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Mikaela Shiffrin

Uncle-A

In the words of Paul Simon "You can call me Al"
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Spot on. The problem is that for a lot of sports, not just skiing, the Olympics are the be-all/end-all of their existence. Or, to be precise, a lot of sports sanctioning bodies. A "bad" Olympics means staff/funding cuts, lack of exposure/sponsorships for athletes etc. I wish there was a way for "Olympic" sports to be more self-sustaining in the US without leading to a Biles situation. Hope that doesn't happen to Shiffrin.
In skiing I think that the World Cup is more important to the rest of the world than the Olympics. In the USA the Olympics is more important than the World Cup because most people that don't ski probably think the it is the only competition for skiers.
 

newboots

Learning to carve!
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In skiing I think that the World Cup is more important to the rest of the world than the Olympics. In the USA the Olympics is more important than the World Cup because most people that don't ski probably think the it is the only competition for skiers.
That sounds like an important factor. But many sports achieve great attention during the Olympics. And more TV coverage, more water cooler conversations at work, etc.

Also it appeals to patriotism and this is played up in the media. But you have a point. Lots of have only recently (last decade or so) heard of WC soccer, for example.
 

James

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She gave a speech at an event in NY after Solden.-

"As of right now, the American women are leading the nations' standings in giant slalom. The last time that happened was in 1983 when Tamara McKinney won the overall and the GS titles. THIRTY-EIGHT YEARS AGO. Imagine that. THAT is something to celebrate. And we’re just getting started."—Mikaela, on the U.S. alpine women's team result In Sölden / Soelden / Solden.

- I suspect celebrating might be a bit premature.
 

Muleski

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I enjoy reading almost everything about ski racing. Having said that, I like to read the articles written by the staff at skiracing.com

That staff has been cut down, and is largely pretty green. As writers, and with depth of contacts and ski racing experience. There are obviously some big exceptions.

It seems like we are going to see a LOT of articles in SR, which they’ll pick up through AP. This one ^^^ appeared a bit earlierin the Aspen Times. They actually credit the writer. A Dutch freelancer. Eric Willemsen.

It used to be that SR had articles that were proprietary, and written by people like Sean Higgins, who was seriously in the know.

Now….it’s mainstream press. Likely arranged by the USST WC media officer, of MS’s agent.

Just putting that out there. We’ll be seeing it ALL season long. Basic press releases, in effect.

I’ll still read and enjoy every single one. As we can’t get much! A friend told me that he feels like commenting/correcting them all!

Nope, I’ll be happy for what we get. It’s close enough!
 

Uncle-A

In the words of Paul Simon "You can call me Al"
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I heard this the other day, I just don't think it will happen but you never know. On one hand I don't think he would upset China buy doing it and on the other hand it could make him look tough on China and still screw the fewest amount of voters, us skiers.
 

dbostedo

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I heard this the other day, I just don't think it will happen but you never know. On one hand I don't think he would upset China buy doing it and on the other hand it could make him look tough on China and still screw the fewest amount of voters, us skiers.
Mod hat on...

The key part of that is that it's "...a move that would keep American dignitaries, but not athletes, from the Games..."

Since the athletes would presumably still attend, let's not get into anything else related to that politically. Thank you.
 

Muleski

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Mod hat on...

The key part of that is that it's "...a move that would keep American dignitaries, but not athletes, from the Games..."

Since the athletes would presumably still attend, let's not get into anything else related to that politically. Thank you.

@dbostedo, should we have a “2022 Olympic Winter Games” thread? Maybe move this there? The MS thread at times becomes a drop box for topics that have nothing to do with her.

And obviously the OWG conversation will start to heat up. Just a thought.
 

Uncle-A

In the words of Paul Simon "You can call me Al"
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She is playing the guitar left handed?
 

S.H.

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Thanks, I see that now. Nothing against those two but I was digging the British bloke.
I think Schlanger is pretty useless tbh

Porino not much better, but at least has some insight/contacts.

Commentating on skiing is pretty tough though. You're watching 30 of the world's best ski the same course time after time, and to anyone but highly trained eyes, they all basically look the same unless there's a big error. So you're basically just watching splits.
 

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