Byline: Joe Layden
Maybe you missed it. In fact, you probably missed it. July, after all, is not traditionally the time when a sports fan's thoughts turn to bobsledding. That doesn't happen until ... well, actually, I'm not sure when it happens, but it must happen sometime.
Anyway, if you were watching carefully, you might have noticed that the U.S. Bobsled Federation conducted its Olympic Trials last week in Lake Placid, and that a portion of the process was known as the individual brakeman competition. This test, ironically, has nothing to do with stopping a sled; rather, it has to do with starting one.
It is a very simple, almost primal, test of power. A man stands alone behind a 350-pound sled. When directed to do so, he pushes the sled 15 meters. The time it takes him to cover that distance is considered a barometer of his explosiveness. Then he continues on for another 50 meters. The total time supposedly measures overall strength and speed.
Now, you might expect that the winner of this event would automatically be regarded as the top brakeman for the U.S. bobsled team, and indeed that is often the case. But not always. By the time the …
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