Wednesday, July 08, 2009

Want more Olympic sports? Just don't call 'em that.

Wouldn't it be great to see Olympic sports more than once every four years? Wouldn't it be nice to scout badminton players and marathoners, speed skaters and ski jumpers -- to enjoy their craft all year long?

The USOC and Comcast agree with you, and they decided to launch a TV network devoted to Olympic and Paralympic Games. Billed as a way access thousands of hours of programming, "The channel is slated to launch next year, to cover Olympics sports that don’t get the coverage in mainstream sports channels, and focus on U.S. athletes working to compete in the biggest sports competition."

Rather than focus on the benefits to global sport, the IOC focused on its trademark and rebuked the channel because of the word "Olympics." That, and they don't want to jeopardize the plush NBC contract.

Fingers crossed for cooler heads and availability in 2010.

Via PaidContent.org

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Vancouver Gets Ready for Prime Time

With a major international event comes international scrutiny.

So, the Vancouver Star asks a very important question: does the torch look like a joint? Organizers are downplaying the resemblance, but the fact is it will be passed by 12,000 people over 45,000 kilometres.

Meanwhile, the *ahem* ladies of the night are getting media training to field questions about local laws.

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Dancing Indoors

Those headed to Vancouver for the games won't have to wear a coat every day.

The Vancouver Sun reports that "the 2010 Winter Olympics opening and closing ceremonies will be indoors for the first time in the history of the Olympics." Convenient, sure, but I was hoping to see real-time igloo building and snowmen as part of the ceremonies.

And, if you happen to be in the area, you too can get in on the fun. The Vanoc committee is still looking for volunteer performers, provided you pass the audition and can spend hundreds of hours in rehearsal. You have until May 1 to submit your information online. Good luck to all you tiny (indoor) dancers.

Friday, November 14, 2008

New Events for 2016

We all knew during the Beijing games that it was the last year for baseball and softball. But, what takes its place?

On Nov. 14, seven sports (events?) made their case for the 2016 Olympics, incuding rugby, baseball, softball, golf (!?), karate, roller sports and squash.

We won't know for a year, but which ones do you like? I'm in favor of rugby and the ambiguous "roller sports." Because the first is awesome to watch and the second means the U.S. can probably win some gold.

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Olympians in Chicago

Team USA and NBA stars Dwyane Wade, Carmello Anthony, Chris Paul and Kobe Bryant. Kobe gave us a wave right before this picture. I'm not sure why Paul is staring me down.

You'll have to trust me here, but these are members of the USA gymnastics team. You might be able to tell that Nastia Liukin is in the back, wearing white.


Here comes Michael Phelps (and, of course, his mother... do you think she has to get a substitute principal when she misses school?). From what I could tell, Phelps was the only athlete who showed up separately from the rest of the group.

Hey Michael, you're tall. Embrace it. Stop slouching.

Part of the Phelps entourage exits the area. I'm guessing Oprah put together that escort.

Redeem Team member Carlos Boozer, with two members of the gold medal-winning women's basketball team.

I came, I saw, I took blurry pictures

As you may have heard, Oprah's season premiere episode will feature 150 Olympic medalists and help promote Chicago for the 2016 Olympics. The show will air next Monday (September 8), but they are taping it in Millennium Park this morning, right across from my office. Since I have to work, I didn't get tickets, but I did stop by this morning to check out the scene. I'll post some pictures later, but here were my impressions.

-It certainly seems that Chicago loves the Olympics (or at least loves Oprah). The line at 8:00 a.m. stretched as far as the eye could see. I walked past at least 5 blocks of people waiting in line down Michigan Avenue... and these were just the people waiting to get lawn seats. That doesn't account for the additional 2,000 people who waited in long lines last Saturday to get pavilion seats.

-Perhaps I was being naive, but I kind of thought I would be able to walk through the park and at least get a look at the stage. That was not the case. They had that place locked up tight, with police barricades stretching the length of the park on all sides and lots of police (not to mention Oprah's security folks, who dress like secret service and talk into their sleeves). I quickly realized I would have to get creative if I wanted my visit to be worthwhile. I saw a group of folks with blue wristbands (different than those given to the people in line), so I decided to see where they were headed. I followed them around to a back door, which was by the press entrance. There were tons of press lined up, so I figured that this is where the athletes were arriving. There were remarkably few "civilians" back there (probably scared off by the cops), so I shimmied right up the barricade.

-The first athletes I spotted were Chris Bosh and Tayshaun Prince, sporting gold medals and Team USA warm-ups. They were actually inside already. Rumor was that everyone on the Redeem Team was able to make it except LeBron. I guess Oprah has some pull. I came to find out that most of the athletes arrived about 10 minutes before I got there aboard double decker buses (wish I had seen that), but the star of the show was yet to arrive: Michael Phelps was still on his way.

-Next up was the women's gymnastics team, led by Nastia Liukin. I didn't see Shawn Johnson, but it looked like the rest of them were there. Of course, it was hard to see from my vantage point because all the girls were shorter than the railing... which was a stark contrast to the men's and women's hoops players.

-Other Olympians I saw: Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, Carmello Anthony, Chris Paul, Jason Kidd, Dwight Howard, Carlos Boozer, Candace Parker, Lisa Leslie, a couple other members of the women's basketball team (sorry ladies!), a couple guys who I am pretty sure were swimmers, and a few indoor volleyball players.

-For the Mizzou fans in the crowd, I'm also pretty sure I spotted Ben Askren. The hair and the chin are, of course, pretty distinctive. The only thing that gave me pause was the fact that Ben didn't actually win a medal (he'll get'em in London, though... just you wait). I yelled out an "M-I-Z" but got no response. Either he didn't hear me or it wasn't him.

-Now, the moment you've all been waiting for: Yes, I saw him. Michael Phelps was the last athlete to arrive, along with his mother and his sisters. Now, I'm not going to say he's a prima dona, but his entourage seemed a bit excessive. When three black Escalades and two unmarked police cars pulled up, the folks around me started to speculate that perhaps Barack Obama was showing up... or (GASP) it was finally Oprah!!!!! I was intrigued by the possibility of Obama, but couldn't care less about Oprah, so I was happy to see it was Phelps. He took a reasonable amount of time with the media before heading up to the staging area. But if you need to know how famous Phelps is, here's an example: As he was working his way down media row, two double decker buses and a trolley filled with the Olympians' families arrived. These people are all related in some way or another to Olympic medalists... and some of them were practically falling off the bus trying to get a shot of Phelps. I managed to get a pretty good one, which I hope to post later.

-After Phelps, I had to get going (sorry ladies, no Oprah photos here), but I could tell she was coming because the media was all still in place. All in all, an interesting morning. It's not very often you see that many world class athletes in one place. It's also the closest I've ever been to an Olympic gold medal (that is, until Lee wins gold in the Modern Pentathlon).

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Final Results

All the calculations are finished and we have our winners:

Gold: Fans of Gro Hammerseng (Ed/Will) from the Jenny Thompson Division

Silver: The Minstrel Winos (Julie) from the Jesse Owens Division

Bronze: Bristol Olympics (Peter) from the Mary Lou Retton Division

It's also worth giving some recognition to Jim's Dino-Crushers (Jim) who won the Jim Thorpe Division and just missed out on the overall bronze thanks to the tie-breakers. All four of these teams featured Michael Phelps, but three divisions were won by non-Phelps teams:

Tamara Willit Hurt (Leslie) won the Carl Lewis Division.

The Torch Bearer (Christy) won the Matt Biondi Division.

Uncle Sam's Chariot of Fire (Jeremy) won the Mark Spitz Division.

Now, on to some other awards:

Non-Phelps Gold Medal: Tamara Willit Hurt (Leslie), who racked up 47 points without Phelps. Leslie would have won in four different divisions... and not just because she is the Commissioner's wife.

Worst Score with Phelps: Panda-monium (Virginia & Caroline), who scored just 35 points despite having 24 from Phelps.

Dark Cloud Memorial Certificate of Participation: Cool Runnings (Charis), who scored just 4 points and finished last. You'll get'em next time, Charis.

Most Ironic Name: Mao Tse Bronze (Shawn), who lived up to his name by finishing with - you guessed it - the bronze in the Mark Spitz Division.

Biggest Draft Steal: Shiffer Brains (Brian), who got 8 points from Matt Grevers, who he drafted in the 12th round.

Biggest Draft Bust: Cool Runnings (Charis), who missed the news about Morgan Hamm's injury and picked him in the first round... and never cut him.

Best Team Name: Beijing Saddles (Jason) from the Jenny Thompson Division.

Highest Scoring Division: Jenny Thompson Division with 239 points (we had to throw out the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Division, which had 8 people, and the Jim Thorpe Division, which had Australian athletes).

Lowest Scoring Division: Carl Lewis Division and Mark Spitz Division (tie) with 206 points each.

Final Standings:
1 Fans of Gro Hammerseng Ed 59
2 The Minstrel Winos Julie 57
3 Bristol Olympics Peter 55
4 Jim's Dino-Crushers Jim 55
5 Cubicle Farm Medalists Kat 52
6 Team TBD Gavin 52
7 Girls Rule, Boys Drool Courtney, Channing, Campbell 49
8 Tamara Willit Hurt Leslie C. 47
9 The Torch Bearer Christy 46
10 North of the 49th Parallel Roel 44
11 Hellooo Olympian! Dan 43
12 Rough Riders Zeb 42
13 Shiffer Brains Brian 41
14 Uncle Sam's Chariot of Fire Jeremy 40
15 Team (Your Company's Name Here) Lea D. 40
16 Jersey Sea Turtles Lauren 39
17 Beijing Saddles Jason 39
18 Team TBD Megan 38
19 The Fighting Irish Sara 37
20 Baylor Beijing Ballas Brandon 37
21 Hollywood's Heroes Mike 37
22 2Gym=1Swim A.J. 37
23 Two Hookers and a 41-year-old Mom AOL Sports 36
24 Phelps' Body Double Bryan 36
25 Big Momma Melissa 36
26 Team TBD Robby 36
27 REDSTORM Daniel 36
28 Panda-monium Virginia and Carolyn 35
29 WeGotGuns! Scott 34
30 The Gold Diggers Dustin and Gretchen 34
31 Team TBD Weston 34
32 Team TBD Tom C. 33
33 Orangeblooded Mike 32
34 Mao Tse Bronze Shawn 32
35 America's Red Army Shawn R. 31
36 Team TBD Steve 30
37 DrewsCrew Jim 30
38 Thunderball Marc 30
39 The Orioles Conor 29
40 Puscifer Laura 29
41 Destinee's Hookers Cameron 29
42 Team TBD Joel 29
43 Gang Green Joe 29
44 H.I.P.P.O.S Maria S. 28
45 Bling-Bling Travis 28
46 Team TBD Eric 28
47 Team TBD Benjamin 28
48 Team TBD Clay 28
49 The Drunken Sailors Helen 28
50 The Fighting Song Matt K. 28
51 The U.S. of France Andrew 27
52 Team TBD David 27
53 Chicago 2016 Tom G. 27
54 The Riptides Maeve 27
55 Agent XXIX Brandi 27
56 Dim Sum of This Lauren 26
57 People's Republic of Boozin Susan, Patrick, Erica and Paul 25
58 Summer Surge Wilson 25
59 USA Rocks the Olympics Isaac 24
60 Redeem Team Derek 23
61 THE Cinderella Story Stephanie S. 23
62 Aces Hadra 22
63 Run Like You Stole Something Wagner 22
64 Team Ryder Leslie 21
65 Marion Jones Steroid Puddle Scott 21
66 an yun Lee D. 20
67 USA RULES Dennis 18
68 The Hoyas Dave 18
69 FatGuyWins Cory 17
70 Oerter Team Steve S. 17
71 Cool Runnings Charis 4

The Future

With the 2008 Summer Games at an end, we would like to thank all of you for making Fantasy Olympics a huge success. We’re crunching the numbers right now and will have the official results posted later today.

Some of you have asked whether we will be back in 2010. Our goal is to be back bigger and better than ever. We are working to develop partnerships that will allow us to provide additional content and better draft analysis. We will still approach the Games with the same friendly, all-inclusive attitude that you’ve come to expect from the birthplace of Fantasy Olympics, but with access to more news and analysis for the true Olympic junkies.

We expect to have even more participants in 2010. To that end, we are working to develop a more user friendly website. We value the opinions of the Fantasy Olympics community, so we encourage you to contact us at fantasyolympics@hotmail.com if you have any recommendations for the 2010 Games.

We would like to thank everyone again for being a part of this year’s Fantasy Olympics. We never anticipated that so many people would be interested, and it has been fun to see the idea grow. We hope everyone had a good time and will join us again in 2010!

Friday, August 22, 2008

Down to the wire

With just a couple days left in this year's Summer Games, things are coming down to the wire here at Fantasy Olympics. Through Day 13, Fans of Gro Hammerseng (Ed/Will) has a commanding five-point lead over all competitors for the overall title. Thanks to bronze medals from Jill Kintner and Steven Lopez, it looks like Will and Ed will finish with 59 points overall. Is that enough?

The Minstrel Winos (Julie), currently in second place, could end up with 60 points if Bernard Lagat gets gold in the 5000m and Team USA wins the 4 x 400. An overall title is within reach... if you trust the USA track team.

Bristol Olympics (Peter), Cubicle Farm Medalists (Kat), and Jim's Dino-Crushers (Jim) are all tied for third right now with 52 points, but barring a big surprise, none of them look to have enough firepower to catch the leaders. If they remain tied, Kat and Peter both have China as the tiebreaker. If that happens, we (unlike the international gymnastics federation) would call it a tie.

Most of the division titles have been locked up, but there are four divisions worth keeping an eye on. In all four, the team holding Phelps is on the ropes:
-In the Carl Lewis Division, Tamara Willit Hurt (Leslie) is 3 points away from a shocking upset. Leslie can get those points in either the men's or women's 4 x 400 relay.
-In the Mark Spitz Division, Uncle Sam's Chariot of Fire (Jeremy) will win with ease, despite not having Phelps.
-In the Matt Biondi Division, Shiffer Brains (Brian) will knock off the favorite if Bernard Lagat can win the 5000m on Saturday. The Torch Bearer (Christy) also has an outside shot at the upset.
-In the Shannon Miller Division, it all comes down to the 4 x 400 relay. North of the 49th Parallel (Roel) needs a gold or silver from LaShawn Merritt in that event to avoid the upset at the hands of Jersey Sea Turtles (Lauren).

Plenty of action left! And some of you thought it was impossible to beat a team with Phelps.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Judgment Day

Today (Thursday) could be a judgment day of sorts in many divisions, with lots of key medals being handed out. As I type this, Walsh/May-Treanor have just won the gold. Here's what else is on deck throughout the day:

Medal events:
-Men's water polo, gold medal match (USA v. Netherlands), 6:20 a.m. EST
-Softball, gold medal final (USA v. Japan), 6:30 a.m. EST
-Women's 57kg taekwondo final (likely featuring Diana Lopez), 7:15 a.m. EST
-Women's 200m final (headlined by Allison Felix), 7:30 a.m. EST
-Men's 68kg taekwondo final (likely featuring Mark Lopez), 7:45 a.m. EST
-Women's 10m platform final (featuring Laura Wilkinson), 8:00 a.m. EST
-Women's soccer, gold medal match (USA v. Brazil), 9:00 a.m. EST
-Men's 400m final (headlined by Jeremy Wariner and LaShawn Merritt), 9:20 a.m. EST
-Men's 110m hurdles final (featuring David Payne and David Oliver), 9:40 a.m. EST

Other big events:
-Women's volleyball, semifinal (USA v. Cuba), 12:35 a.m. EST
-Women's basketball, semifinal (USA v. Russia), 8:00 a.m. EST
-Decathlon events (headlined by Bryan Clay), all day

Of course, if the volleyball match was any indication, it looks like the weather might wreak havoc on the outdoor events. The BMX final scheduled for Thursday has already been postponed until Friday. As always, we'll wait until Thursday evening (in the U.S.) to post the results from all of today's events so we don't ruin it for anyone who only believes Olympic news when it comes from the lips of Bob Costas. If you refer to any results in the comments section, please label it as a spoiler.