–Cartoonist Thomas Zipfel has offered his depiction of the World Cup scene leading into this weekend’s season-opening races in Sweden – he seems to think that home athletes Marcus Hellner and Charlotte Kalla have the advantage. A full gallery of Zipfel’s cartoons from last year is available here – there are some truly excellent caricatures. My favorite is the one of Axel Teichmann playing basketball with Petter Northug and Dario Cologna.

–More fraud accusations have been filed stemming from the 2009 World Championships in Liberec, Czech Republic, where the organizing committee was headed by former Olympic champion Katerina Neumannova.

–The organizers of the season-opening World Cup in Gallivare, Sweden, have a video of the course, if you want to check it out.

–And finally, more than four months after it began, the 2010 World Series of Poker has finally concluded, with cross-country ski stars Petter Northug and Marcus Hellner having moved on to what most fans would probably consider bigger and better things – if not more lucrative things. Canadian Jonathan Duhamel took the grand prize, winning nearly $9 million. That’s just under three times the prize money on offer for the entire World Cup cross-country ski circuit this year.

–International Ski Federation (FIS) course coordinator Hermod Bjoerkestol (of Hermod’s Hill at Soldier Hollow) writes to Langrenn with an interesting editorial about why loops at race venues have gotten shorter. It’s a good read for people interested in the influence of TV, and FIS’s efforts to grow the sport.

–The organizers of the 2009 World Ski Championships in Liberec, Czech Republic, led by Czech champion Katerina Neumannova, are being sued for over $6 million U.S. in debt. According to a report in the Prague Monitor, profits from the event were not as large as expected. Corruption appears to have been a big problem at the event – two men have already been sued regarding a contract greater than $1 million US, and more cases are expected.

–Langrenn also has a short profile of Norwegian sprinter John Kristian Dahl, who came in second at last year’s World Cup sprint in Canmore, but missed out on a berth at the Olympic Games.

–The Province has an in-depth profile of Canadian Paralympian/Olympian Brian McKeever.

–After losing its charity status, Biathlon Canada’s executive director is saying that the group’s lawyers assured her that a tax shelter arrangement was legal.

–FIS has an interview with Czech skier Lukas Bauer.