The opening ceremonies are a tiring enough process. If you add all the demands of being flag-bearer and with a relatively heavy racing schedule, taking on that extra task is, as they've correctly evaluated, too great a load.

Heading into Turin our athletes are legitimate medals contenders for five to seven medals. That puts us on pace to achieve or surpass our best-ever medal total in long track at the Games.

There are also many extra demands placed on the flag-bearer that potentially take away from the preparation (for competition) and which can be a distraction. A number of athletes choose not to take on that added responsibility because they believe their first responsibility is to perform at their absolute maximum.

A realistic expectation is somewhere between five and seven medals, which would exceed our best performances in Nagano (1998) and Lake Placid (1932). It's based on how our team has performed in World Cup races.

This kind of evaluation is in some ways a more objective way of measuring the body's response to pain, as opposed to simply asking someone if they feel pain.

The Oneida Nation remains strongly opposed to out-of-state tribal casinos. These out-of-state tribes are not federally recognized in New York and have no standing in this state.