Combs Spouts Off

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Posts Tagged ‘olympics’

Best quote by a US Olympian

Posted by Richard on February 15, 2014

T.J. Oshie gets my vote:

When U.S. hockey star T.J. Oshie converted on four of six shootout attempts in overtime to lead the Americans to a victory over the Russians in front of Vladimir Putin on Saturday, fans changed his wikipedia page was to describe him as an “American hero.”

But Oshie was having none of it. In post-game interviews, he mentioned how vital U.S. goalie Jamie Quick was in stopping the high-powered Russian shooters. And when Pittsburgh Tribune-Review sports columnist Dejan Kovacevic asked him about being hailed as a “hero,” Oshie said that the real “American heroes are wearing camo. That’s not me.”

 

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The greatest 2 minutes in Winter Olympics history

Posted by Richard on February 15, 2010

Day 3 of the Winter Olympiad is done, and still no alpine skiing, so I thought I'd take a trip down memory lane. In 1976, the games were held in Innsbruck, where I was born. Americans were rarely competitive in alpine skiing back in those days, so I was cheering on the Austrians. And the one I was cheering on the most (along with all his countrymen) was Franz Klammer, the greatest downhill racer of all time.

It didn't look good for Klammer. He was the last of the 15 competitors to ski. This was his "home mountain," but Switzerland's Bernhard Russi led with a time almost 2 seconds faster than Klammer's best ever on the course. He and everyone watching knew that it would take an amazing run to win. 

And amazing it was. I don't remember where in Knoxville I was living at the time. I don't remember who was there watching with me. But I remember vividly how I felt for that 1:45 run. Every muscle in my body was tensed from beginning to end, and I could barely breathe. It's by far the most intense 2 minutes of television I've ever seen. Some people call it the most exciting 2 minutes in sports history. I certainly wouldn't argue. Klammer was on the edge of disaster throughout the run, going all-out, balls-to-the-wall from beginning to end. 

I found some videos on YouTube. This first one isn't the best video quality, but it shows the entire run from top to bottom, with the original broadcast commentary by Frank Gifford and Bob Beattie. Even in a small window, with poor video quality, and knowing the outcome, it's still compelling, riveting, and intense. Imagine seeing it live (well, tape-delayed "live") on your TV, not knowing what was going to happen next.


[YouTube link]

The second one is from Austrian TV and is much higher video quality, but doesn't show the entire run. OTOH, you can see better how insanely Klammer was skiing. And you get to hear the Austrian broadcaster shouting "Jawohl!" ("Yes!") at the finish and see how Austrians reacted. 


[YouTube link ]

That, my friends, is the Thrill of Victory!

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Explaining that Olympic Committee decision

Posted by Richard on October 4, 2009

You may have seen this already via email. But it's too good not to post:

Top ten reasons Chicago didn't get the 2016 Olympics

10. Dead people can't vote at IOC meetings.

9. Obama distracted by 25 min meeting with Gen. McChrystal.

8. Who cares if Obama couldn't talk the IOC into Chicago? He'll be able to talk Iran out of nukes.

7. The impediment is Israel still building settlements.

6. Obviously no president would have been able to accomplish it.

5. We've been quite clear and said all along that we didn't want the Olympics.

4. This isn't about the number of Olympics "lost", it's about the number of Olympics "saved" or "created".

3. Clearly not enough wise Latina judges on the committee.

2. Because the IOC is racist.

1. It's George Bush's fault.

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