I talked to Louie Vito recently when I was in Chicago about his upcoming participation in "Dancing with the Stars."

The story ran today. Read it here.

Vito hits the dance floor tonight at 8 p.m. on ABC.

The U.S. Snowboarding team announced its roster today. Notice Marni Yamada who rides out of the Summit at Snoqualmie made the B Team for SBX. Vic Wild of White Salmon made the alpine B team.

Halfpipe Men
Pro Team
Greg Bretz (12/19/90; Mammoth Lakes, CA)
Steve Fisher (10/21/82; Breckenridge, CO)
Scott Lago (11/12/87; Seabrook, NH)
Luke Mitrani (7/24/90; Mammoth Lakes, CA)
Elijah Teter (3/7/84; South Lake Tahoe, CA)
Louie Vito (3/20/88; Columbus, OH)

Halfpipe Women
Pro Team
Clair Bidez (8/7/87; Minturn, CO)
Gretchen Bleiler (4/10/81; Aspen, CO)*
Kelly Clark (12/19/1990; Mt. Snow, VT)*
Elena Hight (8/17/89; South Lake Tahoe, CA)
Ellery Hollingsworth (9/2/91; Stratton, VT)
Hannah Teter (1/27/87; Belmont, VT)*

SBX Men
A Team
Nick Baumgartner (12/17/81; Iron River, MI)
Jonathan Cheever (4/17/85; Saugus, MA)
Nate Holland (11/8/78; Squaw Valley, CA)*
Seth Wescott (6/28/76; Sugarloaf, ME)*
Graham Watanabe (3/19/82; Sun Valley, ID)*

B Team
Jayson Hale (6/26/85; Sierraville, CA)*
Pat Holland (5/5/82; Tahoe City, CA)
Shaun Palmer (11/14/68; South Lake Tahoe, CA)
Jason Smith (1/11/82; Durango, CO)*
Ross Powers (2/10/79; Londonderry, VT)*
Bobby Minghini (1/24/86; South Lake Tahoe, CA)

SBX Women
A Team
Lindsey Jacobellis (8/19/85; Stratton Mountain, VT)*

B Team
Callan Chythlook-Sifsof (2/14/89; Girdwood, AK)
Brooke Shaw (5/12/91; Litchfield, CT)
Marni Yamada (8/26/78; Seattle, WA)

Men's Alpine
A Team
Tyler Jewell (2/21/77; Steamboat Springs, CO)*
Justin Reiter (2/2/81; Steamboat Springs, CO)
Adam Smith (9/7/80; Bend, OR)

B Team
Vic Wild (8/23/86; White Salmon, WA)

Women's Alpine
A Team
Michelle Gorgone (10/18/83; Boston, MA)*

From the U.S. Snowboard Team:

CHAPELCO, Argentina (Sept. 12) - Olympic gold medalist Seth Wescott (Sugarloaf, ME) and X Games silver medalist Graham Watanabe (Sun Valley, ID) put themselves in line to make the U.S. SBX Olympic team as they finished second and third, respectively, in the first World Cup of the snowboardcross season. The event was also the first in a series of five Olympic team qualification events for the SBX crew.

Wescott was less than a board length from the win, but ended up behind France's Pierre Vaultier.

=> Read more!

A press release from VANOC:

The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) today completed day three of its field of play testing at World Cup snowboard competition at Cypress Mountain. Despite successful snowboard cross and half-pipe competitions over the past two days, the local organizing committee together with the Federation Internationale de Ski (FIS) has cancelled tomorrow's (Sunday, February 15th) event -- the men’s and women’s Parallel Giant Slalom (PGS) -- due to unsuitable competition terrain resulting from a combination of factors including mild weather and limited time to prepare the course both in advance of the event and in between the last two events. Spectators with $10 tickets for tomorrow's event can return to the West Vancouver Aquatic Centre for a full refund.

=> Read more!

From the U.S. Snowboard team:

Lindsey Jacobellis' (Stratton Mountain, VT) status as the most dominant woman in snowboardcross remained unfettered Friday as she won to retain her position as the World Cup SBX leader on the Olympic course at Cypress Mountain. Jacobellis was joined on the podium by fellow U.S. Snowboarder Seth Wescott (Sugarloaf, ME) who was third.

"It's one of the best courses I have ridden all year," Jacobellis said. "It flowed really nicely and it's nice that I did so well."

Jacobellis won each of her heats, but it was a tactical line that shot her ahead in the final round.

"It feels great and I'm happy to win any race. At the entrance of the first banked turn I was in third and then dropped in low for a pass and drifted up and I felt like I got some speed out of that turn, then I just tried to maintain the lead for the rest of the way down," Jacobellis said.

=> Read more!

Here's our monthly 2010 Winter Games update:

LOCAL ATHLETES
Crystal Mountain skier Scott Macartney continues to train as he recovers from a nasty crash that cut last season short.
“It's been good to get back on snow with all the guys and for me it's been good to be back since it's been a while,” Macartney, an ’04 Olympian, said in statement released by the U.S. Ski Team.
Macartney is staying pretty active off the snow, too. He’s surfing, cooking salmon and might take a European vacation. He says Kitzbuhel, the ski area where he had his accident, offered him a week long summer vacation.
Earlier this month Macartney and the U.S. Ski Team finished a hockey cross-training program in Utah. The program ended with a hockey game.
“It was really fun to be out there with everybody and mix it up a little bit,” Macartney said in press release. “I got checked a few times, but we had a good time. It was a very close game. It came down to the wire and could have gone either way.”

TEAMS USA UPDATES
- Snowboarder Gretchen Bleiler won Best Female Action Sports Athlete honors this month at the ESPY Awards.
- Kikkan Randall of the U.S. Nordic ski team spent part of July training on the Eagle Glacier in his home state of Alaska
- Skating Magazine readers voted Johnny Weir the skater of the year making him the first man to win the award since Michael Weiss in 2000. Weir received 1,156 of approximately 8,400 votes.
- The U.S. Snowboarding team finished a training session on Mount Hood on July 25.

FACILITY UPDATES
- According to the Vancouver Sun, a bad splice resulted in an underground explosion that destroyed 14 circuits and left 20 percent of the city in darkness for three days. According to the newspaper, some officials are concerned about a power failure during the Olympics.
- On July 7 the University of British Columbia’s Thunderbird Arena became the first indoor competition venue to be completed. According to a statement released by organizers the 7,500 arena was finished four months early and on budget. The venue will host men’s and women’s hockey.
- Organizers announced this month that the anti-doping lab for the games will be located at the Richmond Oval, the speed skating venue.

OTHER OLYMPIC NEWS
- The Summer Olympics start Aug. 8 and the Vancouver Olympic Committee will send 36 members to the games to study the event as it continues to plan for 2010.
- General Electric donated a CT scanner for the games that Olympic organizers say will be the first in Whistler. The scanner will be installed in December.

TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets go on sale Oct. 11, 2008. Tickets.com was selected as the games’ official ticket service.

LOCAL ATHLETES
- Cle Elum mogul skier Patrick Deneen was named the FIS rookie of the year and celebrated March 15 by finishing third in a race in Italy.
- Federal Way native Apolo Anton Ohno finished his season with a strong performance at the World Short Track Speed Skating Championships in South Korea. He won gold at 500 meters and overall. He also took the 1,000- meter silver and bronze at 3,000 meters. Ohno has won 18 world championship medals – six of each hue.
- Yakima’s Phil Mahre, a gold medalist in the 1984 Olympics, fell short of his goal of qualifying for this month’s U.S. Alpine Nationals. He turned down special invitations to compete because he wanted to qualify on his own.
- Crystal Mountain’s Scott Macartney finished 26th in the World Cup’s downhill standings this season despite not racing since January because of an injury. A ski team spokesman said he’s hoping to return to racing speed this summer.
- Crystal’s Libby Ludlow finished 32nd in the giant slalom and 36th in the Super G. She participated in the NorAm Finals in New York despite knee injuries.

TEAMS USA UPDATES
- March was an historic month for the U.S. Ski Team as it finished one of its best World Cup seasons ever. Bode Miller and Lindsey Vonn took the overall titles. It’s the first time U.S. men and women have swept the titles since 1983 when Yakima’s Phil Mahre and Kentucky’s Tamara McKinney won the titles. Miller also claimed the season combined title and Vonn took the downhill title in February.
- Olympic gold medalist Ted Ligety won the World Cup season giant slalom title.
- Vonn and Jimmy Cochran each won slalom and combined titles at this week’s U.S. Alpine Championships.
- Miller did not compete in the U.S. Alpine Nationals.
- Katherine Ruetter won Team USA’s only women’s medal at the speed skating world championships. She took bronze at 3,000 meters.
- The 1998 Olympic Women's Hockey Team, which won the first-ever Olympic gold medal in the sport, is one of five finalists for the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame. It’s the only winter team nominated. Its competition includes the 1992 Men’s basketball team - the original Dream Team.
- Figure skater Brian Boitano and speedskater Sheila Young Ochowicz are among the 18 individuals nominated. Fans can vote at usolympichalloffame.com.

FACILITY UPDATES
- Testing at the sliding center on Blackcomb Mountain continued this month.
- Work is expected to be completed on the Hillcrest/Nat Bailey Stadium Park, the Whistler Athlete’s Centre, the UBC Winter Sports Centre and the Richmond Oval this year.

OTHER OLYMPIC NEWS
- Some members of the Canadian cross-country team have complained that the 2010 Nordic venue is too easy according to the Vancouver Sun.
- The 2010 day-by-day competition schedule can be viewed online at blogs.thenewstribune.com/adventure.

COMING UP
- The U.S. Freestyle Championships start today in Park City, Utah.

TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets go on sale Oct. 11, 2008. Tickets.com was selected as the games’ official ticket service.

Just watching a rerun of Saturday Night Live from 2002 (hosted by a pre-rehab Britney Spears)and was amused by Jimmy Fallons Olympic Tribute song for the Salt Lake games.

Here are the lyrics:

The 2002 Winter Olympics are next week,
and the theme song for the olympics is "America" by Neil Diamond
Now, no offence to Neil Diamond but thats songs good
it's only like 20 years old
So I thought I could change the words to some more recent songs
and see if they want to use those instead
You should highlight the events, like downhill skiing

I can go down hill
on the icey snow
dressed up in my unitard
where else can I go?
I'm only a man on two skinny red skis
instead of cologne I'm wearing anti freeze
I can't even tell if I'm winning the race
because snot is frozen on my face
and its not easy to down hill ski

=> Read more!

This isn't necessarily Olympic related, but we'd love to have your help:

Help us determine the best ski area in the Northwest by voting for your favorite resort, lodge food, ski run and more.

Click below to take the quick survey. Your favorites will featured in 2008-09 Ski preview sections in newspapers across the Northwest. Voters from around the region - Idaho, Washington, Oregon and B.C. - are participating so make sure your favorites are well represented.

2008-09 Snow Ride Guide Survey

OK, folks. I've received your calls and e-mails. The biggest questions so far are about the schedule.

Well, this ought to help you out. Click below to download the 2010 competition schedule. It probably goes without saying considering we have two years to go, but times and dates are subject to change.

Thanks for the e-mails and comments. Keep them coming.

2010 Olympic Day-by-day competition schedule

Here's the big news from the slopes this weekend:

- Greg Bretz (Mammoth Lakes, CA)grabbed his first career World Cup win Sunday in Quebec.

- Lindsey Vonn finishes third in Super Combined.

- Erroll Kerr and Jake Fiala finished in the top 10 of the World Cup ski cross in Switzerland.

- Ted Ligety finishes seventh in World Cup slalom.

- Bill Demong set a new American mark, finishing third in the season-long overall FIS Nordic Combined World Cup standings. No American had previously finished higher than fourth.

From the U.S. Snowboard team:

U.S. Snowboarding riders Lindsey Jacobellis (Stratton Mountain, VT) and Nick Baumgartner (Iron River, MI) barreled their way to the top of the podiums Saturday winning the Visa U.S. Snowboarding Cup at Whiteface Mountain, outside Lake Placid. Both Baumgartner and Jacobellis also were crowned the Visa U.S. SBX champions after their wins.

=> Read more!