Olympic Updates

First off, let me start off with a rant about NBC and their Olympic coverage.

It's hard to work with Olympic Updates and not spoil people's day with the outcome of popular events which people haven't seen yet.

That is because down here in the States we are subjected to NBC carrying the Winter Games. NBC has taken a strong and unpopular stand of showing big events not as they happen but rather pushing them back into the late hours of primetime.

That means events like the Alpine skiing which took place today will have taken place up 5-8 hours before you can start to watch them. In today's world of mass communication and online news, that is unacceptable.

What's even more crazy is NBC's variety of websites promote the news and standings of the events as they happen but they fail to show the video which is just irriating. So that's why I'm angry because I went looking for the video to watch of the events and I was greated with the results instead.

*sigh*

I liken it to someone giving you a present for Christmas and telling you what it is but you still have to wait to open it. The gift may be good and you may love it, but it just ruins the experience.

So, anyway .... back to the Games.

Men's Downhill finally started today and the first round of winners have been announced. Team USA's Bode Miller was looking for some redemption after being heavily touted as the man to beat in Torino and failing to win.

Bode Miller took home the Bronze Medal in the Men's Downhill after the Swiss skier Didier Defago won the Gold by .09 seconds. Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway finished with the Silver.

Switzerland's Didier Defago won the men's downhill race on Monday to hand his country a first Olympic gold medal in the blue riband event in 22 years.

Defago, a veteran all-rounder whose form coming into the Winter Games included telling downhill victories in the classics at Wengen and Kitzbuehel last month, clocked 1min 54.31sec down the 3,105-metre-long Dave Murray course.

"I'm very happy," the 32-year-old said. "It was a crazy run, not very easy because it was very different from the training.

"I really wanted to go back home with a medal. After three Olympics and a lot of championships I think my experience made the difference."

It was Switzerland's first downhill gold since Pirmin Zurbriggen at the 1988 Calgary Games.

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