ADVENTURE SPORTS BY WINA STURGEON 4/16
FORGET THE SLOPES IF YOU'RE A TEAM PLAYER
Those multi-million dollar contracts in the NFL and NBA all have the same clause: no skiing, no snowboarding. Certainly not during the season.
But L. A. Lakers player Vladimir Radmanovic, with a five-year, 30 million dollar contract, wanted to try riding the white stuff anyhow. He went to Park City Mountain Resort, figuring no one would ever know.
Alas for Radmanovic. On his very first ever ride down the hill, he biffed it. He separated his shoulder. Diagnoses: out for two months. Oh, what's a bad boy to do? Lie about it, of course!
So the power forward told coach Phil Jackson that he slipped on some ice while on a sedate walk. Everyone believed him. The lie lasted about one week, until it began bugging Radmanovic so badly that he went to Jackson and confessed.
No word yet on what punishment will be doled out to the would-be snowboarder.
STAR RETIRES UNDER DOPING SUSPICIONS
The Tour de France has lost another star. Perennial bridesmaid Jan Ullrich has announced his retirement. No team even wanted to touch the former champion.
It's a sad time for the guy who was Lance Armstrong's biggest rival. Ullrich won the tour back in 1997, but could never again do better than second. After Armstrong retired, the German cyclist was supposed to be the dominator in 2006. Instead, Ullrich got implicated in a huge doping scandal that rocked the Tour. One day before the start of the race, Ullrich was booted from the lineup and banned.
As the doping investigation gained steam over the summer, the T-Mobile team he raced for, fired him. He's been without a team since then.
But in a strange twist, Ullrich's absence will benefit a Montana racer. Levi Leipheimer is a dark horse who just won the 2007 Tour of California. He also won the Tour of Germany and other pro tours you probably never heard of. He comes into the Tour de France with no drug taint, ready to be the new star. By the end of the hill climbs, Leipheimer's name will be a household word.
He rides for the Discovery Channel team. Originally, that team was considering signing Ullrich, but chose the American instead.
TEST YOURSELF IN THE 2007 POWDER KEG
It's one of the most grueling races of the winter: 5,000 vertical feet in the backcountry of Alta. The Black Diamond Powder Keg has a bunch of categories for those who want a challenge; including the new relay race cat for those who don't want to test themselves too much. Don't worry if you're a novice, there is a recreational cat too.
The race is March 17-18, and yes, there will be schwag for the winners. For more info, call Black Diamond at (801) 278-0233. Register online at BDEL.COM/POWDERKEG.
HOLCOMB BACKSTORY
Steve Holcomb is the new bobsled World Cup champion, and America's best hope for an Olympic gold medal in 2010.
But his victory really began back in 2002, when he had to watch the Olympics on television from his Park City home instead of being an athlete in the Games.
Backstory: The top U. S. men's bobsledder at the time was a former kickboxer named Todd Hays. Hays was the all-important driver; Holcomb was just one of the three "brakemen." It was his job to push the sled to top speed, then jump in and sit quiet while Hays drove the sled down the track. As soon as Holcomb joined that sled team, Hays began winning. But at the last minute, mere weeks before the Olympics, Hays booted Holcomb from his sled and chose another brakeman.
Holcomb accepted the decision with grace, hiding his crushing disappointment, and ended up watching the games on TV from his Park City home. But inside, he seethed. He was determined to come back as a driver, where no one else could decide his competitive fate.
It took two years of hard training, but then the rookie driver began rising through the ranks. Finally, in the sweetest victory of his life, Holcomb was pitted directly against Hays in a team trial. The winner would be top dog and drive the top sled, USA 1. Holcomb won. Hays retired a few weeks later.
Now Holcomb is the World Cup champion. It's the sweetest kind of revenge.