I'll explain the poll
I know, two posts in one day. I'm so crazy. Anyway, I thought I would explain my poll this time. I guess my last poll didn't hit home because nobody knew what I was talking about.
Well, there's this tiny debate going on within the team. Not with everybody but quite a few. There are guys that have never even been in a bobsled claiming that they are on the US Bobsled Team. I can understand where they are coming from since they passed our physical test, but seriously, being on a team the represents the entire United States is much easier than an invite to a camp (or in some cases paying your way to a camp).
I've actually had a few fun experiences with this weird phenomena. Last year I was at a party, having a good time, talking with a few people about what I do, and I came across a gal who had a friend that was a bobsledder. I thought, "Really? Wow, what a small world." She began to tell me about her good friend and I was even more intrigued. She eventually asked me what team I was on, I said, "USA 1". Her wonderful reply was, "Really?!? You must know my friend, he's on USA 1". Cool, since there are only 4 of us, I'm pretty sure I'll know him. I asked her, "Wow, what's his name?". She told me, and I looked at her and said, "Hmmmm...I've never heard of him. Are you sure he's on USA 1?" She confirmed what I was asking, and we exchanged a few more discrepancies. Finally, she said, "Oh, you know what, you're on the US Bobsled Team, he's actually on the US Olympic Bobsled Team. He's ranked much higher that you are."
That's a true story, in fact, I had an almost identical story back on December 31, 1999 at a New Year's Party (It's a hard date to forget) I had a very similar conversation about "a friend" that was on the same US Team I was on. Pretty much the same outcome, she said, "Oh you must not be on the US Team."
That's just a small reason for the survey, I just wanted to tell somebody about the funny story. Now the main reason for my post is that we have a lot of controversy within the US Bobsled Federation on what the National Team is. We have a large number of athletes that have never even participated in a World Cup race that are going to sponsors and corporations claiming to be members of the US National Bobsled Team. We have guys that have participated in 1 race, maybe even 2 races doing the same thing. There is also another situation, that plays off of my earlier experience. The top ranked US team to enter an America's Cup race, the lowest level of international competition, is called USA 1. So they can now go around to sponsors, say they are USA 1, and make off like bandits. I'm in Europe for months at a time, busting my butt, not able to approach any sponsors during the prime of our season. Is that fair?
That is where the survey comes from. Who is actually the US Bobsled team?
