ARTICLE
I am going to shift off course for today’s eNews article and away from the usual storyline about affordable housing, legislative policy, the economy, job creation and other wonkier stuff that we cover here on a weekly basis. People who know me well, understand that I am a sports fan who enjoys watching and playing sports. This winter is something special with the 24th Winter Olympic Games straddling Superbowl LVI, and then you sprinkle in time to watch or attend a Golden State Warriors or Santa Cruz Warriors game and voilà! — a trifecta of sports this month. Let’s start with the Winter Olympics — As a native of Reno-Lake Tahoe watching the winter Olympics brings back fond memories of past local Olympians like Tamara McKinney, Julie Mancusco, Johnny Moseley, and Jimmy Heuga. The 2022 USA Olympians include 18 Reno-Lake Tahoe locals who reside or train in the area. It is nice to see them excel at the highest levels of their sport. I will keep a close eye on David Wise (halfpipe), Jamie Anderson (three-time Olympian snowboarder), Brita Sigourney (three-time Olympic halfpipe) and a host of others. There are some amazing stories in the making over the next couple of weeks with a record 109 events in seven sports — biathlon, bobsledding, curling, ice hockey, luge, skating (figure and speed skating), skiing and snowboarding and ski jumping. This year the Olympic Committee added two new events — the monobob and Freeski Big Air. Monobob is a solo version of bobsledding, currently only open to female athletes. In Freeski Big Air, skiers launch themselves off a 60-foot ramp to perform tricks high in the sky. Most of the new events were added to improve gender equality at the Winter Games: Female athletes make up 45% of participants at this year's Olympics, the highest percentage in history, though the International Olympic Committee has a goal of full one-to-one gender parity by the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. No matter what your level of interest is in watching the Winter Olympics, the pure athleticism of the performances and the joy and sorrow of winning or losing show the world the best of the best in all of the competitors. My favorite events are the ski races — the Giant Slalom, Slalom, the Super G, Downhill and the Alpine combined where sheer speed and amazing balance on skis propel the human body down the ski slope racing at 60 to 80 mph. It was disappointing to see USA favorite and two-time Gold Medalist Mikaela Shiffrin missed out on two of her prime events, the Giant Slalom and then the Slalmon She has an opportunity to try three more times, but it appears at the moment she has been shaken and lost confidence in herself. The margin of error in skiing is so small that any minor tweak can lead to a did not finish result (DNF). Let's hope she finds her mojo soon. Of course, there are other Americans who have their sights on Gold. The first USA Gold Medal was handed out to Lindsey Jacobellis who is competing in her fifth Winter Games. She won Gold in the Snowboard cross on Tuesday. As I write this column and we go to edits later today (Wednesday), the report about Chole Kim and Shaun White advancing to the finals of the women’s and men’s halfpipe competition will be decided before this hits your inbox. Enjoy these special athletes perform at the highest level where training for years leads up to this lifetime of opportunity that occurs once every four years. The annual ritual known as Superbowl Sunday — is that special time when we kick off our running shoes, stack the surfboard against the back wall, put the bike on the stand and sit down to watch what some people refer to as America’s Game. This year is no different except our local SF 49ers are also home watching the game instead of playing in Superbowl LVI at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California — yes in Inglewood not Los Angeles — although to Angelenos — Los Angeles is anywhere in LA County. The 56th edition of the Superbowl is a huge financial undertaking. A big difference compared to the first Superbowl that was played in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum before a less than sell-out crowd. Superbowl Sunday has evolved into an unofficial American holiday, with viewing parties held in homes, taverns, and restaurants throughout the country. And for community leaders of the underdog Cincinnati Bengals, they have decided that Monday will be vacation day as local schools will be closed. Today, the Superbowl is more than a Sunday afternoon party, it has become the biggest extravaganza showcase of two teams playing for the Lombardi Trophy that draws millions of viewers starting with early pregame programs and celebrity stars’ commentary picking their winner. These Superbowl tickets are the most expensive ever —as of Monday, Ticketmaster as the “official marketplace” showing tickets at $4,500 to $55,000 not including fees. Stubhub prices for cheap seats start at $4,845 up to $48,143. Tickets to park your vehicle start at $386 to $6,203. Just think, tickets for the first three Superbowl games were $12! How about participating in a suite for your party? At one website a luxury viewing suite in SoFi Stadium was listed at $646,896 for three hours of football. Put this into perspective: that suite cost nearly as much as a median-priced home in Southern California. As we get closer to game time, the prices will only go up. Now for the real reasons to watch the Superbowl: Those expensive commercials! In 2020 the price was $5.6 million; in 2021 the price dropped to $5.5 million and this year the price tag is $6.5 million according to one news report and $7 million according to another. If you are spending that kind of money for a 30-second TV ad, you better hope there is a return on your investment worth that value. Nonetheless, a common play in our household is rating the commercials as much as wagering on the game itself. So as we hit mid-February with the highs and lows of the Olympics and the final outcome of Superbowl LVI, we cheer and sneer at the marvel of it all. For the readers of this column who are not sports fans, enjoy your Sunday and what appears to be a partly sunny day with highs of 72 and a low of 47 — perfect weather for Santa Cruz County. Oh, and my prediction for the game — Bengals win on a last second field goal.
I am going to shift off course for today’s eNews article and away from the usual storyline about affordable housing, legislative policy, the economy, job creation and other wonkier stuff that we cover here on a weekly basis.
People who know me well, understand that I am a sports fan who enjoys watching and playing sports. This winter is something special with the 24th Winter Olympic Games straddling Superbowl LVI, and then you sprinkle in time to watch or attend a Golden State Warriors or Santa Cruz Warriors game and voilà! — a trifecta of sports this month.
Let’s start with the Winter Olympics — As a native of Reno-Lake Tahoe watching the winter Olympics brings back fond memories of past local Olympians like Tamara McKinney, Julie Mancusco, Johnny Moseley, and Jimmy Heuga. The 2022 USA Olympians include 18 Reno-Lake Tahoe locals who reside or train in the area. It is nice to see them excel at the highest levels of their sport. I will keep a close eye on David Wise (halfpipe), Jamie Anderson (three-time Olympian snowboarder), Brita Sigourney (three-time Olympic halfpipe) and a host of others.
There are some amazing stories in the making over the next couple of weeks with a record 109 events in seven sports — biathlon, bobsledding, curling, ice hockey, luge, skating (figure and speed skating), skiing and snowboarding and ski jumping. This year the Olympic Committee added two new events — the monobob and Freeski Big Air. Monobob is a solo version of bobsledding, currently only open to female athletes. In Freeski Big Air, skiers launch themselves off a 60-foot ramp to perform tricks high in the sky. Most of the new events were added to improve gender equality at the Winter Games: Female athletes make up 45% of participants at this year's Olympics, the highest percentage in history, though the International Olympic Committee has a goal of full one-to-one gender parity by the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
No matter what your level of interest is in watching the Winter Olympics, the pure athleticism of the performances and the joy and sorrow of winning or losing show the world the best of the best in all of the competitors.
My favorite events are the ski races — the Giant Slalom, Slalom, the Super G, Downhill and the Alpine combined where sheer speed and amazing balance on skis propel the human body down the ski slope racing at 60 to 80 mph. It was disappointing to see USA favorite and two-time Gold Medalist Mikaela Shiffrin missed out on two of her prime events, the Giant Slalom and then the Slalmon She has an opportunity to try three more times, but it appears at the moment she has been shaken and lost confidence in herself. The margin of error in skiing is so small that any minor tweak can lead to a did not finish result (DNF). Let's hope she finds her mojo soon.
Of course, there are other Americans who have their sights on Gold. The first USA Gold Medal was handed out to Lindsey Jacobellis who is competing in her fifth Winter Games. She won Gold in the Snowboard cross on Tuesday.
As I write this column and we go to edits later today (Wednesday), the report about Chole Kim and Shaun White advancing to the finals of the women’s and men’s halfpipe competition will be decided before this hits your inbox. Enjoy these special athletes perform at the highest level where training for years leads up to this lifetime of opportunity that occurs once every four years.
The annual ritual known as Superbowl Sunday — is that special time when we kick off our running shoes, stack the surfboard against the back wall, put the bike on the stand and sit down to watch what some people refer to as America’s Game. This year is no different except our local SF 49ers are also home watching the game instead of playing in Superbowl LVI at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California — yes in Inglewood not Los Angeles — although to Angelenos — Los Angeles is anywhere in LA County.
The 56th edition of the Superbowl is a huge financial undertaking. A big difference compared to the first Superbowl that was played in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum before a less than sell-out crowd. Superbowl Sunday has evolved into an unofficial American holiday, with viewing parties held in homes, taverns, and restaurants throughout the country. And for community leaders of the underdog Cincinnati Bengals, they have decided that Monday will be vacation day as local schools will be closed.
Today, the Superbowl is more than a Sunday afternoon party, it has become the biggest extravaganza showcase of two teams playing for the Lombardi Trophy that draws millions of viewers starting with early pregame programs and celebrity stars’ commentary picking their winner. These Superbowl tickets are the most expensive ever —as of Monday, Ticketmaster as the “official marketplace” showing tickets at $4,500 to $55,000 not including fees. Stubhub prices for cheap seats start at $4,845 up to $48,143. Tickets to park your vehicle start at $386 to $6,203. Just think, tickets for the first three Superbowl games were $12!
How about participating in a suite for your party? At one website a luxury viewing suite in SoFi Stadium was listed at $646,896 for three hours of football. Put this into perspective: that suite cost nearly as much as a median-priced home in Southern California. As we get closer to game time, the prices will only go up.
Now for the real reasons to watch the Superbowl: Those expensive commercials! In 2020 the price was $5.6 million; in 2021 the price dropped to $5.5 million and this year the price tag is $6.5 million according to one news report and $7 million according to another. If you are spending that kind of money for a 30-second TV ad, you better hope there is a return on your investment worth that value. Nonetheless, a common play in our household is rating the commercials as much as wagering on the game itself. So as we hit mid-February with the highs and lows of the Olympics and the final outcome of Superbowl LVI, we cheer and sneer at the marvel of it all. For the readers of this column who are not sports fans, enjoy your Sunday and what appears to be a partly sunny day with highs of 72 and a low of 47 — perfect weather for Santa Cruz County. Oh, and my prediction for the game — Bengals win on a last second field goal.