• On two websites: the IOC only allows the Vancouver Organizing Committee the right to do business on its own inside Canada.
• Not all Olympic sports events go through the lottery method.
• Other credit card companies negotiate similar exclusive rights to what Visa has for this one.

The original article:

I hadn’t really thought of this before, but after reading what Americans have to go through to procure tickets to the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, I thought: what do Canadians have to do? After all, I had read stories about empty seats in Beijing. I suppose that made me think there would always be more supply than demand for Olympic tickets. Not so.

Canadians, like Americans and everyone else, need to enter a lottery too; albeit at a different website (why this is the case is beyond me). The process goes something like this: request an event or ticket package, give them your credit card info, pick some alternates in case you don’t get the ones you want, sit back, hope. Tickets will be allocated in November. Oh, and the only credit card accepted is Visa, ’cause they’re an official sponsor.

Tickets not allocated in the lottery (read: unpopular events) will go on sale in February 2009.

According to the Vancouver 2010 site, more than 100,000 tickets will cost less than $25, and half of the tickets are priced at $100 or less. Snowboarding events were generally priced in the $100 to $150 range from what I could tell. There’s no seat selection process; in fact, I would venture to guess there aren’t any seats at most events anyway. Show up early, I suppose.

It’s great to see there’s so much demand for tickets, and it sounds like the allocation process is relatively fair. It just sucks that many people are likely to be turned away from events they’d like to see due to the demand. But that beats empty seats any day.

A lot of people like to listen to MP3 players or talk on cellular phones. Why not do both when you snowboard?!

I personally love listening to music when I board, but there is no way I would try and have a phone conversation. That is just not necessary. I want to concentrate on my ride and talk later. When I do listen to tunes I have it set at a volume low enough so that I could hear someone yelling to me, “Hey, you’re about to hit a groomer!”

Toques and helmets with built-in speakers seem like a great idea, but isn’t it possible that a lot of people will not use them responsibly? Is this really a good idea? I suppose it’s not about good ideas - it’s about lucrative ones.

I must admit, I wouldn’t mind trying out a helmet like this beauty from Smith.

Not related to snowboarding, I have a great idea for a gadget… a pillow that stays cool. Most of us love flipping over the pillow and enjoying the cold side. Patent Pending!

Sno!zone queried 500 bosses, and the results were kind of hilarious. According to the release, “almost 60 percent [of boses] said listing reading and cooking suggested a lack of imagination or ambition in a candidate, while 82 percent said an interest in extreme sports was an attractive quality, suggesting energy and ambition.”

Awesome. I wonder if bringing the board as a prop to the interview would be a good idea.

You can view the whole press release here.

Well, it was not easy to find, but I got my new board. I did my research and then spent a lot of time trying to find it for sale, which can be very tricky in the summer.

My new ride is a 2009 Lib Tech TRS (with BTX and MTX). What do all of those letters mean? BTX and MTX are both mind bogglingly awesome Mervin innovations. Mervin manufactures both Lib Tech and Gnu boards. I could go on and on about what BTX and MTX are, but basically BTX means the board has a unique bend to it (reverse camber) and MTX means that the edges are actually a bit wavy for more points of contact.

Check out www.lib-tech.com to read a much better and more thorough explanation.

The problem was that Lib Tech has only one distributor anywhere near me and the selection there was incomplete. So I had to do a lot of hunting on the Internet to find someone that was either licensed to sell to Canada or willing to sell to me anyways!

While my snowboard gently weeps, I sit there counting the days on the calendar and keeping a close eye on the weather network hoping the mercury keeps falling.

Do you have a new ride for this season? Will you be getting one? Let us know what you will be, or plan on, shredding with this season.

Here’s what I’m reading today:

• If you’re live in Britain, you face the most expensive ski and snowboard season in a decade. That’s according to the Telegraph’s travel editor, who says thanks to the weak British Pound, prices at European ski resorts will be the most expensive in ten years. Bollocks!
• Is it wrong to shoot a bear that bit a tourist that got in its way? Turns out a bear wandered into Whistler Village recently, and was soon surrounded by curious, camera-toting tourists. One of them got very close to the bear, and was subsequently bit on the leg. The bear was subsequently shot. The tourist is expected to be fine.
• Japan’s Niseko ski resort is siphoning off visitors with its champagne powder. Maybe that will open up Upper Olympic and Lower Olympic just a wee bit more.

I’m not going to post the photos but you can check at least one out by clicking the “Burton Love” link above.

The description of the product on Burton’s website certainly leaves little to the imagination:

“Hi. My name is Love™ and I’m on the market for someone who’s looking to score serious action, no matter where they like to stick it. I enjoy laps through the park; long, hard grinds on my meaty Park Edges followed by a good, hot waxing. Whether you’re hitting it from the front or the back, my mid wide shape, supple flex, and twin tips like it kinky. Keegan and Mikkel love riding me, I hope you will too.”

The board sells for $429.95 on Burton.com and is geared toward park riders. CNN has a brief story on parent reaction here.

Burton is clearly going for the shock factor here, and they do quite a good job. I’m into vibrant snowboard decks, but I’m not sure that includes photos of Playboy bunnies - I’m more into stuff like hilarious cartoons, possibly involving unicorns.

• Tiger Woods.
• Tom Brady.
• That football coach that got run over on the sidelines recently.
• This dude on my ultimate frisbee team.
• Dan Connor from the Carolina Panthers.
• Nate Burleson of the Seattle Seahawks.

What is going on?

It got me thinking: is it possible to prevent ACL tears? According to a litany of articles on the Internet, it is. But how?

• According to a source in this article at First Tracks Online Ski Magazine, focusing on strength and flexibility will help prevent ACL injuries.
• About.com suggests focusing on balance, power and agility will prevent ACL tears. In fact, they reference an entire ACL Injury Prevention Program. Cool.
• FitFAQ.com has the top six exercies to prevent ACL injuries.
• This article at USA today describes how to reduce the likelihood of an injury by 20 to 80 percent. It also features an amazing statistic: “There are an estimated 80,000 annual ACL tears in the USA; 56,000 occur during sports.” Wow.

I can tell you, prior to my tear I certainly wasn’t thinking of prevention at all.

• Of the top 100 ski holidays, which are best for snowboarders, and why? The Telegraph tells it all.
• The economic downturn won’t affect the ski resort industry. Or maybe it will. Truth is, no-one knows for sure.
• It’s time to get in shape for the hills! Here’s an obligatory story that seems to come out at the start of every season advising people how to avoid injury on the ski hill through preparation (quick version: core strength, flexibility, endurance, strengthening).
• Did you know that Torah Bright sometimes skis just for kicks?

Happy Friday!