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Check out each day's coverage and hot jock in our Olympics
archive
Feb. 21
action
 Shani
digs Enrico (who doesn't?):
It was very interesting watching Shani Davis interact with
gold medalist Enrico Fabris after their 1,500-meter speed
skating competition. Right after it was announced that
Fabris had won, silver medalist Davis broke out in a huge
smile, more than he did when he won his own gold medal three
days earlier. They then went to congratulate each other and
fell into a warm embrace, with Davis tousling Fabris'
hair. In contrast, Fabris' interaction with bronze medalist
Chad Hedrick was friendly but not anywhere near as warm.
On the
winner's podium, Fabris had his arm around Davis, who again
tousled the Italian's hair. He also kept massaging Fabris'
shoulder for several seconds, seemingly lost in the moment.
I know that
if I was in the same space as Fabris, I also couldn't keep
my hands off him. He's smoking hot with an infectious smile
that lights up an arena. I get the sense that everybody
loves Enrico. But it was interesting to see how happy Davis
appeared, in contrast to his surliness after his gold medal
skate. Part of it may have been that Davis was just thrilled
to have finished ahead of archrival Hedrick.
Yesterday,
one of our posters (an African-American who has many
thoughtful posts) said he got a gay vibe from Davis. He was
counteracted by a Dutch speed skating fan who said Davis as
recently as December had a girlfriend. Who knows?
But we now
come to discover that on Davis' website, his
first entry under links is to
Keith Boykin's site. Boykin is a longtime black
activist who happens to be openly and proudly gay. This does
not prove anything about Davis' orientation (I know nothing
about him other than what I've seen in the media), but at
the very least it shows he's gay tolerant, which is
admirable in and of itself. Hmmm, a thought -- I may write
Fabris and ask if he'll list Outsports as a link on his
website.
(Jim
Buzinski)
 Speed
Skating: For the
first time at an Olympics, four gold medalists from one
country -- Joey Cheek, Derek Parra, Hedrick, and Davis --
lined up for the same speed skating race. And that was only
half of what set the stage for Tuesday’s showdown in the
1,500-meter race at Oval Lingotto. Hedrick set the world
record at this distance back in November and Parra, the only
American not to win a medal yet at these games, owns the
Olympic record from Salt Lake City. And then there’s the
ongoing feud (over what, exactly, we’re not certain) between
Hedrick and Davis, who were slotted to skate in the last two
pairs respectively.
But this is what happens when you build a rivalry on bad
blood: you get beat by someone who has something more
important and less distracting to skate for.
Fabris stole the show with an impressive early time, skating
several pairs before Hedrick and Davis took the ice. Time
and time again the split times seemed to indicate that
someone might best the Italian, but Fabris had skated a
phenomenal final lap that proved insurmountable. Davis ended
the day with silver, Hedrick bronze. Both American athletes
seemed cordial in interviews on the track afterwards and
Davis seemed genuinely happy with his result and far from
bitter over the week-long media-fueled spat with Hedrick.
But in a press conference later, Hedrick’s immaturity
resurfaced.
I’m becoming less and less impressed with Chad Hedrick. Not
only is he a part of the best speed skating team the US has
ever brought to a Winter Olympics, but he now has a gold and
silver medal. That’s plenty to be happy about, yet he
continues to draw only negative attention. You don’t have to
be thrilled with every race you skate (although I wouldn’t
pout over an Olympic bronze medal), and you don’t have to
like all of your teammates. But, come on, we all learned
that in grade school gym class. What the hell are you doing?
This is the Olympics and it’s not helping anyone --
including, obviously, yourself -- to maintain such a
negative and stubborn attitude. I wish him the best in the
10,000 meters, but the damage has been done.
(Ryan
Quinn)
Davis
vs. Hedrick, episode 24. I know lots of people have been
jumping down Shani Davis' throat for his war of words with
Chad Hedrick. But, after watching last night, I'm not so
sure Davis is the bad guy here. OK, the guy decided to not
skate in the team event, and it probably cost the U.S. a
medal. And that sucks. But Hedrick, the leader of the team,
didn't congratulate Davis on his gold medal, after Davis had
done so with a hug when Hedrick won his.
In a press conference after
the 1,500 meters Tuesday night, Davis had this to say: "It
would have been nice … if after the thousand meter, he could
have been a good teammate and shook my hand, just like I
shook his hand, er, hugged him, after he won the 5,000
meters."
Hedrick then gets up from his
seat like he's going to shake Davis' hand, takes a drink of
water, the press is egging him on, and he sits back down,
smirking. He then makes some round-about comments
criticizing Davis, again, for not going to the opening
ceremonies and for not skating in the team even.
All Hedrick had to do was
shake his fellow American's hand, as he had done for him,
and congratulated him. And his own ego just wouldn't allow
it. Kinda bullshit, if you ask me. (Cyd
Zeigler Jr.)
 Bulge
report:
We couldn't resist this crop of a shot of Fabris jumping for
joy after his win. He ought to sell a poster!
Dutch
skater nation. Enrico Fabris might have won gold in his
home country on Tuesday, but if any speed skaters at Oval
Lingotto have a home field advantage it the Dutch. Have you
noticed all the orange shirts in the stands? Those would be
the Dutch fans. Speed skating is one of the most popular
sports in the Netherlands, but they’ll travel anywhere to
see a skating race. I went to watch the men’s 10,000 meters
in Salt Lake City in 2002 and it felt like I was the only
American spectator in the building. The Dutch fans are
something like a cross between the craziest followers of the
Oakland Raiders and Green Bay Packers -- only, they wear
bright orange to match their compatriots’ racing suits. And
good for them. One of my favorite parts of the Olympics and
World Cup soccer tournament, is that it’s refreshing to see
passionate and knowledgeable enthusiasm for some of the
incredible sports that don’t even make ESPN’s sports ticker
in the US.
(Ryan
Quinn)
Weir,
the remake. Johnny Weir is coming back to the ice in the
exhibition on Friday. No joke, he'll be skating to Frank
Sinatra's My Way: " To think I did all that; And may I say -
not in a shy way, No, oh no not me, I did it my way. For
what is a man, what has he got? If not himself, then he has
naught. To say the things he truly feels; And not the words
of one who kneels. The record shows I took the blows - And
did it my way! (Cyd
Zeigler Jr.)
Weir
is a real man. In the last 24 hours, I've been
privy to some nasty homophobia -- coming from gay people.
Monday night, John McMullen had me on his Sirius OutQ show
to talk about gays in sports and Johnny Weir. A listener
called in to proclaim that Weir is a little brat, he doesn't
like him, he's not a good voice for gay people -- and, by
the way, he's not a good skater. Uh, that's interesting. I
thought fifth place at the Olympics meant you were a pretty
good skater; but this knucklehead decided Weir sucked.
Yesterday, we got an e-mail
from Chris in Orlando that continued on the same rants:
"I don't think Johnny Weir is
hot. I don't think he's an athlete and I definitely
don't think he's a jock! He doesn't speak for me as a gay
man that's interested in sports. Most of my gay buds agree
with me on this. I'm sorry he is one of Outsports favorites
cause he's sure not one of mine. Oh by the way, he even
said, he doesn't think of himself as an athlete but as an
"artist". Not my kind of guy or should I say girl!"
It's just too bad to see gay
men so insecure about their sexuality that they have to
attack any gay man who doesn't fit into their bullshit
"man's man" macho attitude. If someone like Weir likes to
shop instead of watch football, if he calls himself a
princess instead of a stud, guys like this jump on him and
try to take away his identity. To me, Weir being himself and
saying what's on his mind is more masculine than any
beer-drinking, rugby-playing poser who feels the need to
tear down an Olympian representing our country. (Cyd
Zeigler Jr.)
Olympics
on Ice: I thought the opening for the Tuesday's
"Olympics on Ice" on USA was the funniest It was a
compilation of their behind-the-scenes people plus ice
skaters to the disco tune "Ladies Night." Hysterically
funny, with many fleeting glimpses of hotties dancing away.
Now if only they could inject some of that into the serious,
somber, lumbering primetime broadcast --they'd have a
competitor to "Idol" and "Dancing with the Stars."
They involved the entire NBC
crew in clapping, singing, and dancing along to the Ladies
Night song--you would think it was Karaoke night at the
local gay bar ... unison-clapping, finger-snapping,
booty-hustling parody that SNL hasn't done this well since
the gay beer commercials years ago.
It was a Tour de Gay Farce.
What other songs have they done before?? What's left? YMCA??
I guess since the men have already performed, that may be
out ...or not so out, as the case may be.
I guess they didn't need to actively involve their Gay
Division at Bravo: The Queer Eye guys have already been
co-opted and mainstreamed, and yet no one calls it By It's
Name. They didn't need to go up any Italian Mountain to come
down with more than a few glittery gay spurs under their
saddles.
NBC: Bring it on! (Brent
Mullins)
 Hot
jockette: As the women's singles final looms in figure
skating, Irina Slutskaya is not only my pick to win gold --
she is my Hot Jock. For years, watching figure skating on
TV, I have admired her fresh-faced and original look, her
attitude towards competition, her strength and incredible
athleticism. That rapturous grin of hers is one of the best
things in women's sport. So is her dignity -- you never see
her in those too-revealing costumes that so many other
female skaters are going for.
Most important, Slutskaya has endured in a sport where youth
rules and confidence wilts in a second. Pressure? This woman
skates to win so she can pay the hospital bills for an
ailing mother back home in Russia. She's had hospital bills
of her own -- staged an amazing comeback after an illness
that many believed would force her retirement. So she has a
mental toughness that gives her a major edge on other
skaters -- including Michelle Kwan, whose ability to connect
her spirit with the physical moves was always more fragile.
Tonight Slutskaya is going against U.S. skaters -- Emily
Hughes and Sasha Cohen -- who are under enormous pressure to
bring home medals. Will they crumple under this pressure?
Plus Cohen has a problem with consistency, and Hughes is
something of an unknown quantity. Barring a major mistake by
Slutskaya that leaves the door open, I don't think the U.S.
has much of a chance of pushing the rapturous Russian off
the top of the podium heading into the free skate.
(Patricia
Nell Warren)
Wake
me when it's over. I know it's supposed to be the
marquee event at the Winter Games, but I couldn't care less
about women's figure skating. To me, it's not as exciting
and the jumps aren't as thrilling as the men's figure
skating, and it seems like every one of them falls or
stumbles at some point in their routine. Yes, it's a little
more "artistic," whatever that means. I will give props to
Canadian skater Joannie Rochette, though, who skated to an
instrumental version of Madonna's "Like A Prayer." (Cyd
Zeigler Jr.)
What's
caught in Scott Hamilton's throat? Is it my imagination,
or is Scott Hamilton losing his voice? Maybe if he'd stop
screaming at every triple toe loop, he wouldn't be sounding
hoarse. By the time Sasha Cohen skated, Hamilton wasn't
saying much. And it was Dick Button filling in with color.
He was great; his reactions seemed genuine and fun. We can
only hope Hamilton's voice totally goes before figure
skating is over this week. (Cyd
Zeigler Jr.)
 Our
hot jock wins again:
Outsports favorite Felix Gottwald (shown blowing a kiss to
the camera after his win) overcame a 54 second deficit to
win gold in the Nordic Combined sprint event. Gottwald was
in 12th place after the ski jumping, but skied the fastest
7.5K time of the day. However, he wasn’t uncontested.
Norway’s Magnus-H. Moan started just 2 seconds behind
Gottwald and was able to tag along with the Austrian to the
front of the pack, only to be bested in the final sprint.
Moan finished the day with silver.
Austria continues to rack up the medals in ski jumping and
Nordic combined *(Gottwald has two gold and a silver)
despite a total meltdown of the Austrian biathletes and
cross-country skiers as a doping investigation wages on.
Another police raid was conducted on the Austrian
cross-country skiers’ house Monday night. In the last few
days Austria has finished dead last in both the biathlon and
cross-country relays.
(Ryan
Quinn)
More
Gottwald: Cyd and I have this running gag about Nordic
winner Gottwald. I thought he was the hottest jock of the
first weekend and Cyd thought he was just OK. Ryan said,
"Too skinny." What do they know? All last week, the day
Gottwald was featured drew more traffic than any
other, including the
day we focused on Jeremy Bloom. Cyd called me
Tuesday and asked what I was doing. "Watching Felix win
another gold," I boasted as the Nordic combined aired on
NBC. "Oh, brother!" Cyd said. I loved it when the announcer
said Felix is "just banging away!" We can only wish.
(Jim
Buzinski)
 What
a finish:
My favorite event to watch so far has turned out to be, of
all things, the men's 4x7.5K biathlon relay. A big reason
was that NBC (on its USA Network) showed the event live and
without cutaways to features on skating or the Torino
chocolate industry. It was aired at 3 a.m. Pacific and I
DVRed it and watched over breakfast. We saw the race from
start to finish and it was amazingly exciting.
The U.S.,
led by Jay Hakenin, actually led after the first of the four
legs, almost certainly a first. The next American skier
faded and up came the Poles, then the Italians and the
Swedes. But in biathlon, the great equalizer is the
shooting. A skier must hit five targets (in the relay they
get three extra chances), and is forced to ski a 150-meter
penalty for every miss. It really gives teams a chance to
catch up.
The German
machine took the lead in the second leg and they cruised to
victory. Their last skier, Michael Griesz, looked like he
was out for a stroll and after finishing he calmly took off
his skis and joined his mates for a celebration (usually
biathletes lay on the ground for several minutes after
finishing). Russia followed 30 seconds later for the
silver.
The real
drama came in the race for the bronze between France's
Raphael Poiree and Sweden's Carl Johan Bergman. As a horse
race announcer would yell: Down the stretch they come! They
skied the last 150 meters neck and neck with the crowd
cheering and announcers Len Berman and Chad Salmela
appropriately excited. I had no idea who was going to finish
first.
With about
5 yards to go, the Swede slightly stumbled and it took all
his energy to stay upright. The two skiers hit the finish in
what was officially called a photo finish, meaning there was
less than one-tenth of a second separating them. France was
declared the bronze winner when they took the time out to
hundredths of a second. See the above photo provided by the
Olympics for how close it was. The French skier is at the
bottom.
The French
skier was mobbed by his teammates while the Swede lay there
by him himself crumpled on the ground until a trainer came
to his aid. It was the classic "thrill of victory, agony of
defeat" moment. It was exhausting just to watch.
What a
contrast to watch an event start to finish broadcast live
and not packaged as the prime time coverage is. The coverage
stayed until all the racers finished and it allowed Berman
and Salmela to analyze what we had just seen, with
appropriate reaction shots. There was not a quick cutaway to
a studio host as in prime time. It was, gasp, like watching
a real sporting event and not one sliced and diced and
packaged like so much lunch meat. What a concept.
(Jim
Buzinski) |
Kiss me, you fool
The great Alberto Tomba
Sasha Cohen leads after the women's short program
(SI.com)
Enrico is jazzed
(SI.com)
Shani, Enrico and Chad
(SI.com)
Sweden's' Carl Johan Bergman just missed a biathlon
medal
(NBC
Olympics)
Shauna Rohbock, winner of the silver medal in the
bobsled hugs German gold medalist Anja Schneiderheinze
(NBC
Olympics)
Happy Finnish ice hockey players
(NBC
Olympics)
The German biathlon team celebrates its gold
(Torino
2006)
France won the biathlon bronze
(Torino
2006)
Norway's Moan won the silver in Nordic combined
(Torino
2006) |
|
Shani
Digs Enrico