As I already mentioned, I can't help but smile every time I see Sage Kotsenburg in an interview or piece. I can tell I would just laugh constantly if I ever met him. Whether it would be me laughing with him or at him, I can't tell. But I reiterate that I think he's very likable.
In case you missed it, here is a funny piece he did with Jimmy Fallon last week.
Monday, February 17, 2014
Friday, February 14, 2014
Sweep.
How great was the American sweep in the freestyle skiing slope style event?! Nothing like seeing three flags raised at an Olympic medal ceremony and all three of them be American flags. Only the third time that's every happened in a winter Olympics.
If you missed the medal ceremony, you can watch it HERE. Gives me chills.
Plus, how adorable are these guys?! Wish I was just a few years younger!
If you missed the medal ceremony, you can watch it HERE. Gives me chills.
Plus, how adorable are these guys?! Wish I was just a few years younger!
I warned you.
As I said at the very beginning, there's no way I'd be able to keep up and post as much as I did during the summer Olympics. There's just not enough free time for me do it right now. The only reason I really have time at the moment is because I'm on a work trip and am currently lounging in a hotel room in the city in which The Fugitive was filmed.
This of course does not mean I haven't been watching almost every moment of the games possible. I've watched the primetime coverage every evening and thanks to the recent "blizzard" in N.C., I've had almost three full days to watch during the day. Along with the television that sits in my office when I am at work.
So many great things have happened so far and I'll never have time to write about it all, so I'll just leave you with some thoughts and great moments.
- I smile every time I see an interview with Sage Kotsenburg (the American who won the snowboard slope style event). He talks exactly like you expect most snowboarders to and is so honest in all his interviews. He's just very likable.
- The figure skating team event will need some tweaking over its first few cycles in the games, but overall I think it's a neat addition. While it will probably be dominated by the same few countries most the time, it's cool to see a lot of skaters with the opportunity to earn medals. Up to 10 skaters from each country can earn a medal. I think that's great considering there are so many amazing skaters that never get to stand on the podium at the Olympics.
- The men's figure skating short program was the craziest thing I've ever seen in all my years of watching the sport. I've been pretty consistent with watching it over the years, not just during the Olympics, and I've never seen anything like that sequence of events. Plushenko withdraws and then Abbott's skate. I mean, wow. I've kind of cheered against Plushenko for awhile. Probably because he's really good and not an American. But that was really heartbreaking to watch. You could tell how much pain he was in and how devestated he was. Then Abbott has yet another fall on the quad, he melts so often under pressure, but manages to get up after that hard fall and skates flawless...once he catches up with the music. So kudos to him for not giving up, figuring out where he was in the music and for pretty much nailing the rest of his routine.
- What is with the American speed skaters?! They can't blame it all on the new skating suits. It's not like Under Armor just threw these at them and told them to put it on. It was a collaborative endeavor on these suits and the U.S. needs to suck it up and just start skating better!
- What is with the American skiers?! Other than Julia Mancuso's bronze in the super-combined, the U.S. has struggled mightily in the alpine events. Like the skaters, at a certain point you have to stop blaming the elements and just ski. Other people are winning, no reason the U.S. shouldn't.
- Stop all the hating on the fact that this is the "winter" Olympics! I do not see one better than the other. All these athletes work hard to get were they are and I find it a little disappointing when people say that these games don't count. There are 230 amazing athletes representing our country right now. Many of them have sacrificed and worked harder than I ever will. What does it matter what season of the year it is? Get over your bias and support them!
- It's the little moments that make the Olympics. Like the Russian cross country skier who broke his ski and could hardly even continue because it was nearly impossible. He never gave up. Kept limping along the best he could. Then a coach from the Canadian ski team came out and gave him a new ski so he could finish. Turns out the wife of that Canadian coach was a skier in one of the team events in Torino. Her pole broke, which is almost just as bad in a cross country race, and a Norwegian coach ran out and gave her a new pole. Canada finished second and Norway finished fourth. He found a way to pay it forward, eight years later. Incredible.
- I miss Bob. I like Matt and Meredith very much. But it's just not the Olympics without Bob Costas! Get well soon!
This of course does not mean I haven't been watching almost every moment of the games possible. I've watched the primetime coverage every evening and thanks to the recent "blizzard" in N.C., I've had almost three full days to watch during the day. Along with the television that sits in my office when I am at work.
So many great things have happened so far and I'll never have time to write about it all, so I'll just leave you with some thoughts and great moments.
- I smile every time I see an interview with Sage Kotsenburg (the American who won the snowboard slope style event). He talks exactly like you expect most snowboarders to and is so honest in all his interviews. He's just very likable.
- The figure skating team event will need some tweaking over its first few cycles in the games, but overall I think it's a neat addition. While it will probably be dominated by the same few countries most the time, it's cool to see a lot of skaters with the opportunity to earn medals. Up to 10 skaters from each country can earn a medal. I think that's great considering there are so many amazing skaters that never get to stand on the podium at the Olympics.
- The men's figure skating short program was the craziest thing I've ever seen in all my years of watching the sport. I've been pretty consistent with watching it over the years, not just during the Olympics, and I've never seen anything like that sequence of events. Plushenko withdraws and then Abbott's skate. I mean, wow. I've kind of cheered against Plushenko for awhile. Probably because he's really good and not an American. But that was really heartbreaking to watch. You could tell how much pain he was in and how devestated he was. Then Abbott has yet another fall on the quad, he melts so often under pressure, but manages to get up after that hard fall and skates flawless...once he catches up with the music. So kudos to him for not giving up, figuring out where he was in the music and for pretty much nailing the rest of his routine.
- What is with the American speed skaters?! They can't blame it all on the new skating suits. It's not like Under Armor just threw these at them and told them to put it on. It was a collaborative endeavor on these suits and the U.S. needs to suck it up and just start skating better!
- What is with the American skiers?! Other than Julia Mancuso's bronze in the super-combined, the U.S. has struggled mightily in the alpine events. Like the skaters, at a certain point you have to stop blaming the elements and just ski. Other people are winning, no reason the U.S. shouldn't.
- Stop all the hating on the fact that this is the "winter" Olympics! I do not see one better than the other. All these athletes work hard to get were they are and I find it a little disappointing when people say that these games don't count. There are 230 amazing athletes representing our country right now. Many of them have sacrificed and worked harder than I ever will. What does it matter what season of the year it is? Get over your bias and support them!
- It's the little moments that make the Olympics. Like the Russian cross country skier who broke his ski and could hardly even continue because it was nearly impossible. He never gave up. Kept limping along the best he could. Then a coach from the Canadian ski team came out and gave him a new ski so he could finish. Turns out the wife of that Canadian coach was a skier in one of the team events in Torino. Her pole broke, which is almost just as bad in a cross country race, and a Norwegian coach ran out and gave her a new pole. Canada finished second and Norway finished fourth. He found a way to pay it forward, eight years later. Incredible.
- I miss Bob. I like Matt and Meredith very much. But it's just not the Olympics without Bob Costas! Get well soon!
Sunday, February 2, 2014
Good read.
There is a very interesting read on ESPN if you have the time for a long feature piece. I think it's a very accurate (from what I've gathered) depection of Putin and the way he controls Russia.
Russia seems to function as a modern country but is led by someone who is a few steps short of a dictator. What Putin wants, Putin gets. And that includes this Olympics games.
Sochi was previously more known as a vacation destination for the rich in Russia. Not a winter destination, but a summer one. While it gets plenty cold in the winter, as I can't imagine a place during winter in Russia that doesn't get cold, it's not your average winter Olympic host city.
But the IOC doesn't care about that. They only care that you are going to do what's necessary to fund, build and successfully host an Olympic games. Therefore Sochi has been transformed over the last seven years.
There were no major roads or highways leading in to Sochi in 2007. No hotels. No venues. Literally everything in the city has been built for the games. It is not the classic, historic sites you saw transformed in London. Russia has spent an estimated $50 billion building these games. The most expensive of any winter site.
To be fair, the winter games are built a little differently from the summer games. Not to mention that dozens of buildings are built in preparation for any games. Often for the summer games, the main structure built is the venue for the ceremonies and the athlete village. For the winter games, it's more important to have a site within driving distance already capable of hosting the outdoor events and then build the necessary venues for the indoor events in the actual host city for the games. I witnessed this in Torino. So many of the buildings were built obviously for the Olympics and the Olympics only. The curling venue was a random stop on the train to the mountains. It was like, "Hey, we could throw people off here and build a site for curling." I'd be shocked if that curling building still exists eight years later.
But the difference with Sochi is that everything in the town is new and for the Olympics. It's a Disney World monoply type city now. Once you enter the "coastal cluster" of venues and Olympic village, you are stuck with the few food and entertainment options. It doesn't have the feel of visiting and exploring in a place like in Vancouver or Nagano. It is just the Olympic competitions and that's pretty much it.
So the question is, "Will it be safe?" Putin has pretty much risked his entire international reputation on these games. He wanted these games to show off Russia and its "progress." To show that Russia is not the Russia you still think it is from the Cold War. He wants everyone to be in awe of him and think it would be great to live in a country with him as your President. It is essential to him that these games go off without a hitch. If they don't, I don't want to be the person responsible in his eyes. It matters not to him whether people have a good time. He cares that it is portrayed successfully to people around the world and that Russia wins gold medals. It's similar to the way China cared about the success of the Beijing games in the way that they wanted to change the public perception. It was the same "win at all costs mentality."
The games are about four days away now. All we can do is wait and see how it all unfolds.
Russia seems to function as a modern country but is led by someone who is a few steps short of a dictator. What Putin wants, Putin gets. And that includes this Olympics games.
Sochi was previously more known as a vacation destination for the rich in Russia. Not a winter destination, but a summer one. While it gets plenty cold in the winter, as I can't imagine a place during winter in Russia that doesn't get cold, it's not your average winter Olympic host city.
But the IOC doesn't care about that. They only care that you are going to do what's necessary to fund, build and successfully host an Olympic games. Therefore Sochi has been transformed over the last seven years.
There were no major roads or highways leading in to Sochi in 2007. No hotels. No venues. Literally everything in the city has been built for the games. It is not the classic, historic sites you saw transformed in London. Russia has spent an estimated $50 billion building these games. The most expensive of any winter site.
To be fair, the winter games are built a little differently from the summer games. Not to mention that dozens of buildings are built in preparation for any games. Often for the summer games, the main structure built is the venue for the ceremonies and the athlete village. For the winter games, it's more important to have a site within driving distance already capable of hosting the outdoor events and then build the necessary venues for the indoor events in the actual host city for the games. I witnessed this in Torino. So many of the buildings were built obviously for the Olympics and the Olympics only. The curling venue was a random stop on the train to the mountains. It was like, "Hey, we could throw people off here and build a site for curling." I'd be shocked if that curling building still exists eight years later.
But the difference with Sochi is that everything in the town is new and for the Olympics. It's a Disney World monoply type city now. Once you enter the "coastal cluster" of venues and Olympic village, you are stuck with the few food and entertainment options. It doesn't have the feel of visiting and exploring in a place like in Vancouver or Nagano. It is just the Olympic competitions and that's pretty much it.
So the question is, "Will it be safe?" Putin has pretty much risked his entire international reputation on these games. He wanted these games to show off Russia and its "progress." To show that Russia is not the Russia you still think it is from the Cold War. He wants everyone to be in awe of him and think it would be great to live in a country with him as your President. It is essential to him that these games go off without a hitch. If they don't, I don't want to be the person responsible in his eyes. It matters not to him whether people have a good time. He cares that it is portrayed successfully to people around the world and that Russia wins gold medals. It's similar to the way China cared about the success of the Beijing games in the way that they wanted to change the public perception. It was the same "win at all costs mentality."
The games are about four days away now. All we can do is wait and see how it all unfolds.
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