Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics Blog - The Final Stretch!!

**cue mad sprint for the finish line**

Day 16…15…No matter, it's the third-to-last day…

--The Canadian men's curling team play, scream, and work like you'd think they would with their physique. They throw rocks mega-hard, sweep the ice so hard, you'd think it would melt to the bottom, and yell hard enough to make drill sergeants blush. For their effort, I, thus, dub thee, "The Curling Curlers" (or "The Curling Canadian Curlers", for you nationalistic folk).

--Is there some kind of curling division in the Canadian Army?

--Great Britain made an incredibly ballsy move to get into the gold medal round and looked a little like they could hang with them, but they got demolished, flat-out. It was pretty bad.

--Canada's good at curling. 'Nuff said.

--If short-track speedskating is like "NASCAR on Ice" (quick, crazy, & crash-prone), then does that make bobsledding "F1 on Ice" (technology-centric) and luge/skeleton "IndyCar" ("open sled" racing, break-neck speeds)?

--So…where's that leave the United SportsCar Championship's comparison?

--Many, including myself, have looked favorably at the Olympics keeping itself current and fresh with the inclusion of the X Games-type and younger-leaning sports. However, I have an even greater appreciation for the growth of women's event in sports that were previously uncontested in past Olympiads, such as ski jumping and the mixed relay in biathlon. I have always liked seeing women compete in the same types of events as males on a competitive level (and even against them, as seen in said relays and motorsports), so to see the number of events opened up to them in Sochi--namely, without being available to males-only first--was especially encouraging to me as a continuing sign of advancement in sports equality.

--Hey, it's pretty quiet on NBC… "Miracle on Ice" one day, brief recap of the men's 1-0 lost to Canada in the semis tucked in the middle of the primetime telecast like any other recap the next. Cue laughter…

--No warm or encouraging "hey, they did well this far and gave it their best shot" kind of messaging, either? You can go "big story" one time, but then sweep them under the rug when the narrative you were pumping for does not come to fruition? See it to the end and showcase them just as you have been, NBC. In the midst of some of the very good things NBC has put forth in their broadcasting of these Olympics, their obsession with "writing that ideal story" has been a major detraction…

--Ok, I think I now finally understand how slalom works: you have to hit poles of alternating colors in the fastest possible path down the course. If true, that makes it sound a bit more neat, but I still prefer the other alpine disciplines…

--The-skater-formerly-known-as-Ahn-Hyun-Soo (Russia) made a very prophetic pick for his new first name. He has certainly been the (ahn~) "victor" of short-track speedskating. He only won two more golds in one day…

--The U.S. men's relay team should have shot for the lead by the halfway point, regardless of the lack on the Russian team. Waiting or relying on near the end of any relay in any sport is a cutting it too close and tends to not end well. I also would not want leave anything to chance with a hot Victor An running the anchor leg…


Day 17 on one side, Day 16 on the other…

--As I said on Twitter, nothing more should be said about the U.S.-Russia game beyond it being a great game. Neither left the tournament with a medal of any color. It meant nothing in the end. Getting shut out 1-0 in the previous game (accidentally said "2-0" on Twitter, so it wasn't that bad…) and 5-0 in the next should not warrant lofty poetry, another poor application of "Miracle on Ice" nostalgia, or any other form of histrionics.

--American Vic Wild gets stiffed by his country's snowboard federation and gets no aid. Him and his world champion Russian snowboarder girlfriend, Alena Zavarzina, concoct a plan to tie the knot so he can compete for her more open-armed country. He goes master-class and wins both slalom golds for Russia (and his wife won bronze in the giant slalom). U.S. fed likely kicks themselves. Great for him and his wife.

--Now, I wonder who gets bragging rights in the house--the world champ or the 2x Olympic gold medalist?

--Additionally, all hail "The Two Vics" in Russia, right?

--Ah, the figure skating exhibition gala, perhaps my favorite part of the event…

--Well, well, Mao Asada (Japan)…

--That was quite the revealing number she had on. Never struck me as someone who'd ever wear something like that, either. That said, she had such a cute and memorable skate, and the music when well with it, too. The perfect cherry on top of that great long program she erased her short with.

--Wait, was Mao always that hot?

--That Nathalie Pechalat (France) and her fabulously-messy hair that only a European can get away with…

--Pechalat & Bourzat: The Perpetually-Cute Couple.

--Virtue/Moir (Canada) looked like they were dancing on hardwood out there, not ice. Davis/White (USA)  may be more technically superior, but they tend to have more emotion and feeling to their performances (IMO).

--Adelina Sotnikova's (Russia) skate was the epitome of her current state as a figure skater: ambitious, physically powerful, not fully-formed, rough. She has good concepts and ideas and tries to do things differently, but she lacks the high skill and refinement to pull it all together and make it work. Luckily, she's only 17, so she has time to mature, but I hope her winning the gold medal doesn't lead her or her handlers into thinking she has nothing to left to improve or polish.

--If The Netherlands didn't already have enough to celebrate with their mopping up in speedskating and in the looks department, they just so happen to win both team pursuits in Olympic record time…

--Those poles on that men's slalom course might as well have been a bunch of thin, long middle fingers sticking up out of the snow to the skiers, given how treacherous it was. I like my courses tough and challenging at the Olympic and championship levels, and I do enjoy a good trainwreck every once and a while, but so many of the participants were falling over themselves or missing gates due to the sharp, wild turns and the course conditions. I don't believe half of the field finished both runs clean, alone (and one non-finish eliminates you, period).

--The weird thing about alpine skiing is that an official from one of the participating countries is chosen to design that event's course by lottery. This one fell at the feet of Croatian coach Ante Kostelic, whose son, Ivica, was also among the skiers racing on it. Nice to know that nepotism didn't get in the way of things, as the son didn't even medal in the event (though he did earn a silver in the super-combined earlier). Thanks, dad!

--Despite all of that, 34 year-old Mario Matt continued the streak of OGs winning in the breakout-youngsters world of the Sochi Games, becoming the older alpine skier to win in the Olympics.

--What are those dinky "faceguards" for slalom, though? If you faceplant on a tricky course, your face is going to be planted on that course, not that ancient form of dental hardware…


Day 18 of 18 or 17 of 17…or The Final Day

--Speaking of OGs, Alexander Zubkov proved to be the man once again in doubling up with a gold medal in the four-man bobsled. Good to see Steve Holcomb (USA) (and the Night Train 2 team) get bronze in spite of that calf injury…

--I think Canada's pretty good at curling and hockey. Go figure.

--What better way to cap off a successful Olympics (hockey notwithstanding) and clinch the overall medal count and the gold medal count than with a clean sweep in the Winter Olympics' answer to the Summer's marathon event in the men's 50 km mass free start ski?

--Yep, that's it. Not a whole lot more to do on the last day…


Closing Ceremony

--THOSE MASCOTS ARE ALIVE!!!!

--Seriously, how did they operate such massive puppets/automatons and gave them such articulation?! I've always favored animatronics and puppetry over CGI, and efforts like that only solidifies my preference.

--C'mon, a small part of you ballet aficionados was probably secretly hoping one of the Mariinsky dancers would accidentally bump into one of the Bolshoi dancers (or vise-versa) and a brawl would break out…

--All joking aside, that was a very cool, once-in-a-lifetime moment seeing both storied, and rivaled, companies competing on one stage at the same time. For duty & love of country, I suppose…

--I really liked the job they did with extinguishing the Olympic Flame. It was done with emotion and to great effect.

--The C.C. felt a bit shorter than most (or NBC snipped a lot out, though it didn't seem like it), but it was still memorizing in execution. I would love to see a play or other type of artistic performance done in that arena using its projection system and building design. Most C.C.s tended to be more lower key and just basically domestic concerts, but after Beijing's O.C. effort, everyone seems to be reaching for something more substantive on both bookends of the Olympics. The Vancouver C.C. was my favorite by miles (not that hard a standard to reach, especially with Winter Olympics…) and Sochi's is neck-and-neck with it…