Winter Olympics Thread: Vancouver 2010

[wilson]

Tragically, a Georgian luge athlete has been seriously seriously hurt in a practice run. I saw video of the crash shortly after it happened (there is virtually no chance they will replay the clip as it was very disturbing) and if the athlete survives it will be a miracle. A sad sad way to start the Olympics and my heart goes out to his teammates and family.

Very sad indeed...vibes for the slider and his/her family.

They just replayed the video (I'm absolutely disgusted that they did so) and said that the injuries suffered by the athlete are life-threatening. He was doing 144.3kmh when he came off the track and slammed into a huge metal track support. I will be shocked if this athlete survives as photos I've seen do not look good. This is tragic, absolutely tragic.

The luger has died. Heartbreaking.
http://sports.espn.go.com/olympics/wint ... id=4909034

[colchar]

There is still no word on who will light the torch. I'm hoping it is Betty Fox (mother of Terry Fox) as are most people polled up here. Then again, my roommates and I have been talking about possible candidates all day and we are fairly certain that we'll be pissed off/disgusted by the pick.

Who is Terry Fox? My money's on Gretzky.
And will the Opening Ceremony be on ice, or just in an arena?

Terry Fox lost a leg to cancer and a few months later (in 1980) decided to run across Canada (from coast to coast) on an artificial leg in order to raise money for cancer research. The run was called the "Marathon of Hope". While running in northern Ontario he was diagnosed with lung cancer and had to stop the run. He died a few months later and the news of his death shocked the nation. It simply wasn't fair that someone like him died. It was beyond tragic for him to die. Even seasoned newscasters say that they were crying when they were off camera and the news was being reported. Shit, I still cry when I read about it or see video of him running on one leg (if you see any photos in the links below the wet stain on his shorts was not sweat - it was blood from his stump). Trust me, everyone up here cried when he died.

Terry Fox runs now take place in hundreds of countries each year to raise money for cancer research (I ran in the first one).

When they did the Greatest Canadian competition (following up on a similar British competition) he came in second but that only happened because a Canadian political party organized its members to vote for a deceased member of their party (he designed our universal health care system). That they did that was a travesty - Terry Fox should've won and an awful lot of people up here were, and still are, super pissed off about the results of the vote.

Anyways, here are some links. Please read them as it is an amazing, albeit tragic, story.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Fox


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marathon_of_Hope


http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/fox_terry/

[colchar]

There is still no word on who will light the torch. I'm hoping it is Betty Fox (mother of Terry Fox) as are most people polled up here. Then again, my roommates and I have been talking about possible candidates all day and we are fairly certain that we'll be pissed off/disgusted by the pick.

Who is Terry Fox? My money's on Gretzky.
And will the Opening Ceremony be on ice, or just in an arena?

Wasn't Terry Fox the runner with the wooden prosthetic leg? I remember an HBO movie about him (I think).

The leg wasn't wooden but yeah. he is the guy (the movie you saw was made in Canada, it wasn't an HBO movie as, so far as I know, they've never done a movie about him). See my response to Wilson for more info on Terry.

[colchar]

http://sports.espn.go.com/olympics/wint ... id=4909034

I was just about to post this. Absolutely tragic.

[colchar]

There is still no word on who will light the torch. I'm hoping it is Betty Fox (mother of Terry Fox) as are most people polled up here. Then again, my roommates and I have been talking about possible candidates all day and we are fairly certain that we'll be pissed off/disgusted by the pick.

Who is Terry Fox? My money's on Gretzky.
And will the Opening Ceremony be on ice, or just in an arena?

The ceremony will be in a stadium but it most certainly won't be (and couldn't be) on ice.

[wilson]

The ceremony will be in a stadium but it most certainly won't be (and couldn't be) on ice.

That blows. I'm considerably less excited about watching it than I previously was, though still very excited about the Games overall.

[Lavabe]

The ceremony will be in a stadium but it most certainly won't be (and couldn't be) on ice.

That blows. I'm considerably less excited about watching it than I previously was, though still very excited about the Games overall.

I'm getting ready to watch the ceremony. I hope Godzky does the torch lighting, but a Fox tribute should do it.

What a shame. I sort of hoped that Godzky would take a slap shot and somehow set off the torch lighting.

My guess is that the penultimate handler should be some figure skaters... how about Brasseur and Eisler?

I wonder how these ceremonies will compare with those from Calgary.

Who holds the flag for the US?

[Lavabe]

I vote for Martin Brodeur to carry in the Canadian flag.

[Lavabe]

Last I checked, Madagascar doesn't have a Winter Olympics Team.

[Lavabe]

Which country will have the best hats?

[colchar]

The ceremony will be in a stadium but it most certainly won't be (and couldn't be) on ice.

That blows. I'm considerably less excited about watching it than I previously was, though still very excited about the Games overall.

I'm getting ready to watch the ceremony. I hope Godzky does the torch lighting, but a Fox tribute should do it.

What a shame. I sort of hoped that Godzky would take a slap shot and somehow set off the torch lighting.

My guess is that the penultimate handler should be some figure skaters... how about Brasseur and Eisler?

I wonder how these ceremonies will compare with those from Calgary.

Who holds the flag for the US?

If there are figure skaters handling the torch it should (and probably will) be Jamie Salé and David Pelletier because of how badly they got fucked in Salt Lake City.

[colchar]

I vote for Martin Brodeur to carry in the Canadian flag.

Nope, someone else. I just can't remember who it is right now.

And none of the hockey players will be taking part in the opening ceremonies as there are NHL games scheduled right up until Sunday night and they will all still be with their respective teams (I'm looking forward to the Leafs game tonight).

[Lavabe]

NBC is showing a bunch of the crashes among the lugers. This track is incredibly dangerous. Some interesting discussion about the fact that so many sliders are inexperienced. But even the experienced ones are having trouble with it. Some discussion why the exposed steel bars weren't padded or shielded.

Georgia WILL march with everyone. Olympic and Canadian flags will be flown at half staff.

[Lavabe]

If there are figure skaters handling the torch it should (and probably will) be Jamie Salé and David Pelletier because of how badly they got fucked in Salt Lake City.

Good call. I revise my vote.

Wow... some good panorama of BC, made better on a large plasma HD. Gorgeous!

[Lavabe]

Tom Brokaw: "When you're in a fight, you want the Canadians on your side."

Please note: he did NOT say "Canadiens."

[CathyCA]

The Governor General of Canada looks like she's Wanda Sykes' sister.

[Lavabe]

Nelly Furtado and Brian Adams sound like "Up With People." Ycch.

Best costumes go to Azerbaijan... crazy pants and FUNNY hats!
Czech Republic gets 2nd place.

US flagbearer was Mark Grimmette, a 39-yr-old doubles luger.
Canadian flagbearer was speedskater Clara Hughes.

[wilson]

This ceremony is a dud so far. The extended bit with the First Nations people is laughable...Um, so, anyway...sorry about dispossessing and killing your people a couple of centuries back. But would you like to come and be in our ceremony?

[Lavabe]

Okay, the orca whale illusions on the field are just AWESOME.
Incredibly well done totems.

[colchar]

This ceremony is a dud so far. The extended bit with the First Nations people is laughable...Um, so, anyway...sorry about dispossessing and killing your people a couple of centuries back. But would you like to come and be in our ceremony?

I'm not at all impressed with the ceremony thus far. In fact, I think it sucks. If it gets much worse it will be embarrassing.

As for the natives - the IOC wanted them included to a degree and, more importantly, there are a lot of them in B.C. and they were included so as to prevent protests which were threatened as soon as Vancouver was announced as the host city.