Costas Watch: Day 4

     Okay everybody, things are getting interesting now.  We've gone through the 9th Day of the Games, and Bob Costas has an eye that still looks like this:

     And not just that, but it seems that the hosting desk has now become the Sochi equivalent of the Tonight Show at the start of 2010.  After going with Matt Lauer for the first 3 days of Costas' absence, NBC continued raiding the Today Show and brought out Meredith Vieira for hosting duties.  At this rate, it won't be too long until NBC decides to bring back Jay Leno(for a third time) to do the Olympics.   As we head into the second weekend of the Games, who knows what NBC will come up with tonight?  Just one more reason for all of us to stay tuned, I guess.

The American Sweep, a Return to the Olympics, and Drama at The Iceberg: Sochi Day 8

     Today's coverage takes us to 3 different venues.  First up, Rosa Khutor for the Men's Ski Slopestyle Competition.  The most compelling competitor in this field coming in was Nick Goepper hailing from Lawrenceburg, Indiana.  In order to effectively train, he actually built a small course in his backyard.  The work seems to have paid off, as he wound up taking home the Bronze Medal.  Not just that, but the podium was actually swept by Americans, which led to this nifty moment at the medal ceremony:

    After that groundswell of American pride, we moved over to the Sanki Sliding Center, where the Skeleton competition was heating up.  Team USA was represented by Noelle Pikus-Pace, who had actually come out of retirement for the Olympics.  She had competed in both Salt Lake City and Vancouver, but had been forced to sit out of the 2006 Games due to a freak accident.  After the 2010 Games, she retired to focus on her family, but was eventually urged to come back to the sport, which she did so for Sochi.  She wound up finishing the first day in second place, which was a solid positioning.  Also at Sanki, the British competitor set the course record for the track, and the Russian competitor set the record for quickest start.  The Skeleton finals would come tomorrow.

     And now for the moment you've all been waiting for, lets head over to the Iceberg.  Today's figure skating heats were dramatic, and that's an understatement.  Today saw the start of the Men's Singles heats, with the Short Program being held.  Starting off the competition was the Russian hero Yevgeni Plushenko, who had skated brilliantly in both of his heats in the Team competition.  However, as he was warming up for the skate, he came down from a jump strangely and immediately winced in pain.  After consulting with the coaches, Plushenko made his way over to the judge's table and took himself out of the competition.  When the withdrawal was announced over the loudspeaker you could have heard a pin drop in the room.  Shortly afterwards, Plushenko officially retired, calling it a career after winning 4 Olympic Medals in 4 Games, and taking over 50 Medals in various International Competitions.  After that, Jeremy Abbott was up for Team USA.  Abbott started off his program just fine, but then wiped out hard on the ice just a few seconds in.  However, he got back up and finished his program.  But all of that was just a warmup for the main event of the evening: Yuzuru Hanyu.  The 19-year old skater from Japan had already wowed the crowd when he skated in the Team competition, but that proved to be just a warmup.  In his Short Program, Hanyu scored 101.45 on the Short Program.  Let me reinforce that for a second: he scored 101.45.  That's not just the best performance from Sochi, that is the highest score EVER in the Short Program.  That's right folks, we just watched history being made before our eyes.  And that's just another day at the Olympics.

Costas Watch: Day 3

     Everybody, this is bad news.  Bob Costas isn't back yet.  MY WORLD IS FALLING TO PIECES! 

     But even in light of this terrible news, I shall persevere.  Why?  Well, was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?  NO!  Was it over when Derek Redmond lamed up in Barcelona?  NO!  Heck, was it over when Jeremy Abbott wiped out yet again tonight?  NO! NO! NO!  Olympians keep going, Olympians are never discouraged, and we must dig deep and try to survive the absence of Bob Costas for a little while longer.  Hang tough America, we can do this together.

A Return to Glory, A Loaded Final, A Missed Chance, and IT'S A TIE: Sochi Day 7

     As today's primetime broadcast of the 2014 Winter Olympics started out, we were greeted by the visage of Matt Lauer.  Yup, Bob Costas is out again.  But never fear, Matt Lauer is here to hold things down till Costas gets back.  Our first stop tonight is at the Iceberg, where it's time to wrap up the Pair Skating competition.  The Russians were already on top after last night's Short Program, which made tonight's Free Skate the icing on the cake.  And the Russians iced their cake with ease, as the superstar duo of Tatiana Volosozahr and Maxim Trankov came in and dominated the field, breaking their own records in both the Short Program and Free Skate.  After that, another Russian pair took Silver, and a German pair won Bronze, even after turning in a performance where both partners fell down.  One interesting feature of figure skating in Russia is how much it draws upon ballet, which was explained in a special NBC report last night.  Essentially, since Russia is so ballet-mad, coupling the two disciplines works out quite well for all involved.

     Leaving the Iceberg for Rosa Khutor, we're back for the Women's Halfpipe.  28 Women started out the day, dealing with ice that was in a much better condition than that which the men had to deal with, and eventually the field was narrowed down to just 12.  Of those 12, 3 of them had won Olympic Gold in the previous 3 Games.  Torah Bright won Gold in Vancouver, Hannah Teter won Gold in Turin, and Kelly Clark won it in Salt Lake City.  And after all the scores had been calculated, it was a newcomer to the Games, 24-year old Kaitlyn Farrington who walked away with the Gold Medal.  Bright took home Silver, and Clark took home Bronze, leaving Hannah Teter off of the podium.

     Moving to the Adler Arena, it was time for the speedskating competition. Much like the Men's Halfpipe, there was a feeling of anticipation in the air, for this was the night that History could be made, with Shani Davis poised to win Gold in the same event for the 3rd straight time.  However, History was not to be made, as Davis ended up in a disappointing 8th Place.  Another American finished right behind Davis, keep an eye out for him in the future.  As for the overall medal totals, the Dutch continued their dominance, taking home both Gold and Bronze(which was won by Michel Mulder, one of the twins party to the Dutch sweep earlier in the week).

     Leaving the Arena for Rosa Khutor once again, it's time for the Women's Downhill competition.  After several days of Alpine Skiing competition being held, the field had started to gain some recognition.  You had Maria Hofl-Riesch, the German winner of the Super Combined; Lara Gut, the Swiss competitor; you had Tina Maze, the Slovenian skier/pop star; and of course you had Julia Mancuso, America's best shot at a medal and the one who grew up with the spirit of 1960 surrounding her.  But once the competition got started, all bets and superlatives were off.  Overall, the snow cover at the venues was better than the day before, so we didn't see as many falls this time.  Hofl-Riesch turned a 12th place performance, well off of her time in the Super Combined.  Julia Mancuso wound up getting into 8th Place.  Dominique Gisin finished the 1.69 Mile course in a time of 1 Minute, 41.57 Seconds, a time that seemed like it would stand up, which it did.  But then Tina Maze took the final run of the day, and gave it all she had.  When she got to the finish line, the clock read 1:41:57.  Maze had forced a TIE for the Gold, the first time that an Alpine event has ended in a tie for Gold.  Not just that, but Maze's Gold was also the first EVER Gold for the nation of Slovenia.  What a way to wrap up yet another historic day from Sochi.

Costas Watch: Day 2

     Forget the First American medal in Luge.  Forget the overspending on Sochi.  Forget the dethroning of Shaun White.  Forget the compelling storylines.  Forget EVERYTHING ELSE!  Clearly, the BIGGEST story to come out of Sochi so far has come from the Fortress of SolitudeInternational Broadcast Center.  Bob Costas, the veteran of NBC Olympic coverage dating back to the 1988 Seoul Summer Games, is out with an eye infection.

     This is a national disaster, people!  Matt Lauer said he'd be back today, but he wasn't!  Oh, Please Lord, help us!  What are we ever going to do without Bob Costas?  I don't know, and we as a nation may not survive much longer without the soothing voice of Bob Costas.  We'll be back tomorrow to see if Costas has returned, and indeed to see if our nation lives to see another day.

An American First, Family Affair Pt. 3, the End of an Era, and NBC goes to its Bullpen: Sochi Day 6

     For those of you tuning in to NBC's Primetime coverage last night, you may have been questioning the accuracy of your vision.  No, you don't need to run out and get glasses, that really was somebody other than Bob Costas anchoring the Olympics, something that hasn't happened since 1998.  The reason for the sudden switch?  Well, that's quite simple.  It turns out that Costas hasn't been wearing those glasses all week in an attempt to look like an aged Harry Potter.  He's actually been in the throes of an eye infection, one that left him looking, in the words of Matt Lauer, "like the losing boxer in a prize fight".  And so, yesterday marked the first time in 26 years that Costas would miss an Olympic broadcast.  But the show must go on, and so Matt Lauer was pulled from the couches of the Today show to come over to the Fortress of SolitudeInternational Broadcast Center.

     And with that, it's back to Rosa Khutor where the Women got their crack at the Slopestyle course.  One difference though, this time they're on skis.  The competition was dominated by skiers from Canada(because what else is new), but one of the winners was Canada's Kim Lamarre, who has yet another family connection to the Olympics.  Her Grandmother was a Alpine Skier in the 1956 Winter Games.  Lamarre continued the family tradition and actually bested her Grandmother's performance by taking home the Bronze.  Team USA won Silver, and Canada won the Gold.

     Also on the slopes was the Men's Halfpipe event.  Going into this one, Shaun White was the center of attention, as his quest for a 3rd straight Gold was ever-present.  Once the heat started though, all eyes left White and moved over to an iPod.  No, not the ground-breaking/overpriced MP3 Player from Apple, but Iouri Podladtchikov, the 23-year old competitor from Russia, competing for Switzerland.  This is a guy who has invented his own ground-breaking snowboard trick, the YOLO flip.  This entails doing a 1440 in the air(which is 4 full revolutions).  Needless to say, it's quite the crowd-pleaser.  After Padladtchikov wowed the crowd, two Japanese phenoms got their own runs in.  And then it was all up to Shaun White.  A big problem that has persisted all through these Games has been the warm temperatures, and those were making the halfpipe not nearly as firm as it should be.  The pipe had already claimed several competitors in the prelims, and it reared its ugly head again in the Finals.  White was well into his first run when the sloppiness of the terrain ate his momentum and caused him to crash.  On his second run, he did better, but was still unable to best Padladtchikov.  Thus, the 23-year old won Gold, and the King of the Halfpipe had been dethroned.

     But it wasn't all bad news for Team USA last night, especially after what went down at the Sanki Sliding Center.  Luge has been a part of the Games since the 1964 Innsbruck Winter Games, and in all that time no American has ever made it onto the podium.  Well, Erin Hamlin changed all of that last night.  Racing in memory of her Grandmother, who had passed away in December, Hamlin turned in a quality performance that ultimately was good enough to get her the Bronze, the first Olympic Medal ever earned by Team USA in Luge.  Hamlin wasn't the only attraction from Team USA though.  Kate Hansen has earned herself a cult following online for her warmup routines, which see her shaking it to Beyoncé.  She may have gotten 10th Place at the Olympics, but she's blowing it up on social media.  And you know what they say about the Internet, what's up there lasts forever.

The Small Town Olympics

     After her Bronze winning performance in the Women's Super Combined, Julia Mancuso remarked that she drew her Olympic inspiration from growing up around Squaw Valley, site of the 1960 Winter Games.  While all Olympics are unique in their own right, the Squaw Valley Games might have had the most interesting story of any games on record.

     In 1955, Alexander Cushing owned 2,000 acres of land in a small area called Squaw Valley, about 185 miles northeast of San Francisco.  The area contained a meager ski area, with one chair lift, two rope tows, and a 50 room lodge.  Then Cushing caught wind of possible bids by Reno and Anchorage, and his mind started working.  He figured that if those towns could get the Games , then he could throw a Games at his place as well.  Using some influence, he convinced the Governor of California to back the bid, which got Cushing another $1 Million.  This convinced the United States Olympic Committee to accept the bid, at which point it went before the International Olympic Committee.  Initially, the Games were awarded on a probationary basis, but on April 4, 1956 they were awarded to Squaw Valley outright.  This obviously annoyed the other traditional European powers who had bid for the Games, but their outrage was pointless, the Games belonged to Squaw Valley.

     Now the task at hand was readying the resort for the Games, which was quite a tall order.  The village was so sparsely populated that when the hand off came at the end of the 1956 Games, an IOC member had to stand in for the mayor of Squaw Valley.  By the time 1960 rolled around, the area had been transformed into a world class resort, complete with hotels, restaurants, public works buildings, and athletic venues, all ensconced in the city of Squaw Valley.  One divergence was the lack of a Bobsled run.  The high costs and the lack of entrants conspired to have the Bobsled contest left off the program, thus making the 1960 Games the first and only ones without a Bobsled competition.  There was one final hiccup on the way to the Games though, as the United States threatened to deny visas to Communist athletes in 1957.  After the IOC stated that they would revoke the Games if that move was pulled, the Communists got their visas.

     Once the Games started, the innovations didn't stop.  These were the first Games with an official Olympic Anthem, with the IOC having adopted one in 1958.  Also, these Games were the first to have their television rights sold, which were acquired by CBS for $50,000(by comparison, NBC spent $793 Million to secure the rights for the 2004 Games).  The presence of CBS also had another impact.  On one of the runs of the Men's Slalom, there was a dispute as to the timing of the competitors.  The judges asked to see the CBS feed of the heat, which gave the network the idea to eventually roll out the first Instant Replay.  The 1960 Winter Olympics go down in history as one of the more interesting back stories, as well as serving as an Olympic inspiration to athletes 50 years later.