State of the Danish Soccer Team

Denmark running after Brazil in Hamburg

Okay, my expectations were down before this European Championship, and the Danish team has really surprised me so far. I was at Hamburg's Volksparkstadion for the penultimate tuneup before the Euro, and the guys looked awful against a bunch of Brazilian teenagers on their way to the beach. Either a step too slow, not good enough, or just plain unlucky. Denmark didn't look like a team destined for anything but a quick trip home. 

A terrible first half left us all wondering how this team could accomplish anything. The second half was somewhat more encouraging, but it was a friendly game where the Danes surely had more reasons to concentrate - and they failed pretty spectacularly.

Of course, we did get bombed against Holland, but somehow withstood the attacks and took three points. And then that horrible Portugal game. We usually play well against Portugal, and it seemed like the Danes had Cristiano Ronaldo under control for the most part. Bendtner scored the equalizer. All was well. But then the 3-2 goal happened, and the Danish team was left with one of the most disappointing defeats to an opponent other than Spain for the past 25 years. It was about as anticlimactic as anything you will ever see in international soccer.

And what now? Germany is probably the best team not only in the group, but the best overall team of the tournament. Yes, I know Spain played well against Ireland, but one, it was against one of the weakest teams of the Euro, and two, it took a bit of sloppy defense from the Irishmen and an angry Cesc Fabregas to actually get the ball into the back of the net more than once. Germany is an exciting team - Spain is not, unless you like their one-goalie-ten-midfielders way of playing. Which I don't.
But can Denmark beat Germany? Probably not. Can we draw against them? Stranger things have happened with the Danish soccer team. Like twenty years ago.

Oh, and by the way Dennis Rommedahl doesn't belong on the field. I've repeated that many times over, but he really doesn't. He probably could do well in a forty-yard dash, or in track and field, but as a soccer player he is simply not talented enough as a ballplayer to be on the field for a team that likes to play the passing style of soccer.

I'll be hoping for the best for our team, and in any event looking forward to a heck of a game on Sunday.
Coming up: A brief history of the Danish national soccer team's ten greatest victories and their ten worst defeats. A hint: at least one of their games from this Euro tournament is on one of the lists.

After the Team Tour

The FIS Team Tour is over after a somewhat amputated overall competition this year. It wasn't anyone's fault but the weather's, though, and some exciting things happened along the way. The Team Tour is the second-half answer to the Four Hills tournament, and in my opinion it offers an interesting dimension to the ski jumping season, given that it is a team competition. 

I realize now that I should have blogged about my weekend at Willingen, and that is probably something I will do next week, when, for all intents and purposes, the ski jumping season reaches its climax in the form of the ski flying championships at Vikersund. I'll post some photos too, I promise, although some impressions of my trip can be seen on my twitter.

Willingen was the start of the Team Tour, though, and what a triumph for the Norwegian squad it turned out to be. They won the team competition, and Norwegian Anders Bardal won the traditional competition at the Mühlenkopf hill - and at the same time, the Austrian team turned out to have their worst weekend of the season, being collectively unable to match the strong Norwegians.

To summarize this competition, I'll test a new format for blogging about an event, highlighting the most important things that happened. It goes like this:

What it meant: As I mentioned, it meant that Norway led off the Team Tour as the team to beat. They looked like a homogenous team in the team competition, with every one of the four jumpers practically better than his Austrian and German counterpart. And with a decidedly bad weekend for Austrians Schlierenzauer and, especially, Kofler, Anders Bardal took over the overall lead in the individual World Cup.

Surprises: On the positive side, Daiki Ito (3rd in the individual competition) continued to step up his game, and so did the brilliant Roman Koudelka, who finished second. And two youngsters set the Willingen weekend on fire, namely the explosive Peter Prevc, who out-jumped everyone Sunday afternoon (149.5 m), and the Norwegian newcomer Anders Fannemel, who came to Willingen fresh from his COC victory in Brotterode.
On the less positive side, I did not expect the Austrians to fall this flat in any competition this season. Kofler looks deflated, like he was on good form back in November and early December, but now he's a just about average jumper. Morgenstern's class keeps him in the top ten consistently, but he simply does not have the form this year. And Gregor Schlierenzauer is one of the greatest ski jumpers of all time, but this weekend at the Mühlenkopf hill, Schliri just didn't have it. He finished in the lower half of the world cup points, which is not where an all-time great should be. 

Perspectives: Was this the weekend where the Norwegians took over superiority in ski jumping from the dominating Austrians? Were the Austrians, whose strongest jumper in the individual competition was the beleaguered Martin Koch, just having an off week, or were the Norwegians, led by Bardal, taking over?
It was probably the former, since the decisive difference at least in the team competition seemed to be that the first jumper (i.e. the nominally weakest) was considerably better for the Norwegian team. That was the surprisingly strong Fannemel. Had Fannemel jumped at about the same level as Martin Koch, Austria's first jumper, the team competition would have been closer. Bardal won the individual competition with a fine first jump and a strong 148 meters in the final round. But he was indeed aided by a sluggish (or unfortunate?) Schlierenzauer.

Klingenthal got cancelled. It was too bad for a Team Tour that had developed an intriguing matchup between Norway and Austria, with the German team a distant third, battling Japan and the Czechs and Slovenians for best-of-the-rest honors.
What it meant: It meant that the Team Tour was suddenly a two-hill tournament. And it meant that Richard Freitag, who has been the best German jumper this season - apologies to Severin Freund; he hasn't won any competitions - missed a chance to win one for his home crowd in Saxony. Oh yeah, and it showed once again that a machine that can control the weather should be invented as soon as possible.
Surprises: Only one, and it was a great one: Tom Hilde, who had fractured one of his vertebrae in Oberstdorf back in December, came back and won the qualifying round! How about that for a clear announcement of Norwegian confidence?
Perspectives: The King of Klingenthal in recent years, Kamil Stoch, might regret not getting to jump in Klingenthal, as he has won the last two Summer Grand Prix competitions and a World Cup competition there! No other jumper has won at the highest level in Klingenthal since Simon Ammann two years ago.
Who might this ski jumping cancellation benefit? Probably the Austrians, who should be better ski-flyers than the Norwegians, and who would consequently prefer a decision at Oberstdorf instead of Klingenthal.

Oberstdorf: Today's team competition closed this year's Team Tour. Austria did take the overall victory after edging out a rather lame Norwegian squad in the ski flying events.
What it means: Who knows? Looking ahead to the ski-flying World Championships, Schlierenzauer does not look on form. Neither does Morgenstern, to say the least. Kofler had a bit of a comeback today, but the Austrians might have finished third overall in the Team Tour if not for Martin Koch's ski flying abilities. Oh, and Daiki Ito took over the lead in the ski flying World Cup.
Surprises: Martin Koch, bad back and all, can still fly with the best of them! Slovenia overcame the first two jumping rounds and won the team competition. Peter Prevc tied the hill record (225.5 meters), but fell and broke one of his skis - and his collarbone. Germany disappointed badly and slipped down on the Team Tour overall classification, particularly because of a really bad jump from Michael Neumayer. Because Norway was behind in the Team Tour, I was also surprised that their coach, Alexander Stöckl, selected Rune Velta to jump second instead of a jumper with some more upside (e.g. Bjørn Einar Romøren or Johan Remen Evensen, who are also expert skiflyers).
Perspectives: Austria won the Team Tour without dominating. Apart from Koch's win yesterday, they did not show too great form going into the Vikersund week. Neither did the Norwegians, but don't sleep on one of the flyers (Romøren or Evensen) pulling a surprise at Vikersund. And Fannemel brings it, he's the real deal.
I'm actually sorry that we won't get to see Peter Prevc gunning for the world ski flying record next week, because he seems to be the flying specialist on his best form at the moment. Kranjec was good today too, but there is an explosiveness to Prevc that could have made him a star at Vikersund. Let's hope his crash today does not affect his further career too much.

So who wins the ski flying World Championship next week at Vikersund? There are two competitions, individual and team, and here are my favorites for them. The more stars, the more I believe in them:

Individual
Robert Kranjec, Daiki Ito, Martin Koch (***)
Gregor Schlierenzauer, Tom Hilde, Roman Koudelka (**)
Anders Fannemel, Richard Freitag, Kamil Stoch (*)

Team
Austria, Norway (***) [What, you expected Bulgaria?]
Japan, Germany (**)
Czech Republic, Slovenia [if they get Peter Prevc back, which they probably won't] (*)

I'm looking forward to the Vikersund week. Until then, peace out!

We're halfway there

It has been requested that I do a blog post in English about ski jumping, which is the in-season sport I follow by far the most right now. I'm not sure I know enough about it for my musings to be of any general interest, but here goes.

I wanted to do a preview of the Mühlenkopf weekend in Willingen, as I am going myself, and I am really excited about that. Then I realized that it takes place in a little over two weeks, and one of the appeals of ski jumping is that the face of the competition may change in a split second. Ask Tom Hilde, the pre-season spearhead of the Norwegian squad, and he'll confirm his plans for the Four Hills tournament changed rather quickly when he crashed in Oberstdorf in the dying days of 2011.
So I'll do my preview of the Willingen weekend when I've packed for the trip.

Now, I'll take up the idea from fisskijumpingworldcup.com and write something like a midseason report of the World Cup calendar. In their report, they've chosen to look at what is new this season, compared to seasons past. As I am relatively new to this sport, and it's the first World Cup season I follow closely, I instead focus on five key elements of the World Cup season so far. In random order, here are five key observations I've made this season:

1. Land of the Schwarzenegger
The Austrians have dominated. It seems a rather simple observation, but in several competitions we have seen double, or even triple Austrian victories. Before the season I expected Thomas Morgenstern to be the front-runner for overall World Cup victory, but he has had a difficult season, and from the get-go in Kuusamo, Andreas Kofler appears to have taken a step up this year, and he now looks difficult to beat in the overall competition. Especially since Schlierenzauer, who lately has looked better than Kofler, has chosen to skip this weekend's competition in Sapporo. Kofler was the best jumper early on this season, and now he has to hold on in order to confirm his breakthrough, and I believe he will.
How come Kofler is that good this year? He is a former Four Hills winner, of course, but this season he is exceptionally good at the push-off from the run-in (according to Bjørn Einar Romøren, with whom I exchanged some tweets on the subject last week), and he's been consistent compared to many of the others. Schlierenzauer, in fact, is the only one who has been comparable to Kofler in consistency (and he lost 100 points on that rather harsh disqualification in Kulm). And the only non-Austrian, crucially, who has shown some consistency is Anders Bardal. Look at the overall standings in the World Cup: It's Österreich, män!


2. Hannawald Revisited
OK, the title of this paragraph is a stretch, but the essence is that a strong new generation of German jumpers are on their way to the elite. To join the Austrians, as it is right now, but Germany is an important country to have in ski jumping: Many of the most important hills are in Germany, and the crowds get bigger if they can rally around local favorites. Plus, of course, one cannot be blind to the fact that Germany is Europe's biggest market, and that ski jumping has never been as popular and visible in the media as during Germany's Hannawald craze back in 2001-2002. Ski jumping was everywhere: Cereal boxes, chewing gum wrappers, you name it. And that kind of attention is good for any sport.
Ski jumping is popular every year in Germany, but this year it has gotten more attention because of the success of Severin Freund and his younger teammate who projects to have a sky-high ceiling, Richard Freitag. Freitag has already won one competition this year and finished high up in the rankings several times, and he seems like the heir apparent to the throne left vacant when Hannawald quit the sport. And with Hannawald's teammate Martin Schmitt apparently on his way out of ski jumping, a group of other young Germans are ready to shine: Both Andreas Wank and Michael Neumayer have shown potential this year, and I believe Germany is ready to challenge Austria as the top nation in ski jumping again.
(My apologies to Norway, who boasts a great group of jumpers, but in Hilde's absence, none of the youngsters has quite the potential of a Freund or a Freitag; Rune Velta and Atle Rønsen have had good jumps, but at the same time Romøren and Evensen are having horrible seasons).

3. Stoch's Reprieve
As I wrote in a Danish-language blog post a couple weeks ago, I was really disappointed in Kamil Stoch's failure to finish what would have been a breakthrough win at Innsbruck. It seemed like Stoch's nerves got the better of him in the razor-sharp end game against Kofler and Schlierenzauer. Kofler in particular has been able to elevate his game in the final rounds this year, and it is necessary to do that if you want to belong to those selected few jumpers who can be counted on to jump consistently at the highest level. Kamil Stoch made it to the big scene last season, but he looked like he couldn't close the deal in a high-pressure situation.
Then came Zakopane last weekend, and there he was again, Kamil Stoch, in a situation where he could get a win he wanted really bad - on his home turf - if he could ace his final jump. He did just that, and the relief and exhilaration were visible in the normally stoic Pole. I saw Stoch's final jump again on YouTube, with Polish commentators, and although I don't understand Polish, I could make out the name 'Adam Malysz', that legendary Polish ski jumper who ended his career last season, and for whom Stoch is expected to take over, and to whom he is constantly compared. At Zakopane, Stoch got another chance to prove he should belong in the elite few, and he took it.
Sure, as skijumpingworldcup.com notes, Central Europe has produced more jumpers who have had solid results this year, like Lukas Hlava, Roman Koudelka, and Stoch's compatriot Piotr Zyla. But none of them, and perhaps no one in the World Cup field, at least outside of Schlierenzauer and Freitag, has the potential, the upside of Kamil Stoch. Now, in the second half of this season, he must cash in on that potential, and jump like the world class jumper he is.

4. Heavy Weather
Yeah, I'll be brief here, because there is not much to say about one of the most important participants of this season (save perhaps for Gregor Schlierenzauer's zipper!), namely the weather. The wind, occasionally the snow, and quite often lack thereof, have been factors at all levels of ski jumping competitions this year (granted, women's competitions have suffered more than the men's). Here's to hoping it will be better in the second half - - and definitely at Willingen!

5. Soarin' Sarah
The Let Women Jump movement won its cause recently, and the ladies will jump at the 2014 Winter Olympics . And what an argument they have made for their cause this season, the first one with a World Cup for the ladies. It's not like there has been any doubt as to who the best jumper is. Or the most promising talent. They're both the same: 17-year-old Sarah Hendrickson of Park City, Utah (USA). But it's been fun to watch, and what a ride this season has been for young Sarah already: Recently, in Predazzo, she tied the hill record (set by Adam Malysz!) on saturday, and then came back sunday and jumped half a meter longer! The ladies' competition has plenty of interesting personalities, like Norwegians Line Jahr and Anette Sagen, Melanie Faisst of Germany and pre-season favorite Daniela Iraschko (Austria), who has been a consistent second in World Cup events. So it's not like the competition is weak, by no means, but Sarah Hendrickson has dominated ladies' ski jumping this year. Last weekend she even won an event on the Continental Cup, keeping her skis flying before the next World Cup event. In the overall classification, Hendrickson has a nearly insurmountable lead over Iraschko, and she figures to be a leading lady of ski jumping for many years to come.

Allright, those were my five impressions of the ski jumping season so far. There have been more, of course, but I have to limit myself, lest my blog posts get too wordy.
Does this mean I'll write the ProzessTrainer blog posts in English from now on? No. I'll mix posts in Danish and English, but I'll also be sure to tag posts in the appropriate language to facilitate this hybrid.
Please leave comments if you have had other impressions of the ski jumping season, and let's get a discussion going!

Wardrobe Malfunction

Dette er overhovedet ikke det blogindlæg jeg havde planlagt om den store skihopweekend vi netop er kommet ud af. Med to skiflyvningskonkurrencer på samme bakke (Kulm) hos mændene, og to world cup-konkurrencer hos kvinderne. Men som ved Super Bowl XXXVIII, hvor Janet Jacksons publicity-stunt gik galt, eller fik en uventet modtagelse - sådan var de fleste fornuftige tolkninger af det i hvert fald - ja, så blev skurkagtige beklædningsgenstande også tildelt en hovedrolle i skiflyvningskonkurrencen i dag.

Ja - dengang kostede en 'wardrobe malfunction' nærmest Janet Jackson karrieren (hvorimod Justin Timberlake gik helt fri; jeg lægger et link til begivenhedens wikipedia-side her, hvis nogen skulle have glemt hvad der skete). Helt så slemt var det trods alt ikke i dag.

Scenen i dag var finalerunden af skiflyvningen i Kulm. En sublimt tilspidset kamp mellem de store. Kofler meldte sig ganske vist ud tidligt (hans form er tilsyneladende styrtdykket efter Firebakketurneringen), men Morgenstern var skarp. Ham overtog Kamil Stoch føringen fra, og holdt den et stykke tid. Helt indtil den tredjesidste hopper, Anders Bardal fra Norge, der havde et stort forspring til Stoch fra første runde.

Mens Bardal indtog sin plads i førerstolen for foden af bakken, udspillede der sig et besynderligt drama på toppen af den. Gregor Schlierenzauer, den næstbedste i første runde, havde et problem med sin skihopdragt, der var gået i stykker ved lynlåsen. Kameraerne fulgte tæt hvordan et par hjælpere, vistnok nogle prøvehoppere fra den lokale skiklub, hjalp "Schliri" med at få lappet dragten sammen med sikkerhedsnåle og gaffertape. Det var helt surrealistisk at se på. Schlierenzauer så rolig ud, men det var han vist også den eneste der var. Tilskuerne var urolige, officials var utålmodige, og sandt at sige var jeg også irriteret. Når Schlierenzauer hopper, er det for tiden konkurrencedagens højdepunkt, for hans form synes at være den bedste lige nu. Et par trin oppe ad rampen stod Daiki Ito, den japanske powerhopper, som med sit eksplosive afsæt havde vundet første runde, og prøvede at holde sig varm.

Det tog lang tid. Men da han kom ud på rampen, bevarede Schlierenzauer roen. Han blev i luften, meget, meget længe. Ved landingen trak han på skuldrene, på trods af at han havde præsteret det bedste hop i anden runde, og lå til at vinde suverænt. Ito landede, men kunne ikke følge op på sit superhop fra første runde. Han blev nummer tre.
Så gik der igen lidt tid, og tysk TV viderebragte nogle ordvekslinger fra konkurrenceledelsens radio. Og så kom den officielle meddelelse: Schlierenzauer var blevet diskvalificeret dels på grund af at reglerne siger en skihoppers dragt skal være lynet til (og Schliris havde jo altså været lukket med gaffertape), og dels på grund af at den flagrende gaffertape ved Schlierenzauers hals havde været ekstra vindmodstand i strid med reglerne.
Bardal fik således tilkendt sejren, foran Daiki Ito og Kamil Stoch i en af de underligste wardrobe malfunctions jeg har set i nogen sport. Man kan nok diskutere om kendelsen var rigtig - min umiddelbare reaktion på Twitter var at det var den ikke, men faktum er efter denne weekend at der nu er fire hoppere inde i billedet til den samlede worldcup-sejr: Kofler, der fortsat fører (og som fik megen gavn af dagens afgørelse), Schlierenzauer og Bardal, der har virket i god form hele sæsonen, og så Thomas Morgenstern, der pludselig er inde i billedet igen (han blev nummer fire i dag, og ham kan man slet ikke glemme endnu). Alle fire hoppere er inden for 100 points i den samlede stilling.

*

Og så kvindeskihop. Der er billedet fra uge til uge blevet mere entydigt efterhånden som sæsonen for alvor er kommet i gang. Inden sæsonen, den første worldcup-sæson i kvindeskihop, havde mange regnet med at de erfarne, Anette Sagen (Norge) og Daniela Iraschko (Østrig) ville være favoritterne, men den 17-årige amerikaner Sarah Hendrickson vandt den første konkurrence i Lillehammer, og har faktisk domineret lige siden. Kun én konkurrence har hun ikke vundet, og der blev hun trods alt nummer ni.

Hendrickson er den store stjerne i kvindeskihop, og specielt hvis hun kan blive ved på denne måde, kan hun blive sportens store trækplaster. Eller rettere, næsten på denne måde, for én hopper skal også nødig fuldstændig dræbe spændingen over alt for lang tid. For at tage kvindeskihop alvorligt, er det lidt bredere publikum nemlig nødt til at opleve at atleterne tager skihoppen alvorligt - -  og sidste sæsons (Continental Cups) dominerende hopper, Daniela Iraschko, er faktisk kun skihopper i vinterpausen fra hendes primære sport, hvor hun er målmand for Wacker Mädels' fodboldhold i den østrigske kvindeliga. Og så sælger hoppere som Sarah Hendrickson, Jessica Jerome eller Melanie Faisst nok sporten bedre med deres udadvendte udstråling, frem for den lidt bastante Iraschko.

Og så viste weekendens konkurrencer i Predazzo, Italien, at de kvindelige skihoppere har niveauet til at det er på høje tid at de kommer med til Vinter-OL: Hendricksons vinderspring i går var 107.5 meter, hvilket var nok til at dele bakkerekorden med den legendariske (mandlige!) polske hopper Adam Malysz. Og i dag sprang hun 108 meter, og blev derved eneindehaver af rekorden. Ikke dårligt. Slet ikke dårligt.

Den næste måneds tid er stadig højsæson i skihop, og der er mange konkurrencer der skal afvikles. Hos herrerne er spændingen som nævnt intakt, medens det er svært at se hvordan den næstbedst placerede kvinde (Iraschko) skal kunne indhente de næsten 200 points hun allerede er efter Hendrickson.

*

Jeg vil slutte af med et par sætninger om Lauberhorn-styrtløbet, worldcup-kalenderens vel nok næstmest prestigefyldte styrtløb, efter Hahnenkamm-løbet, der afvikles i næste weekend. Lauberhorn-løbet blev kørt i Wengen i går, og jeg fik desværre ikke set det. Jeg kender sågar intet til vinderen. Det Lauberhorn-løb jeg husker bedst, forbliver den helt vanvittige årgang, 1997. Bruno Kernen styrtede voldsomt, og havde nær endt sin karriere i Brüggli-S-kurven. Han kom tilbage og vandt på Lauberhorn hele seks år senere, og i dag hedder den kurve 'Kernen-S'. Vinderen i 1997, Kristian Ghedina, havde en skarp duel kørende med Luc Alphand, endte med at slå ham med ganske få hundrededele, for derefter at kollapse og styrte ind i barrieren i målområdet.
Lauberhorn-løbet kræver udholdenhed. Ghedina havde det, men den dag, hvorfra vindertiden i øvrigt stadig står som banerekord, var løbet så ekstremt at selv han måtte give efter til sidst. Men Wengen-løbets vedvarende belastning gør også at en mere eksplosiv og aggressiv styrtløber som fx Didier Cuche typisk gør det mindre godt der end i det mere vildsomme Hahnenkamm-løb i Kitzbühel.

Kitzbühel er næste weekend, og det er jo også et årligt signal om at januar er ved at være slut. Og så vinterens vildeste kamp på den alpine kalender. High noon, næste weekend. Som om denne weekend ikke havde budt på nok drama i vintersport.

Pludselig blev jeg modeblogger

Jeg har set på den innovative modeblog Howaboutnooo at det definerende kendetegn ved en modeblog er at der er masser af billeder af modebloggerens hånd der holder en flaske neglelak. Det kan jeg selvfølgelig også, så værsåartig, her er et billede af min hånd der holder neglelakken 'Mermaid's Tears'. Og pludselig er jeg dermed blevet en vaskeægte modeblogger. Så var det heller ikke sværere.

Jeg har undladt at tage neglelak på selv. Det håber jeg I vil tilgive mig for.

Kamil Stochs forsvindingsnummer

Jørgen Leth skrev et jazz-inspireret digt nede i 50'erne, som han kaldte "En dag forsvandt Duke Jordan i Harlem". Det er også titlen på en antologi over Leths jazzskriverier, som jeg er i gang med at læse for tiden.

I går forsvandt Kamil Stoch i Innsbruck.

Han har så tiltalende et potentiale, denne polak. Ingen skihopper har en finere stil end han, han ligger roligere i luften end selv Thomas Morgenstern, og har en stoisk udstråling når han sidder på startplanken. Endnu mere end de andre hoppere. Kamil Stoch skiller sig ud. Flere af skihopperne er karakterfulde, i særdeleshed østrigerne og nordmændene (de får vel mest tv-tid i deres hjemlande), men det er det egentlig ikke mit indtryk at Kamil Stoch er. Det er bare som om han hopper i sin egen konkurrence, på sin egen bakke, i sin egen verden.

Første gang jeg lagde mærke til Kamil Stoch var da Eurosport viste sommerskihop fra Klingenthal i oktober. Stoch førte efter første runde og landede et sikkert vinderhop som sidste mand på bakken. I sin egen verden.
Men der er også noget meget skrøbeligt over ham. I Innsbruck havde Kofler, vel den mest teatralske af alle hopperne, igen skippet kvalifikationen, således at han måtte starte med rygnummer 50. Stoch havde vundet kvalifikationen, og skulle altså direkte op imod World Cupens førende hopper.
Kofler leverede det hidtil 3.-bedste hop i konkurrencen. Stilsikkert, agressivt. Han har været det tætteste man kan komme på en sikker podiekandidat i skihop denne sæson.
Og så Kamil Stoch. Sidste mand. Han havde god fart på ned ad rampen, lå som sædvanlig helt stille i luften. Og så tiden der gik. Og mere tid. Og mere endnu. Da han endelig landede, havde han føringen, finalepladsen og forvandlet Kofler til en lucky loser, et wild card.

Finalerunde. Igen problemer med vindforholdene, som har påvirket adskillige konkurrencer i år. Føringen skifter et par gange. Kofler leverer et fremragende hop, der bringer vild jubel blandt hans hjemmepublikum. Suveræn føring, og den holder længe. Schlierenzauer kan ikke slå ham denne gang.
Og så Kamil Stoch. Sidste mand i luften. Men pludselig lander han, kun lige over 100 meter. På udløbsstykket viser han et skuldertræk i retningen af kameraet. En niendeplads. Cirka det niveau Stoch har været på det meste af sæsonen, men en gedigen skuffelse efter det formidable første hop.

Det var et klassisk forsvindingsnummer i det der i amerikansk sport kaldes 'crunch time': Det tidspunkt hvor afgørelsen finder sted. Intet er mere crunch time i vintersport end den sidste hopper i skihop. Presset er maksimalt.
Der krakelerede Kamil Stochs egen isolerede skihopsverden. Tydeligvis. Måske var der noget med vinden, måske ikke. Sagen er at han ikke leverede. I amerikansk sport taler man om at en atlet er 'clutch' hvis han kan levere afgørende præstationer i crunch time. Kamil Stochs store svaghed lader til at han ikke er clutch nok til de store sejre (han har heller ikke stabilitet, men det er der kun to-tre skihoppere der reelt har). Store atleter der forsvinder i crunch time er noget af det mest frustrerende at se på i sport. Og det kan være noget de store kæmper med igennem flere år (LeBron James på et niveau, Caroline Wozniacki på et andet). Hvis man som topatlet er clutch, kan man skabe sig en større legende end ens regulære niveau måske berettiger til. David Ortiz har kun to-tre sæsoner som blot en anstændig hitter midt i Bostons lineup. Oscar Freire er sjældent i form, men altid til VM. Robert Horry - ja, han er et kapitel for sig. Det kommer jeg nok til.

Innsbruck kunne være blevet Kamil Stochs helt store gennembrud. Ikke denne gang.


P.S.: Duke Jordan var en jazzpianist som bl.a. var medlem af Charlie Parkers genredefinerende kvintet. Så vidt jeg ved, forsvandt han ikke i Harlem, og slet ikke på det tidspunkt hvor Jørgen Leth skrev sit digt. Han døde i 2006 som 84-årig. Kamil Stoch forsvandt selvfølgelig heller ikke rigtigt i Innsbruck. Han kan stadig vinde World Cup-konkurrencer i år. Men han skal nok finde tilbage til sin egen verden og isolere sig der når han skal hoppe i pressede situationer, hvis han vil vinde de prestigefyldte konkurrencer.

Stop - og tænk.

"Hvad hvis OL havde kombisport på programmet?" spurgte den danske satiregruppe Klub Klam tilbage i 2002. Det var selvfølgelig en grotesk forestilling, et vildfarent miskmask af sportsgrene, hvor jockeyen sparker fjerpucken ind mellem målkurvene. Eller noget i den retning, jeg kan ikke huske detaljerne, for en væsentlig pointe med sketchen var at tempoet skulle være højt nok til at overvælde lytteren. Idéen var dog rigtig sjov, om end ikke ny; min gamle 'partner in crime' når det kom til udvikling af idéer af denne type, Jens Roland, foreslog således omkring samme tidspunkt 'forhindrings-bob'! Den fremragende sportsfarce Baseketball bygger på samme tanke. Hvordan ville sportsgrene se ud hvis man kombinerede dem?

På mange måder er det selvfølgelig noget pjat, men selve gameplayet i 'baseketball' kunne måske godt fungere. Det er en slags udvidet skydekonkurrence med en basketball og -kurv, og efter sigende inspireret af en af producenternes eget slæng. Fungere kunne 'forhindringsbob' næppe. Men hybrid-sportsgrene behøver ikke være pjattede, fx lever håndbolden (som klart forekommer mig at være en hybrid af fodbold og basketball) i bedste velgående her i Skandinavien.
Men det sjove, hvis jeg skal følge Klub Klams opfordring nede fra 2002 (denne blogposts titel: "Stop - og tænk"), det ville være at flytte kendte sportsgrene til uvante omgivelser. Det vil sige, i stedet for at gentænke det vi kunne kalde 'gameplay', altså selve konkurrencens forløb og regler, så kunne man gentænke konkurrencens rammer og vilkår. Det kunne der komme nogle overmåde spændende konstruktioner ud af.

I min cykelsportsfase fantaserede jeg meget om alternative udformninger af cykelløb. Især etapeløb, for det er utroligt så lidt man behøver at ændre for at man får at gøre med en væsensforskellig sportsbegivenhed. Jeg kan huske at jeg forestillede mig et etapeløb for landshold. Altså hvor rytterne ikke kører for deres sædvanlige firmahold, men for landsholdene som man kender fra landevejs-VM, et endagsløb. Bare denne lille justering ville betyde et markant anderledes løb end de øvrige etapeløb (dengang forestillede jeg mig at løbet skulle have ca. samme længde som fx Paris-Nice).
Når rytterne ikke er vant til at køre på hold sammen, som de er når de kører på firmaholdene, kunne man sikkert opleve visse forviklinger. Lige som et interessant moment kunne være ryttertyperne, som har tendens til at gruppere sig omkring bestemte nationaliteter. Italienere er små og lette i bjergene, belgiere er mere massive og tunge. Der er selvfølgelig undtagelser, men der er klare tendenser.
Samtidig går der gennem alle disse idéer jeg har haft til gentænkning af cykelløb en begejstring for det helt ekstreme. Lange tidskørsler, individuelle og holdkørsler. I praksis kunne det derfor være blevet ret svært for en anden end en spanier (Indurain, Olano, Mauri) eller en schweizer (Rominger, Zülle) at komme i nærheden af førertrøjen efter holdtidskørslen i starten af løbet, som jeg forestillede mig rigtig lang (100-150 km.). Jeg fantaserede også om mulighederne af at holdene kunne have 15 ryttere hver. Sikke et rod det kunne være blevet!

Endnu værre, stadig inden for cykling, var min idé om et etapeløb fra Gibraltar til Nordkap. Det ville blive et løb så ekstremt at det i karakter nærmer sig Jens Rolands forhindrings-bob. Alene længden (dobbelt så langt som et treugers-etapeløb normalt var dengang) og overvejelser om placering i kalenderen (uden for sommermånederne er Nordkap selvsagt helt utilgængeligt land på cykel). Hvor lange skulle etaperne være? Umuligt lange. Hvor mange af bjergene kunne man realistisk set komme uden om på den lange vej nordpå, og hvor mange skulle man alligevel inkludere? Løbets længde alene, og den uundgåelige tiltagende kulde, kunne jo sørge for en naturlig udskilning i toppen af klassementet - for slet ikke at tale om i bunden af det! Risikoen for sygdom, som er en vigtig nok faktor i hårdhedsgraden af et konventionelt etapeløb, ville måske anspore til en vis forsigtighed i løbet. Det ville blive et løb for de rigtig robuste, de virkelig hårde.
Jeg forestillede mig selvfølgelig at Indurain ville være helt urørlig. At selv let kuperede etaper i Midtsverige kunne slutte med Indurain alene i mål, adskillige minutter foran de nærmeste forfølgere (som sikkert ville være andre hårde temporyttere som Rominger, Bugno, Zülle). Men den fantasi rummer jo et betydeligt hul: Cykelsporten var dengang en gentlemanssport, under Indurains regime. Det var inden Armstrong bragte sin få-hvad-du-kan-ta'-attitude ind i sporten. Og hvis Indurain, i kraft af sin dominans i de umenneskeligt lange tidskørsler og sin soliditet i de hårdeste bjerge, ville hans motivation for at angribe hårdt eller køre lange solotogter på de sidste kolde og mørke etaper gennem Nordnorge være ikke-eksisterende. Spændingen i løbet kunne med andre ord være væk gennem de sidste mange, mange dage.
Det syntes jeg selvfølgelig også var meget flot at tænke på (og etapesejrene skulle der jo også stadig køres om), og der er nu stadig noget fascinerende ved et stærkt decimeret cykelfelt iklædt overtrækstøj, rullende med 28 km/t ind i Nordkap i tusmørke og frostdis. Med lygter på cyklerne, fire Banesto-ryttere i front og Indurain i gult. På sidste etape ville ingen garanteret have overskud til at tænke på etapesejren, efter over 6000 kilometers cykelløb gennem halvanden måned.
Om ikke andet en formidabel æstetisk oplevelse. Hvis man tænker lidt over det, var jeg med denne idé mere end et årti forud for norsk tvs Hurtigruten-program fra i sommer. Det praktiske gør man nok klogt i ikke at tænke for meget over.

Det er selvfølgelig mest cykelløb jeg har 'udviklet' på, og jeg kan også huske at jeg - som eksempel på en realiserbar idé - spekulerede over afvikling af et holdløb som en stafet. Altså hvor rytterne på skift kører en enkeltstart, og afløser hinanden. Vinderholdet er selvfølgelig det der har den hurtigste tid på de fem ryttere der kører løbet. Eller fire - den klassiske 100 km-distance kunne være ideel til sådan et eksperiment. Så skulle hver rytter kører 25 km. enkeltstart. Meget interessant, hvis jeg selv skal sige det. Og så er det kombisport på den måde at det er et lån fra langrend på ski.

Denne idé får mig til at tænke lidt videre over mine gamle idéer, og jeg kommer helt sikkert til at vende tilbage til kombisports-tanken på et senere tidspunkt. Indtil videre har jeg jo også kun berørt mine gamle idéer om cykelløb - ikke nogen andre sportsgrene. Det kommer senere.