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Behavior will bring change to U.S. Ski Team

 

By Picabo Street, NBCOlympics.com

 

TORINO, Italy -- The annual spring meetings of the U.S. Ski Team are going to be pretty ugly in April. You're going to see a lot of administration and coaching changes, particularly on the men's side.

 

Picabo Street retired from competitive Alpine skiing racing in 2002. The two-time Olympic medalist will file reports for NBCOlympics.com throughout the Torino Games.

Coming out of these Olympics, the federation is going to struggle for support, and it's not because they didn't win enough medals. It's because of the behavior of the athletes.

 

On The Today Show earlier this week, I addressed the problems I saw in the U.S. Ski Team -- maturity, professionalism and Julia Mancuso 's tiara among them. This was before she won a gold medal.

 

Now, Julia has a great opportunity in the present and for the future. I think having fun is important, but at the Olympic Games, professionalism is more important. If a tiara is something you're going to wear and have it be part of your routine, you have to remember what year you're gearing up for.

 

I understand that she has a program, she tries to keep it light and have fun. Trust me, I get that. But put together a program that's applicable across the board -- something that includes appropriate behavior in the Olympics.

 

I think she's going to do a great job on the post-Olympic circuit. She already has, in my opinion. I just hope she continues to take her new position seriously and grows up and thinks about the next generation.

 

This is the general consensus, based on what I'm getting in phone calls and e-mails. People look at me and ask, "What's with the antics of this team?"

 

Julia aside, a lot of people are more upset with Resi Stiegler and her pearls and her shaking her ass in the finish area ... before she's ever accomplished anything. The common analogy people are making is that it's like losing the Super Bowl and then spiking the ball in the end zone.

 

The U.S. Alpine team put up a goal of eight medals before the Olympics started. If each athlete had skied to the very best of his or her ability, that was possible ... but it was a pretty lofty goal.

 

They probably have the athletes on the team who could do that eventually, but maybe not just yet. We have to remember, these are predominantly youngsters, with very little veteran leadership. With the exception of Daron Rahlves, the leaders on the team are very young. It's going to be Mancuso, Lindsey Kildow and Ted Ligety , but they're all just 21 years old right now.

 

I think Bode Miller is setting a horrible example for our next generation, and I hope he stops getting attention. And I think he hopes he stops getting attention.

 

If he resets his motivation, he has five more good years. As for whether he wants that, your guess is as good as mine right now. He probably doesn't even know.

 

What's really sad is that the majority of the team has been training hard and acting professionally, but the media has been focusing on those who aren't.

 

I think the U.S. Olympic Committee is going to put some pretty strict rules in place and go into Vancouver with a lot more control over the Olympic team, regardless of who their national governing body is.

 

In other words, if they can pull it off, the USOC will have the power to remove an athlete from the team because of conduct. If they had that power this time, they absolutely would have used it, with a handful of athletes.

 

I love the ski team so much. I really want them to succeed, because I know what it feels like, and I want them to do it as a team.

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frouse

frouse

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Eating my own words? I guess so, but on the other hand I think Swedes didn't deserve the win.

That reminds me of the Football World Championships final in Switzerland in 1954 where Germans beat Hungary by 3 goals to 2. Anybody remembers that??

 

For me, Finns are the best team of the whole tournament in Turin!

Swedes only beat them in the last game!

Try to count their wins ...and goals scored.

 

Congrats Swedes, anyway!

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alphseeker

alphseeker

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Posted

Wins and goal totals aren't everything - just remember salt lake - Team Canada was clearly the best team going in and yet they struggled - But when the time came to prove it they did with a gold medal - It's not how many games or goals you get - We've seen teams in the NHL with the most points at end of regular season get rocked in the first round -

Swedes proved they were the best - period -

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frouse

frouse

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QUOTE (alphseeker @ Feb 26 2006, 03:50 PM)
Wins and goal totals aren't everything - just remember salt lake - Team Canada was clearly the best team going in and yet they struggled - But when the time came to prove it they did with a gold medal - It's not how many games or goals you get - We've seen teams in the NHL with the most points at end of regular season get rocked in the first round -
Swedes proved they were the best - period -

Right! But unfortunately, that is a matter of single game disposition, and this time Swedes were simply the lucky ones. However, lucky, again unfortunately, does not always mean better.

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barney_rebel

barney_rebel

Posted
Posted

QUOTE (frouse @ Feb 26 2006, 04:56 PM)
QUOTE (alphseeker @ Feb 26 2006, 03:50 PM)
Wins  and goal totals aren't everything - just remember salt lake - Team Canada was clearly the best team going in and yet they struggled - But when the time came to prove it they did with a gold medal - It's not how many games or goals you get - We've seen teams in the NHL with the most points at end of regular season get rocked in the first round -
Swedes proved they were the best - period -

Right! But unfortunately, that is a matter of single game disposition, and this time Swedes were simply the lucky ones. However, lucky, again unfortunately, does not always mean better.

Canada did finish the Finns in World Cup 2005. Remember that game?

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alphseeker

alphseeker

Posted
Posted

QUOTE (frouse @ Feb 26 2006, 03:56 PM)
QUOTE (alphseeker @ Feb 26 2006, 03:50 PM)
Wins  and goal totals aren't everything - just remember salt lake - Team Canada was clearly the best team going in and yet they struggled - But when the time came to prove it they did with a gold medal - It's not how many games or goals you get - We've seen teams in the NHL with the most points at end of regular season get rocked in the first round -
Swedes proved they were the best - period -

Right! But unfortunately, that is a matter of single game disposition, and this time Swedes were simply the lucky ones. However, lucky, again unfortunately, does not always mean better.

So i guess the super bowl is a meaningless game since it is a one time elimintaion game too?

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barney_rebel

barney_rebel

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QUOTE (alphseeker @ Feb 26 2006, 06:25 PM)
QUOTE (frouse @ Feb 26 2006, 03:56 PM)
QUOTE (alphseeker @ Feb 26 2006, 03:50 PM)
Wins  and goal totals aren't everything - just remember salt lake - Team Canada was clearly the best team going in and yet they struggled - But when the time came to prove it they did with a gold medal - It's not how many games or goals you get - We've seen teams in the NHL with the most points at end of regular season get rocked in the first round -
Swedes proved they were the best - period -

Right! But unfortunately, that is a matter of single game disposition, and this time Swedes were simply the lucky ones. However, lucky, again unfortunately, does not always mean better.

So i guess the super bowl is a meaningless game since it is a one time elimintaion game too?

Sweden is the best team (men's hockey) in this tournament. End of story. They won gold.

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Test4VitalSigns

Test4VitalSigns

Posted
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QUOTE (D-13 @ Feb 26 2006, 01:00 AM)
Canada ends with 24 medals...thats freaking good! biggrin.gif Way to go Canada!

And most of them won by the ladies! Congrats Canada!!

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v300/test4vitalsigns/tha_you21.gifhttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v300/test4vitalsigns/canada.gif

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gremlack

gremlack

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COUNTRY-------- G---- S---- B----- TOT

--------------------------------------

Germany------- 11---- 12---- 6----- 29

America------- 9---- 9---- 7----- 25

Canada------- 7---- 10---- 7----- 24

Austria------- 9---- 7---- 7----- 23

Russia------- 8---- 6---- 8----- 22

Norway------- 2---- 8---- 9----- 19

....

Latvia------- 0---- 0---- 1----- 1

 

 

 

hey, at least everyone at the bottom got 1 medal

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Arndrake

Arndrake

Posted
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I really enjoyed watching the Olympics. I always do. Great stories and great memories. Now I am going to miss getting an Olympic fix for two and a half years.

 

I really hope I am still in this area in four years as I would definitely like to see some Olympic events live. I had promised myself I would when the Games were in Salt Lake, but could not make it there.

 

I am very sure Vancouver will be a great Olympic host. It appears the city already has a great mayor. It will be great to see the Olympic flag flying over Vancouver's City Hall for the next four years.

 

btw, did anybody else notice that the symbol for the Vancouver Olympics is an Inukashuk? I just finally realized that tonight.

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QUOTE (Arndrake @ Feb 27 2006, 04:18 AM)
I really enjoyed watching the Olympics. I always do. Great stories and great memories. Now I am going to miss getting an Olympic fix for two and a half years.

I really hope I am still in this area in four years as I would definitely like to see some Olympic events live. I had promised myself I would when the Games were in Salt Lake, but could not make it there.

I am very sure Vancouver will be a great Olympic host. It appears the city already has a great mayor. It will be great to see the Olympic flag flying over Vancouver's City Hall for the next four years.

btw, did anybody else notice that the symbol for the Vancouver Olympics is an Inukashuk? I just finally realized that tonight.

Yeah, I saw that logo. They had a different one that I had seen before that I preferred, but whatever...perhaps that particular logo will show up elsewhere in the games. I know with Torino there were several different logos.

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barney_rebel

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Subject: [intl Hockey] Sweden, Finland react

 

Sweden and Finland share reactions after gold medal tilt

Tre Kronor's mood was golden while Finland's was somber after Sweden

earned a hard-fought 3-2 victory at Turin's Palasport Olympico on

February 26 for the biggest prize in international hockey:

 

Toni Lydman, Finland: Both teams had eight games, so [tiredness] is

not an excuse. We didn't have our best game. It's gone now, so there's

no use thinking about it. Those guys played well, and they were better

than us today.

 

Niklas Hagman, Finland: They played well, and that's just the way it

goes. Lundqvist made the saves they needed in the third period. He

played a solid game. Right now, it's tough when you lose the final

game, but later on, when you start thinking about it, nobody really

believed in us. We had a lot of guys that had injuries and couldn't

play, so our goalie situation was changing, key players. I think when

we got here everybody knew we had to play as a team, and we really

thought we had a good chance if we did things together. That's one of

the reasons we got this far.

 

Jarkko Ruutu, Finland: It's tough to play against Sweden when they

want to control the puck a lot. That's their style. It was tough to

play the way we wanted. We lost and that's it.

 

Daniel Sedin, Sweden: This is probably one of the biggest . The last

10 seconds were tough. Henrik [Lundqvist] made a great save on their

last chance. We had four lines going the whole tournament and any line

could score. That's a good thing to have. It was a team effort. And

what a shot by [Nicklas Lidstrom] to win it. If that isn't top corner,

I don't know what is.

 

Mikael Samuelsson, Sweden: For us the question of Salt Lake City was

solved a long time ago. You'd have to ask the people back home about

that.

 

Henrik Sedin, Sweden: [As far as whether this will alleviate the

pressure from Swedish fans], at least until the World Championships.

This is huge. It's the Olympics. The best players are here. [Markus

Naslund] should have been here too. He's one of the best players in

Sweden, and it's too bad he couldn't come. Mattias Ohlund played a lot

this tournament, and he's a big part of this too. All I remember from

1994 is Forsberg's shootout goal and Tommy Salo's stop on Paul Kariya.

 

Jere Lehtinen, Finland: It was a tight game, and one goal won it. We

had a great team, great guys, and hopefully we'll have a chance to

play together more times.

 

Teemu Selanne, Finland: There are no excuses. They carried the puck

better tonight, and we didn't do it. It's disappointing we didn't play

our best game of the tournament, but we worked hard and we tried our

best. We had a couple of good chances. Sometimes they go in, and

sometimes they don't. I'm still very proud of this team. We always

dreamed of beating Sweden in a game like this, and today they were a

little better.

 

Niklas Kronwall, Sweden: This is huge for Swedish hockey. We had a

couple of rough years, especially with the last Olympics and the World

Cup.

 

Jussi Jokinen, Finland: I think our goaltending was great. Niittymaki

played a great tournament, and all our other guys, played good, solid

defense. That was the best part of our tournament.

 

Tomas Holmstrom, Sweden: It was our turn this time. It's great. You

can't ask for more than this. I'm happy to be on the winning side.

 

Saku Koivu, Finland: For us, it was a dream to play in the Olympic

final and win the gold for our country. We went step by step through

the tournament and we got more confidence. When you lose like this, by

one goal, all the emotions that you build up and build up are gone,

and it's an extremely empty, disappointing feeling. Maybe mentally we

were too careful. When we had chances to apply pressure, we didn't. We

wanted to protect our net, and we didn't play as loose as we did

earlier. We would grab the momentum for three or four shifts, and then

we were back playing defensive. When you give time and room to a team

like Sweden with their talent level, that's what they want. We

couldn't put a real intense 60 minutes together. Olli Jokinen's shot

at the end was within an inch. You see that in the replay, and then

you see Sweden celebrating the gold. It's hockey, it's sports, but it

sucks. You learn to win by making mistakes, by being there before.

Sweden has done that. The last couple of tournaments like Salt Lake,

World Cup, Nagano, they took it really hard by not doing anything.

Next time we're in a situation like this, hopefully our team will be

that much better. The things that we've done since I played my first

national team game in 1993 have been amazing. One day it'll be our

chance, our turn.

 

Peter Forsberg, Sweden: We finally won something big with this team,

and we showed that we can win together. It might have been our last

chance. It's hard to describe. I've played against those Finnish guys

for such a long time, and they're great guys: Saku Koivu, Lehtinen,

and Teemu Selanne I've played with. They played outstanding the whole

tournament. It's hard to see them lose in the end, but someone's got

to win, and I'm happy we won. Coming here was definitely worth it for

me.

 

Nicklas Lidstrom, Sweden: This is my stick and a lot of people have

asked if they can get it. But I'm going to keep this for myself. No

one's getting this one. I'd rank this right up there with winning

Stanley Cups. You don't get many chances to compete in a tournament

like this with the best players from different countries. It could be

the biggest goal I've ever scored. After Mats [sundin] pretty much

just laid it out for me, I tried to go high blocker side, and I hit it

perfectly. I got everything on the shot. It went in the spot where I

was aiming. We talked about that before the game: "Try to go high on

him if you have a lot of time."

 

- Lucas Aykroyd

IIHF.com Olympic writer

 

 

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frouse

frouse

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QUOTE (BassUnderPressure @ Feb 27 2006, 09:50 AM)
We won the gold medal laugh.gif Sorry for all the finns on this board, but we were the better team wub.gif

Yeah, congratulations! You're right, you were the BETTER team in the match! But it was the Finns who were the best of the tournament. You have to agree with that!

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