Sports has a way of making me feel nostalgic and seek thrills from days of yore. The perfect example was watching both the women's and men's snowboard halfpipe finals this week. Leading up to the 2022 Winter Olympic Games... these were by far the two events I look forward to the most.
2018 Donruss Fans of the Game Autograph #FG-CK
I was rooting for Chloe Kim to become the first woman to land the 1260º in a competition, but it wasn't meant to be this time around. No biggie. She still won the gold medal and entertained snowboarding fans around the world.
2007 SI for Kids #209
The next day things got crazy in the men's event. I was rooting for Shaun White to wrap up his Olympic career with a fourth gold medal. He had two solid runs, but sadly wasn't able to reach the podium this time around. That being said... it was cool seeing all of his colleagues and fans cheer him on... since he's arguably had the biggest influence on the sport's popularity.
But my favorite part of the finals was watching Ayumu Hirano win the gold medal. I'm sure most of you have heard the drama over the judges' scoring of his second run, which placed him behind Australia's Scotty James. If not, click here. You won't be disappointed.
1989 Upper Deck #660 (COMC Image)
Just like a walk-off home run in baseball... Hirano captured the gold medal on the final run of the event... and it truly made me want to dust off my snowboard and plan a trip to Tahoe.
I've haven't ridden my board in eight to ten years. But for a brief period (maybe 24 hours)... I was thinking about getting back on the slopes and seeking the thrill of the ride. Then reality struck. A peek at current lift ticket prices quickly made me realize my snowboarding career is probably over for good.
Speaking of thrills... back in January, I received an email from a reader of the blog offering to send me this oversized boxloader of Will "The Thrill" Clark:
2020 Stadium Club Oversized Boxloader #OBWC
I remember going to Candlestick Park and watching Clark back in the 80's and 90's.
He has always been very popular in the Bay Area and a week or two ago, the San Francisco Giants announced that they'll be retiring his jersey number in July. Congratulations Will!
And thank you Ken for donating this oversized Clark that reminds me of a GQ cover or something. Sorry it took me so long to write this post, but I assure you... I absolutely love this card.
Everyone else... here's your question of the day:
Have you been following the Winter Olympics? Are you rooting for any athletes in particular?
Happy Saturday and sayonara!
16 comments:
I need to check my SI for kids again.
I don't watch it but am rooting on Mikaela Shiffrin who is a local girl for a bit
I missed Chloe Kim but I saw the men's halfpipe and Hirano absolutely deserved the gold. (That's a sweet custom btw.) It's refreshing to hear announcers that push for the correct result, not just one that would benefit Americans (like in figure skating, swimming, etc) Bummer that Shaun White missed the medal stand but it was fun to watch.
The one athlete I was rooting for was Mikaela Shiffrin. Did not go well for her :(
It's all about USA Hockey for me.
My daughter and I have been enjoying cross country skiing on some cable channel this winter so we've been watching those events. Not enough to know who many of the athletes are, but enough to plan on taking lessons sometime this year.
Not watching, haven't since I was a kid...back when it was so much well less as in less events, shorter time frame etc.
I'm afraid I am not watching either. But I do love that Will Clark!
The only thing I've been watching is curling, which, for the Olympics, I become a fan of. If the NHL players were there I'd be all over the hockey; as is, well, maybe I'll catch the gold medal game.
My wife can't get over the skating of Nathan Chen.
I watched maybe 5 minutes total so far. Tough to get into it this year. Love the Chloe Kim card.
I am a big Olympics fan and have been watching every night I am more interested in the sport than the athletes if that makes sense. For the most part I don't know who they are but I enjoy watching them all the same. Cross country skiing is my favorite to watch because I love the scenery. Snowboardcross is a favorite as well because it's fun to watch and is like NASCAR on ice. I really enjoy the women's hockey tournament because I never get to see them and all the best players are playing. The men's tournament is ok but not as good as it could be with no NHL players there. I still am enjoying it though.
Fun post. Been enjoying the Olympics. I really enjoy the snowboarding events. I know it's new school but I like them and the stars of the sport.
The overnight shift allows me to catch the live feeds on USA network. Been actively watching the Curling events mainly but I enjoy it as a whole...just gotta keep the politics out of mind when you watch it and enjoy the sport and their efforts.
We have it on at work, but I don't watch it for long stretches. Really rooting for Mikaela. And yeah, lots of curling, which is cool.
I've mostly been watching curling, but I've also watched a bit of men's & women's hockey, and I've watched some figure skating with Mrs. Shlabotnik.
Along with the US curling teams, I'm rooting for the Swedish men and Japanese women
We've been watching You Tube highlights. Fun to introduce the boys to events. Alway nice to watch a real race like snowboard cross or short track. A shame that none of the hockey games are on youtube.
Not watching the Olympics this year because of China's human rights violations - which is too bad because I like the Olympics. Not having cable is another thing.
matt - my si for kids collection is one of my favorite pcs. love all of the different sports and the fact that almost half of the cards are women athletes
chris - built the custom on topps' website. i wonder if they'd actually make that card for me ;D
john sharp - haven't followed hockey, but i really should. one of my co-workers said the women were doing really well
runforekelloggs - i remember trying cross country skiing once when i was a teenager. i thought i was going to have a heart attack. i went back to downhill skiing
johnnys trading spot - living in the southeast united states... i'm guessing you're more into the summer olympics
the diamond king - isn't it awesome? i wish i had a top loader that was a better fit. the 4x6 top loader is too small and the 5x7 is way too big
cardboard jones - i know the women's hockey team is playing. not sure about the men. i kinda feel guilty that i haven't paid more attention to hockey these olympics
brett alan - some of my co-workers were really excited about nathan chen. i did catch his highlights. pretty amazing
sumomenkoman - dude. you gotta go watch hirano's gold medal run. and if bbm ever creates a card for him and you pull a dupe, please keep me in mind
billy kingsley - just saw highlights from the snowboardcross. that was pretty awesome. i'm confused. sometimes the olympics use professional players, but sometimes they don't? i feel like yesterday when ryan miller was representing team usa
bulldog - very exciting sport. sure wish i would have transitioned from skiing to snowboarding earlier.
jafronius - curling seems to be the most popular sport among bloggers. lol... i rarely ever think about politics ;D don't need added stress in my life
gca - hope she does well on wednesday. now that she's on my radar, i'll root for her
the shlabotnik report - when i hear or see curling, you're the first blogger i think of. those customs you make are awesome. if usa or japan are in the finals, i'll probably check it out (even though i don't understand the game)
nick vossbrink - the snowboardcross was pretty awesome. didn't know that was a sport until this year
gtt - i lucked out and signed up for peacock a few months ago (to watch battlestar galactica). if i didn't have that, i would be stuck watching highlights on youtube.
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