DAY #10 SPORTS FOCUS: It was an Olympic-sized dilemma for sports fans as Super Bowl XVI overlapped with the Beijing 2022 Ice Dancing Final – which to watch?

The grace, elegance and choreography of ice dancing or the hard-hitting, often violent, extravaganza of the Super Bowl – that was the question.

French couple Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron artistically trying to outscore the Russian Olympic Committee’s Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov OR Los Angeles Rams gunslinger Matthew Stafford fiercely battling head-to-head with Cincinnati Bengals NFL comeback player of the year Joe Burrow?

The two marquee sporting events overlapping, sports fans across the world, and particularly in the United States, were forced to draw battle lines and choose which event to consume. Early indications predict that the U.S. divorce rate will soon be on the rise, figures to be presented later.

The dramatic outcomes of the two events will certainly lead to office water cooler debates as to which performance was more spectacular, inspiring and cohesive – the gold medal winning free dance of the French four-time world champions Papadakis and Cizeron on the ice in Beijing or the clutch play of Rams quarterback Stafford and his trusty wide receiving Cooper Kupp, who propelled the team to a hard-fought victory over the Bengals on the gridiron just outside Los Angeles?

For numbers and statistics fanatics, Papadakis and Cizeron won France’s first ice dancing gold medal since Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat in 2002. The Rams last Super Bowl appearance – you guessed it, 2002!

The numbers of both triumphant performances are equally impressive. Stafford connected with the sure hands of Kupp on ten receptions for 92 years, and two touchdowns, including the game-winner with 1:25 remaining in the fourth quarter. Kupp elegantly twirled around to catch Stafford’s pass, an artistic maneuver that would make the Russian ice dancers jealous.

Conversely, the Rams stifling defensive line must have been ‘wowed’ by the manner in which the French skaters slammed the door on their Russian challengers, executing a flawless dance routine performed to the music of Elegie by Gabriel Faure, scoring high marks for both technical elements and presentation. The French skaters added their 136.15-point Free Dance score to their world record Rhythm Dance tally of 90.83, for the highest-ever Olympic ice dance score of 226.98, denying their Russian opponents by one touchdown, six points.

LA only managed a three-point, 23-20 victory.

French Ice Dancers and L.A. football players react to victories

Both the French gold-medal winning ice dancers and L.A. Super Bowl champions were thrilled with their overall performances and cohesiveness, the common bonds to their victories.

“I think we don’t believe it yet. Honestly it feels completely unreal - it’s sinking in, but before it sinks in, I’ll have to lie on the floor and cry (laughs),” the French ice dancer Papadakis said. “I am trying to take it all in, very, very, very slowly.”

“Honestly, I don’t remember much (laughs) – I don’t know, it’s like time stops,” her partner Cizeron said.

The Super Bowl winning Rams duo seemed to recall more, despite non-stop high speed collision with the fierce Bengal opponents. Stafford and Kupp were a little bit less sentimental and a little bit more slap each other on the backside in victory.

Like their fellow French victors, Stafford and Kupp hit their stride and increased their tempo, a well-synchronized performance, as Papadakis and Cizeron displayed an intimate feel for each other’s every move.

“We went a little up-tempo on that last drive, which kept [the Bengals] in some zone calls, and that allowed Matthew and I to kind of find some soft spots in there,” Kupp said.

“It was tough,” Stafford said. “But he’s an unbelievable player, and I’m just so proud of him.”

Oh what a night!

For the few dedicated fans of both sports, the timing of the two events was tricky. Just as Stafford threw a 75-yard touchdown strike to Tee Higgins on the opening play of the second half to take the lead, Ukrainian ice dancers Nikitin Maxsym and Oleksandra Nazarova were taking the ice to begin the evening’s free dance program, a delightful performance to Frank Sinatra’s ‘Luck be a lady tonight.’

There were substantial contrasts between the two ‘not to be missed’ sporting events, however also intriguing parallels and convincing reasons for diehard Olympic aficionados to at least briefly tune-in to the Super Bowl.

The ballgame was played in front of 70,000 passionate fans at the $5 billion dollar SoFI Stadium, in Inglewood, California, a chance for curious Olympic enthusiasts to get a glimpse of the new venue which will be home to the LA28 opening and closing ceremonies, in addition to soccer matches.

And for those old enough to remember – the legendary play-by-play announcer Al Michaels was behind the mike for the Rams and Bengals contest, a voice that is forever familiar to Olympic fans. Forty-two years ago, Michaels also called the 1980 United States hockey team’s ‘miracle’ gold medal game victory in Lake Placid, New York over the powerhouse Soviet Union, uttering the time-honored words in the waning seconds “Do you believe in Miracles, yes!”

However, the halftime breaks between the Super Bowl and Olympic Ice Dancing were slightly different. On a transformed field in sunny, southern California, to an elaborate Hollywood stage, the Pepsi (No Coca-Cola branding here) halftime show was an extravagant, high-energy spectacle featuring legendary Rap and R&B moguls Snoop Dogg, Eminem, and Dr. Dre, among others. In contrast, at the Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing, two Chinese guys drove Zambonis to resurface the ice.

However, in the end, the timing between the two events somehow aligned. The Rams clinched the Super Bowl when their intimidating defensive lineman Aaron Donald slammed and spun around Joe Burrow, like a fragile ice dancer, as the Cincinnati quarterback threw an incompletion while falling to the turf in defeat.

The Bengals final drive down the field and the game’s defining moment timed out like clockwork, all unfolding just prior to Great Britain’s Lewis Gibson and Lilah Fear stepping onto the Beijing ice, the first of the final ten pairs. For the American viewers nervously switching back-and-forth between NBC Sports and Peacock channels, they were luckily able to catch all three of the final U.S. pairs – Hawayek and Baker, Chock and Bates, and bronze medalists Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue.

It was a sport’s fans dream night, one that will never be forgotten.

And considering that the drama of both memorable events all played out on Valentine’s Day, just maybe, those happy U.S. couples will be able to reconcile.

United States bobsledders drive to gold and silver, women’s downhill action heats up

In the Olympic debut of women’s monobob, it was the USA’s Kaillie Humphries setting a blistering pace down the Yanqing sliding track to win gold ahead of her U.S. teammate Elana Meyers Taylor, who overcame a case of Covid, to take silver.

The 36-year-old Humpries – who competed for Canada at the last three Olympic Winter Games – was dominant over the four runs, now wearing the red, white and blue U.S. colors. She was 1.54 seconds faster then her American teammate over four heats. The decorated bobsleigh pilot adds a third Olympic gold medal to her collection after winning the two-woman competition at Vancouver 2010 and Sochi 2014.

“To know that I still got it is a pretty cool feeling and it’s so heart-warming to be able to bring back a gold medal for a country that has really stood behind me for the last four years,” Humphries said.

The 37-year-old Meyers Taylor, who won the third Olympic silver medal of her career, was ecstatic with her performance, saying: “It feels more than gold. I’m absolutely over the moon with this medal. It is incredible to come as far as we’ve come.”

Canada’s Christine de Bruin drove her monobob to bronze.

The women Alpine skiers took their final downhill training run in Yanqing, with Swiss Joana Haehlen clocking the fastest time on ‘The Rock’ course in ideal conditions, as the heavy weekend snowfall subsided.

Both 2018 Olympic downhill champion Sofia Goggia and U.S. star Mikaela Shiffrin managed solid runs, a positive sign for both of them, considering their recent setbacks, ahead of tomorrow’s downhill race.

Follow Brian on Twitter - @Brian_Pinelli

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