BOWLES' BLOG:

Janyk robbed of bronze medal in Wengen

By Gordie Bowles, S-Media

Can anyone explain to me why alpine skiing doesn’t use instant replay? If the NHL can have Colin Campbell parked in front of a TV screen in a cozy Toronto studio making the call, why can’t Guenter Hujara — or some other FIS official — do the same?

It’s not like we need to have a rocket scientist or even resources thrown at this. It would cost zero and require minimal effort to always officiate World Cup ski racing. Heck, I’ve got a fantastic Samsung LCD that works like a charm, give me a call, FIS!

When you have 60,000 screaming fans staring at a Jumbotron, plus the millions watching worldwide on high-definition TV, it’s pretty clear when someone fouls. In alpine racing, the No. 1 all-time controversial foul is the ol' straddle, which Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Grange showed us in plain view on Sunday in the men’s slalom in Wengen.

Unfortunately for the Canucks, this blunder — or lack of catching it — cost Canadian Michael Janyk his second-ever World Cup medal.

Crazy if you ask me.

Rogers Sportsnet colour man (and S-Mag columnist) Brian Stemmle, who likely has the sharpest set of eyes in Canadian media, caught the straddle while he was calling the race and shortly after posted a bit on his Facebook page that caused a stir.

Stemmle’s post: “The gate is bent already and his arm guard hasn't even reached the gate. Old rules stated that as long as your boot goes around the gate it’s ok. The new rules are different. Your boots and ski tips must pass through the imaginary line. I clearly (ok maybe a little blurry here) believe he has straddled, moving Janyk from 4th to 3rd.”

Of the many comments on this post, my favourite was from former World Cup winner Genevieve Simard: “Agreed. Sucks for Mike! Good catch!”

So back to my point of instant replay. Here’s the convoluted process: Park a FIS pro with an operating set of eyes (20-20 preferred) in front of a TV monitor. Pretty tricky, eh?

At present, the process is that a nation must protest to the FIS jury shortly after the race, where at that point the jury may — or may not — review video to determine the proper account of the action or infraction. To me, this protest system is actually quite silly. Imagine watching a 100-metre sprint final where a sprinter has a false start but everyone forgets to officially protest, so the race goes into the books.

To me it’s simple. If there’s video and an official (I’m talking World Cup here, not a K1 race!) then protests for this type of infraction is an unnecessary step.

If I were a real stickler for details (thankfully I’m not), I’d say Grange should actually be sanctioned by the FIS for violating the rule that states that the racer can be disqualified if, “continues to race after committing a gate fault (art. 614.2.2)”. Who knows, maybe Grange didn’t notice that gate when it was being slammed by his left ski ... but I doubt it.

The bottom line to this blog is that Janyk should have celebrated his second-best finish last night (he finished second in 2006 at Beaver Creek), but instead he settled for his third career fourth-place finish. Yikes, anyone remember the old SRC cover “Fourth to be Reckoned With” with his big sister Britt?

Comments? E-mail editor@s-media.ca. S-Magazine