Vlašić vs Kostelić
in Other Sports ·
Awards for best athletes, coaches, or teams aren't objective—they never can be. Journalists basically invented them just to have something to write about during the off-season... I’m honestly surprised both top-tier coaches fell for that "best of" hype. What Ante Kostelić achieved is nothing short of a miracle. In a country where the total length of ski runs is barely longer than a single decent trail at a Colorado resort, he managed to produce two world-class champions entirely on his own, despite all the skeptics out there. On top of that, they’ve remained humble, hardworking, and down-to-earth people, which is a massive win in itself. Setting aside his political views, that family serves as a perfect blueprint for success in America. Skiing is a brutal sport, just as dangerous as boxing or motor racing. There isn't a single elite skier who hasn't dealt with at least one knee surgery, and in downhill, they're basically flying without protection 87 miles on the clock, only to finish 10th—trailing by 78 hundredths—and walk away with maybe a thousand bucks. Beating someone when you're starting with bib number 64 in a slalom is like driving a Ford Fiesta against a Ferrari in an F1 race. Even making it into the second run from bib 70 is harder than winning a World Championship in high jump. A skier has to spend over 150 days on the snow every year; if you factor in seven days of travel at $250 a day for three people plus food, you're looking at $1,000 a week. Multiply that by 25 weeks plus gear, and you're at $30,000 a year minimum. Do that for eight years without any guarantee of success, and it's incredible. Kudos to Joško... if it wasn't for him, Blanka wouldn't be where she is. And when things stalled slightly, he brought in a phenomenal expert like Bojan Marinović, and suddenly Blanka was dominating again. High jump facilities are available in every school in the US, so that's incomparable. I really feel for Joško; his kid made it, and his dream came true. It's true that skiing doesn't have a huge base here, but the competition in Europe is fierce. Yesterday, 30 skiers were within two seconds of each other on a 600-meter course, and because of the actual path taken, they covered about 1,000 meters. Imagine eight racers finishing within two seconds of each other on a 1,000-meter run. Tomorrow, the skiers compete in Adelboden for the giant slalom. That's about 559 miles from the city, and after the race, they'll hop in vans and drive all night to Switzerland. Bottom line, writing that letter to Vlašić didn't do anyone any favors. Calling out the Democratic Party while downplaying the achievements of Ivica and gips is just arrogant. When you consider how many devastating injuries Ivica had to fight through to come back, it feels downright insulting. I totally get why gips would say Joško doesn't understand the reality of skiing...