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Siblings keep gold in the family
By Kevin Freking
Special to GOG
|  | | J.R. Salzman, left, won his second gold of the Games during the log-rolling event. His sister Tina also won in log rolling. |
LAKE PLACID, N.Y. — The search for the best male and female log rollers in the world ended with just one family — the Salzmans.
J.R. Salzman won his second gold medal of the ESPN Great Outdoor Games by defeating Brian Duffy in the finals of the men's log rolling competition. Not to be outdone by her younger brother, Tina Salzman went on to dominate the women's log rolling.
The two have the perfect background for their sport in that they grew up in Hayward, Wis., a community that bills itself as the lumberjack capital of the world. They practiced often against each other as children and occasionally still do.
"We usually try to take each other's heads off the best we can," J.R. said.
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We usually try to take each other's heads off the best we can. ” |
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— J.R. Salzman on practicing against his sister Tina |
The winner of the preliminary rounds must make the opponent fall twice to move on to the next round. The winner of the finals must make the opponent fall three times. Both Salzmans were the top-seeded competitors in their respective log rolling championships. J.R. won a close match (2-1) with Fred Scheer of Hayward in the semifinals. The Minneapolis resident then defeated Duffy (3-1) in the finals.
"Brian is one of my training partners. I train with him more than anybody else, and we both know how each other rolls, right down to the footsteps," Salzman said. "We know each other's weaknesses. We know each other's strengths."
Salzman said he tried to wear his opponent down during the marathon match. "If you wear any roller down, you can see where they start staggering a little bit. They might make a misstep or two, and you can exploit that."
In the finals, Salzman won two rounds. The competitors then moved on to the 13-inch log, which is more difficult to stay on, not only because there is less foot room, but because the log revolves faster, too. Duffy narrowed Salzman's edge to 2-1 on Log III. But some 30 seconds into the next roll, Salzman forced Duffy into Mirror Lake to take the gold.
Duffy, who was ranked third going into the finals, said he wished he had been more patient in the first few rounds with the 15-inch and 14-inch logs. Once you get to the more narrow logs, anything can happen, he said.
|  | | Darren Hudson, left, battles Brian Duffy in the log-rolling contest. |
Darren Hudson of Canada defeated Scheer (3-0) to win the bronze medal. Scheer thought he had won one of the rolls as both men fell almost simultaneously into the water. It appeared on instant replay that his hunch was correct, but he never lodged an official protest.
Tina Salzman also won last year's log rolling contest at the Great Outdoor Games. She hasn't lost to a female competitor since 1998. Not only did she not lose, but an opponent was never able to make her fall during the entire event. She defeated Alicia Hare in the finals (3-0). In the semifinals she defeated Katie Hoeschler (2-0).
Tina Salzman said she usually trains against men, and because those matches tend to be shorter, she had to concentrate on not getting too impatient with her female opponents in the Great Outdoor Games.
"When you know you're going to be out there for a long time, you really have to be patient," said Salzman of Lake Geneva, Wis. "In the last four or five years, I've worked on being patient and just going out there and knowing that I'll be out there for a long time."
The log rolling events at the Great Outdoor Games are different from the world championships in that all of the preliminary rounds and the finals take place in the span of two hours. In the world championships, the rounds are spread out over the course of two days.
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