I'll get to "End of the Month" in a moment. But first, it would be a failure to talk about the month of February and not bring up the Winter Olympics. As you mat know, for seventeen days last month, Vancouver, Canada was where some of the best winter athletes from hundreds of countries came together in an event that showcased competitions from dozens of sports. There was your hockey, your skiing, your moguls, and even a curling match or two. And as you might expect for an event that lasted this long, it brought many moments. Some good, some bad, some strange and some even more bad. Here are my picks for some of the games's best, and even worst, moments (and if you have anything that I left out, just say it in the comments page or e-mail me):
The Good
- The Hockey Gold Medal Game between USA and Canada
Well that was fun. From the great goaltending by Miller and Luongo to the crushing hits to that goal with :24 seconds left, to Sidney Crosby scoring in overtime, this was a thrilling game to watch from beginning to end. And if you think about it, as Barry Petchesky of Deadspin pointed out, it was a great ending to the Olympics in itself. Canada, the home nation, wins not only in the last event before the closing ceremony, but also in the event that they NEEDED TO WIN.
For those of you that haven't watched anything sports or Canadian hockey related, the pressure on the Canadian hockey team was bigger than the US Basketball Team in the '08 Olympics and Japan every World Baseball Classic combined. I mean, yes we would have celebrated the victory and would have had a great thing to trash talk the Canadians for years to come, but we would have just shoved it off after a week. In that country, they would have bitched about it for four years about this loss. Also, the game brought the highest rating for a hockey game since the 1980 Gold Medal Game between the US and Finland and made the US team a threat for years to come, so everybody wins!
- The Canadian Women's Hockey Team Post-game Celebration
What was with the controversy? They won the gold medal, they can do whatever they want, even drink beer after the game.
- USA Records Most Medals By a Country Ever in an Olympics with 37
Yes, this year had the most events in Olympic history. But we're still the best, baby! USA! USA! USA! USA!
- Canada's Women's Curling Team Chocking in the Gold Medal Game
...but only because it was the Billy Buckner-'86 World Series moment of the Games. And because it showed that Canada can be beaten in one of their three best sports.
- Joannie Rochette
In the toughest moments of her life, she prevailed, and in a big way. And that kind of thing deserves huge recognition.
- Shaun White's Trick to Win gold in the Men's Halfpipe
I'll let this video do the talking: (http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/assetid=d924411a-bea6-4fd8-b485-f58dc5238dfe.html)
- The Evgeni Plashenko- Evan Lysacek Feud
- No More Winter Olympics
Because normal TV is back! "Chuck!" "The Office!" "Parks and Recreations!" "Community!" "30 Rock!" "Law and Order: SVU"! "House"! "Modern Family"! Most of the CBS shows! No offense to the Olympics, but after a while, seeing people do the triple axle or go down a hill gets a little...uninteresting.
The Bad
- NBC's Olympics Broadcasting
Where to begin...
Look, I'm not saying that I hated NBC Sports braodcasting of the Olympics everytime I watched it. There were some good things they did, like giving curling and hockey their own channel. And I still think that I would rather have it on NBC then other networks like CBS or FOX, who would probably spend most of the time cutting away to the cast of "Glee" awkwardly watching a curling match. But they reportedly spend $700 million then their opponent to show the games. Shouldn't that mean you would want to broadcast the games... well. Instead, as the networks has done for months, they have found another way to screw things up. Here's a list that I've taken down...
1. The Tape Delays
This one was my biggest problem. Now, I didn't mind when they did this when the Olympics were in another continent like Asia or Europe. But the games are in the same continent you are in, NBC! Not to mention in one of the countries the US borders! Oh well, at least I wasn't in the West Coast, where the network showed EVERYTHING on tape delay (thanks to their lame policy used since the 90s) , meaning you probably had to watch something that someone else watched three to six hours ago.
2. The Constant Commercials
Look, I know you have sponsors. But did you really need to cut to the ads every two minutes?
3. The Soft Stories
And now, we interrupt this showing of the men's four man bobsled to show to you Mary Carillo talking about polar bears!
4. The fact that they have a channel called NBC Universal, which shows every event that can be seen on the Olympics, yet only give them a one hour per day highlights show, and not actual live events.
5. The fact that you had to watch the highlights on their website by providing your cable/satellite provider.
There are much more, but my main point is this: I understand that the primetime events are mostly to attract non sports fans. But as someone who actually does watch athletic competitions for a living, I was overall not impressed.
- The Not Snowing in Vancouver in the First Week Part
When you have the "Winter" Olympics, it seems kind of important that you have, you know, snow. But for the weeks preceding and the first week of the Olympics, that was not the case. The situation was so bad, trucks had to take snow from other places to the courses. Meanwhile, the East Coast of the US was suffering from "Snowmageddon," which makes the whole thing kind of ironic. Still, the snow finally arrived in the second week of competition, so it all worked out.
- The "Green" Zamboni Malfunctions
Another proof that recycled products, though better for the environment, fail in comparison to the actual products.
- The Opening Ceremony Malfunction
Definitely the funniest moment of the games. From the long delay firing the torch, to the awkward smiles (and whatever Wayne Gretzky was doing), it definitely was a good case made to make Vancouver 2010 the proclaimed worst start to an Olympics ever.
- The Many Figure Skaters Falling and the Epic Falls at the Ladies Alpine Skiing Events and Bobsledding Events
And these are supposed to be the world's best athletes..
The Horrible
-The Death of Luger Nodar Kumaritashvili
It's really amazing how the news cycle in this country flows. When the Olympics began, this was one of the world's biggest stories. Then, it just seemed to be swept under the rug after a few days. In fact, when I asked a few people about it, they say that they completely forgot about it until I mentioned it to them. Nonethless, it was still a tragic death and one that, if will not be remembered by most people after a while, can still do some good to this world, like maybe slowing down the luge track.
Overall grade: C+
The next Olympics will be three years and fifty weeks from now in Sochi, Russia. So get ready for the boring, unbearable Februaries that you usually get to return next year. And now, onto my picks for the month's best moments...
END OF THE MONTH:
Press Conference of the Month: Tiger Woods's on February 19th
You know when your a really famous person when a press conference of you apologizing to your wife, your mistresses, your family and sponsors is both broadcasted live on major news and broadcasting networks around the world and then gets analyzed by thousands of people, including yours truly the day after, as soon as it ended. Now... can we please see him play golf again? I'm tired about the supposed sports story that's really a gossip column being tormented to me nearly every day. I'm tired of people make stupid analyzations about all of this (like Bill Simmons when he compared his upcoming comeback to Muhammad Ali's after he dradt doged the Vietnam War). I personally don't care. All I want is to watch him for all seventy-two holes in a major like I always do. That is all.
Videos of the Month:
For the shortest month of the year, February did bring out, in my opinion, the best collection of videos in the history of this blog. Here are my picks for the cream of the crop:
- The Lamest: "Failed Marriage Proposal at NY Rangers Game"
So, a couple of people try to trick fans by having the woman say no on a marriage proposal. Yeah, that's original...back in 2006. This is maybe the dozen time I have seen this prank, from College Humor to the one at the Houston Rockets game two years ago. Maybe try something a little more creative next time.
- The Funniest (Intentionally): SNL Digital Short: "The Curse"
I still don't know why it cracks me up to this day. But it just does.
- The Funniest (Unintentionally): The Malfuction at the Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony
I've already given my opinion on it. Now, here's the link to prove it:
- The Most Intriguing: "A Brief History of Pretty Much Everything"
You can't go wrong with showing some of the world's most important moments by flipping pieces of paper. And for quoting "300" while you're at it.
- The Most Spontaneous: "Weatherman's Big Moment"
In his defense, that "Snowmaggedon" thing was pretty big.
- The Most Epic: "AC Transit Bus Fight I AM A MOTHERFUCKER"
Oh man, was this awesome. From the fight itself to the racism to the camera lady stealing the guy's bag to the American Apparel model sitting like a mannequin, it's perfectly blends fear, violence, comedy, slight racism, stupidity, and bad ass mofo old man in four minutes of great entertainment. And, if I were to choose right now my pick for video of the year, it would definitely be this.
Stories of the Month:
- This Month in Terrifying Natural Disasters: The 8.8 Magnitude Earthquake in Chile
It kills thousands, left millions with need of help, caused tsunami panics in places like Hawaii and East Japan, and may have even shortened the day by millionths of a nanosecond. The downside for the nation, though? It happened over a month after another big earthquake happened, so while it is still talked about, it isn't as much talked about as it was in Haiti. No telethons with celebrities, no "We Are the World," no former Presidents crying for help...yet.
- The Funniest (for me, at least): Monley goes to drug rehab
It's a shame the Ricky Gervais podcast is no more. Would've liked Karl Pilkington's take on this.
- The Gossip-iest: John Terry Has an Affair With Teammate's Wife
It's the English version of the Tiger Woods story that, like the latter, is still unsettled. After all, Terry and Bridge still have to play like teammates in the World Cup!
- The Most Political: The Health Care Summit
So, is the fighting over?
People of the Month: Canadians
Well, you did it, nation north of the border from where I stand. You held that big Winter Olympics you've been planning years of for. And besides the bad things I mentioned above (some of those were not your fault), it went really well for you. You were the country that ended up with the most gold medals after all was said and done, and your hockey teams didn't choke away the gold medals (as for the women's curling team, well that's a whole 'nother story). And, from what I've been told, the city of Vancouver was a great host with a good atmosphere and you really showed how Canadian you really are. And even though things are back to normal now with you being ignored by most of the world again, you really did a good job using your time of stardom well. And for that, I applaud you.
So, that's going to do it with my February wrap-up. And while I understand that it's done, it means that March is back! Yes, from March Madness and the Academy Awards to St. Patrick's Day and "Alice in Wonderland," it should be an interesting month to be part of. So enjoy it, and I will see you...later.
Sincerely,
Your pal: mj15
If you have any opinions on today's post, or if you want to suggest anything to mj15 on his next blog entry, e-mail him at: mj1599@aol.com. Your e-mail might be addressed on a future post.
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