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 08, 2006

Myth #2 Debunked, Part 8

Yesterday I made mention of one episode that I have been through where the kids know the mentality/motto of the sport of ski jumping:
 
"When you quit competing, you quit jumping."
 
Well, I have another for you today.  Today marks the 4th anniversary of this episode.  It happened at the Andover meet, the first jump meet of the 2003 season.  It actually all started clear back over the previous summer and just kept building up to the final outcome at Andover.
 
I'll tell most of the story in the Mind Of A Ski Jumper serious when I get to part 4, hopefully later this month.  But to cut the story down to it's basic parts.
 
After the crash on the 48 the previous winter I ended up having a very bad summer of jumping.  The nickname Crash took on a whole new meaning, literal meaning, massively.  My mind was fighting me everyway it could to keep me off any of the 45-50 meter jumps.  Their was three kids jumping that summer, all the time, on the 25 that ready to move up to the 50.  The talk around the jump was always about jumping the 50.  The more they talked about the 50, the more I crashed.
 
Fall came around and then winter started up.  I almost gave up ski jumping, but had decided at the end of plastic season that I would jump for two or three days once winter arrived and see if things were going to change or not.  If they did I would continue on, if not I was done jumping.  I hadn't told anybody about any of this.  No one knew what my plans were.
 
Winter started and things appeared that they were going to change.  The problem was mother nature was being a little uncooperative during the first part of the winter.  I had one day of jumping in during December.  Mostly it was my fault because I was so close to giving up.  January came and the first weekend of the season was supposed to be a meet in Newport on Saturday morning, followed by practice Saturday afternoon in Andover, before their meet on Sunday in Andover.
 
Friday evening came around and so did the snow, all 18 inches of it.  Saturday was pretty much cancelled all the way around.  I was planning on jumping the 30 meter jump at Newport on Saturday morning and then jumping the 38 meter jump in Andover in the afternoon.  I didn't even finish up shoveling out until about the time the practice in Andover was suppose to start.
 
Since I didn't get either of the two sessions of jumping in on Saturday I decided I wasn't going to jump on Sunday.  I figured I would be smart and wait until I could get some more time in on the skis and rebuild my confidence more before I tried anything else.
 
I got to Andover and before practice one of kids asked me if I was competing.  I said no.  He asked why not.  I told him that knew not to.  Which was the truth.  I knew under the circumstances that it would be dumb and foolish for me to jump in the meet.  Somewhere the kid came up with the idea that since I wasn't competing that I had quit jumping.  He kept saying to me the rest of the day, "Crash, you can't quit jumping."
 
Now I must admit that this particular individual is known around the country, and last year he did compete at the World Juniors.
 
Where do the kids come up with these ideas?  Is it from their coaches?  Is it from their peers that have quit competing and sold off all their gear so they can make sure that they never jump again(yes, I've seen this happen as well right here is the east)?  Where are they coming up with these crazy notions?
 
Tomorrow, why this attitude is a major recipe for disaster.  A disaster that has been going on in the sport of ski jumping for ages now.
 
Until next time
Keep your ski tips up,
Crash
Winter 2010
DateLeb 25Plymouth 25Leb 50And 38
Dec 121
Jan 056
Jan 063
Feb 024
Feb 032
Feb 046
Feb 073
Mar 063
Totals133102