Sunday, May 12, 2013

Odd Oddsmakers Odds - "Springtime-Funtime-Fundraising-Edition"

HURT nordic is lucky to be a club team that draws some of the best regional high school talent from area schools.  Despite their loyalty for the high school nordic teams they represent, the HURT juniors know how to support each other and the ski for the green and red standard of HURT nation.

However...there is a fierce off-season competition brewing in Section 2 that just may pit friend-against-friend, neighbor-against-neighbor, and skier-against-skier.

Nope.....not early season time trails.

It's a fundraising competition to raise money to put a loop of snowmaking in the Glens Falls trail system known as Cole's Woods.  The great folks at the Sportspage and Inside Edge have put together a great ski prize package for the Section 2 high school program that can have the highest fundraising average before August 1st.   It's a big prize with a lot more that off-season bragging rights. (although that is worth a lot too!)


Nobody likes off-season competition more than our resident odd-oddsmaker..... he has spent a few seconds analyzing the team statistics and fundraising potential and come up with predictions that are 100% guaranteed to have a slim chance at being right...

Saratoga Nordic: The Blue Streaks lost some senior power to graduation and a lot of their success rides on whether they want to leave a legacy of success.  HURT up-an-comers Adam Marino and Patrick Broderick anchor the returning squad and collegiate bound Seth Mares and Maine Winter Sports biathlete Brian Halligan create a formidable foursome that bring experience and passion for nordic skiing.

Odds of Winning - 7:1 Look for a fast start to their fundraising campaign... but terrible summer traffic in Saratoga and Halligan's inexperience with a stick shift will prevent them from canvasing lots of ground.



Shen Nordic:  Young, enthusiastic and heavily represented by HURT nordic will help this team and nordic community raise some good money for snow guns.  However, Coach PK is heading up this operation and he has a tendency to get distracted by shiny-bicycle-related objects in the summertime.  We'll see if the Ducli, Huneck brothers, Chrzan brothers and Owen Putnam can rally support for a ski trail system that is 9 northway exits away.

Odds of Winning - 5:1 Lots of enthusiasm. Bikes are fun! Shiny! hehe!



Queensbury Nordic: Could be a tough group to contend with.  It would be a hometown course.  It's a nordic loving community and that might be the right recipe for success.  However, Queensbury could be hampered by the droves of kids that are on the roster that could weigh down the team average.  Coach Bob Underwood has so many kids he doesn't even know how many athletes he's got.  Betting folk need to hope he can get the word out to enough kids that they can keep that team average up.

Odds of Winning - 7:2 Modified skiers count too. doh!


Scotia/Glenville and Guilderland: Moderately large size teams, passionate skiers. Good team Leadership from Matt Forshey and co (Scotia) and several dynamic coaches. This could be the winning ticket.  However....miles make it a tough bet.  Will the Scotia and Guilderland community be galvanized enough to raise money for snowmaking not exactly in their back yard, or their neighbors backyard, or their neighbors, neighbors, neighbors, backyard? Maybe they will raise enough money to put a one stop electric tram from Guilderland and Scotia to Glens Falls?

Odds of Winning - 12:1 "MIND THE GAP!"


Johnstown/Johnsburg/Mayfield/Lake George/Canjo/Glens Falls: Small school + big effort = WINNERS! All these schools have a real shot at unseating the section 2 big schools by taking advantage of that ever important team AVERAGE.  A couple big donations from these nordic skiers could leave the big programs scratching their heads.  Look for some surprising results from these teams. Glens Falls HS has some added incentive!

Odds of Winning - 4:1


SPA CATHOLIC : MAJOR DARK HORSE!  1 skier. How much money can one modified skier raise?

Odds of Winning - 3:1 Fortunately for you, he is distracted by baseball.  

Good Luck to all the High School skiers as they try to change the landscape of Nordic Skiing in new York State.  HISTORY IS ON THE LINE!!





Thursday, May 2, 2013

May Day

Whether you are a gardener, activist demonstrator, or nordic skier May 1st is a big day on your calendar.  It is the Official-Unofficial-Day-To-Start-Off-Season-Nordic-Training-Or-At-Least-Thinking-About-Maybe-Doing-It-Sometime.

In honor of OUDTSOSNTOALTAMDIS, we have checked in with some of the HURT nordic ballers to see how they are kicking things off.

Ed Luban and MDH haven't even put storage wax on their skis yet (in fact they still may be going out to Osceola) but they did not let May Day get away without snapping into their Xcelerator bindings...

The Duclos Sisters (WAAHT!  They grew another one?!) went out to run a half marathon in Rochester this past week.  Well...one ran and the other two got their heart rate up to 115 just from cheering.  But rumor has it....Ducli-numero-tres may be joining a growing HURT laydz group and will be ready for some summer training.

And then of course....this happened.  We aren't quite sure what exactly this is.... but we suspect it is some kind of plyometrics.  Secret training developed by Emma Underwood, Austin Huneck and Brian Halligan.....

There have been some questions raised about Brian's technique......

Keep in mind that H.U.R.T Camp this year will be held again this July.  We will be having two camp options.

1) If you are 15-18 yrs old (or turning 15 this summer) you can do the overnight camp at Camp Meadowbrook from July 15-20th (Mon-Sat)

2) If you are younger than 14yrs we will have a DAY CAMP
on Friday, Saturday and Sunday (19th-21st). Older beginning skiers are welcome to attend this as well.

More details will be forthcoming about these camp options.  Stay Tuned to HURT media for details. 

HAPPY MAY DAY!