We have a quotage from the regular outlets of NBC Universal from Wednesday. We begin with Universal Sports.
UNIVERSAL SPORTS AT THE VANCOUVER GAMES:NEWS, NOTES AND QUOTES FOR FEBRUARY 17, 2010February 17, 2010 — On the sixth day of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, Universal Sports at the Vancouver Games continues its five-hour programming block, starting at 10 a.m. ET and continuing daily until the Closing Ceremony on Sunday, February 28.Vancouver Olympic News Center and Morning Buzz:News Alerts:
- Canada has won five medals in five days, including two gold medals (Alexandre Bilodeau (men’s moguls) and Maelle Ricker (women’s snowboard cross)
- Germany leads overall medal count after medals in biathlon, luge and speed skating events
- Changes to alpine schedule: men’s super combined moved to Sunday, Feb. 21.
Doug Lewis, 1984 & 1988 Olympian and Alpine Skiing Analyst (reporting on conditions from the downhill course in Whistler): “This is the first time I saw the stars in the morning here in Vancouver. It’s going to be a gorgeous day! Best weather they could possibly have for this downhill. It snowed eight inches yesterday. At the top, you have packed powder because so much snow fell, and the bottom, because of the rain, it’s like a cement staircase.”Kenan Harkin, Snowboarding analyst (on the weather on Cypress Hill, where the women’s snowboard cross event was held): “The fog was considerably vast. It was like they were snowboarding through New England Clam Chowder – at the Olympics you want things to be perfect. It was definitely unnerving.”Harkin (on Lindsey Jacobellis’ fifth place finish during the women’s snowboard cross event): “She really went for it. We talk about the unpredictability of snowboarding, and this was another example.”Picabo Street, 1998 Olympic Gold Medalist, 2002 Olympian and Alpine skiing analyst (on Vonn’s injury): “She’s extremely limited (in here options for healing her shin). She’ll have to go to the store and buy some ibuprofen like the rest of us. She’ll need to overcome it in her mind, she knows she’s going to be racing with pain.”Street: (on how much the pain is going to affect her in her jumps): “If she feels a smooth turn, it’s going to click and she’s going to drop the hammer.”Street: (on Julia Mancuso): “She can come into the big game and throw the switch on. She has been gaining momentum as the (world cup) season has gone along.”MEET THE OLYMPIC PRESS:Helene Elliott, Los Angeles Times reporter and honoree of the Hockey Hall of Fame (on the women’s U.S. hockey team versus the men’s team): “The women’s team is picked well in advance. Some of the NHL guys were playing for their NHL teams (last) Sunday. “On the figure skating scoring system:Phil Hersh, Chicago Tribune reporter: “Competitors need to figure out how to use the scoring system strategically.”Andrea Joyce, NBC Figure Skating reporter: “(Figure skating is becoming a) video-taped, replay sport”Michael Weiss, Two-time Olympian and professional figure skater: “NBC has 20 camera angles in their production truck. The judges’ replay is one
camera angle.”Joyce: “Would Nancy Kerrigan have won the gold medal in 1994 with this system? I think she would have, yes.”Weiss (on the scoring system needing to be simpler for athletes and fans): “It needs to go back to 10 = good, zero = bad.”VANCOUVER REVIEW/PREVIEW:Paul Hochman, Fast Company contributor and Gear and Technology Editor for The Today Show (on the U.S. ski team’s speed suits): “Everyone is claiming the technological advantage. They say this new suit gives a tenth of a second to half a second advantage. It’s a huge distance. This suit is ‘slippery’ through the air, allowing the athlete to move swiftly. Bottom line: it’s very carefully governed.”Street (on the feeling that comes with wearing the ‘latest technology’): “It’s pure euphoria. Whether or not it’s true. You’ve got a cutting edge; you’re feeling hot about it. “Street (on only U.S. and Canadian ski athletes having access to this new suit): “Is it unfair? Yes, absolutely.”Figure Skating Review/Preview:Six-tenths of point separate the top three men (Yevgeny Plushenko, Evan Lysacek and Daisuke Takahashi) after the short program last night.Scott Hamilton, 1984 Olympic Figure Skating Gold Medalist and NBC Analyst (on all the Men’s Short Program overall): “It lived up to its expectations. Some were great, some were not. It was a joy to be in the building. Everyone was rewarded for what they do best.”On Plushenko’s performance in the Men’s Short Program:Paul Wylie, 1992 Olympic Figure Skating Silver Medalist: “He takes the ice and blows everyone back – just a lot of cockiness.”Peter Carruthers, 1984 Olympic Pairs Silver Medalist and Figure Skating analyst: “He completely owns these quad jumps. It’s not a question of ‘if’ he’s going to do (a quad jump in his long program), but how well he’s going to do it.”Brian Boitano, 1988 Olympic Figure Skating Gold Medalist: “He’s so nonchalant, saving it all for the long program. He’s going to be on fire. He’s going to be so focused. He and Evan are the two most focused skaters out there.”On Lysacek’s performance in the Men’s Short Program:Wylie: “He might have stolen the show. I thought he was everything he needed to be. All of the elements were very crisp. He is a machine, very well trained and he has a great opportunity for the gold against Plushenko.“Tanya Lysacek, mother of men’s figure skater Evan Lysacek (on her reaction to Evan’s performance in the short program): “I was at the ‘safe’ house (Procter & Gamble hospitality house). I found my own chair on the fourth floor in front of a television and had a glass of wine. I left the room for the minute when Evan’s program started, but then came back in…When I saw how fired up he was and I knew he was having a great skate. I was so relieved. The short program is ‘make it or break it’ and a little bit of a nemesis for him.”Don Lysacek, father of men’s figure skater Evan Lysacek: “Four years ago we were in a much different spot. You can’t win a competition in the short program, but you can certainly lose it.”Don Lysacek (on Evan’s skating sty
le): “He’s a competitor. There are a lot of great skaters until the music starts. You can’t just be an artist.”Sasha Cohen, 2006 Olympic Figure Skating Silver Medalist: “It was an inspirational performance. Evan swept the crowd away. It’s special to come to the Games and see him skate so well. He’s so solid, he’s got that fire.”Boitano: “Evan was spot on. That was the best triple axel I’ve ever seen from him.”On Johnny Weir’s performance in the Men’s Short Program:Wylie: “He delivered. But there’s a big question mark for the long program where stamina is a factor.”David Barba, co-producer of “Be Good Johnny Weir,” the reality show on the Sundance Channel: “He’s extremely generous to fans and people in his life. What you see is what you get. He’s larger than life. He’s not pretending to be anything.”James Pellerito, co-producer: “He’s unpredictable – makes it more fun to follow him.“Pellerito (on Johnny being ‘shocking’): “I think we’re shocked every day by Johnny. But that’s something we really like about him. He’s himself.”Barba: “He’s a skater for the people, more than for the judges.”On Jeremy Abbott’s performance in the Men’s Short Program:Wylie: “It was a very difficult night for Jeremy. Very disappointing.”Boitano: “It was the hardest situation to skate in – having to skate after Evan (Lysacek) and to go almost last as a rookie Olympian. There have been other problems with his confidence and performing under pressure. His confidence is wavering from inconsistencies.”On Takahashi’s performance in the Men’s Short Program:Boitano: “There was an insane burst of energy in his footwork. Everyone wants him to skate well. There’s a real push behind him. Total entertainment quality. He’s doing all the technical things as well.”Cohen (on being at the Olympics after unsuccessfully making the U.S. Team): “It’s bittersweet. It’s incredible to see it from this perspective. All the people that have flown in from all over the world to be here.”Cohen (on the past four years): “I had a chance to explore and do other things and I don’t want to move on and do something else. It made me appreciate and re-double my (training) efforts. I want (figure skating) to still be in my life. (I want to be a) better skater, better athlete, better artist.”WHAT TO WATCH FOR ON UNIVERSAL SPORTS NETWORK – THURSDAY, FEB. 18, 2010:Figure Skating Review/Preview: Featuring American fashion designer Vera Wang, and Tamara Moskvina, coach for Russian pairs Yuko Kawaguchi and Alexander Smirnov.FUN QUOTES AND FACTS OF THE DAY:Harkin: “Maybe they should add a fashion component (to men’s figure skating judging).” From the Canada Figure Skating Rules Book: Clothing worn in competitions shall not give the effect of excessive nudity for athletic sport. No tights for men are permitted, but women may wear skirts, trousers or tights. Sleeveless costumes are now permitted.Joyce: “Canadian people are the nicest hosts since Lillehammer!” The 1994 W
inter Games in Lillehammer, Norway, were the first to be held without the Summer Games in the same year, and marked the only time the Winter Games have been staged two years after the preceding Games.
Over to NBC Universal’s Daytime coverage.
DAY 6 DAYTIME HIGHLIGHTS OF NBC WINTER OLYMPICS COVERAGE“Marit Bjoergen ends the Norwegian drought!”- NBC’S Chad Selmela on Norway Winning A Gold
VANCOUVER - February 17, 2010 - Daytime coverage of the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games continued today on NBC, USA Network and MSNBC. On NBC, live coverage included the men’s and women’s cross-country sprint gold medal final. USA Network carried live coverage of the women’s curling match between Team USA and Germany. Live on MSNBC, Finland faced off against Belarus in men’s hockey.
NBC’s Mary Carillo stopped by the studio to chat with Al Michaels about the history of snowboarding and the father of the sport, Jake Burton. Also, below are highlights from last night’s late night coverage.
NBC Nightly News’ Brian Williams previewed tonight’s news broadcast.
Coverage highlights include:
HIGHLIGHTS FROM TUESDAY NIGHT’S LATE NIGHT SHOW HOSTED BY MARY CARILLO
CARILLO ON TONIGHT’S SNOWBOARD HALFPIPE GOLD MEDAL FINAL: "We look forward to the halfpipe and possibly more Olympians winning gold medals while wearing jeans."
CARILLO ON TOMORROW’S MEN’S FIGURE SKATING GOLD MEDAL FINAL: "History is likely to be written on Thursday."
NBC
MICHAELS ON NORWAY IN THE CROSS-COUNTRY GOLD MEDAL FINAL: “It’s a beautiful day at Whistler. Norway expected its Nordic stars to dominate at Whistler Park, but so far, no gold. Even worse, archrival Sweden has two gold. Today Norway again tries to get back on track on Day 6 of the twenty first Olympic Winter Games.”
MICHAELS TO WILLAMS ON NORWAY FINALLY WINNING GOLD: “I know one thing, the Nightly News will be a lot happier in Oslo tonight.”
HIGHLIGHTS OF CARILLO’S PIECE ON SNOWBOARDING AND JAKE BURTON, FOUNDER OF BURTON’S SNOWBOARDS
CARILLO ON SNOWBOARDING THEN AND NOW:“Epitomized by the magnetic style and attitude by the defending champion, Shaun White. Snowboarding is a sport merged with a lifestyle, both anti-establishment and corporate catnip. Snowboarding had much quieter beginnings, and many of its growing pains and gains occurred here, Stratton, Vermont. What began as a countercultural alternative to skiing down a mountain is now a marquee Olympic sport and worldwide way of life. Stratton, Vermont has a classic centuries-old colonial feel. It was also the site of a more modern American revolution, spurred by an inventor slash godfather figure, Jake Burton.
JAKE BURTON ON THE EARLY DAYS OF SNOWBOARDING: “It was awfully rough back in the day. We were wearing basketball shoes. The events were straight shots and we were going over 60 miles an hour with basketball shoes on. Rubber, like water-ski bindings is the best way to explain it, it was really prehistoric.”
CARILLO ON ‘SNURFING’: “Before there was snowboarding, there was ‘snurfing’. Invented by a Michigan dad named Sherman Poppen. In the late ‘70s, the mid-23 year old Burton added a binding to the board. Then he went to work on the next problem: rejection. At first, ski resorts banned the sport’s longhaired aficionados with their trail-eating boards.”
BURTON ON BEING THE FATHER OF SNOWBOARDING:“People sort of credit me with having this vision of where snowboarding would go and I had no clue. I started it as a backyard, backhill type thing that you could do in powder, hike up the hill and then sort of surf down it and call it a day.”
SHAUN WHITE ON BURTON: “He’s the father of our sport in a way. He’s the one who brought it to the mainstream and fought for us to be on mountains. It’s so funny to meet him because you would expect somebody so different, but he’s one of us. It’s nice to have somebody down-to-earth like that. A true, real person who represents all of our voices.”
WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY SPRINT GOLD MEDAL FINAL
Al Trautwig (Play-By-Play), Chad Salmela (Analyst)
Gold: Marit Bjorgen, Norway
Silver: Justyna Kowalczyk, Poland
Bronze: Petra Majdic, Slovenia
TRAUTWIG ON SLOVENIA’S PETRA MAJDIC: “The story of the woman’s individual sprint begins with some agony and shock. In a warm up lap, Petra Majdic of Slovenia, one of the favorites to contend for the medals, has taken a horrible fall, the kind of fall you almost never see in cross-country.”
SALMELA ON MAJDIC: “She just lost control and slid right off the trail into a ravine, it was unbelievable.”
SALMELA ON NORWAY’S MARIT BJORGEN: “She’s firing on all pistons, going as fast as she possibly can.”
SALMELA ON BJORGEN WINNING GOLD: “Marit Bjoergen ends the Norwegian drought!”
TRAUTWIG ON MAJDIC COMING BACK TO WIN BRONZE: “From the bottom of a ditch, and a hospital x-ray to a bronze medal on the same day. Wow.”
MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY GOLD MEDAL FINAL
Al Trautwig (Play-By-Play), Chad Salmela (Analyst)
Gold: Nikita Kriukov, Russia
Silver: Alexander Panzhinskiy, Russia
Bronze: Petter Northug, Jr., Norway
TRAUTWIG ON THE SWEDEN NORWAY BATTLE IN CROSS-COUNTRY EVENTS: “It’s Sweden and Norway at it again. Yet another chapter on the white snow here north of Vancouver.”
TRAUTWIG ON THE RUSSIAN’S TAKING GOLD AND SILVER: “All day long Panzhinskiy has had a dreamy kind of day and now Kriukov will join him to make it a Russian dream.”
MSNBC:
MEN’S HOCKEY: FINLAND vs. BELARUS
Bill Patrick (Host), Mike Emrick (Play-by-Play), Ed Olczyk (Analyst)
Finland: 5 Belarus: 1
OLCZYK ON TEAM FINLAND’S MIKKO KOIVU:“Mikko Koivu, is the most underrated player in the NHL. He does so much, he is so smart.”
EMRICK ON BELARUS’ HEAD OF STATE ATTENDING A PRACTICE:“It is not often that the Head of State will attend a practice and go on the ice with you. Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko did that.”
USA NETWORK:
WOMEN’S CURLING: USA vs. GERMANY
Fred Roggin (Host), Andrew Catalon (Play-by-play), Don Duguid (Analyst),
Elfi Schlegel (Reporter)
Germany: 6 USA: 5
JONES ON GERMANY’S SKIP ANDREAS SCHOEPP: "Andreas Schoepp is a taskmaster. If you see her smile out there, take a picture."
JONES ON TEAM USA’S ATTITUDE: “They’re very enthusiastic. They give each other lots of encouragement, and they’re very supportive of each other as teammates.”
CATALON ON TEAM USA’S NATALIE NICHOLSON:“She’s the sparkplug, no doubt.”
BELOW ARE HIGHLIGHTS FROM TUESDAY NIGHT’S MEN’S HOCKEY
MSNBC:
9:00 p.m. - 11:30 p.m.
Bill Patrick (Host), Mike Milbury and Jeremy Roenick (Studio Analysts), Kenny Albert (Play-by-Play), Joe Micheletti (Analyst)
MEN’S HOCKEY
Russia: 8 Latvia: 2
ROENICK ON TEAM RUSSIA: “I would be scared if I was a goaltender going up against these guys.”
MILBURY ON ALEXANDER OVECHKIN: “This is the new era, this is the Ovechkin era. He is setting all sorts of records.”
MILBURY ON TEAM RUSSIA: “This is a very skilled, very special team.”
And finally to primetime, which saw three Americans winning gold medals.
LINDSEY VONN, SHANI DAVIS & SHAUN WHITE ALL WIN GOLD; TEAM USA SETS RECORD BY WINNING SIX TOTAL MEDALS“I’ve given up everything for this. It means everything to me.” – Lindsey Vonn on winning gold
“Absolutely skated the perfect race that he had to skate.” – NBC’s Dan Jansen on Shani Davis
“It’s athletes like Shaun White that make you think the impossible is possible.” – NBC’s Pat Parnell
VANCOUVER - Feb. 17, 2010 - On the sixth night of the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games, Team USA captured six medals, a record for the US at a Winter Games. Lindsey Vonn (women’s downhill), Shani Davis (men’s 1000 meters speed skating) and Shaun White (men’s snowboard halfpipe) all won gold, while Julia Mancuso earned silver (women’s downhill), and Chad Hedrick (men’s 1000 meters speed skating) and Scotty Lago (men’s snowboard halfpipe) took bronze.
Vonn became the first US woman ever to win the gold in the Olympic downhill, while Davis and White became the first to ever repeat as gold medalists in their respective events.
PRIMETIME HOST BOB COSTAS: “This was a historic night for some of the biggest names on the American Olympic team.”
Short track speed skaters Apolo Ohno and JR Celski advanced in the men’s 1000 meters, and Team USA advanced in the men’s 5000 meter relay. On cable, MSNBC aired women’s hockey with Canada defeating Sweden, 13-1. On CNBC, Switzerland defeated Team USA, 7-6, in men’s curling and Sweden defeated Germany, 2-0, in men’s hockey.
ALPINE SKIING:
Play-by-Play: Tim Ryan
Analysts: Christin Cooper
Reporter: Steve Porino
Cooper: “This course is probably the best and the toughest Olympic women’s track since probably 1992.”
Cooper on Vonn: “This is the most powerful and most fit woman on tour.”
Cooper on a powerful turn made by Vonn: “It’s like carrying a piano on your back.”
Ryan on Vonn celebrating: “What a sight it is to see here. She is just in ecstasy.”
“Her dream has come true.”
Vonn: “I’ve given up everything for this. It means everything to me.”
“I got what I came here to do. I have a gold medal. - I’ll keep fighting every day but it’s definitely a huge relief that I finally did it.”
“I feel like I’ve achieved so much in my career but the Olympics is something that I’ve never conquered. I feel like today I achieved the dream I’ve had since I’ve been nine years old, since meeting Picabo Street. I was just overwhelmed with emotions and I couldn’t stop the waterworks. The floodgates kind of opened up. You work so hard for something for your entire life. And to finally reach it is just amazing.”
Primetime host Bob Costas: “An emotional Lindsey Vonn. Obviously, those emotions a combination of joy, pride, relief, thanks, appreciation, all rolled into one.”
Cooper on Julia Mancuso: “She’s skiing with a lot of conviction.”
Mancuso: “Well, me and Lindsey have been competing against each other since the beginning, probably since we can remember in our careers. - It just means a lot to be back on the podium after a few years of just really tough times. I’ve been working really hard the past year for this day and this moment.”
SNOWBOARDING:
Play-by-Play: Pat Parnell
Analyst: Todd Richards
Reporter: Tina Dixon
Olympic Correspondent: Cris Collinsworth
Collinsworth interviewed skateboarding superstar and Shaun White-friend Tony Hawk at Cypress Mountain. Hawk: “A lot of pressure, but he’s used to it. He came through in Torino. He’s ready. He’s been training for this for years.”
Shaun White before qualifier: “It’s not about one trick in the run, it’s about the whole thing.”
“It’s a strange, strange limbo, where you basically have to do just enough to get in but not show everything for the finals. I’m actually more nervous for this than the finals because I practiced for my finals run every single day.”
Parnell on White: “If there’s one competitor here today that is comfortable with pressure, actually peaks with pressure, it’s this guy - Shaun White.”
“Unbearable pressure resting squarely on Shaun White’s shoulders. It appears the defending gold medalist is comfortable carrying the load.”
“In four short years, he has become a global phenomenon.”
Parnell on White securing gold: “Scotty Lago will end up with the bronze medal which means Shaun White has secured the gold. Deliberate in his dedication. He persevered and what a payoff. Repeat gold for Shaun White.”
Richards on the highly-anticipated “Double Mctwist”: “The move that everyone has been talking about. The move that some have called the ‘Big Mac,’ ‘the Big McTwist,’ the ‘Double McTwist 180.’ Some have called it the ‘Whitesnake.’ I call it insane.”
Parnell: “It's athletes like Shaun White that make you think the impossible is possible.”
SPEED SKATING:
Play-by-Play: Dan Hicks
Analyst: Dan Jansen
Reporter: Andrea Kremer
Hicks on Korea: “Have they had a breakout Olympics or what?”
Hicks: “And there goes Shani Davis - on a quest for history to try to become the first to win back-to-back gold medals in the 1000 meters.”
Hicks on Davis: “He’s got some of the greatest turns in the business - maybe the best turns in the world.”
Hicks: “Legs burning on the final straightaway, Shani Davis pushing it til the end. And he’s got another gold medal!”
Jansen: “Absolutely skated the perfect race that he had to skate.”
Davis to Kremer on his final lap: “I have to have the courage and the strength and the determination and the will power to be able to finish on that outer. I didn’t want to make the same mistakes that I made here in Vancouver in March at the World Single Distances. So I just made sure to really hammer that last lap as best I could and I was able to hold on.”
Davis on being the first one to win back-to-back gold medals in the event: “It means a lot. It shows that hard work pays off. I’m going to continue to keep on defending what is rightfully mine. So I’m happy I was able to do it this time.”
SHORT TRACK:
Play-by-Play: Ted Robinson
Analyst: Andy Gabel
Gabel: “A very easy champion-style race for Apolo Anton Ohno, showing why he’s one of the best in the world.”
Gabel on Celski’s: “He made that look way too easy - I promise you, it is not as easy as it looks.”
MSNBC, Women’s Ice Hockey:
Canada 13 vs. Sweden 1
Bill Patrick (Host), Cammi Granato (Studio Analyst), Kenny Albert (Play-By-Play), AJ Mleczko (Analyst), Joe Micheletti (Reporter)
Mleczko: “This was expected to be Canada’s first real test.”
Patrick on Team Canada’s performance: “I don’t even know where to begin with this team.”
CNBC, Men’s Curling:
Switzerland 7 vs. USA 6
Fred Roggin (Host), Andrew Catalon (Play-By-Play), Don Duguid (Analyst), Elfi Schlegel (Reporter)
Catalon on the tiebreaking round: “Another heart stopper for the USA men’s curling team.”
CNBC, Men’s Hockey:
Sweden 2 vs. Germany 0
Bill Patrick (Host), Jeremy Roenick and Mike Milbury (Studio Analysts), Mike Emrick (Play-By-Play), Ed Olczyk (Analyst)
Emrick on Sweden’s roster: “Four members of the Detroit Red Wings are on this team. Nineteen of the 23 players are NHL players; eight from the Eastern conference and 11 from the West. One powerful Team Sweden.”
Roenick on Team Sweden’s Nicklas Backstrom: “He’s only 22; wise beyond his years and talented beyond those years. He makes everything look really easy. He is very, very good with the puck.”
Team Sweden’s Henrik Lundqvist: “We’re confident, but we also have a lot of respect, especially for Canada and Russia. They look really strong.”
That does it. One more press release post.
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