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.