Thought for the Day: As the northeast of the United states braces itself for yet another winter storm, today's two classic songs, "Smile" and "What a Wonderful World," offer a ray of sunshine as does the message from a great Olympic skater who performed an amazing long program with no possible medal in sight.
Last week while watching the closing ceremony for the ice skating competitions of the Sochi Olympics, there were some amazing performances. It was a pleasure to watch the skaters relieved of the pressures of competition enjoying themselves on the ice. Many of the performances were superior and could have placed some of the athletes higher on their final standings. I chose a clip of Japan's Mao Asada. The back story is that Asada came in a shocking sixteenth place in the ladies short program at the Olympic Games in Sochi. Although Asada who had been a medal favorite coming into the Sochi Olympics since she had been the silver medalist at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, had no chance of a medal, she excelled in the long program. Skating twelfth of the 24 competitors in the event she performed a breathtaking flawless free skate to Rachmaninoff's "Piano Concerto No. 2." She landed all of her jumps including the triple axel on which she fell in her short program. At the end of the free skate, Asada who plans to retire after this Olympics, broke down in tears of joy.
