Winter Olympics 2010
 

I didn't notice a thread on the upcoming Vancouver Olympics, and this is sort a strange way to start it, but has anyone else seen the video of the UK bobsledder "wardrobe malfunction"? It is freaking hysterical. Sadly I can't link to the video from work, but google "UK bobsled wardrobe". It is sort of NSFW, but nothing too extreme.

An unfortunate event, I'm sure she'll be glad to put this behind her. I was happy to see it did not crack her concentration which is the sign of a well rounded competitor.

Sorry, for sport-related humiliation I'm stick focused on the Australian Open ball boy who wet himself during a match.

I'd heard rumors about that but I did not know it had leaked out to the world media. Still it's a fairly small story that I expect will dry up soon.

And other top stories from that page:
Tiger is hit by rehab sex ban (Although I couldn't find the link for this story)
Sov: I have better boobs than Nicola
‘I fancy girls too’

Agreed. "The Sun" is one of the worlds best journalistic sources.

And there's another fantasy to add to my bucket list. :evil:

Regarding the Olympics, here's the effect they're having on my little corner of the world. Personally, I'm in the "Let them change their name" camp.

We're going to Vancouver. I'm excited.

Why should anyone have to change their name?

That's really cool. What events are you specificlaly planning on seeing?

Here's our itinerary on TripIt: http://www.tripit.com/trip/public/id/71EC5A907D71

We have tickets for lots of freestyle and moguls skiing, snowboarding and hockey. Depending on how things are actually run when we get there, we may try for some day-of-event tickets to other events (speed skating, etc). The longer ski events are several hours north at Whistler, so we're not going to any of those.

There's an iPhone app for the Winter Olympics. http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/new...-app-released/

I can't wait to see the NHL exhibition game Olympic hockey game between USA and Canada on Feb 21st.

How sad.

Olympic Luge participant dies in a practice run crash.

How sad :(
-----------

The Anaheim Ducks lead the NHL in the number of Olympians.

That's just going to make it suck more if we don't make the playoffs.

I'm guessing that pole will now be padded.

I haven't clicked play, but this page has video of the crash (as well as lots of quotes from people pretty much predicting that this track would eventually kill someone).

Between that and the lack of snow/abundance of rain, they're off to a stellar start up in B.C.

Following some of the links off GD's link, I ran across this tidbit:

Canada Protects Home Advantage at Olympics

The same is true at the sliding center. Only Canadian sliders have had access for training on what is generally regarded as the most difficult track in the sport. You have to think that played a role in today's tragic death.

Yup.

I think the only team sport that won't have the unfair advantage is going to be hockey. At least for the NHL players who have played at [former] GM Place and know the ice and how the boards bounce.

At the same time, I doubt this is the first time the home country has made competition venues off-limits to the other countries so they can have an advantage.

The article talks about that, no it's not the first time but the Canadians have apparently gone leaps and bounds beyond what other countries have done in the past.

If you are competing and you only have a limited number of practice runs it follows that you have to push yourself harder on those runs. You can't take time to feel out the course and slowly build speed and experience.

How can that not have contributed to the death of Nodar Kumaritashvili?

To me it seems he died at least in part to give Canada an edge in the games.

I'm not sure at this point if I'll be able to watch any of these games or not.

That video is not for the squeemish. I'm not squeemish and it wasn't for me.

Wow.

I caved and watched. It's pretty brutal. And astounding that they'd design it the track with a row of bare posts RIGHT THERE. He didn't stand a chance.

Indeed you are correct. One has to wonder what the designers were thinking.

Well, the good news is that you know the Ducks can't lose a game in the next couple of weeks!

Lindsay Vonn's being interviewed. I'm already bored.

We're tivo'ing the festivities for that very reason.

So an hour in and still no opening ceremony

I'm wondering did NBC misplace it?

I think I just saw the Dude

I can't stop laughing. It WAS The Dude!

I'm SO pissed about the tape delay. In our own freaking timezone... really?

Mounties!

To bad they were snubbed by the Queen

God Snub the Queen.
She Ain't a Human Being.

Whoa those are big dildos

Brits in Berets - they are part of the EU afterall

We're still a bit behind due to DVR (Republic of Georgia just walking in). So far, Azerbaijan wins best outfit.

Totally

Okay, I loved the bears and whales (you'll see when you get there, GD)

Actually, I'm at the tree ballet right now, and really liking it.

I like the tribute to the French-Scott-Ukrainian region

Azerbaijan wins for best pants but the tap dancers win the "I wish I could join them and upset the pets" award.

I want shoes with built-in flames.

I know I did. But that's mostly because we ignored completely the opening of the Olympics and went to see Crazy Heart.

I'm very impressed with the use of projection. The whale segment was astounding and convincing. And it gives me hope that someday soon, after 40 years, some cranky old groundskeeper will have the technology to make reality Hanna-Barbera's vision of using projections to convincingly pretend to haunt a ski lodge for monetary gain.

Love the picture

You know, when I've said that I wanted to grow JUST a neck beard...I've been joking.

They totally missed out by not having Ashley McIsaac in that segment!

We were watching Gretzky stand there with a WTF look on his face, and I said to Bill "I think they're having technical difficulties". Less than a second later, one of the NBC guys announced it. I totally called it!

ETA: Two uses of the word "totally" in one post is one too many. I'm going to bed.

Poet was doing it to hide the chin. Worked for him, I guess.

We watched the opening ceremony from a bar (Deighton's Well) in Gastown. I have to think we had a much better time than if we'd actually spent $1000-plus per person to see it at BC Place. The place was fairly small, served good food and drinks and had a fun vibe. Afterwards we were able to get out in time to see the fireworks:


And then we walked down to Canada Centre to see the "real" Olympic Flame. Unfortunately, some genius at VANOC decided to surround the Flame with ugly chain-link construction fences to keep the peons out. I'm hoping this was just for tonight and the fences will be gone tomorrow, but I kind of doubt it. Here's what it looks like through the fence and the scene around the area: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aEwk8KYX5U

Well, that was one long-ass ceremony, but it had some really wonderful moments. Nothing will EVER surpass Lillehammer for Openings, though. Abertville came close.

I dunno, I think spotting the dude was my favorite part

OK. I just got that.

You missed Vince Vaughn?

I fell asleep during the Canadian Indians' improvised jigs. Woke up briefly for some bad spoken word. Woke up again to listen to some old man mangle simple French words as he droned on. So I thought the whole thing was pretty awful. I am told, however, that much was cool.

I actually liked the opening ceremony. Sadly, I seemed to fall asleep for the last 20 minutes or so. For whatever random reason, I must've hit the record button on the remote (or maybe Markus did, he's notorious for dancing on the remote) and I had almost the whole last hour of it.

Torch fail was kind of funny, to me... Alas, after they moved forward without the fourth pillar, my DVR decided that was the end of the show.

I loved the WTF look on all their faces.

Haha.

Remind me about those openings, I don't remember which are which (and I'm not finding anything quickly by googling).

I found the projections on the floor to be the best ever. Even China's amazing show was given a run for it's money (and since it cost 10 times what this cost, it was quite the run).

The Lillihammer story involved lots of magical creatures from Norwegian myth. They used the music of classical composers to fit the mood - and it was perfect. And, there were reindeer! Nothing can beat reindeer in a ceremony.

The torch lighting sequence involved a ski jumper, which was pretty dramatic.

Here's a video of that.

Overall, it was the opening ceremony that really captured the culture and history of the host country in an incredibly entertaining way.

That was fun, with the magic TIVO fast forwarding.

I know some people are upset Gretzky was picked to light. But I think he's probably the most recognized Canadian athlete world wide (as in people aren't going who??).

My favorite line was about Canadian people being welcoming 'welcome to Canada, enjoy your stay, have fun, we're going to kick your butts'.

I hate the bogus cauldron lightings, where they just kinda shoot a flaming projectile somewhere near the cauldron, or light something else big near the cauldron but the cauldron is clearly lit not by the flame from the torch but by a pilot light. I'm not one who is big on symbolism, but I do find the idea of the continuity of the olympic flame, being lit in Greece and being passed torch-to-torch until it reaches the games pretty cool, and it's lame that the final most spectacular part is bogus.

Was it the archer in '92, Barcellona, that started that?

There was a speed skater named Ho Suck. BWAHAHAHAHA!

Ok, It was really Lee Ho-Suk, but I read it as Ho Suck. Hehehehehe.

Just keep in mind that scaeagles (ессиаигльс)means "to felch" in Kazakh.

It's too bad the third Korean wasn't disqualified for impeding his countrymen.

This is really cool...a relative in Vancouver sent this to me:

Panoramic View of Olympic Village

I guess thinking about it would have made me realize it, but seeing the injury to the second US short track speed skater from the nationals 6 months ago made me realize how incredibly dangerous that short track stuff is. Yikes.

Hey, I wonder, with the start of the luge competition being moved down the hill, is there enough track for the racers to make up time at the bottom of the run?

Mixed emotions. On the one hand, I would have enjoyed the irony of an ex-pat spoiling Canada's latest chance at ending the home-gold drought. On the other hand, he's a spammer, so fvck him.

While I understand their logic I'm still bitter we're being shoved to cable.

Team USA vs. Canda regulated to MSNBC just in case something historic happens

My Olympics journal. After watching 3 minutes of ski jumping yesterday (1 jump total) today I watched about 10 minutes of 10k biathlon.

So I think I've seen two of the least interesting TV sports in history (I have no doubt of the skill and athleticism necessary but they both make for horrible TV unless something goes horribly wrong).

Though it was refreshing that the announcers for the biathlon were very blunt in saying "because of the fresh snow that started falling after the race began, the early finishers will win and these people you're watching now could have just stayed home since they have no chance of making this interesting." They were practically saying "go ahead and change the channel, they're probably selling the slapchop on one of them and that would be more exciting."

Curling hasn't started yet?

It starts on Tuesday I believe. But I've decided it is too much trouble for me to go set up the DVR so I probably won't even be watching that.

But if I stumble across it anyway (best bet is next week when I'll be spending much time in hotel rooms) I'll be happy.

To harp on the topic of biathlon, how stupid is it to have an outdoor winter Olympic sport which is rendered competitively futile if it actually snows? Kind of like having a swimming event where getting wet is a huge competitive disadvantage.

Good to know figure skating scoring remains an exercise in the absurd.

Hey, curling is awesome

That POV camera they are using on the snowboard cross makes me dizzy. Too bad I already know who wins this since I started following Apolo Ohno and he got excited and tweeted the result earlier today.

Should we put results and discussion of results in spoiler tags? The coverage with all of the tape delays etc. is so confusing, I'm never sure what people in CA have seen.

I think spoilers for the day's discussion would be good since tape delays aren't more than a day. I wish they would have been a bit more clear what they are tape delaying.

Today on USA from 9am-3pm (Pacific) is hockey and curling. Hockey starts at noon Pacific. I'm guessing that's live.

Yeah, it's really frustrating. I was going to discuss the skating last night, but then found out that that was not on yet in CA. Would be nice if they had a bug on the screen that said Live when it actually is.

The pairs last night was good, but there weren't really any performances that I found myself going "wow." The two Chinese teams who got gold and silver were both impressive, but I just wasn't blown away. I've read some comments that perhaps the scoring changes have affected the way skaters approach their programs.

Snow cross is fun to watch.

Considering it's in our timezone. :mad:

NHL.com has the best mens hockey scheduleout there.

I love snow cross, it had always been one of my favorite events at X Games, I was thrilled when it made it to the Olympics. And they've got a fun course to watch in Vancouver.

I'm sick of having to avoid all news sites to avoid spoilers.

Figure skating has been somewhat disappointing this year. Lot more falls and spills than I'm used to seeing in the Olympics, and as mentioned, no big "Wow" moments. I've been sitting here singing "What Would Brian Boitano Do?" in my head.

Highlight thus far, for me, was seeing Canada's first home gold being awarded. Wonderful moment to watch. Good for them!

USA vs. Switzerland mens hockey thoughts:

Somebody needs to take a hockey stick to the mens hockey commentators.

Me! me! PICK ME!!!!!!!!!

BTD:

I remember that you posted earlier that the Ducks had the most Olympians of any team in the NHL. I was thinking this morning on the drive in: how many of them are playing for the USA?

Just curious.

If you take out our prospect (who has played for the Ducks this season and is still considered a Duck) we are tied with SJ article here.

2 for Team USA.
3 for Team Canada
2 for Finland
1 for Switzerland
1(prospect) for Poland

[rant]Both Ducks/USA members shared how to beat Hiller (Ducks goaltender playing for Switzerland) with the rest of their [all NHL] team. Idiots. That's information that can be used against us the rest of the season. They are playing with guys who have played against Hiller before. Let them figure it out.[/rant]

Cool: thanks

I keep forgetting how international of a sport the NHL is

NBC fail. Men's Canada vs. Norway started on MSNBC and moved over to CNBC at the end of the 1st.

That could be a fun new game: try to follow the bouncing sport as it jumps from network to network

They did that with the Westminster Dog Show last night. They switched to CNBC RIGHT before the Toy Group. Pugs are toy dogs. Asshats.

No. It makes me want to throw things at my TV. Oh, maybe that is the commentators and collective orgasm they have whenever Crosby does something.

I had a hard time getting through pairs figure skating last night. I like watching the sport, but as midnight rolled around I found myself cursing the tape delay again.

I wanted to watch the men's skating and the snowboard cross. I ened up in bed at 10. The whole tape delay totally sucks.

Agreed, although it seems like most events are going on when most of us would be at work. There was some live coverage of hockey yesterday.

I stayed up for the men's short program, but it was late. Plushenko has wasted no time saying he is the best and that anyone who doesn't do the quad is a loser.

I'm having a hell of a time keeping up with the DVR. It's recording all the Olympic broadcasts, but there's only enough room to hold two of those 4-hour broadcasts before erasing, so I find that DVRing it is mostly so I can fast forward through commercials, but I still have to watch hours of it daily to keep up.

Query: does anything interesting ever happen in snowboard cross after the start other than people falling?

Curling on USA, w00t!

I'm looking forward to having a night off from TV viewing this evening (although there are some events I want to watch). I really HATE sitting in front of the TV. (Which is odd because I have no problem sitting in front of a computer!)

A lot of my friends on FB are into curling. Can someone tell me why? I don't get it.

:)

I think most of its popularity started off as a joke. "Look, they're televising what appears to be the most boring televised sport one could possibly imagine, let's pretend to be excited by it." And that just kinda carried over, helped by the fact that if enough people watch any sport for long enough, some percentage of them will actually start to pay attention to it and get interested.

I personally like it. I like following the strategy. And it's amusing to listen to the Japanese women yell orders at each other in cute Japanese women voices.

The physics of curling is very interesting. The matches go on for a while though.

I like the strategy involved. I like that it's straight up competition with scoring rather than judged. I suppose it would be amusing if curling experts were judging the form of the sweepers, but I think that would detract.

I'm trying to understand curling but I'm not having much luck. Right now it's that thing on my TV before and after hockey.

Have I mentioned how much I hate the hockey commentators? They called the Ducks the Anaheim Mighty Ducks when they won the Stanley Cup. Um. No. They were the Anaheim Ducks. Get your facts straight. They also fvcked up our goalie's (for Switzerland) name.

It's very simple. At the end of each round, whichever team's rock is closer to the center of the target gets a point. If the next closest rock also belongs to that team, they get another point. And so on until there are no more rocks within the target area, or the next rock belongs to the other team.

So it's all about the strategy of positioning your rocks to prevent the other team from knocking yours away from the target and getting theirs closer.

The sweeping changes the speed and trajectory of the rock. Generally, sweeping in front of the rock makes it go a little faster and a little straighter.

Is this the right trajectory? :D

Thanks!

So the basic strategy in Curling is to get your opponent's rocks off?

The did a video on the US Curling team (or one of them - I am not sure how many Curling teams we have). Basically, they presented these guys like they were just some lazy slobs. But it was kind of funny.

I was riveted to the women's curling match between Japan and the U.S. yesterday. What a nailbiter, and a heartbreaker at the end! Never enjoyed the sport so much.

Oh, and how hot are the U.S. ladies? Very cute bunch.

In 1968 at Mexico City, Bob Beamon destroyed the long jump record by over 21 inches. The previous holder of the world record, a Soviet names Igor Ter-Ovanesyan said "Compared to this jump, we are as children".

That was how I think Shaun White's opponents must have felt last night. No one is anywhere near this guy. He was simply amazing.

Stupid NBC preempted hockey for curling. And they keep channel hopping the games. So not only is TeamUSA hockey regulated to non-NBC channels they can't even give us the courtesy of staying on one channel.

What I find interesting about him is that he's the kind of perfectionist and loner that is usually A) arrogant and B) disliked by his competition. But he seems to be neither.

He doesn't hang or train with any of the other boarders. He retreats to his private half pipe in the mountains, helicopter access only. He comes up with stuff in secret, doesn't share it with anyone (as if anyone could keep up with him anyway), and comes out of hiding to destroy them...and yet everyone seems to like him, and he's totally humble (as humble as one can be when they're inhumanly talented) and doesn't come across as the least bit arrogant.

I can't help it, I still miss the old ABC coverage of the Olympics when you got to see everything.

This cutting to mere snippets of events and the tape delays and thousands of commercials. Here's one race, more after this commercial, hi Bob Costas here, more after this commercial......I hate NBC.

I have yet to see anyone actually receive a medal, either.

I was noticing how much everyone seems to really love Shaun White. I think it probably has to do with the idealism of progression. Maybe snowboarders are just more into that than anything else. During some of the filler programming, they were commenting on how far snowboarding had come. During an interview, White said something to the effect that what he did in 2006 might get him to the finals, but nowhere else. Everyone is just that much better.

You know, I am just really digging this Winter Olympics - despite some of the crappiness.

I do and I don't miss seeing everything. Most of what I want to watch, they're showing. I do wish they had better coverage of the extra stuff that wasn't on USA. What I don't like are all the freaking commercials. Seriously... Ugh.

However, I've seen a number of medals presentations... maybe just lucky timing? They're usually shown (on TV) after NBC's shown the competition for some other event, sometimes two events.

Wow. I wonder if curling teams are allowed to change the throwing order, or if they're required to keep watching Shuster blow it over and over.

Is the rock dead if it hits the sides? I'm wondering why they don't bank them. That must be it. Also saw a player kick a stone aside after it had been bumped out of the house into the side wall. So I guess you can't bounce them off the wall and back into the house or they wouldn't let that happen, right?

Correct.

For the record, I got this one when you posted it. I el oh el'd.
:)

I was thinking about this post as I watched him receive his gold just now, and watching him absolutely beam during the ceremony, I think that it has to be partly because he's just so genuine. How can you not love a guy who is just so happy to be doing what he loves? His joy at boarding and being an Olympian looks truly infectious.

Something beautiful about Evan Lysacek... can't put my finger on whether it's the way he moves, or if it's just his figure that's beautiful. Maybe the combo.

Johnny Weir got hosed.

Which one was he again?

The flamboyant one.

He wouldn't have won, but still. His scores were terrible. His routine was fantastic.

Call me a big softy, but I choke up every time our anthem plays.



Cheers to Evan Lysacek!

Can you narrow it down to less than half the field?

(Jazzman... okay, I didn't see that one I guess)

Johnny Wier wore the crown of roses while waiting for his scores.

Yeah, apparently I missed that.

See, but that's just it. One shouldn't be allowed to enjoy the competitive benefits of being a stupidly wealthy megalomaniac loaner AND be likable. I mean, that's just not fair!

Man without quad is . . . is woman. Is not fit to wear dignified uniform of man's figure skating.

If I were developing tricks, I wouldn't do it where other people could see if I had the means to do it in private. The other riders can develop their own tricks.

I agree that Johnny Weir totally got hosed. Scott Hamilton speculated it was because of his lack of transitions, but I think he should have gotten a higher artistic score. He skated a beautiful program though, so I'm happy for him in that respect.

Lady Gaga or Johnny Weir?

That was funny

Oh, it makes total competitive sense..but it's not the norm in snowboarding. It's a sport built on a community that generally trains together and values the progression of the sport over individual competitiveness. So it's pretty surprising that someone who puts himself on the outside of that is not disrespected by the community.

We've seen all the major medal ceremonies. Maybe they show them on the late broadcast? We Tivo everything so I don't know when stuff is on.

I have no complaints about not showing enough or too many commercials - again, because we Tivo everything. As it is, we've been staying up late to keep up, and we're watching for most of the day. I don't have an interest in hockey, so I can see where that would be an issue.

I actually thought that Yevgeny Plushenko should have gotten the gold and was almost disappointed that Evan Lysacek won since I felt his performance was so-so. Lysacek is a handsome man, though.

*shrug*

I agree that Johnny Weir got totally hosed on his scores in an awful way. Now, he's one that always makes me smile. I do wish he had better transitions in his music.

What makes me sad about figure skating is in how opposite it's starting to feel from snowboarding today or figure skating of yesteryear. Pushing the boundaries, taking risks and creating new moves on the ice was once rewarded. Now, the punishment for the tiniest error is such that the risk of innovation isn't worth it anymore. Torino was the first time I'd noticed it (scoring changes after the 2002 Olympics), but this is even worse. I mean- why ever do a quad if it's not going to be rewarded?

A quad DOES have a higher point value than a triple IF it is landed. Plushenko landed his and was scored accordingly. However, where Lysacek really made up for not having a quad was in the amount of difficult jumps in the 2nd half of the program (which count for more points). Plushenko's program was all leaps and jumps in the first half and the last minute and a half of his program was just fluff and footwork.

There was also the fact that nearly every one of Plushenko's jumps was way of axis, he barely landed them. Actually, the fact that he landed them at all with how off he was was an impressive feat, but not what the judges award you for.

I have to admit I don't get it, but I have an already stated bias against judged competitions and am not really looking to get into that.

Honestly, the announcers of the sport are as impressive to me as what they can do. I have no idea how they can tell one thing from another, and how they (and the judges) can have the eye for the analysis they make is amazing to me.

It almost reminds me of my (music) form and analysis class in school. Take the beauty of the music, over analyze it, and suddenly it isn't as beautiful, it's just a sum of a bunch of technical aspects.

Probably just me.

Plushenko's routine bored me to death. Front stacking his jumps and then just cruising around the ice for the back half reminded me of someone at a Jr High Skate Night. Totally boring. I don't believe he deserved gold at all. If all you have to do is one (wobbly) quad to get gold, then why have an entire routine? Just go out, do the quad, stand there and wave, and maybe kick a triple on your way off the ice.

You have to program the entire performance. I'm completely happy that than Lysacek won gold, and honestly, I thought it was totally douchey of Plushenko to hop on the gold platform and make it about him. You didn't skate well enough to win. Show respect, Comrade Ass.

Haha, that was one awards ceremony I missed.

I guess I just wasn't super impressed with Lysacek's short program from earlier in the competition and he was closer in points to Plushenko than I figured he would have been. I was more impressed by his free skate, but I dunno... I guess that the feeling just wasn't there for me, and I was overall surprised by the result.

On the other hand, Plushenko is clearly a douchebag, and I do call BS on all his crying and ranting about it.

My gripes are with figure skating overall.

This article on CNN sums it up best for me.

It's the inherent problem with judged events. If you leave the judging standards loose and aesthetic, you get disagreement and anger because it comes down to subjectivity. If you start to quantify it to take the subjectivity out, you're ruining the soul of the sport. Lose-lose.

Another reason I like the snowboarding events. They seem to have thus far been able to just say, "Screw it, it's subjective, we're not going to break it down by individual points for particular elements. We're going to give it to the run we liked the best." And the competitors seem okay with that.

At least that's how the sport has been until it got into the Olympics. Already this Olympics there's been grumbling that the judges seemed to be rewarding pure height, and giving less weight to the difficulty and execution of the tricks. If that kind of thing persists at the Olympic level it's only a matter of time until riders start tailoring the rest of their competition runs to match, which would be a shame.

It may not be fair, but I find myself equating women's halfpipe with women's basketball, i.e., after the men, it's barely worth watching.

What a tool. I hope he falls on his ass next time he tries a quad.



On a different note, Shaun White was just on and gave Portland some love! He said this is his favorite place to go because he can skate all day and board all night on Hood. Go PDX! We got hippies and world class athletes! :D

I liked the Japanese skater the best - his passion and style were way beyond any of the others IMHO. The moves actually seemed inspired by the music and he didn't have so much dead lead-up to his jumps (that always bugs me).

Colbert curls up by NBC's fire

So, apparently Doushenko is questioning the results.

Yeah, I really liked Takahashi - and loved the choice of Nino Rota (Felini) music, was so glad he hung on to the bronze and hope he shows up again.

OMG, you b*tch! You Slovenian bitch!

Shriek!

Wow, how cute are the Hamelin brothers, Charles and François!

Pretty damn cute!

USA Canada game was intense down to our empty net goal.

It's very odd cheering for one team and then cheering on specific players. And yelling "Get up Perry, don't be hurt!" and "return Neidermeyer to us unharmed!" when normally you'd hope a player is out the rest of the game and exhausted.

You've never played fantasy football. Is there such a thing as fantasy hockey?

What's the deal with that clear plastic "girdle" thing that some of the speed skaters are wearing over their outfits?

If you haven't seen it, it starts at the top of the belly and goes down to the mid-thigh. The area of the inner thighs & groin is not covered by this film. It's worn on the outside of the outfit and is clear & shiny. It's definitely not unique to a single country and I've seen the same country's "uniform" both with and without this "girdle".

Wha???

Yes, there is fantasy hockey. I haven't played that either. I always root for "my guys", even after they've moved on to another team. I want them to do well. This is just different.

Yes. Its called the Ducks 2010 season. They are fantasizing that there will be a post-season.

A reference to the very unsportsmanlike look that Lindsey Vonn had on her face when the Slovenian skier passed her for the silver in Super G.

And who here wasn't sympathetic when Dr. Evil wept because his tractor beam accidentally pulled his son into a slalom gate?

jerk :(

I suggest you look at the standings before making a comment like that. There is a 9 point spread between 11th and 6th. It is very possible for there to be a very successful post season for the Ducks.

I was just joking around.

Sheesh

Did you not click the spoiler link?

Prior to these games, I had never heard the term "First Nations" to describe what we (in the States) call Native Americans. Is First Nations a Canadian thing or am I just out of it?

It's a Canadian thing. Even though Canada is part of North America, "Native Americans" pretty exclusively refers to tribes that existed on the land that is now the United States.

Seriously. How cute are the Canadian ice dancers, Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir?

(Their coach is pretty damn good looking too.)

The only thing I like about these Olympics is how much money (and in some cases, potential future advertising revenue) NBC is gonna end up losing over them.

Just started watching tonight's primetime coverage via TiVo.

Al Michaels just made an Airplane reference. Score one for Al!

OOOOOHHHHHHHH!


Duh.

The other day Dick Button was defending ice dancing. To the detractors, he challenged, "Tell me what IS a sport," which I suppose does broach the valid point that the line isn't clear. But he continued. "If ice dancing isn't a sport, then, well, you'd have to cut synchronized swimming, and rhythmic gymnastics." To which I say, uuuuh yes! Adios! Bye bye!

Ice Dancing is a sport by definition in that it is a "physical activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively". I'm not sure what is "un-sporting" about it.

Ice dancing, rhythmic gymnastics and synchronized swimming are dance numbers. If they're sports, then we we can have Olympic ballet.

I think the Olympics should be limited to sports that are vaguely related to pure athletic, survival or warrior skills. I'd even can Olympic basketball.

The list in endless. Olympic clogging. Olympic violining. Olympic toilet cleaning (timed and swabbed for bacterial cultures). Olympic ball room dancing (oh, wait....).

Is it getting hot in here?

I think anything competitive can count as sport. The Olympics just picks those competitive events that are more broadly popular throughout the world (i.e. there exists a fan base, governing rules body, etc.)

Umm, ice dancing (though I'm totally sick of it right now, bleh) is athletic. If they weren't athletic, it would just be funny.

Now, I love poker but hate that it's called a sport, but that's another story (and it doesn't even meet the definition).

I passed on the Olympics last night to watch The Gumball Rally with Moonie Jr. I can't understand why that movie is not on more peoples 10 best movies of all times list.

That's definitely one of my household's top movies.

I think it's stupid that golf is going to be an Olympic sport.

Hmm, regarding the "sport" debate, it is called the Olympic Games, so perhaps anything people dabble in can be considered? The Games could include chess or blackjack or pin the tail on the donkey...

</devil's advocate>

Not being a golf fan, I've always wondered why it wasn't. It certainly seems to have a lot going for it. A long history, Large international following, TV friendly....

Like I said, I see the validity of calling ice dancing a sport. But it's still a sport in a category that a) doesn't interest me and b) doesn't fit with my perception of Olympics. Yes, it involves physical prowess and technical skill, but in my opinion ice dancing (and rhythmic gymnastics, and synchronized swimming, and dressage, and even to some degree portions of gymnastics like floor routine) are too much about artistic and aesthetic components to fit the theme of athletic competition.

And honestly, in the long run, I think it hurts aesthetic sports/competitions to be included in the Olympics. At that level, the pressure of ensuring fair judging is huge. As a result, the artistry and subjectivity has to be regulated out. And what you end up with is gymnastic floor routines (and balance beam routines) with creepy antiseptic "dance" moves that are judged on their technical qualities. Gone from gymnastics is any sort of artistry or aesthetic. Figure skating is headed in that direction. It's a shame, but it's the inevitable result of the scrutiny an artistic discipline receives on the Olympic stage.

Personally, I think all events should use the same uniforms as the original Olympics.

So the Gay Games would include drag acts and quoting old movies?

The other thing that bothers me about some of these dancy sports is that I can't help thinking they're stocked with people who were not good enough to compete in the regular activity, so someone indulgent invented something else for them to do. Arguably, decathlon is open to the same criticism, but I think there is a virtue in being able to do a lot of athletic things well. There is no virtue to any of the rhythmic gymnastics skills.

Yeah, they started using it during broadcasts because some people had an issue with the more common, "Dem dhere Injuns, eh."

;)

Finally a sport I could medal in!

I like it on TV only when I'm looking to take a nap.

Personally, I like the aesthetic part of sports - I actually like that aspect more than sheer physical prowess. A ski jumper who not only jumps great distances but does so with style, grace and a great landing are a thrill. A figure skater who not only can preform the jumps under presser, but who weaves these jumps into a aesthetically pleasing routine.

Surya Bonaly is a perfect example of this. She was a fantastic jumper but in between her jumps she looked awkward and unprofessional on the ice. Her career foundered, she never got the high marks needed to be a serious contender and she is not able to have a successful professional career either.

You cannot take the aesthetics out of figure skating without hurting the sport. I can't imagine figure skating without music, choreography, theming, costumes, a story and aesthetic movement woven between required elements. It would become "how many consecutive quads or twizzles can so and so perform". Yawn.

I agree, but that's exactly what's happening to it, it's exactly what's happened to gymnastics, and it's the inevitable result of being on the Olympic stage. Those things are the essence of the sport, but they conflict with the essence of the Olympics. Over time, the Olympics win out and drain the aesthetic from the sport. Who wants that?

The ISO set the rules for figure skating, not the IOC.

There have been changes in rules by the ISO in recent years - Ice Dancing does not allow lifts higher than the shoulder any longer. It has taken Ice Dancing down a notch, but it is still a beautiful sport to watch and the competition was fierce this year - more than it's been in a long time.

Here's my absolute favorite Ice Dancing pair from 1992 - the glory days of ice dancing.

-But they are going to sell anything they can on Ebay.

They mean anything- podiums, flags, medal trays etc etc.....

True, but the ISU makes changes in response to pressure from Olympic exposure to the sport. The ditching of the 6.0 system in favor of the current system (which now puts more emphasis on technical execution over artistic presentation) is a direct result of the Canadians losing in Salt Lake City in '02. When an aesthetic sport is put in the context of Olympic athletic competition, the expectations change.

I'm not disagreeing that there is merit to the sports, or that there are reasons to admire their participants or enjoy the competition. I just don't think they fit within the context of the Olympics, and I think it does a disservice to the sports to have them there.

The 1984 LA Olympics did that too. Granted, that was before eBay, but I remember them auctioning off all sorts of stuff, including the special freeway signs. I have no problem with that. I think it makes the fans happy they can own a piece of the Olympics and it makes the organizers happy because it offsets some costs. IIRC, the 1984 Olympics was the first one to ultimately end up with a budget surplus. If auctioning off all the hardware puts them under budget, more power to them.

If ski jumpers could go farther by flapping their arms like geese, they'd do it and be rewarded for it. The idea of what was a graceful landing or a stylistic sin would adjust accordingly.

I don't know if skating footwork is supposed to be athletic or aesthetic. Whatever it is, I find the "look at that footwork" sections to be impressive but boring. I also find that most routines rarely synch up well with the music the same way dancers on stage do, so I can imagine figure skating without music the same way most gymnastics is without music.

There had been lots of discussion about changing the judging system many years before the 2002 Olympics. When I first started attending National and Worlds and hanging out with Olympic skaters, it was a hot topic of discussion (1992-95). There was no doubt that the ISU was heading for a change in judging rules. What the 2002 Olympics provided was proof of abuse of the judging system which enabled the ISU to push the changes forward.

I don't find figure skating to be a primarily aesthetic sport. It is incredibly physically demanding and requires great athleticism (try jumping, spinning or balancing another person yourself, then try it on a 1/8" blade!). It just also had an element of presentation and aesthetics that is not unheard of in other Olympic sports (Gymnastics, Diving, etc).

Let's GO HILLER! Shoot out between BEL and SUI. Elimination game.

I'd still argue that the level of exposure afforded by being in the Olympics accelerates such changes and tends to guide those changes away from artistry towards technicality and athleticism.

Figure skating is an interesting one to track through history. When it was originally added to the Olympics it was literally "figure" skating, as in figure-8's and such. Once television got into the picture (hah!) it was decided that was too boring so the free skate was added to spice things up, creating that artistic element. As it progressed, it got more and more athletic and technical.

I enjoy figure skating, and definitely consider it more "Olympic", by my personal criteria, than ice dancing or rhythmic gymnastics. But it's right on that line. It certainly involves something approaching the kind of athleticism I look for at an Olympics. But, along the lines of what SL was saying regarding the disconnect between the music and the routines, I dislike the fact that it's evolved into a dispassionate form of dance. It's dance for the sake of technicality, not dance for the sake of art and emotion, which I mostly find bizarre. Sure, some are better at putting their own emotion and personality behind the dance portions than others, but the end result is still a strange bit of meaningless abstract dance that comes across as superfluous to me. And the fact that some skaters, who otherwise should be very proud of their performance on the ice, have to walk away feeling disappointed based on the subjective merits of those dances leaves me feeling cold.

I feel the same about gymnastics, though, as mentioned mostly in regards to floor and balance beam routines where those dance elements are even further dehumanized than they are in ice skating.

Diving, ski aerials, snow board, all rely on "style points" for scoring, but they are somehow different animals to me. The elements those style judgments are made on aren't pretending to be "dance". They are simply showcases of the competitor's ability to maintain body control under increasingly more extreme physical conditions. They aren't deconstructed dance moves, stripped of their artistic meaning in an effort to quantify them.

If the dance elements of figure skating were not judged so technically, if the skaters were free to be actually creative rather between jumps and spins, and people were willing to accept that the results will be subjective (and perhaps a very tiny fraction of the scores), I'd be much more on board. But that just isn't going to happen in the context of a multi-million dollar competitive environment. They need it to be quantified so they can justify the results.

That's not true: it certainly would help one if they chose a career in the adult entertainment industry.

Let's go CANADA :CLAP CLAP CLAPCLAPCLAP:

I believe there has been talk of making porn a demonstration sport at the next summer games. With every routine having the same background music.

Why not! They already give them all condoms!

If anyone is looking for a speed skating coach, fluent in Dutch, with experience coaching gold-medal-quality skaters, I think one will be looking for work very shortly.

I assume you're referencing the guy who didn't change lanes. How is it the coaches fault? (That's an honest question, not meant to be snide.)

He was headed into the correct lane. At the last second, the coach yelled at him to switch.

Yep.

Damn...

That was heartbreaking.

Really!?! :eek: Wow, okay, that does make a big difference. I didn't see that on the coverage I saw.

If I were him (the coach), I would not go home for a few months....

Costas made a "joke" about him looking into the Dutch version of the witness protection program. Yeah, that's no joke, sports figures have been murdered for far less.

World Cup a few years ago - USA beat Columbia 1-0 on an own goal by Columbia. That guy was dead a matter of weeks later.

The skater was also the Mr. "Are you stupid?" Guy. So, not sure how much I feel sorry for him.

I mean, the reporter was just asking him to tag his own interview. I think that's pretty common, isn't it?

The Korean Figure Skater's short program was one of the BEST short programs I have seen in my life! (And I've seen a LOT of skating.)

I preferred the Japanese skater's (the first one, with the triple axle)

I find it pathetic that nhl.com is more organized for Olympic hockey than the nbcolympic hockey website is.

Hiller is standing on his head keeping the Swiss in this game. 32 SoG by Team USA, 8 bu SUI.

She was wonderful too, and her axel was flawless. I believe she is the only one in thei competition that has a triple axel. If she had done a triple/tripple combination, she probably would have taken the lead.

The long program is going to be interesting. I can't wait for Thursday - and I am also looking forward to NOT spending time in front of the TV!

NA, A-Men to this.

I was thinking that this morning. I am spending WAYYY too much time in front of the TV, unable to go to sleep because there's more Olympics coming up...

But, I loves me some Olympics!

Too many bobsled teams. Too many bobsled heats. Too much Bob Costas saying "bobsleigh." Perhaps they program this so that everyone can get some sleep the night before the women's figure skating final.

I'll take Bobsled over skating anyday. Bummer of a wreck by the women's 2 person German team.

I love the outrageous paint on the bobsleds. The US one looks like it's driven by Captain America.

What's with the preppie tweed-and-pinstripes that Costas and his cohorts are sporting? Whoever is in wardrobe has nothing else in their repertoire. It's almost as if the team of reporters has their own uniform. Night after night...

I'm siting here waiting for skating to come on and turned on the computer, big mistake. Of course top headline told me the results, arghhh. I hate tape delays!

I hate tape delays too. I am NOT checking any news sites.

Congratulations to Team Canada' Women's hockey team. They played an excellent game that could have gone either way. Congratulations on Team USA on their silver medal. They played an excellent game that could have gone either way.

Best Ladies Long competition I have seen and the best gold medal long ever! Amazing!

Super excited for the locals who medaled in nordic combined. Plus, they're hotties!

A gold medal performance that calls to mind Tara Lipinski and Oksana Baiul. Flap! Flap! Squawk!

Women's figure skating was AWESOME!

Similar to Scott Hamilton, I was pretty choked up after Joannie Rochette finished her routine. I'm glad she medaled.

:mad:

Well fvck. Didn't get to see today's US vs. Finland hockey game because, since they listened to the complaining and showed it live, the time slot it was scheduled for, that TiVo dutifully recording, was showing Bonnie Hunt's show instead. Grrr.

I didn't either. I was out and about, home by 3 to watch it. Oh look, it was over. Results spoiler:

But now it's Canada vs. Slovakia. GO CANADA (Perry, Getzy and Scotty) GO!

Men's short track

Holy crap! What a game. I haven't held my breath like that over in a very, very long time.

Sunday is going to be insane.

I could go either way on Ohno's DQ, he may not have been intending for it to be a push, but the contact did seem to cause the fall.

More controversial is the fact that the Canadian totally got away with turning the Korean's left hip back and knock him over to take the lead.

That was my problem with calling Ohno on his touch but not calling the canadian on the same thing! WTH!

Werd Johnny Weir.

Dear Media:

The gold medal game is not going to be a redux of the Miracle on Ice. What we have are two evenly matched NHL teams, not some scrappy college kids playing the all-mighty Canada. Hype the rivalry, hype "avenging the women" (though I doubt anyone else looks at it like that) but for the love of all things shiny, quit trying to make this Miracle on Ice II.

The Gold medal game is Sunday. On Monday those guys will be back playing with their teams focusing on the Stanley Cup.

God, I love that man!

He's a cutie

Hear hear! :snap:

Dear world, Canada will be closed noon to 3 pm on Sunday.
Thank you.

I'm very happy for the USA's bobsled victory, but Steve Holcomb in a skin-suit is something I really did not need to see in HD.

By praising the sled at such length, the announcers made the bobsled competition sound like the America's Cup. I'm not sure if the crew deserves the gold or the engineers do.

Four Men.

Four runs down a 1,450 meter track

Four Tenth's of a second between gold and silver.

Four Tenth's.

Drop a pen from 2.5' and it's less than that.


That's one misstep, one brush of a wall, one hitch in the steering, one wobbly runner on any of the four runs.

I don't think you can separate athlete from engineer. It takes both. Of course only one get's to keep the medal because at the end of the day the Olympics are a measure of the athlete not the science behind them.

Wow....that was a hockey game.

True, however overall, Canada has more seasoned/arguably better known players. I think read somewhere that on average, Team Canada's players make about $3 million more/year than Team USA's.

Nonetheless, what a great game.

Do the Holcy dance!

Loved Catherine O'Hara's entrance

__________

Alrightythen....

On another note: When the Russian opera singer came out on the big ball with wings, Bill exclaimed "Now THAT'S an entrance!"

I wouldn't mind being the Mounter to those Mountees backing up Michael Buble.

That whole thing was......interesting.

WTF NBC? You have to insert another show in the middle of the closing ceremonies?

Middle? There's more afterwards?

Presuming the "come back at 11:30 for the rest of the closing ceremony" wasn't another media lie to watch other programing

Oh, that. They always do that. There's a gap in the action as they clear out the stadium of the spectators, and change the stages and stuff. It's the "closing party" which is just for the athletes and it's just some crappy band playing (I believe it's Nickleback this time) and the athletes screwing around and trying to act interested in the stupid questions NBC reporters ask them.

Huh? If you read that, I want a source. That doesn't even make sense.

Team Canada had 2 players who play for a Canadian NHL team. Everyone else played for a team in the US. Which makes sense, since the entire country of Canada has 6 NHL teams, total. They were evenly matched teams and all this was when it comes down to it a USA vs. Canada NHL All-Star game. Tonight/tomorrow they go back to their teams on the quest for the Stanley Cup.

---------

Anyway, YAY Canada won!!!!!!!! How awesome for them to win on their ice.

Awesome game, nail biter until the end. Wouldn't want it any other way.

I love how Nickelback and Nickleback were both trending topics on twitter because people don't seem to be able to spell the band's name correctly.

I think the closing ceremonies would have been better if I had been more drunk. I hope they ship one of those beavers to Epcot and install it in the Canada pavilion. Or maybe they could just create the "Parade of Stereotypes" and have each country build a float.

Total number of years of NHL experience on Canada's roster: 201 (8.7/player avg.)

Total number o fyears of NHL experience on USA's roster: 134 (5.8/player)


The US had 3 players with >10 years of experience, 9 for Canada.

That's a notable difference in experience.

Plus, the US had to overcome the confusion of having 6 different players named Ryan on their roster (and that's not including Bobby Ryan, just first names).

Sure it was a bit on the cheesy side but you can't argue that towards the end the really redeemed themselves. Seriously, how cool is a giant floating moose! Love it!

I wonder if my homeowners association would notice if I floated one over the house.

Canada = Team Canada, not Canadians playing for Canadian hockey teams. See GD's response for further info on experience....

Yeah, it was odd.

When the Vancouver Olympics President was giving his speech, could the IOC President have looked any more bored?

But I loved the fact that the Canadians can poke fun at themselves; I loved the fact that they made light of the fourth pillar fiasco in the opening ceremonies.

Shatner and O'Hara were funny at times and I really loved the ovation that Michael J. ("Hi, my name is Mike) Fox got - man did he look great!

Wow. I've just heard about the ice dancing "controversy".

It seems NBC refused to air the free dance routine from the Israeli pair. Why? Because it's a brother/sister pair (not out of the ordinary, there were 3 others in competition), dancing suggestively (normal, if creepy, for ice dancing), to the theme of Schindler's List (hmmmmm).

The've since posted the full video routine on their site here, so we can all judge for ourselves whether it crosses the incestuous-trivialization-of-the-Holocaust line or not.

On a side note, having gone back to take another look at Lysacek's routine last week, it's kinda nice to watch figure skating on the website without the commentary.

You made out during Schindler's List?

As routines go, that was fairly unromantic and asexual. I think any decision not to air the routine might more logically be grounded in the degree to which her leotard was climbing thong-like up her bottom.

NBC's figure skating coverage drives me nuts! I like Scott Hamilton fine but he and his co-commentators cannot shut the fvck up during a program. It is really distracting and annoying.

I swear that after NPR ran that story about the coverage and mentioned Scott's grunting that he dialed it back.

Evan Lysacek reads the "Top Ten Thoughts That Went Through Evan Lysacek's Mind During His Gold Medal Ice Skating Routine"

That was mostly funny. I loved how he had the smile plastered on his face at the beginning and looked over to the side without moving his head.

Is it just me, or is the best single item on Dave's Top Ten List always #3?