Strange choice for the official song of the 2012 London Olympics?

So today I discovered that this is the official song of the 2012 London Olympics


Don't get me wrong, it's a cool song. I really like the syncopated piano notes at the beginning and the epic guitar riffs at the end. And I adore Muse; they are my favorite band after all. But when I think "official Olympic song" I think more this:

Not this:

I mean, the song starts off innocently enough, but then it gets pretty hardcore. I'm envisioning mosh pits at the opening ceremonies.

What do you all think? Is it an awesome song that will motivate the Olympic athletes? Or is it an unsuccessful attempt try to stand out and be different? I will say this: In a way I kind of like that they didn't just pick some cliche pop song. Despite the fact that I think the lyrics in this song are kind of cliche and hokey, the music is not and for that, I stood up and took notice. Maybe they were trying to ruffle a few feathers by choosing a more hardcore/alternative rock song because that gets more publicity. Then again, it can't be getting that much publicity if I'm just now finding this out and Muse is my favorite band. But I don't live in the UK where Muse is much more popular so maybe this has been brought up over there.

Reflections of an Olympic Figure Skating Season

As the Olympics began this year, I was skeptical that any of the four figure skating events would inspire or delight me. As a long time figure skating fan, my passion for the sport has waned quite a bit in the past few years. I used to know the name of every skater from every country and I could rattle off the Olympic medalists in each of the four disciplines from every Olympics since 1976.

I can't do that anymore.

Skaters' names from the past elude me and skaters' names of the present strike no familiarity. The 2006 Torino Olympics were a huge disappointment in terms of stand-out performances so I was expecting Vancouver to be the same. I assumed my passion for figure skating had ebbed.

But Vancouver surprised me. Rather than holding back as so many skaters did in Torino, everyone seemed to skate with wild abandon. Say what you will Evgeni Pluschenko, but Evan Lysacek was brilliant. His jumps were smooth, his footwork was sharp, and his choreography perfectly timed.

The ice dancing event this year was by far the best in Olympic history. Nowhere in the scope of the competition was there outcry over the corruption of the judging panel, and for the first time a North American team won gold and silver. Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada, along with Meryl Davis and Charlie White of the United States skated two of the most inspiring Olympic performances I've ever seen. I never wanted to be a Canadian so much in my life as I did the night they won their gold medal and the entire arena swelled with pride and emotion as everyone sang "O Canada" together.

The ladies event did not dazzle me as much as the other disciplines (which is a first for me as the ladies event what I used to always look most forward to) but what it lacked in bedazzlement, it made up for in emotion as Joannie Rochette, only days after experiencing the death of her mother, skated to a bronze medal finish. The strength she found to pull off a performance like that was so heart-wrenching and I was equally touched by Scott Hamilton's commentating through his own tear-filled eyes.

So while my love of this sport may have subsided over the years, it will never fully go away. The Olympics will always bring out a very opinionated side of me that will suck me right back into the world of a passionate skating spectator. I'm already setting my DVR for 2014 in Sochi.

It's not the skaters, it's the scoring system

Now that we are a few days into the Vancouver Olympics, and we are a day away from crowning a new (hopefully, as in, not a repeat) Olympic men's champion, I can't let this opportunity go by without giving some of my own colorful opinions to the proceedings. Think of me as a much younger, better looking, and more comprehendable version of Dick Button (without the gold medals and skating experience of course).

In my previous post where I lamented about the absence of Michelle Kwan at these games, I think I may have unfairly snubbed some really talented skaters that are competing this year. But I think there's a reason why skating hasn't moved me in a really long time and it has nothing to do with the lack of heart, talent, and passion these skaters possess and everything to do with the new scoring system.

Don't get me wrong, I was the first person who cried foul in 2002 when Jamie Sale and David Pelletier were robbed of gold only to be given a band-aid remedy of awarding dual gold medals to make up for the corrupt back-alley dealings that had been happening for years in skating. Scores "awarded" under the 6.0 system more often than not had very little to do with what was happening on the ice. So when the system was completely scrapped in favor of a new "code of points" I was hopeful that this new system would give dignity back to this beautiful sport.

But what it gave back in dignity it took away in variety. When I watch skating now, all I can see is a system that has created robots out of skaters. In an attempt to collect the most points possible, every skater is doing the same moves, the same spins, and the same combinations. Nowhere was this more evident than in the men's short program last night. Every program was completely mapped out the same way. EVERY. SINGLE. PROGRAM. Each man jumped three times in a row, did a footwork sequence, a spin, a footwork sequence, then another spin. There was a tad bit of variety in the order of the spins and footwork sequences, but I just couldn't believe how blatantly these men were getting the jumps "out of the way" rather than incorporating them into the program in a place that they were suited to the music. I lost count the number of times I saw men completing their first jump what seemed like before the music had even started. There was no intro to the program. It was "start music, do some crossovers, JUMP!"

So last night's event epitomized for me what's left me feeling cold about figure skating in recent years. Don't get me wrong, there are some wonderful skaters out there who do a great job with the hand they've been dealt, but on the whole, when the program's over, I'm left feeling nothing about the actual skating. I feel happy, excited, or disappointed for the skater who does well or who falters, but the actual program makes me feel nothing.

There were two exceptions so far in this Olympics though. The Chinese pair of Pang and Tong, who won the silver medal on Monday night and who, if they hadn't been in 4th place after the short program, might have defeated the sentimental favorite of Shen And Zhao due to their PERFECT, heartfelt, and musical routine to "The Impossible Dream." I was absolutely spellbound by this team. They weren't just throwing elements into their program to collect points, they had actually put thought into what moves go with the highs and lows of the music.

The other skater was Daisuke Takahashi's short program last night. It was musical, innovative, and it stood out from the other men.

Going into the long program though, Evan Lysecek is my sentimental favorite being from the U.S. and seeing as how he redeemed himself from the disaster of his short program four years ago in Torino, but at this point, I am rooting for anyone with a name other than Evgeni Pluschenko. Not only is his skating painful to watch (other than what he does in the air), but his bad attitude leaves me wishing for Tonya Harding to be lurking somehwhere nearby. Whether it's Lysacek or Takahashi (who are virtually tied with Pluschenko even WITHOUT a quad/triple combination), nothing would make me happier than to see that smirk wiped off his face.

Even with the flaws of the new scoring system, I have to say, that despite some needed improvements, it has helped the sport. No longer do talented skaters have to "wait their turn" in order to be a champion. Skaters are no longer judged before they even step on the ice, but instead are assessed on each individual performance and each element they complete. If I had my wish though, it would be to find a way to blend the originality of the programs under the 6.0 system with the fairness of the new system. If we could do that, then skating would be a sport worth getting excited about again.

Show Me the Kwan

I didn't think I was going to be excited about the Olympics this year. I've always been a Winter Olympics junkie (well not always - they didn't interest me until 1994 when the whole Nancy & Tonya scandal was ensuing, but it made me a long-time figure skating fan) but this is the first Olympics that has experienced the full-on absence of Michelle Kwan.

Michelle has always been my favorite skater. I have rooted for her since the 1994 Nationals when, in the wake of the world's attention on Nancy and Tonya, Michelle jumped to second place and was named an alternate to the Olympic team after Nancy was granted a place despite her injury. She was a beacon of hope in a sport that had been besmirched by goons and hit men.

In 1998 she was the odds-on favorite to win the gold medal in Nagano after a near-perfect performance at the U.S. Nationals. But she piqued too soon and, in heartbreaking fashion, watched her wunderkind teammate, Tara Lipinski, steal the gold from her hands.

Salt Lake City was supposed to be her year of redemption, but the pressure of expectations and a fall on a triple flip in the long program sent her from first place to third place. My heart broke for her a second time.

A lack of a gold medal certainly did not hurt Michelle's career. Nine national and five world titles to her name, she was deemed "the greatest skater never to win gold" and is probably the most beloved skater to ever grace the sport. But, as the world watched her 3rd attempt at redemption fizzle away in Torino, my heart broke for her once again.

She didn't need a gold medal. She just deserved it. Her heart, passion, ability, and perseverance deserved it.

So as I sit down to watch the pairs short program tonight, I'm going to try really hard to be excited about figure skating again. But with Michelle's permanent absence from figure skating now written in stone, all I can think about is, "Where is the heart, the passion, the perfection?"

I wish there were more performances like this in today's skaters:



I'm just hoping that some skaters at the 2010 Olympics find a way to inspire me again.