Good Impressions Part 2

Now onto the men. It was really hard to narrow the list down to 10 men who impressed me this season. There were so many across all five disciplines. I paid more attention to the men this year because the race for the overall Crystal Globe and most of the smaller Globes will come down to the finals, which start early next week. The women's Globes, except for giant slalom, were locked up early, which takes away a lot of the excitement of the season and finals. Anyway, on to the men. Again, they're in alphabetical order.

Max Blardone (Italy): Max has had two wins in giant slalom this season and has also been on the podium. He has always been one of the better men in GS, but this season he has really put it all together and is having a great year. Max also has one of the best victory celebrations. He forms his ski poles into a bow and arrow and shoots one of the poles into the crowd.

Didier Cuche (Switzerland): Like a fine wine, Didier gets better with age. At 37 he is still winning races. Didier is a great role model for what an older athlete can accomplish. He will retire at the end of the season and will be missed. Didier's post-run celebration is also entertaining. He loosens one ski, kicks it into the air so it flips over a couple of times, then catches it.

Beat Feuz (Switzerland): Beat is achieving the potential that he showed as a junior skier by leading the World Cup overall standings. He is a speed specialist, but was also good enough in the combined event (1 run downhill, 1 run slalom) to be on the podium in all 4 of those races. I also admire his sportsmanship. He always seems to be smiling and complimenting his teammates.

Max Franz (Austria): Before the season started, I didn't hold much hope for the young Austrians. But Max has been a real surprise and gem for the Austrian Power Team. He is young (22) and has had quite a few top-15 results this season. What is amazing is that early in the season he got good results with a high start number. Just last week he had his best finish, a 5th in Super-G. He is definitely one to watch in the speed events. The Austrian legacy of great men in the speed events continues.

Marcel Hirscher (Austria): Marcel has won 8 slalom and giant slalom races this season. At age 22, his career is just getting started. He and Beat Feuz are in a very exciting duel for the overall Crystal Globe that will come down to the finals. I really admire Marcel's nerves of steel. He was embroiled in a cheating scandal earlier this season but was cleared. A lesser skier would have let the pressure of it get to him. But Marcel just kept on winning. If he wins the Globes for both slalom and GS, he will become only the 7th man to accomplish that feat. I can only imagine how great Marcel will be once he hits his physical peak.

Kjetil Jansrud (Norway): On a word association test, the usual answer to, "Great Norwegian all-around skier" would be Kjetil's teammate Aksel Lund Svindal. But this season Kjetil is only one of four men to score points in all 5 disciplines. Kjetil has been known as a giant slalom specialist, but this season he has been on the podium in speed events and even won one. In the next couple of years he could be a real contender for the overall Globe.

Klaus Kroell (Austria): Klaus has been a very consistent performer for Austria in the speed events. He is the top contender for the downhill Globe. His performances this year have been a real inspiration to his younger teammates like Max Franz and Joachim Puchner. Klaus is also very friendly. I rode up to the ski area in the gondola with him. He happily chatted with all of us in the gondola.

Alexix Pinturault (France): Alexis is the latest addition to the strong French technical team. He is also very young (turning 21 later this month) but is already achieving the potential that he showed as a junior with two 2nd places (GS and combined) and a win at the Moscow City Event. Alexis is also very good in slalom and has some top-10 finishes this season. He tends to have a problem putting together two good runs, but he will become more consistent with experience. I see him being a real superstar in the technical events and a great challenger to Hirscher.

Ben Thomsen (Canada): Ben's most impressive finish was 5th place in the Chamonix downhill with start number 50. He follwed that up the next week with a second place finish in the Sochi downhill.  Erik Guay, Jan Hudec, and now Ben give the Canadians a triple threat in downhill races. Ben is also young and looks to have a bright future.

Naoki Yuasa (Japan): Despite being from a two-man ski team, Naoki has been very impressive this season. He has broken into the top 10 and even into the top 5 in slalom races. Naoki also skis on Hart skis, which is a manufacturer of freestyle skis. But they obviously work very well for him. I personally think it's great when a skier from a small team does well against the "big boys."

Honorable Mentions: As I said above, it was hard to limit this list to ten men. Some of the other men who were exciting to watch this season were: Fritz Dopfer (Germany), Marcel Mathis (Austria), Bode Miller (USA), Joachim Puchner (Austria), and Benjamin Raich (Austria).

Good Impressions Part 1

The 2011/12 World Cup skiing season is coming to a close. The finals start with downhill training on Monday. It has been a long season. This post and the next one will be about the skiers who impressed me this season. I'll start with the women and the next post will be the men. The order will be alphabetical rather than by how much I was impressed by them. For the most part, I was impressed by the skiers' performances. But in a couple of cases it was their sportsmanship that made them great this season. There were 9 women who made my list this season:

Stacey Cook (USA): Stacey has been very consistent in the downhill event. It's only a matter of time before she gets her first World Cup podium. My son met her at the races in Garmisch last month and said that she was one of the two friendliest women (the other was Germany's Viktoria Rebensburg).

Lena Duerr (Germany): She has had several good results in technical races this season. She tends to have one great run and one not-so-good run. When Lena gets more consistent and able to put two good runs together, she will be a contender for a Crystal Globe. Lena is part of the young German squad that will only get better with age and experience.

Anna Fenninger (Austria): Anna is primarily known as a speed specialist. But she was one of only five women who scored points in all 5 Alpine disciplines this season. She is still young and has a bright future ahead of her. She could be a real contender for the overall Crystal Globe.

Marie-Michele Gagnon (Canada): Mitch, as she is called, kept getting better and better as the season progressed. If she continues to ski so well, she will earn her first World Cup podium spot very soon. It's great to see a skier who's not from a large team do well in World Cup competition. Mitch is also very young and has a lot of star potential in the technical events.

Michaela Kirchgasser (Austria): Michaela had her best season this year, including a slalom win. Her win, like those of her teammate Marlies Schild, was very decisive. Michaela has really improved a lot and is a steady performer for the Austria Power Team.

Daniela Merighetti (Italy): Daniela showed that her victory in Cortina wasn't a fluke with her close 3rd place finish in Bansko. What really impressed me about Daniela though was her attitude toward her team. When she was asked how she would celebrate her win, she said that she wanted to celebrate with her team. It sounds like the Italian ladies are a very close-knit group.

Marlies Schild (Austria): Marlies is almost 32 and shows no signs of slowing down. Slalom is a discipline that is won by hundredths of a second. Marlies won several races this year by over a second. She is set to tie, or even break, Vreni Schneider's record for the most slalom wins this season. Marlies keeps on winning, yet she is a very humble champion. On the rare occasions when someone does beat her, she gives the winner sincere congratulations.

Mikaela Shiffrin (USA): Mikaela is only 16 and is a real prodigy on skis. When she's on, she's fantastic. She already has a 3rd place this year and a couple of top-10 finishes in slalom. That's amazing for someone in her first year on the World Cup. Like Lena Duerr, she often has problems putting together two good runs. But the consistency will come with experience. She has the potential to become a real superstar in slalom.

Tina Weirather (Liechtenstein): One wouldn't think that a petite skier like Tina would be a good downhiller. The best downhillers tend to be Amazons like Lindsey Vonn and Maria Hoefl-Riesch. But Tina seemed to have come out of nowhere to become one of the best downhillers this season. Tina also showed in Bansko that she is good in Super-G, placing second to Vonn by only 0.02 seconds. She certainly has the pedigree to be great because her mother is the legendary Hanni Wenzel and her father was also a ski racer. Tina trains with the Swiss team and should get her first victory very soon. She already has several podiums in downhill and Super-G this season.

The Bad Luck Club: The Swiss women have been really riddled with injuries this season. Six of their nine women have had to end the season prematurely because of injuries. I wish all of the Swiss ladies a speedy recovery and hope that they come back strong next season.

A Tale of Two Countries

Here is a tale of two countries  from the World Cup: Uruguay and  Germany. When the Uruguayan team made the semi-finals of the World Cup last weekend, there was understandably a lot of celebrating all over the country. The last time the 2-time World  Cup champions (1930 and 1950) made the final four of the World Cup was in 1970. The country of 3.5 million people celebrated their team, which wasn't projected to make it out of the first round. Even when Uruguay lost a close game to the Netherlands in the semi-finals (3 to 2), Uruguayans were proud of how their team played with heart and determination, even when they were down 3-1. If the offsides goal that the Dutch scored was disallowed, like it should have been, Uruguay would have played even with one of the very best teams in the world. This feat was even more amazing because Uruguay played without three of its starters, who were out due to cards or injury. According to what I have been reading, there is still a lot of celebrating in Uruguay. When the team returns to Montevideo after playing the game for 3rd place this Saturday, they will be welcomed home as heroes. No matter how Uruguay does on Saturday, the players can hold their heads high and know that they surpassed everyone's expectations. 

The story was different in Germany. After making it out of group stages, Germany stormed to a 4-1 victory over England followed by a 4-0 win over powerful Argentina to get to the semi-finals. But they were defeated in their semi-final game by Spain 1-0. After those two wins in the earlier stages, Germany became the favorite to win the title. Suddenly the Germans felt that they should just be handed the World Cup trophy since they felt that they were going to win anyway. They had a "nobody can beat us" attitude that became arrogance. But the Germans have a recent history of not being able to win the big game and this curse struck again in the form of a superior Spanish team. After the game, the mood in Germany was like people found out that their whole family just got killed in a disaster.  As soon as the final whistle blew, people went home dejected. They couldn't believe that their team lost, even though being in the final 4 of the World Cup is a big honor. There were no parties celebrating the team after the semi-final loss. Even the team felt like they had failed since their goal in this World Cup was to improve on their 3rd place finish from 4 years ago.  In a display of poor sportsmanship, German captain Philip Lahm stated that he didn't feel like his team should have to play for 3rd place. The German team is scheduled to leave South Africa on Sunday and will be in transit back to Germany while the final game is being played. When they return home, they won't be met by huge crowds that are proud of their team. 

I think that I will cheer for Uruguay in the game for 3rd place on Saturday. Uruguay has nothing to lose and may surprise Germany, just like they surprised their other opponents in the tournament. I'd rather cheer for a team that is thrilled to be in its position than for one who acts like losing in the semi-finals of the World Cup is tantamount to failure.  Germany may just go through the motions of playing since they're so upset about their loss to Spain, while Uruguay will probably play with the heart that got them into the final four. It will be a very interesting game. 

Arjen Robben and Me

The Dutch football (soccer) player Arjen Robben and I have something in common. What could it be? He's a man and I'm a woman, so that's not it. I have a thick head of hair and he's bald. Arjen is 26 and I'm.................a little bit older. He's one of the best football players in the world and I'm a middle of the pack runner. So what can Arjen and I possibly have in common? The answer is that we both have hamstring problems.  Arjen tore his hamstring during a pre-World Cup practice match, while mine has been bothering me for the last month or so. I'll have to figure out how Arjen recovered enough to be able to play in the later matches of the World Cup. I would think that the stopping, starting, and diving in football (Arjen is a big-time diver) would be worse on a hamstring than running at a steady pace. 

My injury is funny. The muscle is very tight during my first kilometers of running. I have to go very slowly or it will bother me. Once I get past the first couple of kilometers it loosens up and the rest of my run is fine. When I do long runs, I walk instead of stopping to drink. Stopping tightens the muscle again. It doesn't bother me after a run except when I overdo it. I've tried all kinds of things to get it to heal properly. Like the old ads for Wisk detergent and "Ring Around the Collar" ("you've tried soaking them out and scrubbing them out and you've still got ring around the collar"), I've tried stretching, rest, cross-training, massage with my hands, and using my massage stick. I'd really like to have my hamstring at 100% fitness before the Munich half-marathon in October. I've pretty made up my mind that I'd like to do the half-marathon that accompanies the Munich Marathon. 

Onto the World Cup....what's with the players wearing girls' headbands? A lot of people out there already think that football is a gay sport because of all of the dives and fake injuries with their accompanying theatrics. I used to wear those types of headbands when I was in elementary school. They were good for keeping hair out of my face. I'm sure the players wear those headbands for that reason. But you'd think they'd find something a little more masculine. 

I'll be cheering for Uruguay, even though I think that the Netherlands will beat them tonight. I always like to cheer for underdog teams. Even with his girlie headband, Uruguay's Diego Forlan is "easier on the eyes" than the Dutch duo of Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben (I guess I shouldn't say that about Arjen if I want to know his injury recovery secrets). That's as good a reason as any to cheer for Uruguay. Uruguay is a country of just 3.5 million people and the only South American team to make the semi-finals. Germany is storming through the elimination rounds and looks like the team to beat for the overall title. They should beat Spain tomorrow night, though Paul the match-predicting octopus says that Spain will win. Paul has predicted Germany's wins and losses in this World Cup with 100% accuracy (and was 80% accurate in the 2008 European Championships). But Spain would win easily if the match was decided by which team had the best looking players. Both matches should be interesting, whether or not the teams with the better looking players win. Maybe Arjen will block out the pain in his sore hamstring and score the winning goal for the Dutch. 

New World Order

This World Cup has been one of the most exciting and interesting ever. There seems to be a new order in the football world. The traditional football powers seem to be underachieving, while teams from minor football countries are doing surprisingly well.

The two finalists from the last World Cup, France and Italy, have been eliminated. I was glad to see both of them go. I have been to France several times and think it's a beautiful country with a lot of great sights, good wine, beautiful scenery, and fantastic food. But for some reason I just don't like the French football team. I especially didn't like them this year because they cheated to make it into the World Cup. The goal that gave them the victory over Ireland that they needed in qualifying was a hand ball that the referee missed. Since the last World Cup I've thought that Italy was overrated. I used to cheer for the Italians because they had the best looking players (that honor now goes to Spain). I also thought that the dramatics that accompanied their dives and fake injuries were the best. But I felt that they benefitted from a lot of bad calls by the referees in the last World Cup. Italy didn't live up to its potential in the European Championships two years ago and certainly didn't in this World Cup.

Germany, England, and Spain seem to not be playing up to their potential. I felt that England was overrated and not really a title contender, though many experts felt that this would be England's year to win it. The Netherlands has also looked a little out of sorts at times.

The South American teams all look fantastic, especially Argentina and Brazil. I think that Argentina is the team to beat. Argentina's Lionel Messi is showing why he's one of the top players in the world. He doesn't have any goals so far; but he has done an excellent job setting up his teammates for scores. It looks like all 5 South American teams will go through to the next round. I'm cheering for Uruguay as a dark horse. Diego Forlan is playing very well for Team Uruguay and is fun to watch. It's nice to see Chile, Uruguay, and Paraguay doing well because they haven't had any football glory since the 1950s. I think that the South Americans along with Spain have the most exciting and dynamic style of football. They show why football is called, "The Beautiful Game."

Japan and Slovakia are two teams who made the second round for the first time. Japan looked very impressive in beating Denmark last night. The Blue Samurai are also another dark horse. It's good to see some new blood in the later rounds, though I think that the Netherlands will beat Slovakia in their upcoming match.

The USA has a good team and an easier path to the later rounds due to its bracket. Team USA is a good team, not a great one, but they're also part of the new world football order. While the great teams, like Brazil, Argentina, or Germany, are deep, the USA is not. The USA also doesn't dive and have fake injuries like the better teams. If the USA wants to become a great team, it will need to work on its theatrics. It's amazing how drama influences the referees.

Now it's time to watch the Brazil-Portugal game. Both of these teams will go through to the second round. I'm cheering for Brazil. Whatever the outcome of this game, and the Spain-Chile and Switzerland-Honduras matches later, this World Cup will continue to be very interesting.

Cool Team Names at the World Cup

Some of the teams at the World Cup have great names, while others are pretty lame. Here is a sampling of some of the team names:

USA: US Boys. One of the lamest team names.

South Africa: Bafana Bafana. I like that one because it's very African.

Cameroon: Indomitable Lions. Great name, though they weren't very indomitable in their first match against Japan.

Japan: Blue Samurai. They wear blue uniforms, so the name fits.

France: Les Bleus, which means, "The Blues." It's for their blue uniforms.

Italy: The Azzurri, which also means, "The Blues." The Italians also wear blue uniforms.

New Zealand: The All-Whites. I guess that's to distinguish the football team from the national rugby team, which is the All-Blacks.

Brazil: The Samba Kings. Very fitting. Their style of play is like the samba. One of my favorite names.

Netherlands: The Orange. The Dutch wear orange uniforms, ergo their name.

Australia: The Socceroos. Australia is evidently one of the few countries that calls the sport "soccer" instead of "football." It's a cute name, though it sounds like the American children's underwear brand Underoos.

Ghana: The Black Stars. That's a pretty good name for a pretty good team.