Winter Games Indeed

WOW! I didn't know Naked Skiing was a new event at the Winter Olympics this year! I understood the Olympics were hurting for ratings, but if they really wanted to compete with American Idol, Bob Costas and Katie Couric should have talked about this more and really promoted the new event. I'm disappointed that I only found out after the fact when NBC broadcast the footage of Andrea Vianello (pictured above) competing. I REALLY would have liked to have seen the Swedish Women's Team competing in this event. Oh well.

Actually, I guess the event was a one-shot deal. Andrea Vianello lost his pants in a bet with the U.S. Ski Team technical coach Patrick Riml. They spoke together and Vianello said that if Julia Mancuso won a medal, he would ski down in his underwear. Surprise! Mancuso won gold, so off came his pants and down he went.

But I think we're on to something here.... Next time Chad Hedrick & Shani Davis or Tonya Harding & Nancy Kerrigan have a score to settle, they just need to place the following bet: Loser skates naked! I think the bets should be encouraged--they'd certainly be a lot more fun to watch if no less entertaining than watching a bunch of childishness. I'm also sure that Naked Skating or Skiing would massively improve the ratings of the Winter Games as well. Hey! It's a thought!

Well, the Winter Olympics are just about over folks, and as usual, they have provided their share of drama and inspiration. From the worst: Chad Hedrick vs. Shani Davis; to the best: Joey Cheek donating his $40,000 he won for winning gold and silver to charity. From the worst: Lindsey Jacobellis showboating and losing gold to the best: the Turkish figure skater's triumphant skate in the ladies long program.

I have enjoyed the diversion and focus on athletes and sports I really only get to see every four years. It's been amazing. Highlights I'm looking forward to in 2010:

1. Will Michelle Kwan and Irina Slutskaya attempt to make comebacks?

2. Will Sasha Cohen be able to pull it all together and win Gold?

3. Will Belbin and Agosto be able to break the Russian lock on Ice Dancing Gold they have had since 1984?

4. Will Bode Miller win an Olympic Medal?

5. Will Jeret Peterson's Hurricane win Gold in Aerials?

6. Will Shani Davis and Chad Hedrick become friends before Vancouver and compete as team mates, or will their fiery egos once again clash on the Olympic Oval?

7. Will the high profile of NBC's Curling Coverage cause Curling clubs to sprout up all over the place and push the US to Gold in Vancouver?

8. Will USA Hockey ever get it right again, and will Chris Chelios still be the US Captain?

9. Will Naked Skiing become an Olympic event?

10. Will Katie Couric overcome her love affair for Italian Gold and Fashion and Architecture and Food and Dessert and be able to promote Vancouver the same ways she has promoted Torino?

Time will tell. Enjoy the closing ceremonies Sunday night!

And now, back to our regularly scheduled blogging. Thanks for reading.

Olympic Medals: The Means to an End?

The United States has not met it's 2006 Winter Olympics Medal Expectations. It has been disappointing for athletes, coaches, friends, family, sports teams, Katie Couric, and the casual observers among us who tune into the Olympics every four years to watch the drama unfold and then go back to our usual program until the Olympic flame is lit once again.

Consider The United States Ski Team, self-described as "The Best In The World" has only won two gold medals, and Bode Miller has yet to win one.

Consider the Freestyle Ski Team has only managed one bronze in moguls when freestyle skiing was invented in the United States.

Consider Figure Skating where two Americans had a chance to win medals in the men's event and where Gold was Sasha Cohen's for the taking.

Consider Hockey, in which the extreme disappointment was written all over Captain Chris Chelios' face.

Consider Speedskating in which Chad Hedrick scored a Gold, Silver, and Bronze but was really gunning for five golds.

The list goes on and on and on. Among all the great stories of these Winter Olympics, it seems that Torino will be remembered more for underachievement than for Olympic Glory. And I have to ask: Why is that?

My stab in the dark is that it's because too much effort in the United States is put on hype. Politics are no longer a driving force in the Olympics. In our global community, viewers really don't get excited anymore about an US vs. THEM match. US vs. Canada, US vs. Russia, US. vs. Australia or Georgia or Israel or Turkey. There really isn't that much play in building up a fake rivalry anymore when none exists on the world stage.

It wasn't always this way, of course. During the time of Hitler the Olympic Games of Berlin were very much intended to be a showcase of German superiority. Of course, it backfired when Jesse Owens won an Olympic Gold Medal. And few Olympic Games epitomized the Cold War more than the 1980 Lake Placid Games when the US and USSR competed head to head in Hockey and Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner were to compete head to head with 9-time World Champion Irina Rodnina in Pairs Figure Skating.

With the end of the cold war, politics has really faded away from the games as an interest driver. What remains is Madison Avenue's attempts to build rivalries or to create stories and drama out of nothing in order to drive viewership and advertising revenue. The biggest commercials airing during these Olympics are still commercials by VISA and Coke that feature Michelle Kwan. Somebody should really send a memo to NBC...Michelle Kwan is not a participant in these games.

So instead of politics, the media has created stories and hyped them to death, and to the point in which I believe they have been detrimental to United States athletes. Consider the following:
1. Sasha Cohen. Thank you Katie Couric, but have you really helped this young lady's confidence by asking her ad nauseum about her propensity to choke in a major competition?
2. Bode Miller. Yes, it's his own fault for talking the talk, but do all of his off the mountain exploits need to be covered like a presidential candidate on the campaign trail?
3. Jeret Peterson. Hype about the Hurricane. The most difficult trick in aerials. We all knew he was going to attempt it a week before the finals. Why couldn't we just back off and let him attempt it without adding the pressure of reminding him that it was the most difficult trick in aerials.
4. Hedrick and Davis. Without that handshake on the medals podium do you think either of them would be receiving any endorsement contracts? Talk about self-destruction.
5. Lindsey Kildow. Wasn't it enough that she still wanted to compete after that horrific fall during a training run? How would you like to see that footage over and over again if it happened to you? Don't you think it would get in your head?

The Olympic Games are the most amazing spectator event in the world, but for the athletes, there is no bigger pressure cooker. Our media attempts to foster the slightest of hopes, inflate our medal chances, dwell on the most insignificant details or the most unsportsmanlike behavior and create real distractions for the athletes who are out there just trying to do their best. It's scrutiny that very few can really thrive in. I'm thinking maybe Madonna and Bill Clinton who are masters of media manipulations.

It's a shame that we really need to be our own worst enemy. All I know is that I was rooting for Fabris in the 1500 m over Hedrick and Davis because they were being anything but Olympian. And as for Hockey, I just stopped caring. I'm from Detroit and I'm a Detroit Red Wings fan. Red Wings were on the US, Canadian, Swedish and Russian teams. I guess I'm rooting for Sweden because I'd like Nick Lidstrom to win a Gold Medal. Contrast that with 26 years ago when the whole country was rooting for the US over Russia in the Miracle on Ice. The two experiences just don't compare.

Today it's all about media exposure and hype and possible endorsement deals. Sasha Cohen lost millions when she fell on her triple lutz to start her long program Thursday night. Hedrick and Davis lost millions by feuding and not living up to the five gold medal hype. Bode Miller lost millions by not delivering what was expected. Ah well, there's always Season 6 of The Apprentice. Maybe Hedrick or Jeret Peterson will get selected for the show and have a shot to work for The Donald. Both of them are in the running, and in Hedrick's case, I think he would fit right in.

Thanks for reading.

In Awe of Olympians

At the U.S. Nationals last month when Sasha Cohen won her first U.S. National Championship, she was skating with the flu. Though I had been holding out for two years, two days ago, the flu knocked me out cold. Yesterday, I slept for nineteen hours! I awoke only to watch the Short Program in Ladies Figure Skating and the much hyped Men's Speedskating 1500 meters. But I just as easily could have slept through them as well.

The pressure on my forehead was intense. The coughing was painful and it felt like my ribs were breaking. The fever, the chills, the dizziness when I tried to move--I decided it just wasn't that important to drive to work to get my paycheck. Hell, I decided it just wasn't that important to get off the couch to brush my teeth.

So when I hear stories of athletes, Sasha Cohen or anyone else, competing with the flu, or stomach illness, or head colds, it's like WOW! How are you functioning, let alone competing at the top of your sport? All I know is that whatever it is that sick Olympic caliber athletes have that allows them to compete while sick, it is something that I would pay good money for. I've been lucky, I was off work yesterday and today. But somehow I'm going to have to drag myself out of bed and head to work tomorrow. If I can do that with a head that is mostly clear and lungs relatively free from congestion, tomorrow should be a good day.
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And how 'bout those performances last night in the Ladies Short Program! Sasha, Kimmie, and Emily: Knock 'em dead tomorrow night!
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THURSDAY'S OLYMPIC HIGHLIGHTS:
6:00 am--8:00 am: Live women's biathlon relay final; USA
7:00 am--10:00 am: Live women's curling bronze medal match; MSNBC
11:00 am--2:30 pm: Live women's curling gold medal match; USA
4:00 pm--5:00 pm: Women's snowboarding parallel giant slalom; NBC
5:00 pm--8:00 pm: Women's curling gold medal match; CNBC
8:00 pm--midnight: Figure skating women's free skate; freestyle skiing men's aerials final; snowboarding women's parallel giant slalom final; NBC

Thanks for reading.

Of Black Auras and Brilliant Stars

Oh my God! Johnny Weir was right! Not only do Black Auras exist, but they show up in this doctored photo of US Speedskating's Shani Davis and Chad Hedrick!

Okay, so maybe the auras don't exist, but there certainly is a feeling of blackness surrounding these two US Skating stars. When the world's nations can usually agree to an "Olympic Peace" and a cessation of hostilities in celebration of the Olympic Games and its ideals, it's pretty embarassing and downright obscene when two US skating sensations are openly at odds, if not at all out war, with each other.

The last time I checked, there was no "I" in "Team." Davis and Hedrick are on the US Speedskating Team. But far be it for them to support each other and make decisions that are best for the team. Both are in it for "I" alone. Davis only wants his individual glory, and despite Hedrick's rhetoric to the contrary, he is only interested in his individual glory--specifically five gold medals that now are not possible, and at best, will only number three.

It's a good thing the 1980 US Hockey Team learned to put aside individual differences and become a team to win the Gold Medal. It's a good thing the Detroit Pistons learned to pump up each other and rejoice in each other's success instead of their own--otherwise they would be like the Kobe show in L.A. It's a good thing Michelle Kwan's interest was in fielding the best possible Olympic Team for US Women's Figure Skating, otherwise young Emily Hughes would not have her spot and Kwan's reputation as a legend and icon would have been tarnished.

Unfortunately, Davis and Hedrick can't see beyond their Golden Medals. And if for a moment you think Hedrick is out for the glory of sport and challenge, think again--he's a leading contender to be featured on Donald Trump's Sixth Season of The Apprentice.

Black Auras or not, there certainly is a black cloud hanging over the US Men's Speedskating Team. But over in Ice Dancing, all the clouds definitely have a silver lining! Sunday night Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto of the United States skated the most difficult Original Dance technically in a competition filled with uncharacteristic falls and moved up from sixth place to second with only the Free Dance left Monday night.

Less than 1.5 points out of first place, GOLD is in sight for the Reigning World Silver Medalists. Most remarkable in that no American Dance Team has won an Olympic Medal in thirty years. But again, I have to emphasize the word "Team." For that is what Tanith and Ben are. Neither would be in this position without the other, and neither would be in this position were it not for a bill signed New Year's Eve by President Bush making Tanith Belbin a US Citizen.

Four years ago, Belbin and Agosto qualified for the Salt Lake City Olympics, but as Tanith was a Canadian citizen the couple could not compete. During that time, Tanith and Ben came to the realization that what they wanted most out of skating was to be the very best that they could be, and to be the best, it meant skating with each other, not looking for other partners with a nationality that would allow either of them to compete for their own country.

So Belbin and Agosto took the long road and matured as a team, winning the silver medal in the 2005 World Championships, putting them in a position to win the first US medal in Ice Dancing in thirty years--most likely a silver, but with a real shot at the gold. Should that happen, the reverberations in the skating world will be Tsunami like in proportion, and overshadow both the French Judge Scandal from the Salt Lake City Olympics and the Tonya and Nancy debacle from 1994.

Ah, figure skating...what other Olympic sport routinely provides such high quality drama? This time next year no one will remember Shani Davis and Chad Hedrick, but Belbin and Agosto will be international stars, and their pictures will be plastered all over Wheaties Boxes everywhere--unless Sasha Cohen or Emily Hughes should win Gold in the Ladies event later this week. Stay tuned, folks. Stay tuned.

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TODAY'S OLYMPIC HIGHLIGHTS:

8:00 am--11:00 am: Live men's curling, USA vs. Canada; USA

10:30 am--1:00 pm: Live women's hockey bronze medal game; MSNBC

1:00 pm--6:00 pm: Live women's hockey gold medal game; women's bobsled; NBC

5:00 pm--8:00 pm: Women's curling, USA vs. Britain; CNBC

8:00 pm--11:30 pm: Figure Skating Ice Dancing Final; Alpine skiing men's giant slalom final; freestyle skiing men's aerials; ski jumping K125 large hill team final; NBC

Thanks for reading.

Showboating Americans Pay Olympic Price

You're out in front. The Gold is yours. All you need to do is play it safe and get to the finish line. So what do you do? You turn a history making run in the Inaugeral Olympic Women's Snowboard Cross into the equivalent of an NFL Touchdown Victory Dance or an NBA Slam Dunk...except that it backfires, you fall down, and lose the Gold. You get tackled at the one yard line. You hit the rim of the of the basketball net and shatter the bones in your hand.

That is what Lindsey Jacobellis did Friday in the Final of the Snowboard Cross. She had a huge three second lead, the finish line was in sight, and she pulled out a method air--a halfpipe trick--landed funny and fell down, losing the Gold Medal. This wasn't even the agony of defeat, because nobody beat Jacobellis. Rather, she counted her chickens before they hatched. She miscalculated.

Unfortunately, this miscalculation seems to be a trend for American athletes at the Olympics this year. First and second most dramatically, Bode Miller vocally made his presence known even well before the Games began. Perhaps if he had put his vocal energy into his skiing, he would have had a better result.

And Second, and most dramatically, Johnny Weir gave the most unbelievable excuses for not skating well in the Men's Free Program Thursday night. First he claimed the City of Turin changed their bus schedule without telling him, so he arrived at the arena late, which threw him off. And second, he claimed his aura was black, and with black all around him interfering with his positive energy, he couldn't skate well.

Mother of God! Mother of Pearl, even! Have you ever heard of a bigger prima donna than Johnny Weir? How can people with such talent just blow it all away on the largest Sporting Stage in the world? You gotta give Tonya Harding some credit here. She wanted the gold, she tried to take out Nancy Kerrigan to ensure her victory. She was caught, she paid the price, she did some time and she was banned from Figure Skating for life. But you know what? Tonya Harding has far more guts than Johnny Weir. Actually, I don't think Johnny Weir has any guts at all. It's time he took off his Swan Costume and became a man for a change. Instead of blaming bus schedules and auras, he simply needs to own up and say he choked, or he just skated poorly, or today wasn't his day. Whatever. But take some responsibility, Man! Blaming a loss on an aura. Oh my God!

The fact of the matter is, however, is that all three of these top contenders: Lindsey Jacobellis, Bode Miller, Johnny Weir...each and every one of them was guilty of showboating. Each and every one of them focused more on the idea of winning than the act of winning. And can we really blame them? Aren't we the nation that cheers and oohs and ahhs when there's a spectacular catch in football followed by the obligatory endzone dance exclamation point? Don't we go gaga over Slam Dunks? And, haven't our children been raised with these types of victory celebrations rather than being taught that it is the better part of valor to excercise some level of humility?

I dunno. Lindsey Jacobellis lost the Gold Medal. It was hers, and she lost it. She'll have to live with that. But perhaps all of should think more about how we win, and how we lose. I'm missing Michelle Kwan now more than ever. Michelle knows how to win with humility, and lose with grace and dignity. If Michelle had ever had an opportunity to explain this basic approach to Lindsey Jacobellis, Lindsey would have been on the podium last night singing the Star Bangled Banner in victory.
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Meanwhile, in Ice Dancing, Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto are in a disappointing sixth place after the compulsary dance. Their skate wasn't their best, and they are within a point of the medals--which at this stage in the competition is rather meaningless.

I'd be more concerned, however, if there is a backlash to Belbin and Agosto's bid to become the first American Ice Dancers to win an Olympic medal in thirty years. Belbin and Agosto were not supposed to be here. When they won silver at the 2005 World Championships, it was with an understanding in the world community that they would not be competing in Torino because Belbin was still a Canadian citizen. However, December 31, 2005, Congress passed a law and President Bush signed it, making Belbin a US citizen. So could their sixth place finish in the compulsories be some kind of backlash against them? Stay tuned: we'll know more after the Original Dance Sunday.
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TODAY'S OLYMPIC HIGHLIGHTS:

5:00 am--1:30 pm: Live men's hockey--Russia vs. Kazakhstan, Italy vs. Germany, Canada vs. Switzerland, Sweden vs. Latvia; CNBC
8:00 am--11:00 am: Live men's curling, USA vs. Germany; USA
Noon--6:00 pm: Cross-country women's relay final; biathlon men's pursuit final; live men's hockey, USA vs. Slovakia; short-track speedskating women's 1,500 semifinals; NBC
3:00 pm--5:30 pm: Live men's hockey, Czech Republic vs. Finland; CNBC
5:00 pm--8:00 pm: Women's curling, USA vs. Italy; MSNBC
8:00 pm--11:30 pm: Alpine skiing men's super-G; short-track speedskating men's 1,000 final; women's 1,500 final; speedskating men's 1,000 final; ski-jumping K125 large hill individual final; bobsled two man, NBC

Thanks for reading.