Goodbye Sochi, Hello Pyeongchang

The Sochi Winter Olympic Games closed last night after seventeen days of competition and a $50 billion pricetag, exceeding the estimated $40 billion the Chinese spent on the Beijing Games.    

Guess Russian President Vladimir Putin and his people will consider it a great investment.  The host Russians made up for their by their standards poor showing of 3 golds and 15 medals overall in Vancouver by riding the home soil competition wave and owning the podium  

They led all nations with 13 gold medals and 33 overall.  Norway was second with 11 gold (26 overall) and Canada third with 10 golds (25 overall).  The USA was fourth, Germany (19 overall) and The Netherlands (24 overall) tied for fifth with 8 gold medals. 

While the USA had the second highest total medal count with 28, only 9 of them were gold, reflecting the disappointing showing of the speedskating team, the aggravating losses to Canada in men's and women's hockey (arrgh), some medal favorites not coming through, and the failure of the women's figure skaters to medal in ladies singles for the first time since 1936.

Hey US Figure Skating Association, guess y'all should have taken.Mirai Nagasu to Sochi instead of snubbing her in favor of Ashley Wagner.    Wagner did get a medal in the inaugural team figure skating event, but still finished sixth in ladies singles.


And speaking of figure skating, it wouldn't be a Winter Olympics without a figure skating controversy that revolved around the judging 

South Korea's Kim Yu-Na was robbed of a gold medal repeat due to some (surprise, surprise) alleged shady judging that led to Russian teen homegirl Adelina Sotnikova who trailed Kim after the short program winning gold to the delight of the Russians in the audience and the derisive whistling (the international version of booing) from the rest of the crowd in attendance at the Iceberg Skating Palace.  

Speaking of failing to medal, one of the two US Summer Olympic team members who was a winter Olympian at these Games is coming home with a history making medal and it isn't Lolo Jones.


Lolo Jones along with Lauryn Williams became the ninth and tenth Americans to make both a Winter and Summer Olympics team and were part of a US women's bobsled team that had four African-Americans on it.   

Jones convinced Williams to try out for the bobsled team, and despite being in the sport for only six months, she became only the fifth athlete ever to win medals in a Winter and Summer Games.   Williams narrowly missed by .10 seconds becoming the first woman and only.the second ever person to achieve the rare feat of winning gold in a Winter and Summer games and the second African-American to win a gold in bobsled

She and Elana Myers were leading in the women's bobsled competition before being bumped off the top of the podium by the Canadian duo and defending Olympic champions Kallie Humphries and Heather Moyse. 

Jazmine Fenlator and Lolo Jones in USA-3 were also trying to make history as well.   Fenlator was trying to become the first African-American bobsled driver to win a medal and Lolo Jones was trying to win her first Olympic medal period but they finished 11th.   The duo of Jamie Greubel and Aja Evans took the bronze, which marked the first time ever the US has taken two medals in the sport in the same Olympics. 

The USA women were up 2-0 and 58 agonizing seconds away from a gold medal, ending Canada's feminine women's hockey dominance and me unleashing a hockey themed rewrite of the Canadian national anthem on this blog and the world until the Canadians scored late to tie it up and then won their fourth straight gold medal in overtime.

It didn't help I had to hear about that 3-2 overtime gold medal game loss and 1-0 loss of the USA men's team in the semis the next day from a certain Canadian.


Shani Davis came into these Games seeking his third straight gold in the 1000m but shockingly finished in 8th place   Like I mentioned earlier, it was a bad Olympics for a US speedskating squad that left Sochi with only one medal in the 5K relay. but a great one for the Dutch speedskaters who made themselves, the Dutch royal family and their orange clad fans feel at home in Adler Arena.

Two time Olympic halfpipe champ Shaun White also failed to leave Sochi with a medal
    
And in the inaugural edition of the women's ski jump the American women favored in it failed to make the podium.  Sarah Hendrickson did battle back from a serious injury to make a little history as the first woman ever to jump in Olympic competition. 

But there was more drama away from the competition venues that at them.   While the feared terror attacks failed to happen, there was the video of members of the activist group Pussy Riot being horsewhipped by a Cossack militiaman, the arrests of former Italian MP Vladimir Luxuria for protesting Russian anti-gay policies, and the escalating violence in Russia's neighbor Ukraine that led to an emotional gold medal victory for the Ukrainian women over Russia in the biathlon relay .   

Now the flame has been extinguished and the hosting torch passed to Pyeongchang, South Korea who after two narrow losses to Vancouver and Sochi finally get to host the 2018 Games.  

Wonder if Dennis Rodman's good friend Kim Jong Un is going to demand like his daddy did when Seoul hosted the Summer Games.back in 1988 that the South Koreans let him host some Olympic events at the brand new ski resort he's having built? 

We'll have four years to see how that plays out.      

Sochi Olympic Watch-USA vs Canada Round One

It's the Clash of the Women's Hockey Titans in the USA vs Canada to determine who gets out of Group A with the number one seed.

Both teams and their fanbases in this intense rivalry badly want to win every time they face each other.

And a certain Canadian is still talking trash about her fave hockey team.   Maple Leaf Forever my anus!

The USA beat Finland 3-1 in their opening match and pasted Switzerland in a 9-0 scoring explosion two days ago.   The Canadians beat Finland 3-0 in a game that was closer than the score indicated and knocked out Switzerland 5-0.

Both have clinched semifinal berths and are expected to have their usual golden showdown on February 20 barring an upset. 

USA! USA! USA! 

Sochi Olympic Watch-NBC Screws Up With Another Bad Olympic Edit

One of the major problems with NBC's coverage of the Sochi Winter Games is the time difference from the East Coast.  

Sochi is nine hours ahead of US East Coast time (translation for me in Texas is 10 hours), so as a night owl, any live action for the Games when I choose to watch it will start around 2 AM Houston time.   

And with the next Winter Games scheduled for Pyeongchang, South Korea, that problem will be around in 2018 as well.

But what NBC needs to do is figure out when to do the edits of their broadcasts. 

NBC got justifiably excoriated for its Olympic coverage from London that was far too heavy on tape delay and included a badly timed edit of the 2012 Opening Ceremonies in which a tribute to the victims of he London attacks was edited out of the US broadcast. 

Well, for those of us watch the Olympic opening ceremonies, NBC's bad timing with edits struck again.  They decided to edit IOC President Thomas Bach's speech, and cut out an important chunk of it that the rest of the world saw that made a strong statement (from the IOC perspective) against any form of discrimination and a plea for tolerance.

Yeah, a strong statement that's a year too late.  

Here's the transcript of President Bach's speech.   The part that NBC cut out is in bold print.

Good evening, dear Athletes. Mr. President of the Russian Federation, Mr. Secretary General of the United Nations, Good evening Olympic friends and fans around the world! Welcome to the 22nd Olympic Winter Games! Tonight, we are writing a new page in Olympic history. What has been achieved in seven years is a remarkable achievement. I would like it thank, in again, the president of the Russian Federation and his Government. The Sochi Organizing Committee. The Russian Olympic committee. And the IOC members in Russia. Thank you to all the workers for your great contribution under sometimes difficult circumstances. Thank you to all the people of Sochi and the Krasnodar region. Thank you for your patience, thank you for your understanding during these years of transformation.

Now you are living in an Olympic Region. I am sure you will enjoy the benefits for many, many years to come. Thousands of volunteers have welcomed us with the well-known warm Russian hospitality. Many thanks to all the wonderful volunteers. Bolshoi spasiba, valantyoram! Thank you very much to everyone. Russia and the Russians have set the stage for you, the best winter athletes on our planet. From this moment on you are not only the best athletes, you are Olympic Athletes. You will inspire us with your outstanding sports performances. You have come here for sports. You have come here with your Olympic dream. The International Olympic Committee wants your Olympic Dream to come true. This is why we are investing almost all of our revenues in the development of sports. The universal Olympic rules apply to each and every athlete- no matter where you come from or what your background is. You are living together in the Olympic Village. You will celebrate victory with dignity and accept defeat with dignity. You are bringing the Olympic Values to life. In this way, the Olympic Games, wherever they take place, set an example for a peaceful society. Olympic Sport unites people. This is the Olympic Message the athletes spread to the host country and to the whole world. Yes, it is possible to strive even for the greatest victory with respect for the dignity of your competitors. Yes, Yes, it is possible - even as competitors - to live together under one roof in harmony, with tolerance and without any form of discrimination for whatever reason. Yes, it is possible - even as competitors - to listen, to understand and to give an example for a peaceful society.
Olympic Games are always about building bridges to bring people together. Olympic Games are never about erecting walls to keep people apart. Olympic Games are a sports festival embracing human diversity in great unity. Therefore, I say to the political leaders of the world - thank you for supporting your athletes. They are the best ambassadors of your country. Please respect their Olympic Message of goodwill, of tolerance, of excellence and of peace. Have the courage to address your disagreements in a peaceful, direct political dialogue and not on the backs of the athletes. (APPLAUSE) To all sports officials and sports fans I say - join and support our fight for fair play, the athletes deserve it. To you - my fellow Olympic Athletes - I say, respect the rules, play fair, be clean, respect your fellow athletes in and out of competition. We all wish you joy in your Olympic effort and a wonderful Olympic experience. (APPLAUSE) To all of you - Athletes, Officials, Fans and Spectators around our globe - I say, enjoy the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games! And now I have the honor of inviting the president of the Russian Federation, Mister Vladimir Putin, to declare open the 22nd Olympic Winter Games.

Okay NBC, you are already getting off to a bad start with the Sochi tape delay.   let's see what else transpires between now and February 23.

Johnny Weir Puts Skates In Mouth

With the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in Sochi a mere 62 days away, the debate is heating up in LGBT World on whether or not to boycott those Games. 

While I'm pissed off about what is happening in Russia to our TBLG cousins there, after watching the Olympic Boycotts of 1976, 1980 and 1984 I personally believe a boycott only hurts the athletes, and will not result in the change the community is seeking in terms of getting the Russians to repeal those draconian anti-LGBT laws.   That being said, if you want to try to make it happen, go for it.

The option I support and still do was moving the Games to Vancouver.  With two months left and the IOC being as cowardly as they usually are, I expect on February 7 for the Olympic cauldron to be lit in Sochi.

But the controversy over those Russian anti-LGBT laws which were pushed by anti-gay activists in the US, will continue right up until that date and probably beyond the conclusion of those Games.

Meanwhile here in the States, Johnny Weir opened his mouth and inserted his figure skate clad foot into it. He pissed off the LGBT community and his rainbow community fanbase by stating “the Olympics are not the place to make a political statement” about Russia’s anti-gay laws and “you have to respect the culture of a country you are visiting.” while speaking a group of 40 female students at Barnard College December 2.

Weir poured more gasoline on the controversy stirred up by his earlier comments by calling the four veteran activists outside his talk exercising their free speech rights to picket him 'idiots'.  

It was a group that according to a Gay City News report that had 100 years of combined activism on behalf of gay and HIV/AIDS causes that included rainbow flag creator Gilbert Baker and Queer Nation's Ann Northrup.

Note to Johnny: Dude, the people you insulted made it possible for your ass to get married to your Russian husband.  Respect is due to your elders who paved the way for you to have the space to come out and live your self described fabulous life. 


Weir later apologized for his unfortunate choice of words, but the damage may be done with his gay fanbase he alienated with his comments.

We'll see what Johnny does when he has to travel to Sochi as part of the NBC analyst team covering the Games.  Question is will anyone be watching?

Lolo's One Step Closer To Going To Sochi

I love Lolo Jones and still feel for her when I see that video of her hitting that second to last hurdle on her way to what looked like a legacy cementing gold medal performance in the 100m hurdles final at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and failing to place. 

She gracefully handled that tremendous disappointment and busted her butt to make the Olympic team again in 2012 only to finish in fourth place in London behind her silver and bronze medal winning teammates Dawn Harper and Kellie Wells in the 100m women's hurdle final won in Olympic record time by Australia's Sally Pearson.

At age 31 Lolo Jones is still chasing Olympic gold, although at a different time of year and in a different event.  This is the second year that Jones has competed in bobsled as a push athlete, and she and fellow sprinter Lauryn Williams were recently named to the nine member USA Women's Bobsled team for the upcoming FIBT World Cup event later today in Calgary.  

She has also added 30 pounds to her previously 130 pound frame in order to help her in her quest to make the USA Bobsled team bound for Sochi. 

Jones and Williams will be joining Emily Azevedo, Katie Eberling, Aja Evans and Kristi Koplin as sled pushers, with Elana Meyers, Jamie Greubel and Jazmine Fenlator serving as drivers.

Depending on the results in this World Cup event the USA could qualify as many as three two woman sleds for Sochi.  The team will also be named in mid to late January, so this is an opportunity for Jones to make one last impression on the powers that be in the US Bobsled and Skeleton Federation before that selection happens. 

In case you're wondering about the prospects for Jones should she make the team of medaling in Sochi, there is a precedent for a track athlete crossing over into the sport and experiencing success in it.

After several failed attempts to make the US Olympic track team Vonetta Flowers at the urging of her husband tried and embraced the sport.  In the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games she and her driver Jill Bakken won gold in the inaugural two women bobsled event.  With the win Flowers made history by becoming the first African descended athlete ever to win a gold medal at the Winter Olympics.  Two years later Flowers would earn a bronze medal at the FIBT World Championships at Konigsee, Germany.

During Jones' rookie season on the FIBT World Cup circuit she did medal in three races.  So she does have an excellent chance at making this team, attempting to match Vonetta Flowers and getting that Olympc gold medal that has eluded her so far in the Summer Games.

    

2014 Olympic Flame Lit And Headed To Sochi

As an lifelong Olympics junkie, the news from Greece that the Olympic flame has been lit usually gets me excited and fired up for and breathlessly anticipating the upcoming winter or summer Games wherever they are happening. 

When I heard the news that actress Ino Menegaki, dressed in her high priestess role, lit the Olympic flame in Ancient Olympia last Sunday and subsequently lit a torch from a cauldron inside Athens' Panathinaiko Stadium, all I felt this time was sadness.  It was grounded in the knowledge that this Olympic torch was headed to the host country of a winter Olympic Games that persecutes my fellow TBLG citizens based on the lies of American based right wing christofools.

The flame, placed in a lantern, was handed over to Hellenic Olympic Committee president Spyros Kapralos who passed it on to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak to trigger the Olympic torch run that will spend seven days in Greece before heading to Moscow and starting its 40,000 mile journey across Russia until it arrives in Sochi four months from now.


There was a peaceful protest by LGBT human rights activists held on the front steps of the Acropolis Museum where the Olympic flame made an overnight stay inside the Acropolis before being moved to a cauldron in the courtyard of the museum. 

The activists unfurled the rainbow flag and banners stating "Homophobia is not in the Olympic Spirit" and "Love is not Propaganda."

"The Olympics should have taken a stand against this law in Russia because the Olympic ideals are for supporting human rights and diversity and that's not what's happening in Russia," said protester Zak Kostopoulos.


Yes, the IOC should have taken a stand.  But exactly what is that stand?   A boycott of the Games only hurts the athletes who have trained for years to take part in them.   I would have along with others around the world supported a move of the 2014 Winter Games to another nation as George Takei suggested.  

The IOC has already caved in.  Others around the world have four months to decide how they are going to take a stand against the unjust Russian laws.