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| In the beginning- Gene and son AJ in February 1999. |
STORY No. 47
GENE BROWN
Age 54
Fox River Grove, IL
Norge Ski Club
Most of the stories thus far have
originated from former ski jumping athletes relating fond memories of
on-the-hill experiences with their fellow “brothers” of the sport, composed of
a small fraternity of which I will never be a part. The recollections and
perspectives developed from their involvement in the sport has not only
uniquely impacted their lives, but is also pertinent to me as a
non-jumper looking in from a different point of view.
Growing up I was always enamored
and awed with this, my favorite winter Olympic sport, which was only reinforced
when I watched the infamous introduction of ABC’s Wide World of Sports “Agony
of Defeat”. As I lived south of
Philadelphia on the East Coast, there was no practical chance that I would have
the opportunity to participate in my favorite extreme sport except as a television
viewer.
My introduction to the sport, its
people and culture, arrived a couple of decades later quite by accident. My
wife, daughter and I moved to Fox River Grove in the early 90’s. At the time, I
was quite involved with snowmobiling as a motor sport which consumed most of my
weekends during the winter.
Only several years later after
the birth of my son, did we discover Norge Ski Club during a wonderfully sunny
and pleasant fall day. As my 3 year old sat by my side, watching athletes fly
off this huge jump and landing on plastic far down the hill, he exclaimed with
a big smile and the enthusiasm that only a little child could produce - that he
wanted to do that! A flashback of that poor skier on TV, spectacularly crashing
off the end of the in-run popped into my head as I replied, quite less
enthusiastically, “Sure son, sure”.
Upon hearing several loud “booms”
as A.J. hit the floor jumping off our stairs in the house over those next
months, Lori and I knew that with his determination to jump, his chances of
breaking a leg at the ski jump were probably less than that of doing it upon a
bad landing on our hardwood floor. We took A.J. over in late December, and were
quickly and warmly welcomed at Norge Ski Club. He learned to ski for the first
time that very evening.
Although A.J. was committed and
truly loved this new activity, it was not until I made a phone call home on the
road back from a snowmobiling trip in Canada. One of the first things I heard
during that conversation was, “Your son placed 2nd on the 5 meter
hill at the Norge tournament...” I wasn’t aware he’d jumped off anything but
stairs and certainly hadn't been told he’d been entered to ski jump! I promised
myself at that moment that every effort would be made to attend any ski jumping
activity in which he was involved from that that day forward.
Over the next 13 years and
counting, we have had the honor of participating in this family oriented sport
filled with the most wonderful people one could ever meet. As a junior parent,
these and many other wonderful experiences have enriched my family’s lives more
than I could have imagined. We are grateful for the opportunity to have been a
part of the ski jumping community, and know that those participating in the
sport, whether athlete, parent or fan, will take away much more than they will
have contributed.
So to those who may yet be on the
outside looking in… take the leap! You’ll be glad you did!
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| AJ cleared for landing in Lake Placid |
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