The Olympiad
 

good or no good?

good, me like downhill.

sofar I like , but the white ninjas during the starting seramony were different , and the flame head dudes were different as well

There's no 'eeeeh' choice, so I had to go with the curling. I'm fascinated that it can be considered a sport, but then I start wondering why shuffleboard isn't in the Summer Olympics.

The parts of the opening ceremony I saw were kind of neat, but I was really watching for the same reason most people watch auto racing ...

I do like biathalon, but I also know that my schedule is such that I am unlikely to be able to watch any of the broadcast.

Olympics?

But what about the Super Bowl?! :(

Lady Keryx says, "I dont care anymore".

Good things about the Olympics so far:
1) 1/2 of the Opening Ceremonies
2) Speed Skating Gold!
3) The camera that flies along with the guys on the ski jumping hill, following them all the way through their flight, and to the landing. Awesome beyond belief.
4) Emily Hughes getting her shot.

Bad things about the Olympics so far:
1) Michelle Kwan dropping out
2) The other 1/2 of the Opening Ceremonies
3) Commercials
4) Main anchor guy for NBC sucks
5) I have to work and can't just watch the events for two weeks straight.

I liked the opening ceremonies up until the parade of nations. Turned it off after that. The rest I enjoy. I root for all the athletes, so I'm never disappointed in the outcome.

I thought it was really cool that the one figure skating couple made the thrown triple axle last night.

The finish of the Nordic Combined was awesome. I love how the ski jump always puts a couple real power skiers in the back reeling in the leaders over the route.

I just got a cc ski magazine from my father-in-law that documents the existence of a black powder biathalon. 1840's trapper gear right down to the homemade skis which were called long snow shoes back in the day.

That sounds cool ... the added challenge of keeping your powder dry and primers in place as part of the challenge could be quite exciting.

I love the Winter Olympics...probably more than the summer ones. So far, the Turin Games have been pretty good, though I didn't like the opening ceremonies as much as I did Salt Lake's. Maybe I'm biased, though.

And Bob Costas is a beast...he's beloved here. Got his start broadcasting for the Spirits of St. Louis in the ABA.

Bode was a big disappointment after so much badass hype. And Apolo made a dumb move in his first event.

It really looks like crap on my TV. Looks like they blew the HDTV conversion and left a lot of artifacts and moire in.

There's been some weird sound shit on my TV, but the pictures have been really exceptional. I am not watching in HD, however.

I was commenting to my wife last night how much the sound and picture sucked last night on the half pipe coverage. But we have a regular (old) tv.

The sound was very tinny and was like they were broadcasting from inside a culvert. The picture had horrible contrast. It was a bright sunny day and I imagine the snow glare was hard on the cameras.

... sorry, I don't understand some of the options (must be a furrin thing).

I like the Winter Olympics because there is so little pressure on the UK athletes to win anything. No reason to be disappointed when we don't.

The majority of sports are fast and furious, and there is more potential for spectacular mistakes. It's not schadenfreude - just if someone is going to take a tumble anyway, it's more interesting if they do it figure skating than running the 800m.

Also there is no coverage of sun-drenched stadiums (stadia?) when I've slogged to & from work in the rain.

NBC's feed exploded at some point -- it kept dropping out and so they flipped to the crap one. The beautiful HD signal went to ass, but it was back to normal last night, which was good because Flying Tomato was whoppin' all kinds of butt on the halfpipe!

Does anyone else think Ohno seemed to be purposely grabbing for the lead's foot as he tripped up?

Ah, I love the winter olympics. There is nothing as awesome as watching a man on a set of thin wood strips fly down a mountain at 80mph. Absolutely insane.

And this from Bryant Gumbell:
Alllllllrighty then.

Do we put Bryant down as a Costas hater then?

Sundae- Costas is the most annoying sports announcer in the US and he's the anchor for NBCs Olympic coverage. Kwan is a fabulous skater who used her political pull to screw another girl off the US team.

Even with a blistering hangover, Bode Miller is the sixth fastest downhiller on the planet. Color me impressed.

Eh. It's been done. And Tomba got the gold(s)....

I suppose that whining turd Gumbell likes the Summer Olympics though (with its fierce trampoline competition) since there are enough blacks competing? What the hell is that about??

Hold on. Tomba was still drunk. He didn't have to deal with a hangover.

Lindsey Kildow is one tough chick! *hats off*

Kildow is tougher than I am by half. I was in pain just watching her being interviewed *before* she made her run after the crash and burn.

I stayed up until 1:00 AM watching the US vs Italy in curling. I have no idea which day it was as it was recorded, and I'm way behind.

We lost that particular match.

Which means you missed the blow-drying event. :lol:

I admire high levels of skill in almost anything. If *I* can't do it at all, and someone else is really great at it, it probably holds some level of interest to me.

I'm weird that way.

That short track speed skating had me enthralled. Man that is just cool.

That was a tough break for Lindsey Jacobellis dumping on the snowboard. She is playing a game and was having fun so what the heck... maybe she'll get the Nathan's contract instead of the Wheaties box. Snowcross was a lot cooler than I expected.

Yeppers snowcross IS cool , I was PISSED when the american chick lost it showboating last nite !!!

I just think Shaun White is the coolest thing on earth. When the had the shots of the american atheletes watching the opening ceremonies, most of them were looking like, "Yeah, it's allright. I've seen better." But Shaun White was just staring straight up, mouth wide open. He looked like a kid in a candy store, completely awed. Fantastic.

I think Jacobellis gets full credit--snowboarding is as much about style as it is about the lowest elapsed time. And she's got style in spades!

Lunaephiliac--long time no :typing: .

snowboarding is as much about style

Unless you are in a RACE !!! then style is a waste of time !!!

Just my 2 cents .

Anybody got the full story on Shani Davis? NBC spent a lot of time smearing him over the last couple weeks for not being a team guy. Then last night they acted suprised when he dissed them with a childish interview. Funny thing is he gave a nice interview to NPR. Is it a black among whites thing or an individualist among collectivists thing or just an as*hole thing?

*sigh* Gascar from 1 to 6. Isn't it bad enough that NBC talks Gascar whenever a bobsled moves? Non-Athletic Sport Created Around Rednecks :mad:

Bode is officially all show and no go for Turin. If he even lived up to 10% of the hype, he'd have two medals by now. It must be humiliating to have all that pre-event hype swirling around you and to fall flat on your face.

Is it any wonder why I like humble athletes who go out, kick ass and take names, and just smile and accept their award with pride, instead of doing the touchdown dance or acting like they're all that and a bag of chips? Jeez, Bode got all his glory up front without even having to do anything (yes, I know he's a world class skier the rest of the year, but how many Americans give a damn about the rest of the year? Olympics don't go on all year, that's why they're special).

Bad Bode...no Wheaties box for you.

Yes yes yes. Addicted you could say. It's easier to watch others take on that kind of speed and get body slammed into the mountain than to do it myself.

The thing is, I can't stay up till 11:00 to see Sasha Cohen skate. Tooo sleeeeepy.

WHAT?! The Olympics are on till Midnight?!

Oh, forget it!

Are they over yet? I'm tired of taping Law and Order and finding an hour of some idiot on a luge.

Sasha, Sasha, Sasha...

...sigh.

I'm not down with this new scoring system. It is taking all of the artistry out of it and turning figure skating into gymnastics on ice. I can't even believe Sasha fell on her tiny little hiney twice and still came up Silver.

Sasha deserved GOLD. She was the only ARTIST on the ice! There was no comparison and Dick Button knew it, too! She was a ballerina. Ice skating wants ballerinas.

Dick Button is, and always has been, a gaping idiot who couldn't skate his way out of a paper bag.

That's what my mom says anyway. She was a skater.

wolf, I disagree. He was right on in his commentary. (I wanted to say 'asessment,' but was afraid I'd spelt it wrong) anyway--dick was right. and the Japanese girl who won gold was mediocre. Period.

I used to skate.

I've noticed that Dick has gotten a good deal more critical, and a good deal more harsh in his criticism, since his head injury. Still, it just isn't an Olympics without Dick Button. I do miss Peggy Flemming, though, because she is an incredible babe, and was a damn fine skater in her day.

Okay...tell the truth now...has anyone else besides me and Mrs. Elspode been watching "Skating With Celebrities" on Monday nights on FOX?

Pete was pretty ticked at Dick. It seems like NBC chose to go negative a number of times. Did you catch Peekaboo smacking on Mancuso? Note to Peekaboo you are over, Mancuso is the champ now! I can't see cracking on anybodies training or competitive style at this level as long as it keeps you in the frame of mind you need to be in to win. She made it to the podium.

Interesting note from the NYT. Her family background was newsworthy as well. Her father, Ciro, was jailed for marijuana smuggling when Julia was in kindergarten and went to prison when she was in high school. [insert drug war diatribe here.]

Ohno wins gold, bronze on final night
Ties U.S. men's mark with five career Winter Olympic medals



That was big fun!

Yesterday, April and I were talking about the race where Ohno got bronze behind the Koreans the other night. He handled that with grace...it was like, "Yeah, I couldn't get past them...shit happens." Compare that to Ahn Hyun-Soo in 2002, when he was disqualified and the gold went to Ohno...he threw his country's flag down and made a scene, and Ohno got death threats. People like Ohno, Shaun White and the men's curling team (Bronze, baby!) make up for asses like Chad Hedrick and Bode Miller.

I didn't watch the Olympics as much this week as I did last week, but they were good games. Maybe April and I will have enough $$$ to go to Vancouver in 4 years.

Dick Button is a crotchety old bastard. Look what happened when Ohno was given the gold in 2002...the flag-throwing idiot kept it on the front pages for a LONG time to the point where they contemplated giving a double gold. Just like the canucks when the ice-skating duo was ripped off. Give me a break!