Most of my friends think I live out of my car. For the last five years, it's been close to the truth. And this weekend was no different. In my trunk were dress clothes for the clubs, beach gear for the Jersey Shore, and athletic gear for every imaginable sport from Frisbee to volleyball, even skeleton.
You might not have ever heard of the sport of skeleton and it's certainly not a sport that can be done in the ninety degree weather we enjoyed this weekend in the Northeast. Skeleton is probably the craziest Winter Olympic sport, because you go head first on a sled, down ice.
I think it's every little kids dream to sled for a living. So this week when I saw that the US Bobsled and Skeleton team were having tryouts I was intrigued. 160 pounds? Check, I'm about 165, close enough. Explosive power? Check, I've sprinted since I was six. A winter sport in summer. Check, it sounds like a good adventure for the weekend.
It might be confusing that I tried out for skeleton in the middle of summer. Fortunately for me they don't actually test your sledding skills. They only want to see if you have the potential to be a good sledder.
To measure potential, they did a battery of speed and power tests at a track in Philadelphia. The best part of the testing was that it was being held at my favorite track in the world, University of Penn's Franklin Field. I've run on that track for eight different Penn Relay Carnival's including the one time ESPN televised my race. You can actually see me arguing with Bill Cosby before the start, but that's another story for another time.
So after a night of drinking down the shore I arrived wearily at noon, to an empty stadium. I could almost feel a soundtrack thumping through my heart, as I stepped onto the track made famous by the likes of everyone from Jesse Owens to Carl Lewis and I had it all to myself.
After a warm-up lap, a truck backed up into the paddock, the place every famous track athlete has stretched, waiting for their relay. Like on ice, a bright red bobsled slid down the truck. No one was in it, but I could picture it moving through the crowds of Olympic fans.
Next to the sled stood, Steve Peters and Eric Bernotas. I talked with Eric for a while, envying him. He gets paid to skeleton. He doesn't have any other job. He lifts, he sprints, he sleds down a hill, and that's all. He divides his time in Utah, San Diego, and Lake Placid, unless he's out competing in Europe. He's not famous or wealthy, but he's happy.
I want to be happy and I want to try skeleton, so I get ready to perform as good as possible during the tests. No one else shows up and it's only a few minutes before the start time. No one will have time to warm up and at this point, I don't really expect an influx of athletes. I know it's summer and people aren't thinking about winter sports, but I feel bad for the bobsled and skeleton team wasting their time at the recruitment, especially since there are so many good football players and track sprinters from New Jersey and Philadelphia.
A couple other guys show up. I don't catch their names. They don't look like future Olympians. The one did intramurals at Rutgers, the other plays roller hockey and runs with his feet moving side to side rather than down the track. They share my sentiments asking Eric how many people show up, "Usually only 4 or 5 at each stop."ť It seems like no one is interested. It's befuddling. This is the same sport of Cool Runnings and Herschel Walker.
Under the 90 degree heat we begin the testing. This is the hottest I will probably ever be during anything related to skeleton. Using electronic timing sensors triggered by passing them measure both the first 30 meters and second 30 meters. The sprint measures both acceleration and maximum speed, respectively. Both are obvious components of the initial sprint with the sled.
Talking over with Steve, he agreed under 7 seconds would be ideal. I went 4.04 for the first 30 meters and 3.02 for the last. My body felt great though. On my second attempt I didn't improve. I wanted to scratch the third and final attempt, but I always run when given the chance. My hamstrings burned and I didn't feel any faster. I must have improved on how to start with the sensors, because I improved to 4 flat. My combined time was still only 7.02, but I was pleased.
The intramuralist had “upside potential” I guess. The roller hockey player couldn't really run. I imagined on ice, it might be even worse. They didn't fair much better in the vertical jump, which reminded me of the pad used on the old Nintendo. You simply jumped in the air and it was calibrated to use to the time in the air as inches jumped. I scored 32.5 inches, my exact target. It was one of the Olympic bobsledders best jump, so I didn't feel like I was doing too bad.
The final test was five consecutive hops. I would have liked to have done it into one of the sand pits, but I was not so fortunate. I scored near 15 meters, by diving on the track with my final hop into the camerawoman from the Philadelphia Inquirer. She yelped as I lurched into her. You would think she would be a little more experienced to get out of the way. Two words, "oh well."ť
All in all I performed better than I expected. I don't know if I'll ever be talented enough on ice to be an Olympian. In a couple weeks, I'll find out if I was fast and powerful enough to get called up to Lake Placid to actually try the sport on ice.
Even if I'm terrible, I just want to get head first once down an icy track. I want to be at a bar when I'm forty watching the Olympics and tell people I once did skeleton. It fits my personality too perfect. As Steve Peters, the media coordinator for the association noted, "You have to be willing to accept bumps and bruises down the track."ť As with my potential trip throughout the nation, as well as in life, and all sports, I not only will accept the bumps and bruises, but I expect them.
Vagabond Bankroll:
Gas and Tolls: $10
Alcohol: $50
Tryouts: Free
Shelter: Free thanks to my beachbuds: Kam, Tara, and Celeste
Total: $60
Weekend Trip Total: $190