheduled for Collalbo this weekend. So, what are Ochowicz and Rodriguez doing here in Salt Lake? Nothing against these two skaters, but it's another sign of US Speedskating's totally arbitrary decision making.

The day before the Torino World Cup event began last December, we competitors received an email from Andy Gabel threatening lawsuits against those skaters who were not wearing the US Speedskating sponsor logos in competition. I thought that threatening the competitors like this, on the day before a major event, was totally disgusting and unnecessary. One of my teammates spent the rest of the race-prep afternoon on the phone with her lawyer, before he managed to convince her that USS was "just blowing smoke."

Well, here's a quick and easy lesson, from me to my least favorite sports federation, in getting your money's worth from advertising: NOT SHOWING UP TO A COMPETITION IS THE SAME THING AS NOT WEARING THE LOGO ON YOUR SUIT. In all fairness, the only way to explain this situation would be to say that Jen and Elli paid for their own trip home. That chance always exists, but how likely is it?