We have your quotage from NBC Universal for Day 8 of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. As usual, we begin with Universal Sports and its notes and quotes from its studio shows.
UNIVERSAL SPORTS AT THE VANCOUVER GAMES:NEWS, NOTES AND QUOTES FOR FEBRUARY 19, 2010Friday, February 19, 2010 — On the eighth 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:· U.S Women’s Alpine Skier Julia Mancuso is now tied with Bode Miller for most American Alpine skiing medals in history (3) – she won the first medal (a silver) for Team USA in the women’s Super Combined since 1948.· Evan Lysacek became the first American man to win figure skating gold since Brian Boitano, 1988. The United States has earned more medals in men’s figure skating than any other country.· Daisuke Takahashi emerged as the first man from Japan to win a medal in figure skating (bronze).Picabo Street, 1998 Olympic Gold Medalist, 2002 Olympian and Alpine skiing analyst: (on Julia Mancuso’s second silver medal in Alpine skiing at the 2010 Games): “It’s a big advantage when you can fly under the radar. She knew in her heart she could win. She’s a pretty chill person in general. She saw an opportunity to pounce and it was fun watching her do it. She’s thinking, ‘I nailed this course once, time for me to nail it again’, and she did.”Street (on Anja Paerson): “Everyone, including myself, was surprised to see her back in the start gate (after her crash). This is one of the greatest, toughest racers out there. She charges, she attacks this race course. Slalom is one of Paerson’s favorite events, and she’s always the one to beat. She’s like a Mack Truck going down the hill (in slalom).”Street (on Vonn): “She’s skiing through a lot of pain. She’s sitting and waiting for the course to come at her instead of reaching forward. She was looking so far down, further down than she should have been, and made a tactical error.”Street (on Riesch): “She’s had a bull’s eye on someone else’s back (Vonn’s), and anytime you have that, it’s an advantage.”Shaun White, 2006 and 2010 Olympic Halfpipe Gold Medalist (on the halfpipe competition): “Qualifying is this weird limbo of doing just enough to get into the finals, but not doing too much.”White (on his ‘victory lap’ final run): “I didn’t come all the way to Vancouver to hold anything back.”Kenan Harkin, Snowboarding analyst (on Shaun White): “He’s still completely enthralled with winning. Despite all of his success, he isn’t jaded in the least.”Harkin (on Torah Bright’s gold medal in the women’s halfpipe): “A lot of attention on this young lady. She did so poorly in her first run, but on her second…finishing off strong, just elated. Definitely the winning run.”Harkin (on Hannah Teter’s silver medal run in halfpipe): “She’s the defending gold medalist and the only person who could take the lead from Torah Bright.
She put together a solid first run.”Jeanne Beker, host of Fashion TV in Canada (on the fashion in the men’s figure skating competition): “Better than any couture show I’ve ever seen.”Beker (on Evan Lysacek): “Elegance personified, such form…his lines, shoulder detailing. Very on trend, theatrical and dramatic. You can see why Vera Wang is inspired by him.”Beker (on Johnny Weir): “He looked a little Vegas, but it worked. Figure skating doesn’t have required uniforms, so it gives the athletes a chance to say, ‘This is who I am’, by what they wear.”Tom Steitz, former U.S. Nordic Combined Team Coach (on Norway’s three medals in Biathlon yesterday): “This is a huge day for Norway. They think of themselves as owning the Winter Games, and biathlon is a part of that. They took a lot of kids out of school and put them in the auditorium and counted down for each Norwegian skier. This is what Norway does so well. This is how they get their kids ingrained in these sports and they make it tough for the Americans to compete.”MEET THE OLYMPIC PRESS:Andrea Joyce, NBC Figure Skating Analyst (on Lysacek not crying): “(His coach) Frank Carroll has to stop telling his skaters not cry — that’s my bread and butter area!!”Phil Hersh, Chicago Tribune reporter (on Plushenko’s reaction to getting silver): “I thought it was one of the worst displays of sportsmanship I’ve ever seen.”Joyce: “Plushenko did not congratulate Evan at all. But Evan gave Plushenko props.”John Powers, Boston Globe reporter (on Plushenko’s program): “He was leaking points all over the place, like an old Soviet car leaking oil.”Jimmy Roberts, NBC Sports reporter and host of “Meet the Olympic Press”: “Figure skating is clearly in a state of transition…the most amazing thing to come out of last night’s competition is that if Plushenko had just done one more jump, one that he could have done as a 12-year-old, he would have won. It’s ‘element’ary. That’s amazing.”Hersh (on Lysacek’s win): “This could not have happened to a nicer guy. Rarely have we seen this in the new system, Evan knew how to work it. He trained to do this and delivered when it counted most.”Is the sport of figure skating advancing without a quad?Paul Wylie, 1992 Olympic Figure Skating Silver Medalist: “The sport of figure skating is advancing and the quad is very important, but it’s not just a one-jump competition.”Powers: “What I’d be afraid of is once the quad jumpers leave the sport, it’ll go back to just triple jumps.”Joyce: “When they miss the jump (the quad), the rest of their program falls apart.”Hersh: “The sport is more than jumping.”Joyce: “Had Plushenko finished that quad and got the extra point, I think people would have been shocked and booed (if Plushenko had won and Lysacek was judged the silver medalist).Powers: (on the Russian team overall): “This team might not even medal (here in Vancouver). They have no medals and no venues (in Sochi).”VANCOUVER REVIEW/PREVIEW:Since 1990, every women’s ice hockey world championship final has been a match-up between either the U.S. or Canada. The Canadians are the defending O
lympic Gold Medalists.Cammi Granato, NBC Women’s Hockey Studio Analyst and 1998 Olympic Ice Hockey Gold Medalist (on Team USA): “They are having fun. They are smiling and confident. There’s such team chemistry. Finland had no chance (after four first period goals). They are getting offense from everyone, and running on all cylinders.”Granato: “There’s such speed on the U.S. team. New coach Mark Johnson has a whole different philosophy. The focus is on offense and creativity, and not being afraid to make mistakes. There were no summers off.”AJ Mleczko, NBC Women’s Hockey Studio Analyst and 1998 Olympic Ice Hockey Gold Medalist and 2002 Olympic Silver Medalist (on Team Canada): “That’s the expected gold medal match-up (USA and Canada). Both teams are playing well. There’s a lot of pressure on this home team (to win gold in Canada).”Granato: “Team Canada has played with that pressure and they know how to rise. They’re a fabulous hockey team. Both teams (USA and Canada) are playing their best and playing offensively.”Granato: (on the score differentials finding Canada outscoring 41-2, and the USA 31-1) “Scores were lopsided on the men’s side back in the day. There’s a double standard. The U.S. and Canada have great funding and great support. Other countries and teams need that.”Mleczko (on USA versus Canada): “Here in Vancouver, it’s a sea of red and maple leaves. It’s a constant reminder of this (bitter) rivalry.”Mleczko (on development of women’s ice hockey): “There’s improvement in nutrition, conditioning, technology. The game has reached new heights in strength and speed.”AJ and Cammi’s predictions for the women’s hockey tournament: Team USA will win gold; Team Canada will win silver; and Team Finland will achieve the bronze medal.Figure Skating Review/Preview:In the men’s figure skating competition, American Evan Lysacek won the gold medal, with Russia’s Yevgeny Plushenko winning silver and Japan’s Daisuke Takahashi winning bronze.On the judging in the Men’s Free Skate:Wylie: “The right guy won; the reason is because figure skating is about more than one jump (the quad). We’re in a transition time. Evan can look back with a lot of pride. He worked the system. He had an awesome night…the strategy of back-adding those jumps at the end worked.”Peter Carruthers, 1984 Olympic Pairs Silver Medalist and Figure Skating analyst: “This is ridiculous. Lysacek won the gold medal. But I didn’t think the judges were going to give Lysacek the scores and judge Plushenko accordingly, and they did.”Carruthers: “Let them have a rematch. It’s over, Evan won the gold medal.”Kristi Yamaguchi, 1992 Olympic Gold Medalist and Figure Skating Analyst (on Russian complaints about the judging): “It doesn’t matter what anybody says now.”On Lysacek’s performance in the Men’s Free Skate:Carruthers: “Evan’s jumps were straight, and his takeoffs and landing were much more pure (than Plushenko’s).”Frank Carroll, coach of Evan Lysacek (on what he told Lysacek before his skate): “I told him he was a World Champion, he skated with passion, and that he had something nobody else has.”Carroll: “He’s just the most disciplined (at training). He had determination, dedication and the work ethic (to pull it off). Discipline always beats talent. Always.”Brian Boitano (on Lysacek’s mindset): “He just wanted to skate well and draw the line in the sand and say ‘here’s the bar you need to reach (to beat me)’.”Carroll: “(Evan) was very excited about winning a bronze medal…and then the silver. And then delirious (over winning gold).”On Plushenko’s performance in the Men’s Free Skate:Yamaguchi (on Plushenko saying Lysacek isn’t the true champion cause he didn’t do the quad): “I’m offended by that. It’s poor sportsmanship. It just doesn’t look good coming from second place. Plushenko landed the quad, but the rest of his elements were not landed cleanly.”Carroll: “I can’t imagine him saying that, it’s so unethical. Everyone wins and loses, every dog has his day. It was a risk for him (Plushenko) to come back, and he took that risk and it didn’t happen.”Carroll (on Plushenko saying the quad was essential for men’s program): “I think that’s ridiculous because that’s not skating.”Carruthers: “What was amazing – his jumps were crooked in the air. He was fighting through everything. If you judge him properly, Evan’s jumps were more pure.”Plushenko to Andrea Joyce: “This scoring system is new. With the old system – if someone would have done the quadruple, they would have won easily. (I’m surprised) that there is a champion without a quad.”On Johnny Weir’s performance in the Men’s Free Skate:Carruthers: “He’s a good athlete and a good stylist. We’re looking at the skating, not the tassel and the foolishness. It was very well done, very refreshing. Let’s see more of that from him.”Yamaguchi: “He skated wonderfully and with such confidence. It flowed throughout. He was very poised.”On Takahashi’s performance in the Men’s Free Skate:Wylie (on Takahashi): “He was within a point after the short program. He had the highest program components of the (free skate). The judges were sending a message to Takahashi saying they liked him and want to see more of him.”Carruthers (on Takahashi’s hard fall while attempting the quad): “Body slam, 1-2. He rebounded (after falling during his quad jump)!”Yamaguchi: “He has heart of a champion. He never let up one ounce. That’s a fighter.”On tonight’s Ice Dancing Compulsory event on Feb. 19, 2010:Tracy Wilson, NBC Figure Skating Analyst and 1988 Olympic Ice Dancing Bronze Medalist:(On American pair Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto): “They are strong. They don’t have the momentum coming in, but they are definitely in the mix.”(On U.S. National Champions Meryl Davis and Charlie White): “They have complex choreography and the way they use the music in their competitions is better (than any other pair).”(On reigning world champions Oksana Domnina and Maksim Shabalin of Russia): “He’s had two knee surgeries and they missed almost all of this season. We haven’t seen them match up against the best.”“There are three North American teams competing for the podium. Back in my day, it would have been the Russians versus the Americans versus the Canadians. Now the borders are coming down…everyone is shifting and moving around. It’s helping the sport. It’s the best of both worlds and you’re getting t
hat on the ice.”“Always a lot of drama in the dance. Six teams went down in Torino due to the Olympic pressure. These teams are all so close – but who can skate the (Ice Dancing Original Program)?”WHAT TO WATCH FOR ON UNIVERSAL SPORTS NETWORK – SATURDAY, FEB. 20, 2010:Figure Skating Review/Preview: Featuring Evan Lysacek and Dick Button, 1948 & 1952 Olympic Figure Skating Gold Medalist and NBC Correspondent.FUN QUOTES AND FACTS OF THE DAY:Harkin (on wearing iPods during competition): “It’s such rawness for snowboarding. These athletes are so authentic and true to their sport.”Carruthers (on Lysacek vs. Plushenko’s performances, referencing Lysacek’s car of choice, his Ferrari): “Evan’s Ferrari was polished and ready to go, and Plushenko’s had some dents.” Ferrari is an Italian sports car manufacturer and was founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1929.Song overheard at the men’s competition last night: “ ‘You ain’t got a thing if you ain’t got that quad.’”
That brings us to the daytime coverage on the networks of NBC.
DAY 8 DAYTIME HIGHLIGHTS OF NBC WINTER OLYMPICS COVERAGE“I don’t know if they’re going to let me in the country now.”- USA’s Evan Lysacek on competing in Sochi 2014
VANCOUVER - February 19, 2010 - Daytime coverage of the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games continued today on NBC, USA Network and MSNBC. On NBC, live coverage included the women’s cross-country 15km pursuit gold medal final. USA Network coverage included live women’s curling between Team USA and Russia. MSNBC coverage included live men’s hockey with Belarus facing off against Sweden.
NBC’s Scott Hamilton stopped by the studio to recap the men’s figure skating gold medal final from last night with daytime host Al Michaels. Men’s figure skating gold medalist Evan Lysacek also sat down with Al to talk about last night’s victory. NBC’s Dick Button previewed tonight’s figure skating compulsory dance competition live in primetime.
USA’s women’s halfpipe silver and bronze medalists Hannah Teter and Kelly Clark along with teammate Gretchen Bleiler discussed their plans for the rest of the Olympics.
NBC’s Jimmy Roberts commented on the Tiger Woods press conference from earlier in the day.
Coverage highlights include:
NBC
EVAN LYSACEK ON HIS PERFORMANCE THURSDAY NIGHT: “I knew that I skated a winning performance for me. It was my absolute best on the Olympic stage, the most important moment of my life probably and that’s all I can possibly ask for.”
LYSACEK ON COMPETING IN SOCHI IN 2014 AFTER BEATING A RUSSIAN: "I don't know if they're going to let me in the country now.”
HAMILTON ON EVAN LYSACEK’S PERFORMANCE: “I’ll say this emphatically, he’s the best trained, the most conditioned athlete in that event and it showed up on the most important night it needed to. He skated beautifully. He did everything he needed to do.”
HAMILTON ON PLUSHENKO AND “THE QUAD” CONTROVERSY: “He was rewarded for doing the quad triple combination. He’s the only guy in the world right now that can depend on that combination. It’s his greatest trick and it’s his best asset. It’s what he’s going to throw out in front of everybody and he’s absolutely right to do so. He’s absolutely right to say that the future of figure skating should be in the quadruple jumps. You need to raise the levels of competition. The ISU needs to think about that. But you know what? It’s figure skating. It’s about skating and it’s about the entire performance. That’s one thing that I think has been lost on him. You can’t do the same performance you did in Torino and expect to win four years later. The sport has evolved, and you’re showing up at a championship to compete under set rules and guidelines, and you don’t think they apply to you, generally, directly. I think that’s a problem.”
HAMILTON ON THE FUTURE OF MEN’S FIGURE SKATING: “There a lot of guys whose description ended in ‘teen,’ and they’re phenomenal. Nineteen year olds who are doing extraordinary things under this system of judging. They’ll only get stronger and better.”
MICHAELS ON DICK BUTTON: “The Oracle,who else? Dick Button.”
DICK BUTTON ON USA’S BELBIN AND AGOSTO: “I expect very, very superb skating. They’re really marvelous. They’re elegant and they work together so beautifully. They’re also right up there at the top.”
BUTTON ON USA’S DAVIS AND WHITE: “I am marvelously impressed by with Davis and White. I thought their two performances [at U.S. Nationals], first the original and then the free dance, were just special and they just got to me. I just hope they can do that here. The performance they gave, the choreography of it, it was just mesmerizing.”
MICHAELS AND BUTTON ON ICE DANCING NOT BEING A SPORT: “You don’t need a penalty box for it to be a sport.”
Button: “You don’t need to slug somebody and knock them out. Although I must say, some of the Russians are trying to do that right now after the men’s singles skating. Don’t get me started on that.”
MICHAELS AND TETER, CLARK AND BLEILER ON THEIR PLANS POST COMPETITION
MICHAELS: “You guys are the three amigos. Everybody knows you’re good pals. So what do you do now? Do you stick around? Are you going to go home? Are you going to hang out and have some fun here?”
TETER: “I want to go to the beach.”
CLARK: “I’d like to stay and enjoy, get to watch some of the other events that are going on; walk in the closing ceremonies and just kind of enjoy the Olympic experience now that our event is done.”
BLEILER: “And I’m going to go up into the mountains and ride some powder, and come back; watch some of the other events with these girls probably. And definitely walk in closing ceremonies.”
MICHAELS: “We’ve got to sign you up for a sitcom. This is too good of an opportunity to pass up.”
WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY 15KM PURSUIT GOLD MEDAL FINAL
Al Trautwig (Play-By-Play), Chad Salmela (Analyst)
Gold: Marit Bjoergen, Norway
Silver: Anna Haag, Sweden
Bronze: Justina Kowalczyk, Poland
TRAUTWIG ON THE 15KM PURSUIT: “Cross-country looks different every day, and today they’ve thrown a little NASCAR flavor into it.”
MICHAELS ON THE CONTINUING CROSS-COUNTRY RIVALRY BETWEEN NORWAY AND SWEDEN: “Today, Norway and Sweden, the Yankees and the Red Sox of cross-country skiing, will go at it again in the Women’s pursuit.”
SALMELA ON THE 15KM PURSUIT: “It’s like an EKG. You go up a little bit, you come down a little bit, you go up a little bit, you come down a little bit.”
SALMELA ON GOLD MEDAL WINNER MARIT BJOERGEN: “Marit Bjoergen. A second gold medal in as many tries.”
TRAUTWIG ON BJOERGEN: “Marit Bjoergen of Norway has her country smiling again.”
MSNBC
MEN’S ICE HOCKEY: BELARUS VS. SWEDEN
Bill Patrick (Host), Jeremy Roenick and Mike Milbury (Studio Analysts), Mike Emrick (Play-by-Play), Ed Olczyk (Analysts), Pierre McGuire (Reporter)
Sweden: 4 Belarus: 2
MILBURY ON TEAM SWEDEN: “There are simple concepts to every sport and one of them is give and go, and the Swedes do this beautifully all over the ice.”
MCGUIRE ON TEAM SWEDEN: “Even though a lot of people for a period of time thought they weren’t the most overly aggressive team to ever come in, they’re playing aggressive and they have for a long time now.”
TEAM SWEDEN’S DANIEL ALFREDSSON: “I feel today was a big game for us; I thought we answered really well.”
USA NETWORK
WOMEN’S CURLING: USA vs. RUSSIA
Fred Roggin (Host), Andrew Catalon (Play-by-Play), Colleen Jones (Analyst), Elfi Schlegel (Reporter)
USA: 6 Russia: 4
CATALON: “She did it! Debbie McCormick comes through in the clutch and the U.S. wins it’s first in Vancouver.”
JONES: “Curling is often called chess on ice. It is a game all about strategy, so you’re always thinking several shots ahead.”
JONES: “If you’ve never curled before, but you have golfed, it’s a lot like putting on a green. Sometimes you leave it short, sometimes you have perfect weight to get it in the hole. The exact same feel and touch is needed in curling.”
JONES ON TEAM RUSSIA: “I’m really impressed with how this Russian team throws. They have really lovely deliveries and releases as well.”
TEAM USA’S DEBBIE MCCORMICK: “It was a big pressure shot. It was the game on the line, and I wanted to make that for the team.”
BELOW ARE HIGHLIGHTS FROM THURSDAY NIGHT’S CNBC COVERAGE
CNBC
5:00 p.m. - 5:00 a.m.
MEN’S ICE HOCKEY: RUSSIA VS. SLOVAKIA
Bill Patrick (Host), Jeremy Roenick (Studio Analyst), Kenny Albert (Play-by-Play), Joe Micheletti (Analyst)
Slovakia: 2 Russia: 1
ROENICK ON TEAM RUSSIA’S ALEXANDER OVECHKIN: “Alex Ovechkin is a monster and he’s going to continue to impress through this whole tournament.”
MICHELETTI ON OVECHKIN: “Look at him. He’s just going, going, punching guys, hitting guys, high-fives!”
ALBERT ON OVECHKIN: “He’s got one of the great shots in the game.”
MICHELETTI ON TEAM SLOVAKIA BATTLING AGAINST RUSSIA: “Slovakia has hung tough, and found a way to tie this mid-way through the third period. What a game.”
ALBERT ON RUSSIA: “That Olympic gold medal is their prize. It’s their target.”
MEN’S CURLING: FRANCE VS. CANADA
Fred Roggin (Host), Andrew Catalon (Play-by-play), Colleen Jones (Analyst), Elfi Schlegel (Reporter)
Canada: 12 France: 5
CATALON ON CANADA DOMINATING: “The Canadians looking very tough to beat on home ice. They improve to 4-0 after a 12-5 win over France.”
And we conclude with the quotage from the primetime coverage which had plenty of tape delayed coverage on the main network.
BODE MILLER WINS FOURTH CAREER MEDAL, MOST EVER FOR US ALPINE SKIER; ICE DANCING BEGINS WITH COMPULSORIES“He’s not only skiing better, but he seems much more at ease with himself.” – NBC’s Bob Costas on Bode Miller
“Each one of these top dance teams came to play.” – NBC’s Tracy Wilson
VANCOUVER - Feb. 19, 2010 -Bode Miller earned his fourth career Olympic medal, the most ever for a US alpine skier, when he took silver in the men’s Super-G on the eighth day of the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games. The gold was won by Norway’s Aksel Lund Svindel, who capped a recovery from a horrific crash in 2007 that was profiled during the program. Team USA’s Andrew Weibrecht earned Bronze, increasing the US medal count to 20, the most of any nation.
Russia’s team of Oksana Domnina & Maksim Shabalin leads the ice dancing competition after the compulsory program with Canada’s Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir finishing second. Team USA’s Meryl Davis & Charlie White and Tanith Belbin & Ben Agosto are within striking distance in third and fourth place, respectively. Two more phases of ice dancing remain: original dance on Sunday night and free dance on Monday night.
Team USA's Noelle Pikus-Pace narrowly finished out of the medals in women’s skeleton with a fourth-place finish. The anthems of Australia and Norway were played for gold medal winners Torah Bright (women’s snowboard halfpipe) and Svindel (men’s Super-G). On CNBC, the US defeated France, 4-3, in men’s curling and Czech Republic defeated Latvia in men’s hockey, 5-2.
Primetime host Bob Costas interview men’s figure skating gold medalist Evan Lysacek in studio regarding Yevgeny Plushenko’s controversial comments:
Costas: “[Plushenko] spoke even more strongly, subsequent to that, to Russian media, saying things like, ‘If the Olympic champion doesn’t know how to do a jump quad, as he put it, now it’s not men’s figure skating, now it’s dancing. You can’t consider it a true men’s champion without the quad.’ Your reaction?”
Lysacek: “No one likes to lose. A lot of what he’s saying is probably coming from a little bit of disappointment and anger, so, taking it out of context, I can’t be emotional about it or react to it. If the points would’ve been 1.3 the other way, and he had won, no one would say a word. So, it was very close. The truth is that he’s been a force to be reckoned with in men’s skating for the last decade and has been a great role model to me and has definitely pushed the sport. He took some time off, came back, did something no one thought was possible, and came back and won his third Olympics medal - two silvers and a gold - and that’s not something that can be taken lightly.”
Costas: “It’s clear this has been a great experience for you, as it should be. And you’ve been very, very gracious. But I’m just going to run a few more quotes by you because people are interested. Plushenko goes on to say that if you don’t do the quad, the sport itself isn’t progressing, and it’s, as he put it, a regress, if the Olympic champion doesn’t do a quad. Just doing nice transitions and being artistic, that’s not enough. He thinks figure skating is a sport, not a show.”
Lysacek: “It’s interesting that he’s choosing to put so much emphasis on just one step in the program. And it is a 4:40 skating routine. We have to put together our strongest moves, which are jumps, spins, footwork, and we’re graded on everything we do in-between. Interestingly enough, last night, we tied on the component scores, which would be the old artistic score. And where I edged him, slightly, was on the technical score, which means my jumps were graded better than his and my spins were judged better than his. Now, to me, he had a challenge. He had to skate last, he had to wait until the end of the event. He had the most pressure on him because he was leading after the short program. I thought he looked incredible. So, he went out and skated great and for me, I congratulate him and I hope he’s 100% satisfied with that.”
Costas: “Was he gracious to you in the immediate aftermath?”
Lysacek: “Yes, he was very nice. He’s a great guy. I’ve known him a long time. I’ve looked up to him for a long time. I’ve been on the road touring with him. And he came up and said congratulations and shook my hand. And I said congratulations to him because I think it is quite an accomplishment what he’s done.”
Costas: “He was the defending Olympic champion. Now you will be. Will you be back to defend it in Sochi, his homeland, in 2014?”
Lysacek: “We’ll see if they let me in the country. And that’s doubtful at this point.”
Costas: “Vladimir Putin told Plushenko that his silver is as good as gold. I would expect that Mr. Putin should personally greet you at the border.”
Lysacek: “I wouldn’t hold my breath on that one. But that’s true though. I think that the way that that country has supported him is outstanding. He, like I said, has done something remarkable. It’s not easy to come back after three years off. So I hope his country stands behind him because he shouldn’t be disappointed in a silver. He won it fair and square and he did an outstanding job.”
Costas: “The way you handled yourself here in response to that is almost as impressive as your performance last night on the ice. Congratulations.”
Later in the program, Costas and Lysacek were joined in studio by Scott Hamilton and Dick Button.
Hamilton: “He beat probably the best field of Olympic men’s skaters in history.”
Button: “The one thing that you’ll remember, and I can tell you this as actual proof of it, but that [the gold medal] will weigh around your chest for the rest of your life. However, in your mind will be the fact that you skated well. And that will be the thing that will be the most satisfying thing 50 years from now. You’ll find that’s what you remember from this event. It’s a lovely, lovely feeling.”
Costas was also joined in studio by Olympic Correspondent Cris Collinsworth, who introduced a feature on the relationship between Apolo Ohno and his father Yuki.
Collinsworth: “The friction between Apolo and Yuki Ohno resided in the space between a father’s expectations and a son’s willingness to meet them.”
Apolo: “Dad, I’m ready. I made my decision. I want to skate. This is what I want to do.”
Yuki on watching his son during his experiences: “An immense, immense emotional experience.”
Collinsworth: “I’m a big fan of Apolo, but I think I’m an even bigger fan of Yuki.”
ALPINE SKIING:
Play-by-Play: Tim Ryan
Analysts: Todd Brooker and Christin Cooper
Reporter: Steve Porino
Brooker on the icy hill conditions: “I could’ve come down on hockey skates and not punched through this snow. It is bulletproof.”
Brooker on Italy’s Peter Fill, who fell by the finish line: “He came through the finishing line like a curling rock.”
Brooker on Bode Miller: “It’s so much fun this year to watch Bode Miller. He’s more mature. He’s recommitted himself. You can see his determination this year to win. He’s also skiing smarter than I’ve ever seen him before.”
Svindal on wanting to come back after his injury: “I can’t sit still for long.”
Ryan on Svindal: “His silver medal in the downhill at Whistler is a testament to his remarkable resolve.”
Ryan on Svindal: “Svindal takes the lead away from Bode Miller.”
Brooker on Svindal: “There’s not a guy in the field that doesn’t respect or envy Aksel’s ability to crank it up.”
Svindal: “There’s a lot of carrying on to do with all the great champions ahead of me. This is an awesome day.”
Svindal on being back atop the podium after his injury: “This is where I wanted to be.”
Miller on his performance: “I came in here ready to win.”
Ryan on Weibrecht: “It was a race for the ages. A young American warhorse galloped his way to an early lead that turned into Olympic bronze.”
Ryan on Svindal: “The Norwegian Viking proved yet again that he’s the best big-event skier in the world, sailing to a gold medal finish.”
Costas on Miller: “Different attitude. Different outcome.”
“He’s not only skiing better, but he seems much more at ease with himself.”
FIGURE SKATING:
Play-by-Play: Tom Hammond
Analysts: Tracy Wilson
Reporter: Andrea Joyce
Belbin: “If we didn’t believe we could achieve a gold medal at these games, I don’t even see why we’d be going. That’s been driving us for the last four years.”
Agosto: “We have the experience to bring some emotion that nobody can match.”
White on the rivalry with Belbin & Agosto: “Having beaten them now just gives us tremendous confidence and great momentum going into these games.”
Wilson on Davis/White: “Exactly how they wanted to start this competition off.”
Hammond on Davis/White: “That waltzed them into first place. - An impressive start to their Olympic careers.”
Hammond on Russia’s Domnina/Shabalin: “They are threats to win the gold medal.”
Wilson on Dominina/Shabalin: “A mature, sophisticated dance.”
Belbin on her performance: “Satisfied, yes. Because we feel that we skated well. This dance is relatively new to us, we didn’t compete with it all season. We felt really good about being able to do the two patterns. Where we are now, we’re sitting in a comfortable position. We have plenty of opportunity to make a move.”
Wilson after Canada’s Wilson/Moir: “Each one of these top dance teams came to play and these two were exquisite in this performance.”
SKELETON:
Play-by-Play: Bob Papa
Analyst: Lea Ann Parsley
Reporter: Lewis Johnson
Great Britain’s Amy Williams on the controversy surrounding her helmet: “I’m not bothered. It’s the same helmet as everyone else’s.”
Lea Ann Parsley on Noelle Pikus-Pace: “A tough run for Noelle.”
Papa on Williams’ final run: “And gold for Amy Williams of Great Britain!”
Noelle Pikus-Pace on placing fourth: “I had a blast here and I feel like I gave it my best.”
Papa: “Amy Williams was dominant in all four of her runs.”
CNBC, Men’s Hockey:
Czech Republic 5 vs. Latvia 2
Bill Patrick (Host), Jeremy Roenick and Mike Milbury (Studio Analysts), Mike Emrick (Play-By-Play), Ed Olczyk (Analyst), Joe Micheletti (Reporter)
Milbury on Czech Republic’s Jaromir Jagr: “Boy he can bring it. He is one of the top 10 in my book.”
Roenick on Czech Republic’s goaltender Tomas Vokoun: “He doesn’t get the respect or recognition because he is in a down market, but he has seven shut outs and is tied with Marty Brodeur for No. 1 in the NHL.”
Olczyk on Czech Republic: “Their ability to make plays in small areas and their defense did a really good job of putting a lot of pressure on the Latvians.”
Czech Republic’s Jaromir Jagr on taking more slap shots: “It’s a lot tougher to score in this league, so that’s why I am trying new things.”
CNBC, Men’s Curling:
USA 4 vs. France 3
Fred Roggin (Host), Andrew Catalon (Play-by-Play), Colleen Jones (Analyst), Elfi Schlegel (Reporter)
Catalon: “Four heartbreaking losses and the United States finally gets one to go their way. They win it, 4-3!”
Team USA’s Coach Phil Drobnick on hoping for a comeback in the tournament: “We are going to do everything in the last five games here that we can to try and get a few wins and represent our country the best way we can.”
Team USA’s Honorary Captain/San Francisco 49ers Tight End Vernon Davis: “I respect the energy and the time that goes into the sport. This is a unique sport.”
One more press release post regarding CTV’s coverage and we’ll shut down for the night.
