Robbins Nest: 'It's tiring to go fast'

Oh, man, sometimes there’s no pleasing someone. Marco Sullivan, the big floppy puppy dog of a World Cup downhiller who nailed his first podium in Lake Louise, was trying to catch his breath as he answered the phone in his room at the splendiferous Chateau Lake Louise.
    “Oh, it’s tiring to go fast,” he chuckled. “I mean, I had the podium awards, then doping control…and the press conference…and…”
    Yeah, of course. You certainly never had these problems when you were 26th…or DNF. “Well, no, there’s certainly that side of it, too. This is OK,” he laughed again.
FLOPPY PUPPY COMEBACK: Oh, man, sometimes there’s no pleasing someone. Marco Sullivan, the big floppy puppy dog of a World Cup downhiller who nailed his first podium in Lake Louise, was trying to catch his breath as he answered the phone in his room at the splendiferous Chateau Lake Louise.
    “Oh, it’s tiring to go fast,” he chuckled. “I mean, I had the podium awards, then doping control…and the press conference…and…”
    Yeah, of course. You certainly never had these problems when you were 26th…or DNF. “Well, no, there’s certainly that side of it, too. This is OK,” he laughed again.
    Sullivan had been considering calling a proposed garage at his Lake Tahoe home “Nordica Haus” in honor of his ski company and its checks. Now, though, with an $18,000 payday from Lago Luigi, he won’t have to scrimp and wonder if he’ll have enough dough in the spring to erect the garage.
    The last two elements of (able-bodied) World Cup action get rolling this weekend in Kuusamo, Finland. The annual Nordic Opening features all three nordic sports in the remote region north of the Arctic Circle. Cross-country held its first races on the last weekend in October in Germany and its second races on the last weekend of November. Now, nordic combined and jumping join the competition lineup in Kuusamo.

MIXED MESSAGE? They do things differently in Norway, and certainly when it comes to cross-country ski racing. It used to be they’d simply hang out a “Race Today” sign and throngs would gather. Today, as we’ve found, all life is marketing and branding. So, Cresco — one of the Norwegian Ski Federation’s main sponsors — is out with a peach of a poster . The ingredients are equal parts whimsy, artwork, faux muy macho — a sword and sandal movie poster knockoff involving the Norwegian men’s sprint team. Coach (Emperor?) Ulf Morten Aune — wearing what appears to be an olive leaf crown — is in the foreground with the seven-man squad behind, looking a little like they’re headed to a casting call of “The Village People Visit Norway.” Good, fun stuff.
    But is it mixed messaging? Are they the Vikings, as we all learned in grammar school (although some historians claim the fiercest Vikings came from Denmark), or do their competitive juices go back farther? Perhaps all the way back to ancient Rome? (We know he can play the fiddle, as he did in Master and Commander, and he can box, as he did in Cinderella Man. So, does gladiator (and ex-general) Maximus Boxoffice-icus Russell Crowe skinny ski?)…

WHERE WHIMSY & FASHION MEET: Speaking of whimsy (or superstitition), here’s a shout-out for the stylish flare of Tennessee Vols football to Chris Brigham, who doubles as U.S. men’s downhill head coach. It’s relentlessly tough being a fashion plate and a sex symbol, but Brigham’s floppy orange ski hat — not quite Vols orange, but close enough for government work — certainly answers the fashion plate requirement…
    In this cyber age when everything is e-mail (or is it email?) and instant this or that, is there still time for taking pen, pencil or crayon in hand and saying thanks, hi or how are you? Take a gander at what master alpine skier champion (and sometime Ski Racing contributor) Lisa Densmore has been doing in her free time . Add “ace shutterbug” to her portfolio. She’s got some dynamite photos — $12.99 for a box of eight cards…

U.S. HIGH-FLIERS STAYING HOME: Canada-born Matt Christensen no sooner gets his U.S. citizenship than he pulls his aerials team out of a training camp in Canada? Quelle la hell? The U.S. aerialists, who were not going to China for the opening meet a couple of days before Christmas, had planned to train at Apex, British Columbia. However, with Utah Olympic Park on the outskirts of Park City making mini-mountains of snow, the Americans canceled plans for Apex and began training this week with 11 athletes at UOP. It’s a nice savings for the budget and reduces some of the travel wear and tear athletes sometimes endure.
“We’re staying home. With so many already living in Park City, we’ll be sleeping in our own beds and we’ll be getting tons of jumps,” he reasoned. “We’ve never really had this kind of a chance to train this much going into the season. We’re usually traveling somewhere for one meet, or two if we’re lucky," Christensen said. "This is like an early Christmas present for the aerials team.”