How much figure skating can one watch?

This is a big week for NBC. They told their advertisers they would deliver primetime ratings in the 12-14 range. Well, they're averaging a 12.1 so far, in the low end heading into THE event of the Winter Olympics: ladies' figure skating. Say all that you want about the men's downhill, the 4 X 10 cross-country relay race, and hockey (especially after the demise of the USSR), women's figure skating has everything. It proved that in 1994 with the Tonya/Nancy rivalry. Hey, I still want to know what stupid thing Tonya Harding has done recently. In women's figure skating, the competitors either shine or crumble, there's no in-between. The exceedingly high expectations make it that way. In what other winter Olympic sport can you become a mainstream icon??? Look at Peggy Fleming, Dorothy Hamill, Katarina Witt, Kristi Yamaguchi, Oksana Baiul, Tara Lipinski (although what's happened to her), Michelle Kwan (even without a gold medal), and Sarah Hughes. The women's figure skating champion will always be more popular than a skiier or a snowboarder, which makes the competition make or break.

Now I will watch, but do we have to see EVERY skater in the competition. It just drags on and on and on and on. No wonder people switch over to American Idol. Would you rather see the 25th place skater from Turkey or the 15th rendition of "My Heart Will Go On"????

Another side note about women's figure skating, I didn't realize how small American favorite Sasha Cohen is. She's 5'2" and weighs less than 100 pounds. I mean, I feel like I could palm her like a basketball, then break her in half if I wanted to. That is small, yow.

I'm no longer surprised by the Bode Miller hype machine. Sometimes, we see this from athletes who aren't at the top of their game, who somehow try and use the self-created hype to raise their level and do well. Well, it hasn't happened for Bode, but we shouldn't be surprised. His performance in the Olympics has reflected his performance during the skiing season, yet we came in expecting 5 medals from him, thanks in part to his hype. Well, after this Olympics, we're not going to be hearing anything from Bode soon, thankfully.

Now, for some hoops:

• Michigan defeated Illinois, giving coach Tommy Amaker his first win vs. Illinois in 13 tries. Amaker is usually a reserved guy, but throughout the 2nd half after Michigan took the lead, he was emotional on the sideline, asking the crowd to get loud, urging his players on, knowing how important the game was for their postseason hopes. I think Amaker is a good coach, who hopefully will have continued success because he's had to deal with a lot at Michigan, but he's come through and has his team in the Dance as of now.
• Meanwhile, there's Xavier. Xavier, with a healthy Brian Thornton I believe has as much physical talent as anyone in the country. Yet, they're NIT bound at best, why? Well, tonight I think I figured it out. Against Dayton tonight, Josh Duncan was their best player on the floor. He was hitting from the outside, taking his guy to the basket and finishing underneath. But at the end of the game in crunch time, he didn't get the ball. The wrong guys were shooting at the wrong time. This is where the head coach needs to step in. Tommy Amaker got his best player, Daniel Horton, the ball tonight, and he ended up with a career high of 39 points. Sean Miller, Xavier coach, didn't do this, costing his team the game ultimately. Xavier = disappointment.
• UConn almost dropped their 3rd in a row tonight, surviving overtime with Notre Dame. If Notre Dame makes the Big East Tourney, I wouldn't want to play them, they're due to win some of these close games they've been involved in. UConn has hit a rut, and it hasn't helped they've proclaimed themselves as this year's North Carolina. They're not as good as that team, and if think they can just turn it on at the right time, they're mistaken because they're not good enough to do that either.

I forgot to mention I watched Cinderella Man for the first time this weekend. Obviously, it's a great story. James J. Braddock is the perfect hero. But Russell Crowe and Renee Zellewigger just don't do it for me. I liked Paul Giamatti, but other than him, I'd rank Million Dollar Baby ahead of it.

Andy Roddick has changed coaches again, now teaming with his older brother John, who was a highly-acclaimed junior player and All-American at Georgia before blowing out his knee. Roddick is turning into an enigma. He's Mark Philipoussis with a consistent forehand. But that's it. We'll see how this move goes, but until Roddick makes strides with his court awareness and conditioning, he will continue to have inconsistent results. Roddick needs to have a heart-to-heart with Andre Agassi. Being a showman is great, but if you can't back it up with heart and determination, you've got nothing.

The days can't be much better, they're getting longer, the sun isn't setting until about 6:15 or so, and it almost hit 40 today, tough to beat that up here at this time of year.