The beautiful winter was just an illusion

Like many of his great composer colleagues, George Gershwin was probably far ahead of his time. His songs are still very popular and very welcome in sports. The American Jason Brown, for example, a gifted artist on the ice who has not yet won any major competitions because he is at war with the long-sought-after quadruple jumps, chose “Summertime” for his free skate this year. The song comes from the opera “Porgy and Bess” and was released in 1934. Generations of stars have Gershwin's song in their repertoire. From Ella Fitzgerald to Lana del Rey or from Lous Armstrong to Josh Groban. And it will soon be that time again. Summer time begins, the clock is set forward by one hour again.

Personally, I find it quite “schnuppingen”, as I like to say (own creation as a word). So I don't care. So much time has passed now. It doesn't really matter one hour or another, whether forward or backward, even if the opportunity is of course used to create a few excitement again. As if the world wasn't full of disagreements again, to use an almost flattering word for all the misfortunes that plague our planet. Summertime. It is also the moment of truth in the diverse sporting gear. If you and your team aren't really on track right now, you can't turn back time. No points, no job. Nico Kovacs got hit in Wolfsburg because he couldn't win eleven games with his Bundesliga players. So he hasn't always lost, but in Wolfsburg, where people have wanted more than they can for years, it's obviously a disaster again.

Niko Kovac had to take his hat off. © ANSA / CHRISTOPHER NEUNDORF

Of course, as seasoned football fans, a coach's dismissal hardly throws us off balance. It is always omnipresent. At every game, somewhere in Europe, there is a football coach on the line. Of course, the positions are never vacant for long because the waiting room for available trainers is always quite full. Layoffs in football have long been part of daily business, are part of everyday life and hardly affect us because everyone mostly has existing contracts and is also assigned to an area in terms of salary where you don't have to worry that the soup will stay cold next month.

Restructuring as a magic word But there are other layoffs too. Those that don't generate headlines. They take place quietly, almost eerily secretly. Often when the clocks change. The end of March is also the end of winter, which is now being dealt with. The course should be set again, although this usually happens especially in Olympic years. Basically, most winter sports associations aim for four-year continuity. Contract cancellations in between are rare. And yet they happen. The Swiss biathletes have fired men's coach Remo Krug (Germany). This was justified by restructuring.

Niklas Hartweg & Co. didn't get up to speed this year. © AFP / FABRICE COFFRINI

Perhaps the disappointment of losing one place in the national rankings compared to last season (from fifth to sixth) was the driving force for the quite surprising step. In the future, according to “Swiss-Ski”, the women’s and men’s areas will be merged under the leadership of Sandra Flunger. The Austrian, cousin of biathlete Simon Eder, caused a sensation last season, especially with Lena Häcki-Groß. The great young talent Amy Baserga also made progress. As popular as biathlon is during the winter, as soon as the last shot is fired, the sport disappears from the headlines. Changes like those in Switzerland or possible future changes in other associations no longer make it into the media's attention. Of course, this is incomparably harder for those affected than for any football coach, even from the lower leagues. Biathlon became a fringe sport at the time of the time change at the latest. There is now nothing left of the great glitz and glamor that was exuded for four months. Even the few summer competitions cannot prevent this.

Layoffs at “Fischer” In addition, the winter was not as beautiful as we were often led to believe. There was no snow everywhere. This could not be overlooked and this is also why there are further layoffs around the white season. Now also outside the associations and teams. As Franz Föttinger, the managing director of the ski manufacturer and world market leader “Fischer” confirmed at the request of ORF, 20 jobs were cut at the headquarters in Ried im Innkreis. 130 follow in the production plant in Ukraine. And that has nothing to do with the war that Russia is waging with undiminished severity against Ukraine. “Our topic is cross-country skiing. There is very little artificial snowmaking and if there is no snow, you can't cross-country ski and then people won't buy cross-country skis," says Föttinger, explaining the measures. The oh-so-beautiful winter season, which would still like to give us the illusion of a perfect world, has long since developed major cracks that also have an impact on the summer season.

About the author: Sigi Heinrich The award-winning sports journalist (including winner of the German Television Prize and the Bavarian Sports Prize), book author and Eurosport commentator from the very beginning (since 1989) devotes his column “Sigi's Spitze” to the entire diversity of sport. Sometimes with a smile and a wink, sometimes serious and thoughtful or deliberately provocative. There should be something for everyone.

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The beautiful winter was just an illusion

At the end of the white season, restructuring that results in layoffs makes it clear once again that winter sports are struggling more in some areas than the pretty pictures on TV lead us to believe. Our columnist Sigi Heinrich sees this clearly using two examples from Switzerland and Austria.

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