All About the Track

Sadly, I spent this morning's women's bobsled runs on a train to the airport, so couldn't watch it live and didn't see the first two runs of the event until I got home.

But I followed the action via iPhone and have to say that I couldn't be happier for Lauryn Williams for two reasons.

First, by all accounts, she's known as being one of the nicest athletes in track and field. Like anything else, Oly sports has tons of fabulous, amazingly sweet athletes. And a couple divas. 

It's no different than every aspect of life from freshman soccer in high school to any office in America. We all want to root for nice people and Lauryn is it. Better still, I made the interview rounds a couple times with driver Elana Meyers in Vancouver and she's also one you've gotta like. 

But, more to the point, I'm pleased to finally see Lauryn get some credit. 

Admittedly, the notion of winning gold at the end of your first season is just crazy, and I feel bad for athletes who committed years of work to the sport and didn't make the cut. 

But I also feel bad for Lauryn and the rest of the athletes who've spent all season taking a backseat to the Lolo Show. 

There's a lot of people who will say that Lolo got her position on the team because she's a media magnet. I can't imagine that's true and she does have both solid results and a damn good work ethic, so I'm not questioning her place on the team. 

What grates on my nerves, though, is the constant Lolo coverage. I think there was this concept that Lolo would bring the sport more media attention and I suppose it did, but was there a trickle down effect for her teammates? If anything, one could argue that they got less coverage as individuals. 

Take the official team announcement on the Today Show several weeks ago. It was probably a five or six minute segment on Lolo with a live interview and cutaway features which is awesome. 

But the only time her teammates came into play was 10 seconds at the end where she introduced them and they waved in the background. 

And it's a stacked group. The former USA 1 included Meyers who is a returning bronze medalist and Aja Evans who is simply a badass brakeman who was quite possibly the best in the world coming into Sochu

Driver Jamie Gruebel has won four medals on the circuit this season.

And if we want to talk track cred, Lauryn holds a silver and a gold from the Summer Games. 

Which you would think would be more impressive than knocking over a hurdle in Beijing. 

Apparently not. 

But today's coverage made me happy for Lauryn and Elana. They're leading after two heats and the chatter has begun about whether Lauryn could become the second U.S. Olympian to win both summer and winter gold. 

The talk has returned to what it should be: results. 

Elana and Lauryn are in first, Jamie and Aja are in third. 

Anything can happen, but hopefully anything involves a cluster of Americans on the podium and the Star-Spangled Banner playing in the background and those at the top will finally get a proper place in the spotlight. 

Nordic Combined ... The Best Olympic Sport You're Probably Not Watching

It's 4:45 in the morning and I'm curled up on the couch, remote in hand waiting to watch a sport most Americans have never heard of ... Nor can they tell you what on earth Nordic combined actually is.

Let's be real ... Until 2010, I couldn't tell you what Nordic combined was either. 

And then Team USA tuore it up. 

Johnny Spillane won silver and ended up in our condo, having a beer and borrowing a belt while we waited for the medal ceremony. 

Billy Demong and Johnny went 1-2 in the large hill and Team USA won silver in the team event.

Somehow the Americans went from having never won an Olympic medal to being at the top of the country standings with four -- three silver and a gold.

And during all of that, I fell in love with both the sport and a team of athletes who couldn't have been nicer, more down-to-earth and, most importantly for a PR girl, media friendly. 

Two of whom (Billy and Todd Lodwick who was named flag bearer at his sixth Olympic Games at 37 years old) are back for another go at it. 

As I wait for the cross country portion, I figured I'd give my five blog readers a look at why you should be watching Nordic combined ... And don't worry, there's still two events left. The Long Hill is on the 18th and team competition is on the 20th. 

First of all, it's one of the most spectator-friendly events of the Winter Games. It's easy really. First 40some athletes go flying off a hill. One by one with the best skiers at the end. Everyone gets one shot at it and you bomb down this ridiculous hill and fly through the air. 

It looks crazy on TV. It's worse in person. The "normal hill" isn't my definition of "normal" at all. They really should be named "Hella High Hill" and "Masochistic Mountain." 

But people do it and it's amazing to watch folks fly through the air over the distance of a football field in the normal hill and a field and a half for the large hill. 

You're scored based on two main things: distance (how far you go) and judge points (what a group of folks in suits thinks of how you looked while you did it). And then there's an adjustment for wind to make things fair. 

Sounds complicated, but it books down to "fly far, don't flail, land clean." 

After the jump, there's a break while everyone trudges over to the cross country course. 

Cross country doesn't sound spectator friendly, but it really is. Unlike alpine where athletes go down a mountain and are racing a clock, in cross country, you're racing actual people. Your start is determined by your score in the jump and every 15 points back equals a minute behind the leader at the start which is run in pursuit format. 

And then they're off. They start in a stadium, loop through the woods (all of which can be seen on massive screens) and then they loop back through the stadium, back into the woods and so it goes for 10km at which point there's a frantic race to the finish and then bodies splayed all over the snow. Literally. It's like "cross the finish line, ski forward just far enough to not be a speed bump and fall over." Eventually you'll get up and celebrate or commiserate with your teammates, but first you must enjoy the snow in a fashion that looks something like this ...

People use cliches like "leave it all out there" and "put everything on the line." Yeah, that's what that looks like. 

Set your DVRs and early morning alarms now ... They're back at it in less than a week. 

Opening Ceremony Festivity

Let's be honest ... Opening Ceremony is long. Really really long. 

There's the pomp and the circumstance and the Parade of Nations.

Does anyone really sit and watch the whole thing? 

Yes and no.

In person, you always stay for the whole thing if you're not an athlete. Partially because it's amazing.  Partially because the tickets are so expensive (seriously, if you get away with $1500 for two you hit the lottery) that you must stay to make it worth it. 

But what about folks at home? Is it really worth it to spend Friday night watching hours of coverage?

Yes. Because you should make Opening Ceremony what it really is ... A celebration. 

It's not too late ... Invite your friends over for a proper time-delayed Russian party. 

As with any party, you need a theme and a dress code. 

Easy. The Olys lend themselves to both. Have your friends come as their favorite athlete or wearing their favorite piece of Games shwaggage. 

Some people don't like costumes. Tell them to get over and promise to give out gold, silver and bronze medal prizes to the winners. Bonus points if you have medals. But I've seen events where the winners get all kinds of things "and for the gold medalist ... Headphones!!!"

No really. I'm serious. Tell them they do it in fencing. It'll make you sound impressive. Unless your friends are fencers, in which case, good luck ...

Now for food ... The following is a link to amazing Russian food ideas:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/tashweenali/delicious-russian-foods-for-your-sochi-olympics-party?s=mobile

I've been to Russia. Other than caviar, I've never seen most of those foods. 

Buy some vodka and you're all good. 

I suppose you should be responsible and serve something to absorb the vodka. How about potatoes if you want to be truly lazy? Or blini if you're feeling snazzy. If all else fails, there's always 800 stroganoff recipes on Pinterest, right? 

Now there's all kinds of games you can play at an Opening Ceremony party, but it's hella cold outside and nobody named you to an Olympic Team, so why would you do that? 

Instead, here are the rules for the Opening Ceremony Drinking Game:

Disclaimer: Do not participate in this game if you're under 21; if you're driving; if you live in a place with no cabs; if you're pregnant; if you could be pregnant; if you want to be pregnant (cause nobody wants you to get weird and sentimental); if you've already been partaking in newly legal herbs in Colorado or Washington; if you've recently had your liver removed or even portions of it removed; or if you generally make poor decisions that have been known to end up involving phrases like "hookers and blow" or "mandatory sentencing." And, when I say "drinking game," in no way am I implying anything other than Coke. 

On with the rules ... 

One Drink

Any time there is a closeup of Putin

For every Russian hockey player or figure skater featured 

For every ballet or classical music reference (Drink again if you don't understand the reference)

For every country you swear you don't remember from high school map quizzes 

For the entrance of any country of your family's origin 

For every athlete you can name before the commentators do 

For every time the price tag of the Games or the Ceremony is mentioned 

One Drink and a Punch to the Appendage of Your Choice 

If you say "Ceremonies" instead of "Ceremony." 

Two Drinks

For every national outfit that makes you rethink whether you would actually march if you were an Olympian

If you wonder why random Americans are part of the talent portion of the evening 

For technical malfunctions 

Three Drinks

If those malfunctions involve any aspect of the lighting of the flame 

Finish the largest bottle in the room

If Putin appears shirtless on horseback 

Aren't You Glad?

During the past week, I've gotten emails, texts, Facebook messages and phone calls all with a variation of the same message ...

"Aren't you glad you're not in Sochi?"

They've come with links to stories and photos from hotels, but the sentiment is all the same ... 

"Wow, it looks crazy. Aren't you glad you're home?"

No.

My replies are always varied, but it's so hard to explain that the answer is no. 

It's not because I haven't seen the latest on Twitter or Instagram or the Washington Post. 

It's that I've watched the Olympic Games for as long as I can remember. As an adult, the Games have been a dream, a fantasy, a reality and a paycheck all rolled into one. 

Some are better than others. 

But they're all still amazing.

And I would never turn down an opportunity to work another. 

Unfortunately, this will be the first time I've been home for the Games since 2006 and the second time since college that I haven't gone to either an Oly or a Para. But I work for a summer sport and there's competitions to be had stateside, so no Sochi for me. 

Instead, I'll watch it all on TV ... And the internet. And on Facebook and Twitter. 

For someone who watched every moment I could as a child, who probably still has clippings of the Mag Seven and video (yup, VHS) of the 2000 Swimming Trials, the 1,000 hours of coverage will put me in Oly nerd heaven. 

In theory anyway. 

Because, no matter what the water in the hotels looks like or how crazy the bus routes are or whatever it is that is causing chatter today, I'll always wish I was there. 

You see, those things aren't what this is all about. 

Though, let's be real, my condo in Whistler circa 2010 was pretty sweet.  :)

It's about the athletes and their journeys.

It's about being there to watch dreams come true. 

And also being there when hearts are broken. 

It's about helping to tell the story in whatever way of athletes who may be household names or may be from sports people can't spell, define or explain. 

Fabulous locales are always nice, but some of my favorite trips have involved terrible dorm rooms, food that's borderline unidentifiable, sweltering heat or nightly freezing drizzle in the one pair of snow pants you own. 

And we all know food doesn't matter since PR people just eat whatever you can throw in a backpack anyway. Hahaha ... Sigh. 

So, no, I'm not happy I'm not there. 

But this is the Olympic Games and I am excited to cheer on Team USA from my couch ... Or office ... Or sports bar ... Or while playing figure skating drinking games. 

I'll happily watch curling (for more than the Norwegian pants), figure skating (cause I'm a diehard!), Nordic combined (best spectator mountain sport of the Games, I'm telling you) or whatever happens to be on.

And, as we get ready to begin the fun in the next few hours, I hope that everyone remembers to take a break from all the Sochi Shenanigans postings to return the Games themselves. 

I promise the athletes will make it worth it.