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July 1, 2006
Happy Canada Day!
Wishing our Canuck friends a happy Canada Day.
I wonder how many of you are spending it moving.
Posted by noelle at 2:34 PM | Comments (20)
Where's Apolo?
Apolo at the White House - Click photo for details
photo by Robert Kennington via flickr
Posted by noelle at 10:49 AM | Comments (23)
Marquette Mining Journal | Speedskating camp attracts roller sport athletes
... Young skaters from around the country all took one step closer towards achieving their Olympic goals by attending a week-long speedskating camp at the Berry Events Center this week.
“Hopefully this camp leads to the future of the USOEC program,†said USOEC speedskating coach Jimmy Jang. “Hopefully these kids have good technique and can skate good when they come to the USOEC program, they will be strong and ready to go.â€
The week-long camp has produced a number of USOEC speedskaters, including Barry Winslow of Midland, who is now starting his first year at the USOEC.
Wow, longtime fans watched Barry grow up -- he has been a fan favorite at Nationals over the years. Great to see him moving up to the Marquette program, having recovered from a serious injury at the 2004 Nationals in Cleveland!
Posted by noelle at 9:11 AM | Comments (6)
June 30, 2006
Alex Izy's Fourth of July
Bay City Times | Hometown hero has Bay City all fired up again
Alex Izykowski is coming home to ignite the Fourth of July Fireworks Festival. The 22-year-old Olympic bronze medal speedskater from Bay City will officially start Monday's final day of the Bay City Fireworks from remote control at the Wenona Park Friendship Shell at 10:05 p.m.
''I was on the ice earlier this week and I had a flashback of training in the Olympic Palavela before our competitions,'' said Izykowski. ''It was kind of weird to think that I was there only four months ago.''
In the article, Alex also talks about the difficulties U.S Speedskating is going through as well as what it's like training without Apolo.
Thanks to Trisha for sending in this article!
Posted by noelle at 6:42 PM | Comments (3)
More on the White House dinner
WaPo | There's Good Rockin' Tonight
If there was ever going to be a fun official dinner in this White House, last night's affair would be it. The guest list was an interesting mix of sports luminaries and political power.
The 24-year-old Olympian Ohno was attending his first White House dinner and said he went online to research dinner-partner etiquette, but still had one question. "Where do I turn after each course? To the right, the left?" (You switch after every course.)
Also: Guest list for the official dinner honoring Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi
"Apolo A. Ohno, speed skater, U.S. Olympic team and U.S. national team, and Maria John Nicholas Kelly"
Posted by noelle at 9:30 AM | Comments (15)
June 29, 2006
Official dinner in honor of Japanese prime minister
AP | Bush and Koizumi sing diplomatic duet
... the Bushes were hosting a formal dinner, the eighth of their White House tenure in honor of [PM] Koizumi, who leaves office in September. The guest list included two Japanese-American Olympic athletes — speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno and ice skater Kristi Yamaguchi.
Hey, remember the Stray Cats? Brian Setzer is performing this evening and you can read all about the place settings (I find it hilarious that they chronicle these things in such minute detail) and the dinner menu (she-crab soup - yum!):
- Table Settings and Entertainment at the Official Dinner Honoring His Excellency Junichiro Koizumi, Prime Minister of Japan
- Menu for the Official Dinner Honoring His Excellency Junichiro Koizumi, Prime Minister of Japan
The place settings *are* really beautiful though!
Place settings for President Bush, left, and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, right, are shown for an official dinner in the State Dining Room of the White House, Thursday, June 29, 2006, in Washington. The China set was commissioned under the Clinton administration to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the White House. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Is it me or does it look kinda crowded? George's spoon is on top of Junichiro's fork... Those plates must be gigantic.
Posted by noelle at 8:40 PM | Comments (13)
Skaters of the Caribbean
This is too good to miss - 'Pirates of the Caribbean' movie poster as reimagined by Yano. Click the image for a larger view!
Posted by noelle at 9:21 AM | Comments (25)
June 28, 2006
Apolo in InStyle and hobnobbing with heads of state
AAO.com reports that Apolo is featured in the July issue of InStyle magazine, on newsstands now.
In addition, Apolo will be a guest at the White House state dinner in honor of Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visit to the U.S.
No word on whether he'll accompany Koizumi (a huge Elvis fan) and W. on their jaunt to Graceland later in the week.
[update:] Reader RV has a suggestion: "Consider checking the 6-29-06 schedule of the C-SPAN channels. They often do these live or record it and show it later. I used to follow political events and C-SPAN is an excellent resource to see their reporters briefly interview guests coming and going at White House affairs."
thanks to Liz for the link to this photo:
Actress Dominique Swain managed to slow down speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno - photo by Michael Caulfield/WireImage via InStyle.com
Posted by noelle at 11:56 AM | Comments (42)
June 26, 2006
Speaking of short trackers and auto racing....
A couple short track legends are connected with motor sports in the press today:
The Age | Steve's new formula
STEVEN Bradbury, who famously became Australia's first Winter Olympics gold medallist four years ago when he was the last man standing in the 1000-metre speed skating final in Salt Lake City, has ditched his skates and turned to motor racing. Bradbury... has gained a motor sport competition licence and is now racing in Queensland's formula Vee series. In fact next month, he will tackle the final round of the category's nationals in Sydney. Mind you, with a field of 42 entered, it might be a bit much to hope that 41 will fall by the wayside allowing him the chequered flag.
Also, Marc Gagnon (who at one point was said to be considering pursuing an auto racing career after retiring from short track) put in an appearance at some sort of Canadian motor sport function in Montreal over the weekend - I don't pretend to understand the lingo: Inside Track | Canadians wowed by A1 Team Canada A1GP car in Montreal
Marc Gagnon (second from right) with A1 Team Canada
photo courtesy a1gp.com
Posted by noelle at 6:33 PM | Comments (26)
June 25, 2006
Video clip: Flou tries his hand at auto racing
Download this clip to see François-Louis Tremblay take a racecar for a spin. This is a fun little segment that aired as part of CBC's coverage of the 2006 Worlds a couple of months back.
Clip provided by Caro, edited by Sonia, hosted by Maggie. Thanks, ladies!
Posted by noelle at 3:25 PM | Comments (13)
Do kids today care about the Olympics?
Olympic coverage by the Colorado Springs Gazette today (both articles have mentions of Apolo):
No vacancy
Almost no room at the inn as far as the Olympic training center in Colorado Springs is concerned...
USOC fears that young people don’t care about Games
Sports like snowboarding, freestyle skiing and short-track speedskating have been added [to the Olympics] in an attempt to thwart the Games’ declining popularity among young adults. [USOC CEO Jim] Scherr said... how the Games are presented on TV, the Internet and in person is also important.Scherr called “startling†figures that showed only 5 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds surveyed said they could relate to the U.S. Olympic team, that 39 percent of this age group is less interested in the Games than in the past.
The enormous amount of money the IOC brings in by selling Olympic broadcast rights in the U.S. market subsidizes other countries' coverage of the Olympic Games -- and U.S. viewers are then subjected to inferior coverage! Because most countries pay the IOC far less than we do, they have more flexibility in how they cover the Games and can provide live broadcast and Internet coverage of events.
NBC's current model led to very lackluster coverage of the Torino Games this year as they held most coverage for the prime-time broadcast in order to earn back in ad dollars what they paid for the broadcast rights.
This model may have worked before the advent of broadband Internet, but no longer. NBC needs to end the charade that the Internet doesn't exist or that viewers don't know the outcome of events that took place hours earlier that they're forcing us to wait to see on tape-delay. If they want younger viewers to care, they need to begin by fully embracing the Internet.
Posted by noelle at 12:28 PM | Comments (34)
Marquette Mining Journal | USOEC skater rides for rehab
Congrats to USOEC skater Kyle Carr, who won a 40-mile bike race in Marquette yesterday. Great to see Kyle back in action after missing last season due to injury!
Posted by noelle at 10:02 AM | Comments (6)