Rick Mercer Shoots Off More Than Mouth With Biathletes

You gotta give Rick Mercer credit. He’s become Canada’s very own George Plimpton.

Plimpton, if you recall, was the genteel British American man of letters who waded into very dangerous sporting territory and wrote so eloquently about it. He stepped into the ring against world light heavyweight champion Archie Moore, played quarterback for the Detroit Lions and got between the pipes for the Boston Bruins among other adventures.

Okay, Mercer’s not quite in Plimpton territory when it comes to taking risks. He’s tried out synchronized swimming with the Olympic team (yep, he had the noseplugs) and tread water with our women’s water polo squad (see both here), and plied his skills on a speed skating oval (this isn't that bit, but it's good).

On this week’s show, Mercer not only skied with legend Nancy Greene (the newly-minted senator doesn't suffer fools but made an exception in Rick's case) but, pictured above, he also blazed a trail with national team biathletes Rosanna Crawford (foreground) and Megan Tandy. The photo was taken by Glen Crawford, father of Rosanna and big sister Chandra, the Olympic cross country skiing champ. (He works as a freelance cameraman for CBC)

The biathlete piece was a great lark with Mercer having some fun with the skiers, who were part of a nude calendar called  Bold Beautiful Biathlon that they did as a fundraiser. Mercer auditions for the calendar, hiding his naughty his bits with … Well, you oughta watch it.

It's caused a spike in calendar sales – there’s less than 100 left -- and generated nearly $1,000 in donations to the hard-working team.

The thinking here is that it’s time for Mercer to take it up a notch. How about stepping into a bobsled with Pierre Lueders? Asked if he’d be up to taking Mercer for a ride, the Olympic champion was totally pumped by the prospect.

“That would be great,” said Lueders from Whistler, where he’s getting ready for next week’s World Cup. “We did a thing for the show It's a Living. It was a lot of fun. It would be nice to see if he (Mercer) is a man.”

Whaddya say, Rick?

PS If there ever make biathlon an extreme sport, I imagine it might look like this.

Comments

[Dov El-Es]

George Plimpton, born in New York, was a genteel American, not British, man of letters. The confusion arises because he spoke with an American "mid-Atlantic" accent, which use to betray an classic British boarding school education, and then by a stint at an Ivy League College. Plimpton followed this trajectory by attending, St Bernard's School, Phillip Exeter Academy and then Harvard. He also attended Cambridge University and lived in Paris which would have further influenced his accent.
I recommended The Curious Case of Sidd Finch to anybody that looking for a good laugh or for someone who is a baseball, NY Mets, or Tibetan Buddhist fan.

[Randy Starkman]

Hey Dov: Thanks for correcting that grievous mistake. I read many of Plimpton's books as a sports crazy kid, but never the Sidd Finch one (though I remember when the story was originally published in SI as an April Fools Day hoax.) Definitely have to check it out. Take care, Randy

[Michel]

Wow, what a nice surprise to see our female Biathletes in The Star!

[Johnnyk]

So tired of Rick Mercer, totally overexposed.

[Claire]

Rick has "been there done that". He "manned up" and took to the bobsled track in Calgary a couple of years ago on a skeleton sled. One of the funniest shows he has done.

[Ricardo]

"It would be nice to see if he (Mercer) is a man."

What, because only "men" are brave and tough enough to bobsled? I can't tell if this comment is just a typical macho meathead comment or specifically directed at Mercer because he's gay. Either way, it shows pretty poor judgement repeating it here.

Gender and sexuality have nothing to do with bravery and determination. Equating manliness with athleticism is outdated and embarrassing.

Anyone writing about Olympic level sports should more sensitive about these discredited and insulting stereotypes.

[LOL]

OMG there's guns in this picture! In Canada! Sacrebleu! Someone please alert the Mayor of Toronto and Jack Layton immediately so they can "do something" about this unholy turn of events.