Author: News on Shuffle

Olympic Update – Figure Skating (Women’s Short Program)

The highlight for tonight’s Olympic action was the women’s short program for figure skating. Especially worth note are two skaters who performed towards the end of the night. The first is a Canadian skater, Joannie Rochette. Even though she found out her mother died on Sunday, she still showed up for practice and performed her short program tonight. The crowd was inspirational, cheering her on every step of the way. I found myself routing for her over the American skaters even. She finished third tonight, giving her a good chance at a medal.

The other spotlight for tonight shines on the 17-year-old American skater, Rachael Flatt. As I watched her perform her short program I couldn’t help but think “17 and full of spunk”. Her program was both sassy and fun, proving she is someone the other skaters should watch out for. She finished fifth tonight, making her far from out of the race for a medal.

The top three skaters at the end of the night were Yu-Na Kim of South Korea, Mao Asada of Japan, and Rochette.

The total medal count at this point is 7 gold, 9 silver, and 10 bronze for a total of 26 medals for Team USA.

More to come tomorrow.

Player nominations announced for World Cup

The nominations for the World Cup have been announced as well as when and where each match is scheduled. Team USA is set to play Serbia March 5-7. The players for USA are John Isner, Sam Querrey, Mike Bryan, Bob Bryan. The captain of the team is Patrick McEnroe. The Serbian team includes Novak Djokovic, Viktor Troicki, Janko Tipsarevic, Nenad Zimonjic. The captain of their team is Bogdan Obradovic. The matches will be held at Belgrade Arena in Serbia. More information will be posted here as it is made available.

Olympic Update – Women’s Hockey + Figure Skating

Tonight’s Olympic action brought us the women’s hockey semifinal and the free skate for ice dancing.

In women’s hockey, Team USA beat Sweden in their semifinal by a score of 9-1. The other semifinal, Canada vs. Finland, had Canada win by a score of 5-0. USA and Canada will meet in the final on Thursday.

In ice dancing, the final component (the free skate) was performed by all teams. The gold medal went to Virtue and Moir of Canada. The silver went to Davis and White of USA. The bronze went to Domnina and Shabalin of Russia. Another American team, Belbin and Agosto, just missed the podium at fourth place.

The total medal count at the end of the day was as follows: 7 gold, 8 silver, and 10 bronze, for a total of 25 medals for Team USA.

More to come tomorrow.

Olympic Update – Speed Skating (women’s 1500m) + Hockey + Figure Skating

Tonight’s Olympic action brought us women’s speed skating and the original dance for ice dancing. In the women’s 1500m for speed skating, gold went to Ireen Wust of the Netherlands, silver to Kristina Groves of Canada, and bronze to Martina Sablikova of the Czech Republic.

The standings for ice dancing at the end of the night are as follows: in first place is Virtue and Moir of Canada, in second place is Davis and White of USA, and in third place is Domnina and Shabalin of Russia. Another American pair, Belbin and Agosto came in fourth. The medals will be decided with the free dance tomorrow.

The big story for tonight, however, was the American hockey team’s upset over Canada. Both teams played exceptionally well, but at the end of the night Team USA came out on top by a final score of 5-3. An impressive victory that guaranteed them a medal in this tournament.

The total medal count as of now is as follows: 7 gold, 7 silver, and 10 bronze, for a total of 24 medals for Team USA.

More to come tomorrow.

Olympic Update – Speed Skating

Tonight’s Olympic action brought us races in speed skating for both the men and women. The men’s 1500m saw Shani Davis win a silver medal for Team USA. Gold went to Mark Tuitert of the Netherlands and bronze went to Havard Bokko of Norway.

The men’s 1,000m short track race gave Apolo Ohno his record-breaking 7th Olympic medal, surpassing Bonnie Blair’s record of 6 medals total. Ohno received a bronze medal in this event. Gold and silver both went to members from the South Korean team.

In the women’s 1500m short track race, Yang Zhou of China won gold while silver and bronze both went to members of the South Korean team. Looks like South Korea has a lot to celebrate after tonight.

The final medal count for Team USA at the end of the day was as follows: 6 gold, 7 silver, and 10 bronze, for a total of 23 medals so far. More to come tomorrow.

Fooling April set to drive down Abbey Road

Fooling April, a band based in Philadelphia, are planning on doing a tribute to the Beatles by performing Abbey Road. The event will take place none other than on APril 1st – April Fool’s Day. This performance is no joke though. The band plans to do this up right. The event will be held at World Cafe Live (3025 WALNUT ST. PHILA, PA). A portion of the proceeds will go towards Musicians on Call. So come out and hear some great tunes while supporting a good cause.

Saturn Shines on Moonlight

The Academy of Science Fiction and Horror Films’ 35th Annual Saturn Awards have shined some light on a few of my favorites in the genre. The happiest little surprise for me was giving “Moonlight” Best Series on DVD. This show only lasted a year, but what we got of it was pretty darn good, if you ask me. I own the DVD set in question and can agree with the award choice. It is a great collection to spend a weekend with. Congrats to Moonlight on this win.

Olympic Update – Alpine Skiing + Ice Dancing

Tonight’s Olympic action brought us the Men’s Super G and the compulsory portion of ice dancing. In the Men’s Super G, Team USA brought home two medals. Bode Miller won a silver medal and Andrew Weibrecht won the bronze. The gold went to Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway.

The top three at the end of the first part of ice dancing were Domnina and Shabalin of Russia, Virtue and Moir of Canada, and Davis and White of America. Another American pair, Belbin and Agosto, came close at fourth place. There is still the original dance and free skate to go before the medals are awarded.

The final medal count was as follows: 6 gold, 6 silver, and 8 bronze, for a total of 20 medals for Team USA. Great Britain got its first gold medal today for the women’s skeleton competition. It is their only medal in these Olympics thus far.

More to come tomorrow.

Olympic Update – Figure Skating (Men’s Free Skate)

The highlight for tonight in Olympic news includes three more medals for Team USA. The first two went to Hannah Teter and Kelly Clark, who got Silver and Bronze respectively for Women’s Halfpipe. The gold went to Torah Bright of Australia. Also tonight was the men’s free skate, where Evan Lysacek, the reining world champion, took gold. The world champ traditionally does win gold at the Olympics, and this was no exception. Silver went to Yevgeny Plushenko of Russia and bronze went to Daisuke Takahashi of Japan. The only thing I was unhappy about with the free skate results was that Johnny Weir was placed 6th, even though I thought he had an outstanding program and deserved at least a bronze medal. I believe, and NBC commentators agreed, that he was underscored. At the end of the day the total medal count was 17: 5 gold, 5 silver, and 7 bronze. The next highest after the U.S. is Germany with 11. More to come tomorrow.