#so… looks like my favorite ski jumper isn’t my favorite ski jumper anymore…?

[mackenskibc]

in case you missed it - mackenzie’s status on FIS website has officially changed to inactive

[ryoyuftw]

Some gems from this week’s Hopplandslaget podcast:

Basically two hours of Clas, Johann, Daniel and Halvor sitting around a table and talking about stuff. Unfortunately y’all don’t speak Norwegian, otherwise I would recommend that you listen to the whole “hoppcast”, but here are at least some of my favorite parts from this week’s episode. (I haven’t listened to all the previous episodes yet, but I’m sure there are lots of gems there too.)

*Everyone’s complimenting Maren Lundby’s commentator debut, saying that she was very good at talking and conveying her expertise* Clas: That’s an incredible journey. I remember when she was 15 years old, when I had known her for two years. That’s the first time she even spoke. (*insert laughter*) I basically didn’t know she was able to speak. And now she’s so good at talking, expressing her opinions and conveying important messages, as well as commentating ski jumping.

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Clas: I was once on a trip to the town where Volkswagen is from. It was very interesting to sit in a pub there on a Tuesday afternoon together with many employees who had just been fired from the VW factory.  Johann: When was it? Clas: Around 2007? No, it must have been a bit later because that was also our first trip with Maren. But she had to go home earlier because she was going to attend middle school for the first time. (*insert laughter*) She had to make it home for her first day of middle school. Johann: This sounds like a joke, but it’s true. Maren has been in the game for a long time.

(Maren did start middle school (8th grade) in 2007 though, so it must have been that year.)

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Johann: Halvor or Danny, do you have any “fun facts” to share with us? Halvor: I don’t have a “fun fact”, but I have a “sad fact” (said in English). Clas: Norwegian or English “sad”? Daniel: That’s exactly was I was thinking! It’s funny how similarly we think despite such a large age difference. (the English word “sad” sounds exactly like the Norwegian word “sæd”, which means “sperm”, so when Halvor said that, Daniel and Clas literally couldn’t stop laughing for five minutes.) Johann: Should I mute them, Halvor? Halvor: No, the kindergarteners can just carry on. So, I have a “trist” (sad in Norwegian) fact. Until Kuusamo... (*interrupted again by loud laughter*) Johann: Now we lost Buskerud (the region where Daniel and Clas are from). They’re out of the game. Halvor: So it was the word “sad”. “Sad fact” is what brought them over the edge.

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Halvor: Didn’t you lose your Twitter account? Daniel: Yes, I lost my Twitter account. I didn’t understand anything. I was trying to log in on my new phone, and then I found out that my Twitter account isn’t registered on my own e-mail address anymore. So someone has hijacked my Twitter account, and I had to make a new one. Johann: That’s sad to hear Daniel. Daniel: I had so many followers, with a blue check and everything. But now I have a new Twitter account that looks like a fake account pretending to be me. Johann: What’s your Twitter name now? Daniel: Good question, I’ll check. Johann: “daniel123″ Halvor: “realfan-tande”

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Johann: Willy Oppland on Twitter asks: “who is the most ticklish foreign ski jumper? I put my money on Dawid Kubacki. He looks ticklish.” Halvor: I can imagine that Eisenbichler is pretty ticklish. Or Killian Peier. Daniel: Because his name is Killian? (”ticklish” in Norwegian is “kilen”, which is close to “Killian”) Halvor: “Kil”ian.

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Johann: Another question from Willy: “do the jumpers practice their greeting that they do to the camera after the jump?” No, it’s just a greeting to the camera. What’s the story behind yours, Daniel? Daniel: The story behind mine is that it’s something my little brother taught me. I started doing it in the 17/18 season after he had passed away, to honor him, in a way. And that’s something I’ve stuck with ever since. Clas: Tommy Ingebrigtsen once did that hand sign with one hand, at the sports gala on TV when we had won “team of the year”. And that turned into a huge debacle. It was so controversial at the time, he was practically portrayed as a satanist. He’s the nicest guy in the world, but he was treated as an awful person. Granted, he looks like he burns churches in his spare time, but he doesn’t. Johann: He’s the nicest guy ever, and a legend in Norwegian ski jumping. Halvor: But to answer the question, I actually did practice Daniel’s greeting in Planica last year. Johann: But what’s the story behind yours, Halvor? Halvor: Well, when I had just started dating my girlfriend, I asked her if she had any suggestions for how I could greet her in the camera. She said she didn’t, and then I came up with... (literally: “broke up with”) No that sounds wrong, I didn’t break up... Johann: “So then I just broke up with her.” Halvor: She didn’t have any suggestions, so I broke it off. No, just kidding. Then I came up with that ear waving thing. Johann: The so-called “moose”, as fans have called it. It kind of looks like antlers. Halvor: Yes, I like “moose”. I just did it jokingly, but then I decided to try it once in a competition. That competition went quite well, and I also got some positive feedback for the greeting, so I continued. And now I feel like it has become kind of a signature move. Then people started suggesting that I was doing a moose-move, and that’s a nice idea. Johann: You didn’t want to go “no, it’s actually just a greeting to my girlfriend”. Halvor: No, that would be way too embarrassing. I like “moose”, and that’s also good advertisement for Norway. A lot of Germans are watching, so if we can advertise for the moose, and get more Germans to go to Norway and take pictures of moose warning signs, then that’s my contribution to “Visit Norway”.

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Johann: Petter Tenstad sent us a list of the number of dsq’s since 2002 in the World Cup. Zografski is on top with 9 dsq’s. Halvor: Oof, that doesn’t sound promising, then I’ll be pretty high on the list. Johann: Muranka is in 2nd, Semenic 3rd, Kevin Bickner 4th. Clas: Bickner must have climbed the list a bit today. Johann: Yes, he actually jumped two places with his dsq today. Halvor: “Disqualified hall of fame”. Johann: But do you know who’s the first Norwegian on the list? Halvor: I’m guessing Fannemel. Clas: I think Johann Forfang might be high on the list. Johann: Not a bad guess, but there are actually two people in front of me. Clas: Is it Linus? Johann: Marius Lindvik has 5 dsq’s. Halvor and I have the same amount with 4 dsq’s. Daniel: Can I share my one dsq story? On the Sunday in Planica with only 30 starters, I thought “Sunday in Planica, no one gets dsq’ed then”, so I wore a new suit that I had never tried before and never measured. Johann: That was a big gamble. “High risk, medium reward”. Daniel: I had such high hopes and said as I left the changing room: “I won’t get dsq’ed on the last day in Planica”. Then I was dsq’ed at the top. Fuck. Johann: But you just stayed up at the top of the hill. Daniel: Yes, that’s what was so funny. I didn’t want to take the lift down again. I hate doing that, since I’m afraid of heights. So then I thought, couldn’t I jump in the 2nd round when there were only 30 people in the competition? So I asked around a bit and got permission, so then I just stayed up there and relaxed. Halvor: These stories are pretty funny in hindsight, but it’s like a “walk of shame” when it happens. In 2015, I was in my first World Cup competition in Lillehammer, and when you’re new, you don’t have all the routine in, so it’s easier to get dsq’ed. And when that happened, I was so fucking embarrassed that the last thing I wanted to do was take the lift back down and be seen by everybody. Johann: There’s no other natural way back down than the lift. Halvor: There’s also the stairs along the hill, but they’re even more exposed. So instead I decided to slide down the long hills in the woods. Then my dad got really worried, wondering “where is my boy?” Johann: That’s a tough hike, a dense forest with lots of snow. Halvor: But now in hindsight, I’m glad I did that, because it turned into a funny story.

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Johann: And Halvor had a little personal “beef” with the person changing the lights today. Halvor: It’s not a personal beef, we have talked it through now. On my last jump, I got the green light, but then when I was ready to take off, it went back to yellow. That put me out of my rhythm when I was about to jump. Johann: What did Borek say about it? Halvor: That he got confused by the TV production, and that he expected them to cut to me, so he gave me the green light, but then they showed Lindvik in the leader box instead, so he panicked and changed it back. It’s a human error. We talked about it later and he apologized. We agreed that it shouldn’t have happened, but he also helped me a lot yesterday, so it all added up.