Olympics - PyeongChang 2018 - Day 5

Day 5 - February 11

Another day, another sweep, this time in the Men's 30KM skiathlon, as Norwegians Simen Hegstad Krueger, Martin Johnsrud Sundby and Christer Holund captured gold, silver and bronze, respectively.

Sven Kramer put on a dominating performance in the men's 5000m speed skating event, giving the Netherlands another gold in speed skating, and giving him a third straight gold at the distance.

In team figure skating, the three favorites won the medals as Canada, OAR and the United States finished first, second, and third - exactly as expected before the event.  More on this later.

Jamie Anderson, won her second consecutive gold medal in the Women's Snowboarding Slopestyle.  The course was hampered by excessive wind, and the competitors were only allowed two, rather than their usual three runs.  41 of the 50 competitors either fell or pulled up on their runs, and even Anderson pulled out of one of her tricks on a jump.  But, Anderson was otherwise flawless the rest of the way to secure gold on her first run.

Anderson was comparatively spectacular, however, the Moment of the Day goes to the group of David Gleirscher of Austria, Chris Mazdzer of the United States and Johannes Ludwig of Germany, who finished first, second and third respectively in the luge.  Mazdzer, who was the penultimate sledder, was in second place after his run, securing no worse than a bronze, and no worse than a silver for Gleirscher, with only world champion Felix Loch remaining.  As the sledders finish their runs - competing in ascending order of their current placement, luge has the sledder which is currently in first place stand in front of a step-and-repeat at the finish line.  Fleirscher had Mazdzer and Ludwig join him after their runs.  And, the sheer joy that this group collectively experienced as Loch's disappointing fourth run put him in 5th place for the Olympics was amazing.  The three jumped, hugged, screamed altogether.  The scene was delightful, and truly captured the Olympic spirit.

The American Disappointment of the Day is only a disappointment in theory.  The award goes to American figure skater Adam Rippon, inserted for the men's free skate portion in place of Nathan Chen - who fell on several occasions in the men's short program.  Rippon skated a flawless performance, albeit without any quads.  However, he finished third in the men's free skate portion of the team event to Canada's Patrick Chen and the OAR's Mikhail Kolyada, who both attempted quads in their performance, but who both fell, and with Kolyada stumbling on another jump.  I understand that we want to award difficulty, but it would seem to me that the difficult maneuvers should be successful to earn the additional points.  That is the disappointment.

In the same vein, Mirai Nagasu became the first American woman - and only third woman ever - to successfully land a triple axel in the Olmpics.  Yet, she finished second to OAR's Alina Zagitova.

Although we are disappointed in Rippon's scoring, one of the best pictures in sports was taken during his performance by Dean Mouhtaropolous of Getty Images.  See for yourself!

Events Watched:  Men's Luge, Women's Hockey, Men's Speed Skating, Men's Cross-Country Skiing, Men's Biathlon, Women's Freestyle Skiiing Moguls, Women's Snowboarding Slopestyle, Team Figure Skating

Olympics - PyeongChang 2018 - Day 4

Day 4 - February 10

Right now, the overall winner of these Olympics is the weather, as the Men's Downhill finals and the Women's Slopestyle qualifying were canceled and/or postponed.  High winds are to blame, and this will back-up the runs for the forseeable future.  In fact, the Women's Slopestyle will only do two, rather than the ordinary three runs.

That did not stop the fact that the first medals of the Olympics were awarded today.  Of note for my audience, the United States won its first gold, in a true "rags-to-riches" fashion.  Seventeen year old Red Gerard, who was in last place after two runs in the Men's Slopestyle, turned in the ride of his young life win gold and top Canadian superstars Max Parrot and Mark McMorris, who settled for silver and bronze respectively.

Gerard was not the first gold medal of this Olympics.  That honor goes to Sweden's Charlotte Kalla, who won gold in the 15KM Skiathlon.  This was her 6th Olympic medal, and third gold, having won her previous 5 medals in cross-country skiing, including a gold in the 10KM individual and a silver in the team sprint in Vancouver, and a gold in the 4 x 5KM relay and silver in both the 10KM and 15KM individual races in Sochi.

South Korea is on the board with Lim Hyo-jun winning gold in the men's 1500M short track speed skating; a fascinating race that featured an unheard of 9 starters in the Finals.

The most dominant performance was put on by the Dutch women in the 3000M speed skating event, as Carlijn Achtereekte, Ireen Wust, and Antoinette De Jon swept the gold, silver and bronze respectively.

None of these events are the moment of the day.  That honor goes to Norwegian cross-country skier Marit Bjoergen after winning the silver medal in the women's 15KM skiathlon.  How could Bjoergen win the honor after losing to Sweden's Charlotte Kalla?  Easy.  Bjoergen's silver medal was the 11th Olympic medal that she has won (6 gold, 4 silver, 1 bronze)  in 5 Olympics (2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018), making her the most decorated female Winter Olympian ever, and the third most decorated Winter Olympian regardless of gender, behind only countrymen Ole Einer Bjorndalen and Bjorn Dahlie, with 13 and 12 respectively.  We look for more medals from Bjoergen as 2018 continues.  Congratulations Marit.

On the other side of the coin is our American Disappointment of the Day.  That dubious honor goes to Short Track Speed Skater John-Henry Krueger. Krueger was penalized (read:  disqualified) after the race officials adjudged that he made contact with French skater Shaolin Sandor as Sandor tried to pass Krueger in the second semi-final.  Contact is common in short track, as penalties occurred in each of the three semi-finals, allowing 3 skaters to advance in addition to the 6 that qualified for the finals.  American had high hopes for a medal from Krueger, and hopefully he will fulfill that promise in one of the other distances.

Events Watched:  Women's Cross-Country; Men's Luge; Women's Hockey; Mixed Doubles Curling; Women's Biathlon; Men's Short Track Speed Skating; Women's Short Track Speed Skating; Team Figure Skating

Olympics - PyeongChang 2018 - Day 3

Day 3 - February 9

Opening Ceremonies - and they were great.  Perhaps not as spectacular as Beijing in 2008, but that seems to be the bellweather of all Opening Ceremonies.  What I found particularly impressive is the sheer amount of women employed in the ceremonies, in all positions.  Skaters, drummers, really all aspects.  This was an Opening Ceremonies where women were celebrated.  As only a few mixed doubles curling matches took place, the Opening Ceremonies provided the Moments of the Day.

Having Olympic champion figure skater Yuna Kim light the Olympic cauldron was fantastic, but politics was the most important part of the night.  Kim Yo Jong, Kim Jong Un's sister, presided over the North Korean delegation at the Olympics, and the organizers of the Opening Ceremonies had her - and the rest of the delegation - join the South Korean delegation in their box at PyeongChang Olympic Stadium during the early portion of the ceremonies.

This, however, was not the moment of the day.  That belongs to the entrance of the mixed Korean team - although it truly is a South Korean team with just a few North Koreans - namely hockey players.  The participants from Korea entered under a unified flag.  This is impressive since just 30 years ago - at the Summer Olympics held in Seoul, South Korea, the North Koreans boycotted.  Here, they participate with South Korea.  And, as is the normal custom, the host country enters the arena last, so the whole world (or at least the Olympic world) was waiting for this ...

The Disappointment of the Day was the dam Ralph Lauren gloves worn by the American contingent.  Those things are hideous.

Events Watched:  Opening Ceremonies, Mixed Doubles Curling

Olympics - PyeongChang 2018 - Day 2

Day 2 - February 8

As the Opening Ceremonies have still not occurred, there are not a lot of events which have begun, and no medals have been awarded yet, so there still is not a great story line.  But, of all the events that did occur on day 2, one thing stood out to me - the performance of Canadian figure skater Patrick Chan in the short program of the team event.  At 27, Patrick is an elder statesman in figure skating, having previously won 2 silvers in Sochi.  This is his third Olympics.  He is a ten time Canadian champion, and a three-time gold medalist and 2-time silver medalist in the World Championships.

But, being an elder statesman, he does not have the pure athleticism of today's younger skaters.  For example, in the American trials, Nathan Chen became the first person to land 5 quads in one competition.  Chan does not do quads.  What he does is skate elegantly, land all of his jumps (and yes he did a triple axel), all while performing his short program to "Dust in the Wind" by Kansas.  Chan finished third in the men's single short program of the team competition, but it, along with the second-place performance by pairs skaters Eric Radford and Meagan Duhamel, was more than enough to Canada the lead in the team competition.  For that, Patrick Chan was my "Performance of the Day".

My Disappointment of the Day occurred in the same event - Nathan Chen, and 18 year old American wunderkind, who took the American trials by storm by becoming the first person to land 5 quads in a single competition.  He comes to PyeongChang with hopes of gold, and he was to start off the team competition for American with the maximum of 10 points.  He,  however, fell short.  Literally.  He barely landed his first quad, fell on his second jump, and turned his quad, triple combo into a double, single.  Since a triple, double, is a required skill, his double, single combo netted him 0 points in technical merit.  Chen benefited from the fact that everyone seemed to fall during the competition, so he finished in 4th place, which coupled with a 4th place finish by the American pairs team of Chris Knierim and Alexa Scimeca Knierim vaulted the US into second place in the team standings.

Events watched:  Team Figure Skating, Women's Freestyle Moguls, Mixed Doubles Curling

Olympics - PyeonChang 2018 - Day 1

Day 1 - February 7

I am a bit behind in my traditional daily Olympic update posts, but I am going to catch-up with them today.
Those that know me, know that the Olympics are the best part of the sporting calendar to me, and as such, I am going to try to keep up the ambitious schedule of one recap post for each day, focusing on the most important story of the previous day, along with any other interesting or unusual stories.  For day 1, that is pretty easy.  And yes, day one was Wednesday, February 7 as there were two days of competition prior to the Opening Ceremonies.  Also, PyeongChang is 14 hours ahead of me on Eastern Standard Time, so I will be using the days events on which I am able to view them, not necessarily the date the event occurred.

Pretty much only mixed doubles curling occurred on day 1, and as that tournament is a round-robin, nothing major occurred that would be super interesting.  So, like Rio day 1, my story of the day is the announcement of the US Flag-bearer for the Opening Ceremonies.

The flag-bearer is:  Erin Hamlin.  Erin is a four-time Olympian luger, and she won the bronze medal in 2014 in Sochi, the first American medalist in the luge - ever.  For her longevity and for being a past medalist, she is a more than worthy selection.

During Rio of 2016, I made a joke about Ryan Lochte not being selected as the US flag-bearer (of course he wouldn't).  I determined at the instant I wrote my Day 1 report that I was going to make a Ryan Lochte joke every single entry.  Of course, his antics halfway through the Olympics made some of those jokes write themselves.  However, since he is a swimmer, he is not present in these Olympics, so it would seem really forced if I made a Ryan Lochte joke each day.  But, being as prescient as I am, I feel that I know what is going to occur in these Olympics, so I am going to have an "American Disappointment of the Day" portion of each day.

Today's disappointment:  Shani Davis.

Shani Davis is a long-track speed skater, who is participating in his 5th Olympics.  He has 2 gold and 2 silver medals in his career, having won the 1000m golds in Vancouver and Turin and the silver in the 1500m in those same Olympics.  Davis would have been an excellent choice to be a flag-bearer, and in fact when the total votes from the US delegation were tallied, Davis and Hamlin were tied.  The USOC decided to flip a coin, and Hamlin was selected as the flag bearer.

Davis did not take kindly to this decision, and he tweeted:  "I am an American and when I won the 1000m in 2010 I became the first American to 2-peat in that event.  @TeamUSA dishonorably tossed a coin to decide its 2018 flag bearer.  No problem.  I can wait until 2022.  #BlackHistoryMonth2018 #PyeongChang2018".  Davis subsequently refused to participate in the Opening Ceremonies.  So this is a double disappointment - Davis is disappointed that he was not named flag-bearer, and we are disappointed in his actions.

Events Watched:  Curling

Super Bowl Picks of the Week

Jacksonville took the Patriots to the brink, but the Patriots prevailed.  Philadelphia just took Minnesota to the woodshed.  This brings us to the Super Bowl Picks of the Week. Not many picks this week so I will be adding a prop bet.

My long time readers know how this works, but for everybody else,  a reminder.  Each pick is using the spread (straight up is for wussies), and the betting line is from the same website each week as of the time of typing the entry. I keep a running tally of my record, plus my winnings/losses. We will "pretend" that I bet $100 on each game, with one game each week going for $250. Winnings/Losses will be calculated including a 10% vig to make the math that much simpler.  On to the picks.

Philadelphia Eagles +4 1/2 v. New England Patriots
Each of the Patriots Super Bowl wins has been close, including come from behind win last year against the Falcons.  Philadelphia's defense, especially up front, is every bit as good as Jacksonville's, which seemed to stymie New England for most of the game.  The difference, Philly's offense is better.

Philadelphia Eagles +170 over New England Patriots (Bet $100 to win $170)
For all the reasons that I stated above.  Plus, I had this one last year and the Falcons just caved.  I don't expect the Eagles to do the same thing.

Philadelphia Eagles at New England Patriots UNDER 49
I hate taking the under.  But this game has a 24-20 feel to it to me.

Pink's National Anthem UNDER 2:00
Luke Bryan went under 2:00 minutes last year, and his over/under was 2:15.  Pink is different because there are no recordings of her singing the national anthem previously.  I think she won't extend brave too long, and will go under.

Big Bet
Philadelphia Eagles +4 1/2 v. New England Patriots

Last Week's Record: 4-2
Playoff Record - 16-14
Last Week's Big Bet: 1-0
Playoff Big Bet:  3-0
Year-to-Date Record:  140-138-8
Big Bet Year-to-Date:  12-8
Last Week's Winnings (Losses):  $300
Playoff Winnings (Losses):  $130
Winnings (Losses) Year-to-Date:  ($1080)

NFL Conference Championship Picks of the Week

Jacksonville looked strong, and Atlanta and Pittsburgh disappointed me last week.  Oh well, on to this week's conference championship games.  Like last week, I will be the line, money line and over/under.  The Money Line gives me the opportunity to make up big chunks of my deficit without extra bets, or extra money placed on the game.

My long time readers know how this works, but for everybody else,  a reminder.  Each pick is using the spread (straight up is for wussies), and the betting line is from the same website each week as of the time of typing the entry. I keep a running tally of my record, plus my winnings/losses. We will "pretend" that I bet $100 on each game, with one game each week going for $250. Winnings/Losses will be calculated including a 10% vig to make the math that much simpler.  On to the picks.

Jacksonville Jaguars +8 at New England Patriots
That defense can be so dominating.  I am not saying they will shut down the Patriots offense completely, but they can get to Tom Brady with just 4 lineman.  This is especially true on obvious passing downs when they can pair Dante Fowler on the inside with Marcell Dareus and keep both Calais Cambell and Yannick Ngakoue on the outside.  The corners can be physical with the Patriots receivers, and knock them off their routes.  Tom Brady will still be Tom Brady, but can the rest of the offense compete, especially on the line?

Jacksonville Jaguars +290 (Bet $100 to win $290)
For all the reasons that I stated above, plus Leonard Fournette is so strong that he can keep the chains moving.  That being said, I honestly think the Patriots will win this game, but at a -$440 opening line (now -$350) the incentive to pick New England just isn't there.  I can bet $100 on the Jags to win $290, or I can bet $350 on the Patriots to win $100.

Jacksonville Jaguars at New England Patriots UNDER 45 1/2
I hate taking the under, but this game does have Blake Bortles going against Bill Belichick's defense.  Jacksonville's defense as well.

Philadelphia Eagles +3 v. Minnesota Vikings
I believe I learned my lesson last week in not taking a road favorite in Philadelphia.  If it was a point or two less, I would take Minnesota, as I think they are going to win outright, but I feel this is going to be a close game as both defenses were superb last week.  Philly's corners may give up a big play or two to Diggs and/or Thielen make the difference.

Minnesota Vikings -$150 at Philadelphia Eagles
For the reasons stated above - the Eagles corners will give up a couple of big or important plays.  Yes, I have to put up $150 to win $100, but the Eagles are only +$135.  My gut says Minnesota wins, so I will take that play here.

Minnesota Vikings at Philadelphia Eagles OVER 38 1/2
What a ridiculously low over/under line.  24-17 hits the over.  I'll take it.  Yes the defenses are great, but that also means that after some 3-and-outs the offense will take over in good field position.  I will take the over.

Big Bet
New England Patriots -$650 v. Tennessee Titans
Tennessee has no chance to advance.

Last Week's Record: 5-7
Playoff Record - 12-12
Last Week's Big Bet: 2-0
Year-to-Date Record:  136-136-8
Big Bet Year-to-Date:  11-8
Last Week's Winnings (Losses):  ($370)
Playoff Winnings (Losses):  ($170)
Winnings (Losses) Year-to-Date:  ($1380)