Let’s go back to last night—
- With a minor delay post-Downhill, Tirico teases us with a minute of Women’s Hockey—US vs. Canada. “Check out NBCSN for more of the match!” Then a tease of Shiffrin. “See her in two hours during “Prime-Plus!” By this point, I can recite the Shiffrin promo from memory. C’mon Kabletown, get to actual events!
- Back to Pairs’ Figure Skating (again). The generic play-by-play guy actually matched Tara and Johnny’s color scheme (pink for Valentines Day). Somebody got a memo…
- Johnny Weir’s analogy of the day - “You want to feel like Snuggles the Bear landing in a laundry basket of towels”.
- After Shiffrin’s win in Prime-Plus (say that 3 times fast), we get to Snowboard Cross - as the commentator calls it, “NASCAR on Snow”. Try to get in front and avoid crashing. The story here is Lindsey Jacobellis—lost the gold twice in two QISE (once due to hubris, and another due to a fall). It’s all about redemption this time.
Onto today—
- As you would expect, much of the Today Show covered the (totally preventable) tragedy in Florida. About 40 minutes in, they started reviewing QISE activities, but it was all very subdued compared to previous shows.
- Oh, did you know that Pyeongchang doesn’t actually exist? Its actual name translates to Pyongchang (no “e”), and the QISE Committee was concerned it was too close to Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. To avoid potential political incidents, they changed the name to “PyeongChang”, with an “e” and a capital “C”. To make it even more confusing, most of the media is ignoring the second part of the QISE edict.
- By the way, its pronounced “Pyongchaung”, finishing like “ah” at the doctor, not Pyongchang, rhyming with “gang”.
- We have another QISE-troversy involving tech in athlete’s uniforms. Great Britain is using special “skin-suits” (sounds dirty) with ridges built in, which theoretically changes their aerodynamics. Regulations say “No aerodynamic elements whatsoever may be attached either outside or under the race suit.”, but the uniforms have been approved by the Federation involved. Cue the complaints!
- Fashion alert! Johnny Weir tonight is wearing what appears to be braided pumpernickel bread on his head.
- Primetime kicks off immediately with Women’s Slalom (sticks, no flags), with Mikaela Shiffrin running by 8:05 Eastern. I’m also watching the early competitors in Men’s Figure Skating Short Program and Men’s Skeleton via streaming.
- Tonight's Weir analogy: “A beautiful bird whose feathers are slowly falling out”.
- Tirico throws to a package on “The Attacking Vikings” - the nickname of the Norwegian alpine team. A great piece of marketing which takes us to Men’s Super G (inflexible sticks with large flags).
- Intel is still pushing the fiction in their commercials that they produced a record-breaking drone performance at the Opening Ceremonies. The event, while impressive, actually happened weeks in advance—it was on tape. It’s easier to do when the world isn’t watching.
More to come.