"Disown the Podium"
Brilliant sarcasm; unfortunately, not mine. One of my friends suggested we refer to USSPEEDSKATING's plan for the current Olympic cycle as, "Disown the Podium." How true.
Since when did starting on ice blades equal dead weight? Just because someone chose to be an ice skater instead of an inline skater should not automatically relegate that person to the ranks of "no-talent hack."
Does the U.S.O.C. really need an explicit definition of the words, "dead weight?" Yes, we have had dead weight in ice speedskating. We'd had a textbook case of dead weight dragging the women's team down for about 14 years leading up to Torino. Dead weight is the kind of person who wakes up one fine Olympic morning to realize that no matter how good a "traveling companion" or "dinner conversationalist" she has been to some former authority figure, the last lap of the 1500 meters is still going to hurt like hell, so why not avoid it entirely?
But does this mean that the legacy of this unfortunate relationship will live on, not only having affected those of us who tried to work around it at the time it was going on, but also to affect the next generation of young skaters, who will now be the collateral damage of the U.S.O.C.'s decision that ALL skaters who started on ice blades are worthless dead weight?
The fact of the matter is that USSPEEDSKATING has destroyed its own infrastructure for development. When they engulfed the Amateur Skating Union, they obviously had no intention of supporting the clubs, as the ASU had. Still, take a look at just about any USS press release and it will include something about USS being "the governing body responsible for producing champions AND for grassroots development." Can you believe that? To me, that's just another example of USSPEEDSKATING's Orwellian doublespeak, falling into the same category as "neglect equals support, favoritism equals objectivity, and connections equal qualifications."
For years, ice speedskaters have faced down and often triumphed over the misfortune of having to navigate a sport with no infrastructure. Should those ice skaters who are still in contention be punished for this?
Throughout my years of speedskating competition, I learned just how far off USSPEEDSKATING is from the ideal American sports federation I'd hoped it would be. Now, I'm starting to figure out why. One of the main reasons seems to be that the "Powers that Be" have such a need to maintain the image that they do EVERYTHING for the athletes, and that the reason why American speedskaters win is BECAUSE OF all those middle-aged male authority figures who strut around wearing the Team USA parkas, that there is a reluctance to seek out enough financial support for the athletes because there is a reluctance to ADMIT that USS needs it!
But don't worry. Even if things look grim right now, and even if this country's best ice speedskaters are disowned, for some reason, when it comes to the Olympics, "American speedskaters always rise to the occasion."
Right?
Brilliant sarcasm; unfortunately, not mine. One of my friends suggested we refer to USSPEEDSKATING's plan for the current Olympic cycle as, "Disown the Podium." How true.
Since when did starting on ice blades equal dead weight? Just because someone chose to be an ice skater instead of an inline skater should not automatically relegate that person to the ranks of "no-talent hack."
Does the U.S.O.C. really need an explicit definition of the words, "dead weight?" Yes, we have had dead weight in ice speedskating. We'd had a textbook case of dead weight dragging the women's team down for about 14 years leading up to Torino. Dead weight is the kind of person who wakes up one fine Olympic morning to realize that no matter how good a "traveling companion" or "dinner conversationalist" she has been to some former authority figure, the last lap of the 1500 meters is still going to hurt like hell, so why not avoid it entirely?
But does this mean that the legacy of this unfortunate relationship will live on, not only having affected those of us who tried to work around it at the time it was going on, but also to affect the next generation of young skaters, who will now be the collateral damage of the U.S.O.C.'s decision that ALL skaters who started on ice blades are worthless dead weight?
The fact of the matter is that USSPEEDSKATING has destroyed its own infrastructure for development. When they engulfed the Amateur Skating Union, they obviously had no intention of supporting the clubs, as the ASU had. Still, take a look at just about any USS press release and it will include something about USS being "the governing body responsible for producing champions AND for grassroots development." Can you believe that? To me, that's just another example of USSPEEDSKATING's Orwellian doublespeak, falling into the same category as "neglect equals support, favoritism equals objectivity, and connections equal qualifications."
For years, ice speedskaters have faced down and often triumphed over the misfortune of having to navigate a sport with no infrastructure. Should those ice skaters who are still in contention be punished for this?
Throughout my years of speedskating competition, I learned just how far off USSPEEDSKATING is from the ideal American sports federation I'd hoped it would be. Now, I'm starting to figure out why. One of the main reasons seems to be that the "Powers that Be" have such a need to maintain the image that they do EVERYTHING for the athletes, and that the reason why American speedskaters win is BECAUSE OF all those middle-aged male authority figures who strut around wearing the Team USA parkas, that there is a reluctance to seek out enough financial support for the athletes because there is a reluctance to ADMIT that USS needs it!
But don't worry. Even if things look grim right now, and even if this country's best ice speedskaters are disowned, for some reason, when it comes to the Olympics, "American speedskaters always rise to the occasion."
Right?
posted by Eva at 11:57 AM
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