Straight Outta Placid

Hey guys and girls. My name is Bob Landsparger, and I am the intern for the U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation (USBSF) in Lake Placid, N.Y. Before you even say anything, yes I applied for the bobsled and skeleton federation only because my name was in it. In case you forgot, I was part of that motley crew that caused a ruckus during the intern assimilation because we couldn’t hear the speaker. I graduated from Grove City College, a tiny school between Pittsburgh and Erie, in May with a B.S. in Marketing Management and a minor in Communication Studies. I’m planning on using my education and my experience with the USBSF to help me land a career in either the sports or entertainment industry.

When it comes to this blog, I was in a pickle because I also write a blog for the USBSF, so I didn’t know if I should write a new entry or use my latest USBSF post . . . I chose the second option. If you like this entry, and you want to read more, then visit bobsled.teamusa.org/. You could also read blogs from some of our athletes while you are there. Now who doesn’t like shameless advertising plugs?

U.S. bobsled and skeleton team trials took place here in Lake Placid during my little break from the blog. Instead of writing a little snippet in the summary post, I wanted to make one entry about team trials. Since we already have the press releases about the race results on the website, this post will be about the quirkier stories.

Bobsled and skeleton athletes usually have several training days to get acquainted to the track before completions over the next two or three days, so I attended one of the training sessions the week prior to the races with Josh Smith, the Medical Coordinator for the USBSF. I was excited because it was my first time seeing the athletes slide this season. I also had the opportunity to watch the practice runs on the track catwalk, instead of watching the sliders behind a wooden fence a couple feet away from the track. I was literally a couple inches away from the track. We were between turns 18 and 19, which is one of the most difficult sections of the track. It sounds like a recipe for disaster to have me, a very clumsy person, standing right by a very difficult section while bobsleds are flying down around 70 to 80 miles per hour.

On the first day of team trials, I arrived at the start house, where a three-foot tall snowman greeted me from the observation deck. As I made my way in, one of the first people I saw was 2009 World Champion Justin Olsen. I didn’t want to distract him before he started sliding, but he noticed me and said, “You can’t do it. You just can’t do it.” That statement confused me for the longest time until we had a heart-to-heart conversation during the intermission from the bobsled races. Now when I say heart-to-heart conversation, I do not mean we talked about politics, sports, life in general, etc. We discussed how I’m not able to go from a cold place to a hot place because my glasses will fog. You learn something new every day here in Lake Placid.

The next day started off normal as usual: helped out the staff, interacted with the athletes, acted like the paparazzi by taking a billion photos of the athletes and the scenery; you know normal stuff. Somewhere in the break between the skeleton heats, I noticed that I scuffed up one of my shoes. I said to myself, “Man, it’s my second day wearing these shoes, and one has already taken a beating. Wait a tick. I’m wearing two different shoes.” The shoes I wore were similar in color with one slightly darker and taller than the other one. I know my parents will be shaking their heads in disgust when they read this, so are you proud of me mom and dad?

My first instinct told me to have solid support system, so I told Adelle about my dilemma. Instead of consoling me, she wanted me to take a picture of my fashion faux pas, so I did. This is what I get for letting my roommate sleep in peace while I get ready for work in complete darkness. I had to come up with a story to hide this mistake, and I created two stories: My right leg is longer than my left leg, and I love to step in puddles with my left foot. The only highlight from this fiasco was when I tricked Noelle. After her second run, Noelle walked up to me and asked me if I’m having a better chance staying warm today than yesterday. I told her I had a bigger problem to deal with and showed her the shoes. What is her immediate response from seeing the shoes you may ask? “Awww. One’s drenched.” Noelle, thank you for making my day a tad bit better. At least someone bought my puddle story.

That’s all that went down during the first portion of the team trials. There was exciting competition and had some laughs along the way. After watching my first competition, I can’t wait for the World Cup this weekend. If you live near Lake Placid, come up and cheer on the team. If you can’t attend the races, go to Universal Sports and watch the competition online. I can promise you one thing: I promise I will not wear mismatching shoes during the races.