QISE Review - Winter Edition - Day 14 / by Mark

Catching up from last night…

  • NBC was barreling through the women’s Figure Skating Free Skate—not a lot of video packages—which does not bode well for the US team. The Peacock would be generating more buzz if they were going to win.
  • We got a final video before the top six skated, then a lot of stats from Andrea Joyce—place your bets, folks!
  • Lipnitskaya went down again. Bezic quote: “She casts a spell”.
  • Kostner skated clean. Hamilton quote: “She makes the ice look very small when she’s on it”.
  • Sotnikova mostly skated clean. Hamilton: “She's like a cash register—she keeps ringing it up”. Again with the rhythmic clapping from the audience…
  • Gracie Gold goes down. Bezic: “...classic style that doesn’t need adornment”. No gold for Gold.
  • Wagner skated clean. Hamilton: “She is just PERFORMING!”
  • Kim skated clean. Bezic: “A performance for the ages!”
  • …and the winner is—Sotnikova!! Proving that complexity beats artistry.
  • Prime time finishes up with a multi-minute ad for “The Voice”. Huh?

Onto Friday’s coverage…

  • Could they make the Biathlon Relay more complicated? 4 skiers per team, each skis 3 laps, you get 5 bullets in the magazine for 5 targets in prone and standing positions, but you get three more bullets that must be hand loaded, except on a Tuesday at night, aces are wild, no backsies…
  • In prime time, Costas goes off on Putin’s rule in an editorial—I guess we’re close enough to the finish line that NBC feels safe in attacking their hosts.
  • A phrase we’ve gotten sick of, referring to the lousy weather conditions—“sugary snow”.
  • Hey Johnny Weir—did you get that bow tie from the Soupy Sales collection?
  • NBC spent about 30 minutes hyping Mikaela Shiffrin’s second slalom skiing run—we heard “Mikaela's run coming up” over and over. Do you think she won?  Hmmm….

More to come.