No llores, mi querida

Tuesday just became a good day to be at work or in class - today's women's biathlon relay will not include my favorite biathlete Magdalena Neuner. She withdrew citing fatigue, raising concerns that this will be her last picture on the blog.
The only other medal contested before 5 PM is speed skating's Men's 10,000, one of the toughest physical tests of the Olympics and also one of the toughest to watch on TV - consisting of two guys skating around a track 25 times.

11 AM PST - Speed Skating
The men's 10,000, the longest skating event at the Olympics, should be dominated by the Netherlands (Ellis Kunka/Cornballers). Sven Kramer, the current world record holder, has won three consecutive World Championships in the 10,000 and is my pick for gold. Kramer's world record is 12 seconds ahead of the best time of any other competitor, but he finished only seventh at Turin. If he falters again, Bob De Jong, my pick for silver, should win gold for the Dutch team anyway. De Jong won gold at Turin in this event and has three career world championships.

Another strong skater is Havard Bokko of Norway (undrafted), who narrowly lost this event at the 2009 World Championships. But my pick for bronze is American Chad Hedrick (Zach Chromiak/Banker's Club), racing in what is probably the penultimate Olympic race of his career. Hedrick won silver at Turin and holds the American record in the 10,000.
11:30 AM PST - Biathlon
Rock and roll went on after the Beatles broke up, and boxing continued after Ali retired. OK, that second part was false. Anyway, the women's biathlon will go on without Magdalena Neuner.

Each of four players on a team must ski six kilometers and shoot twice, once prone and once standing. The top two teams are Germany (Adam Claus/Ice Lugers) and Russia (Joy Sadaly/Olympic Ring Worm Wood Stock Market District Attorney). Germany won the gold at Salt Lake City but settled for bronze at Turin. Russia is the defending gold medalist and current world champion, but Germany won the 2007 and 2008 championships. Also Magdalena Neuner's withdrawal brings both teams down to zero athletes I have heard of.

My pick is Russia for gold and Germany for silver. I just can't see a team winning an event without putting their best four athletes out there. France (Zach Chromiak/Banker's Club) took third at the 2008 and 2009 World Championships and is my pick to finish third again. Sweden is a good bet to take another aluminum medal for Dave Spence's Paragons.

Spence, Chromiak Picked For Gold Tonight

It is tough to write through the tears caused by the emotional NBC/Ovechkin Valentine Honeymoon Angel Sweetheart Celebration. Nonetheless here are the evening medal previews.

3 PM PST - Speed Skating
The Canadians (Dave Spence/Paragons) have the strongest skaters in tonight's Women's 1500. I'm picking Kristina Groves, the 3000 meter bronze medalist, for gold. The difference will be her Kinesiology degree from the University of Calgary. That's one of my favorite Kinesiology programs in western Canada.

Canadian skater Christine Nesbitt won gold in the 1000 and is my choice for silver. She's a great skater but loses points for being in a relationship with a Dutch speed skater, who is of course competing for Ellis Kunka's universally hated Cornballers. I'm sure if she had waited two weeks Alex Rodriguez would have been available.

Ireen Wüst of the Netherlands finished a disappointing eighth in the 1000 but is the Cornballers' best hope in this one. I'm picking her for bronze. Another skater who should be in the finals is German Anni Friesinger (John Binz/Da Nang Dynamos), the Salt Lake City gold medalist. She's also married to a Dutch skater. At least it's becoming apparent why every Dutch boy wants to grow up to be a speed skater.
5:20 PM PST - Bobsleigh
The world's #1 bobsledder Beat Hefti of Switzerland (Brian Schwartz/Nordique Combined) has withdrawn after being concussed by Canada's unsafe track. The remaining Swiss B team is in fifth, which only makes it more disappointing that we didn't get to see what their A team would do.

The beneficiaries are the two German teams (Zach Chromiak's Banker's Club) which currently rank first and second. Andre Lange/Kevin Kuske are .11 seconds ahead of Thomas Florscheutz/Richard Adjei. Those teams should take gold and silver for the resurgent Chromiak. Germany's grasp of math has really helped them in the gravity sports, as unlike most Americans they clearly understand what 9.8 meters per second squared means and may even be able to increase it to 9.9.

The Russian team of Alexsandr Zubkov/Alexey Voevoda (Dave Spence/Paragons) is in third and will try to hold off the USA's Steven Holcomb/Curtis Tomasevicz (Brittany B./Buck-Toothed Rabbit Bitches).

Potential USA Sweep in 1500 Speed Skate

4:15 PM PST - Speed Skating
The first medal at stake tonight is the men's 1500 meter speed skate. I'm predicting a clean sweep for the USA team, which would be a huge lift for Zach Chromiak's Banker's Club. Asshole Shani Davis, skating in the dinal heat, is the overwhelming favorite and I think he'll take gold. Davis declined to take part in the team event, preferring only individual medals.

Chad Hedrick, who took the bronze at Turin, is my pick for silver. Although he's lost too much endurance in his 30s to still be a top distance skater, that won't be an issue at the 1000 where Hedrick is still outstanding. He held the world record before it was broken by Davis.
I think Trevor Marsicano will take the bronze. Although he's better at the 1000, he took silver in this event at last year's World Championships. Also he hails from a town called Ballston Spa, New York.

Canadian Denny Morrison (Dave Spence/Paragons) is expected to medal as a hometown favorite from British Columbia, but I think he'll have to wait for the 1000. Italian Enrico Fabris (Brian Schwartz/Nordique Combined) is another threat to medal.

Wage-Slaves Toil Away During Medal Events

In what is undoubtedly one of history's great tragedies, regular business is still being conducted in the United States despite the four medals being contested today.

10:20 AM PST - BiathlonWomen's biathlon continues with the 15k. I could be making this pick with love goggles, but there's no way I'm not picking Germany's Magdalena Neuner (Adam Claus/Ice Lugers). She has a gold and silver already and quite a bit of talent which is obvious even to the casual biathlon fan.
My pick for silver is Helena Jonsson of Sweden (Dave Spence/Paragons). Despite missing out on an obvious chance to have two dots over the O in her last name, she's the reigning World Cup winner. Another Swede, Anna Carin Olofsson, is also a contender for a medal, but I'm picking Russian Svetlana Sleptsova (Joy Sadaly/Olympic Ring Worm Wood Stock Market District Attorney).

12:30 PM PST - Alpine SkiingThe Women's Super Combined will finally be contest today. The event consists of one downhill run followed by one slalom run using a shorter course, with the fastest total time determining the winner.

While we all know that American Lindsey Vonn (Ellis Kunka/Cornballers) is best in the downhill, I'm picking a couple of superior slalom skiers to upset her for the gold. With the slalom times typically more spread apart than downhill, I think that part of the competition will be the most important. I'm picking Vonn for bronze, a result that would no doubt upset her volatile manager Kunka.

Maria Riesch of Germany (undrafted, inexplicably), the 2009 world champion in slalom and the 2008 combined World Cup winner, is my choice for gold. Anja Parson of Sweden (Adam Claus/Ice Lugers), the Turin bronze medalist in this event, is my pick for silver. She is a former World Cup winnter in combined as well, and won the bronze medal in this event at Turin. Another contender is Kathrin Zettel of Austria (Brittany B./Buck-Toothed Rabbit Bitches), the defending world champion.

1 PM PST - Speed SkatingThe Women's 1000 meter should result in a win for the home team and more importantly, for Dave Spence's last place Paragons. Christine Nesbitt is a huge favorite for gold and is the world champion in this event. She's improved a lot since the Turin Games where she still took silver in the team pursuit.

The Netherlands' Annette Gerritsen (Ellis Kunka/Cornballers) finished just 23rd at Turin but is a much better skater than that. I'm picking her for silver. Another Dutch skater, Margot Boer, should make the finals.

Anne Friesinger of Germany (John Binz/Da Nang Dynamos), who won the bronze in this event at Turin, is my pick to repeat with a bronze at Vancouver. Beixing Wang of China (Joy Sadaly/Olympic Ring Worm Wood Stock Market District Attorney) is another contender, but she has never had that much success in the 1000 and I'm picking her to be off the podium.

1:20 PM PST - Biathlon
With only a silver so far in biathlon, favored Norway (John Binz/Da Nang Dynamos) hopes to get back on track in the men's 20k. I'm picking Norwegian Ole Einar Bjørndalen, the defending world champion in this event and the Salt Lake City gold medal winner in this event. He also took silver in Turin. Bjørndalen had an uncharacteristic poor shooting performance in the sprint which also doomed his chances in the pursuit, but he's a great champion and will come back strong with a gold.

I'm also picking a Norwegian for silver, the 2008 world champion Emil Hegle Svendsen. Turin gold medal winner Michael Greis of Germany (Adam Claus/Ice Lugers) is my choice for bronze. Another strong contender is Christoph Sumann of Austria (Brian Schwartz/Nordique Combined).

Four Medals Contested Tonight

The Fantasy Winter Olympics competion intensifies with our first four gold medal night. Tim Lavoie's Fightin' Ovechkins are favored to get back on track with a 16.7 medal in snowboarding, but then again you could have said the same thing last night. Meanwhile Brian Schwartz's Nordique Combined should win luge to complete a clean sweep of that sport's golds.

4:00 PM PST - Speed Skating
In tonight's men's 1000 meter race, American Shani Davis is heavily favored to take the gold for Zach Chromiak's Banker's Club. Davis, who took gold in the 1000 at Turin and has won two World Championships in the event, is everyone's pick for gold including mine.
I'm picking South Koreans (Brittany B./Buck-Toothed Rabbit Bitches) for the other medals. Mo Tae-Bum, who took gold in the 500, is my choice for silver in the 1000. Lee Kyu-Hyeok is my pick for bronze. Kyu-Hyeok won both 1000 meter races at the World Sprint Championships last month, but few top skaters competed with the Olympics so close.

All time great Jeremy Wotherspoon of Canada (Dave Spence/Paragons) is another contender but has lost a step at age 33. Canadian Denny Morrison should also finish near the top.

6:30 PM PST - Luge
Brian Schwartz's Nordique Combined team will sweep the luge medals if a German pair can win tonight's doubles luge event. Unlike the singles, the doubles teams make only two runs, making this a less predictable competition. The first run starts at 5 PM PST with the second run about an hour and a half later.

There's no point in picking against the Germans now. I like the German pair Andre Florschuetz and Torsten Wustlich to take the 16.7 point gold. And I'm picking the other German pair Patrick Leitner/Alexander Resch for silver.

The bronze medal should be a battle between Austrians Andreas Linger and Wolfgang Linger (Ellis Kunka/Cornballers) and Italy's Christian Overstolz/Patrick Gruber (Zach Chromiak/Banker's Club). I'm picking the suspiciously German sounding Italian team.

7:07 PM PST - Short Track Speed Skating
In the women's 500 meter short track event, China's Wang Meng (Ellis Kunka/Cornballers) is as close as it gets to a sure thing in the Olympics. She's a four time world champion in the 500 and took gold in the event at Turin. How good is she? If you bet a dollar on her to medal, you win one cent. I won't risk my dollar but I'm picking her for gold.

Canadian Kalyna Roberge (Dave Spence/Paragons), the 2007 world champion, is my choice for silver. As this picture shows, it is a real testament to the greatness of Wang Meng that an athlete this talented would not be the gold medal favorite.

I'm also picking a Canadian for bronze: Jessica Gregg, who took the 500 meter bronze in the 2009 World Championships. A couple of 18 year olds makin their Olympic debuts, South Korean Lee Eun-Byul (John Binz/Da Nang Dynamos) and China's Zhou Yang, also could medal.

7:15 PM PST - Snowboarding
Snowboarding continues with the Men's Half Pipe, an event that Tim Lavoie's heavily favored Fightin' Ovechkins can ill afford to blow after last night's embarassment.

Shaun White of the Ovechkins' Team USA took the gold in this event at Turin and is a prohibitive favorite to repeat. Anything can happen in snowboarding, but White was first in qualifying and I think he'll take the gold.

Iouri Podladtchikov of Switzerland (Dave Spence/Paragons) won the half pipe at the 2008 World Cup and is quite excited at the prospect of killing off the free falling Ovechkins' chances with a gold. Although his name makes him sound like the kind of hardcore punk who dominates the sport, I'm picking him for silver.

American Louie Vito, a two-time U.S. Snowboarding Grand Priz champion, is my choice for bronze. Another American, Scott Lago, is a contender but is better at the non-Olympic quarter pipe. Japan's Kazuhiro Kokubo (undrafted) is his country's best hope to medal in the sport but I think he'll fall short.

Germans Favored in Luge

2:50 PM PST - Luge
Women's singles continues tonight with Runs 3 and 4, and will award a 16.7 point gold medal.

Nordique Combined manager Brian Schwartz is counting on at least two medals from his German lugers. German Tatjana Huefner currently leads the competition by .05 seconds.
Other Germans with a shot at a medal are Natalie Geisenberger, who is currently third, and Anke Wischnewski, within shouting distance of a medal at fifth.

Austria's Nina Reithmayer (Ellis Kunka/Cornballers) ranks second, with a shot at gold and a medal almost definite. Russians Tatiana Ivanova and Alexandra (Adam Claus/Ice Lugers) rank fourth and sixth with the rest of the lugers pretty much out of the running for a medal.

2:52 PM PST - Speed Skating
The women's 500 meter speed skate is the sport's shortest event at just 1.2 times around the track. Germany's Jenny Wolf (John Binz/Da Nang Dynamos, the world record holder, is the heavy favorite and my pick for gold.
Wang Beixing is my pick to win a silver for China and more importantly Joy Sadaly's Olympic Ring Worm Wood Stock Market District Attorney team. Finally, Lee Sang-Wa should win bronze for South Korea (Brittany B./Buck-Toothed Rabbit Bitches). With only one South Korean in contention, Sang-Wa should be safe once he gets within 25 yards of the finish line.

Though the top three are in a tier above the rest, the Netherlands' Annette Gerritsen and Marianne Timmer (Ellis Kunka/Cornballers) have an outside shot at medals.

4:15 PM PST - Men's Figure Skating
I will not even purport to preview men's figure skating.

Figure Skating Highlights Evening Action

Three more gold medals will be given out this evening, as our Fantasy Winter Olympics league hopes to keep up its collective streak of flawlessly picking the gold and silver medal winners.

2:53 PM PST - Snowboarding
Snowboarding opens with the Men's Snowboard Cross. Frenchman Pierre Vaultier is a huge favorite to take this big 16.7 point medal for Adam Claus's Ice Lugers. He's won the cross in four of five World Cup events this season, finishing second in the other one. He's an obvious pick for gold in Canada.
Xavier De La Rue took silver in this event at last year's World Championships and is a threat to take a second French medal. But I'm taking a couple of Americans (Tim Lavoie/Fightin' Ovechkins) for the other medals. The USA's Nate Holland, the only athlete to beat Vaultier, is my choice for silver. I expect Seth Wescott, from the snowboarding mecca of Durham, North Carolina, to win bronze.

3:30 PM PST - Speed Skating
While the distance events belong to the Dutch in this sport, the 500 meter, 1.25 lap sprint is the forte of the North American and Asian nations.

Race 1 is at 3:30 PST and Race 2 is two hours later.

I'm picking Jeremy Wotherspoon (Dave Spence/Paragons) to take Canada's second gold medal, and South Koreans Lee Kang-Seok and Lee Kyou-Hyuk (Brittany B./Buck-Toothed Rabbit Bitches) for silver and bronze.

Japan's Keiichiro Nagashima (undrafted) and the USA's Tucker Fredericks (Zach Chromiak/Banker's Club) also have a good chance to medal.

5 PM PST - Figure Skating
Finally, the event that brings tears to our eyes yet warms our hearts. The Pairs Figure Skating free skate.

The Chinese, and of course John Binz's Da Nang Dynamos, are looking great in this one. Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao turned in the best short program of all time last night and of course rank first. Dan Zhang and Hao Zhang are fifth and Qing Pang/Jian Tong are fourth going in.
Sorry everyone else, but there's just no way Shen/Zhao can be dethroned. I also think Pang/Tong will move up to silver. The love between these two couples was so apparent, that even eating Wendy's with John Binz while watching it made for a romantic Valentine's Day. The longer and less constrained free skate will allow for even more of this love to bloom in the judges hearts, manifesting itself in high scores written in ink warmed by romance.

Russians Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov (Dave Spence/Paragons) also had a beautiful short program to place third. I think they'll hang on and get the bronze.

The Germans Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy (Brittany B./Buck-Toothed Rabbit Bitches) really scared me with their opera outfits and Sharpie eyebrows, so despite placing second last night I'm predicting they move down to fourth.

Biathlon, Nordic Combined Competitions Begin

Buck Tooth Rabbit Bitches hope to extend their lead as the Fantasy Winter Olympics continue Sunday with five medals being awarded including four in the morning/afternoon.

11:15 AM PST - BiathlonBiathlon will award it's first men's medal Sunday with the 10km Sprint. This sport is one of the most unique and challenging in the Games, combining the exertion of cross-country skiing with the precision of shooting. Here's hoping NBC devotes more than 15 minutes to this competition unlike Saturday.

The sport's all-time greatest athlete, Norway's Ole Einar Bjørndalen (John Binz/Da Nang Dynamos), is favored to take his sixth career gold medal. He won this event at Nagano and Salt Lake City as well as at the 2009 World Championships. Also I am a sucker for athletes with that crossed-out O in their names, so I guess I'll be picking a lot of Norwegians until China adopts that convention. Fellow Norwegian Emil Hegle Svendsen is my pick to take the silver. Unlike in short track skating, Da Nag Dynamos won't depend on their athletes not crashing into each other so two medals are actually possible.
While the top two Norwegians are in a tier above their competitors, there's a good group just behind them including my pick for bronze, Austrian Dominik Landertinger (undrafted). Russian Evgeny Ustyugov (Joy Sadaly/Olympic Ring...) is an upstart challenger who will look to give Joy Sadaly's squad her first medal. He hails from the great Siberian city Krasnoyarsk, heretofore known mainly for its mail order brides. And Norwegian Lars Berger, the third best biathlete from his country, could also be the third best in the world. Finally don't count out German Michael Greis (Adam Claus/Ice Lugers), but I think he's stronger in the other biathlon events than the sprint.

1:00 PM PST - Speed SkatingThe first women's speed skating event will be the long distance 3000 meter. The Czech Republic's Martina Sáblíková (Tim Lavoie/Fightin' Ovechkins), silver medalist at last year's World Championships, is the most consistent skater and is my pick for the gold medal.

The other medals are basically a toss-up between Canadians Kristina Groves and Cindy Klassen (Dave Spence/Paragons), German Stephanie Beckert (John Binz/Da Nang Dynamos), and Turin gold medalist Ireen Wüst of the Netherlands (Ellis Kunka/Cornballers).

1:00 PM PST - LugeThe men's singles luge competition, which began Saturday, will award its medals Sunday afternoon. The third run is scheduled for 1:00 PM PST and the fourth and final run starts at 3:10 PM PST.

The leaders after two runs are Germans Felix Loch and David Moeller (Brian Schwartz/Nordique Combined). Italy's Armin Zoeggeler (Zach Chromiak/Banker's Club) is third. German Albert Demtschenko, Austrian Daniel Pfister (Ellis Kunka/Cornballers) and Russian Albert Demtschenko (Adam Claus/Ice Lugers) are close behind in this sport where a tenth of a second means everything. I have to think the Germans hold onto their lead with Italy taking the bronze, which was basically the expected result before the first two rounds began.

The Canadian coach has been whining about moving the start of the course for safety because, umm, somebody DIED. With no Canadian finishing better than 10th in either run, hsi words sound like sour grapes to me and are insensitive as well.

1:45 PM PST - Nordic CombinedThis event which combines ski jumping and cross country skiing kicks off with the Individual Normal Hill/10 kilometer Cross Country event at 1:45. You have to love these events which combine two totally different sports. Imagine if ice hockey was like that. Hockey Combined, combining Offensive Hockey and Defensive Hockey. Alex Ovechkin would be terrible at that.

This is a wide open event. Norway's Magnus Moan (Brian Schwartz/Nordique Combined), ranked fourth in the world, is one of the best cross country skiiers but a weaker jumper. I think he'll hunt down his competitors and take the gold.
Frenchman Jason Larny Chappuis (Ellis Kunka/Cornballers) is the current World Cup leader and the favorite in this event, solid in both portions. He's my pick for silver. He's said he feels a lot of pressure from the French media, but I don't really believe in the psychological angles.

Finland's Hannu Manninen (Adam Claus/Ice Lugers) earned team medals at the last three Olympics. He's stronger on the cross country skiing side, but I think he'll take the bronze for his first individual Olympic medal.

Austria's Felix Gottwald (Zach Chromiak/Banker's Club), who already has six Olympic medals including two gold, returned from retirement just for these Olympics and is another favorite. American veterans Todd Lodwick, Bill Demong and Johnny Spillane (Brittany B./Buck-Toothed Rabbit Bitches) all have a shot to medal as well.

Of course, check back later for a preview of the evening events and other updates.

Day 2 Evening Preview

As Fantasy Winter Olympic competition continues, two medals are at stake tonight:

4:30 PM PST - Freestyle Skiing
Freestyle skiing gets underway tonight with the Ladies' Moguls. Qualifying is at 4:30 PST with the final at 7:30 PST.

North Americans usually dominate this sport. I like Canadian Jennifer Heil (Adam Claus/Ice Lugers) to take the gold. She won gold at Turin in this event and has only gotten better since, and now even benefits from a home field advantage.
Another Canadian, Kristi Richards, is a strong contender, but I think a couple of athletes from Team USA (Brian Schwartz/Nordique Combined) will take the other two medals. Vermont's Hannah Kearney and Montana's Heather McPhie are my bets to avenge their states' lack of electoral votes. Shannon Bahrke is another American who's a threat to medal.

A couple of undrafted competitors, France's Nikola Sudova and Japan's Aiko Uemura, also have good shots at medals. Unfortunately Uniontown native Kristi Leskinen will not be competing.
5:00 PM PST - Short Track Speed Skating
Short track skating gets underway with heats at 5:00 PM PST, semifinals at 6:18 PM PST and finals at 7:18 PM PST.

Men's short track is dominated by South Korea (John Binz/Da Nang Dynamos). I'm predicting a sweep by the South Koreans Ho-Suk Lee, Jung-Su Lee and Si-Bak Sung. Bonus points if you can remember those three names.

The USA's Apolo Ohno (Brittany B./Buck-Toothed Rabbit Bitches), gold medalist in this event at Salt Lake, is the main threat to unseat one of the Koreans from the medal table. He's a five-time medalist but I don't think he'll get there in the 1500. I do expect him to medal in the 500. Another American John Celski has a good chance to make the finals but is a long shot to medal.

I think Canadian Charles Hamelin (Dave Spence/Paragons) will round out the finals but will also be shut out of the medal count.

Day 2 Preview: Medal Rounds Begin

The Games begin in earnest Saturday with six medals at stake. Four of those will be up for grabs Saturday afternoon on the East Coast, although at this blog I list times in PST to make it seem like there's some chance I'm at Vancouver.

9:45 AM PST - Ski Jumping
The medal rounds of normal hill ski jumping kick off tomorrow's action. Favorite Austria is expected to give Brittany B.'s Buck-Toothed Rabbit Bitches an early lead in the fantasy points. Ski jumping was extensively covered here in the qualifying round preview. Unlike Alpine Skiing, this event is sure to go off as it's on an artificial slope.

11:45 AM PST - Alpine Skiing
Alpine skiing is scheduled to begin with the men's downhill. But the weather at Whistler has been terrible, with rain resulting in slushy conditions which cancelled training runs Friday. "If the slope remains the same as it is right now, there will certainly be no downhill," said race director Gunther Hujara.
The men's downhill is one of the marquee events of the Winter Olympics. It consists of a single high-speed run down a slope with a huge vertical drop of over 2500 feet. The event is meant to take place on basically a sheet of ice with minimal powder on top. I doubt they would run it in slushy conditions.

If the race does go off, Swiss skier Didier Cuche (Joy Sadaly/Olympic Ring Worm Wood Stock Market District Attorney) is the favorite in a deep field. The Nagano silver medalist is a seasoned veteran who is used to all conditions. He finished first in the World Cup in 2007 and 2008, and also took silver at last year's World Championships. I like him to take his first Olympic gold medal in the downhill.

Austrian Michael Walchhofer (Brittany B./Buck-Toothed Rabbit Bitches) won Wednesday's training run and is another veteran, a former slalom skiier who switched to downhill. He finished first in the 2009 World Cup and also won silver in the downhill at Turin. I think he'll repeat that performance and take silver.

If the race does begin in less than ideal conditions, this could favor Canadians Manuel Osborne-Paradis, Erik Guay and Robbie Dixon (Brian Schwartz/Nordique Combined). The Canadians have all had experience skiing Whistler in many different conditions. I think one of the trio will take the bronze.

Of course, the USA's Bode Miller (Ellis Kunka/Cornballers) is another threat. I think he was unfairly maligned for his performance at Turin, and will certainly finish in the top ten with a chance to medal.

Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal (John Binz/Da Nang Dynamos) is a name to watch throughout the skiing events, but I think the two-time overall World Cup winner is a better bet for the combined gold medal than downhill. Switzerland's talented contingent of Ambrosi Hoffman, Didier Defago and Carlo Janka are all threats to medal as well.

Remember, if you need to stop at the bottom, snowplow.

Noon PST - Ice Hockey
Sweden faces off against Switzerland in the first women's hockey game of the Vancouver Games.
Sweden (John Binz/Da Nang Dynamos) took silver at Turin in a huge surprise, on the way becoming the first team other than Canada to beat the USA. Sweden and Finland are expected to battle for the bronze this time around.

Switzerland (Zach Chromiak/Bankers Club), meanwhile, is basically a long shot despite being sixth best in the world. Although the Swiss finished 4th at the 2008 World Championships, there's an extreme lack of parity in the sport meaning basically the top four countries win all the medals. It's mainly an issue of popularity as Sweden has 2,888 women's hockey players while Switzerland has 735. I'm taking Sweden to win this game, 5-0.

Noon PST - Speed Skating
In an event which you probably won't see unless the men's downhill is cancelled, the Netherlands' Sven Kramer (Ellis Kunka/Cornballers) is a decided favorite in the men's 5000 Meter speed skating race.

How much of a favorite is he? If you bet a dollar on him to win, and he wins, you will win 20 cents. I will not go against odds like that. Sven Kramer is the reigning world champion, the world record holder, and the pick to win gold. He won silver at Turin but has improved a lot since.

Norway's Håvard Bøkko (undrafted) has a circle over the A in his first name, but I bet his girlfriend writes it as a heart. With a crossed out O in his last name as well, and a silver medal in the 5000 at last year's World Championships, that's good for a silver medal at Vancouver.

Italy's Enrico Fabris (Brian Schwartz/Nordique Combined) took the bronze in this event at Turin and also is a former world record holder, a record he held for a week before Sven Kramer broke it. I think he gets bronze again though it's really a toss-up over Bob De Jong of the Netherlands. De Jong is always a threat in any long race, but he's better at even longer races so I think he won't medal until the 10,000.

American Chad Hedrick (Zach Chromiak/Bankers Club) won gold at Turin and is a great champion who can't be discounted, but I'm guessing he's lost a step by age 32 and finishes no better than fourth. Also a threat is Russia's Ivan Skobrev (Adam Claus/Ice Lugers), the rare skater who's good at every event.

1 PM PST - Biathlon
It is 3 a.m. and I am not even going to pretend to know anything about the Women's 7.5km Sprint. I can report that the two skills involved in biathlon are cross-country skiing and rifle shooting.

Nonetheless, betting sites tell me that the favorite is Germany's Magdalena Neuner (Adam Claus/Ice Lugers). This chick looks super talented to me. Romance in Durango, indeed.
Keep checking back like I know you will. All rosters will be posted Saturday afternoon as well as previews of the evening's action. Results and the first standings will be posted Saturday night.