Preparing for the 2010 Winter Games: Olympic HubNuggets

Ladies and gentlemen, sharpen your pencils, and grab your score cards! Don your toques and break out your woolie mittens - electric socks and balaclavas are totally optional!

Every four years, fans of winter sport descend on some predetermined, snowy mecca to cheer on their favorites in hockey, luge, figure skating, snowboarding, curling, downhill skiing, speed skating, bob-sledding, slalom, biathlon, and more. The cream of each country's athletes have trained for long years and are gathering now to vie for glory in this pinnacle of sports competitions - the Olympic Winter Games.

This year, Hub Pages is pleased to announce the inclusion of a totally new demonstration event - Olympic HubNuggetting!. Finally, this sport will receive the recognition it deserves, right alongside such longtime Canadian demonstration favorites as the Downhill Toboggan Jumping, Synchronized Maple Sugar Taffy Pull, and the grueling 9K Three-legged Snow Shoe Race, as well as the perennially beloved Free-style Slingshot & Moose Mushing event.

Maddie Ruud, Hub Pages employee and Co-Captain of the Hub Pages Olympic Selection Committee, this noted Hub Pages Moderator, and Communicator of Awesome Fairness brings a her incredible athleticism and enthusiasm to the HubNuggets Olympic Contingent.

Co-Captain of the Committee and specializing in Olympic Marketing, Jason Menayan, Hub Pages employee and newly created Communicator of Awesomeness, brings his own special skills to the HubNuggets Contingent.

Head coach, Shirley Anderson leads our Official Olympic HubNugget Wannabe Selection Teams. Her coaching skills are second to none. Sought after by the private sector, Coach Anderson has remained true to her calling, shaping the raw talent of valuable HubNuggets Wannabes into seasoned Olympic competitors.

B.T. EvilPants, Freelance writer, Jackalope-of-all-trades, butter tart lover, evil genius, and great free-style snowboarder. When not pursuing his goal of "world domination and extending his gravy boat franchise into Canada", he can be found in the stands at HubNugget preliminary write-offs, sussing out likely talent.

Patty Inglish, Master Snowshoer and Moose Mushing expert...long-time member of the Olympic HubNuggets Selection Committee, her skills in the Three-legged Snowshoe Race are legendary, second only to her knowledge of what's required to craft an Olympic-quality HubNugget Wannabe hub.

Ripplemaker - angelic cheerleader, HubMobile driver, and font of amazing positivity. Ripplemaker travels ahead of the team in her Olympic HubMobile, seeking out and celebrating hubnugget wannabes

Zsuzsy Bee, hubber fantastica. Our Bee is the only team member to carry home Olympic gold for Downhill Toboggan Jumping - and in three consecutive games! She brings her own special brand of HubLove to her quest for future Olympians of HubNugget fame and glory.

...and RedElf (that's me) - writer, poet, photographer, former HubNugget Olympian. Her favorite event is Synchronized Taffy Pull, but she's also pretty handy with a slingshot. Once she gets all that taffy out of her fur, the elf will be busy baking butter tarts and seeking out future Olympian HubNuggets.

The members of the Official HubNugget Selections Committee have worked diligently to scout out ten fabulous newcomers from among all of the Olympic hopefulls in the Hub Writers' winter training camp this week. We've hiked our trusty sled-dog teams from one end of Hub Pages to the other, attending pre-season grammar competitions, semi-final write-off events, and Olympic penmanship trials, searching out Olympic HubNugget-caliber wannabes.

Of the ten top, athlete/writers selected, only five will qualify for this week's Olympic HubNugget Writing Team. Only the best of the best can be chosen to advance to Olympic competition!

How can YOU qualify for fame and potential corporate sponsorship as an Olympic HubNuggets Wannabe?

Check out Shirley Anderson's hub - here - on how to become eligible.

If you're not a member, why not join now? It's fun, it's free, and it only takes a few minutes.

Olympic HubNugget Hopefulls - you're not done yet...

Winning one of the 5 coveted HubNugget spots in the newsletter will mean that your hub goes out to more than 50,000 readers.

That means traffic, page views and, possibly, revenue! Tell your friends and family they don't need to join in order to vote.

Get out there and promote your hub - Blog about it, Digg it, Tweet it, Twitter it, post it on FaceBook - tell everyone you know to come and check out your awesomeness at Hub Pages!