Showing posts with label U.S. Olympic Team. Show all posts
Showing posts with label U.S. Olympic Team. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Even while here in warm & rainy South Florida, I'm already thinking cool thoughts about our talented U.S. Olympic teams competing in Sochi, Russia in February, as these great WSJ vids shows how the Moguls, Bobsled and Biathlon teams practice without snow or ice up at Lake Placid. Plus, a classic iJustine video of our favorite vlogger in Norway climbing a glacier. Cool thoughts, indeed!: @USOlympic, #GoTeamUSA, @JeremyCota, @eamslider24, @tb_burke, @Lowellcbailey, @ijustine, @NBCOlympics


Even while here in warm & rainy South Florida, I'm already thinking cool thoughts about our talented U.S. Olympic team competing in Sochi, Russia in February, as these great WSJ vids shows us all how the Moguls, Bobsled and Biathlon teams practice without snow or ice at Lake Placid. Plus, a classic iJustine video of our favorite vlogger in Norway climbing a glacier. Cool thoughts, indeed!: @USOlympic, #GoTeamUSA, @JeremyCota, @eamslider24, @tb_burke, @Lowellcbailey, @ijustine, @NBCOlympics

WSJDigitalNetwork YouTube Channel video: Winter Olympics Training Without Snow: Moguls. "For Olympics-bound freestyle skiers, snow-free summer months don't mean a break from training. WSJ visited the Olympic Training Facility in Lake Placid, New York, where skiers utilized three ramps and a deep swimming pool to prep for Sochi. Freestyle moguls skier Jeremy Cota explains how the water training works." Uploaded October 7, 2013. http://youtu.be/aIVyxtpH_Kg


YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/cota3090/


WSJDigitalNetwork YouTube Channel video: Winter Olympics Training Without Snow: Bobsled. U.S. bronze medalist Elana Meyers explains how the dry bobsled training works at the Olympic Training Facility in Lake Placid. Uploaded October 7, 2013. 
http://youtu.be/Ex-U79MX5PA























Elana's blog: http://www.elanameyers.blogspot.com/


WSJDigitalNetwork YouTube Channel video: Winter Olympics Training Without Snow: Biathlon. "The biathlon combines long-distance cross country skiing with precise .22 caliber target shooting. But for the U.S. Biathlon Team, Olympic training can't stop for the summer. WSJ video spent time with biathletes Tim Burke and Lowell Bailey to learn how they train for the Olympics when there is no snow in sight."
Uploaded October 3, 2013. http://youtu.be/5nFeYC0neT4



































Meanwhile, over in Germany, they've got some major fashion issues to deal with for the next four months...




 Not even a German figure skater who looked like Elisha Cuthbert could look good wearing this gear, even with a Gold Medal around her neck.

 And as everyone has seen for themselves the past few months, the paranoid, delusional and dis-connected people that run the Russian government these days are totally playing to old stereotypes and outsider's worst fears about the New Russian by seeming to do everything in their power to create a negative vibe around the Winter Olympics months in advance for athletes, officials, spectators and TV viewers.
Teaser Alert: NOT too many Americans are going to Sochi in February.



The Olympic Flame going out twice this past week is just part of the wave of bad karma for the Russians in Sochi. Plus, we're getting all their hard workers:
Ahead of Sochi, Former Russian Olympians become US citizens 
Michele Richinick, @mrich1201 10:47 PM on 08/16/2013
http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/08/16/months-before-winter-games-fmr-russian-olympians-become-us-citizens/

The Guardian
Russia to monitor 'all communications' at Winter Olympics in Sochi 
Exclusive: Investigation uncovers FSB surveillance system – branded 'Prism on steroids' – to listen to all athletes and visitors 
Shaun Walker in Moscow The Guardian, 
Sunday 6 October 2013 10.31 EDT
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/06/russia-monitor-communications-sochi-winter-olympics

Speaking of cool thoughts and cool doings far from the sub-tropical heat and humidity of South Florida, with three more weeks to go in the 2013 Atlantic Hurricane season, here's a classic video set in Norway featuring iJustine, Justine Ezarik, cited and featured in so many blog posts here over the past six years, as well as lots of permanent 'anchors' on the blog for years, including this video.

iJustine YouTube Channel video: EPIC GLACIER HIKE! (In Norway). Uploaded October 27, 2011. http://youtu.be/pD0xXf9-_lI
Clips that didn't make final cut but worth seeing are at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5JAIrd8IFI and a good photo, too: http://followgram.me/i/276131095


Of all of her MANY videos, the ones she filmed in Norway in 2011 are my favorite, with this one being the best of them. 
While I realize that these sort of opportunities don't present themselves every week or month, compared to the tech exhibits/forums she's so frequently at, I wish that Justine could make more vids like this one showing her willing to go outside of her own comfort zone, because to me, she never seems more honest & appealing than when she's in these sorts of situations. #Norge

 And why-oh-why isn't she and one of her sisters participating on CBS' The Amazing Race?
I'm convinced she'd be great and become a real breakout media star if she went more than a 4-5 weeks without being eliminated. 
Just saying... 
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Thursday, August 2, 2012

Meet the face of the new Ugly American: Washington Post sports columnist Mike Wise. He jumps-the-shark in London via a mean-spirited attack against Mariel Zagunis, who lost at the 2012 Olympics in a sport you don't even care about. WTF?!; #London2012

Meet the face of the new Ugly American: Washington Post sports columnist Mike Wise. He jumps-the-shark in London via a mean-spirited attack against Mariel Zagunis, who lost at the 2012 Olympics in a sport you don't even care about. WTF?!; #London2012 
In the year 2012, with a few rare exceptions, American sports columnists at any large sporting event are what comes after the word "superfluous."
Think of the Miami Herald's Linda Robertson, whose Olympic columns for years have always seemed to me to read like paint-by-numbers jobs that were pre-written in Miami before she showed-up wherever the Games were being held.
Once there, she simply put the name and the sport into the meme she wanted to get out into the universe. And completely predictable memes at that.

But it's really when most sports columnists are at a gathering as large and diverse as the 2012 Olympics in London, with tens of thousands of people from all over the world who are heavily-invested emotionally and financially in being there, that someone like Wise reminds you why they are like a third nipple.
And not nearly as interesting.

Desperate as they are to hold your attention to justify their presence to their bosses back home at an event where 99.99% of even the Americans there have NEVER heard of him, to these visitors, Mike Wise is the creepy guy in the hotel elevator who wouldn't hold it open for you as you raced towards it, preferring to wave "buh-bye" to you and your wife as it closed.

The guy who ruined your good mood and reminded you once again that there's no Ugly American like an American journalist overseas, with a colossal sense of self-importance and entitlement, even when nobody-but-nobody is interested in what he thinks.

That's Mike Wise.
The third nipple.
After you read his put-down of American fencer Mariel Zagunis, a two-time Gold Medalist, you'll probably agree.
Me, I'll bet his ancestors spread rumors about witches in 17th Century Salem -for sport.

Washington Post
Mariel Zagunis loses her fencing semifinal bout, and the Olympic spirit
By Mike Wise, 
August 1, 2012
LONDON — There goes the emotional sitdown with Costas. The brainless chit-chat in the morning with Matt Lauer and a cereal-box cover are also off the table.
Say buh-bye, America. Mariel Zagunis’s Q-rating just left the building.
Thanks for carrying the Stars and Stripes into the Opening Ceremonies, Miss Flag Bearer. Now pack your swords and go home for four years. We’ll call you before we get to Rio.
Read the rest of the attack at 




TD Ameritrade interviews Mariel Zagunis. http://youtu.be/x_bWZD0FU9o


The sporting romantic in me hopes that Wise somehow provokes a burly but emotionally-volatile Redskin veteran player during the course of the season, and after a tough loss, the player decides that he's had quite enough of Wise's smart-ass baiting of him.


Then, with TV cameras there to capture the moment for posterity on YouTube, with a white towel wrapped around his neck, the player stands up from his folding chair as if to put the towel away and get dressed when suddenly he takes one quick step towards Wise, and nails him flush with a hay-maker, as cameras capture Wise going limp like a rag doll and falling flat on his ass. 

First a Kapow! 
Then a Timber!

But it's probably too much to hope for.

Still, in the future, if you ever see Mike Wise flaying away in some body of water somewhere, especially near Washington Harbour in Georgetown, one of my old haunts, perhaps after he's had a drink too-many at Sequoia and fallen into the Potomac, just remember the importance of karma.


Then think of emotionally-frustrated Mariel Zagunis and his conscious decision to go after her when she is at her lowest, and emotionally distraught. 
You'll know what to do.


Nothing.
Nothing but wave and mouth the words "buh-bye" to Wise as he says, on-the-record, "Blub, blub..."
Yes, his final clever remarks captured for posterity before joining the mounds of debris that lie at the bottom of that dirty, dirty river.

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Elsewhere in London, in a much-better column that's not dripping with mean-spirited sarcasm for vitriol's sake...

New York Times
U.S. Star Loses Chance To Win Her Third Gold
By Sam Borden
Published: August 1, 2012
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Monday, July 2, 2012

London calling! Your 2012 U.S. Olympic Mens & Womens Gymnastics team; Nastia Liukin ends her career with grace and class -a great role model 'til the very end! Only 26 days until the first event -and NBC milking every single human-interest angle they can possibly find


USA Gymnastics video: "Every Four Years" - Women's Olympic Intro Video - 2012 Gymnastics Olympic Trials - "The video that ran on the scoreboard at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California before the Women's competition" featuring Carly Patterson, Shannon Miller and Shawn Johnson. July 1, 2012. http://youtu.be/NwF0UX1RtUA



USA Gymnastics video: "It Starts With a Dream" - Men's Olympic Intro Video - 2012 Gymnastics Olympic Trials - "The video that ran on the scoreboard at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California before the Men's competition" featuring John Roethlisberger, Ron Galimore, Tim Daggett and Justin Spring. June 30, 2012.
http://youtu.be/uhvguFLRgoE

London calling! Your 2012 U.S. Olympic Mens & Womens Gymnastics team; Nastia Liukin ends her career with grace and class -a great role model 'til the very end. Only 26 days until the first event -and NBC milking every single human-interest angle they can possibly find
Women's team: Gabby Douglas, Jordyn Wieber, Aly Raisman, Kyla Ross, McKalya Maroney, with alternates Sarah Finnegan, Anna Li and Elizabeth Price.
Men's team: Danell Leyva, John Orozco, Jake Dalton, Jonathan Horton and Sam Mikulak, with alternates Chris Brooks, Steven Legendre and  Alex Naddour.


Read the following:
San Jose Mercury
U.S. Gymnastics trials: High expectations ahead at London Games
By Mark Emmons
Posted:   07/01/2012 10:00:17 PM PDT
Updated:   07/01/2012 10:06:21 PM PDT


San Jose Mercury
Liukin falters but resolute in final competition
By WILL GRAVES AP Sports Writer
Posted:   07/01/2012 08:21:31 PM PDT
Updated:   07/01/2012 09:48:03 PM PDT
http://www.mercurynews.com/olympics/ci_20986995/liukin-falters-but-resolute-final-competition


Nastia stays classy despite the disappointment:

Inside Gymnastics Magazine video: Nastia Liukin on ending her career at the 2012 Olympic Trials. July 1, 2012. http://youtu.be/CFAPsDp51Kc

New interviews and videos from Sunday night in San Jose are at Inside Gymnastics Magazine and their YouTube Channel at http://www.insidegymnastics.com/ and
http://www.youtube.com/user/insidegym/ and there will be new from this weekend's competition at the USA Gymnastics YouTube Channel at
http://www.youtube.com/user/usagymnasticsorg/

http://universalsports.com/category/gymnastics/
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http://www.youtube.com/user/universalsports  
http://universalsports.com/
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Wednesday, October 19, 2011

With eyes firmly on 2012 London Olympics, U.S. Women's Gymnastics team scores Gold at World Championships in Tokyo, beating Russia


Opening segment of NBC Sports coverage of the Womens Final of the 2011 Gymnastics World Championships, Tokyo, October 2011.


U.S. Women score Gold at 2011 Gymnastics World Championships, Tokyo, October 2011.


Jordyn Wieber's Floor Exercise routine, 2011 Gymnastics World Championships, Tokyo, October 2011.



Alexandra Raisman's Floor Exercise routine, 2011 Gymnastics World Championships, Tokyo, October 2011. (NBC-TV)
http://youtu.be/wBupA7BDEns



Team Medal Ceremony, 2011 Gymnastics World Championships, Tokyo, October 2011. (NBC-TV) http://youtu.be/dqOJimCnJEs
With eyes firmly on 2012 London Olympics, U.S. Women's Gymnastics team scores Gold at World Championships in Tokyo, beating Russia
For some American sports fans, due in part to it being held in Tokyo and the time difference -13 hours ahead of U.S. Eastern time zone- the only recent news they heard about the U.S. Women's gymnastics team at the World Championships was this, perhaps the most-discussed sports Tweet of the year on the blogosphere:

Alicia Sacramone:
Best boyfriend award goes to @BQ9 for taking the red eye from Denver to be here for my surgery today...just another reason why I love him


http://twitter.com/#!/ASac3/status/123370492127223810



Interview with veteran gymnast and 2008 Olympic team captain Alicia Sacramone about her Achilles tendon injury that knocked her out of the competition. (NBC-TV)

But as you can see at the top, there was a lot more going on than just Tweeting!

U.S. Women's Team Coordinator: Martha Karolyi.
Team members: Gabrielle "Gabby" Douglas, Sabrina Vega, Jordyn Wieber, Anna Li, Alicia Sacramone, McKayla Maroney, Alexandra Raisman & Shawn Johnson (non-traveling alternate).


Video: John Macready checks out the busiest intersection in Tokyo and catches up with the U.S. Women's Team after they win gold at the 2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.

See more behind-the-scenes videos of the U.S. Men's and Women's National Gymnastics Teams at: http://uverseonline.att.net/sports/teamusa/sport/gymnastics


Best score of the competition - Victoria Komova of Russia, 15.733 on the Uneven Parallel Bars during preliminary qualifications.

Komova followed up with this performance in the finals, scoring a 15.500.




Best Gymnasts for london 2012 - HD

Gamba, Sap!

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Yoliss94's YouTube Channel:

U.S. Gymnastics YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/usagymnasticsorg


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