Myth #1(Mother Nature killed the sport of ski jumping) Debunked

Myth #2(NCAA killed the sport of ski jumping) Debunked Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

Myth #3(The US doesn't have the talent) Debunked Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

Mind Of A Ski Jumper Part 1, 2, 3, 4

The Ultimate Coach - Ski Jump Training Device

Jumping Season Digest: (see bottom of this page)

Sunday, January 01, 2006

Myth #2 Debunked, Part 1

Over the next couple of weeks I'll be taking look at Myth #2.  I have heard this myth more often than all other myths combined.  Maybe it is because I'm in New Hampshire that I hear it so much, nonetheless I hear it all the time.  I have seen evidence that shows that this myth is just that...a myth.  I will give links to newspaper articles that will make you ask questions about the validity of the myth.  They will also help point you in the right direction, showing where the sport should be headed if ski jumping ever wants to make a comeback in this country.  I'll quote television interviews to help show why this sport needs to develop a whole new image.  I plan on asking quite a few questions...difficult questions.  Can/will anyone be willing to provide some answers?
 
I plan to keep each of the messages short and allow you time to think about what I'm bringing up.  I don't plan to rush the process.  Every now and then I may get a little off topic for a day or so only to pull everything back together the following day.  Don't worry I'm not losing my mind or getting off subject, I'm just trying to make my point by comparing similiar concepts.  The next three days will show you what I mean quite perfectly.  This will spread out to cover a lot of territory before all is said and done.  Myth #2 is not an easy myth to deciper.  The misnomer that has been created by myth #2 has caused a lot of damage to the sport of ski jumping over the past 25-30 years.  It keeps on doing more damage as each and every year passes by.
 
Feel free to post your thoughts on what I have to say.  The people in this sport really need to take a look at what has caused the downfall of ski jumping and they need to talk more about it's future.  The current state of ski jumping in the United States is continually getting worse each and every passing year.  Everyone keeps trying to come up with possible solutions when they don't even realize what the real problem is in the first place.  The myths are just that, myths.  It's time to wake up to the reality of what has brought ski jumping to the state of almost nothingness that it currently is at.
 
Let's get started.
 
Today I will start off easy with a simple exercise that will help to show how wrong some people can really be.  Perform the following exercise and you shall start to get a feel of where I plan to take this whole concept before it is all said and done.
 
Stick out your arm and make a fist.  Now point your index finger.  In essence, act like your pointing your finger at someone.  Take a look at your hand.  You have one finger pointing at the imaginary person that is in front of you.
 
How many fingers do you have pointing at yourself?
 
Tomorrow in part 2 I'll 'jump' into the fast moving sport of skydiving.  Like I said, I may get a little off topic every now and then, but I have my reasons, stick around for January 4th to find out why.
 
Until next time
Keep the ski tips up,
Crash

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

It is not a myth that ski jumping was killed by the NCAA. When a group of top coaches, including Chip LaCasse, Terry Aldridge, Pat Miller and one or two more who escape me right now, petitioned the NCAA to rid college skiing of jumping, that was the start of the downfall of the sport. They claimed that all the big schools were importing too many Norwegians and no Americans were able to make the teams. When they accomplished that, they then spent all of their recruitment money on bringing in foreign X/C skiers and many Alpiners as well.

10:07 AM  
Blogger Ryan Crawford said...

Over the past several years I have heard the older coaches talk about how ski jumping was already on the decline before the NCAA dropped ski jumping. If it was already on the decline than how could you say the NCAA killed it by cutting it from their competition schedule.

Yes, I have already heard the cries changing to "The USSA killed the sport of ski jumping." Who is everyone going to blame next. Just more finger pointing.

I know of quite a few sports out there that don't have NCAA participation that still have a strong base and still have plenty of people that come out and take up the sport every year. Rock climbing and skydiving are two that come to mind right off the top of my head.

What is the difference between them and ski jumping?

Each of the sports have a strong, healthy adult base to grow from. Not an adult base that kept participating in the sport after they got out of school but an adult base that took up the sport as an adult, like I did when I got into ski jumping at age 27. Ski jumping doesn't have this. Most of the adults, what few there are, who jump today jumped as kids and have stuck around and kept jumping or they have come back into the sport after taken numerous years off from the sport.

How long would your favorite alpine ski area stay open if the government passed a law making it illegal for anyone over the age of 25 to ever alpine ski again unless they were trying to make the Olympic team? Pretty much this is the same thing ski jumping has did to its own community.

How many of the old time ski jumpers do you see out here ski jumping today on any kind of a regular basis other than maybe showing up for US Masters each year. Don West and Jon Farnham are about the only people still out here jumping on a regular basis. All the rest of the has-beens have given up ski jumping.

The problem is you cannot attract future adults into a sport when all you have participating in the sport are kids. I have seen on some club websites, I believe Cloquet, MN is the one I'm thinking of, that pretty much states you can only jump if you are under the age of 16. The site in question, again I believe it is Cloquet, MN(I may be wrong) states "To jump you have to be a member of the club. Membership open to those 6-16 years of age." This if garbage. This makes anyone over 16 turn away from the sport right off the bat. There goes anothe future ski jumper.

You need the adult base to help grow the sport. If the parent says no than the kid isn't going to get into the sport. You have to get the parent to understand the sport is perfectly safe and you do that by getting them out here jumping.

The adults are the ones who work for corporate America that can get you the money for improved or new jump facilities. The only problem is adults don't ski jump. You have no influence in corporate America as a result.

Adults are the one out there spending money on the equipment, etc. The kids don't have the money, the adults do. Where does advertising come from? It comes from money the advertizers want to have spent on their products. The problem is the kids don't have any money. Why does golf have such a big showing on television??? Because it has such a strong adult base that goes out and plays casual golf and spends money on golfing equipment and automobiles that you end up seeing advertised during the golf tournaments. What market does ski jumping have to target to...kids. Now who could your sponsors be, Cabbage Patch kids...no maybe Ken and Barbie might be better...or what about Hotwheels.

Get an adult base in the sport and you'll see more coverage on television, you'll see more improvements happen at the jumps, you'll see more kids get involved in the sport...heck, the parents will bring their kids out to get them jumping a a very early age, we saw that this winter in Lebanon. It's all a trickle down effect.

The one bonus is by getting active adult ski jumpers you'll also find that you have a much bigger base of workers to help get the hills in shape during the winter months. The adults want to jump and they will practically take over the hill for you. Talk to Jon Farnham about what has happened since the adult base in Lebanon, NH took off and started growing. Currently we have six or seven adult jumpers jumping regularly in Lebanon. The amount of hill work that Jon has to do to keep the hills in shape has fallen quite a bit over the past several years because we all go out and get the hills in shape ourselves so we can jump.

The odds of the United States winning a medal at the Olympics anytime soon is pretty slim to none thanks to a broken training system that is in place and keeps on being recycled even though it doesn't work. Everyone thinks winning a medal at the Olympics is going to send ski jumping soaring. I hope they are right but I don't foresee that happening. You may find a slight amount more media coverage but not much. Take a look a curling, how much air time does it get?

Everyone has pointed fingers at the NCAA for the past 25 years plus. No one is willing to take a look at the fact the ski jumping community has did nothing itself to try to help keep the sport alive.

Skyidiving isn't represented with NCAA competition. Instead the United State Parachuting Association(I believe that is the right name) goes out each year and holds a collegiate championships. Why didn't the ski jumpers force the USSA to do this 28 years ago when the NCAA dropped ski jumping. Maybe they did and I don't know about it, I'm currently 35 years old. Why didn't the clubs or division get together and hold a national collegiate championships if the USSA wouldn't. Now who is to blame?

Here's the simple question, what have you and your old time buddies did to try to help build the sport up around where you live? When was the last time you jumped? What's your excuse? I jump with guys right now that have had their knees replaced and they still jump almost as much as I do each winter.

You can pass the blame but as I pointed out in the initial post each time you point finger at someone you have three fingers pointing right back at yourself.

Keep the ski tips up,
Crash

8:49 PM  

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