Tuesday, February 16, 2010

the universe has righted

The universe has righted itself. The stars have aligned, Jupiter is in Mars, the pigs have come home to roast and I wish I was an oscar meyer weiner.

Ok, somewhere along the line I lost my train of thought there...

Shen and Zhao WON!!! They are finally Olympic champions!

THANK GOD.

I can now relax because that was the number one thing I wanted to happen in Vancouver. I was so superstitious about jinxing them in any way (and I don't normally get like that) I couldn't even bring myself to pre-write the blurb proclaiming them winners for the website. I normally write a few different blurbs for the different potential scenarios so that I have something to put up the second the event ends but with this one, I just couldn't do it.

I probably typed it out 5 or 6 times and only got as far as "Shen and Zhao captured..." and then I'd frantically delete the whole sentence.

They stumbled on a lift of all things - a lift! Something that they can probably do in their sleep... and since they're married, maybe they do. It's just not what anyone would expect them to struggle with. But thankfully, their short program marks (and the fact that they had almost a 6 point lead over Pang/Tong) helped them still win the gold medal. They actually finished second in the free skate - but their overall score made them the winners.

PHEW.

I would have been wrecked otherwise. I will never ever forget their performance at the 2003 World Championships where they brought the house down in DC. I was backstage with ABC at the time and I was watching with tears streaming down my face. It was one of the most beautiful moments in skating. And it turned out that she basically did it on a broken foot. She was on crutches the next day.

And then they should have been the champs in '06 but he had a torn Achilles a few months before the games made that impossible - the fact that they were able to skate, period, was astonishing. Just a testament to the toughness and mental strength of these two. They have given everything to the sport - they deserve that gold medal more than anyone ever has.

Up next - the men's event! Promises to be a real nail biter - no seriously. There's basically ten men who are fairly equal and should be able to challenge for the gold medal. They all just have to get past Poopy Plushenko. Ok, ok, not really poopy, he's actually kind of exciting to watch - but he has ZERO artistry, he just flails around, throwing his head and arms and legs where ever the hell he feels like and he calls it "choreography."

No - that's not choreography. That's what you do when you're drunk.

Watch for Patrick Chan and Jeremy Abbott - what they do is choreography and artistry. Watch for what happens in between the jumps. That's where the skating is. Plushenko can jump - but he can't skate ... he's a phenomenal poser though (you'll see it)

In Beijing, I got annoyed by the overly helpful Chinese who frequently tried to stir my coffee for me (I would reach for the sugar, they would grab it, pour it into my coffee and stir for me). It really crossed the line - the line being the fact that I am an only child and want to do it all my myself, thank you very much.
Well, in Vancouver, I could actually use the help. I managed to dump the lid of the milk pot into my coffee, spilling all of the milk onto the table and dropping the lid into my coffee.
which I then still drank.
hmm... ew? I probably should have asked for a new coffee... I'm sure all I was thinking was "escape scene quickly!"
I've been catching up on my pop culture thanks to Access Hollywood being shown whenever it's airing (seeing Billy Bush in his abnormally puffy blue vest in the hallways all the time is always 'fun') Ok, now really, serious question here - what is up with Heidi Montag's face? Does she really think she looks BETTER?
g'ah... and that's it for pop culture for me for the week. Back to Olympics where things make sense.

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