Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Lake Placid AC Update

November 26, 2008

Good Morning Everyone,

It is almost Turkey day so be sure to have that bird marinating the night before, to ensure the seasoning mixes with the bird just right. For those of you going out to eat.....WE SALUTE YOU FOR YOU ARE AT THE MERCY OF STRANGERS!!! LOL

This past weekend was a Golden Success for my teammates and I. We won all four of the America's Cup races that were held!!!

Since there were two days of 2-man racing I split the pushing responsibility with Corey Buckner another one of the push athletes on my team, meaning that he pushed one race day with our driver and I pushed the other race day. However, when it comes to racing 2-man and determining who gets to race the driver or even a brakemen will call for a race-off against another person to see who is the fastest of the two......Yeah this time me and the other two brakemen decided to use a more scientific method to determine who will race.

I called my buddies at NASA and gave them all of our weights, body measurements, heights, dietary information, lung capacity, and temperature at the top of the track. They then took this information ran it through a few supper computers that analyzed the data taking into consideration the smallest variables. This data was designed to tell us with all things being equal which one of us would be the most efficient pusher in these weather conditions. Of course you know I am joking we all just decided to flip 3 quarters and the odd man out did not race!! LOL Come on you know I got you with the NASA Story though........You all were probably like WOW NASA helps out with Bobsled! LOL I am GOOD! It's ok Dean you can laugh buddy cause I got you too!

On another note during our race it was COLD!! 4 degrees to be exact! I know I have been in a lot of colder weather but this was the first day of it being real COLD and the first day of that kind of temperature is no fun for anyone! But through Cold, Rain, Snow, Fog we will be on that heel racing if the schedule calls for it. The amazing thing is that no matter how cold it is on the hill while I am warming up once I get to the start block all that cold is somehow blocked out, the only thing that is of consequence to me is the start time and the finish time. I go in that zone where all I hear and see is myself, my teammates and the sled. Now after we cross the finish line at the bottom the cold sets in again and I can not wait to get inside a warm building and throw my warm-up gear back on.

After the races were over a medal ceremony was held on the finish dock where bot the men's and women's teams receive their medals. I was a nice sight to see three American flags been hoisted up on the poles which represent the country of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers. Once the flags are raised to their height according to ranking the National Anthem of the winning nation is played for all to hear and respect. STARS AND STRIPES WAS PLAYING ALL WEEKEND!!! I have posted pictures from this weekend on my web-page for you all to view www.jessebeckom3.com

Now that the races here in Lake Placid are over my team and I will continue to slide, weight train, and sprint as we prepare for World Championship Race off that will be held the first week of January.

I wish you all a Happy Holiday season and God Bless

Sincerely,

Jesse

Race Update

November 19, 2008

Good Afternoon everyone!


I hope you all are having a great day. Even though my team will not be going over to Europe this first half we do have four America's Cup races here in Lake Placid this week. We have a 2-man race on Thursday and another one on Friday. One of my teammates will race on Thursday and I will race Friday with our Driver, then on Saturday and Sunday we will have a 4-man race. Unfortunately you will not be able to see the results live but you can see the finished results at www.fibt.com

However, these races do count towards our world ranking and can substituted for races on World Cup that we will miss. These race results will be important for my team as we go into our second round of Team Trials in January. Once we win the race-off for second half we will be eligible to race World Championships, the ranking we have going into World's will determine when what start number we have going into the race. World Championships is also the most important race of the season and is what the USOC (United States Olympic Committee) uses to determine our federations funding and individual funding as well.

I am continuing to train, working on my pushing and running technique to ensure that my and I ready to kick some butt going into World Championships! This will another chance for me to prove that I am one of the best in the world!

God Bless

Jesse

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Joint Chiefs of Staff

November 5th 2008

Hello everyone sorry I am a little behind in my e-mails but I have been traveling a little bit. I will be sending you a couple of e-mails in the next week, don’t worry they will not be as long as the ones I sent a while back! lol

Occasionally at the bobsled track we have team sponsors, business people and or family who come up and receive bobsled rides to, in our actual race sleds. Well on this particular day we had the privilege of Meeting Admiral Mike Mullen Chairman Of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff, and his counter parts from Germany, Italy, Great Britain and France. It was a great experience and honor to meet these men, something I never even thought of being able to say I have done.

There were security details all over the place; you had guys in really loose two piece suits (the suits are loose because it allows them to grab their guns quicker if need be) with wired ear pieces strategically placed along the track, the start and the finish dock. Also, as you drive up the road that leads to the start of the bobsled track there are little gravel side roads that maintenance trucks use on occasion. But...not on this particular day, on this day you saw black Lincoln Town cars parked off in the entrances to these roads with a federal agent sitting in them or just the empty car by itself. I understood the agent in the car but I thought it was weird that some of the cars were empty (I will tell you why later)....so I just thought oh well guess the guy is off in the woods adding to the circle of life or something! lol

My teammates and I were at the top of the hill/track talking with the security detail as we waited for the VIP's (The Joint Chief of Staffs for the various countries) to come up so they can see a full speed 4-man push-n-load into a sled. Before the VIP's came up a shuttle with members of the media arrived with about twenty reporters in it. They all get out with their cameras and note pads...they wanted to interview me, but I was like Listen People I have been doing interviews all day and my voice needs to rest.....I mean come on I am not a machine, but I signed a few autographs and they were happy! lol just playing! But the reporters were there, just not for me!

The VIP's were driven up to the track in four all black Ford or Mercury trucks with deep blacked tinted windows! I felt like I was watching a movie and the president was pulling up or something! After they watched the guys push and load into the four-man they all went down to a lower start where we could just sit them in a sled and push them off. This was do to avoid anyone from hurting themselves trying to actually load in a sled. As we place them in the sled we instructed them on how to position themselves, how to secure their head to prevent it from whipping back and forth, how to bump the driver's heading (Its usually a good thing if the driver can see where they are going), and where they can look up. We only put two people in the sled since we need a real bobsledder to drive and to pull the brakes of the sled at the end of the ride. After we had them situated in the sleds one of my teammates pushed the sled off for them.

Even though it was just a fun event, it was turned into a competition between the nations. However and surprisingly enough Admiral Mullen sled happened to have the fastest down time making him the winner! Who could have called that?!......LOL GO AMERICA!!! There was a medal ceremony set up and each country was awarded medals according to their finish. After the ceremony we had a chance to talk to the different Chief of Staffs and of course take a few pictures. Ironically the level of excitement and respect we had in meeting these men was reciprocated by their desire to meet us! Considering the world climate I could not help but think I am standing here joking and relaxing with some of the most powerful individuals on the planet as they take bobsled rides. This was probably a much needed break for these men and their staff though, and considering what they are in charge of who could really blame them.

I have posted a few pictures from the event on my site www.jessebeckom3.com under the media section if you want to take a look.

God Bless


Jesse
www.jessebeckom3.com