That Japanese skater shoe-lace problem reminded me of one of the best moments ever in Oympic low-lights. Tonya Harding and her outburst of tears when her shoe lace broke.
So, US vs. Canada in men’s and women’s hockey? Friggin’ Swiss almost did us again!
Yeah but Harding’s was evidence of her all around suckitude. The Japanese guy was just bad luck.
Congratulations to Lysecheck. Unfortunately the long program ran late and my PVR cut out right as Plushenko started to skate so I can’t compare the two programs. I personally thought the most artistically entralling performance was skated by Weir but I can see why the judges marked him. The in betweens were just not quite there.
Plushenko seemed to be just missing. It was a good performance but just did not seem crisp and clean. When he landed his jumps, he seemed to be behind and had to catch up. He made them, but you were wondering if he would.
I didn’t see Lysecheck.
Scott Hamilton’s sound effects of Plushenko’s landings afterwards were absolutely priceless. 
I didn’t get a chance to see the free skate, but Daisuke Takahashi’s short program was fabulous; I’m glad he won a medal.
It would be nice to say Canada had to win it in a shootout because Hiller was amazing, but the fact is the Swiss skaters played a hell of a game and for substantial amounts of time the Canadians were off balance. Hiller definitely stood on his head and played a sensational game and a lesser goalie would have lost 5-2, but he wasn’t the only guy playing well for the Swiss.
I dunno what is about Switzerland, but I thought they looked amazing. Even when Canada was up 2-0 I thought the Swiss were playing well. Frankly, they were playing like Canadians; their forechecking was aggressive, mean, and effective. They were doing a terrific job of clogging passing lanes in the defensive zone. I was thoroughly impressed and if they were to sneak in and win a medal I would be surprised, but not shocked.
The thing the gives the Swiss one advantage is they had weeks to practice as a team and prepare for this particular game. They had extra motivation to beat Canada since it was a big morale boosting victory for them in 2006 - and to do it again would be even bigger. The Swiss have no real shot at winning a medal, and beating Canada again would have been their Olympic highlight/‘medal’.
So, kudos to the Swiss. They came to this game very prepared and very hungry for a win despite the all stars stacked against them.
I hope Canada starts playing a lot more cohesively as a team real quick like.
The Canadians looked like they were done in by hubris to me. Canada’s defence was trying to skate the puck out of the zone instead of passing to the open man – Boyle and Neidermeyer were the worst offenders, and both of them have way too much experience to be playing so stupid. The forwards were passing up great shooting opportunities to try to deke or pass. Two particularly egregious examples came courtesy of Crosby: on a 3-on-1, he pulled it to the middle on his backhand rather than passing or shooting from his forehand, and on another occasion he took a great cross-ice pass and rather than shooting right away he deked until he ran out of room.
And a win! Look I feel bad for Shuster, but the fact is he choked. Not once, not twice, but three friggin’ times. I’d have more respect for him if he’d benched himself.
Skeleton results:
WOMEN:
Gold - Amy Williams, United Kingdom
Silver - Kerstin Symykowiak, Germany
Bronze - Anja Huber, Germany
MEN:
Gold - Jon Montgomery, Canada
Silver - Martins Dukurs, Latvia
Bronze - Alexander Tretyakov, Russia
Go Canada Go!
And congrats to the UK for their first individual gold in the Winter Games since Lake Placid.
Agreed whole heartedly.
I thought I was the only one hearing that. Scotty was absolutely squirming in his chair.
Holy mother of fuck - some of the sports in the winter games are just mental. Fling yourself on a tray and proceed downhill at 90 mph head first. Well done Amy Williams.
The men’s skeleton final run had me jumping up and down and screaming! Watching Dukurs come down the run, gradually gaining on Montgomery, and then just not quite getting there at the end (especially since he had been leading after 3)…it was awesome! So far it’s been the medal that had me the most excited to watch. What an insane sport!
Wait… I think I’m missing something.
CTV is calling Montgomery ‘the first Canadian to win Gold’. What happened to Alex Bilodeau?
Maybe they meant in the sport of Skeleton, or perhaps the first to win gold while wearing an angry beaver on his head.
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! Ja! Ja! Ja!
Nice display of exuberance from Elisabeth Goergl.
(The races are ongoing…)
That’s Jeff Pain, who did not win gold, but did live up to his surname by competing with a torn oblique muscle. The gold medal winner is the fastest turtle in the world.
You bet your sweet ass, he is!