American Birkie

Looking at the elite results, there were very few Canadians, one German
and no other non-US skiers. Did the others decide not to come, given
the iffy conditions or, given course conditions the day before, was
there an international decision to bail at the last minute?

rm

I heard rumors a week before the Birkie that it was going to be an all US
race, at least at the elite level.

The Birkie is not part of the FIS Marathon Cup anymore so the Italians that
have been so dominant in recent years probably wouldn't have come regardless
of conditions.

DMK
wrote in message
...
Looking at the elite results, there were very few Canadians, one German
and no other non-US skiers. Did the others decide not to come, given
the iffy conditions or, given course conditions the day before, was
there an international decision to bail at the last minute?

rm

Anymore or just this year (or two)? According to the FIS Marathon
rules, given on the World Loppet site, there is an attempt to distribute
events geographically across the regions.

"Dave M-K" wrote:

I heard rumors a week before the Birkie that it was going to be an all
US race, at least at the elite level.

The Birkie is not part of the FIS Marathon Cup anymore so the Italians
that have been so dominant in recent years probably wouldn't have come
regardless of conditions.

DMK
wrote in message
. ..
Looking at the elite results, there were very few Canadians, one
German and no other non-US skiers. Did the others decide not to
come, given the iffy conditions or, given course conditions the day
before, was there an international decision to bail at the last
minute?

rm

I was told unofficial that the Birkie Foundation has to pay a substantial
fee for the FIS sanction and pay other costs associated with having the
elite foreigners coming over. So the Board voted not to be part of the FIS
World Loppet.

While it adds to the race, is it really worth it? How many Birkie skiers
remember the name of the Italian man and woman who won last year? If an
American like Chad Giese or Carl Swenson wins, everyone remembers the name.

For a small team like ours, being part of the FIS series was a problem. They
have been enforcing the FIS logo rules, so with 5 of our racers in the elite
wave, we would have had to buy another set of suits without logos, which is
about $800-$1000. Since sponsors only spend money to get exposure, there no
longer is a reason to sponsor racers who can't have logos.


wrote in message
...
Anymore or just this year (or two)? According to the FIS Marathon
rules, given on the World Loppet site, there is an attempt to distribute
events geographically across the regions.

"Dave M-K" wrote:

I heard rumors a week before the Birkie that it was going to be an all
US race, at least at the elite level.

The Birkie is not part of the FIS Marathon Cup anymore so the Italians
that have been so dominant in recent years probably wouldn't have come
regardless of conditions.

DMK
wrote in message
. ..
Looking at the elite results, there were very few Canadians, one
German and no other non-US skiers. Did the others decide not to
come, given the iffy conditions or, given course conditions the day
before, was there an international decision to bail at the last
minute?

rm

Caetano, wasn't it? Laura Peyrot on the women's side two or three
years running. The downside of not having the internationals, or at
least one of them, is that it makes the Birkie an Americans' race. With
its stature, it's sort of like a running the Boston Marathon without
the Kenyans.

rm

"Norski" wrote:

I was told unofficial that the Birkie Foundation has to pay a
substantial fee for the FIS sanction and pay other costs associated
with having the elite foreigners coming over. So the Board voted not
to be part of the FIS World Loppet.

While it adds to the race, is it really worth it? How many Birkie
skiers remember the name of the Italian man and woman who won last
year? If an American like Chad Giese or Carl Swenson wins, everyone
remembers the name.

For a small team like ours, being part of the FIS series was a
problem. They have been enforcing the FIS logo rules, so with 5 of our
racers in the elite wave, we would have had to buy another set of
suits without logos, which is about $800-$1000. Since sponsors only
spend money to get exposure, there no longer is a reason to sponsor
racers who can't have logos.


wrote in message
. ..
Anymore or just this year (or two)? According to the FIS Marathon
rules, given on the World Loppet site, there is an attempt to
distribute events geographically across the regions.

"Dave M-K" wrote:

I heard rumors a week before the Birkie that it was going to be an
all US race, at least at the elite level.

The Birkie is not part of the FIS Marathon Cup anymore so the
Italians that have been so dominant in recent years probably
wouldn't have come regardless of conditions.

DMK
wrote in message
. ..
Looking at the elite results, there were very few Canadians, one
German and no other non-US skiers. Did the others decide not to
come, given the iffy conditions or, given course conditions the
day before, was there an international decision to bail at the
last minute?

rm

How many Birkie skiers
remember the name of the Italian man and woman who won last year?

I do remember their names. As well as Botvinov's name. They all made
the race competitive and put more pressure on the Americans to...
well... ski faster. Especially knowing that the Italians who used to
win the Birkie were not even "A" level racers in their country, while
elite Americans competing with them in the Birkie were. I think the
Birkie loses a lot by not being an international race.

We are in agreement that having the foreign athletes adds to the character
of the Birkie and is a good thing.

My complaint is with the FIS logo rules being applied to a race that does
not have TV coverage. I can understand why the FIS wants to control the
logos in the Olympics and World Cup races. But it does not make sense to me
for the Birkie. Race team athletes and independents have to pay for another
suit, sponsors do not get exposure and you have issues like when John Bauer
finished in the top 10 but was DQ'd because a piece of duct tape fell off.
Ned said the logo rule was going to be enforced this year, but it was not.
Perhaps it was because the race was shortened, I don't know the reason.
However it was confusing.

Perhaps by not being FIS sanctioned, that money could be used to increase
the prize purse. So the elites would come over for a bigger pay check. Isn't
the reason the Kenyans come over for the Boston and New York marathon
because they can win $500,000 not because it is sanctioned by an
organization? The Birkie is still open to any one that wants to race.

You guys remember the names of the Birkie winners because you are race
junkies and can probably name the stats of all the top people on the World
Cup circuit! I'd bet the average skier in the birkie doesn't remember the
names. And as you point out, the usual foreigner birkie winner is usually
not top level compared to World Cup athletes. For example, Muehlegg went on
to race the World Cup after winning the birkie. Wasn't he something like
48th overall that year at the Thunder Bay World Championship? It took him a
few more years before he became top level of World Cup.

Paul Haltvick
Bay Design and Build - LLC
Engineering, Construction and Information Technology Services
FSx Midwest - Fischer / Swix Racing


wrote in message
oups.com...
How many Birkie skiers
remember the name of the Italian man and woman who won last year?

I do remember their names. As well as Botvinov's name. They all made
the race competitive and put more pressure on the Americans to...
well... ski faster. Especially knowing that the Italians who used to
win the Birkie were not even "A" level racers in their country, while
elite Americans competing with them in the Birkie were. I think the
Birkie loses a lot by not being an international race.

On Wed, 28 Feb 2007 01:20:21 -0600, "Norski"
wrote:

You guys remember the names of the Birkie winners because you are race
junkies and can probably name the stats of all the top people on the World
Cup circuit! I'd bet the average skier in the birkie doesn't remember the
names.

I don't see what's important about knowing the names. The average
person is probably more impressed by a sporting event they believe is
international than one that is not. Saying "There were a bunch of
Italian guys and some Czechs coming" seems to me to add to the buzz.

--
JT
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There's justification on both sides, but it has always bothered me
that the Birkie pays for the foreigners to come in, swoop up the
substantial prize money, and then blow town. I bet $5000 for Zach
Simons is a huge deal. Most of these guys really struggle trying to
fund the full time skiing gig. Another thing is that it's a huge shot
of motivation for him in years to come. I was really happy to see it
as an American race....against a bunch of former Olympians....

On the suit thing, yeah, I was also told the rule would be enforced.
The rule has always been there, and it got enforced when a strict
German TD showed up. I wore a legal suit, but wish I hadn't when I hit
the start line.

Jay W

The e-mail I got from Ned this fall said "We are this year still FIS
sanctioned and the commercial marking restrictions will be in place and
enforced"

The Birkie might have been a 'FIS Marathon Continental Cup' race this year
and a 'FIS Worldloppet' race in the past. I don't understand and would like
to know.


On the suit thing, yeah, I was also told the rule would be enforced.
The rule has always been there, and it got enforced when a strict
German TD showed up. I wore a legal suit, but wish I hadn't when I hit
the start line.

Jay W