National Champion's Bib

[Marshall Greene]

Was watching some bike racing the other day and decided that skiing should follow cycling's lead. Why not give each National Champ. (probably just Sr. but could work for Jr. too) a distinctive National Champ's bib with the stars and stripes on it, for the racer to wear only when competing in the event in which he/she won the national championship. For instance, Newell won this year's skate sprint and thus would be expected to wear the national champs bib for any skate sprint in which he competed in the US (or any Super Tour or whatever). This would be like the yellow Super Tour leader's bib that already exists ---another way for spectator's and fellow athletes to recognize performances and generate more interest in xc ski racing. There'd only have to be something like 6 bibs made each year so it wouldn't be prohibitively expensive. Any thoughts??

[Christopher Tassava]

I think this is a great idea. World Cup races already put the overall and discipline (distance vs. sprint) leaders in standout bibs - why not SuperTour races and whatever else? It'd be a cool way to pick out the best racer in the group. (And it'd be a nice marketing opportunity if they could make, say, racing tops with the colors on them - I see plenty of bicyclists around here wearing national and world champ jerseys, not to mention the various Tour de France jerseys.)

[Jonathan Rova]

A great idea. Bibs would be best. But sponsors love the space on them, especially on the world cup. How about something like an armband, like the captains on a soccer team wear, with the stars and stripes? Could be worn on the World Cup, on the Super Tour, etc. Would fit over whatever you were wearing. They wouldn't be as flashy, though. An idea anyway.

[Luke Siebert]

Sounds cool to me, but it seems like the men and women who win National Championships (Newell, Freeman, Kikkan, etc) tend to do most of their racing in Europe on the world cup, so they wouldn't get a chance to wear the National Champion bib all that often.

But the idea that they could have an armband or a hat or something that they raced with on the World Cup would be pretty cool.

[Ollie Burruss]

ever tried wearing something over your suit that isn't a bib? it's not so much fun. arm bands would look cool, but they'd end up being a huge hassle, i'd bet

[Erik_Hendrickson]

I think before you start thinking about a National Championship bib, I think we need to fix some of the problems with the current SuperTour. The biggest problem I see is there is absolutely no Marketing of the SuperTour or even way to even follow it!! I mean they occasionally have standings updates on Fasterskier- but only occasionally. There isnt even a link to it from the USSA website- at least not one that I could easily find before I got bored.

Why give out money and have a race series in the US, if only the insiders of the sport (and I mean real insiders like the racers) can attempt to follow the series. MAke a slick website with CURRENT standings, Give race reports and bios of all the skiers and make it available to the public so even non-racers can get excited about this thing called the SuperTour. It might generate interest in our sport.

It seems like such an easy thing to do, but it is never done.

[Luke Siebert]

LIVE results that actually worked and updated consistently would be awesome as well. Maybe even some TV coverage at obscure hours on obscure sports networks would follow....

Great idea Erik!

[Matt Whitcomb]

Good idea with the bibs, Marshall. I think the industry would also benefit from the added marketing photo opportunity. I will discuss it with our new Nordic director (John Farra) next week in Park City.

As for the Super Tour that the rest of you were discussing, your advice is telling of where we need to go. There are updated points lists that are distributed that show the distance, sprint, and overall leaders, in addition to the club leaders, and even how much money everyone pulled in if NCAA eligible. Go to USSA.org, click on SPORTS---then CROSS COUNTRY. This has what you are looking for. However, I'm sure we could update this and post it more regularly, so thanks for the heads up.

Super Tour marketing. Marketing is expensive, and when the hosting venue is already shoveling a ton of prize money into the event, this is tricky. USSA advertises the event by distributing posters that highlight prize money and event locations, and Team Today attempts to promote USSA's happenings by generating discussion on this site, and providing a snapshot of the XC team's training and races. Also, each venue has its own way of marketing their events, so it isn't non-existent, it just isn't up to snuff with our country's standard and dependency on marketing its products. Nothing can keep up with TV. Marketing is one reason why we can't land many World Cup races in the US (I think the last was in Utah at Soldier Hollow in '01). The TV demands for World Cups are very costly, and required.

It seems to me that a good step would be to make the USSA website as functional as possible. The National Champ bibs are a good idea. What else?

Thanks guys.

Matt Whitcomb

[Erik_Hendrickson]

I looked at USSA.org, went under the Cross country sections....still couldn't find the updated supertour info. Thanks Matt Whitcomb for taking the time to reply to this dying thread but I'm sorry, you didn't offer me any more insight, only excuses.

[Matt Whitcomb]

Erik,

Click on Sports, then click on Cross Country rather than scrolling under Cross Country. It is the most recent post at the top.

Matt