If you have been reading my blog, I want you to know that I just now found some time to respond to the various comments on each entry. Keep them coming. I really enjoy the feedback.
Answer to the question of the day: There are four mascots. There names are Miga, Quatchi, Sumi and Mukmuk. You can google Vancouver 2010 Olympic Mascots to find out more information about them and watch some cool animated videos. Share them with your children. They will love them.
Question of the day: Which of my all-time favorite television shows used to be filmed in Vancouver?
Saturday, February 20, 2010
RACHAEL AND THE OTHER FEMALE OLYMPIANS
Rachael's first day on Olympic ice was great. She was the first to skate her program so she only had 6 minutes to adjust to the ice and the surroundings and do her warm up. She skated a clean short with all her levels and looked relaxed and focused. I was impressed but not surprised she showed great poise. After the practice, she said she got goose bumps when she skated over the Olympic rings, which were painted underneath at center ice.
For me, it's quite special that I am here with Rachael, a female athlete, since the Vancouver Olympics is setting records for women's participation. Slightly more than 40 percent of the athletes here are women and that percentage is a new record. That means out of the 2,631 athletes, 1,066 are women. Another record that was set at this games is that 25 women (out of 82 nations attending the Olympics) carried the flag and led their athletes' delegations. Women are also part of some of the delegations from the Cayman Islands, Colombia, Ghana, Montenegro, Pakistan and Peru, which are all nations participating in the winter Olympics for the first time.
That said, women ski jumpers were not allowed to participate in these Olympics because their competition standard was not high enough to award a medal, according to the IOC. They have taken the IOC to court (the International Court of Sport Arbitration) and are suing for the right to participate. Perhaps it will happen for them in Sochi, Russia in 2014.
In a couple of hours, I will attend my second, non-skating event at the games. As an athlete, Rachael got tickets to see Apollo Ohno and the women's short track 1500m later tonight. She has decided to stay in the village and rest and work on her senior paper and other homework. In case you are wondering, she could not offer these tickets to her parents because this class of ticket requires that the user also present a credential when they enter the venue. Since her parents do not have credentials, they could not use them. This procedure is different from the tickets Rachael's father and I used last week when we attended the women's long track 3000m race at the Richmond oval.
For me, it's quite special that I am here with Rachael, a female athlete, since the Vancouver Olympics is setting records for women's participation. Slightly more than 40 percent of the athletes here are women and that percentage is a new record. That means out of the 2,631 athletes, 1,066 are women. Another record that was set at this games is that 25 women (out of 82 nations attending the Olympics) carried the flag and led their athletes' delegations. Women are also part of some of the delegations from the Cayman Islands, Colombia, Ghana, Montenegro, Pakistan and Peru, which are all nations participating in the winter Olympics for the first time.
That said, women ski jumpers were not allowed to participate in these Olympics because their competition standard was not high enough to award a medal, according to the IOC. They have taken the IOC to court (the International Court of Sport Arbitration) and are suing for the right to participate. Perhaps it will happen for them in Sochi, Russia in 2014.
In a couple of hours, I will attend my second, non-skating event at the games. As an athlete, Rachael got tickets to see Apollo Ohno and the women's short track 1500m later tonight. She has decided to stay in the village and rest and work on her senior paper and other homework. In case you are wondering, she could not offer these tickets to her parents because this class of ticket requires that the user also present a credential when they enter the venue. Since her parents do not have credentials, they could not use them. This procedure is different from the tickets Rachael's father and I used last week when we attended the women's long track 3000m race at the Richmond oval.
WEATHER OR NOT!
The weather in Vancouver is so warm and sunny that many of the locals are saying it is fitting for the summer -- not winter Olympics. The pale, blue Vancouver skyline with the snow-capped peaks of the mountains as a backdrop is truly breathtaking.
With this kind of weather, it's hard to believe that the red, Canadian Olympic team mittens that Oprah Winfrey featured on her show are such a big hit that they have totally sold out. My wife is one of the women who are obsessed with having a pair so Frank and I went to the Olympic store to look for them. No such luck (although they had plenty of other things in the store, including get this -- condoms!). The salesperson said they had received a couple of shipments of the mittens already and each time they sold out. She was doubtful they would receive anymore. She jokingly offered to sell me her pair and said she hadn't worn them yet, but when I said I would buy them she changed her mind.
The other hot apparel item is the Ralph Lauren Polo cap from the US Olympic team opening ceremonies outfit. Frank told me that it is selling for $700 on e-bay. I have one of those. Are there any bidders out there?
With this kind of weather, it's hard to believe that the red, Canadian Olympic team mittens that Oprah Winfrey featured on her show are such a big hit that they have totally sold out. My wife is one of the women who are obsessed with having a pair so Frank and I went to the Olympic store to look for them. No such luck (although they had plenty of other things in the store, including get this -- condoms!). The salesperson said they had received a couple of shipments of the mittens already and each time they sold out. She was doubtful they would receive anymore. She jokingly offered to sell me her pair and said she hadn't worn them yet, but when I said I would buy them she changed her mind.
The other hot apparel item is the Ralph Lauren Polo cap from the US Olympic team opening ceremonies outfit. Frank told me that it is selling for $700 on e-bay. I have one of those. Are there any bidders out there?
Friday, February 19, 2010
WE'RE BACK!
Rachael and I boarded our plane back to Vancouver on the same itinerary as we did last week. We were on the plane with the US and French ski teams that were heading to Whistler for their events. The US ski team had been training in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Even though we did not know the teams (we were easily identified by our Olympic gear), our casual interactions and shared stories of our Olympic experience so far lightened our day.
Once we arrived it was easy to get back to the village since we had our credentials and the USOC had our transportation waiting for us. Frank was in the room when I arrived and it was very exciting to talk shop with him about how he helped Evan through his big Olympic moment. As I said in my blog, Frank received his first Olympic medal, the Order of Ikkos, named after Ikkos of Tarentum, the first Olympic coach of record from ancient Greece. So cool.
We are now off the dinner at the USA sponsor house and we'll be in bed early as Rachael has her first official practice at 7:50 am. Given that schedule we will not be able to watch the US ice dancers tonight, but our thoughts and best wishes are with them. GO TEAM USA!
Once we arrived it was easy to get back to the village since we had our credentials and the USOC had our transportation waiting for us. Frank was in the room when I arrived and it was very exciting to talk shop with him about how he helped Evan through his big Olympic moment. As I said in my blog, Frank received his first Olympic medal, the Order of Ikkos, named after Ikkos of Tarentum, the first Olympic coach of record from ancient Greece. So cool.
We are now off the dinner at the USA sponsor house and we'll be in bed early as Rachael has her first official practice at 7:50 am. Given that schedule we will not be able to watch the US ice dancers tonight, but our thoughts and best wishes are with them. GO TEAM USA!
Thursday, February 18, 2010
GREAT SKATING!
Congrats to Evan Lysacek who won the Olympic Men's title for the United States. GO TEAM USA!. He truly deserved it! I am so happy for my colleague and friend Frank Carroll who has coached his first Olympic Champion of his career. He achieved this in his 10th Olympics. Plushenko's effort was admirable but not as smooth. Daisuke Takahashi also skated a very good program. So the silver medalist did the quad and the bronze medalist attempted the quad as in previous Olympics, but the gold medalist really didn't need to. I said may the best man win and Evan was the best man!
QUESTIONS ABOUT THE QUAD?
After speaking with my wife and getting a long e-mail from my mother-in-law, it occurred to me that my audience for this blog is larger than the 6,000 coaches of the Professional Skaters Association and may have questions about what makes a man choose to attempt the quad. If I were writing a research paper, this is where I would insert a footnote so that the reader had a more detailed understanding of the facts.
So here's a little background:
In 2002, when Plushenko was 19, he attempted the quad toe in the short program and fell on it (by today's standards it would have been downgraded) and he ended up in 4th place after the short program. Back then, the judges used a base mark to reward risk. If a skater tried a quad and missed, the judges took the deduction from the higher base mark before assigning the technical score. That does not happen anymore in figure skating. Plushenko ended up with the silver medal at that Olympics.
If Plushenko had fallen on Tuesday, he would have lost 15.8 technical points (plus an undetermined number of component points due to the fall). If you subtract just those technical points from his score, it would have totaled 75.05 and that would have placed him 12th, out of medal contention.
Last year the three men (Abbott, Mroz and Bradley) I coached all had different strategies with regards to the quad when they competed. Even though Jeremy landed his quad toe in his short and long programs the year before at the World Championships (and placed 11th due to other mistakes), I decided he would not risk it the following season in order for him to gain confidence in his second year in the senior grand prix. This proved to be a good decision for him as he ended up winning Cup of China, the Grand Prix final and his first national title without it. Even though he did not do the quad in those competitions, he continued to train it all year. In April after worlds, he successfully completed the quad toe in the long program at the World Team Trophy.
If you follow the comments of all of the male figure skaters in the press, everyone of them will tell you when you add the quad to the long program it changes (in a very big way) the mental demands of the program. This is especially true in the new judging system because skaters can no longer "rest" during footwork or spins. In the short program, it is even more of a risk because there are fewer total elements to the program and the rules about the contents of the program do not allow the skater to make up lost points on the other jumping passes or change their program in other ways.
I would never question a skater or coach's choice to include a quad in either the program, but I do have tremendous admiration for Plushenko because he trained the quad to do it in both programs not only in Vancouver at 27, but also in 2006 in Torino when he was 23.
Since 1994, every Men's Olympic Champion has completed the quad to win the title as have the silver medalists. With the exception of one year, the bronze medalists have all attempted one quad or done it flawed (with the exception of Tim Goebel, who completed 4 quads: one in the short program and 3 in the long program in 2002 to win the bronze medal).
Last I checked the Olympic motto was faster, higher, stronger....not risk-freeer, safer, lesser. When you add the suffix "er" to a word it means "more." If a man wins the Olympic figure skating title without a quad will our sport be advancing in the spirit of the Olympics?
So those are the facts. You have read them and have a chance to form your own opinion before tonight's long program.
So here's a little background:
In 2002, when Plushenko was 19, he attempted the quad toe in the short program and fell on it (by today's standards it would have been downgraded) and he ended up in 4th place after the short program. Back then, the judges used a base mark to reward risk. If a skater tried a quad and missed, the judges took the deduction from the higher base mark before assigning the technical score. That does not happen anymore in figure skating. Plushenko ended up with the silver medal at that Olympics.
If Plushenko had fallen on Tuesday, he would have lost 15.8 technical points (plus an undetermined number of component points due to the fall). If you subtract just those technical points from his score, it would have totaled 75.05 and that would have placed him 12th, out of medal contention.
Last year the three men (Abbott, Mroz and Bradley) I coached all had different strategies with regards to the quad when they competed. Even though Jeremy landed his quad toe in his short and long programs the year before at the World Championships (and placed 11th due to other mistakes), I decided he would not risk it the following season in order for him to gain confidence in his second year in the senior grand prix. This proved to be a good decision for him as he ended up winning Cup of China, the Grand Prix final and his first national title without it. Even though he did not do the quad in those competitions, he continued to train it all year. In April after worlds, he successfully completed the quad toe in the long program at the World Team Trophy.
If you follow the comments of all of the male figure skaters in the press, everyone of them will tell you when you add the quad to the long program it changes (in a very big way) the mental demands of the program. This is especially true in the new judging system because skaters can no longer "rest" during footwork or spins. In the short program, it is even more of a risk because there are fewer total elements to the program and the rules about the contents of the program do not allow the skater to make up lost points on the other jumping passes or change their program in other ways.
I would never question a skater or coach's choice to include a quad in either the program, but I do have tremendous admiration for Plushenko because he trained the quad to do it in both programs not only in Vancouver at 27, but also in 2006 in Torino when he was 23.
Since 1994, every Men's Olympic Champion has completed the quad to win the title as have the silver medalists. With the exception of one year, the bronze medalists have all attempted one quad or done it flawed (with the exception of Tim Goebel, who completed 4 quads: one in the short program and 3 in the long program in 2002 to win the bronze medal).
Last I checked the Olympic motto was faster, higher, stronger....not risk-freeer, safer, lesser. When you add the suffix "er" to a word it means "more." If a man wins the Olympic figure skating title without a quad will our sport be advancing in the spirit of the Olympics?
So those are the facts. You have read them and have a chance to form your own opinion before tonight's long program.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
WEDNESDAY AND SOME VERY STRONG OPINIONS
Today was a normal training day for Rachael and I. One more day before we head back to Vancouver. All is well in Colorado Springs.
To those who wrote comments critcizing me about my blog yesterday, you obviously do not know me. I was not trash talking Jeremy or Evan. In fact, if you read my blog from the previous day I was and am rooting for Jeremy, Evan and Patrick (none of who do the quad in the short program) in that order to win the Olympic gold medal. I also do not think figure skating is all about the quad. However, I think I speak for a lot of coaches in the sport who can admire the risk Plushenko took (the results show what happened to Brian Joubert and Tomas Verner who took the same risk and failed) and recognize his achievement (he also skated with the flu) regardless of whether or not I am rooting for him to win the gold medal. What I have learned in my 21 years of coaching is that an issue is never black and white so I feel it is best to be honest and express all of my opinions and not be limited to having just one opinion about our very complex sport and its judging system.
I also was acknowledging the risk that Ryan Bradley and Brandon Mroz, two of the men I coach, took throughout the season.
And the last time I checked Jeremy landed the quad toe in both his short program and long program at his first World Championship and a total of 4 times in major competitions while I was coaching him and at least 6 more times during non-qualifying competitions. He also has landed his first quad salchow at a non-qualifying competition while I was coaching him. If you are going to post comments about the content of my blog, please get the facts straight.
Best of luck to all of the competitors but especially the three US men in the long program and may the best man win!
To those who wrote comments critcizing me about my blog yesterday, you obviously do not know me. I was not trash talking Jeremy or Evan. In fact, if you read my blog from the previous day I was and am rooting for Jeremy, Evan and Patrick (none of who do the quad in the short program) in that order to win the Olympic gold medal. I also do not think figure skating is all about the quad. However, I think I speak for a lot of coaches in the sport who can admire the risk Plushenko took (the results show what happened to Brian Joubert and Tomas Verner who took the same risk and failed) and recognize his achievement (he also skated with the flu) regardless of whether or not I am rooting for him to win the gold medal. What I have learned in my 21 years of coaching is that an issue is never black and white so I feel it is best to be honest and express all of my opinions and not be limited to having just one opinion about our very complex sport and its judging system.
I also was acknowledging the risk that Ryan Bradley and Brandon Mroz, two of the men I coach, took throughout the season.
And the last time I checked Jeremy landed the quad toe in both his short program and long program at his first World Championship and a total of 4 times in major competitions while I was coaching him and at least 6 more times during non-qualifying competitions. He also has landed his first quad salchow at a non-qualifying competition while I was coaching him. If you are going to post comments about the content of my blog, please get the facts straight.
Best of luck to all of the competitors but especially the three US men in the long program and may the best man win!
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