Sunday, February 19, 2006

THE THINGS THAT KEEP ME UP AT NIGHT: Can anyone provide insight or refer me to a resource that will provide insight on the following issue: what is the difference in necessary skill sets between bobsled, luge, and skeleton? From what I can ascertain, (a) bobsledding requires the abilities to run fast, jump into a roller coaster car, and be as frictionless as possible; (b) luge necessitates strong arms, the willingness to slide feetfirst, and the aforementioned frictionlessness; and (c) skeleton brings back the running fast thing from bobsled minus the rollercoaster car, adds the willingness to lead with one's head while flying along at 70 mph, and, of course, the de rigueur lack of bodily friction. Am I missing anything?

And how did these three separate sports come into being? Did it all start out as luge, and then there was some Scandinavian Schism of 1704, dividing the world into the feeties and the headies, followed by a big surge of industrialism in the early 20th century that made part of each camp desire something with a little more in the way of machinery?

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