The latest catch phrase in sports is "Manny being Manny." This popular phrase is in reference to Los Angeles Dodgers enigmatic baseball superstar Manny Ramirez who just marches to a different beat.
The same "Manny being Manny" phrase could also apply to Manuel Osborne-Paradis of our national ski team. Many would be hard pressed to find another Canadian Olympian who is as laid back as Osborne-Paradis.
Osborne-Paradis is the Roy Hobbs of the ski hill. Hobbs is a character played by Robert Redford in the 1984 film "The Natural." And the natural is what Osborne-Paradis is all about. Those in the ski circuits will talk about his eyes, not in the "McDreamy" sense, but in the way he can find the line on a mountain and commit to it without abandon.
The funny thing about Osborne-Paradis' training this past off-season wasn't the fact he got in his required waves on his surfboard. His teammates are always quick to say he takes surfing more seriously than skiing. Throughout the summer his teammates said he was quick to hit the sack only to be up early to catch the morning waves. He also got in his fair share of wake surfing behind his boat.
Here's the interesting thing about Manny Osborne-Paradis. He still found his way to the gym this summer. He has always had a training program that he keeps and follows. But with potentially more on the line than ever this ski season, he found himself hitting the gym again and again.
Manny Osborne-Paradis thinks he worked out 30 more times than he normally does. And his teammates have noticed and have started looking at him differently as in "who is this guy?"
Is this the same guy who won his first World Cup last year? Is he still the easy-going athlete who is as smooth at speeds of 120 km/h racing downhill as he is with his hot wings and beverages?
He's still the same guy who is quick to laugh, quick to lend a hand and is serious when he needs to be.
Manny will always be Manny, but this year's version is just a little more fit and a bit more focused than year's past. And if he finds success on the first Saturday of the 2010 Winter Games, he will have the stamina without question to celebrate in Whistler deep into the Olympic night.
