Randy Hoyt » sports

Vancouver 2010 Olympic Medals

Randy Hoyt — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 03:00:51 +0000

I’ve always been a huge fan of the Olympic Games, particularly the Winter Games. The twenty-first Winter Olympic Games will be held in Vancouver, British Columbia in February 2010. (I grew up in the Northwest United States, an area that I absolutely love; we had thought about going to Vancouver for the Games, but decided it was a little too much for us to handle right now.) Information about the design for the medals was posted to the Vancouver 2010 web site this week, a photo gallery and a video describing the design. The medals are based on abstract artwork by a Canadian designer of Tlingit heritage: the artwork is in the same style as the carved totem poles from that region with which many people will be familiar. (Check out my article on totem poles for more information.) I plan to write about these medals — particularly the use of Raven in the medals for the Paralympic Games — for the next issue of my online myth magazine Journey to the Sea.

Summer Olympics

Randy Hoyt — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 11:00:59 +0000

We have spent quite a lot of time over the last two weeks watching the 2008 Summer Olympics. I found it interesting that the time difference was so great — thirteen hours between Beijing and Dallas — that we could watch a lot of the events live in prime time. We stayed up much later than usual watching as many events as we could. We watched the closing ceremonies last night (one night after the fact, thanks to TiVo); while it’s always sad when the Olympics end, it will probably be good to get back on a regular sleep schedule.

My favorite events to watch are the swimming events and the four volleyball events (indoor and beach, men’s and women’s). The swimming was incredibly exciting this year, with Michael Phelps winning eight gold medals and world records being broken in just about every race. The United States’ volleyball teams did incredibly well, winning three gold medals and one silver.

Next up are the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, B.C. My wife and I are toying with the idea of attending, though we’ll probably need to make up our minds soon and make some reservations.

Stanley Cup Playoffs

Randy Hoyt — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 17:00:08 +0000

The Dallas Stars, our local NHL hockey team, made a pretty decent run this year in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Over the last month or so, I spent more time watching hockey than I had planned. I typically turned on a game after putting my son to bed, watching the third period or so. I watched the Stars eliminate the San Jose Sharks in the second round (of four) and then lose to the Detroit Red Wings in the third round. The final round had some really amazing hockey between the Red Wings and the Pittsburgh Penguins. (We were rooting for the Penguins since one of my son’s favorite stuffed animals is a penguin we got at the Fort Worth Zoo before he was born.) Game 5 was especially exciting — with the Penguins rallying to tie the game near the end of regulation and then winning with a goal in the third over — but the Red Wings won the Stanley Cup with a victory in Game 6 two nights later.

The next sporting event that will interrupt my regular routine will be the Summer Olympics, which start in just two months.

March Madness

Randy Hoyt — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 12:00:04 +0000

I have spent considerable time over the last month watching the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, commonly known as “March Madness”. Every year, I take what amounts to a three-week hiatus from my normal routine to keep up the madness. This year’s tournament featured quite a few upsets early (six teams ranked #10 or higher advanced to the second round; #10 Davidson made it to the fourth), but more memorable was the fact that all four #1 seeds made it to the Final Four for the first time. My alma mater, the University of Oklahoma, fared no better or worse than expected: advancing to the second round but losing to Louisville.

The last two games of the tournament were absolutely thrilling.

After Memphis easily beat UCLA in the first of semifinal games on Saturday night, Kansas jumped out to 40-12 (!) lead over North Carolina in the second. Then North Carolina rallied to cut their deficit to only 6 points (!!!) halfway through the second half. Kansas held off the comeback and finished the game with a comfortable lead, moving to the championship game. I know I should have been rooting for Kansas, a fellow Big XII school, but I admit I wanted North Carolina — I am a huge fan of the coach Roy Williams and their long tradition.
The championship game on Monday night was one of the best championship games of all-time. The teams traded the lead back and forth, never more than seven points, until Memphis appeared to have the game won when they pulled ahead by nine points with two minutes to go. Against all hope, Kansas hit some big three-point shots — with Memphis missing some important free throws — to tie the game and then easily win it in overtime.

Congratulations to the Kansas Jayhawks.

CBS compiles a montage of clips from throughout the tournament called “One Shining Moment”, which they play every year at the end of the championship game. This montage provides, and I look forward to it every year. (I only missed it once: in 2003, I got so upset that Roy Williams and Kansas lost to Syracuse that I forgot all about it that night.) If you missed it, be sure to check out this year’s montage online.

Last year during March Madness, our son Garrett was born. This year, we celebrated his first birthday with a basketball-themed party on the night of the Final Four. He opened presents and ate his first bite of cake.

I wanted to direct other geeky web developers to something cool I discovered this year while following March Madness. ESPN has created a web-based tournament bracket with HTML and CSS. The design is elegant, the markup is very clean, and it is filled with hypertext goodness. (If you are not a geeky web developer, you can pretend that you never read this.)

Winter Olympics 2010: 3 Years Away

Randy Hoyt — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 20:47:01 +0000

The Winter Olypmics in Vancouver, B.C., in 2010 are now three years away. My wife and I are hoping to attend. Press Release »