Possible 50 Point Night for Lavoie

Only two medals are up tonight, but both are huge ones. With victories from USA Figure Skating and USA Snowboarding, the previously disgraced Tim Lavoie could manage his Fightin' Ovechkins near the top of the standings. I know you'll be watching.

5 PM EST - Figure Skating
Tonight we will see whether there's any truth to barroom rumors of a "quad-quad" combo, as well as who gets 25 points in men's figure skating.

The Dave Spence-managed Paragons really need this gold medal and I think they'll get it. Evgeni Plushenko of Russia won the short program, and considering I find men's figure skating unwatchable, I have to pick everyone to remain in the same position. Note that this is in no way a validation of Spence's choice in making Russian figure skating his first round pick. Though drafting can be a difficult exercise, EVERY TEAM ON THE BOARD was still available. As a side note, people in the final row of Legislation may be questioning my sexuality based on some of the images that came up while I was searching for a Pleshenko illustration during class.
American Evan Lysacek (Tim Lavoie/Fightin' Ovechkins) was second in the short program and Johnny Weir was sixth. The 25 point medal would obviously be huge for Lavoie and could vault his team all the way into the top three.

Japan's Daisuke Takahashi (Zach Chromiak/Banker's Club) was third. Takahashi sounds like he would be a pretty solid lefthanded set-up man with strikeout skills and good control. Another Japanese skater, Nobunari Oda, was fourth and clearly would be a slugger, batting fifth in a good lineup.

Fifth place Stephane Lambiel (undrafted), skating for Switzerland, is the only other skater with a realistic chance to medal, though the seventh place Canadian Patrick Chan (Ellis Kunka/Cornballers) could benefit from home ice advantage in a judged sport.

6 PM PST - Snowboarding
Tim Lavoie's Fightin' Ovechkins could rocket up the standings tonight with a sweep of the Women's Half Pipe. USA Snowboarding is the only thing keeping Lavoie's squad afloat, with two gold medals already. The Americans are favored to continue their dominance tonight.

My pick for the 16.7 point gold, representing Toledo, Ohio, is Gretchen Bleiler. It's pretty hard to imagine thinking about snowboarding without thinking about Northwest Ohio. She won silver at Turin and has improved her skills since then, culminating in an electrifying performance in the Super Pipe at the Winter X Games.

Burlington, Vermont's own Kelly Clark took the gold in this event at Salt Lake City at the age of 18, then finished fourth at Turin. I think she'll have a great run, I just can't pick Tim Lavoie to win gold with another Vermont athlete.

Although the Americans are the favorites and the event is scored based on two runs, we saw last night that it's very possible for even a top 6 athlete to fall during both runs. There's another group below them that could easily take the gold.

The athlete with the best chance to upset the Americans is Australian Torah Bright (Zach Chromiak/Banker's Club). She's finished in the top two in Super Pipe at the past four X Games. While she probably can't beat a perfect run by either of my top two choices, Bright is more consistent and is unlikely to be kept off the podium.

Also a threat for gold is Hannah Teter, another Vermont native, who recently took some time off to found a charity supporting humanitarian efforts in Kenya. While she just qualified for the Games in January and some are doubting her chances due to time away from the sport, remember that she won gold in Turin despite coming off an injury that threatened her chances to even compete.