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#1
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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 |
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#2
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American Birkie
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 |
#3
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American Birkie
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 |
#4
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American Birkie
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 |
#5
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American Birkie
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 |
#6
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American Birkie
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. |
#7
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American Birkie
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. |
#8
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American Birkie
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 **************************** Remove "remove" to reply Visit http://www.jt10000.com **************************** |
#9
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American Birkie
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 |
#10
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American Birkie
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 |
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