I'm surprised there were so many mistakes on that final run. On a more general note, I'm still confident that the US medal tally will slow down after tomorrow. Failing that one hope to Own The Podium, I expect us to be reluctant lucky-go-happy hosts to Germany.
Glad to see her win. She had a lot of pressure on her (leading the World Cup and being dubbed "The face of the U.S. Olympic team" and all). She could have easily caved, but she did great. Definitely benefitted from the weather delays. Hard to believe she started skiing at Buck Hill (MN): I think I was about 8 years old when I decided that place was lame. Bummed to see the U.S. guys lose to the Swiss in curling. With 3 losses, they're pretty much done. Even so, it was fun to watch- even had the non-curling fans at the bar hooting and hollering at the end.
^ I was surprised by that. The USA usually fields (ices?) a reasonably decent rink for curling. Didn't expect them to lose three straight.
There's a guy, looks around 20-ish, who's been at the curling events with a sign that says "Kevin Martin makes me haaaard!" So disturbing yet so awesome.
Five members of the team are from Minnesota, so choking is probably part of their psyche. "Almost" should really be the state motto.
So I just finished watching Shaun White being ridiculous on the half pipe. Of course this being, what, 6 hours later, nobody cares anymore probably but man that was awesome. It's like everytime I see him, his final run is a victory lap and him doing his special trick at the end just to entertain the crowd might be one of my favorite moments of the Olympics. Yes there are spoilers, but nothing beats the jubilation of that. Oh, and regarding the foul language of the coach, I didn't hear anything.
Vonn crashes out of the super combined! But Mancuso nabs the silver! Now I just need to wait a few hours to see it on NBC.
^congrats We were planning an all dutch party, but you guys nabbed 1st place by just 0.02 seconds! :P.
Yeah, that was a bit more of a nail biter than you want to see in the round robin. Full credit to Hiller, though, he had a hell of a game.
Since others are pulling off a Rent the Podium, those in charge of the Canadian Olympic program had better start thinking about spamming athletes and money in individual events where we have medal contenders, like moguls, skeleton, bobsled, short track, women's long track, and perhaps men's long track. Throwing away money in hopeless areas like alpine skiing, to the boondoggle tune of $10 million, is just not right.
I've really been impressed by just how hard the Swiss team has played against both Canada and the US. Would have loved the upset, but... Go Sid!
Some thoughts, from a almost not spoiled me on this Thursday night. -Lindsey Vonn - This was the event I was spoiled on earlier. Kinda disappointing to see her crash, but great for Mancuso. She's local (Squaw Valley) and deserves it. It's a shame it wasn't Gold, but she had a hell of a two runs. -Canada/Switzerland - Very entertaining hockey game (Even though I mainly watched Overtime and the shootout.) I was kind of pulling for the Swiss, just to see what would happen if Canada did lose and what kind of shivers down the spine of Canada that would send. Sunday's the showdown, and I'm glad it's not on NBC. They would delay it. Everyone in the country of the US and the world will get to see that game live and all I can say is THANK THE LORD FOR THAT. -Russia/Slovakia - Caught the very end of it. Kinda can't believe Russia lost. -US/Norway - Good game from the US, but they better work on defensive coverage for Canada. Of course Canada almost lost, so that really does make the game Sunday all the more interesting. -Snowboard halfpipe - Kinda anti-climatic after what White pulled last night. Good for Torah (The Australian) and nice that the US did get 2 and 3. Kinda sucks for Bleiler though. -Now the event of the evening, the Mens Free Skate. Spoilers for anyone who hasn't seen it yet: Spoiler: Men's Free Skate USA USA USA So glad Lysacek won gold. Perhaps Plushenko's jumps were better, but Lysacek had the better quality program. From the jumps, to the Choreography, and then the fancy footwork in the bonus, it was just go for broke and he pulled it off magnificently. As for Plushenko, he's going to go down in history with the best figure skaters ever. That is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. And to see him come back from a 3 and a half year absence and not look like he lost a step, good for him.