2014 SOCHI OLYMPICS

First, I am hoping that all of us will pray for the safety of all our athletes. We need to put our faith in Vladimir Putin’s determination to keep the athletes and the venues safe for all, including spectators, officials, coaches and other peripheral personnel. If it was our president insisting that the Games will be safe, I’d be far more worried, but like him or not, Putin is a man who is proud of his country and will not want any blot on it similar to the one on Munich!

Men’s singles: Patrick Chan of Canada should win, with Jeremy Abbott and Jason Brown showing well but not medaling. Japan’s immensely talented team of men should take Silver and Bronze.

Women’s singles: Yu Na Kim should win Gold again with Mao Asada and Gracie Gold joining her on the podium.

Ice Dancing: Davis and White are the clear favorites with Virtue and Moir joining them with the silver and perhaps another North American team taking the bronze.

Pairs: No clue and prediction. There is no team as talented as we’ve seen in the past. China doesn’t have a dominant pair, nor does Russia. Maybe the Germans or French will surprise everyone.

There has been a lot of really superior skating going on around the world and we're going to get the benefit of watching the beauty and athleticism that results from all the hard work and hours upon hours of training. Make no mistake, the fact there there is music in no way lessens the sheer physical efforts required to make it look so graceful and effortless.