Olympics Days 15&16

Thank you Winter Olympics 2010, for making the last half of February zip by quickly. It was a great Games, despite some early snags, and Canada was a great host nation.

Women's ski jump?: Ski Jump (and Nordic Combined which includes jumping) is unique in the Winter Olympics being "men only." The Olympic Charter specifically states "Any form of discrimination with regard to a country or a person on grounds of race, religion, politics, gender or otherwise is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic Movement" as a fundamental principle of Olympism. In 2006, the IOC voted not to include women's ski jumping in the 2010 Games because it did not meet the vague "technical requirements." They won't spell out the specific requirements, but it basically relates to the number of active participants and the number of high level competitions.

By 2009, women's ski jumping progressed significantly in those "technical" areas, holding a world championship, and it likely has more participants than bobsled and the new ski cross event. A group even went to court in Canada suing Vancouver2010 to include the event. The court sympathized with the plantiffs, but ruled it the IOC's domain, and out of the jurisdiction of Canadian courts.

Unlike other sports, adding this event would not require any new space or facilities since the women use the same jumps as the men. In fact, American Lindsey Van (not to be confused with Lindsey Vonn) held the distance record off the Whistler normal hill going into the 2010 Olympics. Yes, she has even out-jumped all of the top men. Let's hope the IOC soon votes to include the sport in the 2014 Games, and doesn't revert to its sometimes petty and political ways to punish these athletes for ruffling a few feathers going into the 2010 festivities.

Shadow update: Pres. Obama's healthcare telethon was largely ignored by the public last Thursday, but it is hard to tell if the Olympics overshadowed the spectacle. Perhaps people were actually smart enough to realize it would just be both parties posturing for the upcoming general election. Baseball Spring training started already?

I thought the men's 50k Cross Country ski event would be completely overshadowed by the legendary matchup in the Gold medal Hockey game, but I was wrong. Not only was the event exciting, (with only one second separating the three medalists after 31 miles!) but the medal ceremony was during the Closing Ceremonies, making it one of the most watched presentations and anthems of the Games.

2nd week gold rush: While Canada and Norway were both doing relatively well (top 5) in the medal standings after week one, both teams were suffering criticism from their homeland about disappointing performances. Better performances by the Norwegians and a better mix of events for the Canadians launched both countries to an outstanding medal haul in week two. Which leads us to...

Medal Count: As every media outlet has broadcast, the US set a "PR" in winning the medal count, while the Canadians impressively harnessed the most Gold medals. Germany got little notice, but captured the second most medals. Norway may have been the most impressive, finishing fourth in the overall medal count with 23. That pushed the them over 300 Winter Olympic medals, the most all-time by any nation. What is most impressive is that Norway has a population of only 4.7 million (a little less than Colorado), meaning one Olympic medal for each 204,000 citizens. For Canada to match that same productivity, it would have to win 161 medals! We won't even talk about large nations like Germany, Russia, or the USA.

Biggest Disappointments: In every major event there are disappointments. And every nation will have a different list. Here is my take:

1) Russia; perhaps they were lying low so they can burst onto the scene as the host in 2014, but it was a subpar Olympics for them finishing 11th with 15 medals-3 Gold. Their vaunted hockey team was eliminated early. They failed to win Gold in figure skating for the first time since ice was invented. What's worse is men's Silver medalist Evgeni Plushenko continues to complain about the scoring system. He is fully aware of the rules and recent changes, but refuses to change his routine and do more jumps during bonus time at the end. He wants the judging to focus almost solely on quad jumps. Perhaps he should switch sports to Ski Jumping or Aerials where years of training come down to one or two jumps that take a few seconds.

2) Dutch speed skating coach Gerard Kemkers; with his skater comfortably leading the 10k event, he mistakenly told his skater to move into the inner lane at the wrong time. Immediate disqualification and national humiliation in the Netherlands where speed skating is revered like football in the US.

3) Lindsey Vonn; yes she won a gold medal, but after hearing about how dominant she is in the world of skiing I expected more. Instead, we heard a lot of soap opera, whining and excuses rather than seeing the "Champion" attitude we see from so many others.

4) Greece; the originators of the Olympic Games are still looking for their first ever medal in the Winter series after a century. Sure, they don't get snow and ice in Greece. But you would think they would have found a way to earn at least a single medal by now.

Cool 11 Update: I will publish my Cool 11 in a separate post once I have had a chance to fully digest the games. Top medal winners Marit Bjoergen-5 (left) and Petter Northug-4 (right), both of Norway, will get full consideration. Northug won the Cross Country 50k Gold on the final day by 0.3 seconds.

Olympics Days 13 & 14

Firsts: It seems that everyday there are new "firsts" for this Olympics. I can't rememeber it being this frequent. It seems likely in the new sports and in sports with new scoring (e.g. figure skating), but there are a few in the traditional sports that caught my attention.

The Canadian women took the top two spots in the two-"person" Bobsled, with an American pair led by Erin Pac taking Bronze. This was the first time North Americans swept the medals in a sport dominated by northern European nations. I believe it was also the first medals for Canadian women in any bobsled event. (Own the Podium kicking in).

The US had only ever won two medals in the Nordic events (Cross Country Skiing, Biathlon, Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined), one in XC in 1976 and another in Ski Jump in 1932. So Johnny Spillane set several firsts in garnering three silver medals in Nordic Combined, including one as part of the first US relay medalists in these sports.

Forgotten winners: Who can forget Sven Kramer, the Dutch speedskater who was DQed when his coach told him to change lanes on the wrong lap? I think many recall Lindsey Vonn crashing in the Super G and inadvertently wrecking Julia Mancuso's chance at another medal. And some remember the Korean short track team being DQed in a relay event. But does anyone remember who won these events? Well, China won the ST relay, with Canada moving up to Silver and the badly beaten fourth place Americans getting Bronze. Lee Seung-Hoon from Korea added to his country's impressive medal haul from the ice rinks with Gold in the contorversial 10k speedskating race. And 20 year-old Victoria Rebensburg from Germany won her first senior race ever to take the Super G Gold in the "Lindsey Vonn crash race."

Forgotten loser: More of a non-participant really. Germany's Patrick Beckert missed his chance to compete in these Olympics because he didn't have his phone turned on. As an alternate, he was moved into his speed skating event when another athlete dropped out. In fact, four alternates missed a chance to be in this competition. Race officials tried frantically to reach him, and even got ahold of his sister by phone. But he did not get there in time, and he missed his Olympic chance. What exactly was he doing in Vancouver that was more important than his only opportunity to compete?? Wouldn't he at least be there to watch the race?

How cool is that?: During the women's hockey medal ceremony, several children of US players joined them on the ice when they received their medals. Standing with your Mom as she gets an Olympic Silver medal--Priceless.

Good Commercials: I like the ATT ad where the snowboarder leaves the atmosphere and enters outer space. Good music. I also like the Visa "go world" spots featuring former Olympic athletes. The Dan Jansen one is especially good.

Cool 11: US Nordic Combined athlete and 3-time Silver medalist Johnny Spillane. He and his teammates really love this sport. 2-person Bobsled Bronze medalist Erin Pac. Clearly just a "regular girl", her genuine down-to-Earth attitude really came through in interviews.

Olympics Special - Canada

One of the things I like best about the Olympics is learning more about the host country. Some of the best, lasting impressions I have of the 2008 Summer Games are the television features about China. Even though Canada is a lot closer to home, and we know a good deal about our neighbor, I have still enjoyed Mary Carillo's segments on the western portion of the Great White North. From polar bears to modern day loggers, NBC has done a good job capturing the breathtaking images of Canada along with introducing us to some "everyman" Canadians and all of the wonderful animals.

We meant Own the "Top of the" Podium: Canada's long term goal to win the most medals at the 2010 Games seems to have morphed into "win the most Gold medals." It is always good to be flexible with your goals. It would be pretty impressive if the Canadians end up with the most Gold, and it is a real possibility. With the home team in all four team sport finals (hockey and curling for both genders), as well as men's ST and LT team events, there are still opportunities. They already nabbed Gold in women's hockey and Silver in women's curling. The men's events will be played this weekend.

Party on Garth: The Canadian women win a lot of hockey games and tournaments, so they have a lot of experience celebrating. Apparently the IOC doesn't appreciate them exercising this acquired skill at the Olympic venue. There is speculation they will be kicked out of the Village and banned from the Closing Ceremonies. I don't see a big problem here, so I think everyone should just relax.

Of course, I was able to find good pics. Beer, cigars, gold medals and a Zamboni. The only thing missing is Bob and Doug McKenzie, eh!

Olympics Days 11&12

Where has the fortnight gone? It seems we were just watching the opening ceremony, and now there are only a few days and a few medal events left. The Winter Games aren't as overwhelming as the Summer Games, but there has been a lot of good events going on.

Hockey: I didn't pay a lot of attention to hockey the first week, but it has really caught my attention the last few days. The women have been in the playoff rounds, and the US and Canada faceoff for gold tomorrow (Thursday). It is the right matchup, and should be a great game. The US men's quarterfinal 2-0 win over Switzerland was a lot closer than the score indicated, and a fun game to watch. Canada pounding Russia in another quarterfinal was impressive. Much like the US breaking a long drought against Canada, our northern neighbors had not beaten Russia/USSR in Olympic hockey for 50 years. Nice to see one of the gold medal favorites gone before the semis.

Rea-dy: One of the subtle, but enduring nuances of the Games has been the computerized starter voice in speed skating (and other events?). Saying "rea-dy" in a mechanical tone seems to be seeping into conversations and monologues outside of the Olympics.

How long does it take to win gold?: Many years if you count all of the preparation and training. But in the Olympic games, the time it takes to win varies considerably by sport. The Wall Street Journal did a nice feature on this subject based on the men's results from the 2006 Games in Italy.

Including all qualifying stages, they found Ski Jumping to be the quickest event for the gold medalist at 26 seconds. The slowest event? No surprise here with Curling lumbering to the finish line in over 12 hours.

Fastest to Gold

1. Ski Jumping 00:00:26
2. Aerials Skiing 00:00:30
3. Moguls Skiing 00:00:46
4. 1000m Speedskating 00:01:09

Slowest to Gold

1. Curling 12:45:00
2. Hockey 08:00:00
3. 50K Cross Country 02:06:12

I guess this explains why it seems like Curling is on tv so much compared to other events. And this estimate only included the "rocks" of the winning team, not the time it took their opponent to play. Said another way, the winning curling team spent over 25 hours in matches over two weeks. As a comparison, the article pointed out it took Usain Bolt 39.66 seconds to win 100m Gold in Beijing, including the qualifying heats.

Post Olympic Preview: NBC will be looking for Olympic afterglow to get Jay Leno's return to the Tonight Show off to a fast start next week. First week guests include Olympic medalists Lindsey Vonn (Mon), Shaun White (Tues), and Apolo Anton Ohno (Wed).

Cool 11: One candidate is Isobel, the blind sled dog in Manitoba. Another is Canadian Skicross star Ashleigh McIvor (pic top) who seemingly has the ability to get out of any messy situation, and whose ingenuity made her a runaway Gold medal winner. Reminds me of her psuedo-namesake Macgyver from the popular tv show in the 1980's. Wasn't there an episode where he strapped branches on his feet and used them as skis? What a minute, Ashleigh is from Whistler and the show filmed in Vancouver for several years. Hmmmm. Can you see a family resemblance in the pictures below?

Olympics Days 9&10

Rent a piece of the podium?: Much has been made about Canada's Own the Podium program that spent millions in an attempt to garner the most medals in the 2010 Olympics. Perhaps they were a little too ambitious, and unfortunately may have set up the populace for disappointment even though the Canadians are objectively having a good Olympics.

Even I may have sipped a little too much of the maple flavored kool-aid in the pre-game hype when I picked them to finish 2nd to Germany in the medal count. It looks like the US and Germany will have the most medals, with the exact order still to be determined. Canada will likely have a tough time passing Norway and Russia for the 3rd spot.

U-S-Eh!: "Major upset in Vancouver" just doesn't have the same ring to it as "Miracle On Ice," but the USA men's 5-3 win over Canada Sunday was about as unlikely as the victory over the USSR in '80. The last US Olympic hockey win over Canada was in 1960, where they not only used sticks made of wood, but skates also ;) The loss is resonating heavily up north, but the reality is that this only makes it a little more difficult for Canada to win the gold.

The are three reasons this USA triumph will not come close to matching "Miracle On Ice": 1) It was not young amateurs against seasoned pros; 2) It did not vault the US into a game for the gold medal; it simply gave the team a bye into the quarterfinals; and 3) There was no cold war implications in this victory. Sure, Canada is always trying to shake the shadow of their North American neighbor (and where better than their national sport?), but it hardly feels like a life and death battle over ideology.

And speaking of USA hockey, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the dominant women's team that cruised into the gold medal game with an 9-1 warmup over Sweden in the semis. The ladies have not been tested yet, and face Canada for the gold medal.

TV coverage: The daytime coverage continues to outshine the primetime version, largely because NBC condenses so many of the sports at night (except figure skating). They have more time during the day, and they are able to show good portions of the events live. The announcing also seems better, and more real compared to the voice overs on highlight tapes.

A good example of an exciting event that did not make it to the evening coverage was Monday's Team Cross Country Sprint. The US has only one cross country skiing medal ever, a men's individual silver in 1976. But both the men's and women's entry in this event made the finals and finished 9th and 6th respectively.

The race is a two-person relay where each teammate skis one lap three separate times. The races were exciting and the background scenery breathtaking. The Belarus men were disqualified in the semi when the final skier mistakenly turned down the transition lane rather than continue to the finish line. I don't know if they would have medaled, but I'm sure it will get more media attention in EuroAsia than it will here. The German women edged the Swedes for gold, and men's XC legend Petter Northug led Norway to victory by outsprinting the Germans and Russians in the final 100 meters.

Ice Cream Angle: Freestyle skier Hannah Kearney, already a Cool 11 candidate, is a Vermont native and would love to have a Ben & Jerry's flavor named after her. So would co-founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, big Keraney fans, but they sold the company and no longer control those decisions. She would like it to be coffee ice cream with oreo cookies. Yuck.

Snowboard medalist Hannah Teter (also from Vermont) already has her own flavor, Hannah Teter's Maple Blondie. Teter, who received recent attention in the much publicized SI swimsuit edition, founded a charity years ago called Hannah's Gold to help a village in Kenya with food, water and schools. She donates her snowboard winnings and proceeds from family maple syrup sales to the charity. She also has a merchandise line called "Sweet Cheeks," and is donating $5 from the sale of each pair of underwear to Doctors Without Borders to help in the Haiti relief effort. http://www.sweetcheekspanties.com/.

Cool 11: USA men's goalie Ryan Miller and his 42 saves against Canada (pics below). Also a great interview. Swedish cross country star Charlotte Kalla (right & skiing above). Halfpipe silver medalist Hannah Teter.

Olympics Days 7&8

Newsflash: Both the US men's and women's curling teams actually won a match. The men beat the young Swedish squad, and the women edged the very attractive Russian team. I think the Russians made a big mistake demoting Ludmila Privivkova (pic) to 3rd rock from 4th rock and leaving the match in the shaky hands of 19-year old Anna Sidorova. (There has been extensive curling coverage this year, so I thought I would throw in some lingo to make it look like I know what's going on).

Speaking of curling, it is always a good place to start the "Is it a sport?" debate that comes up every Olympics about various sports. I have also heard it asked about Bobsleigh (the official name) and Figure Skating. The beef with skating is whether it is "too artistic" and not athletic enough. In my opinion, this one is a no-brainer. The athletic ability to execute these routines is amazing, and the training and stamina necessary to get through the program is undeniable.

But I think we need a system to determine whether an event is a real sport. So I have come up with a 3-point test. If you can answer yes to all three points, the event is NOT a real sport.

1. Can you, and do participants regularly, drink beer while participating in this activity? (If bowling immediately comes to mind, this test can also apply to non-Olympic events).

2. Can a normal person complete the event in an Olympic venue without severe injury? (Any average person who thinks the can ski "slowly" through the downhill course is living in a fantasy world).

3. Are several of the sport's highest level athletes noticably overweight? (Wow, it is hard to come up with any outside of curling other than one notable bobsled driver).

Clearly, each of these is open to some stretching or interpretation, but I think we can pretty safely identify almost every Olympic event as definitely a sport using these criteria.

Curling? Its pretty obvious you can say yes to all three, but I suppose opinions will vary. So by my 3-point definition, Curling is not a sport. It is a game. But, of course, these are called the Olympic Games. I am not suggesting Curling be removed from the winter games, so maybe this exercise just gives us something to debate?

Are there high level athletes in the game of Curling? Yes, I am sure there are some. But there are many who are not high level athletes, and several others that are not in top physical condition. Can you say that about figure skating or other sports in the Olympics? I know that most can do the 100 meter dash without hurting themselves, and probably even drink beer while running, but you never see an overweight sprinter in a high level meet.

What about non-Olympic "sports" like bowling and golf? Again, pretty obvious "yes" answers to all three. I'm not trying to diminish the skill necessary to do any of these games, I just don't think they qualify as "athletic sports." Are there other examples I am overlooking? Sailing?

Olympic Shadow: Not for Tiger. His "public statement" was about the most overpublicized non-event outside of the world of reality tv. He admits to doing something wrong, he apologizes, blah blah blah. Absolutely nothing new. Why does everyone care so much? I guess the media types who didn't get the Olympic assignment were really craving a slice of limelight this week.

Cool 11: Previously mentioned Ludmila Privivkova (I like her Olympic red hair over her previous blond look). Great Britain Skelton slider Amy Williams (right). Already mentioned Simon Amman and Julia Mancuso keep adding to their medal count and Cool 11 appeal.

Olympics Days 5&6

The stars came out for the USA on Wednesday night, and NBC primetime must have loved every minute of it. Apolo Ohno, Lindsey Vonn, Shani Davis, and Shaun White all competed, the latter three garnering gold medals with impressive performances. Apolo was only in a relay prelim, but he skated well in his ample airtime.

Evan Lysacek followed on Thursday with his own gold medal to cap off a great 48 hours for Canada's southern neighbor. Most countries won't win four gold medals in the entire games, and the strong performances from the US are casting much doubt on my medal count predictions. Germany still looks like the eventual winner, but the US is putting a gap on the hometown heros.

Name Game: I always like when athlete's names fit the sport (e.g golf's Chip Beck or Tiger Woods), so I was thrilled to see biathlete/cross country skiier A.K. Flatland competing. The Norwegian 27 year-old has already competed in three biathlon races finishing 8th, 10th, and 14th. She has her own website http://www.akflatland.no/.

I'm on the lookout for more good Olympic names, so leave a comment if you find one.

Google Search update: I did find one prior reference to "sno-bo cross" in a response to a Slate article in 2006. There are a couple of new references after my last post, but that post shows up number four if you Google the term.

Commercials: The Marriage Ref looks bad. It looks like a good outlet for a couple of comedians sitting around a studio, but I can't imagine watching the show.

Odds & Ends: Ouch...this is the first Olympics where it seems like several of the athlete's parents are younger than me.

I expected figure skating to be a major vote getter in both polls (favorite and least favorite), and that is what we are seeing. It is always a ratings grabber, but I think several people (including me) are burned out on the over-exposure.

Curling is also getting hammered in the "least favorite" poll. Is it because the US teams are doing so poorly? They are actually physically performing well, but are choking away every win opportunity. The men are especially bad, losing three of four in OT (extra ends?) when they have had several good opportunities to win.

Cool 11: Julie Mancuso is not a new name, but she is one of the frontrunners for my list (pictures top and bottom). Norway's curling pants (pic right)? I guess you love 'em or hate 'em. But I definitely like the uniforms of most of the halfpipe/snowboarding teams. Halfpiper (they are actually called riders) Louie Vito of the US is a good interview, and Shaun White (below) is magnetic.

Days 3&4 "The Glitch Games"

I had to laugh when I heard these games referred to as "The Glitch Games." Following the China experience would be tough for any country, but the Winter Games and a much smaller budget is making it a tough compare for our neighbors to the north.

First the pre-games tragedy, the minor flame lighting issue and the warm weather. Now there is a "free the flame" protest because people apparently can't get as close to the cauldron as they would like. Sounds like idle whining to me. The long speed skating delay where they had to resurface the ice twice between heats? This is an indoor rink, so that is a major glitch. Errors in the time stagger for the starts of both the women's and men's biathlon pursuit on Monday? Computers and human race officials fail when a guy with a list of times and a stopwatch could easily do the job. Another glitch. I am personally disappointed with all of the difficulty with the satellite feed. It feels more like a battlefield report from the mountains of Afghanistan than a sporting event broadcast from just across the border in Canada.

But I don't care if there are a few glitches. The Olympics are not about perfection, so I am not going to let a few problems ruin this fortnight for me. On to the observations for Days 3/4...

Sno-bo cross: I'll save the dog racing analogy for short track, because watching snowboard cross reminds me more of moto-cross with the tight turns and aerial jumps, with a wipeout always seemingly a moment away. I was shocked when my Google search couldn't find any reference to sno-bo cross, but I guess this blog post will be on the top line of future searches. While it is officially snowboard cross, it is also called Boarder Cross, Snowboard X, and SBX. Interesting note: the first snowboard cross competition took place in 1991 at the Whistler-Blackcomb resort, the current Olympic venue.

Simul-cam: I know it isn't new, but I really like this technology for comparing racers in different heats. It is especially good for skiing.

Medal count update: Did the Russian athletes miss the boat to Vancouver? Going into Day 4, Russia had just one medal (bronze) and trailed both parts of the former Czechoslovakia in the medal standings. This will likely change in the coming days, and it looks like Germany is finding its rhythm after its own slow start. I can still see a 1-2 finish for Germany and Canada.

DQ for not making weight: Okay, this is a strange one. It is not in wrestling or boxing where weight makes a difference, but in luge, a sport with no weight limit. Without going into too much detail, women who weigh less than 165 lbs. can carry added weight to race (roughly 75% of the difference between 165 and their weight). First time Olympian Aya Yasuda (132 lbs) of Japan showed up at the weigh-in with extra weight about a half pound over the limit. Her first Olympic experience is over. I understand the zero tolerance policy for drug testing and other cheating, but couldn't they just have her remove the extra half pound and weigh in again? Disqualification seems outside of the "Olympic spirit" for this one.

Pregnant Olympian: In only the third known occurrence, Canadian Curler Kristie Moore is participating in these games while 5 months pregnant. She is an alternate on the gold medal favored home squad. She will not be the first pregnant winter gold medalist if Canada prevails. That honor went to Swedish figure skater Magda Julin in the Antwerp games, 90 years ago! Skeleton slider Diana Sartor of Germany was also expecting when she took fourth place in the 2006 Turin games.

Shadow: I am sure the Westminster Dog Show's TV ratings are down substantially this year. But it did seem to get more local and national press than the Daytona 500 over the weekend. Congrats to Best in Show winner Sadie, the Scottish Terrier.

Cool 11: A disappointing couple of days for me in this category. The simul-cam is very cool. And an unexpected visitor (pic below) showing up at the bottom of the ski hill for practice runs was noteworthy. I am looking forward to seeing the Ghanian "Snow Leopard" on the slopes when the skiing is finally able to start, but I don't think he is related to this lynx.

Days 1&2

The Spring Olympics are off to a good start, and I was glad to read a foot of new snow has fallen on Vancouver. Oh, that was Dallas. 51 degrees in Vancouver over the weekend, but other than postponing some of the alpine skiing events, it seem everything else is going okay.

Opening Ceremonies: The stadium floor was pretty cool, but otherwise the opening ceremonies were just fair. I do like to watch the parade of nations. The minor "ED" problem during the flame lighting seems to have attracted a lot of attention and media abuse. It was called "embarrassing", "shameful", and "a tragic start to the games." I disagree completely. It was a minor hitch, and unfortunately received almost as much attention on Saturday as the truly tragic death of an athlete. Now that the competition has started, we can finally move past Friday's events.

Dumbest announcer comment: Always tough to pick one from several glaring options, but an NBC announcer on Saturday afternoon said "and now to Whistler for new developments in the death of the Georgian luger." I was waiting for the next announcer to relay that he "is still dead." Hint to NBC: There will not be an new developments for this guy. Yes, they did modify the course, etc., but quit trying to sensationalize the story. Frankly I am surprised there are not more serious injuries with all of the incredibly dangerous sports in the winter games. Let's hope for a safe games the rest of the way.

Nitpicking: Athletes who compete in Luge and Skeleton are called sliders. Not lugers (or skeletors?).

O'Canada: Most of you heard that Sunday's men's mogul skiing gold medal was the first for Canada in these games, and the first in any games on Canadian soil (Calgary winter '88, Montreal summer '76). I was surprised, since Canada usually does well in winter sports and won several gold medals in the summer games in Beijing.

Dog racing on ice: That is how I have always thought of short track speed skating because of the wipeouts and luck needed (along with the skill to be there) to win medals. Now snowboard cross, and the new skiing cross, bring that to the slopes. I think snowboard cross is one of the most exciting sports to watch with its combination of speed and skill, with just enough of the "unexpected" to keep it continually interesting.

A USA first: The US had never won a medal in Nordic Combined, until Colorado's Johnny Spillane was nipped at the line and settled for silver in the men's normal hill/10k event this weekend. Hard luck Todd Lodwick (also from Steamboat Springs, Col.) was beaten by a mere .7 of a second for bronze in a race that took over 25 minutes. The 36-year old led for most of the second half of the race, and is the defending world champion in the event. The US's Billy Demong took 6th in the event. Pretty good showing from a country that never won a medal in the event and is the big favorite for the relay gold. And it could have been even better considering French gold medalist Jason Lamy Chappuis (sha-PWEE) was born in Missoula, Montana to an American mom married to his French father.

Long shadow: The Olympics cast a long shadow on other sports events and world happenings. Didn't wars used to take a break during the Olympics?? I didn't even realize the Daytona 500 was contested Sunday until I saw the result in the paper Monday morning. And the America's Cup sailing race was completed this weekend with the US winning for the first time in two decades. That used to be a somewhat well publicized event back in the old days, but legal bickering between US and Swiss billionaires seems to have soured most on the sport.

Commercials: I have already seen enough commercials for NBC's Parenthood to know that I will never watch the show. I did find it amusing to see the AFLAC duck on a snowboard.

Cool 11: I will select a "cool 11" for these games from participants who I think are intriguing, or would at least like to hang around with for awhile. Early possibilities include first US gold medalist Hannah Kearney (bottom picture), Swiss ski jump gold medalist Simon Amman (left and top, even though he doesn't really look like Harry Potter), Apolo Ohno, and aforementioned Jason Lamy Chappuis (right). It is a fun name to say with the French inflection.

Winter Olympics Preview

Quick...how many current U.S. Winter Olympians can you name? Being a big sports fan, I quickly rattle off Lindsey Vonn, Shaun White, and Apolo Anton Ohno (didn't he invent short track speed skating?). Wow, not very many! With a little more thought I came up with Shani Davis and Patrick Kane, but that was about it. I'm looking forward to getting to know more of the athletes.

There are only 15 "disciplines" in the winter games, primarily because all of them must be contested on snow or ice. I personally think they should put some of the summer games' indoor sports in the winter (e.g. basketball) to even things out, but there is that whole thing about tradition, etc. They have added "X"-ish sports recently, like snowboarding and freestyle skiing, so there are more sports than in the past.

I think it is funny they are having problems with a lack of snow in Vancouver this month when most of the non-sunbelt portion of North America has been battered with blizzards the last couple of weeks. With a foot of fresh powder, Chicago could host the games the next two weeks since it didn't get the 2016 summer games. I guess that wouldn't work since we are a little short on mountains for the skiing events. The snow problems really won't be that bad since a lot of the events are being held in Whistler where they have plenty of snow. Fog will be the issue there.

As for the medal count, don't expect the U.S. to lead the way. After putting a lot of effort into improving our winter sports the last two decades, the Americans did move up to finish 2nd in total medals the last two games. But expect the Germans and hometown Canadians to battle for the top spot. Host countries always make a huge effort to win medals, and Canada happens to be strong in the same "disciplines" as the U.S. Hence, they will win some of the medals we are hoping to grab. Conversely, we will likely block them from several medals, opening the door for the Germans to win the most.

My favorite events are the multi-sport events, and the winter games have a couple of good ones. Nordic Combined features cross country skiing and ski jumping. Those are about the most contrasting activities you can do on skis. My personal favorite is the Biathlon--cross country skiing and target shooting. It is very difficult to aim and fire a rifle with your heart racing 150 bpm.

I have always liked the Olympics, and I'm looking forward to a fun two weeks. Like the 2008 summer games, I will seek to blog about some of the happenings that don't make it into the mainstream media, along with giving a different perspective on some of the "big" stories.

Enjoy the Games!!