It was nice?!

And so our quest continues to become better educated olympic viewers. Who. is. pumped?

So here's the thing. I have identified the hater spoken of in this post. His name is Dick Button, if that rings a bell (which, if we were hard core fans, apparently would... we are on our way, friends). And I've 'bout decided that, even though he looks like the monopoly man, the commentator can say just about anything he wants. Here's why:

Really I just was thrilled about the opportunity to stick a for real history lesson up in here.

The good news is that Mr. Button cheered up a little by the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics. Anyone got a 20 on sarajavo, by the way? Sounds like somewhere Sydney Bristow would go, but I'm not sure what country it's in actually. I suppose I could google it like I have every other piece of information I'm giving you here. But then what would be the point of this community?

Twice in two minutes, Valova and Vasiliev get a "that was nice." I mean, I would hope so seeing as how this is the olympics and all. But it is apparently a high compliment coming from Dick. So they'll take it... and their gold. Thank them very much.

Right! Okay, statistics and story and all that. Their names are Elena Valova and Oleg Vasiliev and they were paired together in 1978 when she was 15, he was 18. They entered the olympics as the 1983 world champions (skating events happen in this order, beginning in January of any given year-- well the olympics, obviously, only on olympic years: skate America, skate Canada, Nationals, Europeans, Olympics, Worlds with exhibitions following each event). Both are from Leningrad (which becomes relevant in comparison to Gordeeva and Grinkov who represent Moscow and a different government sponsored sports club) and trained under the supervision of the Armed Forces Sports Society and career-long trainer Tamara Moskvina. They were engaged at the time of this performance and married later in 1984. They placed second (behind, well, we'll get there...) in the 1988 olympics and became the first amateur pairs to turn professional that year. Though they divorced in 1992, Valova and Vasiliev competed as professionals until 1995 (the year Sergei Grinkov...).

About the program: it was inspired by the Siege (or blockade) of Leningrad that started in 1941 and lasted for 872 days. It was the second deadliest blockade of a major city and required that coach Moskvina be evacuated to nearby mountains for her childhood, where she suffered from malnutrition. According to her, this program is about love and the struggle to maintain it during the trauma that was Leningrad (present day St. Petersburg). So that is why the music is so epic. Well, that and you gotta go big or go home to please Dick Button. And olympic judges.

as a side note: I feel like I enjoy the more obvious interpretation of love in Leningrad by the following routine of Savchenko and Szolkowy. It is aptly entitled "Leningrad" and was performed as the exhibition piece after they won gold in the 2008 World Championships. It is obvious that this team representing Germany is intent on paying tribute to the victims of German invasion during World War II. First Poland with the Schindler's List program, and now Russia. The history major in me thinks that is beautiful.

because it needed to be addressed: that was some seriously thin hair with a whole lot of hair spray.

How about a couple of more olympic hopefuls? Again, there was such a wide variety of pairs to choose from, with even more performances to sift through. It is a hard job, but someone has got to do it.

So I'm going with Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao (no relation). They were paired in China in 1997, when Dan was 12 and Hao, 14. I'm just saying I was obsessively watching 7th Heaven at that age. We'll blame communism. That was a complete joke. Laziness is the real culprit. They competed in the 2006 olympics, which is the program I picked to show you because I think it speaks the most about them. And even after... what happens... they wound up winning silver in Torino. Now they are the 2009 World silver medalists (after Savchenko and Szolkowy) and poised for a medal in Vancouver. So look out for them.

The girl straight got up and performed an entire long program after landing the highest, fastest jump on her left knee. Sandra Bezic was right, that is olympic spirit. Tragically I do not know their relationship status, as per you never really hear a whole lot about the private lives of chinese athletes.

I can say, however, that they are "nice."