Olympics

[n1devil]

Does anybody know when Senior Inline Hockey teams are to be part of the Olympic games? If so, where can I get info about qualifications, rules, capital investment needed, etc?
Thanks in advance, guys
Mikey

[nummer55]

Because there are three international federations on this planet (IIHF, FIRS, IISHF) there is not a clear structure in the world of roller hockey. FIRS has come the closest with there plans to introduce roller sports to the IOC, but they also failed last year (and the main plan was to introduce speed skating). These three federations first need to find a way to work together before anything will happen. Another problem is the fact that the IOC is ditching team sports (I believe rugby for example) and wants more individual sports.

[degani00]

I'd like to see your opnions about this whole federations issue

[ACCCT2]

Actually, FIRS was offered the chance by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to have 'inline' roller hockey added to the Olympics Games in the mid-90's, but being "FIRSt" a classical "quad"/"figures" NGB, they tried "twist" the IOC's arms by making their (FIRS') acceptance of the IOC offer contingent on the IOC adding "quad"/"figures" (as well as other non-'inline' hockey disciplines like "speed", etc.), which the IOC refused (then) to consider and therefore caused our sport to lose probably its BEST-ever chance of becoming an "Olympic" sport...

It's pretty much very well-known within inner International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) circles that many of the IIHF people consider 'inline' hockey as something that they should not be in any way 'sanctioning' or involved with and many of them want out of it, but because of pressure from USA Hockey (USAH) -- and the fact that USAH (illegally?) used ice hockey membership monies to (illegally?) 'purchase' the National Inline Hockey Association (NIHA) membership 'sanctioning' (and 'insuring'?) rights (?) without NIHA members or USAH members specific and expected approval, which should quite frankly speak volumes of their true (and legally questionable?) commitment to the sport -- the IIHF has been, needless to say, a very reluctant, ineffective and non-advocating "advocate" of the sport and its "Olympic" ambitions and potential...

Finally, because of the ridiculously irresponsible, short-sighted and selfishly-motivated FIRS vs IIHF war of attrition over the sport's international 'sanctioning' rights -- "serving the good order of who?", I might sarcastically ask (especially of the IIHF) -- a "winnerless war" that has probably hopelessly 'poisoned' any sponsor demand for its "Olympic" inclusion -- I might hazard to say that there's not a "proverbial-snowball's-chance-in-Hell" that we'll be seeing our beloved sport gloriously "be-medalled" with "Olympic Gold, Silver and Bronze" anytime soon...

A little related 'aside' you might be interested in --

USAH was expecting, and actually, financially 'betting' ice hockey membership monies on the IOC eventually RE-considering their ("FIRSt") spurned offer to the sport's NGB's -- USAH ONLY saw the millions and millions of "Olympic" sponsorship dollars dancing around their heads (and into their bank and 4-star-plus expense accounts) whenever they thought of the millions of grass-roots players of the game in the USA -- unfortunately, this was well-past-the-90's "buzz" and excitement for the game, and especially as the world-wide "grass-roots" participation does not translate or exist (enough at least) elsewhere in the IOC's world for the IOC to "RE-consider" its position on the sport's true "Olympic" viabilty, that 'bet-upon' expectation of the IOC "RE-considering" never panned-out as planned for USAH's 'investment' (of hard-earned ice hockey membership monies) in the sport...

So NOW, USAH is stuck with the "hopelessly-lame-sure-thing-of-a-racehorse" that they (illegally?) used ice hockey membership monies to "buy" into -- very much like an 'embezzler' using pension/company/membership monies -- without proper and expected permission -- to facilitate or "buy into" an outside "sure thing" of a business or investment for themselves, eh...!?! If USAH ice hockey membership were to actually do a comprehensive and thorough "forensic accounting" on USAH's books, expenditures, contracts, hirings and financial shennanigans, hmmm, what else would they find? What else don't they know about "who" and "what" and "where" their hard-earned membership monies are really "going" to and being spent upon? Might they (USAH membership) even have cause to bring civil and even plausibly criminal charges for such "misuse" and/or "misappropriation" of their hard-earned money and membership funds?

Interesting, umm, "opinion", isn't it...

Oh, and BTW -- FIRS is the ONLY "officially" and "legally" IOC-sanctioned International Governing Body for the sport (hence, there is indeed "a clear structure" internationally) -- any claim by the IIHF or USAH to the contrary would be an outright lie and/or misrepresentation designed to have IIHF-Inline and especially USAH-Inline membership keep sending in their hard-earned membership monies, fees and dues (for their very expensive and "lame" horse). I also believe that legally -- that is, in accordance with US Legal Code ("US Federal Law") -- even the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) is obligated to acknowlege and recognize the FIRS-affiliated NGB, USA Roller Sports (USARS), as the sole "official" NGB of the sport in the USA.

I think we all know about the IIHF and its history and reach within the sport via its IIHF-Inline wing. As for the International Inline-Skater-Hockey Federation (IISHF), I don't think that an organization that apparently rosters a grand total of 9 countries (Austria; Denmark; Germany; Israel; Netherlands; Poland; Russia; Switzerland and the UK) from basically 1 continent (Europe, with Israel being the only exception) can really call itself a legitimate contender for the international IOC "Olympic" sanctioning/governance rights (and besides, IISHF play uses a ball).

[dan sangiorgio]

well i think that if usa inline was sanction by the ioc instead of firs and usars things would be in a much better situtation usa inline aligns its with narch and the ncrha. while firs wants to promote gay **** like roller dancing to oic. also its very clear where all the top players play..... narch, ncrha, piha is starting to come on strong as well. so say what you want about usa hockey insurance fraud or whatever.

[ACCCT2]

THIS is a PRIME example of why the sport goes absolutely nowhere -- the inexplicably small-minded, idiotic and ignorant acceptance of mediocrity, malfeasance, corruption, fraud and misappropriation of legally-defined international "sanctioning" rights simply because some ill-informed (to say the least!) players seem to think that (1) this kind of behavior is actually OK, and that (2) NARCh, NCRHA and PIHA actually GET anything from USAH-Inline in its FREELY plastering their USAH-Inline name and logo all-over these entities own hard work and membership, and (3) that simply because USAH-Inline is smart enough to get COST-FREE advertising and association, as well as UN-due credit for having ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH ACTUALLY BUILDING the league/sport entities "where all the top players play...NARCh, NCRHA, PIHA...", you actually think that THIS does ANY good for the sport? GOOD THING for all of us that YOU're NOT running things, eh...!?!

And lastly, I personally don't have a lot of respect for anyone who thinks that denigrating and insulting other worthy and highly-practiced sports (and by extension, insinuated "orientations") with what's clearly meant to be negatively-construed terms like "gay" being carelessly and callously used in a derogatory and demeaning way -- normally, I myself would refrain from intellectually 'descriptive' terms like "small-minded, idiotic and ignorant", but I think that YOU clearly earned them in your post...

[William Bourque]

You keep saying "(illegally?)" in your post. What information do you have that states it's illegal, or are you just unsure?

[dan sangiorgio]

usa hockey people may not put any work into the success of things such as narch and ncrha ect but i bet if they were the national governing board the people like darren from narch would hopefully get a chance to put there efforts into making roller hockey legit in terms of ioc and even ncaa which will more likly come first on a small scale.
and i didn't say people who skate dance are gay i used the word "gay"(notice that i used quotations right btw) in terms of it being lame, boring, not of interest on the level of other sports the i would consider as roller sports which would be like x game stuff. and i would also like to see some proof of all this "illigal stuff. as a player that has played travel ice in the atlatic district at the highest levels growing up i would say usa hockey has its act together and is much more profesional then the aau hockey.

Also maybe you should post your name and what backround in hockey you have

[Brianh]

He is a "fossil" from the advertising industry

[quick_dry]

I think it'd be hard to say that the infighting between FIRS and IIHF hasn't hurt the sport. it is a shame every country has to jump through hoops held up by either IIHF or FIRS affiliated bodies because theyr'e the ones with IOC recognition when a body that only cared about inline hockey would serve the sport much better - much the way IIHF cares about ice hockey.

AFAIK the quad hockey in Barcelona was not surprising as the version FIRS chose, but IIRC it was a dismal failure. I think chances might be better of getting inline in as the Asian teams improve, given inclusion in big events like Asian games, and then host nations getting to choose demonstration sports.

[skooled]

I think roller just needs to pick an association. it seems to be the straw that will break the camels back

[ACCCT2]

What IS it with some of you people (especially those with almost the unbelievably ignorant logic like "dan sangiorgio" anyway) -- you wonder why the game is in the sad and sickly sorry state that it's clearly in image-wise; you wonder why absolutely NO major sponsors support it in spite of its "grass-roots" participation numbers -- GEEZ, just look at your own attitudes towards those shiesterish "shinney-charletans" who pretend and presume to "run" and "sanction" the game -- you actually think it's OK for a National Governing Body (NGB) to violate Federal Law, commit fraud, malfeasance, anti-trust, tort, mis-use and misappropriate hard-earned membership and sposorship monies, as well as do basically nothing for the sport --

ASK Darren Goodwin (of NARCh) just "how much" USAH-Inline "contributes" (financially or otherwise) to have their USAH-Inline name and logo plastered all-over Darren's hard work, tournaments and business (especially in light of the thousands of NARCh players and teams paying their hard-earned money/fees to USAH-Inline for NARCh events) --

ASK any of the NCRHA officials or administrators just "how much" USAH-Inline "contributes" or "gives back" (financially or otherwise) to again, have their USAH-Inline name and logo plastered all-over the NCRHA's hard work, organization and events (again, especially in light of the nearly 200 collegiate and university teams and 2,500 players paying their hard-earned money/fees to USAH-Inline for NCRHA events) --

ASK Charlie Yoder (of PIHA) or any of the PIHA owners, officials or players just exactly "how much" USAH-Inline "contributes" (financially or otherwise) to the "development" and "growth" of the PIHA league/concept for, yet again, having USAH-Inline's name and logo plastered all-over the hard work, dedication and financial commitmet and risk of dozens of PIHA owners and sponsors, as well as thousands of PIHA players (and yet again, especially in light of the thousands of players paying their hard-earned money/fees to USAH-Inline for PIHA leagues, tournaments and events) --

While I suspect that any one of the above-mentioned NARCh, NCRHA or PIHA owners, officials and/or administrators might not be brave or candid or confident enough to say anything "on the record", I guarantee you, they're probably wondering, "YEAH, just exactly WHAT DO we get for that, anyway?"

I may be a "fossil", but after all of the nonsensical, amateurish and almost delusional ideas, propositions and logic that I've read on this site on how to secure the advertising, sponsorship and media exposure and support that the game needs for especially "professional" viability, I know that absolutely know a heck-uva LOT MORE than virtually anyone else on this board does about advertising, marketing and sponsorship --

I also know that absolutely know a heck-uva LOT MORE than a lot here do (and especially what "dan sangiorgio" does) about USA Hockey and its NGB "operation" supposedly having its "act together", supposedly being "more professional" and what really goes on with "how" and "what" and "on who" they spend hard-earned membership and sponsorship monies -- in fact, just ask yourself some reasonable questions regarding easily researched and documented -- EASY questions like:

Where DOES well over $20,000,000 USD in hard-earned member and sponsorship monies "go" and get spent upon...??? On "who"...??? On "what"...??? And "How much"...??? --

How many UN-bid, UN-announced and UN-contested 5-&-6-figure "contracts", "hirings", and (essentially "retirement") "consultancies" DOES hard-earned member and sponsorship monies pay for...??? --

How DOES USAH get way with the clear sham of a National Team Development Program (NTDP) that essentially takes a D-1 college ice hockey player and, WOW, turns them into, OH, WOW -- GET THIS, a D-1 college ice hockey player -- all at the wonderfully UN-bid cost to hard-earned member and sponsorship monies of well over $40,000 USD per-player...!?! --

How DOES USAH get away with actually cutting the USA Women's player stipend and training time (while USAH officials, families and cronies enjoy a 4-&-5-star lifestyle at hard-earned membership expense), smugly justifying their "cutting" decision with their shinney-sage logic that, "It's going to come down to Canada and the USA anyway, so why do we need to spend the extra time and money on them..." -- and in the "2-horse-race" that was supposed to be USAH's "sure thing" of at least a "Silver" medal in the XX Olympic Winter Games in Turin, Italy, the US Women finished, what...3rd...!?! --

With well over $20,000,000 USD in hard-earned member and sponsorship monies available for the expected purpose of doing so, as well as having, oh, just around 60 "National Staff" people at just the USAH "National" offices alone, how DOES USAH get away with their inexplicably and inexcusably NOT arranging-for and actually getting the USA Men's National Olympic Team to Turin and the XX Olympic Winter Games -- especially when USAH officials made DAMN SURE that their own families, friends, cronies and selves were afforded that very same apparently too-expensive luxury at membership expense for themslves (this was very well documented with Mike Modano's outrage at USAH for the fiasco) ...!?! --

With a population of over 300,000,000, as well as over 7,000,000 known ice hockey players and over 500,000 USAH registered ice hockey players (and again, well over $20,000,000 USD in hard-earned member and sponsorship monies to "assist" in what should be a much easier "goal" with all of these numbers figured in), WHY HASN'T USAH gotten MORE "bang-for-OUR-bucks" in terms of "Olympic" and "World Championship" medals...??? --

WHY DOES USAH have SO MANY "same faces" (as Mike Modano sarcastically observed) associated with DECADES-long history of not just losing, but inexplicable embarrassment and failure (and ALL generously paid-for with hard-earned member and sponsorship monies) still there -- they certainly have NO PROBLEM letting "can't-cut-it-anymore-losers" like Brian Leetch and Cammi Granato go with unprofessionally humiliating and rude treatment -- WHY ARE those "same faces" at USAH (responsible for the losing) still there collecting their clearly un-earned paychecks and spending millions and millions of hard-earned member and sponsorship monies on 4-&-5-star "junkets" around the globe, basically to pat themselves and each other on the back, play golf and go sailing...??? --

Hmmm, "act together" and "more professiona", eh -- YEAH, I can REALLY see that one...!?!

As for "dan sangiorgio" (or anyone for that matter) needing "some proof" of "illegal stuff" and all that is easily "provable" -- do your own research and due-diligence, as I absolutely don't work-for or answer to any of you -- ALL of what I've mentioned (and YES, MORE!) is easily researchable and readily available...

And finally -- I may indeed be "a fossil", but I also know a derogatory and innappropriate 'slur' whenver I see or hear one, and that was a "slur", as well as clearly intended as one...

[MBurke]

The argument gets more and more convincing to remove the ability to format text on here every day...I'm not here to be the grammar police or MLA, but please try to cut down the formatting on your posts. They're extremely difficult to read when half of every sentence is boldface, and I think that writing that is poor or difficult to read causes many to skim your writings, which means the valid and salient points that you do have are getting lost.

I'm only going to comment on my area of expertise.

ASK any of the NCRHA officials or administrators just "how much" USAH-Inline "contributes" or "gives back" (financially or otherwise) to again, have their USAH-Inline name and logo plastered all-over the NCRHA's hard work, organization and events (again, especially in light of the nearly 200 collegiate and university teams and 2,500 players paying their hard-earned money/fees to USAH-Inline for NCRHA events) --

Subsidy of a large portion of the cost of our national event, staffing and travel expenses for said event (including Bill Courtland doing live play-by-play radio), banners and other provisions for teams that win at the event, plus travel to and staffing of various regional events, such as our ECRHA Ref Clinic this weekend and Columbus Day tournament. Not to mention that I've worked individually with them on numerous documents and they're always available to help when I pick up the phone with a question or request.

I'm not going to say they're breaking the bank on their relationship with NCRHA, but the insinuation that they just take membership money and run (from NCRHA) is unfounded at best.

[ACCCT2]

I forgot, you'd rather have the simplistic nonsense of "who's better" and "where do you live", right...

Look at it this way, Mike, you should be happy that an old "fossil" like me has figured out how to use the editing feature...!!!

[MBurke]

I forgot, you'd rather have the simplistic nonsense of "who's better" and "where do you live", right...

Look at it this way, Mike, you should be happy that an old "fossil" like me has figured out how to use the editing feature...!!!

Post edited above with actual content.

Happy reading.

I'll add that USAHIL does not PLASTER their name over anything really - the only spot where they're on anything of NCRHA's in a prominent fashion is that of the National Tournament (which as mentioned above is subsidized heavily and staffed)