Thursday, February 21, 2002
Firing ski coaches right thing at the wrong time
By GEORGE GROSS -- Toronto Sun
The firing of the coaching staff of our alpine ski team in the middle of the Olympics is yet another example of the ineptitude of Canadian sports officialdom.
It obviously must have affected the entire Canadian ski team at Salt Lake City --regardless of how poorly it has performed before.
There were times when we had capable ski and sports officials in general who developed the Crazy Canucks -- Ken Read, Steve Podborski, Dave Irwin and Dave Murray -- as well as their female counterparts -- Nancy Green, Anne Heggtveig and Kathy Kreiner.
NOT PLEASED
One of them, Read, was in Toronto yesterday en route to Collingwood where he chairs the Cystic Fibrosis Breath of Life Challenge ski fund-raiser in aid of the Toronto chapter. He is not pleased with what happened to alpine skiing on the slopes near Salt Lake City, nor with the firing of the four coaches during the Olympics.
"I wasn't surprised that changes had to be made," Read said. "But doing it in the middle of the Olympic Games will provoke a reaction among the athletes, as well as the Canadian and international media.
"The firings introduced a new element to our athletes during the Games and the question is, 'Why?' It certainly wasn't very fair to anybody. I'm not the only one saying it. Kerrin-Lee Gartner said the same thing on television."
Read, a very capable individual as an executive, said the officials should have kept it under their collective hats and made the announcement after the Games. A change was expected because the ski team had been struggling for the past two years.
"You can't be happy when we don't have anyone ranked in the top 40 in the world," Read said. "There are no Crazy Canucks. A 24th place in an event is not good enough.
"I don't think the (fired) coaches couldn't figure out how to motivate the skiers and the athletes didn't show enough dedication. They didn't realize the incredibly high intensity and real pressure that are part of the Olympic Games."
The popular former Crazy Canuck, who speaks five languages and is better known in the ski world than the Canadian prime minister is in the political one, figures there are two plans of attack that can help restore the reputation of Canadian skiing and sports in general --short-term and long-term solutions.
"On a short-term basis we have to continue working with athletes who are already in the system," he said. "Of course, we need the right leadership for them.
"As for the long-term solution, we need to have a national strategy not only for alpine skiing, but also winter sports in general. We need the right funding so we don't have starving athletes. However, we have to spend the money wisely. Also, we need to promote amateur sports in Canada."
Read pins his hopes on the incoming CEO of the Canadian Olympic Association -- Jim Thompson. The former president and co-founder of the The Sports Network has the tools to turn around Canadian sports fortunes.
"I've known Jim for some time," Read said. "He won't tolerate sitting around and having officials twiddling their thumbs. He doesn't just talk about things, he does them. He also realizes that Canadians want our athletes to do well and win gold medals, not only in skiing, but other sports as well.
A PRIORITY
"We considers ourselves a wealthy nation and a winter nation. So why aren't we on top? It costs about $25,000 per kid to compete for the national team and the sport has to raise that cost."
It will be one of Thompson's priority assignments.
GROSSLY ABBREVIATED: Jyrki Lumme and Aki Berg also signed the document from Slovakia's players protesting the exclusion of the best Slovak players from the Olympic qualifying tournament ... It didn't take Jack Dominico long to replace one of the star old-timers for this year's Toronto Maple Leaf Baseball Club's Forum and Gala on May 11. When Jimmy Thompson couldn't make it, Dominico got former Montreal Expos pitcher Mudcat Grant. Tickets for the event, to be held at Wyndham Bristol Place at 7 p.m., still are available.
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2002 Games Alpine Skiing Coverage
