Daily Commentary – Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010 – Not Impressed by US Hockey Win Over Canada

• Dana’s not convinced of all the hubbub. Olympic hockey in many respects has just become another venue for professional athletes to strut their stuff.

Daily Commentary – Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010 – Not Impressed by US Hockey Win [1:36m]:  | Download

Winter Olympic: Miracle on Ice … 30 Years Later … The USA Beat the Soviet Union, Where were You!

MIRACLE ON ICE … WHERE WERE YOU!!!

“Eleven seconds, you’ve got ten seconds, the countdown going on right now! Morrow, up to Silk. Five seconds left in the game. Do you believe in miracles? YES!”

Before the Internet, before cell phones and before  24 hour cable, there was the 1980 Winter Olympics and a story of the USA hockey team for the ages. Never again will such a story and game ever be played as it transcended sports.

It was February 22, 1980 the day the world stood still when the USA hockey team beat the Soviet Union 4-3 … where were you? It was the greatest game and greatest sports upset in USA history. The story of “Miracle on Ice” is one of the greatest uplifting, feel good stories of all time. A cast of college kids put a nation on their shoulder when we needed it most.

It is 30 years later but to watch highlights of the game from the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, NY still brings a smile, pride and a tear to my eye after all these years. It was more than just a hockey game, it was a piece of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Unions played out on a sheet of ice. It was a bunch of college kids against the Soviet hockey machine that was invincible. The Russian Red team had taken down the NHL’s best teams preceding the Olympics, how could a team of college kids even compete.

The rest is things that dreams and miracles are made of.

USA VS USSR: Mike Eruzione goal – The shot heard Around the World

Having grown up a Cold War kid, Miracle on Ice represents such a special moment in time. We deal with the threat of terrorism today, but that is a much different feeling than to wake up and wonder whether there would be nuclear annihilation. It was such a different time. I can remember being glued to the TV watching every second recovering from surgery. When the USA won, I jumped up and down, split my stitches and cried like a baby.

For those who are not old enough to appreciate the moment in time, you have to go back to 1980 and think of the following. The United States was gripped in a terrible economic plight, double digit unemployment, interest rates and inflation. So many people were out of work and gas was rationed. The USSR was occupying Afghanistan and American hostages were being held in Iran.

Do you believe in Miracles … YES!!!

It was a grim time in the US and everyone thought that the USSR was going to dominate the Winter Olympics and do a show of force on the World stage. We now know why that why they play the game.

These Olympic hockey kids made America remember that any thing is possible and miracles do come true. The feeling that this moment in time provided was beyond words.

Tell us what you were doing and your thoughts … 30 years later.

Tragedy Strikes Vancouver Winter Olympic Games … Male Luger from the Former Soviet Republic of Georgia Dies After Training Crash

The Vancouver Olympic Luge track has been billed as the worlds fastest. Sadly, it is now known as the deadliest.

Their is  sad news to report from the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games. Nodar Kumaritashvili, a male luger from the former Soviet Republic of  Georgia crashed and died today during a training run. Before the opening ceremonies even started tragedy has struck the Winter Olympics.  Kumaritashvili lost control of his sled, went over the track wall and struck an unpadded steel pole near the finish line at Whistler Sliding Center. Unpadded poll, oh dear Lord what were these people thinking?

Click on pic to see crash

A men’s luger from the former Soviet republic of Georgia died Friday after a crash during training, an Olympic official with direct knowledge of the situation said. The death cast a shocking pall over the Olympics hours before the Vancouver Games were to open.

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.

VIDEO can be seen here (Warning Graphic) We have dnot to link to the pics, just too graphic. They are easily found on the web. God rest this sliders soul.

Training was suspended following the terrible incident as track officials are investigating the crash. Rescue workers were at the Luger’s side within seconds providing chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. The 21 year old Nodar Kumaritashvili  was then quickly airlifted to a trauma center in Whistler where he would later die from his injuries.

Our sympathies go out to the family and loved ones of this Olympic athlete.

UPDATE I: Olympic Probe: Track Didn’t Cause Luger’s Death

Hmm, if the track did not cause the death of the Georgian luger, why are they making changes to it? Obviously, the IOC is playing semantics and parsing words here. It was not the track, in the sense of the sliding area that caused the sad death of Nodar Kumaritashvili, a male luger from the former Soviet Republic of  Georgia; however, it was the non-padded steel pole that did. That will eventually need to be addressed as a negligent issue in the death of the Georgian luger. 

WHISTLER, British Columbia – Fast and frightening, yes. Responsible for the death of a luger, no.

Olympic officials decided late Friday night against any major changes in the track or any delays in competition and even doubled up on the schedule in the wake of the horrifying accident that claimed the life of a 21-year-old luger from the republic of Georgia.

They said they would raise the wall where the slider flew off the track and make an unspecified “change in the ice profile” — but only as a preventative measure “to avoid that such an extremely exceptional accident could occur again.”

“N”oBama … No Olympics … IOC Snubs Barack Obama’s Bid for Olympics, RIO Wins 2016 Olympic Games

Obama loses the newest game to the Olympics … Game of Olympic Chicken.

Let us just say first, Congratulations to RIO. Now let’s discuss Barack Hussein Obama and his naive armature involvement in the Olympic process.

An International and Olympic sized embarrassing loss for the Obamamessiah who is supposed to be loved by the International community. After all the Obama speeches overseas apologizing for the actions of the United States, what did America get for it? Nada, niet, nothing! Ouch, this is going to leave a mark as Barack Obama wins the first ever Olympic gold medal for the “egg of face” toss.

Via Drudge Report

In the long run, interjecting himself into the Olympic bidding process should make us all question Obama’s judgment. There is a reason why no President has ever done this before. Mark my words, now that Obama has Olympic egg on his face, there will never be another after. This involvement by Obama harkens back to when “The One” put himself center square in the Cambridge, MA police, Gates, Crowley situation where the President said “they acted stupidly.” Both situations were beneath the office of the President, but not for a community organizer.

Barack Obama fails to win 2016 Olympic Games for Chicago as Rio de Janeiro wins the 2016 Olympics Games. During Obama’s months as President he has been very good at blaming George W. Bush for everything the he presently faces. With this embarrassing loss on the International stage, will Obama BLAME IT ON RIO! Sadly, Democrats are even blaming the Chicago loss of the Olympics still on GWB. These people take credit for nothing and frankly, the American people are growing weary of this gutless leadership. Maybe, just maybe, the folks from RIO did a better job than Barack Obama. Is that a possibility in Obamaland?

OK, so it wasn’t health care, climate change or war. Still, President Barack Obama’s high-profile failure to win the Olympics for Chicago could feed negative narratives already nipping at his heels — that he’s a better talker than closer, more celebrity than statesman.

And this could hamper his efforts on the weightier issues.

Despite Obama’s fabled charm and powers of persuasion, his in-person plea for Chicago to host the 2016 Summer Games fell flat. It was a hugely embarrassing defeat. His adopted hometown — considered a front-runner heading into Friday’s voting — didn’t just lose, it took last place, shocking nearly all by getting knocked out in the first round while the remaining three contenders moved on.

What was President Barack Obama thinking? Why would any involve them self in such an event that was beneath their office where the risk/reward was off the charts on the side of risk. How does this speak to his future involvement in negotiations?  Does Barack Obama actually believe his press clippings that he is so adored Internationally that his mere presence would sway the IOC into picking Chicago to host the 2016 Olympic Games over Madrid, Tokyo and Rio?

Going before the IOC in a beg for the 2016 Olympics games was a lose-lose scenario. How could anyone be so foolish and naive to put so much political capital on the line for a game of chance?  Talk about your back fires. This Olympic failure will only add to the doubts that people already had regarding Obama’s presidency as who struggles with Obamacare, the economy, unemployment and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  

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43% of Americans Think Barack Obama’s Trip to Copenhagen, Denmark to Beg for Olympics is a Bad Idea … Lost in Smallness

Barack Obama, Lost in Smallness.

There is a reason why no sitting US President has ever gone, hat in hand, to beg for the Olympics. Because it is beneath the office of the Presidency. Just how much is this President willing to diminish the office? Obama has traveled abroad to apologize for the United States and now he travels abroad on the US tax payers dime to beg for the 2016 Olympics for his Chicago buddies.

Ok, this healthcare thing is not going well, maybe they’ll listen to me in Copenhagen?

What is President Barack Obama thinking? With all that is going on in the United States and a request for more troops in Afghanistan by the military commander on the ground, frolicking off to Copenhagen to beg for the Olympics?

43% of Americans think it is a bad idea for Obama to travel to Copenhagen, Denmark to shill for Chicago to the IOC, International Olympic Committee, for the 2016 Olympic games, while 36% think its a good move. 21% have no opinion and are too caught up in Dancing with the Stars.

H/T: Don Surber

Oh good grief, let’s hope the IOC gives the games to the nut jobs from Tokyo, Japan because they are stating that the 2016 Olympic Games might just be the last because of global warming. YOU WIN!!! Anyone who is this insane deserves the Games. See, instead of Obama, they should have sent Al Gore … how come Gore didn’t not think of this moonbattery first?

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Is This Really Presidential? Barack Obama off to Copenhagen to Beg for Chicago Olympics

Is this really Presidential? If your answer is yes, then ask yourself why no other President has done it before? One might ask The One what his priorities are?

Just last week Obama said he wouldn’t make the trip to Copenhagen, citing his need to press for health care reform legislation instead. White House officials mentioned the economic benefits the U.S. would receive from a winning Olympics bid in explaining the president’s sudden change of heart.

First Lady Michelle Obama was originally slated to represent Chicago before the IOC but will now share the duties with her husband.

The United States is in debt up to their eyeballs, national unemployment is near 10% with many states already in double digits, recession, two wars, one in Iraq and the other in Afghanistan where the military commander has asked for more troops, Obamacare is in real trouble and Iran is pushing the nuclear envelop. With all that, President Obama is off to Copenhagen to beg for the Olympics to come to Chicago.

Obamacare is already a failure for the President. As Jules Crittendon states, this is an Olympic sized gamble for Obama. How embarrassing will it be now if Chicago is not granted the 2016 Olympics? Imagine the IOC and International Committee having the opportunity to knock the US down a couple of pegs by giving it to another country after Obama goes hat in hand to beg for the games? That would never happen, would it?

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We Made them an Offer they Couldn’t Refuse: FOX-TV Chicago Ordered not to Run ANTI-OLYMPICS STORY

Chicago style politics on display once again … Via the Drudge Report, local Fox TV affiliate ordered not to run the anti-Olympic story. Or what? So much for reporting both sides of the story. Since when does anyone have a right to tell a media outlet what they can and cannot run? This is still America, right?

It’s a Chicago message, it means Luca Brazzi sleeps with the Pizza

A local TV station that reported on Chicagoans NOT wanting the Olympics has been told NOT to run the report again, insiders tell the DRUDGE REPORT!

The Chicago Olympic Committee told FOX Chicago that its broadcast “would harm Chicago’s chances” to be awarded the games.

The station’s news director ordered staff to hold fire after the report aired once last Thursday morning, claims a source.

Breitbart TV has the Fox News-Chicago broadcast of Chicagoans not wanting the 2016 Olympics in their city.

Chicagoans for RIO.

“I back the bid, I back the bid, I back the bid for Rio de Janeiro.”

It would appear that not everyone in Chicago wants the 2016 Olympics. As one individual states, with the budget shortfalls that Chicago has, spending billions of dollars to bring the Olympics here is going to do any good.

“Let Gary, Indians get the Olympics, I don’t give a damn but not here”.

 Don Surer has much more including his original post from last week including the cost overruns from the 1976 Montreal Olympics that to 30 years to pay off.

Maybe Barack Obama can send the tax payers stimulus money to Chicago. I am sure he will claim that this is a shovel ready project.

Truly Special: Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Founder of the Special Olympics is Dead at the Age of 88

This Kennedy truly was “Special” and it had nothing to do with politics. A real winner in life in so many respects has passed.

“Let me win, but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.”

Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the Founder of Special Olympics and the sister of the late JFK has passed away at the age of 88. She had been hospitalized since last week in critical condition. Sadly, one of the true champions of special needs and the mentally disabled has died. With family members at her side at the Cape Cod hospital in Barnstable, Massachusetts, Eunice Kennedy Shriver passed away.

Eunice Kennedy Shriver is survived by two siblings, her husband, Robert Sargent Shriver Jr., five children, including NBC reporter and California first lady Maria Shriver, and 19 grandchildren. The is also survived by the millions of Special Olympians that have taken part in Special Olympics and the present 3.1 million people with mental disabilities who participate in 228 programs in 170 countries.  

Rest in Peace and Thank you!

“I love to be with my special friends, and I like to learn from them and their persistence, and their guts, and their courage,” Shriver said of her work with athletes with disabilities. “This is the future.”

Listen to some inspirational words from Eunice Kennedy Shriver,

There was no greater champion for those with disabilities. Shriver was inspired by her older sister, Rosemary Kennedy, who was mentally handicapped when she helped form and was the spirit behind the Special Olympics.

In her book about Special Olympics, “Hearts of Gold,” author Sheila Dinn writes: “In the summer of 1962, 100 young people with mental retardation came to Mrs. Shriver’s camp to run, swim, play soccer, and ride horses. They enjoyed the camp and loved the sports they learned, and by the end of the summer they were ‘faster and stronger’ than ever before. The doctors and experts had been wrong!”

The first Special Olympics took place in 1968. In a comment from that first event Eunice Kennedy Shriver said the following, “Special Olympics teaches that all human beings are created equal, in the sense that each has the capacity and a hunger for moral excellence, for courage, for friendship and for love.” Some thing that many of us need to remember.

“If I (had) never met Rosemary, never known anything about handicapped children, how would I have ever found out? Because nobody accepted them anyplace,” she told National Public Radio in 2007

Statement from Special Olympics:

“We are tremendously grateful for the extreme outpouring of support and prayer from the public as we honor our beloved founder,” Special Olympics President and Chief Operation Officer Brady Lum said Tuesday in a statement.

“Today we celebrate the life of a woman who had the vision to create our movement. It is an enormous loss, but I know we can rest assured that her legacy will live on through her family, friends, and the millions of people around the world who she touched and transformed.”
 

Scared Monkeys Radio Daily Commentary – Wednesday, February 4, 2009 – Where Are Today’s Role Models? Why Did Michael Phelps Apologize?

• Dana questions the sincerity of Michael Phelps’s apology surrounding his recent “bong hit” photos.

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Michael Phelps Olympic Bong Caption Contest

Michael Phelps Caption Contest

Michael, what were ya thinking? Sometimes it’s best to just retire after winning 8 gold medals in one Olympics.

Add your best captions …