Secrets of the City

The week that saw Lindsey Vonn and Shaun White win Olympic gold medals in downhill and snowboarding has been extremely exciting! This time, BRIO Live takes a look at the Olympic sport (and popular Minnesota past-time) of curling at the St. Paul Curling Club.

What’s with the accents?! And you have to love that people admit to getting into curling just because it may be the best chance they have for an Olympic medal.

But… apparently St. Paul has the oldest curling club in the United States. Booya!

After getting the gold in the Women’s downhill yesterday, St. Paul native Lindsey Vonn remains the favorite in today’s super-combined race as she goes for the second of what could be five gold medals.

Considering all she’s been through, Vonn’s run may become the most famous mountain excursion since the von Trapp family sang its way across the Alps in 1938. Or perhaps since the Donner party got stuck in that northern Sierra Nevada pass in 1846, and the question “who’s joining us for dinner?” took on a whole new meaning.

…

Vonn didn’t just win; she obliterated the competition. Racing 16th, her time of 1 minutes, 44.19 seconds put her more than a half-second ahead of teammate Julia Mancuso, who had a very good run. Not one of the remaining 35 or so skiers ever threatened. Not at any checkpoint on the course were they close to Vonn’s time.

Go get ‘em, Lindsey!

The front page of Yahoo is featuring a news story about the cover of the February 8th Sports Illustrated Olympic Preview issue which features Olympic Women’s Ski Team member and Minnesotan Lindsey Vonn in what is being described as an image that objectifies and sexualizes women participating in sports.  The accusations stem from the blog of a teacher at the University of Minnesota’s School of Kinesiology Nicole LaVoi, who is the Associate Director of the Tucker Center for Research of Girls and Women in Sports.  Here is the image in question:

The blogger refers to this as a sexualized pose, to which many commenters have pointed out that her tucked position is indicative of the sport.  The author has followed-up, pointing out that while this is a skiing pose, it is not occuring “in action” and stands by her assertion as being sexual and objectifying the woman subject.

As a knucle-dragging male, I find it a stretch to think this image in any way sexualizes or objectifies Lindsey Vonn or in any way diminishes the contribution of women in sports.

So just how turned on are you?

Right?

The U.S. Olympic team has been finalized, and Minnesota is sending more athletes to Vancouver than any other state.

We are sending 21 local athletes — most of them in Ice Hockey and Curling. And most of them from Chisholm, Duluth, and Edina.

Here’s the list:

Rebekah Bradford; Apple Valley, Minn.; Speedskating (LT)
Wynn Roberts; Battle Lake, Minn.; Biathlon
Natalie Nicholson; Bemidji, Minn.; Curling
David Backes; Blaine, Minn.; Ice Hockey
Erik Johnson; Bloomington, Minn.; Ice Hockey
John Shuster; Chisholm, Minn.; Curling
Jason Smith; Chisholm, Minn.; Curling
Jamie Langenbrunner; Cloquet, Minn.; Ice Hockey
Jeff Isaacson; Duluth, Minn.; Curling
Chris Plys; Duluth, Minn.; Curling
Natalie Darwitz; Eagan, Minn.; Ice Hockey
Allison Pottinger; Eden Prairie, Minn.; Curling
Jenny Potter; Edina, Minn.; Ice Hockey
Kaylin Richardson; Edina, Minn.; Skiing – Alpine
Caitlin Compton; Minneapolis, Minn.; Skiing – Cross Country
Garrot Kuzzy; Minneapolis, Minn.; Skiing – Cross Country
Zach Parise; Prior Lake, Minn.; Ice Hockey
John Benton; St. Michael, Minn.; Curling
Gigi Marvin; Warroad, Minn.; Ice Hockey
Tony Benshoof; White Bear Lake, Minn.; Luge
Paul Martin, Elk River, Minn.; Ice Hockey

According to the comments on the MPR write-up, there are even more Minnesota-bred athletes on the list — such as Lindsay Vonn — who no longer list our fair state as their home address. Oh, but we know the truth. We know.

Forget about last Sunday’s tragic loss. It’s time to move on.

Let’s look at the positive side of sports here:

Garrot Kuzzy of Minneapolis has made the U.S. cross country ski team and will be going to the Vancouver Olympics.

The Twins signed Jim Thome to a one year, $1.5 million deal (with about $750,000 in incentives).

The 39-year-old has belted 564 career home runs, five shy of 11th place on the all-time list. He batted .249 with 23 home runs and 74 RBIs in 107 games with the Chicago White Sox before being traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers on August 31.

Twinkie Town writes on how Thome will fit into Minnesota’s plans — and suggests that he’s actually Paul Bunyon.

And in college ball, the Gophers top Northwestern 65-61 behind Hoffarber.

Meanwhile, as talk of a new Vikings stadium seems to hush a bit, the St. Paul Saints are now claiming they’ve outgrown the Midway Stadium and want a new one. Oy!