On Monday, Canadians Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir dazzled the home crowd in taking home their country's first ice-dancing gold. Perhaps due to the disturbing presence of one too many brother-sister ice-dancing couples, the sappiest material the peacock could come up with was a mention of the "local heroes" hitting the ice. Out on the slopes, play-by-play man Matt Vasgersian gushed that "there is so much more emotion" in the team ski-jumping finals. On this night when the Sap-o-Meter notched just 20 Sap Points, NBC's commentators were the ones who could've used a bit more emotion.

The sap spigot finally opened up on account of a death in an Olympic family. On Sunday morning, the mother of Canadian skater Joannie Rochette shockingly died of a heart attack after arriving in Vancouver to watch her daughter perform. Rochette, who plans to compete in Tuesday's short program, was on the ice practicing just a few hours after her mother's death.

As commentator Sandra Bezic discussed Rochette's bravery, the Sappiest Line of the Day stretched into a paragraph. "It is incredible the strength that she has shown here, deciding to compete and of course following that dream that she and her mother have worked towards," Bezic said. "It seems that she's found solace here on the ice, and she is skating stronger than she ever has. But the question is whether she can handle what overwhelming love she'll receive tomorrow as she has become the daughter of the Olympics." (Emphasis on sap words is ours.)

Previous Sap-o-Meter entries:

Monday, Feb. 15: Slate's scorecard of NBC sentimentality makes an emotional return.
Tuesday, Feb. 16: The Sap-o-Meter finds redemption.
Wednesday, Feb. 17: Pride and tears at the skating rink.
Thursday, Feb. 18: Lindsey Vonn cries, NBC rejoices.
Friday, Feb. 19: Tom Hammond, NBC's czar of determination.
Monday, Feb. 22: Father's Day comes early to Vancouver.

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