Local Olympians - Ben Agosto & Tanith Belbin

Ice Dancing

Rounding out this disappointing list of local Olympians are the pair of Belbin and Agosto, ice dancers. Though neither are from the area originally (Belbin is Canadian-American but competes as an American, Agosto is from Chicago), the pair have made their home in nearby Aston, PA, whose Ice Works ice rink is apparently some sort of figure skating mecca. Who knew?

Ice Dancing kicks off...sometime this week I'm guessing.

Local Olympian - Allison Baver

Women's Speed Skating

Speed Skater Allison Baver is from Reading, PA, which isn't exactly local to Philadelphia, but is worth noting here anyway if only because she's one of the few female Olympians you might consider hot. When she's not winning medals in her chosen sport, she can be seen elsewhere modeling...something, probably, and ending up on people's hackneyed "Hottest Olympian" lists. She's also got her own website at AllisonBaver.com, which most Olympians don't have.

Allison starts things off with the 1000m this Thursday at 1pm.

Local Olympian - Eric Bernotas

Men's Skeleton

Skeleton is the event that is pretty much the luge, but you go race headfirst down the track instead of on your back with your feet out front. So you'd have to be pretty crazy to get into a sport like that. From wikipedia:

A native of West Chester, Pennsylvania, Bernotas has Tourette syndrome and has suffered through alcoholism and depression.

Eric begins his quest for gold Thursday the 18th at 9:30pm EST.

Local Olympian - Johnny Weir

Johnny Weir - Figure Skating

If figure skating is more your thing, or if you just enjoy career ending face plants, Johnny Weir is your guy. Unlike Bobby Ryan, Johnny has been local for his entire life. From wikipedia:

Weir was born in Coatesville, Chester County, Pennsylvania to parents John and Patti Weir. He has a brother, Brian, who is four years his junior. Weir was raised in Quarryville, Pennsylvania, a town in southern Lancaster County. His family moved to Newark, Delaware soon after Johnny began skating at the age of twelve to be near his training rink and coach. In the summer of 2007, he moved to Lyndhurst, New Jersey and began training in nearby Wayne, New Jersey.

Do your thing, Johnny. Whatever that is.

2/14 Update: It seems Johnny is not without his share of drama, as he's received threats from anti-fur activists about his coats and has scrapped any plans to stay at a hotel while in Vancouver.

Local Olympian - Bobby Ryan

Bobby Ryan - Ice Hockey

The Anaheim Duck phenom's local connection is that he was born Bobby Stevenson, Roller Hockey Star in Cherry Hill, NJ. Unfortunately, he didn't become known as Bobby Ryan, Olympic Caliber Ice Hockey Player until well after leaving the tri-state area for El Segundo, California on the heels of his father's bail release after attempting to murder his mother in New Jersey. Oddly enough, all three--Bobby, would-be-murderer father, and would-be-murder victim mother, fled to California, apparently on positive terms, and all changed their surname to "Ryan" as an attempt to hide from the law.

The story is fascinating, and you can READ IT HERE.

Team USA Men's Hockey kicks off against the Swiss on Tuesday.

Get to Know a Local Olympian

The Olympics are a gathering of elite athletes competing in a wide range of sports, most of which none of us pay any attention to between Olympics. And although they are shoved in our collective faces on all of NBCs many networks in place of some of our favorite shows for two weeks, it usually takes a bit of motivation to watch at all, let alone root for anyone, even our home country.

So if you're someone who would rather root for an athlete from within an hour of your house, and you happen, like me, to be from Philadelphia, this is going to be the blog to visit for the next 7 or so posts.