Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/6608
We lead with Hockey, the flagship sport of the Olympic Winter Games. In the countries where hockey maintains the status of "national sport"—countries like Russia, Sweden, Finland, Czechoslovakia, and host nation Canada—the Olympics create a fervor for the game only relatable to the World Cup of soccer. Unlike soccer though, many of these countries get few chances to see their national stars united under the same team sweater. And none of those moments are larger than the Olympics. This may also be the last year that National Hockey League (NHL) players compete for their countries in the Olympics. That tradition, begun with the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics, attempted to do for hockey what the Dream Team at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics did for the NBA—sell the sport to the world. In discussing the Vancouver Olympics, NHL commissioner, Gary Bettman has made it clear that the Games, while a great promotional tool for the NHL, put NHL teams who send players to the Olympics at a serious disadvantage due to injury and the added wear and tear on the athletes. But enough of speculation, to the ice! The Canadians enter the 2010 Olympics as clear favorites. Aside from the ridiculous home ice advantage, Canada has a team that boasts both young gunners like Sidney Crosby and Rick Nash and veteran studs like Martin Brodeur and Scott Niedermayer, along with GM and NHL legend, Steve Yzerman. The Russians may have the next best chance of bringing home the gold. They beat Canada at the 2008 World Championships, and their lineup includes NHL superstars Evgeni Malkin, Pavel Datsyuk, and Evgeni Nabokov. The Americans could make the semis, but they will need Boston Bruins goalkeeper, Tim Thomas to play at the same level that led the Bruins on their 2009 playoff run, and veteran Red Wings defenseman, Bryan Rafalski to bring the tenacity that he showed in last year's Stanley Cup Finals. Other teams of note: defending Olympic gold medalist, Sweden, and 2006 silver medalist, Finland. Bad news for the Finns though. Team captain, Teemu Selanne will probably miss the Olympics after a puck to the face broke his jaw on January, 13th. The next sport we're highlighting is on the Olympic roster for the first time, and its name alone is a metaphor for the sport's controversial pedigree. The International Ski Federation (FIS) refers to it as "Ski Cross," abbreviating it SX, even though the "X" gives the sport a dubious connection to other freestyle sports with whom the conservative and traditional FIS does not openly associate. The X Games, which has championed the sport, calls it "skiercross," one word, something the FIS disapproves of, but not nearly as much as they disapprove of what the racers themselves call it, "the Chinese Downhill." Whatever it is, it involves elements of alpine skiing, motocross, fencing, and a gentlemanly code among racers "not to kill each other." Basically, a group of racers—usually four or six—begin simultaneously from a start house and race down a relatively narrow course made up of bumps, dips, high bank turns, jumps, berms and downhill stretches. The race lasts anywhere from 45 to 90 seconds, and the first one across the finish line wins. As upwards of 50% of the race can be spent in the air, crashes are common, expected and, oftentimes, intentionally initiated. There are rules to the sport, but USA SX team member, Casey Puckett admits that he doesn't know what they are. The "Don't Kill Each Other" rule seems to do the trick, he says, and SX racers have developed the opinion that if that rule is followed no one should blow the whistle on someone else for minor rule infractions. The only other stipulation that SX racers adamantly adhere to is that SX is "anti-racing." That rule is best expressed by the NO LYCRA SUITS policy. The "pinch rule" is used to determine this. If a good amount of fabric can't be easily pinched between the fingers then the article must be removed and replaced with something baggier and more iconoclastic. For what it's worth, the French team has had the biggest problem with this rule. Seriously. The person to watch on the USA side is Darren Rhalves. Sound familiar? Since retiring from World Cup racing in 2006, he's gone on to race SX where he won the gold medal at the 2008 X Games. At 36, he's older than his coach and already has a résumé that will land him in the US Ski Team Hall of Fame. And he's not the only one. His teammate, Casey Puckett is 37. Actually, the majority of the athletes in the sport are ex-racers, and the sport itself represents the desire among FIS racers for an event that's a little looser than the traditional alpine events like slalom, giant slalom and downhill. The FIS hopes that the 2010 Olympics will change that, that the success of SX will engender programs and teams of young riders who embrace Ski Cross the way Darren Rhalves grew up racing gates. Turning to the 2010 USA Olympic team, there are some new faces to learn, but more likely we will be reminded of those athletes who've already established their greatness in Olympics' past. Let's begin with Lindsey Vonn. She is arguably the closest thing to a slam dunk on the American team. She is coming off back-to-back World Championships, and her total number of world cup wins (28) is second only to Bode Miller (31). Vonn's incredible World Cup season has her peaking at exactly the right time, as she's scheduled to race in all five of the alpine disciplines—Downhill, GS, Super G, Slalom, and Combined (Slalom and Downhill). Like Michael Phelps going for eight gold medals in 2008, Vonn's run at five golds will make her one of the