DAY 16 DAYTIME HIGHLIGHTS OF NBC WINTER OLYMPICS COVERAGE
“It’s an inspiration to a whole generation of young athletes.” –Premier of British Columbia Gordon Campbell on Vancouver as an Olympic host city
“It’s like getting even with your big brother.” – NBC’s Mike Milbury on Team USA facing Canada
VANCOUVER – February 27, 2010 – Daytime coverage of the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games continued today on NBC with live coverage of the women’s speed skating pursuit gold medal final, women’s cross-country 30km mass start gold medal final and men’s snowboard parallel competition. Live on USA Network, the men’s curling bronze medal match between Switzerland and Sweden.
Daytime host Al Michaels sat down with the Premier of British Columbia Gordon Campbell to recap the Olympics in Vancouver and USA Hockey GM Brian Burke.
NBC News’ Tom Brokaw presented a 30-minute piece on the town of Gander, Newfoundland where on September 11, 2001 38 jumbo jets carrying 7,000 passengers were diverted. In September 2009, Brokaw traveled to Gander with several of the grateful Americans, including parents of a New York City firefighter who was an emergency responder at the World Trade Center; a retired Ohio State administrator who was so inspired by the hospitality she experienced in Newfoundland she helped organize a scholarship fund for local students; and a Texas lady and a British gentleman who found true love during that fateful week in September 2001.
NBC’s Jimmy Roberts and Cris Collinsworth stopped by the studio to report on Canada and its fans. NBC’s Mike Milbury previewed the men’s ice hockey gold medal final between USA and Canada.
NBC
CAMPBELL ON THE IMPACT THE OLYMPICS HAS ON VANCOUVER: “It’s just been phenomenal. That electricity and energy that’s come into the city.”
“It couldn’t have been better, from my perspective, in terms of how people have felt about the Games.”
CAMPBELL ON VANCOUVER’S OLYMPIC LEGACY: “It’s an inspiration to a whole generation of young athletes. It’s how the athletes perform. It’s the dedication. It’s the athletes that finish when they fall. It’s the athletes that act with grace and confidence and a commitment to themselves to being the best they can. That’s the real long term legacy.”
BURKE ON THE USA-CANADA MEN’S HOCKEY GAME TOMORROW: From our perspective, this is our chief rival. Whatever cliché you want to use. This is David and Goliath. In Canada, people think it’s their game. It would be huge for us to be able to do this and that’s what we intend to do.”
“Nothing is going to change on our team. We’re the youngest team in the tournament. We rely on that youthful enthusiasm and foot speed and we rely on our goaltender. We’re not going to change our game. Playing with Canada, they’ve got the best defense in the tournament and quality goaltending, but I think they concentrate on getting the puck out of the ring quickly. It’s going to be a dynamite game. I’m not going to enjoy it, because I don’t enjoy when my teams play, but everyone watching on TV is.”
BURKE ON TEAM USA: “In the preliminary round, even though we went 3-0, I thought we played with ten guys carrying the team and Ryan Miller. I blasted the team after the first three games and said that we need all hands on deck and we’ve gotten that in the two games since then. All the players have chipped in and we played our best hockey the last game and I think you’ll see our best tomorrow.”
BURKE ON CHOOSING RYAN MILLER TO START IN GOAL: “That’s the only decision that we didn’t have fist-fight over. Putting the team together was a natural. We have a young team. He’s calm, and he’s mechanical and methodical and economical. That translates to our young players well, so that was an easy one.”
BURKE ON HIS SONS DEATH IN A CAR ACCIDENT DAYS BEFORE THE OPENING CEREMONY: “It’s been difficult. It’s really been helpful to have this tournament so there’s a reason to put one foot in front of the other and keep moving on. You try to cry a little bit less everyday. My wife’s been great, my kids have been great, my siblings have been great and that’s helped. I think really, just keep putting one foot in front of the other and try to cry a little bit less everyday.”
MILBURY ON THE CANADA-USA RIVALRY: “It’s like getting even with your big brother. There’s a feeling of entitlement when it comes to the Canadians and hockey. They are a little bit nervous about the Americans, because the little guy came to play.”
MILBURY ON USA’S GOALTENDER RYAN MILLER: “Miller’s been completely composed. He had 42 saves against the Canadians the last time out. If he’s not standing on top of his head then they don’t win that hockey game.”
ROBERTS ON HOCKEY IN CANADA: “You know the old axiom. There are two things that matter in Texas, right? There’s football and there’s spring football. That’s the kind of the way it is in Canada with hockey. Tomorrow they’ll get a shot at what they feel is the single most important prize of these Games.”
COLLINSWORTH ON CANADA’S HOSPITALITY: “It’s like they’re hosting you in their house.”
“We’re all very lucky to have the Canadians around. They’ve been a great host.”
WOMEN’S SPEED SKATING PURSUIT GOLD MEDAL FINAL
Dan Hicks (Play-By-Play), Dan Jansen (Analyst), Andrea Kremer (Reporter)
Gold: Germany
Silver: Japan
Bronze: Poland
HICKS ON THE SPEED SKATING PURSUIT: “It just takes one skater to lag behind and it all comes tumbling down.”
JANSEN ON GERMANY ADVANCING TO THE GOLD MEDAL FINAL: “They are able to survive as Friesinger slides across!”
HICKS ON GERMANY’S ANNA FRIESINGER: “Friesinger falling, actually swimming across the ice!
“Just when you think you have seen it all, we see something else.”
“What a way to go out for Anni Friesinger’s storied Olympic career.”
JANSEN ON POLAND WINNING BRONZE: “Very surprising bronze medal for the Polish team, but well earned.”
WOMEN’S CROSS-COUNTRY 30KM MASS START GOLD MEDAL FINAL
Al Trautwig (Play-By-Play), Chad Salmela (Analyst)
Gold: Justyna Kowalczyk, Poland
Silver: Marit Bjoergen, Norway
Bronze: Aino-Kaisa Saarinen, Finland
TRAUTWIG ON NORWAY’S MARIT BJOERGEN: “We may have already had a coronation. Marit Bjoergen has three goals and a bronze. Today she goes to make it four.”
“Bjoergen is on her way to setting a mark that Norwegians and all female cross-country skiers will chase for quite some time.”
TRAUTWIG ON POLAND’S JUSTYNA KOWLCZYK: “She’s reminding everyone why she’s wearing number one.”
“Kowalczyk is going to blaze a trail for Polish gold. That’s as good as it gets.”
“Kowalczyk is going to leave here with the perfect set of souvenirs. A bronze, a silver, and a gold.”
TRAUTWIG ON BJOERGEN VS. KOWLCZYK: “We’ve got the best female cross-country skier on the planet during this Olympics, versus the best female cross-country skier on the planet coming into the Winter Olympics.”
MEN’S SNOWBOARD PARALLEL GIANT SLALOM COMPETITION:
Pat Parnell (Play-By-Play), Todd Richards (Analyst), Tina Dixon (Reporter)
RICHARDS ON THE COMPETITION: “These guys are simply carving to the max here.”
“Smooth and confident is going to be the name of the game today.”
PARNELL ON THE CROWD: “A huge American fan base. Family and friends in the crowd, definitely keeping spirits high.”
RICHARDS ON THE TRACK CONDITIONS: “Picture these racers, they’re like cars. It’s like an Indy Car race. They want to have a smooth surface, not a dirt road.”
PARNELL ON USA’S CHRIS KLUG FANS IN THE RAIN:“Soggy foam fingers, they approve!”
USA NETWORK
MEN’S CURLING BRONZE MEDAL GAME: SWITZERLAND VS. SWEDEN
Fred Roggin (Host), Andrew Catalon (Play-by-Play), Colleen Jones (Analyst), Don Duguid (Analyst), Elfi Schlegel (Reporter)
Switzerland: 5 Sweden: 4
JONES: “What I am marveled at though was the composure of Switzerland. When Sweden was throwing all of those incredible shots at them, they never got flustered, they stayed within themselves and just kept making shot after shot.”
CATALON ON TEAM SWEDEN: “The Swedish played their hearts out, the team of 24-year-olds. You can expect to see them again.”
DUGUID ON TEAM SWEDEN: “For a young team to be that high up in the percentages is remarkable. Absolutely remarkable.”
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