Day 5: Short Day Setting Up for Much to Come

Only 3 additional medal events today giving everyone a nice day to enjoy with their Valentine's:

If you're worried about your standings, there are SO many points still out there to claim.  Remember, our projected standings had the leaders just over 200 points, so plenty of chances to work your way up to the podium.

Highlights:

• Nordic Combined is an interesting event to watch because we're finding out that EVERYONE selected contenders.  The event has been conducted in every winter olympics and it clearly is unpredictable.  Watching the ski jump portion the wind essentially died halfway through right before the overwhelming favorites were about to jump.  Johannes Rydzek of Luge Yourself, Jan Schmid, of Incheon Closer, and Jorgen Graabak of Seoul Searching were projected to be the medalists, and all had absolutely terrible jumps that left the athletes and the announcers bewildered.  The second part of the event allows for participants to start the cross-country race in order of finish in the ski jump, and the favorites had too much of a deficit to make up.  Rydzek made up almost a minute of time to finish 5th, but the eventual winners held him off: Eric Frenzel of Red White and Luge took Gold, Akito Watabe of Russian Ministry of Sport claimed the silver, and Lukas Klapfer of Lindsey Vonn-miting was not projected to do anything and took the bronze.
  
• Long track featured the Women's 1000m race where another Dutch athlete took gold! Unfortunately not one anyone picked as Jorien Ter Mors surprises the favorite Marit Leenstra from Seoul Searching, who did not make the podium.  Run DMZ and Red White and Luge cleaned up with Nao Kodaira and Miho Takagi from Japan getting the Silver and Bronze respectively.
  
• The Doubles Luge competition rounds out the medals for the day - the expected medalists did get on the podium, but not where expected! Eggert/Benecken from Soohorang Success is known as "Eggs Benedict," but they maybe ate a little too much breakfast as they could not live up to expectations and slid in for the bronze.  Wendl/Arlt defended their gold medal from Sochi by scoring the gold for Seoul Searching, and Penz/Fischler of Incheon Closer overcame the memory of crashing in Sochi with high expectations to come in second and claim the silver.

Day 4: A Day of Dominance

Today was about some of the favorites delivering the goods - taking the titles - making statements.

First, the scoreboard to see which team is making a statement that they want the title:

For one such story of dominance we turn to Cross-Country skiing and the Men's Sprint Finals.  Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo of Norway is the favorite...he knows it...his competitors know it...it's -9C outside (15F) and he strides up to the blocks and rips off his hat and throws it down.  Superman isn't cold.  He spits on hats.  Take that, competitors wearing your toboggans...hope you enjoy your warm ears while the Klaebo eats some snow.
The field hangs with Klaebo until they reach the final hill, which the competitors have taken to calling "Mount Klaebo."  Klaebo strides over the hill like Edmund Hillary and leaves the remaining field in the dust.  Gold was destined and it was achieved - Russian Ministry of Sport expected nothing less.  Suk-hee year settled for the silver from the "best of the rest" Federico Pellegrino.

The women's sprint was also filled with dominance, though highly contested.  Stina Nilsson of Luge Yourself held on for the Gold while Soohorang Success' Maiken Caspernan Falla finished just short for the silver.  Team USA member Jessie Diggins, on team Luge Yourself, fought valiantly but came up short looking for Team USA's first ever medal in Cross-Country Skiing.  In the semi-final she gave everything she had to literally finish second by the toe of her boot and secure a final spot.  It was as good a finish as you will see, but it was clear all her energy was used up in the final.

Alpine Skiing finally got an event in, despite the dicey weather, and the Super Combined concluded with the expected #1 skiier Marcel Hirscher delivering the Gold for Team Mark.  Hirscher sliced and diced the slalom course barely moving a flake of snow.  A hero in Austria, and a hero in the Fantasy Olympics.  Red White and Luge was not too disappointed with Alexis Pintaurault holding serve and getting the silver behind Hirscher.

The women's luge final didn't experience the complete surprises of the men's event - Luge Yourself clearly lived up to his name with Dajana Eitberger of Germany getting the silver, but Soohorang Success was celebrating her success as Natalie Geisenberger of Germany claimed the Gold.
The one toss up was between Suk-hee year's Summer Britcher of the US and Run DMZ's Alex Gough for bronze and Run DMZ claimed the bronze points.

Other stories of dominance:

• Chloe Kim was head and shoulders above everyone else in the halfpipe having won the gold before her final run.  Team Mark was pleased.
• Stealing from the next day but what an awesome display to watch live - Sean White has one run to win gold and he makes it happen - what a competition and what a performance.  Dudes were out there falling all over the place trying to do insane tricks to try and compete.  Scotty James was the choice by Seoul Searching for Gold, but the Australian couldn't land the last run and ended with Bronze.
• The first Curling competition concluded with the mixed doubles pair from Canada claiming the Gold as expected - Lindsey Vonn-miting celebrates the 20 points.  Suk-hee year had the Swiss mixed team that secured silver.

Not all was chalk, as there were a few huge misses:

• In Short Track, the #2 overall pick Choi Min-jeong of Incheon Closer was in the final and was edged out narrowly by Arianna Fontana of Italy for the Gold.  In review judges determined Choi interfered and was disqualified, sending her off the medal stand completely.  The only point getter as a result was Team Mark, whose Kim Boutin of Canada snuck onto the podium for Bronze by moving up as a result of the DQ.  Incheon Closer was not happy and may have been yelling at the judges.
• In Long Track the Dutch took Gold and Silver (surprise, surprise) and another mad celebration at the Holland House is happening, but the favorite didn't come through - Lindsey Vonn-miting's Koen Verweij calls himself THE VIKING and looks like Thor, but lightning didn't strike today.  His competitor in the pair fell down and with no one to race against he couldn't keep on track and finished 8th.  Kjeld Nuis of Russian Ministry of Sport dominated the race and claimed the Gold instead.

I GOT SOUL BUT I'M NOT A SOLDIER

Day 3: Everyone is on the board!

Day 3 is in the books and the team figure skating final helped almost everyone to get some points on the board.  Here's the look at the scoreboard for day 3:


Team Canada was as smooth as maple syrup on the ice and secured the team figure skating gold.  Their twizzles were twinkling, their salchows were sassy, and their lutzes (sp?) loomed large.  Celebrating the Canucks Craft were Incheon Closer to the Title, Run DMZ, Russian Ministry of Sport, and Team Mark.  Suk-hee year and Luge Yourself secured a silver with the supposed non-doping Olympic Athletes from Russia, and true patriots Red White and Luge and Lindsey Vonn-miting got the bronze with team USA.
On the outside looking in without success were Soohorang Success and Seoul Searching for Gold - there's still time to find that gold success.


Significant happenings in Biathlon with Johannes Thingnes Bo once again coming up far short of the podium in the pursuit race.  The #1 expected dominant pick has struggled in Pyeongchang and is proving to be a potential bust as a #1 pick.  Once projected for 45 points, he's already down to only 25 possible points remaining - not out of reach but not good prospects with the performances so far.  In Biathlon the events build on each other and this is not good momentum.  Soohorang Success is sweating the shots.
Martin Fourcade of Seoul Searching was able to overcome a poor showing yesterday and catch the leader Arnd Peiffer of Incheon Closer to grab the Gold medal comfortably.  He shot so well and skiied so deftly that he had time to pick up a French flag from the crowd and fist pump to victory.  Pump your fist, Seoul Searching because you found Gold.
In the women's pursuit Laura Dahlmeier of Red White and Luge has lived up to the hype by skiing through pain and poor form to hold off the field and claim her second gold.  Anastasiya Kuzmina from Russian Ministry of Sport fought hard but couldn't catch Dahlmeier to claim the silver.

Elsewhere in the Games:

• Long Track saw more Dutch Dominance and another medal for Ireen Wust - this time GOLD for Lindsey Vonn-miting. Disappointing showing for Team USA with a chance for Heather Bergsma, the World Record Holder, getting out too fast in the final pairing knowing what she needed to do to win. Red White and Luge stole a Silver from the Dutch with Miho Takagi of Japan sliding into second.
• Jamie Anderson from Team USA defended her gold medal in Snowboarding inn Slopestyle - outdoing projections and making Incheon Closer proud of the value pick
• Lindsey Vonn-miting puked and rallied for a strong day with Mikael Kingsbury bouncing to gold in moguls - straight to the top of the leaderboard
• Women's Ski Jumping finished up for only the second time ever in the Olympics - Maren Lundby took the Gold for Run DMZ and Lindsey Vonn-miting celebrated again with Katharina "Brick" Althaus getting the silver.

Day 4 is in action and is shaping up to be a big one on the scoreboard with the first Alpine Skiing and Curling medals in play. 

Day 2: Feb 11 - What a Bunch of Lugers

Day 2 is in the books and some dramatic developments have had a high impact on so many teams!

So many excellent dramatic finishes, but none altered the outcome of this competition more than the men's luge finals - a complete sweep on the medal stand of unexpected winners.  Felix Loch, the two-time defending gold medalist was the last slider to hit the ice, sitting in first and essentially needs to coast to victory.  He hits a wall, loses speed and finishes FIFTH.  OFF the stand. Team Mark is certainly regretting selecting the German, especially when ignoring Team USA Chris Mazdzer who slid in for an unthinkable silver medal. 

The other giant upset was the #1 pick, expected dominant biathlete, Johannes Thingnes Bo, did not medal in the 10km sprint.  Soohorang Success is sweating the selection as she finds that Bo doesn't know Biathlon as much as expected.  Celebrating overcoming the odds was Incheon Closer to the Title, as late selection Arnd Peiffer of Germany claimed the gold in the event.  Martin Fourcade, whom the commentators spoke of as "the best shooter on the planet, maybe ever" proceeded to immediately miss 3/5 shots and finished off the podium. 

Other highlights include:

• The Dutch powerhouse, Sven Kramer, skating to gold in Long track for Luge Yourself, with Incheon's wild card selection of Ted-Jan Bloeman grabbing the silver.
• Red Gerard of the USA landing some massive tricks on the last run in slopestyle to go from 10th to GOLD for Soohorang Success.
• Martin Johnsrud Sundby skiing across the country to silver for Lindsey Vonn-miting
• Justine Dufour-Lapointe securing a silver in moguls for Incheon Closer

Expect more shake-ups in the standings as so many events are still to come.  Russian Ministry of Sport, Suk-Hee Year, and Team Mark are all hoping to get on the board and rally.

Twizzle forth to Day 3!

Day 1: Feb 10

The first day of competition is in the books and we have our first medals given:

Run DMZ is out to a running start - Charlotte Kalla sprinted to gold in the opening Cross Country edging out Lindsey Vonn-miting's Marit Bjorgen who claimed silver. 

Long Track provided a start to Orange Crush with the Netherlands claiming gold, silver, and bronze in the 3000m, but it wasn't Irene Wust (Lindsey Vonn-miting) or Antoinette de Jong (Luge Yourself) claiming the title as expected, but another unknown Dutch skater, Carlijn Achtereekte zooming to gold. 

Soohorang Success jumped to Gold with Andreas Wellinger on the Normal Hill Ski Jump, with Seoul Searching for Gold landing on the podium with Johann Andre Forfang getting the silver.

Red White and Luge shot into second place on the scoreboard behind an expected strong performance by Laura Dahlmeier from Germany skiing to Gold in the biathlon.

There are some other results I'll factor into the scoreboard after tonight!

Onto day 2!

Draft Results and Draft Grades

The Games have begun!

After a marathon draft, we are underway in PyeongChang.  Our athletes are already competing and scoring valuable medals, which means valuable points for our teams.

The full draft results with all team picks are posted in the spreadsheet, but here are the results if you take the projected point totals for all the teams:

Luge Yourself touted his formulaic approach to drafting leading up to draft day, and from these results, it seems to bode well for the potential outcome.  Led by speed skating powerhouse Sven Kramer, Netherlands, and top Nordic Combined prospect Johannes Rydzek, Germany, Luge Yourself is ready to see the wins roll in.

Overall there's only a projected spread from first to tenth of 30 points - three individual gold medals separate all these teams.  As unpredictable as the Games can be, the final Fantasy Olympics podium is far from set.

Best of luck to all, but mostly to my team.

Citius, Altius, Fortius

Welcome to the 2018 Fantasy Olympiad

We are less than a week away from the start of the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea.  Curling qualifying competitions start this Wednesday!

We're in full prep mode for the draft and excited for the sporting events to come.  We'll have the pre-draft rankings out to you all soon, but to kick things off here are the rules for 2018 and the sports we'll be choosing from:

2018 Winter Fantasy Olympics Rules

1. Each team will have 17 athletes and/or teams and 1 tiebreaker country.

2. Draft order will be determined by a random draw.  Draft order will reverse each round.  Ex. Round 1 will go in order from 1-11, round 2 from 11-1, round 3 from 1-11, etc.  Each player gets one pick per round for 18 rounds.

3. Each player will select a total of 17 athletes that will fill the following roster spots on your team: One athlete or team per sport (15) and two wild cards from any sport.  Everyone must also choose a country to serve as a tiebreaker.

4. All remaining athletes will become free agents.  However, all teams will lock on 10-Feb-2018 at the beginning of the first event.  Trades may be made between teams, but only on the night of the draft.  No changes can be made to the rosters after these first events begin. A player may draft a tiebreaker country in any round, but remember that the medals won by that country will only come into play in the event of a tie.

5. The winner will be the player with the most points at the end of the 2018 Summer Games.  Points will be assigned as follows: INDIVIDUAL EVENTS: 10 points for a gold medal, 5 points for a silver medal, and 3 point for a bronze medal. TEAM EVENTS: 20 points for a gold medal, 10 points for a silver medal, and 6 point for a bronze medal.  Each player's final score will be based on an aggregate score from his or her team members.

6. If an athlete competes in both team and individual events (for example, a speed skater), that athlete can be selected as an individual, earning medals for both the individual and team events.  The team cannot be selected as a unit.  If, however, medals in an event are only awarded on a team-by-team basis (for example, hockey), only the team can be selected.

7. Medal counts will be updated in the official spreadsheet by the Commissioner or the Commissioneress on a more or less nightly basis and posted to the blog http://fantasyolympicgames.blogspot.com

8. Each player will select one country whose total medal count will be used to determine a winner, in the event of a tie among two or more players' aggregate scores. If the total medal count fails to break the tie, then the gold count, silver count, and finally the bronze count, will be used.

9. In the event that an athlete on your team is caught doping at any point during the games, you will be deducted 5 points.

10. In the event that an athlete on your team is kicked out because of a stupid facebook, instagram, or twitter post at any point during the games, you will be deducted 5 points.

11.  If an athlete is stripped of a medal you will lose the points for that medal. Sports Category Medal Events  Alpine Skiing Individual 11  Biathlon Individual 11  Bobsleigh Team 3  Cross-Country Skiing Individual 12  Curling Team 3  Figure Skating Individual 5  Freestyle Skiing Individual 10  Ice Hockey Team 2  Luge Individual 4  Nordic Combined Individual 3  Short Track Speed Skating Individual 8  Skeleton Individual 2  Ski Jumping Individual 4  Snowboarding Individual 10 Long Track Speed Skating Individual 14 Wildcard     Wildcard     Medal Count TIEBREAKER