Sunday, February 28, 2010
The Olympics, yet again, provided for great theater and sport, and as usually I was completely enthralled. This Olympic games may not have had as big of headliners as the Beijing games, having the likes of Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt, but it definitely provided for some great moments. So I've compiled my list of my top ten best moments/stories of the Olympics.
1. Joannie Rochette taking the ice after the tragic passing of her mother. That was the real story and moment, the perfect ending is that she took home a medal, winning the bronze.
2. Canada v. USA gold medal match. Sure the USA didn't take home a gold, but if you think about how much this medal means to Canada, its almost OK that we didn't take home the medal. Most Canadians would have traded their 13 other golds for the hockey gold. On top of that, what an incredible game. Ryan Miller was brilliant the whole tournament, and the US Men should hold their heads high. In the end, the legend of Sidney Crosby forges ahead as he brings home the gold for team Canada on home ice.
3. Alexandre Bilodeau wins the gold for his country and his brother. Bilodeau's inspiration is his older brother, who has cerebral palsy. He won the gold for him and his gold happened to be Canada's first gold on home soil, having now hosted two prior to Vancouver.
4. The US four-man bobsled team takes home the first four-man gold in 62 years. Piloted by veteran Steve Holcomb, the US team knocked out German pilot Andre Lange, who had never lost an Olympic race. Oh, and the teams break man, Curt Tomasevicz, was a former Husker football player and the pride of Shelby, NE.
5. Shaun White performs up to expectation and captures the gold. White is one of the most entertaining shows on snow/ice, and he displayed that again in Vancouver, reaching heights no other snowboarder can reach and just dominating the competition. His last run was essentially a victory lap, and to close it out he laid down the toughest trick that any snowboarder can land - just for kicks.
6. Evan Lysacek edges out Evgeni Plushenko for gold. Plushenko, a champion and world-class skater, put up a heck of a fight, but his execution of a quad could not edge out the better executed performance of Lysacek. Plushenko turned out to be a poor loser, blaming the scoring system for his loss.
7. Apolo Ohno takes home a US winter olympics record 7th medal. He won 3 medals overall, tying the record of 6 when one Korean wiped out another in the 1500m final to give him the silver and taking home another silver in the relay, however his bronze in the 1000m may have been his most impressive performance of the games. In prime position to make a run at the gold, with 2 laps left he was nudged by a canadian which threw him from 2nd to 5th and he charged back to grab the bronze, and US Olympic history.
8. Kim Yu-na, carrying the weight of an entire country, dominates in Women's Ice Skating, setting a record and living up to the astronomical expectations of her home country, where she is a celebrity, in taking home the gold.
9. Tessa Virtue and Scott Moyer take home Olympic gold in Ice Dancing. They not only performed incredibly but showed so much genuine emotion, probably the most spirited singers of "Oh, Canada" from the entire games.
10. Bill Demong takes home Olympic gold in the Nordic Combined. In another sport of US futility, Demong took home the first ever Nordic Combined gold, as the US Nordic Combined team had a fantastic Olympics, with three silvers and one gold in four events.
I wish I could say that I didn't watch all of these events, but unfortunately I did.... and yes I even watched the Nordic Combined. Not mentioned but deserving props are the US alpine skiing team, having their most successful Olympics, with Lindsay Vonn and Bode Miller gaining some redemption from Torino. On the whole, the United States had a great Olympics, winning the medal count at a Winter Games for the first time ever and setting an Olympic record for winter medals in one games with 37. The Canadians also deserve credit, taking home the most gold medals and hosting a great Olympic Games. They also deserve credit for getting me to want to travel to Vancouver.... seriously, I want to go, it looks beautiful.
Next up - March Madness! Woohoo!
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2 comments:
Next up March Madness, and then it is onto the bleachers at Wrigley!
Indeed, I am pumped for Opening Day at Wrigley! Bleacher bum glory!
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