OLYMPICS

Last night was essentially the main event of the Winter Olympics:  Women’s Figure Skating.  This event has always had a kind of royal mystique to it.  We get to know the profiles of the women involved, and there’s a soap opera to it.  Remember the Nancy Kerrigan?  Remember Tanya Harding?  Kristi Yamaguchi?  Michelle Kwan?  Tara Lipinski?  These skaters become National celebrities for a few weeks.  Well, last night we were treated to yet another chapter.

This year, the American’s had Rachel Flatt and Mirai Nagasu to root for.  Very young, and not exactly very well known, but they were still our heroes for a night.  With that said, those two gave great performances, but the U.S. failed to medal in the event for the first time since 1968.  The Gold Medalist this year was South Korea’s Kim Yu-Na.  She gave a beautiful, dazzling performance, and shattered the World Record — putting up an amazing 228.56 points.  To top this off, this was South Korea’s only other medal in the Olympics other than speed skating.  And it’s a great one to win.  Congratulations to Kim Yu-Na!

BASKETBALL

In the NBA, a much anticipated match-up between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics. This is possibly a preview of the Eastern Conference Finals, and it would be interesting to see how these two teams match-up as we approach the playoffs.  Well, the Celtics came out strong, and got up to a big lead at the half.  However, in the second half, it was ALL Cavs.  It was like they were practicing out there.  Headed into the half, the Cavs were down 8, and they won the game by 20.  This team is truly dominant, and the addition of the Antawn Jamison only makes them stronger.  Cleveland 108, Boston 88.

Finally, some other interesting news out of the NBA.  The Memphis Grizzlies had the #2 overall pick in this year’s draft.  They took big man Hasheem Thabeet from UCONN over other strong rookies (i.e. Tyreke Evans and Stephen Curry — two rookie of the year candidates.).  Now, they are sending Thabeet down to the D-League for a stint.  He just hasn’t adjusted to the rigors of the NBA game, and they’re hoping some time spent developing his skills will prove valuable in case they need him to play some minutes in the playoffs.  We will see how this pans out.  Either way, Thabeet is the highest draft pick ever to be demoted to the D-League.