It’s sturm-und-drang time in figure skating at the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, not that there hasn’t already been enough drama with the flameouts, the dark horses, the falls, the wardrobe malfunctions – and Tara and Johnny’s excellent “Will and Grace” adventure.
But tonight begins what for many figure skating fans – and, indeed, Olympic viewers – is the glamour event of the Games, the ladies’ championship. ...
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When we were casting about for a cover for February WAG, American Olympic skier Mikaela Shiffrin seemed like a natural. Wine & Dine columnist Doug Paulding, an avid skier, had seen Shiffrin – the best slalom skier in the world – in action at Killington in Vermont on Thanksgiving weekend and agreed with the experts he talked to: This was her moment.
She delivered in the giant slalom – an event she has wrestled with – with an aggressive, technically proficient, come-from-behind victory that is a testament to her talent, discipline and hard work.
But then she failed to medal in her best event, the slalom. Illness, nerves, a combination of both? ...
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When you title a blog post, you’re supposed to make it as specific as possible – unlike necessarily a print headline – to draw attention to it. But I figure few titles are more intriguing than “the greatest.” Who is “the greatest”? The title is associated with Muhammad Ali, but really fans in every sport like to argue over who is the GOAT (greatest of all time) in their discipline.
You could say Michael Phelps is the greatest swimmer of all time and the greatest Olympian of all time with 28 medals, 23 gold – six of them (five gold, one silver) in Rio alone. You could say the New York Yankees are the greatest baseball team of all time with 18 division titles, 40 American League pennants and 27 World Series titles. Both Phelps and the Yankees are so far ahead of their competitors that it’s hard to imagine anyone catching up. ...
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The triumph of Meryl Davis and Charlie White of the United States over Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada in the Olympic ice dancing competition marks the latest and perhaps last chapter in one of the best rivalries in sports.
Rivalry has gotten a bad rap. Cain and Abel, for starters. And who can forget Tonya and Nancy? Certainly not NBC, which has a Mary Carillo documentary airing later during the Olympics as we recall the 20th anniversary of Nancy’s knee-whacking at the hands of Tonya cohorts.
But true rivals can be friends, intimates – and in my just-released novel, “Water Music,” even lovers – as long as they respect each other and leave the competition on the field of “battle.” As my rivals discover, that’s easier said than done.
But it can be done. Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris were true rivals. During the glorious summer of 1961, they chased Babe Ruth’s single season home run record – while sharing an apartment. (They even shopped and barbecued together.)
Davis and White and Virtue and Moir are rivals in that tradition. Read More
Read MoreCan I pick ’em or can I pick ’em?
Four years ago, I picked Evan Lysacek to win gold in men’s figure skating in Vancouver, and he did. The moment the new team competition began in Sochi, I knew that Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan would win the men’s gold. He just had the right combination of athleticism and artistry, focus and looseness – even if his free skate was less impressive than his short program.
Still, he was clutch while Patrick Chan of Canada, the three-time world champion, never seemed to lose his deer-caught-in-the-headlights quality. Just as some people seem to inspire confidence, others make you wonder why they can’t consistently come through when it’s all on the line. As NBC commentators Scott Hamilton and Sandra Bezic noted, Hanyu’s flawed free skate left the door open, and yet, Chan failed to walk through. Read more
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Is there any sport with more drama than figure skating? The men’s short program Thursday may not have been Tonya and Nancy – What is? – but it was emotion-packed. First, Evgeni Plushenko withdrew and then retired. You could see the pain etched on his face as he tried his jumps. I haven’t been his biggest fan, because of the arrogance and defiance he brought to his silver-medal finish at Vancouver, but you’ve got to give the guy credit for leading the Russians to gold in the team competition. He’s a gamer. Still, at 31 and with two back surgeries behind him, Evgeni represents the past.
Right after Plushenko withdrew, the unsteady American Jeremy Abbott crashed on a quadruple jump, but had the presence to get up and finish, the crowd supporting him all the way.
But then came a group of young men with charm, personality and the technical goods… Read more
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Johnny Weir – the famously out skater turned NBC commentator – told us at WAG magazine that he would pull no punches in anti-gay Russia. But leave it to the flamboyant fashionisto to make a statement with gold pearls and a white ensemble and blush and lipstick. Perhaps that’s why he and gold medalist Tara Lipinski are relegated to commentating on NBCSN instead of on NBC itself. Maybe the Peacock Network thinks they’re not ready for conservative prime time – though there are many in the blogosphere who’d rather listen to the free-wheeling Weir and Lipinski than the more staid Scott Hamilton, Andrea Joyce and Sandra Bezic.
In other fashion news, The New York Times had a fun story on skiers’ pronounced derrières that readers took way too seriously. Read more
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