NBC’s Olympic Quotage For Day 15

I don’t know how it’s been for you, but for me, it seems like the Winter Olympics have gone on longer than the 2008 Summer Games in Communist China. Perhaps it was the Winter and the longer hours of night or just the fact I’ve been totally focusing on these games, I don’t know, but it has felt like the 2010 Olympics have lasted for over a month. But of course, that’s not the case.

Here’s your quotage from Universal Sports yesterday.

UNIVERSAL SPORTS AT THE VANCOUVER GAMES:

NEWS, NOTES AND QUOTES FOR FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2010

Friday, February 26, 2010 — On the fifteenth day of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, Universal Sports at the Vancouver Games continues its five-hour programming block, starting at 10 a.m. ET and continuing daily until the Closing Ceremony on Sunday, February 28. 

Vancouver Olympic News Center and Morning Buzz:

News Alerts:

·       The United States currently has 32 medals.

·       For the first time since 1964, no American woman was on the podium in Ladies’ Figure Skating.

·       Norway’s Marit Boergen becomes a triple gold medal winner in Vancouver with a gold Friday in the women’s Cross Country Skiing relay.

Paul Wylie, 1992 Olympic Figure Skating Silver Medalist (on Kim Yu-Na’s gold medal performance in the Ladies’ Figure Skating event): “Jumps that she executed on were all clean. She had a sense of mastery on the ice.”

Wylie: “The U.S. needs big ticket items in our performances: triple lutzes, triple toe loops, triple Axels (jumps) and speed. They’ve done a great job of perfected their spins, now we just need the jumps.”

Tom Steitz, former U.S. Nordic Combined Team Coach (on the success of the U.S. Nordic Combined Team): “It’s a fairy tale. It took 86 years to get one medal and we got four in a week. I don’t know what to say.”

Steitz (on future success for the U.S. Nordic Combined Team): “The payoff will be seen for generations to come. This was a breakthrough moment. No one – not even me in my most insane moments – would have thought we’d get four medals. The real payoff will be in Sochi (2014 Winter Games) and future Games.”

Picabo Street, 1998 Olympic Alpine Skiing Gold Medalist (on the women’s slalom race continuing despite the foggy conditions in Whistler): “You have to be able to see past the end of your nose The slalom is the easiest race since visibility isn’t as much as an issue, but it’s still a tough event.”

Julia Mancuso (on her interrupted Super G run and ending up 8th): “To know that you didn’t have as fair of a chance as everyone else is definitely heartbreaking. You’re disappointed because you didn’t get a fair shot.”

Mancuso (on her relationship with Lindsey Vonn): “We’ve gotten to the point where we are doing completely different things…but, as an American, of course I’m happy when she does well.  We all want to see the American flag raised.”

Features: 

Call of the Day: Guest Picabo Street correctly guessed the Norwegian TV network’s call of the Men’s Nordic Combined race yesterday on Thursday, Feb. 25, 2010. Host Terry Gannon: “I guessed ‘German’ when it was Norwegian, and I guessed ‘Norwegian’ when it was Korean. I’m not even in the ballpark.”

2010 Olympic Women’s Bobsled Gold Medalists Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse, of Canada, stop by to chat with Summer Sanders, Universal Sports’ Whistler sideline reporter, and to show off their medals.  Later, Summer immerses herself into the world of crazy fans around Vancouver, trying to be the ultimate cheerleader for various countries.

NBC Today Show Weekend Anchor Lester Holt goes behind the science of ski jumping, learning how two different body positions create the ultimate take-off and jump. 

Kenan Harkin seeks out the longest line in Vancouver, meeting people who are dedicated enough to wait for more than seven hours.

MEET THE OLYMPIC PRESS:

Phil Hersh, Chicago Tribune reporter: “No one from this solar system would have beaten Kim Yu-Nu. She was out of this world. “

Hersh (on the interest from editors on Nordic combined stories): “Everyone is riveted. Might only last a few days, but it’s a big story here.”

Vicki Michaelis, USA Today reporter: There’s a good junior (Nordic) program in the U.S. This (success) is not going to end after these Games.

Jimmy Roberts, host of “Meet the Olympic Press” (on U.S. aerialist Jeret Peterson’s signature move “The Hurricane”): “It’s one of the most impressive things here (at the Games). You have no idea how high in the air it is unless you see it in person.”

Does last night’s lack of a medal for Team USA represent a failure for Ladies’ Figure Skating for the United States?

Guest Tara Lipinski, 1998 Olympic Figure Skating Gold Medalist: “It’s a rebuilding period. Girls who are 13 and 14 need to say ‘I need to go and do that and bring home a medal.’ Plus, the scoring system is difficult.”

 

Alan Abrahamson, NBC Olympics and Universal Sports: “How did (Michelle) Kwan not inspire an entire generation of girls? It’s a mystery to me.”

Michaelis: “It’s just a down cycle combined with an incredible dominance of Asian figure skating.”

Hersh: “I think there’s a gap behind the Asian skaters.  There’s a cycle at work here, and it was the wrong cycle for the Americans.”

Lipinski (on winning gold at age 15): “A lot was put on my age, but at 15 you know everything that’s going on.”

Hersh: “We’re seeing older skaters winning as of late…Mirai (Nagasu) will be there again.”

Lipinski: “Age doesn’t matter. You need all these different components to come together, and it depends on the body type. Skaters peak at a certain time; you have to let it flow.”

Hersh: “I think if Sasha (Cohen) came back (from retirement) a year earlier, I think she would have won a medal here.”

Thumbs up/Thumbs down segment:

Michaelis: “Thumbs up to Canadian Goaltender Shannon Szabados for her incredible achievement in the Olympics.”

Hersh: “Thumbs up to Brian Orser (coach of Kim Yu-Na). It’s proof that nice guys do finish first.”

Roberts: “Thumbs up to the Canadian Olympic Team and their eight gold medals, the most ever for Canada at a Winter Games.”

…and the gold medal for the day goes to Phil Hersh.

VANCOUVER REVIEW/PREVIEW:

AJ Mleczko, 1998 Olympic Ice Hockey Gold Medalist and 2002 Olympic Silver Medalist (on Canada’s Marie-Philip Poulin) “She’s the future for Canada. She scored both goals. She made a name for herself in that (gold-medal) game.”

Cammi Granato, 1998 Olympic Ice Hockey Gold Medalist (on the importance of the Olympic gold medal game): “They train so hard, so long for that one moment and then it’s over like that. You don’t get too many opportunities for women in this sport.”

Mleczko (on IOC President Jacques Rogge inferring that women’s ice hockey as an Olympic sport could be threatened by a lack of parity and the domination of Team Canada and USA): “I think it’s very unfair (as to) the timing of those comments on the day of the gold medal game.”

Jeremy Bloom, NBC Olympic Freestyle Skiing Analyst and two-time Freestyle Skiing Olympian (on the Freestyle Aerials final): “History was made (by Jeret ‘Speedy’ Peterson landing the Hurricane) and I think the sport has progressed. Five full twists, three flips — the hardest jump ever thrown in the Olympics. (Russia’s) Alexei Grishin (the gold medalist) also stepped up with a full-full-double full. No one else is doing that trick. He did that because he knew Speedy was going to throw the Hurricane.

Bloom (on Peterson risking it all): “I’m glad he threw (the Hurricane) because he landed it. To have that confidence and do that trick when he hasn’t really been landing it, he deserves a ton of credit. That’s what the Olympics is all about is putting everything on the line.”

Bloom: “There’s a reason no one’s doing it (The Hurricane). Over the next four years, you’ll see aerialists push the envelope. Maybe you’ll see four flips in Sochi (2014 Winter Games).”

John Morgan, NBC Olympic Bobsledding Analyst (on the unity of USA I): “Its a tough, tough four years as they prepare for these Games. If they do as well as they should do, it’s because they are a great (cohesive) team.” 

Morgan (on The Night Train): He explained that the USA I sled was delivered in October 2008 in Park City for testing. It was an immediate hit with Holcomb & Co. because it was much faster than previous sleds. The manufacturer asked to ship it back to Connecticut for a full paint job as it was only coated in primer for testing. “They said, ‘No, we want it now!’ It’s so fast.”

Morgan (on USA I’s outlook for a medal): “If they don’t get on the podium it will be a huge disappointment.” 

Morgan also rates Germany and Russia as medal favorites.

Figure Skating Review/Preview:

In Ladies’ Figure Skating, South Korea’s Kim Yu-Na won the gold medal; Japan’s Mao Asada won the silver; Canada’s Joannie Rochette won bronze; and American Mirai Nagasu finished in fourth place.

On the Ladies’ Free Skate Final:

Kristi Yamaguchi, 1992 Olympic Figure Skating Gold Medalist: “From No. 1 to 8, to see that many clean programs, very few mistakes, shows the depth of women’s figure skating right now.”

Peter Carruthers, 1984 Olympic Pairs Figure Skating Silver Medalist: “It was amazing from a human drama standpoint. It was spectacular to see.”

Sandra Bezic, NBC Figure Skating Analyst (on Rachael Flatt’s performance and scoring): “The judges were really hard on her. She was downgraded on two triple flips. If you can land a double toe after landing a triple flip you should not be downgraded.”

Bezic (on Nagasu’s growing stature in the sport): “The best spinner in the world, absolutely. She has an incredible future because she is good at everything.”

Yamaguchi (on Mao Asada of Japan, silver medalist and the first woman in Olympic history to land two triple Axel jumps in the same performance): “There is a quality about her skating that I love. The lightness, lyrical-ness. I felt like it (still) needs to be tapped.” 

On Olympic gold medalist Kim Yu-Na of South Korea:

Carruthers: “People don’t understand how hard it is to skate that fast and do jumps in a fearless way.”

Bezic: “Details. Subtleties. And flirtation. All (three) on top of the technique.”

Bezic: “She’s unique. She has brought something fresh to skating with her own interpretation, her shyness and, yet, fire. She’s still has just scrapped the surface as wonderful as she is. It would be wonderful if she can continue this and became the face of skating for the next 10 years.”

Guest Johnny Weir, former U.S. champion, 6th overall in Vancouver (on his time in Vancouver): “It’s been a beautiful experience.”

Weir (on his attitude toward the competition): “Coming in I knew politically I did not have as much support as the other two (U.S. men). I am very realistic. I knew coming in (a top finish) was something that was not expected of me.”

Weir (on the future): “I do want to continue skating. I am going to the World Championships (in March in Torino), and then I want to go on a vacation. I want to go to Mongolia and ride a yak!”

Nick Verreos, fashion designer and a former contestant on Bravo’s Project Runway (on the costume choice of Joannie Rochette): “I loved, loved, loved this costume. The beading was gorgeous. I wonder if she knew she would be matching the (rink) boards. And I am sort of old school. I loved the white skates.”

Dick Button, 1948 & 1952 Olympic Figure Skating Gold Medalist (on the peril of comparing skaters among different generations): “No great skater is ever like any other great skater.”

On The Button (questions posed to Dick Button from the audience):

Q: Does the lack of judging controversy in figure skating at the Vancouver Games suggest the system is a success?

A: “Of course there were no controversies here. It’s not only that the judges are anonymous. You don’t know bubkas about what’s going on here (with scoring decisions). That’s the problem with it… That’s why there are no controversies, because nobody knows who is doing what to whom.”

FUN FACTS AND QUOTES OF THE DAY:

**1984 U.S. Olympians Scott Hamilton and Peter Carruthers took their skating and choreography skills to a coin laundry, where they “performed” a pairs routine committed to style, grace and clean clothing. But, in the end, one of the three judges was not impressed and awarded them a 3.2 (out of 6). 

Hamilton: “It’s always the Russian judge!”**

Peter Carruthers and Kristi Yamaguchi also entertained everyone on the show by sporting some of their favorite costumes from their days as competitors.

SCHEDULE FOR UNIVERSAL SPORTS NETWORK – SATURDAY, FEB. 27, 2010:

11:30 AM – 12 PM                   Behind the Games

12 – 12:30 PM                          Meet The Olympic Press

1: 30 – 2 PM                               Vancouver Review/Preview

2 – 3 PM                                    Figure Skating Review/Preview

Now your quotage from yesterday’s USA-Finland men’s hockey semifinal game and coverage of other sports.

DAY 15 DAYTIME HIGHLIGHTS OF NBC WINTER OLYMPICS COVERAGE

“This is the equivalent of a football team leading another team 42-0 midway through the second quarter.”- NBC’s Al Michaels on the first period Team USA lead over Finland

VANCOUVER - February 26, 2010 - Daytime coverage of the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games continued today on NBC with live coverage of the men’s hockey semifinal game between Team USA and Finland. Team USA defeated Finland, 6-1, and will face the winner of Canada vs. Slovakia in the gold medal game. Also airing on USA Network, live coverage of the women’s curling bronze medal match between China and Switzerland and live on MSNBC speed skating pursuit men’s semifinals and women’s quarterfinals. 

Al Michaels hosted the daytime show live from Canada Hockey Place. Joining Michaels for analysis were Mike Milbury and Jeremy Roenick. Mike “Doc” Emrick provided play-by-play, Eddie Olczyk provided game analysis and Pierre McGuire reported from “Inside the Glass.” Below are highlights from the game.

Michaels also sat down with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman during the second intermission to talk about the NHL and its participation in the Olympics.

NBC
HIGHLIGHTS OF MICHAELS AND BETTMAN INTERVIEW
BETTMAN ON NHL PLAYERS IN THE OLYMPICS: “We worry about the disruption in our season by being here for two weeks and shutting down, but what you’re seeing is really NHL hockey.  This is a playoff atmosphere, this is an NHL arena, NHL ice, NHL rules, NHL officials, and NHL players so I’m very pleased with what we’re seeing out there.”
 
BETTMAN ON NHL PLAYERS IN SOCHI 2016: “It’s an open question. I know the media is making a big deal over the fact that we haven’t made a decision yet. It’s great to be here and these Olympic Games have been fabulous. The hockey has been great. That doesn’t take into account that there are count-availing issues that we’re going to have to deal with in deciding what makes sense going forward. You talk about Nagano in 1998, Czech played Russia for the gold medal game, and we didn’t get much of an impact being halfway around the world. What’s interesting to me is, we haven’t said no.”
 
“We have to sit with our Player’s Association. It’s a joint decision. We’ll meet with the IIHF and the IOC, to make sure that on things that we’ve learned about participating in these Games over the last four Olympics, three and this one, whether or not we can do things better. Then  it’ll be a balancing act, and it’s something ultimately that the clubs will decide, not me.”

FIRST PERIOD
EMRICK: “It’s now the semifinal. Excitement across the country gets higher. The competition from the opponent gets stiffer.”

OLCZYK ON USA’S PATRICK KANE: “He has the ability to be a difference maker. I think the pace of this game hits Patrick Kane right between the eyes.”

OLCZYK ON USA’S ERIK JOHNSON: “Erik Johnson has really been a pillar of strength for Ron Wilson and Team USA.”

MCGUIRE ON SWEDEN’S GOALTENDER MIKKA KIPRUSOFF: “This is a monumental meltdown by Mikka Kiprusoff.”

OLCZYK AFTER USA’S SIXTH GOAL: “Six goals and we’re not even fifteen minutes into the first period.”

MICHAELS ON TEAM USA’S PERFORMANCE: “This is the equivalent of a football team leading another team 42-0 midway through the second quarter.”

SECOND PERIOD
MCGUIRE: “Fearless shot blocking by all American players in this tournament.”

OLCZYK ON TEAM USA’S GOALTENDER RYAN MILLER: “He’s probably the most consistent American player in this Olympics.”

MCGUIRE ON TEAM USA AFTER SIX GOALS: “The team’s still paying attention to little details."

EMRICK ON TEAM USA: “It is still two perfect periods for Ryan Miller and Team USA defensively."

THIRD PERIOD
 
EMRICK ON SLOVAKIA TAKING ON CANADA: “Never underestimate a Cinderella team that doesn’t know any better than to just keep going like Slovakia has been.”

EMRICK ON FINLAND’S ONLY GOAL: “Antti Miettinen has scored a scorcher.”

EMRICK ON TEAM USA’S WIN: “There was no anesthetic, this was surgical this afternoon.”

ROENICK ON THE U.S.-CANADA RIVALRY: “There’s no bigger rival for the United States in international hockey than Canada.”

ROENICK ON THE GOLD MEDAL GAME: “Everybody should show up to watch this game on Sunday.”

USA NETWORK
WOMEN’S CURLING BRONZE MEDAL GAME: CHINA VS. SWITZERLAND
Fred Roggin (Host), Andrew Catalon (Play-by-Play), Don Duguid (Analyst), Colleen Jones (Analyst), Elfi Schlegel (Reporter)
China: 12 Switzerland: 6
 
JONES ON CURLING: “Curling is a fickle game.  A lot like how you see different winners on a PGA golf tour. Curling is the same thing.  Some weeks are absolute magic and some days drive you crazy.”

“In curling, the bronze medal game is the hardest one to get psyched up for.”

JONES ON TEAM CHINA “The rise of this team has been nothing short of phenomenal.”
 
“It’s an incredible success story how far they’ve come.”
 
“When they’re on, they’re on.”

JONES ON SWITZERLAND’S MIRJAM OTT: “I’m sure she didn’t sleep much last night and she’s tortured today over the coulda’s, shoulda’s, woulda’s of yesterday’s game. This is a tough game for her to play.”

MSNBC
SPEED SKATING
Dan Hicks (Play-By-Play), Dan Jansen (Analyst), Andrea Kremer (Reporter)
MEN’S TEAM PURSUIT SEMIFINALS
CANADA VS. NORWAY
Advances to Gold Medal Round: Canada
HICKS: “Canada with another Olympic record!”

USA VS. NETHERLANDS
Advances to Gold Medal Round: USA

JANSEN: “Really smart skate by the Americans.”

HICKS ON TEAM USA: “For the second straight time, they have knocked off the clear favorites!”

JANSEN ON TEAM USA ADVANCING: “Is it going to be gold? Is it going to be silver?”

HICKS: “What a day for the Americans for the team pursuit. Both the men and women take out the gold medal favorites.”

HICKS: “Unbelievable skate by the Americans.”

HICKS ON TEAM PURSUIT: “For the second straight Olympics, these team pursuit events have proved to be very entertaining. You turn some skaters who haven’t had great success during the regular course of the individuals events of the Games, but put them in the team atmosphere and it’s been fun to watch.”

USA’S CHAD HEDRICK: “Man, it really came through and we had chance to defeat the monster with Sven Kramer today and we did it. And we are just ecstatic!”

WOMEN’S SPEED SKATING QUARTERFINALS

JAPAN VS. KOREA
Advances to semifinal: Japan

RUSSIA VS. POLAND
Advances to semifinal: Poland

HICKS: “You have to stay together in the team pursuit and that was just proven by Russia, who fails to advance.”

GERMANY VS. NETHERLANDS
Advances to semifinal: Germany

JANSEN ON GERMANY AND THE NETHERLANDS:  “Possibly the top two teams in the world here paired against one another in the quarterfinals.”

USA VS. CANADA
Advances to semifinal: USA
HICKS: “The United States by four one hundredths of a second, upsets Canada.”

JANSEN ON TEAM USA: “They skated a perfect race.”

HICKS: “The gold medal favorites from Canada shocked by the American women.”

Now to your primetime quotage.

APOLO OHNO ANCHORS SHORT TRACK RELAY TEAM TO BRONZE; KATHERINE REUTTER OF US WINS SILVER; CANADA TO MEET USA IN MEN’S HOCKEY GOLD MEDAL GAME

“Apolo Ohno living up to his billing as the best closer in the relay.” – NBC’s Ted Robinson

“It’s going to be emotional. It’s going to be intense.” – Canada’s Sidney Crosby on the gold medal hockey game against the US on Sunday

VANCOUVER - Feb. 26, 2010 - Apolo Ohno, already the most decorated US Winter Olympian ever, added to his medal haul by anchoring the US team that took bronze in the men’s 5000 meter short track relay on the 15th day of the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games. Canada and South Korea won gold and silver, respectively. 

Ohno also made the final of the men’s 500 meters but was disqualified and did not medal. He won three total medals in Vancouver (silver and two bronze), giving him a career tally of eight, which is the most ever for a US Winter Olympian.

Primetime host Bob Costas hosted Jimmy Fallon in studio. Fallon, the host of NBC’s Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, wrote thank you notes to the Olympics while Costas ‘played’ background music on a keyboard.
Costas: “The lame shall walk and the blind shall see in the presence of Jimmy Fallon.”
 
Fallon to Costas, as he “played” the keyboard: “Did you take lessons?”

Costas: “No, I was a child prodigy.”
 
Fallon: “Thank you, speed skaters, for simulating what it would look like if a handcuffed guy tried getting away on roller blades.”
 
“Thank you, Bob Costas and Cris Collinsworth, for having an endless supply of dapper tweeds and pocket squares. If sharp dressing were an Olympic event, you'd wipe the floor with Dick Button.”

Also in short track, Katherine Reutter of the US won silver in the women’s 1000 meters behind gold medalist Meng Wang of China.

With tonight’s medals, the US has won 34 in Vancouver, tying the US record set at the 2002 Salt Lake Games for most medals won at a Winter Olympics. The US is assured of setting a new record by virtue of the men’s hockey team participating in the gold medal game on Sunday and the men’s speed skating team competing in the team pursuit gold medal final tomorrow. The record for most medals won by a nation in a single Olympic Winter Games is 36, set by Germany at Salt Lake in 2002.

On CNBC, Canada held off a late rally to beat Slovakia, 3-2, in men’s hockey and earn the right to face the US in the gold medal game on Sunday on home soil. In addition, Sweden defeated host nation Canada, 7-6, to win gold in women’s curling.

In studio, Costas interviewed Canadian ladies figure skater Joannie Rochette, who won bronze despite the passing of her mother just days before the competition:
 
Costas: “How did you decide that you would go ahead [and skate].”
 
Rochette: “When I first heard the news at 6 am, I told my federation right away that I would skate. I had to skate. The only thing I knew I could do at that moment to feel alive was to get on the ice. There were lots of ups and downs. There were some moments when I just wanted to go home and see my family and be with my friends. I didn’t feel like skating but I knew I wanted to do this so 10 years from now I’d have no regrets. And that’s what my mom would’ve wanted me to do.”
 
Costas: “Everyone speculated, it’s only natural, what must she be feeling? But I heard you say afterwards that you had to put those feelings aside and ‘I had to become cold,’ using your words, and ‘become Joannie, the athlete, and not the person.’”
 
Rochette: “That’s right. It was very tough for me in the short program to do that. I was very emotional right when I stepped on the ice. The crowd was so warm, they were so nice cheering me on. I got so many messages from around the world, not only in Canada. Those messages really touched me and really gave me the strength to carry on and compete anyways. But it was hard to stay in my bubble and listen to my music because my head was in a million places but not on the ice. I don’t know how I managed to skate a good short program like I did. But after the short program, I just told myself, if you’re going to keep competing, I want to do it fully. That’s what my mom always taught me. Whenever you do something in life, whatever it is, you do it until the end and give it your best shot.”

Costas: “Once you had performed so well and you won the bronze medal, you were standing there on the podium. And I read afterwards that you said, ‘I imagined myself as a five-year-old girl because I had imagined this moment, holding an Olympic medal, since I was five years old.’”
 
Rochette: “Yes, I imagined this moment for so long. I didn’t imagine those kind of tears of course. I was very sad that there was one person in the stands that wasn’t there to applaud me. But my family was there and my father was there. And for them, I wanted to be there and it was very tough. And I wanted to be strong for my father and just make him stronger at the same time.”
 
Costas: “Congratulations on your performance and, again, our condolences on your loss.”

SHORT TRACK:
Play-by-Play: Ted Robinson
Analyst: Andy Gabel
Reporters: Andrea Joyce, Cris Collinsworth

Ohno on the 500 meters: “When you have five guys behind you, essentially trying to eat you and spit you out, it can be real intimidating.”
 
Collinsworth on the 500: “It’s well established that short track is a crazy sport. And the craziest event within this crazy sport is the 500 meters. So, for Apolo Ohno to repeat his gold medal winning ways, he’s going to have to be good. He’s going to have to be lucky. And he just might have to be perfect.”
 
Gabel on Ohno: “Every time he steps on the ice, he knows exactly what he’s doing.” 
 
Gabel on Ohno hurdling skaters: “I didn’t know Apolo Ohno was also a gymnast but he showed he might be right there.”
  
Gabel on Ohno being disqualified in the final: “A tough call for Apolo Anton Ohno.”
 
Robinson on Canada’s Charles Hamelin: “Hamelin, a magnificent effort to stay on his feet and win a much-desired gold medal for Canada.”
 
Ohno to Collinsworth on his 500m race: “That was three of the fastest guys off the line I’ve ever skated against. In the 500, you have to be up towards the front if you’re going to make any moves. The race was fast enough to where there was no space to move up. So I was just kind of waiting, waiting, waiting. There was just no space. Going on the last corner, I was coming up on the Canadian guy, and he slipped and then the Korean slipped. I don’t know why they called me for the disqualification. I was in fourth the whole race. Either way, I’m happy with the way I skated. I came here with no regrets in my mind and I’m leaving with no regrets. We still have the relay and I really want to go out there and make sure our guys get a medal.”
 
Ohno on if he felt the disqualification was unfair: “I do. My hand is up to basically protect myself from running up the back of him. So it’s more of a cushion, I’m not trying to push anyone down or anything. But that was the head Canadian ref out there and we’re on Canadian soil. But the boys skated very, very well and it was a good race.”
 
Ohno on if the Canadian ref favored the Canadians with his call: “I think so, absolutely. But in short track, everything is so subjective so I just have to be faster.”

Costas: “That is the nature of short track -- part race, part demolition derby.”

Gabel on Ohno: “One of the best, if not the best, closers in history in the relay.”
 
Robinson on the final lap: “This is what the relay is about - a sprint to the finish.”
 
Gabel: “What an exciting race from start to finish.”
 
Gabel on Ohno anchoring the relay: “Apolo Anton Ohno was doing exactly what he normally does at the end of a race - skating incredibly.”
 
Robinson on Ohno: “Apolo Ohno living up to his billing as the best closer in the relay.”
 
Costas, to Ted Robinson, on short track: “That sport, that you call so well, is simply insane.”

Robinson on USA’s Katherine Reutter making a pass in the quarterfinal: “That got everybody’s attention.”
 
Robinson on Reutter winning silver: “Katherine Reutter will be the building block, a fulcrum of what will be an overhaul of the women’s program.”

BOBSLED:
Play-by-Play: Bob Papa
Analyst: John Morgan
Reporter: Lewis Johnson

Papa on Germany’s Andre Lange: “What a legacy this man has had.”
 
Morgan on Lange: “Greatest of all time in the history of this sport.”
 
Holcomb on their first run: “Everything here starts at the top at the start. The start was huge. We had a great push. We may not have the fastest time right now but we had the fastest push down the hill and we accelerated faster than anybody. That’s what the key is right there so it was huge for that push. The 50-50 [turn], I had a little bit of a mistake but I made up for it and I kept the sled flying like it does.”
 
Holcomb after his second run: “We’re here to play. If you want to play around, let’s bring it. It’s just the first day. We won today and we have to come out tomorrow and do just what we did today and race. We have two more heats and we’re right where we want to be.”

ALPINE SKIING:
Play-by-Play: Tim Ryan
Analysts: Christin Cooper
Reporter: Steve Porino

Cooper on Germany’s Maria Riesch: “She’s like a slinky just keeping the skis absolutely glued to the snow on top.”
 
Cooper on Austria’s Marlies Schild: “She is back and big time.”
 
Cooper on Lindsey Vonn: “Lindsey Vonn has overcome so much adversity, two medals nonetheless in these Games, but here’s a woman who thrives on routine. She likes things orderly and predictable. But this season has been largely about managing chaos.”
 
Ryan on Vonn: “Who knows which of her many hurts has taken their toll on her today.”
 
Vonn on her skiing in the Olympics: “I’m definitely really happy with everything I’ve done here. I got the gold medal that I came here for. I got a bronze medal in the Super G. I know I could’ve done better in some of the disciplines. The super combined, I was poised to win another medal, but I wanted the gold and I maybe risked a little too much. In the GS, I was definitely an underdog but I went after it. And I was actually winning at the very last intermediate time. I’m happy with my performance despite that. That’s just my personality, I never want to give up. 

“I was contemplating stopping after my crash in the GS, after I broke my finger. That’s just not who I am. The Olympics are something special. They only come once every four years. And I just wanted to go out and try. I knew that I probably wasn’t going to win a medal but at least I gave it everything I have and see what happens.

“Unfortunately, it just didn’t go my way in the GS or the Slalom or the Combined. Like I said, I have that gold medal. Despite everyone else’s expectations, my goals were simply to win one medal and that’s what I did.”
 
Cooper on the course: “It is rock n’ roll like a bucking bronco from top to bottom.”
 
Cooper on the visibility: “It’s like skiing blind.”
 
Cooper on the technique of Schild, who won silver: “It’s like her legs are at a rock concert and her upper body is at the opera.”
 
Cooper on gold medal winner Riesch: “She was powering to that gold medal the whole way.”
 
Riesch on her win: “It was really tough conditions but I just had a really good line.”

CNBC, Women’s Curling Gold Medal Game: 
Sweden 7 vs. Canada 6  
Fred Roggin (Host), Andrew Catalon (Play-By-Play), Colleen Jones (Analyst), Don Duguid (Analyst), Elfi Schlegel (Reporter)
 
Catalon: “Sweden won in 2006. They thought about retiring. They wanted to come back for one more chance to win another Olympic gold medal. The patience, the decision, it paid off.”
 
“Back to back gold medals for Sweden!”
 
Catalon: “Cheryl Bernard had one shot for the win. It came, oh, so close!”
 
Roggin: “It is indeed a sport of inches.”
 
Catalon: “Cheryl Bernard has compared the atmosphere in here to a Stanley Cup final, and the fans have been treating this like a hockey game.”
 
Catalon: “This Swedish team does not look intimidated one bit by the pressure of a gold medal game.”
 
“The composure they are playing with right now is very impressive.”
 
Jones on Sweden: “They can read each other’s thoughts. They have been together so long. They bring with them a wealth of knowledge and experience.”
 
Roggin on Sweden’s Anette Norberg: “She has felt the pressure and lived it. She makes very few mistakes.”
 
Jones on Norberg: “Anette’s focus is just so sharp. She is always bang on. Nothing much gets in her way.”
 
Catalon on a close game: “Disbelief inside of this Vancouver Olympic Centre.”

Roggin on Canada’s Bernard: “She carries the hopes of a nation against defending gold medalist Anette Norberg and Sweden.”
 
Roggin on the growing popularity of curling: “For whatever reason, curling has made an impression and no one has made a bigger impression than Cheryl Bernard of Canada.”
 
Jones on Team Sweden: “Nobody expected much of them because they had a very average season. A lot of people thought they were past their due date and expired, like a carton of milk. But yet, they’ve come here and proved that all wrong.”
 
Jones on Canada and Sweden: “Here they are today playing with the Canadian Prime Minister and the King of Sweden, but tomorrow they just all go back to being regular people.”

CNBC, Men’s Ice Hockey Semifinal:
Canada 3 vs. Slovakia 2
Bill Patrick (Host), Mike Milbury (Studio Analyst), Jeremy Roenick (Studio Analyst), Kenny Albert (Play-By-Play), Eddie Olczyk (Analyst), Joe Micheletti (Reporter)
  
Sidney Crosby on the gold medal game:  “It’s going to be emotional. It’s going to be intense.”
 
“We are in the finals now, and we know that our biggest test is yet to come here.”
 
Milbury on USA and Canada’s physicality: “That’s a real trademark of both of these teams going in to the finals.”
 
Roenick on the gold medal game: “Everybody at home, watch this game Sunday!”
 
Albert: “A collective exhale from 34 million residents of Canada.”
 
“Canada has been waiting for the opportunity to play for the gold on their home soil, and they will have that chance on Sunday against the U.S.”
 
“Fans continue to chant, we want USA!”
 
Albert on the final seconds of the game: “Furious pressure by Slovakia.”
 
Albert: “Slovakia falls just short and Canada will advance to play Team USA for the gold.”
 
Olczyk on the gold medal: “You just start thinking about a lot of things. You think about where you came from, all the people that helped you along the way, all the coaches, all the hard drives for mom and dad, all the sacrifices.”
 
Milbury: “I started off this tournament with some doubts about Scott Niedermayer. He hadn’t had a great season at Anaheim, but boy has he come a long way in this tournament.”

That’s all for your quotage.