5 Things To Know About The Winter Olympics

This could go down as the best week ever with the Super Bowl on Sunday and the Winter Olympics starting tomorrow with the opening ceremony on Friday. Break out your red, white and blue and show the office that you’re in the know.

Get your game face on,

The Last Night’s Game Team

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Five Things To Know About The Winter Olympics

1. This is the first Winter Olympics in Asia in 20 years and South Korea spent upwards of $13 billion for the Games (Sochi still holds the record for most expensive Olympics at $51 billion). PyeongChang has a population of around 43,000 people so some facilities, like the 35,000 person opening ceremony stadium, could be demolished after the Olympics are over.

2. The 242-person team representing the United States is the largest team representing any country in the history of the Winter Olympics.

3. While members of Team U.S.A. are not paid to participate in the games, they earn a little more than pride for winning a medal. This year, thanks to the elimination of the “Victory Tax,” most athletes will not be taxed on their medal bonuses. (Athletes earning more than $1 million a year like Shaun White, still have to pay taxes on their medal bonus. How much are the bonuses worth?

• Gold medal $37,500

• Silver medal $22,500

• Bronze medal $15,000

4. For the first time in 20 years, NHL (National Hockey League) players will not participate in the Olympics. Why? One of the reasons is that it requires a 17-day break from the hockey season. Who will be playing instead? Players from European professional leagues, college hockey teams and the American Hockey League.

5. These Winter Olympics are expected to be one of the coldest games in history, with the average high temperature right below freezing. Luckily for Team U.S.A., their opening ceremony jackets have built-in heaters. Let’s hope someone remembered to pack the batteries. Just because it’s cold, doesn’t mean there will be snow, but thanks to science no one is worried.

Heads up - PyeongChang is 14 hours ahead of the Eastern Standard Time. Here’s what you can watch and when.

But Wait There’s More

It's not all about the Olympics. Here are the top three things what’s happening in the world of sports today. Let’s talk about free beer, JT’s Super Bowl payday and why steroids are bad….or good? Read it.

The Rundown: Weekend Preview Edition - Full On Friday

You never thought we’d make it. No, we’re not talking about it being Friday at last, but the final weekend of regular season baseball. Finally, six months later. Which reminds us it’s time to head to the dentist.  

Time for your checkup,

The Last Night’s Game Team

PS - It's Friday of football season and today's tailgate treat is a recipe for spicy pretzels, courtesy of ultimate fan Robin. 

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MLB (Major League Baseball)

• Who says baseball is boring? While the battles for the two wild card spots in each league are hot and heavy heading into the last weekend of regular season baseball, the division winners have clinched their spots:

American League

• East: Boston Red Sox
• Central: Cleveland Indians
• West: Texas Rangers
• Wild card: ?

National League

• East: Washington Nationals
• Central: Chicago Cubs
• West: Los Angeles Dodgers
• Wild card: ?

Click here for the wild card standings.

NCAA Football (College)

• Dominating Death Valley. ESPN College GameDay is in South Carolina tomorrow for the Louisville Cardinals – Clemson Tigers game which features a matchup of two undefeated, top five teams. Heisman frontrunner Lamar Jackson (who has an amazing 25 touchdowns in four games) has a tough task ahead of him heading into “Death Valley” to face the Tigers.
• See the full college football schedule here. 

NFL (National Football League)

• Tea, crumpets and football? Indianapolis Colts and Jacksonville Jaguars are set to play in England this Sunday. With the time change, the teams will be playing while you’re making breakfast (9:30 am EST). The winless Jaguars have played in London the past four seasons but this is the Colts' first time. This is the first of three NFL games that will be played in London this season.
• Who is your team playing this weekend? Find out here.  

Ryder Cup (Golf) 

• You will miss this putt. During Ryder Cup practice, Team Europe’s Rory McIlroy was struggling to make a putt and a Happy Gilmore style heckler in the crowd was relentless during his failed attempts. McIlroy invited the heckling fan to attempt the putt. Teammate Justin Rose upped the stakes by throwing in $100. The cool, calm and collected American fan stepped up and nailed the putt. What like it was hard?
• The foursome parings have been revealed for today. See who will be representing Team U.S.A. here.

Hockey

• Victorious eh? Team Canada beat Team Europe to win the World Cup of Hockey.

Overtime

• Team U.S.A. visited the White House (minus Ryan Lochte and his gas station buddies) on Thursday. Coincidentally, their visit came on the same day the U.S. Senate passed legislation for a tax exemption on the “victory tax" associated with winning Olympic medals (excluding athletes who make more than $1 million). 

Sideline stat

• The Cleveland Cavaliers broke the city’s 52-year championship losing streak by winning the NBA (basketball) Championship earlier this year. They announced that over 1,000 part-time and full-time employees associated with the team will receive championship rings, a cost of over $1 million. Feeling generous, they will even send one to former head coach David Blatt, who was fired midseason. 

Coaches’ corner

• What is the wild card in baseball playoffs? In 2011, MLB added wild card spots to the postseason. There are two wild card winners from each league (National League and American League) who play each other in a one game playoff to advance into the postseason. Essentially, the playoff game is between the two best teams from each league who didn’t clinch their division title. Consider it the bonus spot in the playoffs. For more on the wild card, read here.