Foreign Intelligence Brief #349: Euro Soccer Dads Are Terrifying

And you thought Canadian hockey dads were scary? Check these Polish pops as they cheer on their 11 and 12 year old kids at last Wednesday’s Lech Cup. Kudos to the kids for not peeing all over themselves. (via TDW)

Note To Olympic Athletes: Best Wear Your Cleanest Underwear

This video of UK bobsledder Gillian Cooke’s wardrobe malfunction has been making the rounds. Pow!

When You Make It To The Podium, This Is How You Sing Oh Canada…

Chandra Crawford singing Oh Canada after winning gold at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino for her kickass cross-country sprint. Have you ever seen anyone so damn proud?

Eleven Minutes With Alexa Loo, Olympic Snowboarding Veteran

Alexa Loo is a veteran local snowboarder who will be competing against the world’s best in the 2010 Olympics held here on her own mountain (how sweet is that?). Just a few weeks ago, she won a bronze medal in the Parallel Giant Slalom at Copper Mountain, Colorado’s Race to the Cup, so we’re stoked for her chances this winter. Do us even prouder, Alexa. Freakin’ giv’er.

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Scout Q&A

The thing that you eat that is bad for you that you will never stop eating: Beef jerky.

Default drink: Beer.

Drink you’ll never have again: Rum and coke.

Best thing about the B.C. in the Winter: Skiing/snowboarding in fresh snow.

Best thing about the BC in the Summer: Patios after golfing or mountain biking.

Best hotel room, ever: Mandarin Oriental in Munich.

Top two mountains in the world: Whistler, Blackcomb.

Best post ride indulgence: Ice cream while sitting in a hot bath.

Book you’re reading: Bhagavad Gita. I am intrigued by the Hindu religion/philosophy.

Last place traveled: Soelden, Austria. Or do you mean a vacation travel spot? In that case it is NYC…love it there!

Biggest fear: Being hungry and alone.

Pre-competition superstitions: None.

If you could rename yourself: I wouldn’t, although I probably will change my last name when I get married.

Your ancestry: Dad is Chinese and Mom is French and English. Mixed race kids are the cutest (that is not just my opinion!!).

Under what circumstances would you join the army: If the uniform were pink. No, seriously, if Canada went to war, then I would consider signing up.

Your paternal grandfather’s personal story: He came to Canada from China around 1908 or so as an apprentice in order to avoid the head tax. When he arrived in Vancouver he took an English name: Charlie. He had a Chinese/Canadian restaurant in Flin Flon, Manitoba and then he moved on to a corner store in Vancouver. My grandfather had a stroke when I was 4 and couldn’t really speak. I was not able to speak with him very well or get to know him. He died when I was 8.

What are you proud of: My work ethic that was instrumental in helping me become an Olympian.

The thing that makes you the angriest: When people who cannot fight for themselves are taken advantage of or mistreated, particularly children.

The view from your favourite window: Grouse Mountain with snow on it.

Favourite ice cream flavour: Chocolate.

Most beautiful body of water: Strait of Georgia.

Talent you wish you possessed: I would love to be able to sing Opera.

The trend you wish you never followed, but did: Overalls.

Musical instrument you long to master: Cello.

If you couldn’t snowboard which would you pick up first, a skateboard, skis, or a surfboard? Skis.

Who were you mentors in Snowboarding? Mark Fawcett, Jasey-Jay Anderson.

The game you’re best at: Marco Polo, or pretty much any game played in the pool against my snowboard teammates.

Mac or PC: Don’t care, but I have a Mac currently.

The number of fist fights you’ve been in: 0.

The scariest situation you’ve ever been in: First on scene at a fatal bus crash.

Local person you admire most: Tamara Taggart.

The thing you’re most ashamed of: Being jealous.

Best concert experience ever: Il Trovatore at the Met in NYC last year.

Your first board: Gnu Antigravity.

Describe your tattoos: A thunderbird with a wave coming over it and the sun coming up in the background. I swam and rowed for UBC in and on the water at the crack of dawn.

The dish you’re proud of: Roast lamb.

The thing that makes you the most nervous: People who don’t believe that we should be teaching our kids competition or physical education in school, especially if those people are teachers [helping the students] to prepare for the world after grade school.

Town you were born in: Vancouver.

Old television shows you can tolerate re-runs of: MASH and Little Mosque on the Prairie.

First memory: Playing with play-doh in the kitchen.

What are you listening to as you answer these questions? My stomach growl.

Album that first made you love music: INXS, Kick.

Default junk food: Granola bars.

The career path you considered but never followed: Hotel management. I love hotels!

Two things you miss most about home when you’re on the road: Quiet. My own room.

Two websites you visit every day: Hotmail. Facebook.

The first three things you do every morning: Wash face, brush teeth, eat breakfast.

The thing you’re addicted to: Lip balm. Vaseline Intensive Care.

Biggest hope: World Peace – or at least for kids to grow up playing sports and loving life.

Luckiest moment of your life: When Mark Fawcett agreed to coach the National team.

Favourite book as a child: Encyclopedia Brown.

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This was the 65th interview of what will eventually amount to 500 profiles of people who have made life in BC that much more interesting. At the rate we’re going it’ll take three years, at which time we’ll probably just start shooting for 1,000.

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OTHER COOL PEOPLE

Sundin Signs With Canucks

Sorry about the rick-rolling, folks. I just couldn’t resist the low-hanging fruit. To be honest, I had a good feeling when I published this late last night (despite news out of New York to the contrary), and I’m very pleased my fooling turned out to be correct. You can read the news, breaking right now here…

“I am truly excited to be joining the Canucks,” said Sundin. “Once I made the decision to return to play a few weeks ago, the Vancouver opportunity was simply the best overall fit. I want to thank Mike Gillis and the entire Canucks organization for their professionalism throughout this entire process.”

Huzzah! Another Swede, only older.

Q&A: Olympian Nikola Girke

Each week, Scout poses 60 questions to a local who has made life in BC that much more interesting. They pick and choose. The minimum response is 20 answers. A Rorschach test, for sure…

This week, we talk to Vancouverite Nikola Girke, one of only a handful of athletes who has made the transition from one sport to another to compete in two different events at two different Olympic Games (470 Sailing at the 2004 Games in Athens and Windsurfing in Beijing this past summer). She is a five time Canadian Women’s Windsurf Champion, an avid surfer, and a wonderful dining companion.

The scariest situation you’ve ever been in: I used to live in Maui and became quite a proficient surfer. On this particular day my friend and I decided to go out at Ho’okipa to surf at Lanes, which is just left of the point of Ho’okipa and a bit less full-on. It was fairly big that day but not out of our league…yet. We paddled out and decided that we’d catch the shoulders of the waves as the peaks were scary and there were too many people trying to catch the peak. Both of us were on long boards which meant that we weren’t able to duck-dive through the wave, and that we were waiting to catch the waves a little further out than the guys on the short boards. This alone, put us the the position to be further outside and in prime position for the larger sets that would come through. I was getting pretty anxious, hoping and praying that I’d just catch the next wave in, all the way to shore, and then call it a day. Luckily, I caught a nice wave that took me right to the beach – what a relief but at the same time that ride was so incredibly exciting. The adrenaline of it all made me want to do it all over again. My friend caught the next wave and together we decided to go out for just one more wave. I was paddling back out in front of him, and was paddling at speed when I saw an “outside” set. Already in waves that seemed like the size of houses, the waves that were coming in the distance were enormous. There was nowhere to go but keep paddling out to sea. If I stayed where I was then, I would have been in the impact zone and just been pounded. I paddled in a fury. I made it over the first wave, pfewf, was able to look back and see that my friend had made it too. Then I looked ahead – in front of me was the biggest wave I have ever faced and it was nearing it’s breaking point. My paddling stepped into the next gear – turbo overdrive. I was now paddling up the wave as it was already starting to feather and all I needed to do was get over it….The top of the wave broke over me, my board and I went through the wave, my leash got pulled tugging me back and I thought I was going to get taken by the wave backwards, but luckily the surge stopped and I landed hard on the other side. I looked around in relief to see only one other guy had made it over this wave. Both of us were absolutely exhausted and relieved. My friend did not get through, along with about 30 others that got absolutely worked. Spooked beyond belief, he went in. Now it was my turn to make it in….but that meant I had to catch a wave in. I chose well and was able to ride a wave almost all the way in. Once in, we took pictures and continued to watch as monstrous waves continues to crash, glad we weren’t out there anymore. We reckoned that the wave that almost took me down had an 18 foot face at least, something I never want to experience again….!

Three things about your neighbourhood that make you want to live there: diverse, convenient, great food.

The thing that you eat that is bad for you that you will never stop eating: cinnamon buns

Favourite Vancouver bridge: Lions Gate Bridge.

One thing you’d like to change about Vancouver: less rain.

Cheap place for dinner: Kam’s Place on Davie. They have great food and with the Georgia
Straight coupon it’s a 2 for 1 deal.

Book you’re reading: Jan Wong’s China.

Last place traveled: China.

Biggest fear: failure.

Your ancestry: German.

Dumbest purchase ever: I buy things that are too small for me thinking that I’ll fit into them soon.

What are you proud of: I don’t quit – my ability to stick with projects to the end.

The thing that makes you the angriest: having people put words into my mouth.

Saddest thing about Vancouver: the downtown east side.

Food your mom makes better than anyone: Our traditional Christmas dinner: goose or duck, potato dumplings, red cabbage, cranberry sauce, brussel sprouts, gravy. She makes it for Thanksgiving and Easter too!

Talent you wish you possessed: the ability to sing.

Mac or PC: Mac.

Three things of no value that you will keep until you die: my teddy bear Felix, pictures, my late father’s journal.

Biggest hope: to win a gold medal at the Olympic Games in 2012.

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Visit Nikola’s website at NikolaGirke.com