Winter Olympics: Vancouver 2010 - Page 3

I'm definitely following and watching every olympic event I can. This makes me proud to be Canadian.

I watched the Bi-athalon (is that the spelling??) earlier today. It was an eye opening experience. In my whole life, I've never before seen anything that flat out bonkers passed off as a "sport". It's a grouping of activities seemingly chosen completely at random (or perhaps inspired by Rodger Moore Bond films), and then set along side the 100 meter sprint as a standard by which athletes should be judged. I guess "accurate pointing" is what the shooting part might test, but then why use real guns? Use laser rifles or something, then you don't have the X-factor of gun powder misfires ETC. You’d be actually testing a human’s ability to control their body. Not their ability to manipulate a contraption. As it is now it seems like an activity more likely to star Lara Croft than a legitimate athlete. I could invent the no hands flame throwing bicycle race, and that still would not be cause to award medals to those who participate in my flight of fancy

But yea, the biathalon....it was amusing, despite the silliness


And I also watched speed skating. The commentators seemed surprised that a Korean got second place in something, and despite his great performance, they spent the whole race talking about the guy from the Netherlands because apparently their notes had little info on the Korean. As for the sport of speed skating... It was pretty chill*. Fast but effortless. Like you could totally just zone out and relax as you skate around in lazy circles**. Not only does it look cool, but it's something I've tried and failed at in real life. I used to like to go skating as a kid, but I always had to employ the use of a traffic cone in order to maintain ballance. So I have a certain respect for those who excell at that most challenging of ice-based feats. This is a problem I never found on the slopes (with the exception of the first time I ever went skiing, and even then, it was a stopping problem not a balance problem that resulted in my crash) so I've mainly stuck to downhill skiing.

That's all for now, I'll check back in once there is more to talk about later on


*Pun intended
**I know that's not the case I'm just saying that's how it looks. That's what I like when I ski, just kind of cruising around. It's like ultimate sledding

I just saw a "short track". Count me as officially surprised. It was exciting! I think there is something about watching people zoom around on skates that's exhilarating where as watching people run is exhausting. They're just kind of zipping along there, dodging in and out. It's like watching tron or something.

Apollo was pretty impressive! That was cool.

They also put a wall up over the area where the guy crashed.

That skiing amazes me. Those girls are such better skiers than I am it's not even funny. I just kind of freestyle it, but their skiing is amazingly tight

I am excited for the luge. But that's another sport that I'm unsure is really a sport. As Stephen Colbert said, all the person really does is act as ballast.

I am glad they decreased the speed, but that kind of baffles me that it's a sport where the speed is more about the shape of the course than any talent or skill of the human

What if Mr Ohno were to lose this upcoming bout? Would that be the end of his Olympic dreams?

Not that it's a huge surprise, but damn.. our Women's hockey team just destroyed Slovakia 18-0.

I love it.

Nice opening day for the US. Four medals, including a gold in the mogul. A great story to see Celski medal after what happened a half a year ago.

is short track over now for the rest of the Olympics?

Nope. Plenty of events left including the relay, which is total chaos. If there is one short track event to catch, it's the relay: women's tomorrow, men's Wednesday.

Gotta give credit to Ohno. He's got a huge target on his back yet he keeps putting in great performances. I even thought he was the victim of a slight shove by the eventual winner. I guess that wipeout was Karma coming back to bite the Korean team in the ass. They've had it out for Ohno for years now.

Nice job by Kearney in the moguls not to bow to the pressure of going head to head with Canada's Heil in the finals. And it seemed every moguls skier was said to have had several knee surgeries (not surprising). How do you get to a place where you're ok doing a sport that pretty much demands you have multiple knee surgeries if you're going to do it long enough to get good at it? And what does your gait look like in 10-15 years, much less 30?

Dutch Speed Skating fans...awesome.

I didn't get to watch the opening ceremonies until this morning. Good stuff. Of course the whales were badass, and I loved how the natives had to dance for an hour while the countries were introduced. As mentioned k.d. lang was incredible, as was Sarah McLachlan. That opera singer (Measha Brueggergosman) blew my mind as well, both with her performance and her awesome hair.

Got to see the US win their first gold (moguls), and Ohno win his silver. The Koreans so had a medal sweep in that event until they f'ed up.

Love the Olympics so, so much. The only way it could possibly be better was if they had some sort of "mix channel" (like DirecTV has for MLB) that showed multiple events as they are happening. Or even better, channels with little to no commentary, that just streamed happenings all day/night long.

Everyone who is complaining about the luge track has failed to mention something that really disturbed me tonight while watching the luging event: the spectators who are standing way too close to the track. I was watching one of the competitors coming toward the finish and he wiped out, but managed to get his sled back under him. What if that sled had gone airborne and hit someone standing there? I understand people wanting to be close to the action, but you would think that they would have some sort of protection in case a sled goes airborne and flies toward the crowd. With NASCAR, they've got fences up to protect the crowd when a wreck happens. Why not in luging?With the speeds those guys get up to, a flying sled could easily decapitate a spectator. That's always puzzled me about this event, but in light of what happened with Nodar, safety should be the primary concern, for the athletes as well as the spectators.

My knews were screaming in sympathy just watching those moguls.

Gotta admit I was pulling for Heil. I'd just really like to see some Canadian hit gold.

Love the fact that the BBC is pretty much streaming everything, although I'm going to need some Emrick energy when Tuesday rolls around.

Watching the US stomp China in women's hockey. Can they hit 18, too?

Michael Landsberg interview with Joe Biden was slightly humourous.

And Crosby had a slight scare in his last NHL game today but they're saying he's fine and is good to go! Iginla had two goals last night in his final game with a 3-1 win over Anaheim. So he's pumped to get going!

Womens hockey tomorrow and the men start on Tuesday! Can't wait!

And I watched a bit of the 5000m speed skating last night and wow, that guy from the Netherlands just took off! He set a new world record in the process.

EDIT: The camel toe on the womens speed skaters uniforms is pleasant.

The BBC hockey guy sucks. Makes one long for the intricacies of NHL announcing.

So, biathlon is drive-by shooting for white people?

Lovely to see Women Canadian hockey annihilate Slovakia 18-0, and hearing the crowd booing the Americans for destroying the Chinese team 12-1. And how the fuck can you concede THAT goal?

And while there's pressure to win gold for us, there's never been so much pressure on ANYONE as there is on the Canadian hockey team. Ever.

Our sport, our turf. And especially since the 7th place last time...

I know! That skiing amazed me. I feel like such an amateur now.

As for Heil... I was rooting against her. 1) There was a skier who was my exact age and came from Vermont which is close to my home state of Massachusetts 2) The signs in red text that said "HEIL!" rubbed me the wrong way

All in all, it was great to see the girl from VT get gold. Her "helicopter" move was so cool

I watched some of the woman's relay early today at like 1 AM. I actually did not like it. It was too confusing and I could not tell what was going on.

Is there any more regular short track? That's what I enjoyed.

Very true, I keep expecting the Koreans to willingly get disqualified and take out Ohno early in the prelims.

Hopefully not in the way Tokyo took out Moonpie in Rollerball, but still you gotta worry.

I kept expecting the race to end with the competitors skiing right off the edge of a cliff, only to unfurl parachutes emblazoned with their national flag

So NBC features the Figure Skating Pairs couple from China, and they blare the music from Kung Fu Panda. Classic.

But the couple is awesome enough to use an instrumental "Who Wants to Live Forever" (by Queen) from Highlander.

So they should win just for NBC's lameness and their coolness.

Arg, I want these Chinese figure skaters to lose so much. It's not even funny. Does anyone know how they're favored?

Why do you want them to lose? That was a beautifully skated routine.

Loved her outfit, too.

Shen/Zhau go out and set a record in the first pairs skating short program. Either they were beyond bitchin (that triple toe jump side by side was sublime) or we can expect the judges to pretend it's Christmas eve.

regarding the Luge: First, that's a sport. Yeah, your equipment plays a part (the germans spent some time in BMW's wind tunnel for analysis), but you still have to trust your body to have the strength and timing to steer the sled into the best line. And the biathalon may be a sport we, as Americans, may not have much of an affinity for, but the nordic countries take that shit seriously. There's a reason those two activities were put together.

LOVING me some Olympics.

it was the David Garrett version, too. I think that's the first time I've ever tuned into a figure skating event and at the very beginning, said to myself "I own that song."

They seem like lovely people, and skated well. Fine.

But sadly the Olympics are about more than that.

President Obama is going to be meeting with the Dali Llama next week, and I'm not in the mood to watch the Chi Coms feather their hat with Olympic Gold right now.


Gun down Tibetans and kill off the river dolphin? Karma should steal your medals, IMHO.


The Olympics have always been about politics, and I cannot in good conscience support Chinese supremacy, in any sport.

I don't want to derail and start a fight over this, so I'll shut up about it now, but I just wanted to make clear where I stand.

For the record, I've changed my position on the question of "LUGE, a sport? Yes/No" since I first suggest it wasn't.

They will remember your post as they invade the US in 15 years.

Haha, well at least they'll be facing a nation prepared by Fall Out 3 to face just such an eventuality.



PS Also, just as a final comment, after their big "Look at how powerful we've become!" extravaganza in the last summer Olympics, I feel like this is the west's time to shine. Winter sports are in our blood, and so I feel like we should really excel at this and show the world what we can do. For example, a girl from Vermont won a gold medal as skiing last night. So I guess I have alot of New England/American pride caught up in the concept of a world wide winter sports summit.

Wow...major difference in the scores between the Chinese and the first American couple. Granted, the US team had been together 18 months and the Chinese together for 18 years. But damn.

Kate, I can see your point about the olympics being a political function. But that's not its intent. And that's not how the athletes are looking at it. I choose to approach these games from the standpoint of "I'm seeing the best in the world let it all hang out" regardless of how a political body wants to use the results after the fact.

As a lifetime Olympic junkie, I'm lovin' the Olympics so far, botched torch-lighting & all. I also prefer the Winter Games to the Summer Games...maybe because I'm from Colorado originally & surrounded by winter sports? Also, I know this is probably TMI, but I'm stuck on the couch a lot these days feeding a newborn baby, and it's great to have a show I can watch for hours...and hours...and hours...


I worked at the biathlon/cross country venue at the Salt Lake '02 Games, and I was really stoked at the Nordic Combined medal won by the US today. We joked in Salt Lake that we were the only venue of the entire games that saw no American medals. Guess that trend is starting to change. Those athletes are incredible--even the goofy-looking biathletes.

And just think, that baby could win a medal someday

OK, I think I'm officially on the side of the International Spam Man or whatever, the reclusive mass mailer. That's so weird, becoming Australian because the Canadians thought he was spending too much time devising ways to send junk mail to hapless people. That's a pretty compelling life story and I think I have to root for him


PS: Is there anyone who would would actually be more likely to watch THE MARRIAGE REF after being force fed those obnoxious commercials hour after hour?


EDIT: !!! Yes !!! He's now ranked #1

YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!

Alexandre Bilodeau JUST TOOK GOLD!!

That was actually the first time Canada's ever won a gold medal on their home turf? Really? I thought we always got at least a couple.

Good work, Canada!


PS Spam Man (I forget his name, but he's the male moguls skier who abandoned Canada for Australia because Canada felt he was spending too much time junk mailing people) is currently ranked #1 and may well get the gold. I am excited that the person I was pulling for might succeed.


EDIT: Spam Man was bested when someone else got a faster time! I am crushed!


EDIT: Well at least the Canadian who beat Spam Man has now himself been beaten. A french man with a lower time has won. I will try and take comfort in that.

EDIT: Nevermind, the Canadian did win. Now I really am crushed

EDIT: Are the Olympics not live? There seemed to be a 5 minute delay between Brendan's celebratory post and when that was broadcast on my TV...........

I like that they're using the score from SUNSHINE for the piece on Apolo Ohno

I'm not even Canadian and Alexandre's victory made me cry. That was so sweet what he said about his brother.

And his girlfriend kissed the holy hell out of him!

Nope. This was our first gold on home soil. Heh... and it came from a Quebecois!

I have AT&T U-Verse, and they have an Olympic interactive channel. It has 4 simultaneous feeds, daily schedules, a medals count screen, and news flashes.

Congrats, Canucks, on your first home-court gold medal (I can't believe it has taken that long--wow). They'd better deliver in hockey, too, or mass riots will probably break out nationwide...

No actually until the mid 90's Canada as a nation pretty much sucked at the Olympics. In 88 at Calgary 5 medals total (2 silver 3 bronze) and it would take about 2 weeks before we got one of those. 76 at least we got over 10 medals but still no where near the top packs.

2006 gave us hope of a good showing this year though.

Vancouver loves a good riot!

Yeah Canada on the Gold! I really feel that no matter how many medals we won and how overall successful the games were, if we didn't get one gold the whole thing would have been considered a failure.

Ok -- who decided to make the outside flame a recreation of the Running Man?




It's like living in some (Made-in-Canada) sci-fi B movie ...

Ha! Congrats to Canada and to Bilodeau.

Nice showing by the US Nordic Combined team. Great comeback by the French skier Chappuis. Now they get to do it again...twice.

Felt bad for the Chinese Women's Hockey team who were out-skilled and out-hustled by a much bigger, much more skilled and athletic US team. Glad they could take away a consolation goal, anything to encourage them. Some flashes of brilliance from their goalie too.