Joannie Rochette A True Olympic Hero

It's tough to be an Olympic athlete, it's even tougher when you're on home soil and the pressure of a whole nation is heaped upon your shoulders, and it's especially tough when you lose the one person that was always there to help you deal with that pressure and the daily ups and downs of life as an Olympic athlete.

No person in the world could have prepared Joannie Rochette for having the moment she'd waited for all her life arrive amid the terrible grief of her mother's death two days earlier. The standing room only crowd at Pacific Coliseum would have gladly rushed the ice and carried the 24-year-old through the two minutes and 50 seconds of her short program. But a figure skater must literally face the music alone, in the middle of a vast and hard white surface, and try to carve something beautiful out of the ice in just under 3 minutes.

It would have been quite easy and justified to pull out of the games and many thought that she should have. Many thought that now it would be too hard to focus on skating and that she would easily falter on a spin or a jump or even in the intricate step work required of an Olympic figure skater. However, Joannie Rochette stood there, letting the fans' warmth and applause wash over her, knowing that when it grew quiet, she would have to skate the hardest 3 minutes of her life, all by herself. And she did it all pretty flawlessly, every jump, every spin, every step to the tango of "La Cumparsita", whose lyrics begin: “The little parade of endless miseries ...”

Only when it was over would she let the grief take over, and she crumpled into the arms of her coach, Manon Perron, and wept uncontrollably and understandably while her marks came up.

On a night when Japan's Mao Asada and Korean world champion Yu-Na Kim had pretty much brought the house down with back-to-back works of art (Asada with the Olympics' first-ever triple Axel combination by a woman and Kim answering back with her matchless combination of technique and show-stopping artistry) there was little chance of Rochette matching their firepower.

But she is right there for a medal, sitting third heading into Thursday's long program, and with everything that must have been going through her mind, it was one of the most remarkable and memorable performances any Canadian, let alone any Canadian skater, has ever laid down (and I'm sure her mom was watching over her and was proud of her performance).

She's distantly in third, but also comfortably ahead of fourth-place Miki Ando of Japan. I will be cheering with all my heart for her to medal and even if she doesn't, I don't think I will ever forget her beauty, grace, poise, strength and most of all her courage to do what she did under the circumstances she faced. She has earned a higher medal than gold in the hearts of many Canadians.

Peace and Much Love to Ya

*Our thoughts and prayers are with the Rochette family

**Update Feb 25, 2010 --> Joannie Rochette has won the Bronze medal; Korea's Kim Yu-Na (coached by Canadian and 2-time silver medalist Brian Orser) wins the Gold and Mao Asada of Japan wins the Silver medal**

Hello Vancouver.

Aside from the fact that I've lived in the lower mainland for over a decade, I'm really starting to enjoy Vancouver more and more each day. Why? The Olympics are in town! And that means throngs of foreigners lost in the pretty streets of Vancouver, as well as Richmond, and Whistler (but who cares about the mountains, they're not in my way). So who are ya'll rooting for? I'm obligated to cheer for Canada, and don't get me wrong, I cheer just as loud as anyone when they win a medal (Montgomery from Manitoba? Hells ya!), but anyone who knows me knows that part of me, ok, all of me, bleeds red, white and blue. Call me a traitor if you may, but there's just something so patriotic about those colors that I can't help but be drawn to it like priests to young boys (oh no, politically incorrect joke, um warning?).

Segue to the man who was conceived by Jesus and Uncle Sam (another politically incorrect joke? oh no she didn't!) on the USS Lincoln: Stephen T. Colbert! *cheers* *chants* USA USA USA! */chants* That's right, the man himself was here in Vancouver and did not one, but TWO shows on muddy as hell land beside Science World. Why was it so muddy? I have no clue but my Uggs aren't happy. Anywho, ya'll will see the footage next week so I won't spoil anything, but I will say that not one, but TWO full grown men ride a fake moose, all because we chanted "Ride the Moose! Ride the Moose!". And in Canadian fashion, when our beloved man attempts to ride the moose, we chanted "Don't Get Hurt! Don't Get Hurt!" to which he responds something along the line of we are fully responsible if he does. Oh how I love this man.

And did I mention that I touched his hand? Ok let's say slapped it cuz I sound creepy otherwise. And he signed my stuff! He signed that day's 24 Hours because for once they put an it-getting cover as well as my iPhone (which is still shrink wrapped; anyone who knows how to preserve Sharpie on plastic let me know). Hmm what else must I tell the world? He's taller than the last time I saw him (though it may be because he flew by me too quickly) and he's noticeably aging but in a good way! Oh and an eagle flew by before the first taping, that was awesomely coincidental.

For those Canadian fans who are still reading, Canada's sweetheart Michael Buble was a guest and when he was backstage, I waved to him and he winked and waved back (either to me or in my general direction, but I took initiative and waved first). He's very good looking =)

All in all, it's been a great Olympics (thus far) and although my volunteer gig sucks (I've only seen local anchors so far) and I never got to meet DP (he left after like 3 days! although I was very close to Bob Costas and he's DP's buddy so in that sense I guess it...nevermind), I can say it's been a success! Although Canada lost in bloody hockey to the U S of A, I'm not surprised, and not disappointed. Keep your chin up Canada, just because it's the national sport doesn't mean you have to be good at it. See how positive I am? Yay Olympics =)

- Franny.

(I've changed the font color because apparently it was hard to read, not that you'll read anyway you -expletives-

NBA All-Star Game Rosters

First of all Happy Valentines day to everyone (I know it's not a real holiday but let people believe it is). Anyway tonight the NBA All-Star Game will take place in Cowboys stadium in front of possibly 100,000 spectators and it should be an event to remember. And here are the All-Stars you'll see today:

West

Starters

(PHX) Steve Nash (7th All-Star Appearance)
(DAL) Dirk Nowitzki (9th All-Star Appearance)
(DEN) Carmelo Anthony (6th All-Star Appearance)
(SA) Tim Duncan (12th All-Star Appearance)
(PHX) Amare Stoudemire (5th All-Star Appearance)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reserves

(UTA) Deron Williams (1st All-Star Appearance)
(DEN) Chauncey Billups (5th All-Star Appearance)
(LAL) Pau Gasol (5th All-Star Appearance)
(OKC) Kevin Durant (1st All-Star Appearance)
(MEM) Zach Randolph (1st All-Star Appearance)
(LAC) Chris Kaman (1st All-Star Appearance)
(DAL) Jason Kidd (10th All-Star Appearance)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Not playing due to injury

(LAL) Kobe Bryant (12th All-Star Appearance)
(NO) Chris Paul (3rd All-Star Appearance)
(POR) Brandon Roy (3rd All-Star Appearance)

East

Starters

(MIA) Dwayne Wade (6th All-Star Appearance)
(ATL) Joe Johnson (4th All-Star Appearance)
(CLE) LeBron James (6th All-Star Appearance)
(BOS) Kevin Garnett (13th All-Star Appearance)
(ORL) Dwight Howard (4th All-Star Appearance)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reserves

(CHI) Derrick Rose (1st All-Star Appearance)
(BOS) Rajon Rondo (1st All-Star Appearance)
(BOS) Paul Pierce (8th All-Star Appearance)
(TOR) Chris Bosh (5th All-Star Appearance)
(CHA) Gerald Wallace (1st All-Star Appearance)
(ATL) Al Horford (1st All-Star Appearance)
(NYK) David Lee (1st All-Star Appearance)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Not playing due to injury

(PHI) Allen Iverson (11th All-Star Appearance)

Peace and Much Love to Ya :)

All-Star Saturday Recap

All-Star Saturday started off great with the H.O.R.S.E. competition presented by Geico. OKC Thunder forward Kevin Durant successfully defended his H-O-R-S-E title on Saturday night against Boston's Rajon Rondo and Sacramento's Omri Casspi. After Casspi was eliminated in the shooting competition, Durant and Rondo went to sudden death on TNT as the pair attempted three-pointers from the top of the key where the Oklahoma City star outlasted Boston's point guard.

The night continued with the Haier Shooting Stars event that was very enjoyable to watch. Team Texas won the Shooting Stars Competition. Texas defeated Los Angeles in the finals after Atlanta and Sacramento were eliminated following the first round. The team was comprised of Mavericks All-Star Dirk Nowitzki, TNT analyst and former Rockets guard Kenny Smith and WNBA star Becky Hammon.

The competitiveness continued in the Taco Bell Skills Challenge, which has become one of the more fun events to watch. Steve Nash of the Suns won the Skills Competition by defeating Utah's Deron Williams (2008 winner, and my pick to win) in the finals on Saturday night. Nash finished the course in just 29.9 seconds after taking just 35 ticks in the opening round. He won the competition in 2005 as well. Bucks rookie guard Brandon Jennings (35.7 seconds) and Thunder second-year guard Russell Westbrook (44.1) were eliminated in the first round. Westbrook filled in for Derrick Rose (defending champ), who skipped the competition with a hip injury.

Then it was time for the Foot Locker 3-Point Shootout which has usually been a fan favourite and it did not disappoint. Celtics captain Paul Pierce won the Three-Point Shootout after lobbying so hard to get in. Pierce had 20 points in the final round, beating Golden State rookie Stephen Curry (my pick to win) and Denver point guard Chauncey Billups. He is the first Boston star to win the contest since Larry Bird. Knicks forward Danilo Gallinari, Suns big man Channing Frye and defending champion Daequan Cook of Miami didn't make it past the first round as they all scored 15 points.

The night would wrap up with the marquee event of All-Star Saturday night, the Sprite Slam Dunk contest. It was one of the most hyped dunk contests ever and it was a huge disappointment and close to being one of the worst dunk contests ever. Knicks guard Nate Robinson took home his third Slam Dunk Title over Raptors rookie DeMar DeRozan, who had the best dunk of the night. Robinson is the first player in history to win the competition three times. He received 51% of the fan voting in the finals. Bobcats forward Gerald Wallace (78) and Lakers guard Shannon Brown (78), who was the favourite, didn't make it to the championship round after their first two dunks.

All in all it was a pretty fun All-Star Saturday night, the Dunk Contest was a huge dissappointment but hopefully DeRozan will be back next year to take the crown. As for my predictions I fared pretty well, I had 2 wins and the other 3 picks in the finals of their respective events.

Peace and Much Love to Ya :)

T-Mobile Rookie Challenge Recap

Aw man first off I just wanna say that the opening ceremonies last night were phenomenal despite the technical difficulties at the end with the pillars of the indoor cauldron, and also the somber news of Georgian athlete, Nodar Kumaritashvili's, death in an accident on the luge track during training but much love to the IOC and VANOC for handling the situation in a truly Canadian way.

As great as the opening ceremonies were I was constantly flipping back and forth to the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge that started NBA All-Star weekend in Dallas. It was a great game although the sophomores let me down and lost to the rookies 140-128 for the first time in 8 years.

Dejuan Blair grabbed a record 23 rebounds and scored 22 points for the first 20-20 game in the Rookie Challenge, leading the rookies throughout the game and was co-MVP thanks to a kind gesture from his co-MVP Tyreke Evans. "He started getting the rebounds for us. He did what he said he was going to do," said Sacramento's Tyreke Evans, who had 26 points and was the game's MVP. "That's why I wanted to share the [MVP] trophy with him." Russell Westbrook of Oklahoma City scored 40 points for the sophomores (6 shy of the record set by his teammate Kevin Durant last year), and was one of seven players on the second-year team who were handed consecutive losses in this All-Star Weekend event (they lost as Rookies last year). The sophomores had won seven straight games and eight of 10 since that format was adopted in 2000.

Blair had one of the highlight plays after a turnover by the Sophomores in the first half. Stephen Curry flipped the ball to Blair, who threw it off the backboard and grabbed it out of the air before slamming it home. And in the closing seconds of the game, Blair chased down a ball in the corner and scooped it underhand and backward to save it from going out of bounds. After getting back on the court and begging for teammates to get him the ball, he scored despite being tackled by New Jersey's Brook Lopez under the basket to end with a 20-20 performance. Both players were smiling in a pile on the floor after the ball fell through the hoop at the American Airlines Center, the Dallas Mavericks' home arena.

Evans, the league's top-scoring rookie and 14th overall with 20.3 points a game, made 11 of 15 shots to go with six rebounds and five assists. Milwaukee rookie Brandon Jennings had 22 points and eight assists, and James Harden from Oklahoma City also had 22 points.

For the Sophomores, Miami's Michael Beasley, who scored 29 points in last year's game, had 26 points this time. Golden State's Anthony Morrow had 15 points and Minnesota's Kevin Love, who had predicted a lopsided victory for the sophomores, had 12 points and six rebounds. O.J. Mayo from Memphis had eight points and 10 assists.

Although the Sophomores let me down, Raptors rookie DeMar DeRozan did not as he beat the L.A. Clippers' second year guard Eric Gordon in the first ever Dunk-In to become the 4th contestant in the Sprite Slam Dunk contest later on tonight, by garnering 61% of the fan vote.

Here are the video highlights of the game via NBA.com:



And here are the highlights of the Dunk-In, also via NBA.com:



Peace and Much Love to Ya :)

*note: it seems OKC's Russell Westbrook will replace Derrick Rose in the skills challenge

Olympic Luger Dies During Training

Mere hours away from the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympics, Nodar Kumaritashvili (21) a men's Olympic luger from Georgia died after a crash during training. We are all saddened by this news and our thoughts and prayers go out to Kumaritashvili's family. Here is the press release from the Associated Press:

WHISTLER, British Columbia -- A men's Olympic luger from the former Soviet republic of Georgia died after a crash during training Friday, an Olympic official with direct knowledge of the crash said.

The official told The Associated Press that the International Olympic Committee received confirmation of Nodar Kumaritashvili's death. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the 21-year-old luger's family hadn't been notified yet.

An official statement was to be released soon, the source said.

Kumaritashvili lost control of his sled near the finish, went over the track wall and struck an unpadded steel pole near the finish line at Whistler Sliding Center on a course that is the world's fastest and has raised safety concerns among competitors.

Rescue officials rushed to the scene and performed chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

Kumaritashvili was lifted into an ambulance. An air-rescue helicopter was summoned and was over the track about eight minutes after the crash.

Kumaritashvili struck the inside wall of the track on the final turn. His body immediately went airborne and cleared the ice-coated concrete wall along the left side of the sliding surface. His sled remained in the track, and it appeared his helmet visor skidded down the ice.

"It's a very rare situation," three-time Olympic champion and German coach Georg Hackl said. "But there's some things that you can't do anything about."

It was unclear how fast Kumaritashvili was going, although many sliders have exceeded 90 mph on this course. The track is considered the world's fastest and several Olympians recently questioned its safety. More than a dozen athletes have crashed during Olympic training.

At the finish area, not far from the crash scene, athletes, coaches and officials solemnly awaited word on Kumaritashvili.

"I've never seen anything like that," said Shiva Keshavan, a four-time Olympian from India. "I'm afraid it's bad."

Training was suspended indefinitely, International Luge Federation members were called for a briefing and team captains from each nation were asked to attend a meeting.

Kumaritashvili competed in five World Cup races this season, finishing 44th in the world standings.

Earlier in the day, gold-medal favorite Armin Zoeggeler of Italy crashed, losing control of his sled on Curve 11. Zoeggeler came off his sled and held it with his left arm to keep it from smashing atop his body. He slid on his back down several curves before coming to a stop and walking away.

Training days in Whistler have been crash-filled. A Romanian woman was briefly knocked unconscious and at least four Americans -- Chris Mazdzer on Wednesday, Megan Sweeney on Thursday and both Tony Benshoof and Bengt Walden on Friday in the same training session where Zoeggeler wrecked -- have had serious trouble just getting down the track.

"I think they are pushing it a little too much," Australia's Hannah Campbell-Pegg said Thursday night after she nearly lost control in training. "To what extent are we just little lemmings that they just throw down a track and we're crash-test dummies? I mean, this is our lives."

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press

Peace and Much Love to Ya

NBA All-Star Weekend

Although the Olympic ceremonies start on Friday in our beautiful city of Vancouver to kick off the 3 week winter sports fest (yea we waited 7 years for those 3 weeks); Dallas is the place to be for hoops fans this coming weekend. So instead of watching the opening ceremonies of the Olympics, I'll be watching the T-Mobile Rookie-Sophomore challenge that kicks off NBA All-Star weekend the same day. Don't get me wrong I'll still be reppin' my city to the fullest (V-City stand up!!) but I'll just have to TiVo the opening ceremonies and watch them at a later time. The Olympics are great but I love basketball and since it's February and love is in the air I have to go with All-Star weekend as my primary focus, so I will blog all 3 days of the event as best I can and then after the All-Star festivities I'll blog about the Olympics. So here's a look at what's to come this weekend:

Friday:

4 p.m. NBA All-Star Celebrity Game presented by Final Fantasy XIII
Notable Celebrities: Chris Tucker, Anthony Anderson, Common, Joel Moore, Pitbull, Mario Lopez.
Prediction: should be a fun game though they are always low scoring.

6 p.m. 16th Annual T-Mobile Rookie Challenge and Youth Jam (also first ever slam Dunk-In) Notable Players: Tyreke Evans, Brandon Jennings, Michael Beasley, Russel Westbrook, O.J. Mayo.
Prediction: always high scoring as no one plays defense; Sophomores should continue their dominance over the Rooks; DeMar DeRozan beats Eric Gordon in the Dunk-In to be the 4th contestant in the dunk contest.

Saturday:

4 p.m. 2nd Annual H.O.R.S.E. presented by Geico
Who's in it: Kevin Durant (OKC); Omri Casspi (SAC); Rajon Rondo (BOS).
Prediction: Durant, the inaugural winner last year, will take it again I believe.

5 p.m. 26th Annual NBA All-Star Saturday Night
Events: Haier Shooting Stars; Taco Bell Skills Challenge; Foot Locker 3-point Shootout; Sprite Slam Dunk
Predictions: Team Texas should win the Shooting Stars; Deron Williams will dethrone Derrick Rose in the Skills Challenge; Stephen Curry for the 3-point shootout; and DeRozan for the slam dunk if he makes it in, if not, then Shannon Brown.

Sunday:

5 p.m. 59th Annual NBA All-Star Game
Notable Players: Everybody!!! (I will post the rosters a day prior to the game)
Prediction: what better way to spend Valentine's night, the game will be epic as it will the biggest ever and might reach six figures in attendance if allowed by the NBA and state of Texas; The west might have the best teams but the East arguably has the best individual players therefore I pick the East to win.

Here is the official (and amazing) NBA All-Star Weekend Promo from TNT featuring Usher entitled "More":



Peace and Much Love to Ya :)

*Note: all times indicated are PST

52nd Annual Grammy Awards Recap

Female artists reigned supreme at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards, with Beyoncé and Taylor Swift at the front, leading the charge at last night’s ceremony at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Beyonce tallied the most awards, scooping up six trophies (the most ever for a female artist on a single Grammy night) most notably Song of the Year and Best R&B Song for “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for “Halo.”

Teen sensation Taylor Swift took home the show’s biggest honor, however, nabbing Album of the Year for 2009’s best-selling LP, Fearless. At 20, Swift is now the youngest musician to win Album of the Year; she won four awards overall, including Best Country Album (also Fearless), Best Country Song and Best Female Country Vocal Performance (both “White Horse”).

Lady Gaga, who opened the show with a powerhouse duet with Elton John, that brought the house down, won a pair of awards, Best Dance Album for The Fame and Best Electronica/Dance Song for “Poker Face” however, both were announced during a pre-telecast ceremony.

On the men's side Kings of Leon grabbed three awards, all revolving around their hit “Use Somebody,” Jay-Z scored three trophies for singles (his Blueprint 3 wasn’t eligible this year) and the Black Eyed Peas (we all know Will.I.Am is the driving force of the group) also won three Grammys, including Best Pop Vocal Album for The E.N.D.

Green Day followed up a memorable performance of “21 Guns” with the American Idiot musical cast by winning Best Rock Album for 21st Century Breakdown. In awards handed out before the broadcast, Bruce Springsteen’s “Working on a Dream” was named Best Solo Rock Performance, Jeff Beck took Best Rock Instrumental Performance for “A Day in the Life,” the Beatles scored Best Long Form Video and French electronic pop group Phoenix pulled out a surprise victory in the Best Alternative Album category with Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix.

The Grammys are known for its electrifying performances as much as their hardware, and last night’s show was packed with big-name team-ups. The aforementioned, Lady Gaga got the party started with “Poker Face” before taking a seat at her piano (adorned with mannequin limbs frozen into Gaga’s monster claw) and faced off against Elton John with her “Speechless” and his “Your Song.” Beyoncé and a SWAT team of dancers mashed up the I Am… Sasha Fierce hit “If I Were a Boy” with Alanis Morissette’s “You Oughta Know.” Pink spun from the ceiling, soaking wet, during an acrobatic performance of “Glitter in the Air” (which was my favourite performance of the night and one of the best in Grammys history). The Black Eyed Peas then hit the stage, and performed “Imma Be,” and “I Gotta Feeling" to a robust round of applause.

Later on in the show Bon Jovi took to the stage with country star Jennifer Nettles and belted out three songs for all their fans. They sang, "We Weren’t Born to Follow,” “Who Says You Can’t Go Home,” and the classic “Livin’ on a Prayer.” After that, Mary J. Blige, David Foster, and Andrea Bocelli sang Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water," dedicated to the people of Haiti. Maxwell (one of my favourite artists) then burned up the stage with his Grammy winning single "Pretty Wings" and was later joined by classic soul/jazz singer Roberta Flack to sing the classic song, ‘Where Is The Love” with him. The quartet of Lil Wayne, Eminem, Drake and Travis Barker kept the censors on their toes with a profanity-laced medley of Rebirth’s “Drop the World” and the hit “Forever.”

Notably absent from the "Forever" performance and the Grammys was Kanye West. Many speculate this was due to his infamous actions at the MTV VMA's last September. T-Dot's favourite son, Drake however, said the Louis Vuitton Don is apparently back in the lab. "I think 'Ye's in a good creative space right now," Drizzy said of his absence. "I think he's trying to create that next album the world needs. I know he's working very hard somewhere." Despite the comments from Drake, fans still believe Kanye's actions at the VMA's cost him an invite to the party.

The ceremony also included a 3-D tribute to Michael Jackson featuring Celine Dion, Smokey Robinson, Jennifer Hudson, Usher and Carrie Underwood singing along with the King of Pop’s “Earth Song.” Jackson’s two eldest children, Prince and Paris, accepted their father’s posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award in one of the night’s most touching moments.

Jeff Beck led a special Les Paul tribute while Jamie Foxx’s “Blame It” merged T-Pain, opera, Doug E Fresh and Slash performing the “November Rain” solo into one strange, yet compelling, performance. Stevie Nicks joined Taylor Swift to duet on “Rihannon” and “You Belong With Me” in one of the few performances that felt out-of-sync. And even though the Dave Matthews Band were shut out of any Grammy wins, the group broke out a full choir, horns and string section for a strong rendition of “You & Me.”

My favourite win was Stephen Colbert winning a Grammy for the Best Comedy Album for his A Colbert Christmas. He was also tasked with presenting this year’s ceremony and opened the awards with a brief comedy monologue where he poked fun at American Idol runner up Adam Lambert and the Jonas Brothers and also took a pop at Susan Boyle saying “Justin Timberlake may have brought the sexy back, but Susan Boyle sent it away again”. Colbert also created a buzz simply for producing an Apple iPad on stage. As he appeared to fumble for the list of nominees, he pulled out the device and teased: ‘Jay-Z did you not get one of these in your gift bag. Am I cooler than you?’ And as part of a running joke in which he was trying to win the respect of his daughter Madeline, sitting in the audience of the Staples Centre in Los Angeles, he said: ‘‘Honey, does this make me look cool?’

In the end the 52nd Grammys was a crazy party that just didn't stop since it started. I liked most of the wins, especially those of Swift ('cause she had a monster year). The only qualms I have is that Green Day should have been nominated for more than just 3 awards. I know 21st Century Breakdown was no American Idiot but it was still a great album. Other than that it was a great night for music and it was an awesome show.

*Note 1: all links are from YouTube and we don't own any of the videos, also if any of the links are down leave a comment about it and we will try to rectify the situation

*Note 2: all blue coloured links are non-Grammy links while the purple coloured links are all Grammy related

Peace and Much Love To Ya :)