Building the Team: Men's Snowboarding

Previous in this series:

Ladies Figure Skating

As one of the most popular “action sports” in the United States, snowboarding boasts some the most recognizable athletes on the US team, including arguably the most famous athlete in the entire outfit. For this post, we’ll focus on the major questions surrounding the men’s hopefuls in the halfpipe and slopestyle events. Barring some unforeseen results, the United States will be able to qualify four competitors in both disciplines. The team will be determined through three qualifying events, which start in December at Colorado’s Copper Mountain Resort and culminate at Mammoth Mountain in January.

Can anybody beat Shaun White in the pipe?

This question really applies to the whole field, not just the American contingent. When he's dialed in, White is seemingly unstoppable within the walls of the pipe. The San Diego high flyer has won six straight X-Games golds in the SuperPipe and the last two Olympic halfpipe titles. He’s revolutionized the sport a couple times and is the most well known boarder who’s ever lived. The artist formally known as the “Flying Tomato” has pretty much carried the sport as a relevant entity since he was 16 years old, getting a mediocre video game named after him (couldn’t overcome the SSX series) and earning an endorsement deal with Target. I believe that makes him, the cute Target dog, Chip Ganassi race cars and everything in Minnesota as the only things sponsored by Target. Anyway, White has also come through in the much talked about “clutch” situations time and time again, although it’s common for him to “stomp” (that word needs to be utilized more) his first or second run en-route to a third run victory lap. White probably has the most famous victory lap of all-time too, his ridiculous Double McTwist 1260 punctuating a run he didn’t even need to win the gold medal in Vancouver. It’s not a question of who can beat White; it’s more about who can keep it competitive.

With all due respect to Japanese teen sensation Ayumu Hirano and Iouri Podladtchikov, the Swiss rider affectionately known as “I-Pod”, we’re focusing on the US team in this space. Those are two of a growing group of international shredders with White in their sights. However, we’re trying to determine the US team, so lets put those guys to the side for now.

I don’t really know what it’s like to live in someone’s shadow, but if I ever wanted to know, I’d ask Scotty Lago and Louie Vito. Those two names have occupied the other spots next to US flags on leaderboards through much of White’s reign of dominance. Both are very good, but neither has shown any propensity to beat White on a consistent basis.

Many Americans probably know Vito for his off-snow appearances more than anything he’s ever done in Breckenridge, Park City or Aspen. The Ohio native appeared on Dancing with the Stars just before the Olympics in 2010, finishing eighth, and appeared in ESPN’s much talked about Body Issue. But Vito’s no slouch on the hill, and as a two-time Dew Tour overall halfpipe champion, is clearly one of the best boarders in the world. Weirdly though, Vito’s come up a bit small in the contests with the most eyeballs focused on his sport.  Vito has only won one medal in US-based Winter X-Games  (a bronze in 07), and secured a fifth place finish in Vancouver. I don’t want to sound like I’m hating on Vito, but barring an explosion in technical improvement or White totally disregarding snowboarding to focus on his band, I don’t see him challenging El Tomato. He’ll definitely be in contention for a medal though. I also respect the fact that he, according to his bio, enjoys “just plain chilling”.  True that, Mr. Vito. True that.

Louie Vito will be a medal threat in Sochi

Unlike his American teammate, Lago has mounted an Olympic podium. The New Hampshire-bred rider took home the bronze in Vancouver and has generally been on or around the podium at most of the major events since. He’s also apart of the Frends Crew, a group of riders committed to returning snowboarding to its roots. Lago has been the most successful of the clan, nabbing couple of X-Games medals to go along with his Olympic bronze. He’s also been flying the flag for fallen Frend Kevin Pearce, who suffered life-threatening injuries in a training crash in the lead-up to the 2010 Olympics. Before his injury, Pearce had started to become White’s biggest challenge on the hill, controversially losing to the Californian in the 2009 X-Games final. An excellent documentary called “The Crash Reel” recently profiled Pearce’s struggles to recover from his injuries. I encourage anyone to check it out. Lago and rising Frends member Luke Mitrani are both candidates to fill spots on the US Team in Sochi, and will no doubt have Pearce in their thoughts as they compete this winter.

Other candidates to fill out the Sochi halfpipe squad include 2010 Olympian Greg Bretz, Taylor Gold, Benji Farrow and Brett Esser. Bretz has been steady since his appearance in Vancouver, but his spot is definitely up for grabs. Gold is the youngest American man with a realistic shot at a spot, although his sister (who we’ll discuss later) may be the best rider in the Gold family.

Prediction: White, Vito, Lago, Mitrani

Long story short, this team is White and everybody else unless something drastically changes. Vito and Lago haven’t given any indication they’ve slipped below Olympic caliber performance. I expect them to retain their spots and contend for medals. For weird sentimental reasons, I’ll slide Mitrani into the fourth slot, though any of the guys I mentioned above could grab it. Hey, that’s the spot that Pearce would probably be in if his career hadn’t ended prematurely. It feels right that one of his “Frends” would fill it.

US slopestyle veteran Chas Guldemond  

If slopestyle is the future, does the US have the guns to compete?

At just 19 years old, Canadian Mark McMorris is the best slopestyle rider in the world. Blessed with both excellent technical ability and explosive aptitude, McMorris is the reigning X-Games champion in the event and captured the 2012/2013 World Snowboard Tour SS title. He and a contingent of talented northern European competitors have begun to dominate snowboarding’s other discipline over the past few years. Norwegians Stale Sandbech and Torstien Horgmo (my favorite name in the sport) and Fins Peetu Piiroinen and Roope Tontari are also prominent fixtures in world slopestyle. If the US is shutout from the medals, it will be because of those guys.

But will the Americans be off the medal stand? Based on recent results, there’s a definite possibility it could happen. It’s highly probable that White will also compete in slopestyle in Russia. During the mid-2000s White was almost as dominate in the event as he was in halfpipe, so he’s a medal threat if he straps up his bindings on top of Sochi’s slopestyle course. However, despite his talent, White can’t waltz into slopestyle and get a result. His inconsistent showing at the X-Games in 2013 proved that, as White failed to put together a medal winning run in Aspen.

Looking past White, things get a little uncertain from an American perspective. The highest ranked American at the end of the WST season, Eric Willet, finished fourth at the Burton European Open over Sandbech and Piiroinen and has X-Games medals in his past. Chas Guldemond has been a staple of the slopestyle scene since the back half of last decade. If he’s in form in Sochi, he’ll be a medal threat. Young gun Sage Kostenburg would most likely round out a potential four-man American team. The Idaho native took home silver at the X-Games in 2012 and at age 20 has his best years ahead of him.

Others to Watch: Ryan Stassel, Eric Beauchemin.

Prediction: White, Guldemond, Kostenburg, Willett.

The problem for the US will never be a lack of talented riders. You probably won’t find a better snowboarding scene anywhere else in the world. The issue may be high expectations. American riders have won five of the six halfpipe golds given out since the event was added in Salt Lake. It would be unthinkable for many American fans that the US could get shutout in any snowboarding event. While it’s highly improbable that will happen in halfpipe, it’s a possibility in downhill jump-rail-kicker extravaganza that is slopestyle. That said, the foursome I digitally penciled in above is a strong squad and it’s conceivable that any of those four guys could bring hardware back to the States.

What needs to be made clear to the casual American fan who tunes into NBC’s taped broadcast of slopestyle to watch Shaun and the boys do work is that this event is a slugfest. The talent in it is immense and a lot of it is not American. It would be seen as a massive disappointment by fans and probably USA Snowboarding if the Red, White and Blue failed to win a slopestyle medal. Lets be honest, I’ll probably throw a fit. But when I calm down, and the Americans have finished fourth, fifth, seventh and ninth, I’ll recognize that as a significant accomplishment. Thankfully, I’ve got a few months to move my expectations drastically up or down from the reasonable level they’re at now. I’ll say this much, as long as the Americans stomp (I used it again!) their runs in Sochi, I think Uncle Sam will be pretty stoked about the results.  

The Secret U.S Classic Report

Because this blog is really an excuse for me to write uneducated stuff about gymnastics, lets take a quick look at the big stories coming out of the Secret U.S Classic, which took place at the Sears Centre Arena in Chicago Saturday night.

Kyla Ross: Queen of the Bars

Ross was the overlooked member of the Fierce Five last summer in London. Marta Karolyi selected Ross, the youngest member of the squad, to essentially do two things in London: hit on bars and beam in team finals. The Californian performed well where she was needed and has an Olympic gold medal to show for it. However, Ross sort of got lost in the shuffle because she didn’t win the all-around title (Douglas), rebound from a widely viewed disappointment (Wieber), become the emotional leader of the team (Raisman) or embrace her role as the unimpressed faced vaulting dynamo (Maroney). Sometimes you just get overshadowed. It happens.

No one was overshadowing Ross last night in Chi-town. Even with an uneven performance on floor, Ross comfortably took home the Classic title over Peyton Ernst and Brenna Dowell with a combined total of 58.650. The 16-year-old showed her class on bars, obtaining the highest marks of any gymnast on that apparatus with a 15.400. She’s definitely the favorite to win the US Championships in August and should be the leader of the squad that travels to worlds (which has no team event) in Belgium this October. I give her massive props for getting back on the horse after London and performing all four events at this competition. She’s a great gymnast.

McKayla Maroney is still really good at vaulting.

I don’t want to sound dramatic, but I still can’t believe Maroney lost the Olympic vault final. From a marketing perspective, she probably couldn’t have made a better mistake. She embraced that now infamous post-event facial expression and transformed herself into a star. What people forget is that Maroney already had turned in a star making performance in London. Her vault in team finals was one of the greatest pieces of gymnastics I’ve ever seen. When Maroney vaults, I feel the same way I feel when LeBron is charging down the lane to jam the ball home. It’s the anticipation of immense power combined with graceful precision.

Long story short, Maroney returned to competitive gymnastics last night and vaulted out of the gym like she always has.  She only competed on floor and vault, but claimed in a pre-meet interview that she’ll have all four events ready for nationals. I hope she sticks around until Rio because she deserves to be remembered as an Olympic vault champion. Best I’ve ever seen.

Uhhhh, Who’s Next?

The year after an Olympics is a weird time in gymnastics. It normally takes a little time for the previous year’s Olympians to sort out if they want to continue on and that makes looking towards the future difficult. In the US team’s case, Gabby Douglas is not competing this year, Jordyn Wieber is sending out mixed signals about her return and it looks like Aly Raisman will be back nations. Obviously, Ross and Maroney have returned to competition, but the Classic did give US gymnastics fans another look at what's beyond the Fierce Five. 

2012 US junior national champion Lexie Priessman won the floor title in Chicago. First year senior Simone Biles, who broke out at this year’s American Cup, didn’t put on her greatest performance, but displayed hints of the immense potential she possesses. Ernst and Dowell put on workman like performances to grab high finishes, which was nice to see. Both look like they will compete in college instead continuing as elites until 2016. It’s honestly silly to try and predict who from this group will still be around in 2-3 years, but it was nice to see the best of the US competing against each other again. The future looks bright and the US Championships will be very interesting come August.

Building the Team: Ladies Figure Skating

We’re just under 200 days until the start of the Sochi Olympics, believe me, I’m counting it down. With that in mind, people don’t normally start learning about who’s competing for the US (or any country) until just before the games begin. Everybody’s sort of like, “Yeah, I’ve been following Gabby Douglas for years!” When in reality, they read about her in People Magazine three days before her event. That’s not a bad thing. Most of these sports aren’t overly relevant in non-Olympic years, so no one should really expect the general public to know who these athletes are. However, I’m going to try to remove some of this unknown by providing an overview of the top contenders attempting to qualify in the major (glamour?) sports. It’ll be like the preview of the preview.

The US will qualify three skaters to the Olympic ladies singles final. The team will be selected based on the results of the US Figure Skating Championships in January, and there is a sizable contingent of skaters duking it out for those spots. Here are the most notable, along with my prediction of who will be on the US squad in Sochi.

Ashley Wagner

The one constant in American ladies singles figure skating (mouthfuls on mouthfuls) since Vancouver has been the German-born Wagner. The two-time and reigning US National Champion finished fifth at this year’s World Championships and would be a shoo-in to lead the team to Sochi if the squad was set today. However, we’re not picking the team in July, and the fickle nature of a one-off competition for qualification means there is no margin for error. Wagner’s general consistency and recent results (2012 Four Continents Champ, 2012 World Grand Prix Final Silver) definitely makes her the favorite to earn a ticket to the Russian coast, but nothing is guaranteed. Her recent coaching shake-up is a bit of a cause for concern, but I fully expect Wagner and her fantastic excited faces (#WagnerFace? Has somebody started that?) to be in Sochi.

Gracie Gold

The aptly named Gold has been on a fairly meteoric rise since finishing sixth at 2011 Midwest Sectional Championships as a junior. For those that don’t know; sectionals are what qualifies you to nationals, meaning Gold wasn’t even one of the best five junior skaters in her region, much less the entire country, just two years ago.  Since then, Gold has been, well, golden. Her first trip to nationals as a junior in 2012 saw her score the highest total ever by a junior skater at that competition (guess you could say she set the gold standard).  A second place finish at junior worlds followed and Gold started to get “next big thing” hype. She solidified that billing with a spectacular free skate performance at this year’s US Championship, which lifted her to a second place finish and a spot at worlds. Gold finished sixth in Canada and seems poised for another breakout campaign when her season starts in October. While not as sure a bet as Wagner, Gold’s upward trajectory means she’ll likely be going for gold (I couldn’t resist) in February.

Mirai Nagasu

Nagasu looked like one for the future when she captured the US Title in 2008 as a 14-year-old. A fourth place finish in Vancouver came soon after and Nagasu seemed primed to leap even further into figure skating’s elite in this current quadrennial. Unfortunately for the California native, it just hasn’t come together. Nagasu has found the podium in various Grand Prix events, but finished seventh at the last two US Championships. A return to top form will be necessary if the former national champion wants one of the three qualifying spots. Nagasu’s obvious talent and Olympic experience could put her on the team. Her apparent temperamental nature could keep her off it.

Agnes Zawadski

The positives? A-Zad (They’ll all have bad/uncreative nicknames from me by December) is a two-time US Senior Bronze Medalist (2012, 2013). The Illinois native also won the 2010 US Junior Title and defeated Gold to win the US Classic title last September. The key for Zawadski (and pretty much every skater) is combining a great short program with a mistake free long program. A-Zad’s all about the short program, sitting in first and second place after the short at the last two US Championships. The negative? She had the seventh best long program at both those competitions. That just can’t happen in January, with every skater presumably at her best.  In the previous section about Nagasu, I noted her “obvious talent” as one of the things that could propel her to an Olympic birth. Look, we’re at the top levels of skating here. Everybody is talented. Yes, some are more skilled than others. Sasha Cohen’s best day is better than Rachel Flatt’s ever will be, but Flatt was in Vancouver and Cohen was not. Consistency over two programs will be a gigantic deciding factor for who makes it to Sochi. Zadwaski needs to find it, or she’ll be sitting at home.

Caroline Zhang

Since dominating the junior circuit in the 06-07 season, Zhang has been a picture of inconsistency as a senior skater.  She’s gone through four coaching changes since 2009 and finished everywhere from third to 12^th at the US Championships since then. Zhang is a two time bronze medalist at the Four Continents Championships, but she’s a bit of an unknown quantity as we move towards Sochi. In my mind, it would be a minor upset if she made it to Russia.

Christina Gao

If success was measured by finishing fifth at US Championships, Gao would be the greatest skater of all time. The Harvard sophomore (she apparently took a full course load as a freshman while still training) has never really had an unbelievable result anywhere, but rather is the picture of spectacular consistency. She’s placed fifth at four straight US Championships, which indicates that Gao is no slouch, but also not good enough to overcome the variety of talented skaters that occupied the four spots above her.  Well, that was until she experienced the all-important “breakout year” in 2012. Gao grabbed the silver medal at the Skate America Grand Prix event and placed fourth at Four Continents, the highest finish of any American. She, like Gold, is on the upswing, and will be right there for that third spot.

Alissa Czisny

Qualifying for the Olympics is an unforgiving process. A competitor has to peak at exactly the right time once every four years. You could go through the record books of every sport and find athletes who happened to reach their potential in the middle of an Olympic cycle, becoming elite at the “wrong” time. Age, health, coaching and a multitude of other extenuating circumstances affect this process.  

Alissa Czisny is the epitome of this scenario. A staple of the American skating scene since 2006, Czisny is a two time national champion and a four-time World Championships participant, notching a career high fifth place in 2011. Even with all that success, Czisny’s legacy seems to be trending towards unfortunate disappointment rather than consistent achievement. The now 26-year old was one of the favorites to make the Olympic team in 2010, but faded to 10^th in the US Championships. Czisny considered retirement, but instead rebounded for two straight solid seasons in 2011 and 2012. However, doctors discovered a torn labrum in Czisny’s left shoulder in May of 2012, which put her back on the comeback trail. A valiant attempt to return at this year’s US Championships fell short when Czisny dislocated her hip in a competition just before nationals.  She will once again seek a spot on the Olympic team in January, and would have to be considered the sentimental favorite. Czisny will probably be the oldest skater in Boston, but honestly might be the least complete. Every skater that competes at nationals will partly define her legacy by the performance she puts on. Alissa Czisny will be fighting to change how she's already being remembered. 

Others to Watch: Courtney Hicks, Yasmin Siraj, Hannah Miller, Polina Edmunds

From Left: Gold, Wagner, Zawadski, Hicks 

Prediction: Wagner, Gold, Zawadski

I think this is a pretty hard team to predict, especially with the 2013-2014 skating season still to begin. That will give everybody a better idea of who's rounding into form, and give all of the skaters an opportunity to get hurt. I don’t mean to be negative; it’s just the nature of the beast. For now though, Wagner is the best skater is the United States and seems primed for an Olympic birth. Gold’s continued improvement and overall demeanor (Her Twitter game is on point, yes, I know that means nothing) should put her on this team. The third spot is anybody’s guess, but I think Zawaksi will outlast Nagasu, Gao and maybe Hicks for it. Nothing would make me happier than seeing a resurgent Czisny grab the spot, but I don’t know enough about her form to go out on that limb. Rachael Flatt, an Olympian in 2010, seems done with the sport. I couldn’t find any confirmation that she was even contemplating a comeback. Keep an eye on Hicks, who will compete in her first season as a senior this year. She had a fairly decorated junior career and could surprise some people.

This is a weird time for USA Figure Skating. Except for Wagner, and perhaps Gold, there are really no known quantities on the US team. But hey, that means we’ve got the potential for some major drama come January. In a sport like figure skating, one that embraces elements of theater as part of the experience, that’s all you could ever ask for.

Next in this series: Snowboarding.

Los Angeles Enters 2024 Olympics Fray

In a story I first saw reported by the great Philip Hersh of the Chicago Tribune, two time Olympic host Los Angeles has formally announced it's intention to bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics in a letter sent to the USOC.

L.A last bid for the 2016 Games, but lost in the final round of the US bid process to eventual overall fourth place finisher Chicago.

(Quick tangent, I watched that Chicago elimination happen in my high school cafeteria and I was completely inconsolable. People were confused.)

This announcement essentially doubles as the start of what will hopefully be a serious domestic competition to determine who will be the United States' bid city for 2024. Groups in a few cities have made overtures regarding a bid over the past few months. These cities include Boston, Baltimore/DC, Dallas and even Tulsa (I appreciate the bravado, Tulsa, but you have no chance). L.A's announcement also comes after the USOC sent letters to the mayors of 35 US cities to gauge interest on potential bids.

It's all fine and dandy when Tulsa says they're going to bid for the Olympic Games. Everybody knows they have not shot, and you just sort of wait to see what their crazy plan would have been. Even a city like Boston, which on the surface looks like a very viable host city (until you look deeper to see that the city isn't as big as you think, doesn't have the sports infrastructure you think and doesn't have the overall infrastructure you think), saying they have interest doesn't really mean all that much.

L.A bidding is a big deal. That's a city ready to host the Olympics. They have all the venues you could every want. Just off the top of my head; Staples Center, Nokia Theater, Home Depot Center (They have a Velodrome there, crazy right), L.A Convention Center, Pauley Pavilion, The Galen Center, the Rose Bowl, The LA Coliseum, LA Memorial Sports Arena. I mean, the Forum is still there and USC has a swimming stadium, although I'm not sure that's a viable spot anymore. The city also has experience hosting giant events, possesses a huge airport and, from what I can tell (although I'd love somebody from LA to actually give me a first hand view of this), decent transportation infrastructure.

Seems like a shoe-in right? Well, L.A has two problems. Well, they have more than two problems, but I don't know the area well enough to comment on things like where a Olympic Village would be or how the city would sell paying for the Olympics over fixing other problems that, once again, I'm not informed enough to analyze. With that said, the first of the two problems that I can address is manageable, but annoying. The traffic is going to be hell in Los Angeles during the Olympics. It's already horrible anyway, but the influx of all of those people in the during the two weeks will make it a total parking lot.

In addition, you know those track and field events that occur during the Olympics? Well, the City of Angels needs a place to hold them. Simply put, L.A has to find a location for a 80,000+ track stadium somewhere in an already very well developed city. As was pointed out to me on Twitter by everybody's favorite Maryland women's basketball beat writer Daniel Gallen, the recent report that the AEG football stadium plan at L.A Live may have fallen through is a very interesting development for the L.A bid team. First of all, the idea of cramming a stadium into the already cramped LA Live development was ambitious, but besides that logistical issue, there is now no defined football stadium plan in place for Los Angeles. This could be a good thing for an L.A bid. The city had signed off on the AEG deal, and they seem committed to bringing pro football back to L.A. However, there was no guarantee that the city would have signed off on that stadium and then an Olympic Stadium. Now the city can focus on building a football stadium that could also function as the track venue in 2024.

Now, while I stated that I wasn't sure if L.A would approve of two separate gigantic stadium projects, I don't really have any basis for that. The fact of the matter is, Los Angeles could handle two NFL teams, which could mean two stadiums. Furthermore, USC and UCLA are two entities that could serve as a tenant for an Olympic Stadium after the Games. The key to selling a big Olympic venue project to your own citizens, the USOC and the IOC is to have plans for it after the Games. The London organizers thought they did, and now 800 people are trying to gain the rights use the Olympic Stadium. That's not what you want if you're apart of the L.A bid team. For lack of better phrasing, it's not a good look to have that unresolved going into a competitive bid process.

Well, just writing about all this makes me very excited to see the whole US bid process play out. I'm interested to see what other cities throw their names into that hat. I'm intrigued to delve deeper into each city that enters the race, to see the advantages and disadvantages they have. I mean, I know a bit about L.A, but I've never been there and can't speak to the local issues the city will have like I did in my post about what a bid in the Baltimore/DC area could look like. Heck, I'm not even sure I went enough in depth in that piece. Well, we've got a lot of time, so bear with me, and we'll figure this out together... If you want to.

336 days until Sochi.

The Top 10 Olympic Montages: 10-8

Check this out:

Tears. Beautiful, flowing, NBA-related tears. How good is that? Just for fun, here's another one

Who doesn't want to watch Floyd Mayweather fight right now? I know I do... On Showtime!

Montages are tailor made for sports. They combine audio and video into fun, cohesive packages that are easily and enjoyably consumed.

For the Olympics, a two week event that never is at a loss for moments or narratives, the montage is a great way to open or close an event. I like them... a lot. There are times when I'll just sit and watch them. For hours. Pathetic? Maybe, but hey, to each his own.

After years montage consumption, there's really only on thing left to do; attempt to rank each one into a beautiful list. Let's just pick a random number... 10! Yes, 10 sounds like a very good number. A top 10 list of something, gotta be a first. Well, why am I still typing? I want to pour over this list as much as the seven of you do. Bring on Andre Braugher, James Earl Jones and stuff from Immediate Music!

Honorable Mention: The NBC London Opening Ceremony Intro

Look, I'm pretty average at finding videos on the internet. I'll journey to the deepest, darkest corners of YouTube to find a piece of footage, but if it's not on the big TUBE, I generally don't venture farther. As such, I can't find NBC's opening montage its coverage of the London Opening Ceremony. I really want to rank it anyway, but I just can't bring myself to put something on the list that has no clip. It's unfortunate, because that montage is a freaking classic. Ewen McGregor was involved. McKayla Maroney was involved. It really had a shot at the top three. I yelled at multiple people at my house to stop talking when it was on this summer. I turned the TV up way to loud when they didn't. I'm not apologizing.

#10: NBC's Intro to the 1996 Opening Ceremony

                        

Three words: Neil REDACTED Diamond. Seriously, "America", as cheesy as it may be, is a great song and boy does NBC use it well in this peppy montage. I have a pretty big soft spot for this video, not because I remember the Atlanta Olympics at all, but because it's sort of the first step in NBC's quest to make the perfect montage. They don't have the best music (Diamond), the best narrator (Costas) or the best clips (athletes, international city, shot of America, repeat). However, it's still enjoyable because after watching the rest of videos on this list, you'll see that it's just the beginning of a process.

Quote of the Videos: 

• "A century ago, a 29 year old Frenchman gave voice to a fragile, ambitious idea, powerful enough to unite the world. His name? Pierre De Coubertain. His idea? To restore the Olympics after an absence of 1500 years." - Bob Costas

Individual Highlights:

• Really my favorite part of the whole clip starts at 2:30 and goes till about 2:46. Neil breaks into this part where he just keeps saying "They're coming to American, TODAY" They show this weird logo, different high profile American athletes (Shannon Miller, Michael Johnson, Dominique Moceanu, Gary Hall etc) and Neil just keeps belting it out. It's gets me excited... TODAY.
• Pierre D Coubertain's mustache at 0.15. Epic.
• When Bulger's Dream starts at 2:50. Self explanatory.

FINAL RATING: 6 out of 10

#9. NBC's Closing Credits to the 2010 Winter Olympics

The No. 9 spot marks our first look at NBC"s consistently brilliant closing credits. The formula is normally picturesque views of the Olympic host city/venues followed by a montage of the Games' most iconic moments. The ones from 2006/2004/2002/2010 were pretty hard to separate, but ultimately 2010 won out. I very much enjoyed the Vancouver Games, so my personal bias about the actual competition probably separated it's closing credits from the rest of the pack. With that said, the montage is very well done and is one of the few to end with a non-US athlete. The end of the clip brings everybody's favorite Canadian, Sidney Crosby, into focus. Crosby's career has been a bit of a roller coaster since these Olympics, but in 2010, he was at the peak of his powers. There was not another athlete that could of represent the immense passion put forth by the Canadian athletes at that Olympics better than Sid the Kid. Keep in mind, Canada hosted two Olympics before Vancouver; Calgary in 1988 and Montreal in 1976. Our neighbors to the north didn't win a gold medal in either Games. As a result, there was gigantic pressure on all of the Canadian athletes in Vancouver, and they put on a show.   People hate Sidney Crosby where I live (Baltimore/DC), but you can't deny the performance of he and his fellow countrymen in 2010.

Quotes of the montage: 

• "Really all I wanted was to part of an Olympic Montage and I think I earned my sport" - Hannah Kearney describing my dreams."
• "There's no bigger stage than the Olympic Games, but the skate and the moment, means much more that the competition." - Scott Hamilton on Joannie Rochette

Individual Highlights 

• (9:19-9:50): If you remember, the 2010 Games featured two tragic events. On the day of the opening ceremony, Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili was killed in a training run on the extremely fast Whistler Sliding Center course. While sliding sports continued as scheduled, the accident sparked controversy over whether the course was safe for competition. In addition, Canadian figure skater Joannie Rochette's mother died just two days before the start of the Ladies Figure Skating competition. Rochette competed in her honor, winning a bronze medal and the admiration of sports fans everywhere. The section where they honor both is extremely well done and captures each story with the tone and respect it deserves.
• Start at 9:49 and go till 11:20. If that doesn't get you pumped about life, then I don't know what to tell you.

FINAL RATING: 7 out of 10



#8. NBC's Closing Credits to the 2008 Olympics

Pretty much the same format as the 2010 credits, so I won't go over that again. First off, the shots they have of China in this thing are absolutely spectacular. Before the Games, some said that the Beijing Olympics was the China's way of  "Welcoming the World" (that's called foreshadowing). With all of the picturesque shots of the country NBC presented during their coverage, I think the 2008 Games showed many Americans how beautiful of a country China is. The montage of the athletes is good, but there is not really anything that stands out to me in terms of format that you didn't already see in the 2010 credits. Just watch the video, it's excellent.

Quotes of the montage: 

• "The roar is different here, it's almost like a roar of approval." - Al Trautwig saying something by not really saying anything.
• "Thanks for coming" - Bryan Clay to his wife after winning the decathlon.

Individual Highlights: 

• (8:20) They show Alicia Sacramone's "I just fell in the Olympic team final" face and it sucks. I still feel bad for her. Nobody does creative mounts like that on beam anymore. It's alright, Alicia, you're one of realist characters that sport has ever seen. Props.
• (8:42-9:30) NBC has a section in each credits where they utilize the sounds of the sports to paint a beautiful picture that on sport can create. That section in this video is pretty spectacular.
• (9:55) The pure joy on Yelena Isinbayeva's face when she realizes she's won gold is incredible, especially for someone many describe as aloof.

FINAL RATING: 7 out of 10

That's it for now. Look for seven through five in a couple days. 

339 days until Sochi.