Sunday, February 19, 2006
Bode bobbles, Cheek cheers, Apolo almost.......
Lots o' stuff to watch tonight, like the conclusion of the women's Alpine combined. The Americans weren't really in contention for a medal, so the battle for gold was between Janica Kostelic of Croatia and Anja Paerson of Sweden. Kostelic won despite being ill and is now the first woman to have four Olympic gold medals in Alpine. Marlies Schild of Austria was a surprise second, leaving Paerson with the bronze.
The men's super-G also had unexpected results. Apparently, 17 skiers had completed the course when the race was postponed due to the weather. Those who had aready skied had to start over, which upset the man with the fastest time. Maybe he was still upset when the weather cleared and he had to go again, because he completely missed a gate for no reason anyone could see and was out of the race. Bode Miller, who had not been one of the 17 to ski earlier, inexplicably lost his balance mid-course. He didn't fall, but he did go through a gate and veered off the course, so he was out too. That left medal contender Hermann Maier of Austria, also known as the Herminator, with one less obstacle to the gold. Then along came Kjetil Andre Aamodt of Norway. He seemed unlikely to win because he'd injured his knee earlier in the week, but he still came out .13 of a second ahead of the Herminator. At age 34, Aamodt now has a record eight Olympic Alpine medals. Good show.
I have to admit I get some of the speedskating events confused. There's 500m, 5000m, 1000m, 1500m. There might even be more than that, I'm not sure. But I do remember being impressed with Joey Cheek's surprise gold in the 500m and his announcement that he would be donating his prize money to charity. So when I found out he was doing the 1000m, I watched for him despite the fact that all eyes were on the rivalry between Shani Davis and Chad Hedrick. The big controversy is that Davis had been counted on to be on the pursuit team, but he claimed he had never committed to it, so he didn't do it. Some claim that's why the US team didn't win, but I personally think there's some sour grapes in that sentiment. Anyway, it set up harsh words for Davis, particularly from Hedrick. And I suppose that's why when Davis won the gold in the 1000m, making him the first African-American to win an individual gold, he wasn't exactly shouting from the rafters. But Cheek, who won a silver, was appropriately pleased and made up for the stoic Davis. And Cheek will be donating the prize money for this award to charity too, which makes him golden in my book. A nice distraction from the petty in-fighting amongst his teammates.
There was another 1000m race, this one on short track speed skating. And another rivalry, this one between American Apolo Anton Ohno and the South Koreans, particularly Ahn Hyun-Soo, with whom Ohno had the famous collision four years ago. Both made it to the final race, as did American Rusty Smith and South Korean Lee Ho-Suk. But unlike four years ago, this race was clean with no collisions. Both South Koreans edged past Ohno, leaving him essentially no room to pass. But Ohno honestly didn't mind getting the bronze, and he was respectful of the South Koreans' win. That's what I call good sportsmanship.
Still freakin' cold here. It got to -13 last night, and the high temperature today was 7. But tonight will only go down to 0, and tomorrow it will be in the teens. And then it's supposed to warm up to the 30's and 40's we are accustomed to during the day.
Probably will miss half of the prime time Olympic coverage tomorrow night because of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" and "Desperate Housewives" on ABC. Gotta admit that network has excellent counter-programming.
The men's super-G also had unexpected results. Apparently, 17 skiers had completed the course when the race was postponed due to the weather. Those who had aready skied had to start over, which upset the man with the fastest time. Maybe he was still upset when the weather cleared and he had to go again, because he completely missed a gate for no reason anyone could see and was out of the race. Bode Miller, who had not been one of the 17 to ski earlier, inexplicably lost his balance mid-course. He didn't fall, but he did go through a gate and veered off the course, so he was out too. That left medal contender Hermann Maier of Austria, also known as the Herminator, with one less obstacle to the gold. Then along came Kjetil Andre Aamodt of Norway. He seemed unlikely to win because he'd injured his knee earlier in the week, but he still came out .13 of a second ahead of the Herminator. At age 34, Aamodt now has a record eight Olympic Alpine medals. Good show.
I have to admit I get some of the speedskating events confused. There's 500m, 5000m, 1000m, 1500m. There might even be more than that, I'm not sure. But I do remember being impressed with Joey Cheek's surprise gold in the 500m and his announcement that he would be donating his prize money to charity. So when I found out he was doing the 1000m, I watched for him despite the fact that all eyes were on the rivalry between Shani Davis and Chad Hedrick. The big controversy is that Davis had been counted on to be on the pursuit team, but he claimed he had never committed to it, so he didn't do it. Some claim that's why the US team didn't win, but I personally think there's some sour grapes in that sentiment. Anyway, it set up harsh words for Davis, particularly from Hedrick. And I suppose that's why when Davis won the gold in the 1000m, making him the first African-American to win an individual gold, he wasn't exactly shouting from the rafters. But Cheek, who won a silver, was appropriately pleased and made up for the stoic Davis. And Cheek will be donating the prize money for this award to charity too, which makes him golden in my book. A nice distraction from the petty in-fighting amongst his teammates.
There was another 1000m race, this one on short track speed skating. And another rivalry, this one between American Apolo Anton Ohno and the South Koreans, particularly Ahn Hyun-Soo, with whom Ohno had the famous collision four years ago. Both made it to the final race, as did American Rusty Smith and South Korean Lee Ho-Suk. But unlike four years ago, this race was clean with no collisions. Both South Koreans edged past Ohno, leaving him essentially no room to pass. But Ohno honestly didn't mind getting the bronze, and he was respectful of the South Koreans' win. That's what I call good sportsmanship.
Still freakin' cold here. It got to -13 last night, and the high temperature today was 7. But tonight will only go down to 0, and tomorrow it will be in the teens. And then it's supposed to warm up to the 30's and 40's we are accustomed to during the day.
Probably will miss half of the prime time Olympic coverage tomorrow night because of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" and "Desperate Housewives" on ABC. Gotta admit that network has excellent counter-programming.
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