If you are not watching the Olympics then you are missing some amazing things.  Yesterday was one of the best days I have seen for the United States team.  Domination in 2 events with Gold and Silver in Women’s Downhill and Gold and Bronze in Men’s Snowboard Halfpipe.  In the Women’s Downhill Lindsey Vonn threw down a time that defeated her teammate Julia Mancuso by half a second.  To you and I, in our worlds a half a second is fast and would seem like this was close.  If you compare it to the Men’s Downhill you get a different picture.  The time difference between Bronze and Gold was around 4 one hundredths of a second.  Three people in that proximity, now that is close.  Vonn blew people away…and she was hurt.  It looked like pre-sex-addict Tiger Woods at the US Open playing with a trashed knee, except Tiger had to go to a playoff.  Vonn favored her injured leg the entire run, even crossing the finish on one leg…and her time was not even close to being caught.

In the Men’s Snowboard Halfpipe, Shaun White showed once again why he is simply the best.  White had the top three scores that I saw, no one really pushing even his qualifying run.  Of course White is all about the show and entertaining fans…so when it came time to perform he did.  His first run was enough to claim the gold medal but in true Shaun White style he decided to improve on it by adding an impressive run that featured his signature move, something called a Double McTwist 1260, which sounds painful as I sit here typing, much less in actual danger.  White was shown at the top of the halfpipe celebrating prior to the run and even asked his coaches what he should do, maybe just go down the middle?   His coaches laughed and said no…so he went out and had the best run of the Olympics scoring 48 points out of a possible 50…ON HIS VICTORY LAP!  I guess being able to have your own halfpipe with a foam pit on the side of it to practice without killing yourself pays off…who knew?

J