Archive for the ‘Olympics’ Category
Even though the 2010 Tim Hortons Brier Final was the most-watched broadcast in tournament history with an average audience of 1.6 million viewers, CTV-Rogers has decided not to devote any of their Paralympic coverage to wheelchair curling.
Keith Pelley, president of Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium, said while the Brier Final marked the highest audience ever for a non-Olympic Games curling broadcast on Canadian television, he just doesn’t think anyone would be interested in watching disabled people play the sport.
“Wheelchair curling can’t match the speed, physicality and pure athleticism of real curling,” said Pelley. “Our audience studies show that viewers only want to watch transcendent athletes like Glenn Howard and Kevin Koe slide stones down a patch of ice.”
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You see it all the time. Athletes who can’t let go of the sport they once ruled. Whether it’s their passion and desire, or just the fame and fortune, superstars such as Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan and Brett Favre have always had trouble leaving on top.
Canadian bobsledder Pierre Lueders is no exception. Lueders is, of course, the most decorated slider in Canadian history, winning Olympic gold in Nagano in ‘98, then a silver medal in Turin in 2006.
After Lueders finished a disappointing 5th in both the two-man and four-man bobsled events in Vancouver, he assumed people would suggest he retire, but never imagined he’d be forced to.
“Bobsleigh Canada told me to take a hike,” said Lueders. “They said I was too old and too slow, but I’m going to show them… I’m going to show everybody.”
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Just a day after missing a pair of gold-medal winning shots in the 10th and 11th ends to lose 7-6 to Sweden’s Anette Norberg, Cheryl Bernard has signed a lucrative endorsement deal with Peoples Jewellers.
While the timing might seem strange, Russ Schipilow, CEO of Canada’s largest jeweller, is ecstatic to welcome the Olympic silver medallist to his team.
“Who better to endorse our new line of diamond chokers,” asked Schipilow. “When Canadians think of chokers, they already think of Cheryl. Now they’re going to think of Peoples.”
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One look at Canadian ice dancing champs Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir is enough to convince you the pair is destined to be together forever. Moir was nine and Virtue just seven when they were first matched up in a small town north of London, Ontario. However, after becoming the youngest ice-dance team to ever win Olympic gold, the fairy tale now appears to be over.
Moir ended his relationship with Virtue late Thursday night, telling the partner he’s skated with for 13 years that he’s leaving her for American skater Johnny Weir.
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As expected, Russian goalie Evgeni Nabokov has been sent to a Siberian prison after allowing six goals on just 23 shots in a lopsided 7-3 loss to the Canada on Wednesday. The move, which is expected to seriously hurt the Sharks playoff chances, was announced by a spokesman for Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin.
“The Prime Minister already released a statement threatening repercussions for poor performance at these Games and this was one helluva poor performance,” said the Russian spokesman.
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Both Canada’s Ashleigh McIvor and Lindsey Vonn of the U.S. are Olympic champions in their respective sports, but which skier is hotter? After devoting hours of research to the topic, I decided the only way to settle this was to evaluate these sexy ladies in 21 separate categories. What follows is the most scientific, ambitious hottie evaluation of its kind:
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Vancouver Organizing Committee CEO John Furlong has been taken in for questioning after the sudden death of Joannie Rochette’s mother on Sunday morning.
While Vancouver police were quick to say Furlong is not a suspect, they have labelled him “a person of interest” in the case.
“Therese Rochette’s passing appears to be from natural causes, but until we have autopsy results we can’t be sure” said police chief Johnny Chang in a press conference on Monday. “VANOC is already responsible for one murder during these Olympics and I’ll be damn sure they don’t commit another one under my watch.”
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When I see Nick Kypreos sitting beside James Duthie, Bob McKenzie and Darren Pang on the Olympic hockey panel, I can’t help but think that’s exactly where he belongs.
In July 2006, TSN made the curious move of plucking Darren Dreger from Sportsnet and turning him into a Bobby Mac-style Hockey Insider. Once a host who was responsible for steering hockey conversation, much like Duthie does now, Dreger suddenly became an all-knowledgeable Hockey Insider on Canada’s Sports Leader.
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Don’t blame Britt Janyk for not winning a medal in the women’s downhill on Wednesday. Who cares if she grew-up on the slopes of Whistler? Who cares if she lives an hour from the mountain? Who cares if her mother Andrée works on the course? Who cares if her and the rest of Canada’s “speed queens” and “cowboys” received unlimited training access to the hill while international competitors gained entry only at the whim of the Vancouver Organizing Committee? And who cares if a team of sport scientists have been in Whistler for the past five years running experiments that would ensure Canadian skiers gained those precious 100ths of a second that can mean the difference between the gold medal and fourth place?
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During Canada’s 8-0 rout over the Norwegians Tuesday night, TSN hockey analyst Pierre McGuire mentioned that Norway’s goalie Pal Grotnes has a part-time job as a carpenter. I found this funny not only because the man in the other net, Roberto Luongo, is making almost $7 million this year, but because Grotnes shut-out a whole team of Canadian multi-millionaires for an entire period. Even funnier was the fact that McGuire went out of his way to tell us, “And he’s really good at it too” as if Canadians actually cared if the guy knew the secret to crown molding or not.
However, after hearing about Grotnes’ part-time carpentry job, it got me thinking… just what do the other guys on Team Norway do to make a living? After hours of painstaking Internet research, here are your answers:
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Even though the 2010 Tim Hortons Brier Final was the most-watched broadcast in tournament history with an average audience of 1.6 million viewers, CTV-Rogers has decided not to devote any of their Paralympic coverage to wheelchair curling.
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