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Sports

2006 Winter Olympics not too bad

Stat Boy

Jong Lee

Bode Miller, Michelle Kwan, Shaun White and Apolo Anton Ohno were probably the only four names I knew going into the 20th Winter Olympics in Torino (Turin). Bode Miller was favored to capture at least three gold medals, Michelle Kwan was going to compete even though her injured groin was still bothering her, Shaun White is arguably the best half pipe boarder in the States and Apolo Anton Ohno was prepared to meet rival South Korean Ahn Hyun-Soo.

If it wasnít for Bode Miller commenting that he sometimes skies drunk, I probably wouldnít know who this clown was. From all the hype and arrogance came failure and embarrassment. Miller should have brought home at least a couple of medals, but didnít even win a bronze ??ñ how pathetic. After his first couple of tries, he told the media that he wasnít disappointed and he had no regrets. Are you kidding me? You were supposed to be the favorite in almost every single event that youíve skied in, and you come up with nothing? Come on, Bode, give us another reason to hate you even more. I feel like he leaves a bitter taste in the mouths of people all over the world and gives everyone another reason to hate Americans.

Speaking of arrogance, how about Lindsey Jacobellis? She had a 50-yard lead in the Ladies Snowboard Cross and on her final jump decided to put in something a little extra. She threw a back-side method and held on too long, a rookie mistake. As she tried to recover, Tanja Frieden of Sweden passed her up and took the gold.

It was sad to hear Michelle Kwan wouldnít compete in the Olympics. Iím not a figure-skating fan by any stretch of the imagination, but I would have loved to see Kwan go for gold. It was just a disappointment to see her limp back to the United States.

The only reason I knew of Shaun White before the Olympics was because he got Punkíd by Ashton Kutcher and Co. Mostly known for the X-Games, Whiteís performance on the half pipe was amazing, to say the least. His first run on the half pipe gave him 46.8 points out of 50, and was not met by any of the rest of the competitors, which ensured him of gold before his final run.

The most compelling story of the Olympics was the feud between United Statesí own Chad Hedrick and Shani Davis. Davis decided not to participate in the Menís Team Pursuit and was grilled by Hedrick. The Houstonian thought Davis could help ìTeam USAî capture gold, but all of us know Hedrick wanted another gold medal. Both Davis and Hedrick had the same interest, and that was winning gold, not for the United States, but for themselves. They just went about it in different ways.

Their rivalry took away from Joey Cheek, who had silently put in a great performance. He took home the gold in the Menís 1000m and silver in the 1500m speed skating. Ohno had a little difficulty with Ahn Hyun-Soo, but managed to take away two medals, a gold in the Menís 500m and bronze in the 5000m Relay. The hated rivalry is mostly media-fabricated, and Ohno actually said they talked. Itís good to see a healthy rivalry, rather than a feud.

Overall the Winter Olympics were more enjoyable to watch than not. I learned more about the lesser athletes like Sasha Cohen, Chad Hedrick and Joey Cheek. The beautiful closing ceremony brought a closure onto a surprisingly joyous 20th Winter Olympics.

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