The Americans were definitely helped by the weather today. I’m beginning to learn a bit more about ski jumping. A tiny bit. Enough to know that a tail wind is not a good thing. You see, I’ve been recently told that ski jumping is not about falling, it’s about flying. You need a head wind for that. Some of the strongest skiers received tail winds that meant they were pretty much out of it before the skiing ever started.

So, going into the cross country portion, Johnny Spillane was second, and Bill Demong was sixth. By the end of the third lap, the front group included Spillane, Demong and Austria’s Bernhard Gruber. This allowed Spillane and Demong to work together to an extent. But when it comes down to it, it’s an individual sport.

And when everything was said and done, the Americans had a gold and silver. Bill Demong won the gold, Johnny Spillane took the silver. The bronze went to Bernhard Gruber.

Johnny Spillane almost ended up in third after falling briefly in the final lap. Coming into the stadium these were the only three really in the race. You couldn’t even see any of the other facers.

I hope that this is a great step forward for this program for the United States. This is a desperately underfunded/unfunded sport America. Many of these athletes end up pretty much on their own for covering their costs. And there aren’t exactly endorsements lined up around the block for the athletes. So, maybe a gold and three silvers will change all of that.

Men’s Giant Slalom, even though I already know something that I didn’t want to know. Ugh. It’s really difficult to avoid spoilers. Anyway, men’s giant slalom provides another golden opportunity for Ted Ligety and Bode Miller.

Ladies figure skating short program. American women are kind of a long shot here, but they’ve defied that label before in the Olympics. Of course, this year there are only two women representing the United States in figure skating in Vancouver: Rachael Flatt and Mirai Nagasu. Dominant skaters World Champion Kim Yu-Na, of South Korea, and 2008 World title-holder Mao Asada, of Japan, should provide an exciting show.

I’m torn on women’s ski cross. I find it to be a theoretically exciting sport, but I have a hard time not having an American to cheer for. We’ll see whether it holds my attention.

I’m going to have to see if Nordic Combined Team Large Hill is on television, since it looks like the United States has a shot at a medal. Really. Two medals in Nordic Combined in one Olympics. Wow.

I will probably skip the women’s biathlon relay. Again, exciting in theory. Hard to see the Americans get trounced.

I may also skip men’s speedskating 10,000m. That’s a lot of skating in circles. Maybe if I were from the Netherlands and cheering for national hero Sven Kramer. The power company in the Netherlands is even offering a discount for every medal he wins. I’d definitely watch with more enthusiasm if it was going to save me about $70 per year. On the other hand, Americans Jonathan Kuck and Ryan Bedford are not expected to medal.

The ever present hockey and curling will probably also be skipped, even though I do generally enjoy curling. There are only so many hours in the day.

Women’s bobsled has two runs today, but I’ll probably wait until the medal rounds tomorrow to take a look at that.

Here are my favorites for the day— figure skating pairs short program and men’s moguls.

In pairs figure skating, Americans face an uphill battle. The last figure skating pairs medal was a bronze in 1988, and the U.S. has never won a gold. The Russians have won every gold in this event since 1964. 1964, folks! So, maybe we should just cheer for anyone but the Russians. But if you want to cheer for the Americans, you have two pairs to choose from: Caydee Denney and Jeremy Barrett; or Amanda Evora and Mark Ladwig. Caydee and Jeremy are the national champs, and Amanda and Mark were the runners up.

If the men’s moguls is anywhere as exciting as the women’s, it should be on the must see list. I don’t always watch the preliminary rounds, but I’ll definitely be tuned in to the finals. The U.S. has four men in the moguls competition: Patrick Deneen, Michael Morse, Nate Roberts, and Bryon Wilson. All of them are Olympic rookies, but Patrick is the current world champion. The Americans come in with heavy expectations on their backs. The U.S. has only failed to medal in moguls once— in 1994. You’ll definitely want to take a look, not only to see medals won this year but to see the future of the U.S. mogul team in this young group.

As I mentioned yesterday, biathlon is not always my favorite sport. Sure, there’s skiing and guns combined, but that’s a lot more exciting on paper than when actually watching. It doesn’t help that the U.S. has never medaled in this event. In fact, the highest any American biathlete has ever placed in the Olympics is 19th, and that was all the way back in 1980. But today’s event is worth a look. The U.S. has an actual contender in Tim Burke, who was the leader of the World Cup this year. Check out the 10 km sprint today to see if history is made.

Nordic Combined might be worth watching. Nordic Combined combines ski jumping with cross country skiing. (Now, if it was like biathlon, but combined ski jumping with shooting— simultaneously— THAT would be a sport definitely worth watching.) No American has ever won a medal in Nordic Combined (which has a new name and a new format in this year’s Olympics), but this year the American team boasts three World Champions: Todd Lodwick (defending World Champion), Johnny Spillane and Bill Demong. So, perhaps we’ll see history made there, as well.

Other events being contested today are Women’s Hockey, Luge and Women’s Speed Skating. Women’s Hockey is an early round with the U.S. taking on China. Luge will award its first medals, but Americans are not expected to see a medal. If the U.S. does medal, it will probably be Tony Benshoof who missed a bronze by less than a second four years ago. Women’s speed skaters will determine the medal for the 3000m race. No America has ever won gold in this race, but that’s not expected to change this year. Three Americans are competing: Catherine Raney Norman (the best hope for a medal), Nancy Swider-Peltz Jr. and Jilleanne Rookard.

So, that’s the rundown for today. What will you be watching?