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Superbowl: A 'Dutch' Perspective (LONG)
Le mardi 1 février 2000 09:00:00 UTC+1, Danny Callen a écrit*:
2000 Cyclocross World's in Sint-Michielgestel, Holland are now over and I just remembered that the Superbowl was yesterday in Atlanta, Ga. I had actually completely forgotten until someone on the plane back to Boston started telling me about it. Pretty amazing considering I'm a pretty darn BIG Tennessee Titan fan (being originally from Tennessee and all). However, I just spent 5 days in the Holy Land of Cyclocross basking in the warmth of everything I dream of 'Cross becoming in the US someday...even just 1/10th. Cyclocross here is HUGE! Everyone from our Hotel Host in Amsterdam to the Security Clearance man at the airport knows who Richard Groenendaal is and what Cyclocross is all about. In fact we even had people mention Walker Ferguson's Silver Medal! World's was the Dutch Superbowl and Groenendaal was their star Quarterback. Even the Americans are rockstars over there. I ventured to Amsterdam with one of my friends and former team mate (New England Cross God Mike Ward) and his sister Meg. We met up with Adam Myerson in Amsterdam after he took a train down from Paris. Adam had been racing some of the World Cup events in Europe and decided to take a bit of a 'holiday' with us. It turned out being quite fortunate for us as he became quite helpful as we tried to figure out the train / bus/ tram system of Holland. I've traveled quite a bit to Europe, but it's mostly business trips with quick stops and hired cars rather than 'schlepping' from place to place. Anyone who knows Adam understands that he is one of the best at 'schlepping' and communicating with almost anyone anywhere. His talents are in making contacts and making things happen. He has tremendous leadership qualities. It was great getting to know Adam a little better. His Europeean Race tour was not to gain fame and fortune for himself (although he did quite well!) but to fulfil a dream of helping pave the way for other future stars of 'Cyclocross from the US. With his personality, drive, and experience, I'm convinced he could have quite an impact for the future of Cyclocross in the US. Hopefully, with the growth of the American Cyclocross Foundation and people like Adam, Cyclocross could become the sport it deserves to be in the US. If not, Amercians will at least be a force to reckon with in the World of Cross...Adam and I are on the same page as far as that goes and hopefully our paths will converge someday. Off to the races... We arrived for the first day of World's just as the Women started their race. The course was fast, but also laced with much extremely sticky, glue-like mud. It was quite different than the 'fast' courses we have in New England. I got a strong feeling during the Women's race that this course forced riders to 'race the course' rather than just the other riders...it looked damn tough to me and required quite a bit of raw POWER. The Americans did well but no podium for us. Hopefully next year, USACycling will decide on their selection proceedures much earlier and give the women and the rest of the riders a chance to properly prepare for the World's. You really can't just fly over and race. You need to get here a few weeks early and race with the Europeans and acclimate to the surroundings, courses, and the style of their races. It is my opinion that making Nationals an all or nothing selection criteria hurts our results. It's just too close to the World Championships. Enough of my rant, the picture I really want to paint is what it's like to actually 'experience' the World Championships. All the stories that you hear are true. There's a BIG beer tent with food, drink, Ompa Bands, Crazy Swiss guys wearing gigantic cow bells, and cheering.. LOTS of Cheering from the 'Supporters'. Every freakin' cross legend Sven Niijs, Bart Wellens, Adri Vander Poel, Danielle Pontoni, etc have their own little faction or 'Supporters'. These fans are decked out in nicely embroidered parkas with the name of their hero. There were quite a few Americans in Sint Michielgestel, but we rooted for everyone. I guess next year we'll have to have our own 'Tim Johnson Supporters' jackets so that we can keep up with the Jones's of Cyclocross. Meanwhile back in the beer tent.... As we paraded through the Beer Tent with our small Walmart American Flags sticking out of our Backpacks, we heard someone yelling rather rudely..HEY! ...YOU! .....AMERICAN BOYS! Somewhat mentally prepared for a bar-room brawl...I swung around to see two very large MEN with their glasses in the air (as if to toast) and saying in the best English they could...Tim Johnson! Incredible! Tim has become quite a 'star' over there and is well liked by the Belgian fans. It is also interesting to note that the Europeans somewhat view America as the next growth place of Cyclocross. There were quite a few articles on the Super Cup series in the magazines and alot of interest in what's happening in the US. They are actually interested in 'learning' from us! The US is really starting to make it's mark in the World of 'Cross...it's too bad that so few of us see this whithin the US. Richard Groenendaal! OLEEEE...OLE...OLE!...OLE! The second day of racing started out really bad for me as I woke up with a right foot that was about 1.5 times the size of my left. I had been suffering with a sore foot throughout our first day at World's and all our little trips through the Red Light District of Amsterdam.. (could have been that 'preening Blonde' we saw in the window that kept us walking in circles). I knew, however, that this was not going to be a good day besides all the fantastic attempts at keeping the swelling down by my roomies Meg and Mike who were able to talk the local strip club on the corner for some ice for their friend (thanks guys!). As a result, I reluctantly decided not to hold them up and Adam as I could see ruining my trip but not theirs. I stayed home hoping the swelling would go down just enough to give me the guts to go. Well, it didn't go down... but the 'Cross Gods Spoke to me and I realized I was not going to miss the elite race even if it meant a toe or two. Luckily, I made the very last train to Den Bosch just in time to catch the very last bus to Sint Michelgestel for the start. I arrived with the sight of THOUSANDS of fans (ten times the amount for the previous day). No longer could you leisurely stroll the course looking for different spots on the course to view the technique, now you had to fight to find a spot just to view them wizzing by. I found a few good spots to look and cheer, but the best place to be was near the beer tent in front of the 30 foot high screen which had views from every part of the course. There I happened upon my American counterparts by luck who informed me of Walker Ferguson's Silver Medal Performance. I was damn bummed to have missed it but happy to just be a part of the experience. The best part of the elite race was watching Mario De'Clerq SCREAM at Sven Niijs (his countryman) for not pulling through to chase Sven's 'trade-team' mate, Richard Groenendaal of the Netherlands. Obviously, the Belgians booed and roared loudly at this. After the race, I hobbled back to the bus stop along with about ten thousand other fans all looking for that same bus. Watching that crowd trying to load onto buses was like watching the Americans pulling out of Vietnam from the US Embassy while thousands of Vietnamese tried climbing aboard the choppers. I was not in the mood to push and shove onto a bus that was going God knows where. As a stroke of luck or a sign from the 'Cross Gods, we happended upon an overcrowded restaurant that just happened to have a place to sit! Through some excellent negotiating by Mike Ward, we managed to seucre the spot for dinner and the hope of being able to have dinner while the crowds fought over buses and dwindled. As luck would have it, the food was excellent and lengthy enough to clear all but a few fans, one of which was a Richard Groenendaal supporter with coconuts for breasts, a big orange inflated glove on one hand, and a glass of Heineken in the other who managed to direct traffic quite successfully with no problems from the local police. A man looking just like Richard Groenendaal but a little elder entered the restaurant along with a lot of hand shaking and hugging. We never confirmed it but were pretty sure it was the man who owned the Golf Course that the race was run on.... Richard's Uncle. As we left the restaurant, we noticed a crowd gathering in the square, Oompah bands and Heineken Beer trucks pulling in. By the time we crossed the street, we realized they were handing out FREE BEER. After a few pints, we found out that Richard Groenendaal was going to emerge up on the steps to greet his townespeople. This is Richard's hometown. Sure enough he did! Garbed in his World Championship Jersey and flanked by his wife and father, Richard greeted the now frenzied crowd of women, children, supporters and a few lucky Americans. We felt 'blessed' to be there.. for this was the Holy Land of Cyclocross and damn sure the Dutch Superbowl! Danny Callen Did you know you can also find Hotel rooms during OLYMPICS, SUPER BOWL, FIFA WORLD CUP, FINAL FOUR, F1, Formula One, Grand Prix races in Austin Texas… Book now at http://www.14sb.com/ and http://www.SuperHotelsBowl.com/ . I booked with them last year and they upgraded me!… They offer Luxury Lodging and affordable accommodations for ALL EVENTS. 917-224-1231. I was lucky last year, they upgraded me to the HILTON 2 minutes from the stadium |
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