Now that the Olympics are over...

How Sammy enjoyed the Olympics

It's hard to believe the Olympics ended almost a week ago. I spent so much time anticipating them and then enjoying them while they were on that it was a bit of a let down once they finished. Since I wrote a preview before the Games began, I thought it would be nice to wrap things up with a post about some of my favorite moments (and yes, most of them are figure skating related).

What I want to remember about the 2014 Winter Olympics:

• Meryl Davis and Charlie White winning the first gold medal in ice dancing for the United States. They are such great ambassadors for the sport, and it was wonderful to see them win with two great performances.
• Carolina Kostner winning the bronze in the ladies’ event. Carolina is a skater I’ve come to appreciate over the last few years because she focuses on interpreting the music rather than racking up points. I was so happy she had a great Olympics after finishing well off the podium at the previous two.
• Mao Asada’s long program. It was so beautiful after her disastrous short program.
• Noelle Pikus-Pace winning the silver medal in skeleton. I think she may have been the happiest silver medalist ever, and her family was super cute.
• Ted Ligety and Mikaela Shiffrin winning gold medals for the U.S. in skiing. I'm glad they didn't "respect" the course as much as some of the other skiers.
• The three U.S. women (Gracie Gold, Ashley Wagner and Polina Edmunds) finishing in the top 10. Both Gracie and Polina showed a lot of promise for the future, and Ashley showed that she really did deserve to be at the Olympics.
• Both of Jeremy Abbott's programs. After he took such a hard fall at the beginning of his short program, I thought his Olympics might be over. I'm glad he got up and skated as well as he did. (And kudos to the crowd for cheering him on.)
• Other top moments: Watching the snowboarders celebrate at the bottom of the hill; seeing Denis Ten win the first Olympic medal in figure skating for Kazakhstan; enjoying all of the Russian culture, music, and dancing during the Opening and Closing Ceremonies; cheering as the U.S. men's hockey team defeated Russia

Only a couple more years until the next Summer Olympics. Rio, here we come!

On being sick during the Olympics

These past few days have been, in a word, miserable. I began feeling sick on Wednesday evening, and by Thursday morning, I was the reluctant owner of a full-fledged cold. Sore throat, stuffy nose, body aches, fever, and chills — I had it all. It's the worst I've felt in a really, really long time. I stayed home from work on Thursday, and when I felt even worse on Friday morning, I had to skip that day as well.

The only bright spot to being sick the last two days is that I was able to watch the entire men's figure skating competition from Sochi live. I would have preferred to watch the dance or ladies' events live instead, but any skating was nice to take my mind off of my dreary state. The competition was not the best skated event I have ever seen, but Olympic pressure has a way of doing that to even world-class athletes. I was happy to see Yuzuru Hanyu and Denis Ten make history for their countries.

I was also excited to receive my figure skating photo book from Blurb in the mail on Friday. I created it using some of the pictures I took at the Four Continents Championships and Skate America in 2012. (Yes, it took me this long to put something together.) One of the best parts of waiting this long to make the book: noticing that I put two of this year's Olympic gold medalists on facing pages. Volosozhar and Trankov and Yuzuru Hanyu, it was nice seeing you at Skate America in 2012.

You can see my figure skating book below:

Figure Skating Competitions 2012 | Make Your Own Book

2014 Winter Olympics: A Preview

The 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, are finally here! By this time tomorrow, I will be sitting in front of my TV watching the first events from Russia. As always, I'm looking forward to the figure skating events the most, and this year, there is the added bonus of the team competition. I promised a preview of the events, so here we go.

Team
This is the first year for the team competition at the Olympics, even though the ISU has held several World Team Trophy events over the last few years. The concept is pretty simple: One man, one woman, one pair, and one dance team will perform in the short program competition and in the long program competition. Each country can make two substitutions throughout the event (for instance, two men might split the short and long programs, and two pairs could split the two programs). The countries with the most depth and fewest weaknesses will do the best in this competition. Canada, Russia, and the U.S. are expected to take home the medals, but Italy could play spoiler.

Pairs
The favorites for the gold medal are Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov from Russia, who began skating with each other after the 2010 Olympics. If they slip up (like they did at the Grand Prix Final and the European Championships), Germans Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy could take home gold instead. Savchenko and Szolkowy won the bronze medal at the 2010 Olympics but have suffered from inconsistency during the last four years.  

• Other pairs to watch: Qing Pang and Jian Tong (2010 Olympic silver medalists from China), Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford (2013 World bronze medalists from Canada), Kristen Moore-Towers and Dylan Moscovitch (Canada), Stephania Berton and Ondřej Hotárek (Italy)
• Fun fact 1: Pay attention to the pants! (Trust me — it will be hard not to.) Both Trankov and Hotárek have sported bright yellow pants earlier this season. Both teams ended up winning on the Grand Prix Series, so obviously the pants can bring good luck.
• Fun fact 2: Meagan Duhamel is almost as fun to watch in the Kiss and Cry as she is on the ice. She usually begins analyzing the program the moment the music ends.

Men
This event is all about Patrick Chan and the Japanese men. Oh, and a certain Russian named Evgeny Plushenko. Chan has won the last three World Championships and is truly spectacular when he's on. However, he's also had performances where he's fallen three times and still won. That probably won't work at the Olympics since the level of skating has improved so much. Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan won the Grand Prix Final this year and could definitely play spoiler to Chan's Olympic dreams.

• Other men to watch: Daisuke Takahashi (2010 Olympic bronze medalist from Japan), Tatsuki Machida (Japan), Javier Fernandez (Spain), Jeremy Abbott (USA), Jason Brown (USA), Denis Ten (Kazakhstan)
• Fun fact 1: No Canadian man has ever won an Olympic gold medal. Not Brian Orser. Not Kurt Browning. Not Elvis Stojko. If Patrick Chan wins gold at these Olympics, he would make history for Canada.
• Fun fact 2: Hanyu's good luck charm is a tissue holder shaped like Winnie the Pooh. It even has its own Twitter account: @HanyusPooh.

Ice Dance
This is the competition I'm most looking forward to (my 16-year-old self would probably be shocked). Meryl Davis and Charlie White from the United States are the reigning World Champions and the 2010 Olympic silver medalists. Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir from Canada are the 2010 Olympic Champions and two-time World Champions. Both teams train together under the same coach at the same rink in Canton, Michigan. I'm rooting for Davis and White to win the gold medal this time, but Virtue and Moir are some of the purest ice dancers I've ever seen. May the best pair win!

• Other ice dancers to watch: Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat (France), Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev (Russia), Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje (Canada), Madison Chock and Evan Bates (USA), Alex and Maia Shibutani (USA), Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte (Italy), Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov (Russia)
• Fun fact 1: The short dance this year includes the Finnstep, a pattern dance similar to the quickstep in ballroom dancing. Be prepared for lots of music from the Big Band era and Broadway.
• Fun fact 2: Alex and Maia Shibutani (the "ShibSibs") have their own YouTube channel with some fun skating videos.

Ladies
If you're just tuning into skating for the first time since Vancouver, you might think things look very similar at the top. The reigning Olympic gold and silver medalists (Yuna Kim and Mao Asada) are skating once again and are still considered the favorites for the top two spots. Yuna Kim is the first reigning Olympic ladies gold medalist to return since Katarina Witt, so it would be amazing to see her win again. However, the Russian ladies should not be ignored: Julia Lipnitskaia (15) and Adelina Sotnikova (17) recently finished 1-2 at the European Championships, defeating Carolina Kostner of Italy, the reigning World bronze medalist. I'm also still rooting for my favorite, Ashley Wagner, to pull off the best performance of her life.

• Other ladies to watch: Gracie Gold (USA), Zijun Li (China), Akiko Suzuki (Japan), Kanako Murakami (Japan), Polina Edmunds (USA), Valentina Marchei (Italy), Kaetlyn Osmond (Canada)
• Fun fact 1: Julia Lipnitskaia will skate her long program to music from Schindler's List. Her dress is red, just like the little girl's in the movie.
• Fun fact 2: Ashley Wagner is returning to her long program from last year (Samson & Delilah) after her poor performance at U.S. Nationals.

Get excited! The Olympics are almost here.

Thoughts on U.S. Nationals

It's been two and a half weeks since the U.S. Figure Skating Championships ended, and it's taken me about that long to process all of my thoughts on the competition. This is what I know...

• Figure skating can still make me cry. As an Ashley Wagner fan, I wanted her to skate well, and it was so difficult to see her finish fourth. I'm glad U.S. Figure Skating put her on the team (she deserves it), but it would have been much easier (for her, for other fans, for my nerves) if she had finished in the top 3.
• Jeremy Abbott has been one of my favorite skaters for years, but he never seems to put it together when it counts. He's been brilliant at Nationals in the past but finished ninth in Vancouver. I'm so glad he won the men's title for the fourth time at Nationals, and I'm hoping the best for him in Sochi.
• I'll be on pins and needles watching Meryl Davis and Charlie White (above) skate in Sochi. Both of their programs are absolutely wonderful, and I'd love to see them cap off their season (and possibly their careers) with an Olympic gold medal.
• Gracie Gold has the perfect name for an Olympic figure skater, and her skating is now backing that up. She's on the cover of the Olympic preview issue for Sports Illustrated, but hopefully the SI curse won't hit her.
• Jason Brown makes me smile...and apparently a lot of other people agree (3 million+ hits the last time I checked YouTube). He's a star in the making, and if you take one thing away from this post, you should check out his long program on YouTube.

And that's what I have for now. I'm hoping to write a preview of the figure skating events before the Olympics start. so stay tuned. The 2014 Olympic Games are a little over a week away!

100 Day Countdown

Today marks 100 days until the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. As an Olympic junkie, the closer we get to the opening ceremonies, the more excited I will be. And with performances like this already, I think we're in for a good show in the figure skating competition...

2012 Summer Olympics Preview

Can you believe it? The Olympics start tomorrow.

I'm just a little excited. To be more exact, I'm so excited it's hard to get any actual work done at the office. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with all the pictures, articles, reports and Tweets. (I am getting things done by the way, even if I take a few more breaks.)

To temper some of my anticipation, I decided to write down a few of the things I'm most looking forward to watching over the next couple weeks. Most of these are gymnastics related, but I know I'll enjoy watching the other sports as well.

• Opening ceremony: I love the pageantry of the opening ceremonies, and I'm sure the British will put on a good show. I've already heard that Paul McCartney will be performing Hey Jude.
• Women's gymnastics team final: I am really excited to see how our American girls perform next week. It's been sixteen years since the Magnificent 7, and I think it's time for another American team to win. The Russian team has been doing very well at training in London, so it won't be an easy victory. And you can never count out the Romanians and Chinese.
• Women's all-around final: It's been interesting to see the media make this a Jordyn Wieber vs. Gabby Douglas battle. (Playing off the one-two finish of Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson four years ago, I guess.) I think both of them could do well in the competition, but the Russians have two strong competitors in Aliya Mustafina and Viktoria Komova. Aly Raisman could also take one of the two American spots.
• Women's event finals: Vault is usually my least favorite event, but I'm looking forward to it this year because of McKayla Maroney. She is by far the best vaulter in the world, as long as her toe holds up over the next few days. (I also think it's neat that the Duchess of Cambridge will be there to watch the vault finals.) I don't have any particular favorites in the other events, but I'm sure I'll enjoy watching them.
• Swimming: Like most Americans, I'm pulling for Michael Phelps to win the most Olympic medals in history. (And I love that his quest is bringing attention to this lady.)
• Longhorns in London: Making Bevo proud all the way in jolly old England! How do you think the rest of the football team will react if Marquise Goodwin wins an Olympic medal?
• Everything else: The Olympics always tend to give me goosebumps at some point. I'm sure I'll be glued to the TV (and computer) for every moment.

Only a few more hours to go!

May the odds be ever in your favor! (whoops, wrong games)

Currently...

Thrilled I found a pair of dress pants at Banana Republic for $10 this weekend (They were marked down from $98!)

Trying to mark a few things off my ever-present to-do list

Impatiently counting down the days until the start of the Olympics in London

Celebrating the upcoming Olympics by rereading Harry Potter

Organizing my office/spare room

Looking forward to Paul and Esther's visit to Austin in August

Staying busy, busy, busy at work (but not quite as busy as before vacation)

Waiting for some cookies to cool (I used the recipe here.)

Planning to put the finishing touches on my Week in the Life album this week

Watching HGTV while surfing the internet

Loving life

Olympic Fever!

I was talking with my mom earlier today and realized that I hadn't written on my blog in a long, long time. (I was complaining that I don't get to really write anymore — I'm probably one of the few people who would ever say that.) Since my time over the last week or so has been filled with the Olympics, I thought I would write down some of my thoughts.

Figure skating, of course, is my favorite sport of the Winter Olympics. Since I follow figure skating all the time, the Olympics sometimes offer me mixed feelings. I love the wonder and pageantry of the Olympics but usually feel discouraged because my favorites almost never win. It's also strange to hear and read comments from people who never watch the sport any other time. (Everyone is always an "expert.") This Olympics, however, has been a little different. I've actually been happy with all three podiums so far. The pairs competition started things off wonderfully with Shen & Zhao finally winning the gold after four tries. Then Evan Lysacek won the men's competition, the first time an American man has won since Brian Boitano won in 1988 (also in Canada). Last night the dance competition concluded with Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir of Canada winning the gold and Meryl Davis & Charlie White of the U.S. winning the silver. I was a little upset that Tanith Belbin & Ben Agosto couldn't pull off the bronze medal, but other than that, it was a beautiful podium. (Check out the medal ceremony; it has to be one of the most heartfelt ones I've ever seen. Oh, Canada!)

Tonight the women's competition begins. Unlike most years, the U.S. doesn't have a particularly strong female skater, but I'm excited to see how Rachael Flatt (above) and Mirai Nagasu do. The favorite in the competition is Kim Yu-Na (top picture), who is absolutely wonderful. I had the chance to see her back in November, and even though she didn't skate her best there, she really is something special. She also has a huge (and I mean, HUGE) following in Korea and the Korean community. Michelle Kwan was always very popular when she skated, but Kim surpasses even her in that regard. I'm also looking forward to seeing Mao Asada, Miki Ando, Akiko Suzuki, and Joannie Rochette skate.

Besides figure skating, I've enjoyed watching many of the other events and rooting for the Americans. I'm so proud of Bode Miller for redeeming himself after Torino four years ago and Lindsey Vonn for fighting through her injury to win gold in the women's downhill. I was also impressed to hear about Hannah Teter's organization Hannah's Gold that provides cleaning drinking water for a village in Kenya. Apolo Ohno has also been a lot of fun to watch as well.

It's hard to believe that next weekend will be the end of another Winter Olympics. Hopefully someday I'll be able to attend one in person, but until then, I'll have to rely on NBC (and my rogue Russian feeds).

Skate America: The Final Report

I'm sitting in Logan Airport waiting for my flight back to TEXAS (yes, it must be capitalized) and realized that I had never followed up on my first blog about Skate America. While I was in Lake Placid, I was pretty much living and breathing skating, and since I got back to Natick on Monday night, I've just been trying to catch my breath. I have over an hour to go until my plane leaves, so I thought I would write a little bit more about my experience.

Saturday was another full day of skating for me, even though the competition didn't begin until 2 p.m. I spent the morning looking around the town of Lake Placid, which was a slight struggle since it was raining (rain was much better than snow, however, which was what I was afraid I would get). The skating that day covered all four disciplines, and it was wonderful to see Kim Yu-Na for the first time. She far outclassed the rest of the ladies' field, even though Rachael Flatt's program to "Sing, Sing, Sing" was really cute. That day also included two long programs and medal ceremonies. In the pairs competition, Shen & Zhao of China won the gold. In the men's competition, American Evan Lysacek won the gold. The other two men's medalists (Shawn Sawyer and Ryan Bradley) pulled up from way down in the pack to win the silver and bronze medals, respectively.

Sunday was my last full day in Lake Placid. I slept late that morning because I had been up so late the night before. Once I finally got out, I went to Starbucks for my first peppermint hot chocolate of the season (yum!) and then went to the Olympic Museum at the Olympic Center. The competition began at 2 p.m. again that day. The ladies' competition was the marquee event, especially for the many Korean-American fans of Kim Yu-Na. It was crazy to see all the Korean flags and banners and watch as they tried to get her autograph before she even skated (I felt a little sorry for her). The pressure may have gotten to her a little bit because she did not perform very well in the long program. She still won the gold medal because of the huge lead she had built up in the short program. Rachael Flatt, however, was the true star of the afternoon as she landed seven triples in her long program. If she keeps on skating as consistently as she has in the past, she could be the American female skater to watch for this Olympics.

After the excitement of the ladies' long program, the free dance was a bit anti-climatic. The posters for Kim Yu-Na had all been removed from the arena, and many of the fans who had come just to see her left. I still enjoyed the competition and in some ways enjoyed it more because all of the people who had come just to see the ladies skate were gone. Belbin & Agosto of the U.S.A. won the competition handily. However, I really enjoyed the performance of Kimberly Navarro & Brett Bommentre — I love that they skate for the fans instead of the judges' scores.

Sunday night was the exhibition. Even though show skating isn't my favorite, it was nice to be able to enjoy the skating without worrying about taking pictures. (Speaking of pictures, you can see a few of the many I took here.) Luckily, this night's skating ended sooner than the other nights, so I was able to come back to my room earlier.

This past weekend at Skate America was wonderful. I loved Lake Placid and am already planning to visit again soon. Thank you, Mom and Dad, for my wonderful birthday present!