 Poster: A snowHead
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Was there anyone there ?!
Or did Eurosport just turn he effects down so NF could commentate from the UK?
There was more atmosphere at the Barnsley Millwall game earlier in the evening ( )
ps, body language - Hirscher/Kostelic - no love lost ?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Tarquin, I think there was an old Russian geezer walking his dog, otherwise nobody. Just not an exciting spectacle, didn't care who won. Hope they scrap it, somehow the FIS need more Kitzbuhel / Schladming types of atmospheres.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Bode Swiller, The Munich new years day one was ok, but big German following & Felix won it.
It's a bit like Twenty20 cricket vs Test Matches. And why Mosow? I think the Russins are fairly big in XC & Biathlon but Alpine? I know there are some on the tour but couldn't name them & there weren't any locals tonight, at least not by the time the coverage started. Wonder if the federations bid for events?
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Tarquin, The Russians paid mega bucks for it - all part of their build up to Sochi. Spectators and atmosphere though ZERO! Some estimates say about 100 in total. Last year's event was free apparently and practically no-one went. This year they had to pay for tickets, result, even fewer went!
I quite like the format but I wish they did not allocate WC points to it as it is not fair on those unable to go due to the limited format. It should be a seperate event with its own system of rewards. Munich was wild, several colleagues were there, not for the racing really but for the atmosphere and party. Yes bonus that Felix won as well.
A local did make it on a Wild Card as more than half the original selections cancelled to concentrate on training for the World Championships next week. He went out in the first round.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Event by itself is great, ok maybe not in Moscow, but otherwise it's great thing for making sport more popular. But there's huge number of problems with it, and most of it comes with WC points given for this. First, and most important is rule for changing skiers. In Munich Austrians and Swiss took advantage of this, and in Moscow pretty much everyone were playing this game, from Germans, Norwegians, Americans to Canadians. With simple switch, you get your skier from no. 65 to no. 35 in next SL race. Schild and Thalmann got into top 20 with Munich race, even though they were for years locked to 30-40 numbers, Aerni got from nowhere into top 35 (ok he won EC and scored 6 FIS points week later, so he would be there anyway, but that's not point). Now in Moscow list of "exchanges" was longer then list of regular starters, and qualified skiers were not changed with next on in line, but with "young hopes" which will benefit greatly with 15 WC points they scored yesterday. So if nothing else, they should change this "replacement" procedure. It should be next guy/girl on WCSL which got right to start, not guy who is appointed by ski federation of original skier, who decided not to go.
Second... it's not fair to give points for SL world cup. It's not really fair to give them for overall either, but at least most of top guns in overall are there. With SL WC it makes difference if 10th skier get's at least extra 15 points, while 11th (or 16th) doesn't even have chance to be on race. So in my mind, they should keep it with (big) prize money and no WC points at all.
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Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the Moscow one last year and Munich on new years day. I was likening it to Twenty20 cricket (apologies for those who don't know what that is, but its a quicker, faster moving version) in that it's "bite sized" for people who don't want to watch the full thing so can see the attraction. It's probably something that would appeal to non-ski fans (Who might say to me that a Downhill all looks the same and goes on a bit) as the parallel slalom is a number of quick races with an immediate winner.
Tend to agree about the points situation though and as I said, the Moscow on the other day was just flat.
If Munich happened again (And it was a better travel day than New Year) I'd be tempted to go for the weekend.
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