It's a fairy tale ending for Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo of China, who came out of retirement for a shot at gold in pairs skating and they pulled it off, ending a half-century of Russian/Soviet dominance in the event. Shen and Zhao are one of many skating pairs who are also husband and wife. I suppose it shouldn't be terribly surprising, considering the amount of time they must spend together and the trust that must be built over a period of many years. It stands to reason that people who are compatible athletically and artistically are likely to be compatible on other levels as well.
What's more extraordinary to me is that we don't hear more about the more contentious relationships in the sport. There must be pairs who grow to hate each other - it's only human nature. I found myself thinking last night how lucky these skaters are to find someone with whom they can work so intimately for so long. But I realized I was probably looking at it the wrong way. The skaters who can't find a suitable partner probably never make it this far, or perhaps they stick to singles.
Bear in mind, my thoughts on the matter are colored by the fact that we've been watching Ingmar Bergman's Scenes from a Marriage TV series. Relationships can certainly be complicated even without having to work together all day.
Men's hockey begins today, as does curling. Let the bonspiel begin!
Follow Up: Alexandre Bilodeau
A nice story on the gold medalist, including the excellent family back story which Mock mentioned:
Even with Drought Over, Canada Still Sets Gold Standard in Class by SI.com's Michael Farber
Follow Up: Legitimate Safety Concerns
For obvious reasons, there's also been quite a lot of interesting discussion of safety at the Winter Games. My own position is pretty straightforward. Obviously, the IOC has to draw an audience to make money and some of the more exciting sports are also the most dangerous. But death and serious injury are not acceptable prices to pay. It is most definitely not in the Olympic spirit to compromise athlete safety for television ratings.
I am also willing to admit that it's a nuanced discussion and that it's oversimplifying the issue to say that a sport like luge is too dangerous to be in the Olympics. Some of the more interesting articles and columns I've seen:
For Everyone's Sake, Reckless IOC Must Sacrifice Thrills for Safety by SI.com's Selena Roberts, written the day of the horrible accident
Post-Tragedy Course Changes Bring More Controversy to Luge Events by SI.com's David Epstein
Luge Is Safe? One Study Says It Is an alternate view, also offered by Epstein
PBS's NewsHour also had an excellent piece on safety at the Olympics.
I do think that while they may ultimately prove important in the investigation of the incident, I feel that all of the stories regarding Nodar Kumaritashvili's cryptic conversations with his father before the crash are in extremely poor taste. This particular story does not require any extra sensationalism on the part of the media.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
Vancouver Day 3: Alexandre Bilodeau, National Hero
Thank goodness Canada finally has its first gold as host nation. Alexandre Bilodeau won the men's moguls. Now we don't have to hear about the jinx anymore.
Caught a fair amount of the day's action. My daughter sat with me quite happily for a while. She seems to like the luge the best, a terrifying thought for her parents. She already knows she's not allowed to try it.
I find I enjoy the Nordic ski events a lot more than I used to. Obviously the pace is not as fast as in other sports but given that everyone is on the course at once, it feels like more of a race. Coverage has improved as well. With more cameras, they can quickly shift focus to different sections of the race. The close finish in the Nordic Combined was pretty exciting. Congratulations to Johnny Spillane for winning USA's first ever medal in the event. It's crushing to lose a long race at the finish like that but he looked pretty happy on the medal stand.
The ladies in my family are both home today: My Wife because of Presidents Day, Our Girl because she's been running a fever. For me, one more week before February break.
Still eager to see a competitive hockey game.
Caught a fair amount of the day's action. My daughter sat with me quite happily for a while. She seems to like the luge the best, a terrifying thought for her parents. She already knows she's not allowed to try it.
I find I enjoy the Nordic ski events a lot more than I used to. Obviously the pace is not as fast as in other sports but given that everyone is on the course at once, it feels like more of a race. Coverage has improved as well. With more cameras, they can quickly shift focus to different sections of the race. The close finish in the Nordic Combined was pretty exciting. Congratulations to Johnny Spillane for winning USA's first ever medal in the event. It's crushing to lose a long race at the finish like that but he looked pretty happy on the medal stand.
The ladies in my family are both home today: My Wife because of Presidents Day, Our Girl because she's been running a fever. For me, one more week before February break.
Still eager to see a competitive hockey game.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Vancouver Day 2: Six for Ohno
Congratulations to Apolo Ohno for becoming the USA's all-time leading male medal winner in the Winter Games. He won the silver medal in the short-track 1500 meters. I would still contend that Eric Heiden's sweep of the golds in speed skating in 1980 is far more impressive but six medals over three different Olympics is pretty darn good.
No gold medals yet for Canada, still looking for its first on home soil. They're sure to win others along the way but it seems that with men's and women's competitions in both hockey and curling, they should win at least one if not all four.
Meanwhile, I am eager for men's hockey to start. The women's games are fun, too, but somehow I doubt that the Canadian men could manage an 18-0 result against Slovakia.
There has been much discussion of NBC's highly questionable taste in airing the footage of yesterday's luge disaster. I haven't watched it and will avoid ever doing so. I simply don't have the stomach for it. Beyond my own discomfort, it's gaper's block on a world feed and I can't help feeling that it's more than a little disrespectful to Kumaritashvili's family and teammates. What is the motivation for NBC? Ratings? Exposing the high risks of what is, quite frankly, a crazy sport? I have a hard time believing that it's all about journalistic integrity.
No gold medals yet for Canada, still looking for its first on home soil. They're sure to win others along the way but it seems that with men's and women's competitions in both hockey and curling, they should win at least one if not all four.
Meanwhile, I am eager for men's hockey to start. The women's games are fun, too, but somehow I doubt that the Canadian men could manage an 18-0 result against Slovakia.
There has been much discussion of NBC's highly questionable taste in airing the footage of yesterday's luge disaster. I haven't watched it and will avoid ever doing so. I simply don't have the stomach for it. Beyond my own discomfort, it's gaper's block on a world feed and I can't help feeling that it's more than a little disrespectful to Kumaritashvili's family and teammates. What is the motivation for NBC? Ratings? Exposing the high risks of what is, quite frankly, a crazy sport? I have a hard time believing that it's all about journalistic integrity.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Vancouver Day 1: O Canada
Without a doubt, the Olympics bring out the best in video montage editors. Tom Brokaw's piece on the relationship between the US and Canada was absolutely breathtaking. Consecutive images of Wayne Gretzky and Peter Jennings nearly made me tear up. And, of course, the shots of the mountains were stunning.
Overall, I'd say the opening ceremony was a success. It definitely dragged at times but any show featuring the work of Sarah McLachlan, Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen is alright in my book. The Joni Mitchell segment, in particular, was extremely well done. One couldn't help but wonder for a moment if they were just going to make Gretzky hold the torch for two weeks. I was relieved for his sake to see the technical glitches clear up.
Rest in peace, Nodar Kumaritashvili. May you serve as an important reminder that some of these sports, as exciting as they are to watch, are critically dangerous. I'm scared to death of sports like luge and ski jumping but I can certainly understand how it would be thrilling for someone else. Winter hardly needs X Games. The conventional sports are pretty harrowing already.
Overall, I'd say the opening ceremony was a success. It definitely dragged at times but any show featuring the work of Sarah McLachlan, Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen is alright in my book. The Joni Mitchell segment, in particular, was extremely well done. One couldn't help but wonder for a moment if they were just going to make Gretzky hold the torch for two weeks. I was relieved for his sake to see the technical glitches clear up.
Rest in peace, Nodar Kumaritashvili. May you serve as an important reminder that some of these sports, as exciting as they are to watch, are critically dangerous. I'm scared to death of sports like luge and ski jumping but I can certainly understand how it would be thrilling for someone else. Winter hardly needs X Games. The conventional sports are pretty harrowing already.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
The Winter Olympics: A Family History
Growing up, we almost never watched TV at the dinner table. Mealtime was sacred - not to be interrupted by phone calls or anyone reading anything (apart from the newspaper over breakfast). Television would be almost unthinkable. Almost.
Occasional exceptions were made. Most of them pertained to politics: party conventions, debates and so forth. And every four years, the rest of my nuclear family would temporarily join me in my sports fanaticism. Mother, father and sister all found my interest puzzling but none of them could resist the lure of Olympic figure skating.
The first Olympics which we all watched avidly together were the 1984 Games in pre-war Sarajevo. The star of the ice that year was Katerina Witt of East Germany. Elegant and beautiful, she was my first athlete crush - and a Communist, at that! Scott Hamilton (USA) won gold that year as did the incomparable Torvill & Dean (UK) in ice dancing.
Through the '80s and '90s, skating was always a bonding topic for the four of us. We loved both Brians: Boitano (USA) and Orser (Canada). We were all crushed when Sergei Grinkov (USSR/Russia) died at 28, leaving his beautiful wife and skating partner, Ekaterina Gordeeva, to skate alone. We were all charmed by Midori Ito (Japan) and Michelle Kwan (USA). The sport has changed over the last dozen years or so and the current stars are not familiar to me. But I will always have very fond memories of sharing that time with my family.
My earliest memory of the Olympics, however, is from the 1980 Games four years before. Sadly, I missed the great hockey game against the Soviets but heard the story from my father the next morning. I was six years old and asleep in bed. Now, it's astonishing to think that my father willingly watched a hockey game without me. We did watch the final game against Finland together. It is, in fact, my earliest memory of watching a sporting event on television at all. I also remember hearing Eric Heiden's name a lot as he won all five golds in men's speed skating.
The 1998 Games also hold personal meaning for me. I was in Yokohama teaching English from 1996 to 1998. In early spring of '97, my parents came to visit. My parents were in Japan from 1969 to 1976 while my father was in the diplomatic service and they are both very comfortable in the country. As a result, we were able to get off the beaten path and spend some time in Nagano prefecture during that visit. We stayed mostly in Matsumoto but drove past some of the Olympic facilities during our explorations: the ski jump, most memorably. It is a beautiful part of the world, far from the endless concrete jungle of the Tokyo megalopolis. We got to see snow monkeys and everything!
And, of course, I was there for the Games themselves, though I watched from the comfort of my apartment. The simultaneous, worldwide performance of the "Ode to Joy" during the opening ceremony is one of the great television moments of my life.
I think Americans are a bit jaded about winning medals - expecting it and therefore not really appreciating it. For the Japanese, every medal won during those Games in particular was a huge deal. Their first gold was won by Hiroyasu Shimizu in men's speed skating, 500 meters. On the medal stand, his vanquished Canadian rivals towered over him, but he was all smiles knowing he'd smoked them on the ice. He was on the talk show circuit for a week afterward. Japan won five golds in all and each one was cause for national celebration.
The 2006 Games were my first to watch with my daughter. She was only two years old so I would not have expected them to make much of an impression. But upon seeing a hockey game on the TV, she suddenly jumped up saying, "My turn! My turn!" She ran into her bedroom to find anything approximating a hockey stick and started whacking a ball around the living room. I haven't been able to expand that into a larger interest in hockey but she does love to skate and is finally in lessons four years later. Appropriately, the lessons are a gift from her grandparents.
Occasional exceptions were made. Most of them pertained to politics: party conventions, debates and so forth. And every four years, the rest of my nuclear family would temporarily join me in my sports fanaticism. Mother, father and sister all found my interest puzzling but none of them could resist the lure of Olympic figure skating.
The first Olympics which we all watched avidly together were the 1984 Games in pre-war Sarajevo. The star of the ice that year was Katerina Witt of East Germany. Elegant and beautiful, she was my first athlete crush - and a Communist, at that! Scott Hamilton (USA) won gold that year as did the incomparable Torvill & Dean (UK) in ice dancing.
Through the '80s and '90s, skating was always a bonding topic for the four of us. We loved both Brians: Boitano (USA) and Orser (Canada). We were all crushed when Sergei Grinkov (USSR/Russia) died at 28, leaving his beautiful wife and skating partner, Ekaterina Gordeeva, to skate alone. We were all charmed by Midori Ito (Japan) and Michelle Kwan (USA). The sport has changed over the last dozen years or so and the current stars are not familiar to me. But I will always have very fond memories of sharing that time with my family.
My earliest memory of the Olympics, however, is from the 1980 Games four years before. Sadly, I missed the great hockey game against the Soviets but heard the story from my father the next morning. I was six years old and asleep in bed. Now, it's astonishing to think that my father willingly watched a hockey game without me. We did watch the final game against Finland together. It is, in fact, my earliest memory of watching a sporting event on television at all. I also remember hearing Eric Heiden's name a lot as he won all five golds in men's speed skating.
The 1998 Games also hold personal meaning for me. I was in Yokohama teaching English from 1996 to 1998. In early spring of '97, my parents came to visit. My parents were in Japan from 1969 to 1976 while my father was in the diplomatic service and they are both very comfortable in the country. As a result, we were able to get off the beaten path and spend some time in Nagano prefecture during that visit. We stayed mostly in Matsumoto but drove past some of the Olympic facilities during our explorations: the ski jump, most memorably. It is a beautiful part of the world, far from the endless concrete jungle of the Tokyo megalopolis. We got to see snow monkeys and everything!
And, of course, I was there for the Games themselves, though I watched from the comfort of my apartment. The simultaneous, worldwide performance of the "Ode to Joy" during the opening ceremony is one of the great television moments of my life.
I think Americans are a bit jaded about winning medals - expecting it and therefore not really appreciating it. For the Japanese, every medal won during those Games in particular was a huge deal. Their first gold was won by Hiroyasu Shimizu in men's speed skating, 500 meters. On the medal stand, his vanquished Canadian rivals towered over him, but he was all smiles knowing he'd smoked them on the ice. He was on the talk show circuit for a week afterward. Japan won five golds in all and each one was cause for national celebration.
The 2006 Games were my first to watch with my daughter. She was only two years old so I would not have expected them to make much of an impression. But upon seeing a hockey game on the TV, she suddenly jumped up saying, "My turn! My turn!" She ran into her bedroom to find anything approximating a hockey stick and started whacking a ball around the living room. I haven't been able to expand that into a larger interest in hockey but she does love to skate and is finally in lessons four years later. Appropriately, the lessons are a gift from her grandparents.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Follow Up: A Hog in the Hall
Russ Grimm, offensive guard for the Washington Redskins in the 1980s and early 90s, has been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, becoming the first member of The Hogs to be so honored. The Hogs were the Skins' dominating offensive line in their glory days and is considered by many (particularly Redskin fans) to be the best unit the NFL has ever seen.
Grimm was always the star of the group, though he wasn't even considered the best lineman on his college team. At Pitt, Grimm played center. His teammate, and fellow future Hog, Mark May won the Outland Trophy as the best interior lineman in the country their senior year. The Redskins picked May with their first draft pick in 1981. Grimm was their third round pick that same year.
Grimm was always the star of the group, though he wasn't even considered the best lineman on his college team. At Pitt, Grimm played center. His teammate, and fellow future Hog, Mark May won the Outland Trophy as the best interior lineman in the country their senior year. The Redskins picked May with their first draft pick in 1981. Grimm was their third round pick that same year.
Checking in with the Hoyas: A Great Team? Maybe?
I just caught the very end of Georgetown's 103-90 victory over second-ranked Villanova. The Hoyas have been impossible to pin down of late. Nearly two weeks ago, they were hammered by Syracuse, losing by 17. A week later, they beat Duke in a much publicized game due to an Obama appearance. Then on Wednesday, they lost to a team they should have creamed: South Florida. Now, today's win. Who are these guys? Are they really as good as their #7 ranking suggests or are they doomed to disappointment in March? They have seven more regular season games to go, all in conference. Then the Big East Tournament. They SHOULD be good enough to make the NCAAs but they completely fell apart about this time last year. They've proven they can beat good teams - just not every night.
Just how crazy good is the Big East these days? Four of the nation's top 7 (Villanova, Syracuse, West Virginia and Georgetown) are in the conference (though that will change) and none of those four is the same as the three which made it to the NCAAs as 1 seeds last year (Pittsburgh, Connecticut and Louisville). It's the mid-80s all over again - only better.
We submitted a haiku for Serious Eats's Seriously Delicious Super Bowl Party Giveaway: Mike Mills Baby Back Ribs and Pulled Pork but, alas, failed to win. Here is our losing entry:
Vermonters snowed in,
Weber Grill hibernating,
Ribs heal our frostbite.
Just how crazy good is the Big East these days? Four of the nation's top 7 (Villanova, Syracuse, West Virginia and Georgetown) are in the conference (though that will change) and none of those four is the same as the three which made it to the NCAAs as 1 seeds last year (Pittsburgh, Connecticut and Louisville). It's the mid-80s all over again - only better.
We submitted a haiku for Serious Eats's Seriously Delicious Super Bowl Party Giveaway: Mike Mills Baby Back Ribs and Pulled Pork but, alas, failed to win. Here is our losing entry:
Vermonters snowed in,
Weber Grill hibernating,
Ribs heal our frostbite.
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