Winter Olympics Thread: Vancouver 2010

[wilson]

2 weeks ago, ESPN's Outside the Lines did a story about the attempt to make women's ski jumping an Olympic event. Although it passed one major committee, it ultimately failed because the IOC thought there wasn't enough of a competitive balance in the sport. In a response to the segment, one viewer added that if women's ice hockey is an IOC sport without balance, why shouldn't women's ski jumping?

I saw that piece too. To my (admittedly non-expert) eyes, women's ski jumping appears to possess easily more balance than does women's hockey.
But we know that there's nothing political ever going on at the IOC, so it couldn't be that...

[wilson]

I simply do not see how the lesser teams can develop when constantly getting their asses kicked by Canada and the US.

To play Devil's advocate for a moment, one might easily have said the same about Olympic basketball during the 1990s.

[CameronBornAndBred]

I simply do not see how the lesser teams can develop when constantly getting their asses kicked by Canada and the US.

To play Devil's advocate for a moment, one might easily have said the same about Olympic basketball during the 1990s.

And they did say the same about softball..and because of the lack of parity they gave that sport the boot. Some have asked why they haven't done the same (as softball) for women's hockey, but apparently more countries are playing so they expect the competition to improve. (Softball was never going to change?)

[wilson]

And they did say the same about softball..and because of the lack of parity they gave that sport the boot. Some have asked why they haven't done the same (as softball) for women's hockey, but apparently more countries are playing so they expect the competition to improve. (Softball was never going to change?)

See my original post re: politics.
I honestly think, though, that the women's game could be quite competitive given time. There's no reason that men's powers like Russia, Sweden, and Finland, with traditionally strong overall athletic programs, can't field competent women's squads.
This is also an area where you can bet the Chinese will improve quickly. They've started a team at noteworthy speed, and even though they're getting pummeled this time around, I don't expect them to wallow interminably. Their quest of recent years for Olympic excellence has been achieved in large part through strong efforts in niche sports like diving, speed skating, and curling. With the door open for someone to compete alongside the U.S. and Canada, you can bet that China will devote some of the resources of its already massive athletic program to get off the ground soon.

[wilson]

Tessa Virtue and her partner win gold

Forgot to mention...she's really damned cute.

[wilson]

If I didn't know any better, I'd say they were doing this ski cross on a Mario Kart course.

[cl15876]

Have y' all seen this ... http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/vancou ... oly,221408 Unbelievable!

[CameronBornAndBred]

Have y' all seen this ... http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/vancou ... oly,221408 Unbelievable!

Yeah..just read that. Dude deals with defeat worse than Ol' Roy. Roy just cries, this guy invents medals.

[Lavabe]

What would you get if you crossed Plushenko with Greivis Vasquez?

Seriously, I know there's a joke there, but I am struggling for a punch line.

[ArkieDukie]

Tessa Virtue and her partner win gold

Forgot to mention...she's really damned cute.

I think her partner's pretty cute.

[ArkieDukie]

Seriously, the Canadian pair was GREAT. In all honesty, in terms of sheer entertainment, they were fantastic, and really showed a great attitude as well.

The Russian pair did NOTHING for me. Part of it was due to the fact that the guy was somewhat injured.

All of the top four groups skated cleanly, and each had its highest score of the season.

I wonder if the Russian TV folks were highly critical of the judging in this competition. My only criticism is that I felt the second pair of Americans should have taken 3rd. Big deal.

That leaves us now with just the LADIES competition. Will NOT be watching that.

I liked Tessa and Scott, too. Also loved their medal ceremony. I really enjoyed them singing "O Canada" quite heartily, along with all the Canadians in the crowd. Don't know why that struck me as being especially cool. I really like Davis/White as well. Virtue/Moir and Davis/White have been my favorite teams for the past couple of years.

ITA about the Russian pair. They are constantly overmarked imo - won worlds last year over teams that skated far better. Chatter on figure skating boards before the Olys predicted this outcome - some combo of Virtue/Moir, Davis/White, and Domnina/Shabalin being the podium. Early fear was that Davis/White would be out if favor of Belbin/Agosto, but D/W are better skaters. Politics wouldn't let an all North American podium happen, so Belbin/Agosto were the odd team out. Belbin/Agosto have the same coach as Domnina/Shabalin, and I couldn't help but notice that their coach wasn't with them in kiss and cry after their skate - she was, however, with DomShabs. There was some speculation that the coach threw B/A to the wolves and lobbied for DomShabs with the judges and officials throughout the week. Not cool at all if true.

[ArkieDukie]

Have y' all seen this ... http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/vancou ... oly,221408 Unbelievable!

Yeah..just read that. Dude deals with defeat worse than Ol' Roy. Roy just cries, this guy invents medals.

I can't believe the nerve of this guy. He's an arrogant jerk. Dude, you lost fair and square. Get over it.

[DukieInKansas]

Have y' all seen this ... http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/vancou ... oly,221408 Unbelievable!

Yeah..just read that. Dude deals with defeat worse than Ol' Roy. Roy just cries, this guy invents medals.

I can't believe the nerve of this guy. He's an arrogant jerk. Dude, you lost fair and square. Get over it.

Have we found Roy's love child? ;)

[wilson]

I liked Tessa and Scott, too. Also loved their medal ceremony. I really enjoyed them singing "O Canada" quite heartily, along with all the Canadians in the crowd. Don't know why that struck me as being especially cool.

A hearty second. I have long felt that O Canada is a beautiful anthem, and I can really get behind a moment of such joyous patriotism, as I am given to such moments myself.

[wilson]

A tight affair thus far in the Canada-Germany hockey game. 1-0 in favor of the Great White North early in the second.
colchar, you sweatin' yet?

[Lavabe]

I liked Tessa and Scott, too. Also loved their medal ceremony. I really enjoyed them singing "O Canada" quite heartily, along with all the Canadians in the crowd. Don't know why that struck me as being especially cool.

A hearty second. I have long felt that O Canada is a beautiful anthem, and I can really get behind a moment of such joyous patriotism, as I am given to such moments myself.

The last round of "O Canada" was SO colorful. I think the only thing missing was perhaps a few Mounties with their stetsons in the background. That would have completed the picture.

Those two skaters had more guts and quality in their performance than has been shown by anyone on the men's hockey team.

They were also really nice on the Today Show this morning:
http://www.hulu.com/watch/129729/nbc-to ... s-p1-so-i0

Turns out the men in the top two pairs played junior hockey against each other.

[wilson]

Well jeez, I look away for a few and now it's 4-0 Canada. Onward against the Russkies, I suppose.

[colchar]

A tight affair thus far in the Canada-Germany hockey game. 1-0 in favor of the Great White North early in the second.
colchar, you sweatin' yet?

Nah, I was never sweating as there was absolutely no way Germany could compete with the Canadian squad.

[Lavabe]

Olympic moment of the night: Joannie Rochette skating a SOLID performance in the ladies' short program. Nailing every jump, and the crowd is fully supporting her. You'll recall that her mom just died the other day in Vancouver.

WOW! Tremendous Olympic moment!!

Given what the athlete has been through in the last few days, perhaps the biggest performance moment of the Olympics.

She holds 3rd place for now.
The Japanese is in 2nd.
The Korean (skating to Bond) is in first.

[ArkieDukie]

Rachael Flatt in 5th (should've been 4th), Mirai Nagasu in 6th (should've been 5th). Sorry, but there's no way Miki Ando should've been placed ahead of Rachael and Mirai. No argument at all with the top 3. Kim Yu-Na is phenomenal. She's a joy to watch.

Performance of the night definitely goes to Joannie Rochette. I can't imagine how difficult it would be to go out and skate like that 2 days after losing your mother.