The Joy & Virtue Of Sport, Tallahassee NTF Pictures, New Links

The Joy & Virtue Of Sport: Until I read about what happened at Trolley Square on Andrew Love’s website, I was entirely unaware of the situation. I don't watch much tv you see, and the websites that I read are mostly related to skating, sports, politics, philosophy, & religion. Andrew wrote so well about the whole incident and how he and we relate to it. It made me think about how I and how skating relates to all of the negative and positive things that surround us.

I’ve always been a pacifist and an optimist, but there are a lot of things that I don’t understand in our world and there are some that just make me shake my head. The vicious acts, the hurt we put on each other, the pain we let happen, the sad things we encourage, and all the things that we don't know but we should know, and we could know if we made an effort.

If you visit the website Unembedded (caution, there’s a lot of graphic images) which features the work of four unembedded photojournalists on the war in Iraq, and watch the video, you’ll hear a few quotes that say

‘...we were also proof that often, when one man is confronted with the humanity of another, he will not raise his rifle and pull the trigger. This is not disloyalty to one's country, it is the thing that makes an end to war...’

‘...we cannot escape the truth of those lost lives, both Iraqi and American...’

‘...we have to look deep inside what it is to be an American, what we've done, who we are as a people; the war should cause that much introspection. It shouldn't be something you can change the channel away from’.

In light of those quotes, I have always thought that sport, in its unique shapes and forms, is something that has a great potential to unite us. In this case, when I use the word sport, I don’t focus on the competitive side, but rather on the unity, the joy of being active and healthy, the potential to use emotion and energy in a positive manner. I see a lot of good in sport- in all our weaknesses, our differences, our commonalities, and in all our strenghts, we can be together.

Some years ago, I was racing in a marathon in Cartagena, Colombia. I dropped out of the marathon early on and I sat down on a street corner with a half dozen skaters from different countries, skaters who had also dropped out. One of the skaters said 'You know Pete, who would have ever thought that some day, there would be a guys from Colombia, Brazil, Cuba, Canada, Chile, and Argentina, Guatelala, and Ecuador just sitting here, talking and laughing, on this street corner'. It struck me; here we were, once competitors, and now sitting in the dark just after the sun set, on the side of the loop where there is practically nobody watching the race- we're just talking, laughing, and watching the pack pass by lap after lap. Maybe it was then that I really became addicted to skating; not for what it is, but for what it brings- below are a few pictures of some of the things that skating brings- things that I always want to share through my website;


Chinese Taipei’s Wen Li Lo is all smiles at the 2005 worlds- I think his smile was even bigger when he won a bronze medal at the 2006 world championships in the track 500-meter.

With the ups and the downs, skating brings tears of sadness and tears of joy- just like here. Skating brings us together, it helps us create trusting relationships that will last for years.

I love the world championships because they bring people together- people who might not otherwise be together.

Venezuela, Singapore, India, Mexico- all together, focused in the midst of competition.

I love skating because I often get to travel with friends- like these fine people from Ottawa at the 2006 Canadian Championships

The media, like Colombia’s excellent photographer Luis Ramirez, are usually on hand to capture the racing action and the special moments that skating brings.

Country mates sticking together- here USA skaters pose near the OutBack’s tent at the 2006 world championships. If you haven't seen skaters mingle at worlds, it's really nice to watch and even better to be a part of. Country mates share allegiences with each other and share ties and friendships with skaters from beyond their national and cultural borders

The partying after the racing, the atmosphere is usually electric- my Mexican friends here don’t look too thrilled, but they were quite jolly that night! At the party after worlds, we're all on the same level- last place skaters sharing straight vodka with gold medal winners!

Tallahassee NTF Pictures: I hope you have time on your hands. If you do, then you’ve got some 1300 pictures to browse through from the Tallahassee NTF meet. I’ve embedded a couple of the pictures below.



New Links: Check them while they’re hot: MDQ Patin, Kwang Min Noh, POL Roller Skating, Ride On Lille, and ShorttrackOnLine.Info.

MDQ Patin has a report from the Copa Mar Del Plata Marathon which was contested this past weekend.


The women racing it out at the Copa Mar Del Plata Marathon

Since I've got your attention on the international front, you can continue to visit the threat 2007 World Cup Skaters!? for an ongoing commentary and analysis courtesy Bill Begg. I woke up this morning to his latest two interesting posts dealing with the top men's individual/ team by team/ coutry-by-country skaters.


2005 Northshore Inline Marathon World Cup in Duluth- one of the Presti brothers (2nd) keeping a check on things behind him while Jorge Botero (Rollerblade) looks on as well