Sports Posts

02Mar
0

And It’s Over

The 2010 Olympics have ended. Sadness. I can’t say this doesn’t come without some relief though, as I’ve been forced to stay up so incredibly late to watch these things (thanks NBC!). I swear, it almost requires me, the viewer, to do some sort of endurance training beforehand or something lol. Watching the Olympics in full = a sport of its own. Now that the games are over, I can also start reading the news again. Knowing what’s going on in the world is pretty rad. Oh there was an earthquake in Chile? You don’t say. lol

I have yet to watch the opening or closing ceremonies, but I feel that I have bored enough people about the Olympics for the last couple of weeks, so I’m gonna make this my last post on the topic. And what a better way to go out than with a news article on the top 8 winners and losers of the games? No, I’m not talking about athletes. Well not JUST athletes. Some of these other things are good too. Like winner #8:

8. Safe sex
In a victory for planned parenthood, the 7,000 residents of the Athletes Village ran through a supply of 100,000 free condoms halfway through the Games. “That’s about 14 condoms per person,” notes CBC. An emergency shipment was immediately dispatched to the libidinous Olympians.

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Posted by Caro in News, Sports, TV, rants and raves
26Feb
0

Aerials

So… aerials are crazy.

Skier starts down this skinny little trail.

Arms up.

Silence/Awe.

Then a coach breaking the silence by yelling “STRETCH” or “LOOK DOWN THE HILL”.

They land.

People scream.

This sport is absolutely amazing.

Posted by Caro in Random, Sports, TV, fears
23Feb
0

Torvill & Dean: Still My Favorite

I love figure skating. When I was a kid I used to pretend I was a figure skater and spin around on the kitchen floor in my socks. It’s something I myself am not very good at, which makes it even more spectacular to watch. I mean they do these crazy jumps and spins and the footwork too. Even just watching them FLY from one end of the rink to the other is cool. Pairs is pretty awesome, but we already know how I felt about this years pairs competition. So in the meantime while I wait for the ladies’ singles, I had my ice dancing.

Not going to lie, ice dancing is notoriously my least favorite of the 4 varieties. Especially the compuslory dance. I think those judges have their work cut out for them. Just watching people do the same thing over and over again is too much for me, much less evaluating each competitor’s. No thank you!! The original dance can be interesting. There were a couple this year that intrigued me. Of course there was also the one that confused the hell out of me – the Russians doing the Aboriginal Dance. Take a lack of impressive/challenging moves, combined with some RIDICULOUS looking costumes and a premise that already has people offended, and you get this. Seriously, WTF?!

But then last night we got to the free skate. It’s by far my favorite. I saw a few that I liked. Even two that I loved. These of course were Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir’s (Canada) dance to Symphony #5 and Emily Samuelson and Evan Bates’ (USA) dance to Canto Della Terra. Beautiful. Stunning. Amazing.

But still not my all-time favorite.

That award goes to Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean (UK), who were the first people to get all perfect 6.0’s in the artistic impression section of the old scoring system. For technical merit they were split 5.9/6.0. I’m not sure what it is about this dance, but I love it. Even though it’s from 1984 and the picture is horribly grainy, I could watch it over and over again. Maybe it’s the music, maybe it’s the artistry, maybe it’s the incredible synchronization. I don’t know. They start on the ground because their music was too long. Apparently it exceeded the length by 18 seconds, which they discovered they could get around if none of their skates hit the ice until 18 seconds in. Pure perfection. Here it is:

YouTube Preview Image
Posted by Caro in Music, Random, Sports, TV, Videos, cool, discoveries, rants and raves
19Feb
0

Really Julia Mancuso?

Julia Mancuso wore a tiara at the medal ceremony. A tiara.

You’re an athlete, not a princess. Yes, it’s great that you did so well, but you came in second. Stop showing off to the people you beat and have some class like the person who beat you.

Posted by Caro in Sports, TV
18Feb
2

An Open Letter to NBC

Dear Executives at NBC:

While I appreciate your coverage of the variety of sporting events at the Olympics, I have a bone to pick with you.

First and foremost, these Olympics are being held in Vancouver, which is the same timezone as the west coast. Unlike games past where the events would be held in the middle of the night for Americans, these sports are held at approximately the same time we are awake. Despite this, we are not receiving footage of the competitions until 8pm.

This is unacceptable. I cannot browse the internet during the day without fear that various Olympics results will be “spoiled”. You have multiple stations on which you can broadcast. Why not show the events, live, during the day on USA? Or MSNBC? A majority of Americans have some sort of recording device (TiVo, DVR, etc.) and could tape these events to watch at their convenience. If you wanted to re-broadcast the highlights in prime time on NBC, more power to you.

This is another issue I must raise. The prime time broadcast spans from 8pm to midnight. As a hard-working, tax-paying citizen, I must get up at 6:30am to get ready to go to my job. Staying up until midnight, or in some cases later, certainly doesn’t help come morning time. And while I have no problem rolling out of bed, throwing on some clothes, and driving to work, I can assure you that my boss is less than stoked to see yawning, grumpy, bags-under-the-eyes-which-aren’t-all-the-way-open-in-the-first-place Caro. Even moving the broadcast from the 8pm-12a slot to 7-11pm would vastly improve this situation.

Finally, if you are censoring the Olympics and waiting until 8pm to show me the clips of the competition you think I might enjoy, please refrain from broadcasting spoilers. Last night I turned on the NBC Nightly News at 6pm. After several non-gaming stories, the announcer switched gears to the Olympics. Thinking this was a preview of what I would be shown later in the evening, it didn’t even occur to me to change the channel. However, without warning, the results of the Women’s Downhill were posted. Thank you for telling me that Lindsey Vonn won gold. Thank you for sharing this with me before you showed it to me in any broadcast. If you are going to keep me in suspense until 8pm, please do not spoil the results at 6pm.

Aside from these issues, I greatly appreciate your commitment to showing me what you consider the highlights of the Olympics on a bi-annual basis.

Sincerely,

Caro

Posted by Caro in Life, News, Sports, TV, rants and raves and tagged with
15Feb
2

I Agree With Dick Button

After watching some of the pairs skating, I couldn’t help but notice that some of the skaters seemed to be doing a lot of “extra” movements in their routines. In particular, they grabbed their skates quite a lot. Maybe it’s the new cool thing?

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Posted by Caro in Sports, rants and raves and tagged with
11Feb
0

2010 Olympics

Ok I’ll get to Chicago later. Something waaaaay more important is around the corner kids – the 2010 Winter Olympics!

I’m absolutely in love with the Olympics, and while the Summer games are definitely my favorite of the two, the Winter Olympics never fail to provide me with joy. I mean what’s not to like about sports such as the Biathlon? Cross-country skiing + target shooting, two things that clearly go together. Or Curling – pushing a giant tea kettle down an icy path and sweeping ice out of its way. What a novel idea! LOL. Actually though, much to my surprise the 2006 US Women’s Curling Team was pretty attractive. I’m not sure where they find these people, but apparently attractive curlers do exist!

Seriously though, there’s tons of great winter sports, both random (see above) and high profile (skiing, snowboarding, figure skating, speed skating, etc). The one sport that bores the crap out of me is simple cross-country skiing. I mean yeah, it takes incredible skill and athleticism to ski cross-country. But why watch this when you can watch people ski AND shoot in the biathlon? I’m also personally not into hockey. I’m sure I’ll catch a game or two, but I definitely don’t plan to make a habit of watching all the games.

As always I’ll be cheering for the red, white and blue of the US and the green and gold of the land down under.

The full schedule can be found here, but these are the highlights as I see them:

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Posted by Caro in Sports, TV, cool, fun and tagged with
02Feb
0

I’m A Rah-Tard

So I’m headed out to Chicago this weekend. I planned this trip about a month or so ago, and wasn’t really thinking about anything else. My friend is going to be out there during this one particular weekend, and I decided to go too. I booked my flights there and back so as to allow myself the most time for sightseeing with the least amount of time off work (1 day max), while still returning Sunday night in time to get some sleep and be up for work.

My flight home was scheduled to leave Chi-town at 6:30pm on Sunday February 7.

Maybe that doesn’t mean anything to you. Or maybe you’re aware that February 7 is Superbowl Sunday, and the Big Game starts at 5pm Illinois time. (more…)

Posted by Caro in Life, Sports, TV, Travel, fun, things to do and tagged with
20Jan
0

A Colbert Olympics

I’m sure you all know what a fan of the Olympics I am. I mean, each variety of Olympics only comes around every 4 years! During the 2008 summer games I was unfortunately out of the country and had to rely on my TiVo figuring out which sports to record. It didn’t work too well. So after the ‘08 viewing fiasco, I’m set for 2010 in Vancouver.

And so is Stephen Colbert.

A while back he made an announcement that Colbert Nation would sponsor the US speed skating team following an announcement that their previous sponsor had gone bankrupt. Colbert Nation sponsoring the Olympics? HELL YES!

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Posted by Caro in Sports, TV, cool
03Dec
2

Strength

I’ve resumed going to the gym. It’s soooooooo overdue. It’s more than a number on the scale. It’s more than just looking kick-ass. This time it’s legitimately mostly (well at least 65% of it) about actually being healthy and in shape. No more getting winded walking up the stairs! lol seriously though.

The problem is time. And I have none. But with stuff coming up this summer (starting in April – yikes!!), I’ve become motivated to get back to the land of sweat and hard work.

I’m still struggling to find time for cardio, but I’ve been managing about 2 days a week. I’d like 4, but that’s a luxury my 60+ hour work week just won’t afford. I go to the gym at work on my lunch break 2 days a week and lift. I haven’t seen any results on the scale (hi frustration!), nor have I seen much in the mirror, but I have finally started to notice that I’m actually getting stronger! I can handle heavier weights and I don’t get sore anymore. At least if nothing else is happening I can see results when I go. It’s a start.

Anyway the point of this blog is for motivation. Anyone have any tips on how to increase my cardio on a VERY limited time-frame? Anyone want to go with me to the gym? Having someone to workout with definitely decreases the chance I flake and go lay on my couch.

Thanks guys :)

Posted by Caro in Life, Random, Sports, fun, health, things to do
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