3 Events to Go!

Sorry for the delay, folks. I've just been so busy with all of my vacation activities that I couldn't find the time to post an update yesterday!

What a day to miss! Canada went absolutely nutty winning some 8 medals in two days. (Yes, Laurie, the USA did pretty OK too.)

It looks like Vegas did a decent job of picking the winners for the Olympics (never bet against the house) but a little national pride helps too. Luke is currently tied for second place with yours truly, just one behind Emma. Long-time leader, Alli is just 2 points out of the lead. I honestly can't stomach Emma winning another one of these things!!!

All of the top contenders picked Team Canada to win hockey. No one has USA, but the rest have Canada or Germany to win the overall medal count (Germany will earn "silver" and Canada "bronze" it seems). So, today's story looks like this:

Entrant, 50km CC pick, Men's Hockey Pick, Overall Meal count
- Emma, Bauer (cze), Canada, Germany
- Grant, Olsson (swe), Canada, Canada (needs olsson and bauer to not medal)
- Luke, Bauer (cze), Canada, Canada (so he can't beat emma)
- Alli, Northug (nor), Canada, Canada (needs northug and bauer to not medal)
- Tim, Bauer (cze), Canada, Germany (can't catch emma, but a bauer gold could put him in medals)
- Dave, Northug (nor), Canada, Germany


Candidate, Points, Medal Count
Emma, 128, 54
Grant, 127, 55
Luke, 127, 52
Alli, 126, 52
Tim, 121, 51
Dave, 119, 52
Andrew, 116, 50
Izzy, 113, 49
Marty, 107, 47
Stacy, 105, 44
Shelli, 103, 43
Laura, 99, 45
Alex and Sue, 98, 41
Laurie, 89, 40
Mike, 86, 38
Arlene, 79, 34
Mitch and Ross, 79, 40
Pete, 61, 31
Lisa, 58, 30
Craig, 41, 18
The Lytles, 37, 16

The Penultimate Hockey Pool Update

Well, it seems that Craig may have played this perfectly...he's stacked up on Americans and Canadians and is now a clear 4 points ahead of Lambertuzzi and last update's leader Dave.

Basically it boils down to this:
- Craig will be cheering for Parise, Kessel, Niedermayer and Team USA)
- Mike will be cheering for Thornton, Marleau, Nash, Proger and Weber
- Dave has Iginla, Toews and Keith

Huge game today for Poolies and Patriots alike. Enjoy!!!

Craig 57
Mike 53
Dave 52
Grant 46
Mitch & Ross 46
Alli 44
Alex and Sue 43
Luke 42
Tim 42
Arja 41
Pete 41
Shelli 41
Andrew 40
Jeff 40
Emma 38
Megan 37
Sammy 34
Izzy 34
Matt 33
Stacy 33
Marty 27

Day 14 totals - Standing pat

Alli retains the lead, followed closely by G, Dave and Luke and Emma in a tie for 4th. With Alli's sub-par Canada pick for the overall medal count, this really is a tight contest!

Izzy and Tim are definitely right in it as we head into the final weekend. Still plenty of medals to go though...stay tuned!

Candidate, Points, Medal Count
Alli, 102, 42
Grant, 98, 43
Dave, 97, 42
Emma, 96, 42
Luke, 96, 41
Izzy, 94, 41
Tim, 94, 40
Andrew, 88, 39
Marty, 83, 37
Shelli, 78, 34
Stacy, 76, 34
Alex and Sue, 75, 33
Laura, 73, 35
Laurie, 67, 31
Mike, 65, 30
Arlene, 56, 26
Mitch and Ross, 53, 28
Pete, 47, 25
Lisa, 46, 23
Craig, 31, 14
The Lytles, 22, 10

Scoring Update

We're getting down to the wire here and I'm sure everyone is anxious to see the scoreboard (except for you, Lytles). Just wanted to let you know that the Commish is en route to Phoenix right now and I'm sure will update as soon as they arrive and settle in.

In the meantime, a moment a little bit of national pride for a Friday morning. I know I'm all pregnant and unstable, but this one made me pretty weepy late last night!!

"I don't know about owning the podium, but I think we own the world's hearts tonight," Canadian Olympic Committee CEO Chris Rudge said. "That young girl performed on a level that is beyond comprehension."

SCANDAL!

Understandable as the celebrations may be, these ladies are getting their wrists slapped and the IOC is investigating Poulin's participation because she's a minor in BC. Oops!

Hockey Standings - 4 Teams left!

Davey Y takes the lead! I'm guessing Dave is a Patriot through and through given yesterday's 7-3 rout by Canada. I'm also guessing that the patriots have the best chance moving forward as there aren't too many who didn't hedge their pride with Swedes and Russians.

Its Canada v. Slovakia and USA v. Finland on Friday. Whoa! This is getting exciting.

Dave, 52
Craig, 51
Mike, 49
Grant, 45
Tim, 42
Alli, 41
Arja, 40
Mitch & Ross, 40
Shelli, 40
Jeff, 39
Pete, 39
Alex and Sue, 38
Luke, 38
Emma, 37
Andrew, 35
Sammy, 34
Megan, 34
Stacy, 32
Matt, 31
Izzy, 29
Marty, 26

More Poet's Corner

As the games wear on and ‘powndium’ hopes fade
I cheer none the softer for Hughes and for Guay

But national pride doesn’t fuel me alone
As I watch hour upon hour, “Go, Canada, Go!”

From deep in my belly, below Guinness and chips
(Perhaps somewhere between my spleen and my hips?)

Comes a second fire-y glow, unrelated to the first
It need not be charged, it need not be nursed

And it rages with the strength of 10,000 Langes,
A thousand Americans, a quite a few Wangs!

“Go, Lee, Go” I scream aloud like a fool
As he charges past Hamelin around Corner 2

Shameful, I know, but such is the game
With bucks on the line, and what’s more, shame

Do I leap off the couch or cower and hide?
As I stand here split between points and pride

What a day for Canada!!! (and Luke)

Finally, what we've been waiting for all games long, Canada hauls in some serious neckware! 4 medals and a monster win over the Ruskies...oh yeah!!!

This makes Loyalist Luke the big winner of the day with 5 medals and 14 points (out of a possible 6 and 18 points)! Where did he come from? Luke is now standing in Hughes' spot on the podium and looking to pull off a Canada 2, just one point behind the Commish. Alli maintains her position atop the leaderboard and her 4-point lead over 2nd place.

Emma, Dave and Tim are the best of the rest at this point, and Team Lytle final earned another 3 points to find themselves just as much in dead last.

Oh, Dave is griping about not having the right point count (scandal?) so I've told him to audit his scores because I just don't have time to go through each event to see if I'm missing anything. I'd suggest that all of you who are near the top do this as every medal counts now.

Just go to the first worksheet, scroll to the right and find your name and work down the sheet and make sure its all kosher.


Candidate, Points, Medal Count
Alli, 95, 39
Grant, 91, 40
Luke, 90, 39
Emma, 89, 39
Dave, 88, 39
Tim, 88, 38
Andrew, 84, 37
Izzy, 84, 37
Marty, 77, 34
Stacy, 72, 32
Shelli, 71, 31
Alex and Sue, 68, 30
Laura, 68, 32
Mike, 58, 27
Laurie, 56, 27
Arlene, 49, 23
Mitch and Ross, 46, 25
Lisa, 42, 21
Pete, 42, 23
Craig, 31, 14
The Lytles, 17, 7

Poet's Corner

Inspired or depressed by your Olmpic picks? Express yourself here via Olympic haiku, limmericks and rhymes.

Oh Bode Miller
Let down in Torino, not here
Why did I choose others?


Starlight starbright
First star I see tonight
I wish I may, I wish I might
Wake up to be Shaun White



Ophelie David
Spectacular crash! What now?
Bye bye my three points!

Updated Hockey Pool Standings

Dave and Mike top the standings with Craig just a point behind. Arja and Grant are in the hunt followed by a 3-way tie for 6th.

Matt and Marty are battling in the basement with Stacy just north of his usual spot.

The tourney is heating up...I thinks it time to place to call out some near competitors and place your side-bets. Time to also see who your nearest rivals have picked to see which players you should really be cheering and fearing.



Dave, 41
Mike, 41
Craig, 40
Arja, 38
Grant, 37
Alli, 35
Mitch & Ross, 35
Tim, 35
Pete, 34
Emma, 32
Alex and Sue, 31
Andrew, 31
Jeff, 31
Shelli, 31
Luke, 30
Megan, 30
Sammy, 29
Izzy, 28
Stacy, 27
Marty, 24
Matt, 23

Alli's stretches out her lead! Lytles continue to underwhelm...

Alli is a full medal ahead of her nearest rival at this point. Dave is making up ground and positions on his push for the podium Like and Tim are also now within striking distance of the podium with early-leader Izzy, who appears to need another birthday to boost her scores.

I think its time we point out just how miserable Team Lytle has been. I've had to check my spreadsheet numerous times because I just can't believe how awful they are doing. The Lytles haven't won a medal since Day 8. Its now Day 12. That's 0 for about 30. Thank goodness for their Zidlicky pick in the Hockey Pool!


Candidate, Points, Medal Count
Alli, 85, 35
Grant, 81, 36
Emma, 80, 35
Dave, 78, 35
Izzy, 77, 34
Luke, 76, 34
Tim, 76, 33
Andrew, 73, 33
Marty, 68, 30
Stacy, 65, 28
Shelli, 63, 27
Alex and Sue, 62, 27
Laura, 60, 28
Mike, 52, 24
Laurie, 51, 24
Mitch and Ross, 42, 22
Lisa, 39, 20
Pete, 39, 22
Arlene, 38, 19
Craig, 28, 13
The Lytles, 14, 6

SCANDAL! Rulings Part 2

1) Scotty Lago sent HOME from the Olympics: SCANDAL! on a few fronts!! First of all, you won the medal, don't you get to do whatever you like with it at that point? Second, a bit of a double standard here as I don't think the Canadian Montgomery was sent home for being a Hoser after his big win. Double Standard!

2) Bindings: No scandal yet - if a ruling leads to any action on the medal-front, then definitely scandal-worty.

3) Plushenko's homemade medal: I smell a super scandal in the making here. Not only is this a grade-A hissy fit, but with Russia hosting the next Olympics, can retaliation against Canada be expected in 2014??

"The Russian reaction began with Plushenko. Taking his place on the podium, he first stepped on the gold medal spot.

"I stepped on the gold medal position," he said, "because I forgot that I came second. To be fair, I felt that I'd stepped on to my position. It wasn't planned, of course. It's just that in my brain, I'd won....

...Then Pravda did a South Park. It blamed Canada.

"We all know Canada has problems with the future lines drawn on Arctic maps," an editorial railed, "and we all know Canada lives in the shadow of its larger neighbour to the south ... [T]he utter incapacity of this county to host a major international event, due to its inferiority complex, [is] born of a trauma being the skinny and weakling bro to the beefy States and a colonial outpost to the United Kingdom.

"Maybe it is this which makes the Canadians so ... retentive, or cowardly. So it is not exactly a huge surprise to have international skating experts ... criticizing the decision to award the men's figure skating gold medal to the U.S. athlete Evan Lysacek over the reigning Olympic Champion Evgeny Plushenko, whose superior performance was inexplicably ignored."

To be slightly fair to Plushenko, his people are claiming that he had nothing to do with the Platinum medal stunt (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=oly&id=4939878). HOWEVER, I think the final word must go to Kathryn Doherty of Columbia, Washington who heard FIRST HAND that Plushenko RUDELY refused to sign an autograph at the 2003 World Championships, thereby proving that he must be a Grade A jerk (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/23/AR2010022305349.html). Decision: SCANDAL!

Official SCANDAL! Count as of Wednesday, February 24th: 5

Sorry...late post.

Forgot to upload this today, guys. Alli has taken a sizeable lead. 33 medals for the top 5 candidates...weird!



Candidate, Points, Medal Count
Alli, 81, 33
Emma, 77, 33
Izzy, 76, 33
Dave, 75, 33
Grant, 75, 33
Luke, 69, 31
Tim, 69, 30
Andrew, 66, 30
Marty, 65, 28
Laura, 58, 26
Shelli, 57, 24
Stacy, 56, 25
Alex and Sue, 54, 23
Laurie, 51, 24
Mike, 49, 23
Mitch and Ross, 40, 20
Arlene, 36, 18
Lisa, 36, 19
Pete, 35, 20
Craig, 24, 11
The Lytles, 14, 6

More Skating Hilarity!

(from Dlisted.com)

"Remember how American figure skater Evan Licecheck won Olympic gold over Russia's Evgeni Plushenko? Remember how Plushie kicked Licecheck in the crotch bone by saying that only real gold medal champions do quad jumps? Remember all that? Well, it's getting better!

Plushie still refuses to accept that a silver medal is hanging around his neck. Plushie's ego magically gave birth to something called a platinum medal! Over on Plushie's official website, it shows that he won a silver in Salt Lake (true), a gold in Torino (again, true), and a platinum in Vancouver."

Alli remains in the lead with the Pool Queen hot on her heels

Big write-ins in biathlon fueled Alli and Emma yesterday. Their Nuener pick in the 12.5 km biathlon was nothing short of brilliant!

It seems that the upper-echlon still contains just five candidates though Tim continues to nudge his way further and further up the leaderboard.

We can only hope that Canada can have a half-decent week to avoid complete embarrassment in their "Pown the odium" campaign. The ski cross was a mess with Debasco bailing on the penultimate jump to lose his bronze and Nesbitt deciding to race only 1100 m of her 1500 m race.

Maybe we should just go back to being our typical reserved selves afte this? 2014 could be "stand near the glow of the podium" maybe?

Candidate, Points, Medal Count
Alli, 70, 29
Emma, 68, 30
Grant, 68, 30
Izzy, 67, 29
Dave, 66, 30
Tim, 61, 27
Luke, 58, 27
Andrew, 57, 26
Marty, 57, 25
Laura, 54, 24
Shelli, 50, 21
Stacy, 49, 22
Laurie, 44, 21
Alex and Sue, 43, 19
Mike, 42, 20
Mitch and Ross, 34, 17
Arlene, 32, 16
Lisa, 31, 17
Pete, 28, 17
Craig, 21, 10
The Lytles, 14, 6

A monster day for Craig in the Hockey Pool

Craig earns 11 points in the last round of games to best the great Team Lytle atop the Hockey Pool stands. They are last and second last in the Olympic pool. Nice when things work out like this, eh?

Grant's 13 points was pretty damn awesome. Period.

Luke had such a bad weekend, I had to check my spreadsheet to make sure it was programmed properly.

Canada's dismal (in my opinion Miller's unbelievable) effort put the poolies in an interesting spot. Those who chose many Canadians get an extra game against a second-tier team. But, we face the mighty Russians in the quarters and many of us loaded up on both Russians and Canadians figuring they'd meet much later. So, who picked the Swedes and Yanks in their pool?

Also, its this analyst's guess that Luongo is the man for Canada here forward. Brodeur's done. So, I may have to eat crow after publicly mocking Alex and Sue for choosing Luongo. And, I get to mock all those (see full list below) who chose Broduer! 1 point!

Suckers (in alphabetical order): Alli, Andrew, Arja, Craig, Dave, Izzy, Jeff, Marty, Meg, Mike, Mitch & Ross, Pete, Sam, Shelli, Stacy, and Tim.


After the round robin:
Craig 36
Arja 35
Mike 33
Dave 32
Grant 32
Tim 32
Mitch & Ross 31
Pete 29
Emma 28
Andrew 27
Alli 26
Jeff 26
Shelli 26
Megan 26
Izzy 26
Luke 25
Sammy 25
Stacy 25
Alex and Sue 22
Marty 22
Matt 20

Half-way there! Alli takes her first lead in the Olympic Pool

Wowwie Zowwie, we have a new leader, folks! Alli has jumped up a spot, and Izzy has fallen two.

Luke had a huge day with 5 medals (in 6 events) and 10 points charging up to 6th place from 9th yesterday.

Big, big, big hockey game today at 7:30 EST. Go CANADA!


Candidate, Points, Medal Count
Alli, 64, 27
Grant, 62, 28
Izzy, 61, 26
Emma, 60, 27
Dave, 57, 27
Luke, 53, 25
Tim, 53, 24
Stacy, 52, 24
Andrew, 51, 24
Marty, 51, 23
Laura, 49, 22
Laurie, 44, 21
Shelli, 44, 19
Mike, 39, 19
Alex and Sue, 38, 17
Arlene, 30, 15
Lisa, 28, 16
Mitch and Ross, 27, 14
Pete, 27, 16
Craig, 19, 9
The Lytles, 14, 6

Isn't climate a part of the selection process?

Check this out:
http://www.cbc.ca/olympics/story/2010/02/20/spo-weather-s.html
If all things are relative then the next summer olympics to be awarded should be in the Lut Desert, Iran (hottest air temp. on record, 159 degrees fahrenheit)!

C'mon Scandal!

US bronze medallist Scotty Lago had to go home after racy photos surfaced of his bronze-tastic celebrations. Questionable judgement: check. Sexual inuendo: check. Strong-armed into "voluntarily" leaving: rumours abound. Is it a scandal?

http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2010/02/20/2010-02-20_kiss_us_olympian_gbye_over_racy_pix.html

Potential scandal-in-the-making, the Austrians are contesting the Swiss ski jumper's bindings as illegal. Invocations of such lore as the William Tell-apple-on-the-head story are blowing the rivallry out of proportion, perhaps, but apparently the tabloids in those countries are buzzing. Scandal?

http://www.vancouver2010.com/olympic-news/n/news/afp-news/ski-jumping--austrians-unhappy-at-ammann-binding_282772jh.html
http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/sport/Austrians_get_jumpy_over_ski_bindings.html?cid=8332596&rss=true

Day 8 Olympic Pool Update

Heading into the 2nd weekend of the games, Izzy still leads us out building on her one-point lead and now ahead by 2 points over Alli. Emma has rebounded back into podium status.

Dave, Stacy and Tim seem to be duelling out for best-of-the rest status at this stage, but its still early and the second half of the games is supposed to be Canada's strongest. Will their patriotism allow them to climb the points standings along with their beloved nation?

I think that at this point Pete deserved a mention. As a "click 'n' pick" entrant he's managed to beat out three candidates. That's marvelous random selection, Pete!

There are some beauty events on today, gang, including the Long Hill Ski Jump, and long and short track speed skating.

Enjoy!

Candidate, Points, Medal Count
Izzy, 57, 23
Alli, 55, 23
Emma, 54, 24
Grant, 53, 24
Dave, 49, 23
Stacy, 47, 22
Tim, 46, 20
Marty, 44, 19
Luke, 43, 20
Andrew, 41, 20
Laura, 41, 18
Shelli, 39, 17
Laurie, 37, 17
Mike, 34, 16
Alex and Sue, 32, 14
Lisa, 26, 14
Arlene, 25, 12
Pete, 25, 14
Mitch and Ross, 24, 12
Craig, 15, 7
The Lytles, 14, 6

Friday Hockey Pool Standings Update

The Lytles have accomplished the rarest of feats in dual-pool competition: The Book Ender! Looks like Gabe is going to be hockey player and not a luger, skier, shooter, jumper, boarder or sledder.

It was the brilliant pick of Zidlicky that has pushed the Lytles to the top. His 3 assists last night could not be matched by any other pool entrant.

Mike and Craig continue their battle at the top, but with Canada and Russia not playing there was a lot of sitting on hands yesterday by all.

Its a bit of a slow day today on the ice as well, but Sunday should be a cooker with the Czechs, Russians, Americans and Canadians all battling it out.

The standings:

Team Lytle 26
Mike 25
Craig 24
Dave 22
Tim 22
Luke 21
Mitch & Ross 21
Pete 21
Shelli 21
Emma 20
Jeff 20
Stacy 20
Grant 19
Sammy 19
Megan 19
Alli 18
Andrew 18
Alex and Sue 17
Izzy 17
Matt 16
Marty 15

Even more updated Hockey Pool Standings

Sheesh...the CTV site is the worst site ever. I doubt these are correct, but here's a third stab at it. Please audit your own teams and let me know if you see anything. I'll be using the game scoresheets from here on in so it should be kept straight after this.

Izzy and Meg are included below, sorry ladies!

Standings*

Craig 23
Mike 23
Dave 22
Arja 19
Shelli 19
Tim 18
Emma 17
Pete 17
Alli 16
Luke 16
Mitch & Ross 16
Stacy 16
Grant 15
Andrew 14
Jeff 14
Sammy 14
Megan 14
Matt 12
Izzy 12
Alex and Sue 11
Marty 10


*Likely not correct, so don't go getting your hopes up Mike and Craig!

Updated hockey standings

Looks like I had Crosby broken in my spreadsheet and no points for Boyle, Doughty or Semin. Anyone have a good reliable site for tracking this? The CTV/TSN site is a mess (and incorrect) Updated standings below.

Mike 22
Craig 20
Dave 20
Shelli 17
Arja 16
Mitch & Ross 16
Pete 16
Stacy 16
Tim 16
Alli 15
Emma 15
Luke 15
Grant 14
Jeff 14
Andrew 13
Sammy 13
Matt 12
Alex and Sue 11
Marty 10

First Hockey Pool Leaderboard Update

OK, I finally spent the time to wrastle home the Hockey Pool. I should be able to spit out daily updates on this pretty easily.

Looks like a reverse of the Olympic Pool for some...Mike, Craig, CARTER 1, Pete and Arja all have a reason to clean the crap off their boots. Finally some limelight for these guys!

Currently, Lambertuzzi is on top with Craiger and Face close behind. I'd say this is still very tight (except Sammy J, of course...ouch) and should be interesting to watch.

A bit of info that might be helpful to the viewers at home:
1) EVERYONE has Ovechkin. Way to be original, gang.
2) Everyone except Matt has Crosby. (So, I'd LOVE to see him ratchet up 15 points just to see Matt sob)
3) The Brodeur/Nabakov goalie tandem is extremely popular. The Thomas/Luongo tandem, not so much. Um...Sue? Alex? It's getting tougher and tougher to root for you guys.
4) Jeff picked Jagr and Selanne. I think he might be been looking at the wrong web-page. It seems he things this is the Nagano Olympics. I laugh, but his old-timers are scoring...

I'll send out the tracking sheet today so you can all take a look at your rivals.

The standings:

Mike, 15
Craig, 14
Dave, 13
Mitch & Ross, 12
Pete, 12
Alli, 11
Arja, 11
Emma, 11
Shelli, 11
Tim, 10
Andrew, 9
Grant, 9
Luke, 9
Stacy, 9
Jeff, 8
Matt, 8
Alex and Sue, 7
Sammy, 6
Marty, 5

Potential Internal Scandal Narrowly Avoided

Looks like we had a spread-sheet melt-down. TimoLeyinen brought it to my attention. Many of you were missing three points for Nesbitt's big gagne. See the REAL score below. No major changes to the standings, except hilariously only Alex and Sue picked Nesbitt, so the sad-sack team of Mitch and Ross actually lost two points on the day. Oh dear...



Izzy, 53, 21
Alli, 52, 21
Emma, 51, 22
Grant, 50, 22
Dave, 46, 21
Stacy, 44, 21
Marty, 42, 18
Tim, 41, 17
Luke, 40, 18
Andrew, 38, 18
Laura, 37, 16
Laurie, 37, 17
Shelli, 36, 15
Mike, 31, 15
Alex and Sue, 29, 13
Lisa, 25, 13
Pete, 23, 12
Arlene, 20, 10
Mitch and Ross, 19, 9
Craig, 15, 7
The Lytles, 11, 5

Leaderboard Mash-up!!! Day 7 Pool Standings

Looks like the 23rd is Izzy's year! On the day of her birthday, Izzy stormed to to the top of the leaderboard followed very closely behind Alli who had a magnificent day with 4 medals and 9 points, matching Emma's effort. Grant's single point effort is likely the beginning of a disappointing trend for him. Ditto for Stacy. They'll be hoping to rebound today.

Marty "Gras" Kapitan had a marvy day with 9 points of his own, including a solo snowboarding write-in gold. He charged up 5 places in the scoreboard and now sits in 7th. Dave snuck up a spot, past Stacy to hold the 5th position outright.

In perhaps the saddest contest, The Battle of the Carters, Mitch and Ross actually had something to cheer about yesterday despite earning just one point. And that was the fact that Alex and Sue didn't earn a single point closing the gap between the two rivals to 7 points.

Just 4 medals up for grabs today, gang, but a big 12-medal weekend awaits!


Candidate, Points, Medal Count
Izzy, 50, 20
Alli, 49, 20
Emma, 48, 21
Grant, 47, 21
Dave, 43, 20
Stacy, 41, 20
Marty, 39, 17
Tim, 38, 16
Luke, 37, 17
Shelli, 36, 15
Andrew, 35, 17
Laura, 34, 15
Laurie, 34, 16
Mike, 28, 14
Alex and Sue, 26, 12
Lisa, 24, 12
Pete, 22, 11
Arlene, 20, 10
Mitch and Ross, 19, 9
Craig, 15, 7
The Lytles, 8, 4

SCANDAL! Rulings from our new judge

Official SCANDAL! Rulings are as follows:

(1) Quatchi's secret Pepsi fetish: Seems like this may have been the work of a clever impersonator - someone is out to mar the reputation of our beloved host and I'm having none of it... no scandal

(2) Preggo Curling Team Member sneaks in extra player: If we start banning pregnant women from competing, what's next? People with really bad haircuts? Metrosexuals? Nickelback fans? Much as I am opposed to new babies in general (I'm looking at you, mom)... no scandal.

(3) Roomie Situation: I don't know much about these things yet, but I think it's safe to say that there will be none of the S-E-X happening between these two... no scandal.

(4) & (5) Fire & Ice glitches abound: I think the combined efforts of the opening ceremony gaffes and the ENDLESS issues at the speed skating rink (The zamboni! The hot water! The ice repairs! The delays!) warrant a SCANDAL! here. But if I have to listen to Catrina LeMay Doan jabber any more about the damned toe-kicks at the line, I'm going LOSE IT. We get it, Catrina, you hate the toe-kicks. Move on!!

(6) Fox fur death threats: Now this is what I like to see in the figure skating arena... SCANDAL! Not on par with a Tonya Harding, but lively nonetheless.

(7) Timing/Access, etc: Much of this seems to be a result of the weather which, in fairness, cannot REALLY be blamed on the IOC. I think the other issues have been covered in scandal 4/5 above... no scandal.

(8) IOPC Judge MooseMoose DQ'd for doping: SCANDAL! SCANDAL! SCANDAL!

(9) Lame politicians: I'd rather watch my ridiculously boring Baby Einstein dvds than another second of that drivel, but not really scandal-worthy... no scandal.

So, the official SCANDAL! count now sits at: 3

Here comes the politics...

You knew the politicians can't be too far behind the Olympic Games. It's a good thing the government's been pro-rogued or else the Conservatives wouldn't have had time to come up with this snazzy little personalized appeal for support.

Is it a scandal? Conservatives in bed with Nancy Greene? Torch-bearer using her fame for evil?

http://movingforward.conservative.ca

Happy Birthday Izzy - 2nd Place Overall!!!

What a way to celebrate a 22nd birthday! Izzy has a 5-medal day to remain in 2nd place now just two points behind Grant. Stacy, Alli and Emma still round out the top five.

Laurie "Yankeeskier" Rider one the medal race yesterday by bravely picking her compatriot and fellow hottie Lindsay Vonn to win the Downhill. Broken shin my butt! Sounds like just good press work to me!

After day 6, the standings look like this:


Candidate, Points, Medal Count
Grant, 46, 20
Izzy, 44, 18
Alli, 40, 16
Stacy, 40, 19
Emma, 39, 17
Dave, 36, 16
Luke, 35, 15
Laura, 34, 15
Tim, 34, 14
Andrew, 33, 15
Shelli, 32, 13
Marty, 30, 13
Laurie, 28, 14
Alex and Sue, 26, 12
Mike, 25, 13
Lisa, 23, 11
Pete, 21, 10
Mitch and Ross, 18, 8
Arlene, 16, 8
Craig, 14, 6
The Lytles, 8, 4

SCANDAL on the homefront!!

Hold on to your hats, folks, this one is a biggie.....Our very own Scandal Judge, Moose the wonder dog, has been accused by the IOPC (International Olympic Pool Committee) of DOPING! The irrefutable evidence from the IOPC has been submitted below:

Prednisone is a corticosteriod drug and is banned by the IOC and the IOPC for being a potent performance retardant.

This discovery helps to explain Moose's recent bouts of 'roid rage and her complete lack of attention to her Judging duties. It is certainly a blow for the reputation of the IOPC, but a new Judge, Mr. Angus Goodwin, has been secured at the last minute and will begin ruling as soon as he returns from daycare today.

Sanfu or Scandal? Official Rulings Requested

(1) Johnny Weir's Olympic roomie = Evan Lysacek's x girlfriend http://www.nesn.com/2010/02/tanith-belbin-johnny-weir-share-room-in-olympic-village.html

(2) Unreliable ice machines wreaking havoc on speed skating
http://www.torontosun.com/sports/vancouver2010/news/2010/02/17/12916226.html

(3)Mechanical problem with torch cauldron columns causes uncomfortable silence and forces Bob Costas to babble incensently during NBC's coverage of opening ceremony
http://www.ivillage.com/winter-olympics-2010-opening-ceremony/1-d-114989

(4) Johnny Weir ditches fox fur for olympic costume due to death threats from animal activists
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/29/johnny-weir-ditches-fox-f_n_441723.html

(5) Timing foul ups mar biathalon events and spectators loose access to snowboard cross
http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsextra/article.aspx?subjectid=29&articleid=20100217_29_B8_VANCOU547229

Scandal? Canadian Curling Team has a teeny tiny extra player...

Curling teams are only supposed to have five members, but Canada is getting away with six this year. How? They’ve brought in Olympic alternate Kristie Moore, who is five and a half months pregnant. Moore is only the second athlete known to have played in the games pregnant. Ninety years ago Swedish figure skater Magda Julin won a gold medal (!!) at Antwerp while in her first trimester.... more

Emma's OUT! Olympic Pool Standings, End of Day 5

Wow...Emma is out of the medal standings! Big days for Alli, Stacy, Izzy and Grant with Pool-master Emma picking up just two medals on the day.

I know for a fact that Stacy has never flown so high. I am personally worried about this ability to perform in this higher altitude, but I trust he's brought his puffer with him.

I believe that Izzy was dead-last (and by a wide margin) last year. It seems that switching from the "funniest name strategy" was a wise decision.

No one is surprised to see Alli high on the list. She's a perennial favorite, like the German in every competition on skis. It looks like Dave will be doing the dishes tonight though he is a mere 4 points behind and has won just as many medals.

Not much to say about basement except that your week is still better than Daniela's (see the post below).

Candidate, Points, Medal Count
Grant, 35, 15
Izzy, 31, 13
Alli, 30, 12
Stacy, 30, 14
Emma, 29, 13
Laura, 27, 12
Dave, 26, 12
Luke, 25, 11
Tim, 25, 10
Andrew, 22, 10
Marty, 20, 9
Shelli, 20, 9
Alex & Sue, 17, 8
Laurie, 16, 8
Lisa, 14, 7
Mike, 14, 8
Mitch & Ross, 13, 6
Craig, 11, 5
Pete, 11, 6
Arlene, 10, 6
The Lytles, 8, 4

German speed skater finishes fourth - for the 15th time!

How's your week going? Better than Daniela's I hope:

"Sh*t! Sh*t follows me wherever I go! I made no mistakes, I’m endlessly disappointed."

Quatchi caught in Olympic sized SCANDAL!

Quatchi is being accused of using products and services that are not official sponsors of the 2010 Olympics.

Witnesses report that last weekend Quatchi was seen eating 57 hamburgers at Burger King and then drinking a barrel of Pepsi. For most sasquatches this is a typical breakfast, but for a sasquatch that is in contract with the 2010 Olympics and all of its sponsors, it’s a major problem.
More here!

http://www.dailyseagull.com/quatchi-caught-in-olympic-scandal/

Current Standings - After Day 4

Be dismayed but not surprised, Emma Poolmaster Jackson is on top after the first weekend of competition. She's tied with G and Stace-bomb atop the completely unimportant Medal-count race too. Why do we even bother?!

Great to see Stacy outperforming his last-place finish in Beijing. It seems that the Lytles are leaning a bit too heavily on their 2-month old, Gabe, for picks. They are being beaten by "click 'n' pick Pete" even!

Its Alex & Sue topping Ross & Mitch in the Battle of the Carters. Do we all get to learn what the wager is on that contest? Dog poop duty for a year?

Men's hockey starts today, gang. This thing is really heating up.

Today's medals: Biathlon Women's 10km Pursuit, Biathlon Men's 15km Pursuit, Ladies Snowboard Cross, Men's Alpine Super Combined, Women's Luge, and the Women's 500m Speed Skating.

Good luck!


Candidate, Pts.,Medals
Emma, 26, 11
Grant, 24, 11
Alli, 22, 9
Dave, 21, 10
Stacy, 21, 11
Izzy, 20, 9
Laura, 19, 9
Luke, 18, 8
Tim, 17, 7
Marty, 15, 7
Andrew, 14, 7
Shelli, 14, 7
Lisa, 13, 6
Alex & Sue, 12, 6
Laurie, 10, 6
Mike, 9, 6
Pete, 9, 5
Craig, 7, 3
Arlene, 6, 4
Mitch & Ross, 5, 3
The Lytles, 3, 2

Quatchi on site for Canada's GOLD !!!!!

 

Quatchi has been working the scene over the last few days as you can see in the attached photos.  

On Friday he was drinking hard at the Molson Hockey House with Bryan Adams and the Molson Girls.  

Saturday Quatchi took in record breaking 18-0 romp by Canada Women's Hockey followed by copious amounts of beer at the Holland Heineken House with the crazy Dutch after Sven Kramer won the 5000m skating gold.  

Sunday was a Valentines Day to remember as he celebrated GOLD with Alexandre Bilodeau at Cypress Mountain.   The sky was blue and the crowd was slamming pints and hotdogs to fuel the rage. He was happy to meet his human counterpart, Per Spett of Sweden after the event.  

 It was a great an awesome experience and he is looking forward to the Men's Downhill and Women's Luge in Whistler tomorrow. 

GO CANADA GO

A-rons Winter Olympic Factoid #1

Did you know that "Skijoring" was a demonstration sport in the 1928 Olympics in St. Moritz? The sport consists of a person being pulled on skis by a horse or dog. Wiki post on Skijoring

It never became an official Olympic event because organizers couldn't decide whether to give the medal to the animal or the human.

Also, I watched speed skating for the first time since the last winter Olympics...those guys' legs are huge!

Sorr-ee about the rain, eh?

While those crazy 'Mericans may be higher up than us in the medal count, let's not forget they're far away from the comforts of Dunkin Donuts and Fox News. ESPN recently posted a story about how they can adapt while in Canada:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=reilly_rick&id=4906756

As the yankeeskier I am, my heart is swelling with pride

Team USA, You ladies rip!

Quatchi Reporting Live from Vancouver

Whoa...what a night. Found this photo on my blackberry this morning. Not sure if I made it to the opening ceremonies but the Vancouver airport bar scene is hot, I'll tell you! Two medals in, guys. We have a Swiss and a Dutchman topping the podium for the Normal Hill Ski Jump and the 5000m Speed Skating. Nothing for us North Americans to cheer about just yet.

Two biggies tonight though. Jennifer Heil in the moguls and Hamelin in the 1500 short track - Go Canada. I'm sure there are some Americans in these events too, Yankeeskier.

Opening ceremony fashion analysis-post here

The announcers said Canada wanted the evening to feel intimate. Indeed the upper thigh high hemlines of the female sign carrying escorts does make things seem intimate.

Not sure the white stretch pants for the US team are working...

Early submission for hottest Olympian

From Lisa: http://lifestyle.ca.msn.com/love-sex-relationships/rogers-gallery.aspx?cp-documentid=23372291

Hubba-hubba!

Pedobear? Really, Poland, you couldn't see through that one?

A Polish newspaper mistakenly identified "Pedobear", a notorious internet meme, as one of the mascots of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver: Link to Article

And in other news, is anyone going to actually TRY and take me down this time around?? I mean, really, I can only win the Olympic Pool so many times before you start to wonder if the universe really hates the rest of you! This time around, I plan on investing my winnings in a "Lifetime Achievement in Pool Performance" plaque and a set of Bump-Its - a true champ can't parade around with flat hair.

Our first SCANDAL! (almost)

30 Dopers will not be participating in the Olympics. One day later and we'd have an official tally in the Scandal column!

No Canucks involved, fyi: http://www.ctvolympics.ca/news-centre/newsid=38619.html?cid=rsstsn

Cool video about how biathletes train

http://www.time.com/time/video/player/0,32068,64069733001_1957690,00.html

Announcing the Vancouver Olympics Pool of Champions

Hey there Olypi-fans,

After much anticipation, the Vancouver 2010 Olympics Pool is finally ready! This quadrennial's host, Quatchi the Plush Sasquatch, proudly presents the Pool of Champions - where passionate fans of all race and creed are united together to celebrate the ancient ritual that is the Olympics...with gambling, nationalistic hate-speech, and endorsement of scandals of any sort!

This year's affair will include 2 distinct pools: the Olympic pool is a challenge demanding the very best of our Olympifans. This gruelling research task will require each participant to select a winner for each of the 87 events that make up the Winter Olympic Games. The second pool is equally challenging, but more for the strain on the hearts of our hockey-mad nation than our mouse-pushing wrists. The Men's hockey tournament pool will require each of you to select 12 players some of whom may not be Canadian (gasp!)

The terms of the agreement (in bullet form as Quatchi is unable to form sentences into paragraphs):

1) The Olympic Pool entry fee is $20. 65% of the pot will go to the winner, 25% to the runner up, and the remaining 10% to the bronze medallist.

2) The Hockey Pool entry fee is $10. The winnings will be split up the same way.

3) Scandals are again a factor this year. On the entry form (attached), you'll be asked to guess the number of scandals that develop over the course of the games. Scandal suggestions are submitted by participants via our blog (http://van2010pool.blogspot.com/) and her honour, Judge Moose Ito, will decide if each is a certified, capital "S", Scandal.

4) I'll need your entries before the flame is lit. I'll need your moolah before the flame is extinguished.

The Olympic Pool:

5) Instructions are provided on the entry form. There are two worksheets in the Excel file. The first worksheet contains the Olympic pool. You may either select a candidate from the pink drop-down list, or write-in your own candidate in the green field. Spelling will not be judged unless we cannot determine the intention of the entry.

6) Each drop-down list contains a best-efforts compiling of the top candidates in each event as provided by their international governing bodies. They are not in any particular order, however. Note, there is no guarantee the names are correct, that the entrants have qualified and that they are able to compete at the games. Verifying that is on your shoulders.

7) To find the governing bodies for each sport, visit the official Van 2010 site (http://www.vancouver2010.com/) and click on any sport icon along the top of the page. On the sport's page, you'll see a link at the top-right side of the main screen that says "About the Sport". On this page, you'll find the link you need.

The Hockey Pool:

8) The second worksheet contains the entry form for the hockey pool. Enter 6 forwards, 4 defensemen, 2 goalies and an overall winning team. A link is provided on that form to the announced rosters (as published by tsn) of each team.

Follow the pool action on our blog: http://www.vancouver2010.com/. As participants register, they will be added as "authors" on the blog so they can take full advantage of this trash-talking forum.

Also, please pass this along to whomever you wish. I may have missed some people.

Best of luck to you all!

Sincerely,

Quatchi