RIO 2016 OLYMPIC FEVER

The Olympics are back.
So I'm back.

OPENING CEREMONY

8:07 Dancing with space blankets!  Look at all the foil!

8:09 Oh.  Space pillows.

8:13 BRAZIL'S NATIONAL ANTHEM. WE ARE IN BRAZIL.

8:20 Rainforest things...

8:21 OOOH RAINFOREST DANCERS

8:23 I admit that I am a little distracted because I ordered KFC via Postmates and I'm tracking my delivery progress on my phone.  I AM HANGRY. I will have no filler commentary until I am no longer so hangry.

8:27 I like this shipwreck immigration choreo thingy.

8:32 My chicken is here!  What did I miss?

8:35 Now we're in a video game!  I dig it.

8:40 I missed a little more because I sat on my mashed potatoes and had to change my pajamas.  Cool.

8:44 GISELE!  Just struttin'.

8:45 ...Just struttin'?  Still struttin'?

8:48 YEEESSS sliding down from this street dancing set-up!  Dudes on a slide!  On a roller thingy!

8:50 So, sidenote.  I've been calling this since the women's gymnastics national competition before the Olympic qualifier.  LAURIE HERNANDEZ, right??!  Her and Simone Biles in the All-Around: a shocking upset for Aly.  Maybe?  Or if not, girl is going to continue to get some serious attention.  Love her.

8:55 I love all the Brazilians (including Gisele) losing their minds singing and dancing to this song.

9:06 Gimme my parade of nations already.

9:10 OHHH YESSS WOMEN'S GYMNASTICS 2012 RECAP / INTRO TO THE 2016 TEAM

9:14 PARADE. OF. NATIONS.

9:16 I seriously always love seeing the athletes loving this ceremony.  Cameras, phones, joyous faces, waving...it's real and exciting!

9:22 YES, Aruba!  Those costumes!

9:23 Independent Olympic Athletes!

9:29 Whoa, Barbados.  Those jackets.

9:32 YESSSS BERMUDA

9:36 Burundi is really pretty.

9:40 OHH CANADAAAA

9:42 Cayman Islands crew looks cute.

9:54 Croatia's checkerboard clothing!

10:07  U-S-A!  U-S-A!  AMERICA!  U-S-A!

10:54 I got distracted by my bunnies and my whiteboard.  Still watching!

11:07 How long until Tonga?  I'm on a west coast delay.  Shirtless dude hasn't even appeared on my TV yet, and he's already a social media sensation.

11:31 THERE HE IS!

11:43 Refugee team!

11:45 BRAZIIIIIILLLL!

SERIOUSLY?

SHAUN WHITE, YOU HAD ONE JOB.

I've obviously been watching a shit ton of Olympics. I think we should note that the new sport of Slopestyle is INSANE. Like, I cannot even with it. Both versions, snowboard and skiing, just totally blow my mind.

I get weirdly into biathlon every year and I'm super pumped to watch more.

Charlie and Meryl. NO WORDS for how amazing they are.

I post the following link for why I love the Olympics. Everyone is working together, because sports.

I'm watching cross country right now-women's sprint. No US woman has ever medaled. I'm pulling for us!

http://www.businessinsider.com/cross-country-skier-given-ski-2014-2

Feel good story man-YAY OLYMPICS

EDIT--
The same Russian skier fell down again today in the semifinals. I hope he's okay. Poor dude.

OLYMPIC FEVER! Live-blogging the arrivals.

Yeah, I'm still alive.  Apparently I only like to blog about the Olympics.

AND THEY ARE BACK.
So I am too.
(Told ya.)

This time, I am in law school at night (HEY I'M IN LAW SCHOOL NOW), so I need to figure out how to watch my primetime coverage another way.  Perhaps I resort to severely delayed videos online.  Whatever.  I'm not missing all of the Games.


8:33pm: I have nothing to say thus far.  We're on a commercial break before the Parade of Nations.   I DO have to say that I am so sad that Apolo Anton Ohno is not competing.  But I am also happy that he'll be around doing his reporting stuff.  It is not the Winter Olympics without him.  Can we also discuss my love of Jason Brown??  And Shaun White.  And Charlie & Meryl.  And J.R. Celski.  I totally choose favorites.

8:37pm: There's Greece!  We are under way!

8:41pm: "No South American country has ever won a [winter] medal."  Interesting.

8:50pm: Aww, Venezuela's flag bearer is DANCING out!

8:53pm: German rainbow uniforms!

8:56pm: Zimbabwe's first Winter Olympian!

9:11pm: Independent athletes!  They're way less excited than the group in 2012.

9:25pm: USA!  USA!  OMG there is a "marcher's eye view" camera.  IT IS LIKE I AM MARCHING IN TOO.  I spot Jason Brown hanging out with Gracie Gold!  Shaun White with the Go Pro!  Shani Davis with a creative wave! All the cellphones and selfies!

9:33pm: Are the athletes from Chinese Taipei wearing Snuggies?

9:45pm: Jamaican bobsledders!

9:47pm: Russia is entering like rockstars.  The music changed, the crowd got loud, and their fur-accented jackets are amazing.

Your Turn, Emily

So.

Long time no...nothing.

Let us get straight to the point.

Olympic time all over again. It seems like it was yesterday when we were in Vancouver, complete with singing and dancing Mounties, Michael Buble and giant beavers.

In case you thought I was kidding. (from http://www.rcinet.ca/english/illustration/htmleditor/beaver.jpg)

I'm pumped for Sochi shenanigans and we ALL know there will be loads of them.

(I'm ignoring London as those were Summer Games and while Summer Games are great, I LOVE WINTER OKAY)

Emily's Olympic Highlights

Well, it's been 10 days since the Closing Ceremony.  I guess it's really over.

LONDON 2012, you were lovely.  Here are my official Olympic highlights.
 

Queen Elizabeth II: Bond Girl

Queenie starred in an Opening Ceremony video!  With Bond!  James Bond!



Gabrielle Douglas

This is my girl!  Loved her since the AT&T American Cup when she was only an alternate (and her scores didn't count for anything)...and outscored the actual winner.  Then she won the VISA Olympic trials.  Then she led the USA team in qualifying.  Then she was the only team member to count for every event in the team finals.  Then she won the All-Around gold.  (Then people complained about her hair? Haters gonna hate.) This is my girl!

And on that note...

USA Women's Gymnastics Team

Nailed it!  McKayla's perfect vault, Gabby's uneven bars, Jordan and Aly on floor, and Kyla to round out high numbers in each event...perfect well-rounded team.  You go, Glen Coco!

Will and Kate watching the Games

Look at them there, trying to be normal!  I am so thrilled to see them do very average things, like sit in $100ish seats rather than a royal box. Look at them being all adorable.

Plus they did the wave, and cracked me up.

 

Phelps/Lochte rivalry/bromance

It started with a bang when Lochte shocked Phelps in the 400m IM...and continued through the team's silver relay...and finally concluded with the 200m IM, when Phelps got his redemption.  Then they rocked it together in the 4x100 medley relay.



Men's Gymnastics little footie pajama pants

 

Little footie pajama pants!



"McKayla Maroney is not impressed"

 I can't hate on her silver medal smirk.  The girl is adorable.  And the meme is hilarious.



McKayla Maroney plays along!

"The pool is closed.. #notimpressed"
 
 
 
Triple Jump

Hop...skip...JUMP!  My boss actually introduced me to Triple Jump via a video shortly before track and field started.  Love it!  They're just like Super Mario in their approach.



Michael Phelps took his medals out to the club

Can you blame him for wanting to?


  
Victory celebrations

 

  
Mo Farah doing Bolt's thing, Usain Bolt doing the Mo-Bot.  I love seeing competing athletes being good sports, such as...


 
 Sam Mikulak during the vault finals

 

"I wanna see this guy!" "Dude, that was ridiculous!"  These were his competitors for a medal, but he really appreciated the talent there.
   

 
Sanya Richards-Ross's hair

LOVE that she had her hair mostly down while competing in an athletic competition.  Her little braid was like a little golden crown.  Golden, like her performance.

 
 
WE WON THE OLYMPICS...AGAIN!

#1 in gold AND #1 in total medals...USA!  USA!
 

Thank you, London, and goodnight.

Here it is - GOLD!

And here it is...
the winner of the first US gold medal/my heart is
Ryan Lochte

OLYMPIC FEVER 2012

LONDON, BABY!

It's finally here! Opening Ceremony day for the Olympics! I took the day off work (paid! full-time job perks!) and am PUMPED for the Opening Ceremonies tonight!

This is my board by the front door:

Alexa and I have been doing the Olympics together since TORINO '06, when we lived down the hall from each other in our college dorm. Tonight we celebrate another one.

Last Saturday, I met some friends at a bar in Hollywood.  By the time I got there, they had made friends with a random Australian...and somehow, the first thing I said to him was, "We are gonna KICK YOUR A** IN THE OLYMPICS!"  That was followed by, "We won Vancouver, and we suck at winter!" / "We're Australia...we don't even have winter. ...You have what, 127 million people?  We only have 26 million." / "Yeah, we have more winners! AMERICA!"

Oops.

Our medal tracker widget is installed on the blog sidebar!  My wine is ready for tonight's viewing!  I am home and counting down!

Who will be the first athlete to win my heart?  And by that, I mean the first gold medal...because remember, I love winning the Olympics.

One year until LONDON, BABY!

Okay, so Alexa and I aren't going to London...but the Olympics are!

LONDON, BABY!

ONE YEAR UNTIL OLYMPIC FEVER IS BACK IN FULL FORCE!

Emily's Olympic highlights

So the Olympics came and went, and as much as Alexa and I LOVE THE GAMES...we hardly blogged about it. That's a FAIL on our part.

I now give you my Olympic Highlights:

The Opening Ceremony whales
I cannot find photos/video of it online, but oh man. Video whales on the floor, spouting up some mist. Awesome.


Canada's Mittens
They are freaking cute and made me happy.


Apolo Anton Ohno
Winning medals and hearts. (Okay, due to my extreme desire to WIN THE OLYMPICS, any athlete who can bring home several medals has basically won my heart.) I may have missed a few speedskating events' coverage, but I always watched Apolo's races. I also loved his announcements of his personal medal count after each win.


Moguls
Bump, bump, bump, launch...spin!...land, bump, bump. AWESOME. I never noticed moguls before, but holy cow this event rules. Plus, just look at that outfit: looks like comfy pajamas.


Charlie White & Meryl Davis
Silver medal in ice dancing! Their "Phantom of the Opera" costumes were amazing! Also, Alexa knows Charlie! GO TEAM!


Shaun White wins again
In the words of Alexa, "GOD Shaun White is just SO much better than everyone else." Seriously. He consistently gets more air and turns out better tricks than anyone. His "victory lap" was scored even higher than his first run. I feel like the event itself was just a formality—Shaun White was going to win, period. And I have to comment on team outfits again: USA rocking the plaid shirt and jeans? Of course we did.


Scott Hamilton's figure skating commentary
"Triple axelllllll....YEEESSS!" "Whooooa...ooohhh..." This is a man who loves the sport, and I love his commentary.


Lysacek pwns Plushenko
LOL RUSSIA. We beat you even without a quad!


Snowboard Cross
I just love how they jump and go whoosh.


Bode Miller wins gold
Hey, he finally got one! Way to turn around that "go big or go home" attitude from Torino. (Notice the trend: I love people who win medals.)


Closing Ceremony hijinks
It looked like a Thanksgiving parade threw up in Canada. Inflatable animals and mounties and singing maple leaves...I DO NOT UNDERSTAND. It was completely unexpected during what I thought was supposed to be a classy affair. WHATEVER, it was amazing.


WE WON THE OLYMPICS
Okay Canada, you got more golds than anyone...but we won more overall medals than anyone, and we all know that's what I really care about during the Games! 9 Gold, 15 Silver, 13 Bronze...37 total medals...USA! USA! USA!

TOTALLY AMAZINGLY AWESOME

Emily (11:58:48 PM): YOU KNOW AN OLYMPIC MEDALIST
Alexa (11:58:58 PM): I shalll blog in the morning
Emily (11:59:04 PM): NOWWWWWWWWWWWWW
Emily (11:59:08 PM): IN THE MOMENT

And here I am, blogging in the moment.
CHARLIE AND MERYL WON SILVER!!! I am SO PROUD of them and it was an amazing performance and GO USA!

Doctor, doctor, what be ailin' me?

I think it's my OLYMPIC FEVER.
As it's been told, Emily and I are totally afflicted with the disease. It came to a head in 2006 during the Torino Winter Games (when we were living together) and then went totally out of control with the 2008 Beijing Summer Games.

That being said, we have serious Fever.

It is also very exciting this year as I know someone in the Games. We're not total BFF or anything, but I went to high school with Charlie White, who competes in ice dancing. It's just so much more thrilling when you know someone there. He is a really nice guy, one of those genuinely good people, so I recommend everyone watch and root for his as he goes for gold!!

It just makes me mad that I have class tonight and I have to TiVo some awesome downhill skiing, snowboarding and other awesomeness.

YAY OLYMPICS

VANCOUVER 2010 OLYMPIC FEVER

Just to make this clear:

ALEXA AND I LOVE THE OLYMPICS. OLYMPIC FEVER, BABY!

We were all about TORINO '06 while living down the hall from each other in the dorms, and bonded again over BEIJING '08 (though we lived apart then). In a matter of hours (even if it's 36+ hours), the madness begins again!

I just signed up for my NBC Olympics email/text alerts (I am all about the medal count), and added some awesome widgets to the blog's sidebar.

USA! USA! USA! USA!

OLYMPIC FEVER!