Best & Worst: 2010 Winter Olympics TV

NBC lucked into a near prime Sunday afternoon showdown between the United States and Canadian hockey teams – and then proceeded to blow it. The tense game, which the U.S. team didn’t put away until the final seconds, was buried on the MSNBC ghetto. This had all the makings of great television, with the U.S. attempting to pull off an upset in one of the marquee Olympic sports – and one full of well-known players from the NHL. It’s a shame viewers had to go on a scavenger hunt to find it.

--Todd Martens  (AFP/Getty Images)

Fresh off the Vancouver slopes, snowboarder Shaun White hit the media circuit, commenting on everything from his own dating status to Tiger Woods.

White, who took home a gold medal in the men’s halfpipe, stopped by the “Oprah Winfrey Show” on Friday to chat about his famous Double McTwist, super secret training halfpipe in Colorado and even girls. He confessed that he is single and hinted that the grueling schedule of a world-class athlete can cramp a guy’s style in the dating department.

He’s known as the “Flying Tomato” and now we know how he tames those wild red locks. White told People his hair care regimen consists of “hotel shampoo and conditioner” and he only washes it every other day.

And when Eonline asked him his thoughts on Tiger Woods’ apology. White didn’t hold back, “I’m still a big fan of him. Pretty soon we will all realize that he’s still a great guy deep down and he just made some bad calls.”

-- Emily Christianson, L.A. Times  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Boy, have things changed for Bode Miller. At the last winter Olympics, he was making more headlines for his partying than his performance (he failed to medal). Not anymore. Miller is proving this time around, he’s more serious than ever. Miller’s already the most decorated American Alpine skier in history and now he can add two more medals to the list, a super-giant slalom silver medal and a bronze for the men’s downhill.

-- Emily Christianson, L.A. Times  (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Jessica Dubé and Bryce Davison scored 65.36 points in Sunday’s figure skating short program, which placed the pair in sixth heading into Monday. Yet Dubé’s sparkling black-and-silver star-enchanced outfit was definitely a gold-medal fashion statement. Revealing, playful and just a bit old-fashioned, Dubé had the most slyly provocative outfit of the night.

-- Todd Martens, Los Angeles Times  (Ivan Sekretarev / Associated Press)

Critics may have scoffed when Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy took to the ice Sunday in harlequin outfits and performed to “Send in the Clowns.” Ridiculous? Sure, in one sense they looked as if they had skated right out of a comic book, but figure skating is about more than atheleticism. Quirks are appreciated in sports -- no baseball fan can resist a knuckleballer -- and few events offer a bigger celebration of weirdness than figure skating. So we say bravo, Savchenko and Szolkowy. It takes skill, years of practice and absolute precision to throw someone across the ice. But doing it front of millions while having a teardrop painted on your face? Pure guts.

-- Todd Martens, L.A. Times  (Hannibal Hanschke / EPA)

The U.S. showing in the pairs figure skating short program may not have been medal-worthy, but America still had a large presence at the Pacific Coliseum on Sunday. At the conclusion of the event, it was none other than the most American of pop stars who was blasted through the ice rink’s speakers, with Miley Cyrus‘ “Party in the U.S.A.” used as the soundtrack as guests left the venue. Thanks, Canada -- we like to party here, too.

Or perhaps the control booth was run by a Hannah Kearney fan, wanting to get in one last dig.

-- Todd Martens, L.A. Times  (Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times)

Sarah McLachlan, Michael Buble and Steve Nash were among the famous Canadians carrying the Olympic torch leading up to the opening ceremonies. Other notables included Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (pictured) and Matt Lauer. Meanwhile an internet rumor had Vancouver native Ryan Reynolds relaying the torch in Orillia, Canada early on, but it turned out to be a mechanic with the same name. Oops.

-- Emily Christianson, L.A. Times  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Georgian luge hopeful Nodar Kumaritashvili crashed during the men’s Luge practice at the Whistler Sliding Centre and was killed after he was thrown from his sled at high-speed and smashed into a metal pillar. Luckily, the news didn’t do a constant loop on this tragedy -- but you can expect YouTube hits to pick up.

-- Jevon Phillips, L.A. Times  (Peter Parks / AFP/Getty Images)