Thursday, February 20, 2014

XXII Olympic Winter Games, Sochi 2014 (Day 13)

There are four days left in the Winter Olympics. I'm giving up on strictly adhering to the live-blog jinx (I'll shut up for the most part while events are going on, but I might root); the not watching events during the day that I'm interest me just in case NBC puts them on the tape delay in prime time (what if I die before the next prime-time show?), and expecting Team USA to win medals (I'll hope, but I won't expect).

26 comments:

  1. Sweden and Switzerland played an amazing bronze-medal game in women's hockey this morning.

    Sweden, which won bronze in this event at Salt Lake City 2002 and silver at Torino 2006, led after two periods, 2-0. Then, in the 60-minute game, Switzerland scored at 41:18, at 46:13, at 53:43 and--into an empty net--at 58:53. Still, it wasn't over. Sweden scored with 34 seconds to go to pull back to within 4-3.

    But, this time, they were done. Switzerland, which had never won a medal in women's hockey, takes the bronze.

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  2. At Nagano 1998, the United States beat Canada, 3-1, for women's hockey gold.

    At Salt Lake City 2002, Canada beat the United States, 3-2, for gold.

    At Torino 2006, Sweden beat the United States in the semifinals. Canada beat Sweden, 4-1, for gold, and the United States beat Finland, 4-0, for bronze.

    At Vancouver 2010, Canada beat the United States, 2-0, for gold.

    Eight days ago, Canada rallied from 1-0 down after two periods to beat the United States, 3-2. In their other four games each so far in Sochi, Canada outscored its opponents by 11-3; Team USA, by 18-2.

    The Americans and Canadians are playing for gold on NBC now ...

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  3. Here was the medals table at the start of today's competition in Sochi, updated with Switzerland's bronze in women's hockey:

    1. Norway 9 gold, 4 silver, 7 bronze
    2. Germany 8, 3, 4
    3. United States 7, 5, 11
    4. Russian Federation 6, 9, 7
    5. Netherlands 6, 7, 9
    6. Switzerland 6, 2, 2
    7. Canada 5, 9, 4
    8. Belarus 5, 0, 1
    9. Poland 4, 0, 0
    10. France 3, 2, 6
    11. China 3, 2, 1
    12. Austria 2, 6, 1
    13. Sweden 2, 5, 4
    14. Czech Republic 2, 4, 2
    15. Slovenia 2, 1, 4
    16. South Korea 2, 1, 1
    17. Japan 1, 4, 2
    18. Finland 1, 3, 0
    19. Great Britain 1, 0, 1
    20. Slovakia 1, 0, 0
    21. Italy 0, 2, 5
    22. Australia 0, 2, 1
    23. Latvia 0, 1, 2
    24. Croatia 0, 1, 0
    25. Kazakhstan 0, 0, 1
    25. Ukraine 0, 0, 1

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  4. 0-0 in the women's hockey final through one period ...

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  5. 1-0, Team USA, through two periods ...

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  6. Meanwhile, Al Trautwigwise, Norway, Germany and Austria just racked up medals in another cross-country skiing hooha--this one, men's large hill/4x5-kilometer relay.

    1. Norway 10 gold, 4 silver, 7 bronze
    2. Germany 8, 4, 4
    3. United States 7, 5, 11
    4. Russian Federation 6, 9, 7
    5. Netherlands 6, 7, 9
    6. Switzerland 6, 2, 2
    7. Canada 5, 9, 4
    8. Belarus 5, 0, 1
    9. Poland 4, 0, 0
    10. France 3, 2, 6
    11. China 3, 2, 1
    12. Austria 2, 6, 2
    13. Sweden 2, 5, 4
    14. Czech Republic 2, 4, 2
    15. Slovenia 2, 1, 4
    16. South Korea 2, 1, 1
    17. Japan 1, 4, 2
    18. Finland 1, 3, 0
    19. Great Britain 1, 0, 1
    20. Slovakia 1, 0, 0
    21. Italy 0, 2, 5
    22. Australia 0, 2, 1
    23. Latvia 0, 1, 2
    24. Croatia 0, 1, 0
    25. Kazakhstan 0, 0, 1
    25. Ukraine 0, 0, 1

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  7. The Canadians are great. Two goals in the last three minutes (the second one coming with 54.6 seconds to go, right after Team USA knocked an empty-net attempt off the post), and we're headed to overtime ...

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  8. Canada wins, 3-2, in overtime, patiently executing a power-play score.

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  9. 1. Norway 10 gold, 4 silver, 7 bronze
    2. Germany 8, 4, 4
    3. United States 7, 6, 11
    4. Russian Federation 6, 9, 7
    5. Canada 6, 9, 4
    6. Netherlands 6, 7, 9
    7. Switzerland 6, 2, 2
    8. Belarus 5, 0, 1
    9. Poland 4, 0, 0
    10. France 3, 2, 6
    11. China 3, 2, 1
    12. Austria 2, 6, 2
    13. Sweden 2, 5, 4
    14. Czech Republic 2, 4, 2
    15. Slovenia 2, 1, 4
    16. South Korea 2, 1, 1
    17. Japan 1, 4, 2
    18. Finland 1, 3, 0
    19. Great Britain 1, 0, 1
    20. Slovakia 1, 0, 0
    21. Italy 0, 2, 5
    22. Australia 0, 2, 1
    23. Latvia 0, 1, 2
    24. Croatia 0, 1, 0
    25. Kazakhstan 0, 0, 1
    25. Ukraine 0, 0, 1

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  10. Replies
    1. 2002 Gold Medal Game (Men's): Canada 5 - 2 United States
      2002 Gold Medal Game (Women's): Canada 3 - 2 United States
      2010 Gold Medal Game (Men's): Canada 3 - 2 United States (OT)
      2010 Gold Medal Game (Women's): Canada 2 - 0 United States
      2014 Gold Medal Game (Women's): Canada 3 - 2 United States (OT)

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    2. Watching Canada play the U.S. in hockey is a lot like watching the SEC play the Big 10 in football.

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    3. 2014 Semi-Final Game (Men's): Canada 1 - 0 United States

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  11. Women's curling for the bronze medal ...

    -- End 1: Switzerland has last rock and intentionally clears the target to maintain last rock for second end. 0-0.

    -- End 2: Great Britain has the two rocks closest to the button. With its penultimate stone, Switzerland knocks out both British stones. Now Switzerland is laying two. Great Britain knocks out one, but Switzerland knocks that one out and leaves its own on the target. 2-0, Switzerland.

    -- End 3: Switzerland loads up the house with a bunch of rocks, and Great Britain sends the last stone into the middle to salvage one. 2-1, Switzerland.

    -- End 4: Switzerland's skip, who could play either Billie Jean King in her prime for an ESPN 30 for 30 biopic or young-adult Marcie for a disastrous let's-take-Peanuts-to-the-next-generation-now-that-Schulz-is-dead romantic comedy, draws to the button with last rock for one. 3-1, Switzerland.

    -- End 5: I think that last end was not how Switzerland wanted things to go. (I'm not sure because I'm having to watch the NBCOlympics.com stream on mute during a conference call.) Great Britain seemed to put its last stone in a really great spot that forced Switzerland to take the one when it might've preferred to blank and hold last stone into this fifth end. In any event, this time Great Britain seemed to put together a relatively perfunctory two with its last stone, and so now we're tied. 3-3.

    -- End 6: Switzerland takes another one. 4-3, Switzerland.

    -- End 7. Great Britain blanks. 4-3, Switzerland.

    -- End 8. Great Britain draws for two, and now they have the lead and, for now, hammer rock in the 10th and final end. 5-4, Great Britain.

    -- End 9. With her last rock of the end, Great Britain's skip draws masterfully past a front guard and gently pushes a Swiss stone on the button between two British rocks and off the back of the house. Switzerland comes back with last rock to save one. 5-5.

    -- End 10. Great Britain draws into the button for one, the win and the bronze medal. 6-5, Great Britain.

    A well-played curling game is fantastic to watch.

    It's Great Britain's first women's curling medal since gold at Salt Lake City 2002. Canada, which has earned a medal in all five Winter Games with a women's curling tournament, beats Sweden, the two-time defending Olympic champs, for gold.

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  12. 1. Norway 10 gold, 4 silver, 7 bronze
    2. Germany 8, 4, 4
    3. Canada 7, 9, 4
    4. United States 7, 6, 11
    5. Russian Federation 6, 9, 7
    6. Netherlands 6, 7, 9
    7. Switzerland 6, 2, 2
    8. Belarus 5, 0, 1
    9. Poland 4, 0, 0
    10. France 3, 2, 6
    11. China 3, 2, 1
    12. Sweden 2, 6, 4
    13. Austria 2, 6, 2
    14. Czech Republic 2, 4, 2
    15. Slovenia 2, 1, 4
    16. South Korea 2, 1, 1
    17. Japan 1, 4, 2
    18. Finland 1, 3, 0
    19. Great Britain 1, 0, 2
    20. Slovakia 1, 0, 0
    21. Italy 0, 2, 5
    22. Australia 0, 2, 1
    23. Latvia 0, 1, 2
    24. Croatia 0, 1, 0
    25. Kazakhstan 0, 0, 1
    25. Ukraine 0, 0, 1

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  13. Three more medal events today ...

    France swept the medals in men's ski cross freestyle skiing;.

    Maddie Bowman, a 20-year-old from South Lake Tahoe, Calif., won women's ski halfpipe freestyle skiing. France took silver; Japan, bronze.

    But the bulk of NBC's prime-time show was spent on women's singles figure skating, and the final six skaters (the top six in the standings after the short program) delivered a terrific show ...

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  14. The gold went to Adelina Sotnikova, a Russian child who was very, very good. But she stumbled, and, among the final six, that would have put her in fourth place on my card.

    The defending Olympic gold medalist, Yuna Kim, was brilliant, and I thought she absolutely should've repeated as champion. Instead she got silver.

    My silver medalist would've been Carolina Kostner, a 27-year-old woman from Italy. If you're going to go on the Olympics and skate to Maurice Ravel's "Boléro," you better bring it. Kostner did. Her program was apparently not as challenging as some of the other skaters, but I think she is at least Kim's rival in gracefulness. Kostner earned bronze, the first-ever medal in figure skating for an Italian, and that's quite an accomplishment after falling at both Torino 2006 and Vancouver 2010.

    My bronze would've gone to Ashley Wagner, a 22-year-old from Aliso Viejo, Calif., who skates with the athleticism and intensity of a Geno Auriemma point guard. She ended up seventh.

    Gracie Gold, an 18-year-old from Springfield, Mo., and the reigning U.S. national champion, was on her way to the medals podium (definitely mine and maybe the actual one) before she fell about two-thirds of the way through her free skate. I read on her Wikipedia page that she wants to become a physician or an orthodontist, so who knows what she plans to do with her next four years. But I hope she keeps at figure skating, and I hope I'm around to see her skate at Pyeongchang 2018.

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  15. 1. Norway 10 gold, 4 silver, 7 bronze
    2. United States 8, 6, 11
    3. Germany 8, 4, 4
    4. Russian Federation 7, 9, 7
    5. Canada 7, 9, 4
    6. Netherlands 6, 7, 9
    7. Switzerland 6, 2, 2
    8. Belarus 5, 0, 1
    9. France 4, 4, 7
    10. Poland 4, 0, 0
    11. China 3, 2, 1
    12. Sweden 2, 6, 4
    13. Austria 2, 6, 2
    14. Czech Republic 2, 4, 2
    15. South Korea 2, 2, 1
    16. Slovenia 2, 1, 4
    17. Japan 1, 4, 3
    18. Finland 1, 3, 0
    19. Great Britain 1, 0, 2
    20. Slovakia 1, 0, 0
    21. Italy 0, 2, 6
    22. Australia 0, 2, 1
    23. Latvia 0, 1, 2
    24. Croatia 0, 1, 0
    25. Kazakhstan 0, 0, 1
    25. Ukraine 0, 0, 1

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