Maybe Sasha Cohen and Chad Hedrick can make a movie together. Remember that movie “The Cutting Edge” about a hockey player and a figure skater who pair up for the Olympics? Maybe Sasha and Chad could do a remake? Except this time it would be a speed skater and a figure skater.

Sasha served as a special correspondent for “Inside Edition” at the Academy Awards and the after parties. At one of the parties Ben Stiller approached her about a cameo role in an upcoming film. So, maybe my dream of a Hedrick/Cohen film isn’t so far off.

Well, as those of you who have been around for a while may remember, I watched American Idol, instead of the Olympics. Now I’m blogging about American Idol. So, head on over to read updates, commentary, and any interesting tidbits I come across.

After winning a few more speedskating titles at the World Cup, Chad Hedrick announced that after the meet in Calgary towards the end of the month, he will take 6 months off to concentrate on pursuing his acting career. At least he’s going to take some lessons. If I were in his situation, and I had an interest in acting, this would probably be an avenue I would pursue. After all, you can’t skate forever. So, what are you going to do next?

To keep up with Chad Hedrick and other Olympic stars in the “off season”, check out our positive sports blog.

I’m quoted about this blog on the front page of today’s Washington Post in an article about “Blog Buzz”. I think it’s a decent article. It’s kind of funny to be referred to as a “sports fanatic”, and my family laughed long and hard about that, as I’m very far from fanatical about sports. I enjoyed this blogging experience, but it wasn’t because I’m an Olympics fanatic.

My only other beef was the continuing Olympic bashing. I hate to be included as a part of the portrayal that no one was interested in this year’s Olympics, but at least I’m not quoted as saying anything along those lines. Anyway, the article is available on the Washington Post’s site today or in print.

Germany (29) 11 gold, 12 silver, 6 bronze (biathlon, Nordic combined, luge, speedskating, cross country, bobsled, snowboarding)
USA (25) 9 gold, 9 silver, 7 bronze (snowboard, speed skating, downhill, freestyle, short track, ice dancing, hockey, bobsled, figure skating, curling)
Canada (24) 7 gold, 10 silver, 7 bronze (freestyle, speed skating, x country, short track, figure skating, skeleton, snowboard, bobsled, hockey, curling)
Austria (23) 9 gold, 7 silver, 7 bronze (downhill, Nordic combined, luge, ski jumping, snowboard, xcountry)
Russia (22) 8 gold, 6 silver, 8 bronze (biathlon, xcountry, figure skating, luge, speed skating, ice dancing, freestly skiing, downhill, bobsled)
Norway (19) 2 gold, 8 silver, 9 bronze (biathlon, xcountry, freestyle, nordic combined, ski jumping, snowboarding, downhill)
Sweden (14) 7 gold, 2 Sivler, 5 bronze (xcountry, downhill, biathlon, hockey, snowboard, curling)
Switzerland (14) 4 gold, 4 silver, 5 bronze (downhill, figure skating, skeleton, snowboard, bobsled, cross country, freestyle, curling)
South Korea(11) 6 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze (short track, speed skating)
Italy (11) 5 gold, 6 bronze (xcountry, luge, speed skating, bobsled)
China (11) 2 gold, 4 silver, 5 bronze (figure skating, short track, speed skating, freestyle)
France (9) 3 gold, 2 silver, 4 bronze (downhill, freestyle, biathlon, snowboarding, xcountry)
Netherlands (9) 3 gold, 2 silver, 4 bronze (speed skating)
Finland (9) 6 silver, 3 bronze (ski jumping, snowboarding, x country, freestyle, nordic combined, downhill, curling, hockey)
Estonia (3) 3 gold (xcountry)
Czech Republic (3) 1 gold, 2 silver (x country)
Croatia (2) 1 gold, 1 silver (downhill)
Australia (2) 1 gold (freestyle)
Poland (2) 1 silver, 1 bronze (xcountry, biathlon)
Ukraine (2) 2 bronze (biathlon, ice dancing)
Japan (1) 1 gold (figure skating)
Belarus (1) 1 silver (freestly skiing)
Bulgaria (1) 1 silver (short track)
Great Britain (1) 1 silver (skeleton)
Slovakia (1) 1 silver (snowboarding)
Latvia(1) 1 bronze (luge)

It seems that many of you who watched the opening ceremonies opted out of the closing ceremonies? Is that a matter of battle fatigue or lack of interest?

Will you be watching the closing ceremonies tomorrow night?
Yes: 55% (93)
No: 27% (46)
Maybe: 18% (31)
Total Votes : 170

What were your thoughts? Favorite moments?

Believe it or not, there are still some medal rounds tomorrow– one last cross country race and, of course, the hockey clash for gold.

I’ll be posting for about another week, then winding things up, barring any major late breaking scandals or some athlete telling off Bob Costas. Of course, I’ll be giving my views on the closing ceremonies, and there will be a poll up, so you can weigh in with your favorite part of the closing.

I just wanted to say thank you to all of you who have read, commented, questioned and generally made this an enjoyable experience. In case you’re wondering, I will be back for the Beijing Olympics and, then, for Vancouver. We may actually try to make it to those live. We’ve already purchased domains for the winter and summer Olympics, but there’s nothing up yet. Probably in the next week, or so. There’s already early news about both those Olympics available. So, if you’ve enjoyed reading and visiting about the Olympics, make sure to check those sites and bookmark them for your next Olympic viewing pleasure.

Thanks, again and see you soon!

Germany (29) 11 gold, 12 silver, 6 bronze (biathlon, Nordic combined, luge, speedskating, cross country, bobsled, snowboarding)
USA (25) 9 gold, 9 silver, 7 bronze (snowboard, speed skating, downhill, freestyle, short track, ice dancing, hockey, bobsled, figure skating, curling)
Canada (24) 7 gold, 10 silver, 7 bronze (freestyle, speed skating, x country, short track, figure skating, skeleton, snowboard, bobsled, hockey, curling)
Austria (22) 9 gold, 7 silver, 6 bronze (downhill, Nordic combined, luge, ski jumping, snowboard)
Russia (21) 8 gold, 5 silver, 8 bronze (biathlon, xcountry, figure skating, luge, speed skating, ice dancing, freestly skiing, downhill, bobsled)
Norway (19) 2 gold, 8 silver, 9 bronze (biathlon, xcountry, freestyle, nordic combined, ski jumping, snowboarding, downhill)
Switzerland (14) 4 gold, 4 silver, 5 bronze (downhill, figure skating, skeleton, snowboard, bobsled, cross country, freestyle, curling)
Sweden (13) 6 gold, 2 Sivler, 5 bronze (xcountry, downhill, biathlon, hockey, snowboard, curling)
South Korea(11) 6 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze (short track, speed skating)
China (11) 2 gold, 4 silver, 5 bronze (figure skating, short track, speed skating, freestyle)
Italy (10) 4 gold, 6 bronze (xcountry, luge, speed skating, bobsled)
France (9) 3 gold, 2 silver, 4 bronze (downhill, freestyle, biathlon, snowboarding, xcountry)
Netherlands (9) 3 gold, 2 silver, 4 bronze (speed skating)
Finland (7) 5 silver, 3 bronze (ski jumping, snowboarding, x country, freestyle, nordic combined, downhill, curling)
Estonia (3) 3 gold (xcountry)
Czech Republic (3) 1 gold, 2 silver (x country)
Croatia (2) 1 gold, 1 silver (downhill)
Australia (2) 1 gold (freestyle)
Poland (2) 1 silver, 1 bronze (xcountry, biathlon)
Ukraine (2) 2 bronze (biathlon, ice dancing)
Japan (1) 1 gold (figure skating)
Belarus (1) 1 silver (freestly skiing)
Bulgaria (1) 1 silver (short track)
Great Britain (1) 1 silver (skeleton)
Slovakia (1) 1 silver (snowboarding)
Latvia(1) 1 bronze (luge)

Curling? Have you watched cross-country skiing? While cross-country skiing and figure skating (really?) both got into the double digits, curling was voted the most boring Olympic sport to watch. Well, at least we won a medal in it.

Not to be disrespectful BUT What is the most boring Olympic sport to watch?
Alpine skiing: 1% (5)
Biathlon: 6% (22)
Bobsled: 4% (14)
Cross-country skiing: 17% (58)
Curling: 32% (112)
Figure skating: 13% (46)
Freestyle skiing: 1% (4)
Ice hockey: 5% (19)
Luge: 2% (7)
Nordic combined: 4% (13)
Short track: 1% (4)
Skeleton: 3% (10)
Ski jumping: 2% (7)
Snowboarding: 4% (13)
Speed skating: 3% (12)
Total Votes : 346

Well, it’s a good thing Bode didn’t care about medals because today’s elimination meant the end of his Olympic experience– at least for this year. Will Bode be back in 2010? I just can’t even begin to guess what Bode will do. The fun of watching Bode ski, though, in my opinion is that you just never know what will happen. Will he win gold? Will he make it to bottom of the hill? Will he ski into a tree? Will he come hurtling down the hill in a giant snowball, arms and legs all akimbo, ala the cartoons? One just never knows.

Bode wasn’t the only one who had a rough day skiing today in the men’s slalom. 9 out of 29 of today’s contestants were eliminated for straddling a gate or skiing off course. In the end, it was the Austrians’ day to shine– again.

Gold Benjamin Raich Austria
Silver Reinfried Herbst Austria
Bronze Rainer Schoenfelder Austria

A busy day in short track. Apolo managed to skate two races and win two medals, one gold and one bronze. Way to go, Apolo! South Korea, as usual, had a very strong showing.

Men’s 5000m relay

Gold South Korea
Silver Canada
Bronze USA

Men’s 500m

Gold Apolo Anton Ohno United States
Silver Francois-Louis Tremblay Canada
Bronze Hyun-Soo Ahn South Korea

Women’s 1000m

Gold Sun-Yu Jin South Korea
Silver Meng Wang China
Bronze Yang Yang (A) China

Tonight they ran a “special” on the news about how disappointing this year’s Olympic team is. They hit the points I could agree with (childish behavior on the part of some), but then went on to talk about how they were supposed to be such big winners but had fallen so short.

Well, the last time I looked, the U.S. was in second place in the medal count. Sure, there were some medals they “should” have won, but there were some medals they won that they weren’t supposed to win. So, I think it pretty much evens out.

They talked about how brave Sasha Cohen was to come back from her falls early in her program to win silver, but turned right around and said how disappointed the crowd was that she hadn’t won gold (the crowd, or the media?)

I am sick, sick, sick of this attitude about these kids– and that’s what many of them are. Kids in their teens or just barely out. And if any dare to say it’s not about the medals, it’s about having a good time. Woe to them. The media will eat them alive.

I absolutely wish that the U.S. team, as a whole, had exhibited more national pride and “team” attitude. But when the crowds back home (or at least the media representation of the crowd back home) is so critical, I guess we shouldn’t be surprised when athletes don’t give a thought to representing the United States and focus, instead, on endorsements to come at the end of it all.

Okay, that’s my rant for today. I feel a little bit like Andy Rooney.

The United States has chosen gold medal winning speedskater Joey Cheek to carry the national flag in the Olympic closing ceremonies this weekend. As you know, we just adore Joey, who has displayed a real humanity and grace in this Olympics, donating the money he received for his medals to charity. I am proud to have him represent the United States in this way. In an interview, he sounded like this would be really meaningful to him, so I’m glad he’ll have this opportunity.

Well, he may not be thrilled with the results, but Chad Hedrick will be going home with a full collection of medals– gold, silver, and bronze. In today’s 10000m, he won silver, finishing almost 4 seconds behind Bob De Jong of the Netherlands. De Jong was joined on the podium by countryman Carl Verheijen.

So, the “loudmouthed Texan” lives up to the hype somewhat. I mean, three medals is three medals. It’s not a record, but it’s still pretty good. I wonder if he’ll be back in Vancouver, or if he’s done with speed skating.