February 2006 Archives

9:25pm - One hour and twenty-five minutes into the "Dancing With The Stars" GRAND finale (not to be confused with last Thursday night's regular finale) and I'm longing for closure.  I have that feeling the only reason I'm watching is because I don't want to miss out on what people (like ME) will be saying about it on Monday.  Its not the first time I've been placed in this situation by a reality show...

You want to believe that, in the end, it won't be a popularity contest that decides this, but that's wishful thinking.

I can surmise that a ton of football fans watch 'DWTS': how else does one explain Jerry Rice outlasting Stacy Keibler?

Quick notes:

(Reporting from Torino)

Teddy Roosevelt said, "Speak softly but carry a big stick." US figure skater, Sasha Cohen, had no choice about speaking softly...she was our clean-cut favorite, no drama, no extra hype.  Emily Hughes immediately assumed the Cinderella story and the whole 'possible family repeat' story line; Kimmie Meissner already owned the 'long shot' slot. 

So, everybody had the highest hopes for Sasha, but nobody 'talked' about her. Boring in a way.

Not anymore...after an outstanding skate, she is three one hundreths of a point ahead of second place Russian skater Irina Slutskaya heading into Thursday's long program finale.  Way to go Sasha...she is now carrying a big stick and the showdown all the serious figure skaters wanted, has arrived.

(Reporting from Torino)

I am in my hotel, having breakfast and all of a sudden, Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" came over the in-house PA system and the chatter erupted.  You see last night, Whitney came to Torino for a scheduled performance. The best part of it is, she kept her appointment and took to the stage as planned. The bad part is the rest.

She forbid all media to roll cameras on the performance, including the official broadcast.  Thus, there is no evidence lying around anywhere.  But I went table to table to hear what people had to report:

(Reporting from Torino)

I am sitting inside the Torino Esposizioni, where team USA and Slovakia are slugging it out in hockey.  Given the hustle required to get the job done over here, there's not a lot of time to fraternize. 

But, it's Saturday night, I have a large brew and one at the ready for this game.  The nationalism is ablaze, for both countries.  There are guys draped in flags, sporting ridiculous hats, faces painted. Oddly enough there are cheerleaders in the aisles...that is a first for me, a long time hockey player.  The Slovak fans are passionate and loud, reveling in the fact that they are on par with America in talent.  The game is locked at 0-0, my friend Jeff Kimbell is with me, and we are on edge as the tension in here is loud and raucous...best part, the arena is really small so everything is magnified.

This morning I went roller-skating at a small, outdoor rink just outside of Torino.

The end.

I kid.  Olympic Gold medalist in the 5000m race, Chad Hedrick and I did a shoot getting back to his roots.  He grew up in a roller rink owned by his dad.  He was the guy who would "shoot the duck" with such bravado, he'd then have his pick of the litter for the couples skate...to Phil Collins, oh yeah.

Riding back to my hotel, the frantic call comes from our AH Bureau in the IBC (International Broadcast Center)..."Emily Hughes is in the building. Just did a 2-way remote with Katie (Couric)...can you get here?"

You've got to love the rowdy snowboard team...we've had fun ribbing halfpipe gold medalist Shaun White over his prime time announced crush on skater, Sasha Cohen. 

Today, I went shopping with women's halfpipe silver medalist, Gretchen Bleiler.  First of all, if there's a cuter athlete to have ever competed, I haven't seen her yet.  And secondly, she tore into a particular women's clothing store and went nuts.  She bought two pairs of shoes and a handbag in the time it took me to go to the bathroom.  One pair of shoes was so hot, I bought a pair for my wife.