OT - The All-Purpose All-Event Winter Olympics Thread

[Irascible]

Eyes, I've only seen short clips of the flag tossing tape so I probably do not have the whole story, but it looked like Kim Dong-Sung was skating with his country's flag, and then threw it to the ice in anger. Then he picked it up again, and threw it again. Anyone else see this?

Len, I agree with you. In my brief Olympic exposure to short track racing it is looking a little shaky to me…

Ok. I am off to get my act ready for the Canada/USA ice hockey match. I can’t wait for this game!!! Best of luck to both teams for a fair game. Best of luck to the fans on both sides for a challenging and exciting game. And best of luck to the USA for a gold!!!

[Under Her Spell]

It's Gold for Great Britain! First since 1928, I think. And for a country which has no real mountains, hardly any ice and little snow, it's fantastic. Well done Great Britain.

Edit: Er, I meant 1984. That's not that far wrong...

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I haven't had sex... I'm a nice girl from Alabama who lives with her mom.
-Amber Benson

Willer: ah jest kinda like havin' sumpin thass jest yo' know, mine?
Taree: ah do... ah'm, yo' know...
Willer: Whut in tarnation?
Taree: Yourn...

Slain by Buffy ¦ Buffy Fan Art

[This message has been edited by Under Her Spell (edited February 23, 2002).]

[BBOvenGuy]

Reuters reports that the Russians are considering withdrawing from the Games. Team officials are reportedly talking with the IOC President at this moment.

Apparently they're disappointed over their low medal count and still majorly ticked off over the figure skating flap last week, and then today they withdrew their team from the cross-country skiing relay race after two of their team members had "abnormalities" in their blood tests.

I think they're bluffing. I hope they're bluffing. We'll find out soon enough.

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Remember the Kitten Board Mantra: "Joss is nuts about Tara, Willow/Tara and Amber!"
(...and Marti's rather fond of them, too...)

[lion + dove]

The dq of Kim Dong-Sung upset me. There's no way they should have dq'ed him but let the results stand from the race in which there was a four person pile-up (as caused by lane and position jockeying). I really wish the ref had let the result stand. Your host sister is probably upset about Kim being dq'ed after winning the race. And combine that with the inflammatory rhetoric Bush is directing at the Korean peninsular (KDS is South Korean as all of the Korean participants at the SLK games, but if a North Korean had qualified all would have played under a unified Korean banner), Lithuanian and Russian allegations of block-voting and medal-fixing (concerning ice dancing and women's aerials respectively) its no wonder everyone is so on edge at the SLK games. Its a real shame, especially considering the original goals of the games.

I wish the issues with the pairs skating medals hadn't taken such a political rhetoric right from the get-go (Soviet Bloc voting, etc.) Especially when it turns out that it was a Western judge and Western Figure Skating Association officials who were to blame. *sad louisa*

And tuning in at 3 pm and seeing the Russian's skiers pulled out made me even more worried. I really hope there's a way to untarnish these games.

Especially with some many beautiful stories and accomplishments at these games.

[BBOvenGuy]

MSNBC reports that the Russians have given the IOC 24 hours to address "non-objective judging" in figure skating, ice hockey and cross-country skiiing or they will pull out of the remainder of the Games. There are hints that they would then pull out of the 2004 Summer Games in Athens as well.

As if there wasn't enough goofiness going on as Michelle Kwan and Irina Slutskaya are about to compete tonight...

Meanwhile, speaking of "non-objective judging," this American referee is behaving mighty suspiciously in the women's hockey final. What's an American referee doing in a gold medal game the US is playing anyway?

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Remember the Kitten Board Mantra: "Joss is nuts about Tara, Willow/Tara and Amber!"
(...and Marti's rather fond of them, too...)

[La]

I must say it's a strange time to be in Korea as an American at the moment. What with people protesting Bush because of naming North Korea in the axis of evil (the South Koreans are afraid that this will undermine President Kim Dae-jung's attempt at reunification with his "sunshine policy"), and now this confusion over the short track race, which they were so hopeful would give them gold. Can't wait till the Korea-America game during the World Cup (jointly hosted by Japan and South Korea). My host family and I are actually planning a little party for that event.

Strangely enough, for the Atlanta Olympics, I was in Germany, now for the Salt Lake City Olympics, I'm in Korea, when the last World Cup was in France, I was in Germany, and now that it's in Korea and Japan, here I am. Weird coincidences.

~La

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Taree: ah'm, yo' know...
Willer: Whut in tarnation?
Taree: Yourn...

[kitten scout]

It almost seemed like Ohno knew he'd waited too long to make his move, and put himself in a position to "sell" a foul to the ref. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad to see the U.S. break their Winter Olympic medal record, it just would have been nice for there to have been a clean win.

[This message has been edited by kitten scout (edited February 21, 2002).]

[Eyes Without A Face]

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!! Canadian grit in the face of adversity! We beat the American team AND the American referee!

GOLD!!!

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Wallpapers
Illegitimi non carborundum!

[This message has been edited by Eyes Without A Face (edited February 21, 2002).]

[BBOvenGuy]

Congratulations Canada!!!

They played an awesome game, especially on defense, and especially in spite of the "non-objective" referee.

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Remember the Kitten Board Mantra: "Joss is nuts about Tara, Willow/Tara and Amber!"
(...and Marti's rather fond of them, too...)

[This message has been edited by BBOvenGuy (edited February 21, 2002).]Congratulations Canada!!!

[Kalita]

Damn straight! THIRTEEN frickin' penalties, I've never seen this kind of thing.

Those girls earned every ounce of those medals, most especially Kim St-Pierre for tending a very tight goal.

I'm hoarse right now from all the cheering. Too damn awesome!

[Epicurus]

Nice picture Eyes.
Holy upset Batman! What a great game.
A big WOO HOO for the Canadian Women's Hockey Team.

I felt bad for the US team. Win like every game but one and for that one to be THE one, ouch.

[Irascible]

Congrats to the Canadian women on their gold medal in women's ice hockey. They really skated their behinds off. I had a feeling the USA squad would loose from the very start of the first period. The USA team looked so flat, the opposite of the Canadians.

The final score of 3-2 does not tell the tale at all. The Canadians out-played the USA squad hands down. And, as folks have already pointed out, the game was called poorly. USA had chances upon chances upon chances. I was hoping for a better and more even game. Oh well, on to women's ice-skating. Let's hope there is no scandal with the judging tonight...

[Kalita]

The interesting thin here is how this is the flip situation from Nagano - in '98 the Canadians were the favoured team, the US were the underdogs but still managed to take the gold. This year the US was much more picked to win, and the canadians considered longshots. There you go.

On another topic, this thing with the Russians, while sounding whiny and petulant, has got me thinking.

The IOC has been through a lot of interesting situations (to say the least) in the last several years. Bribery from bid host cities, All manner of allegations of corruption, and widespread doping.

They have revised many internal rules, completely overhuled the city bidding process, elected a forward-thinking president and helped establish the World Anti-Doping Agency, which was proud to announce less than .5% of this year's olympians were using illegal substances.

So what's next? It seems to be the judging, which isn't directly in the IOC purview as the individual sport federations appoint their officials. But, if you look at figure skating, tonight's hockey ref, and what the Russians are grumbling about, it might be a good time for the IOC to step in with some ground rules about judges and officials.

Just a nice, drawn-out thought...

[Warduke]

Canadian women's hockey team...

Olympic Gold Medallists!

WOO HOO!!!

[This message has been edited by xita (edited February 21, 2002).]

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BBOvenGuy
Strong like an Amazon


Posts: 3403
Registered: Sep 2000 posted February 21, 2002 23:41               

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Can someone on Eastern or Central time tell us what's going on in the figure skating? I can't make heads or tails of the webcast coming from MSNBC.

IP: Logged

Olympic Gold Medallists!

[This message has been edited by xita (edited February 21, 2002).]IP: LoggedBBOvenGuyStrong like an Amazon


Posts: 3403
Registered: Sep 2000 posted February 21, 2002 23:41               

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Can someone on Eastern or Central time tell us what's going on in the figure skating? I can't make heads or tails of the webcast coming from MSNBC.

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posted February 21, 2002 23:41                Can someone on Eastern or Central time tell us what's going on in the figure skating? I can't make heads or tails of the webcast coming from MSNBC.

[BBOvenGuy]

Can someone on Eastern or Central time tell us what's going on in the figure skating? I can't make heads or tails of the webcast coming from MSNBC.

[Eyes Without A Face]

Best skater tonight won the gold: Sarah Hughes!

Yeah!!

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Wallpapers
Illegitimi non carborundum!

[willow420]

quote:

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Originally posted by Eyes Without A Face:
Best skater tonight won the gold: Sarah Hughes!

Yeah!!

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I have just three words for you:
You Are Crazy!

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A.K.A. Liz

"Did you try looking in the sofa in hell?" Willow in Dopplegangland.
*************************
"We prefer Justice Demon, okay? FYI?"
Halfrek in Older and Far Awayquote:

[La]

Wow. Sarah Hughes' program. Just, wow. It was absolutely beautiful. She was so amazing. The best skater definitely won tonight. I had tears in my eyes after her program and actually cried when she got the gold. None of the other skaters' programs even came close.

for the record:
1. Sarah Hughes (US)
2. Irina Slutskaya (Russia)
3. Michelle Kwan (US)

man, that was beautiful.

~La

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Taree: ah'm, yo' know...
Willer: Whut in tarnation?
Taree: Yourn...

[BBOvenGuy]

Okay, my first post got eaten by Novogate, which was probably just as well because I was babbling...

UN-FREAKIN'-BELIEVABLE!!!

I couldn't tell what was going on, because the live scoring feed from MSNBC kept shuffling ordinals around.

I admit that I wanted Michelle to win most, but I would have been happy for any of the top five. I'm just completely surprised, because Sarah was in fourth place after the short program and you normally don't win from fourth place.

Plus, I still say Sarah looks a little like Willow!!!

I just hope the Russian whiney-babies don't use this as an excuse to pull out of the Games. I'll have to wait for the west coast feed to see how badly Irina's stumbling was.

YAY SARAH!!!

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Remember the Kitten Board Mantra: "Joss is nuts about Tara, Willow/Tara and Amber!"
(...and Marti's rather fond of them, too...)

[Incarnadine]

Funny you should say that. A couple of us at HDC were talking about Sarah Hughes resemblance to Aly. I was pulling for her because of it but she really was the best by far and deserved to win.

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"What does a girl have to do to impress you?"
"Well, it involves a feathered boa and a theme to 'A Summer Place'. I can't discuss it here."
-Devon and Oz

[Pixie]

Go Sarah!!! She skated a beautiful program. I'm happy for her, but I am so sad for Michelle. I really wanted her to win the gold.

[JJ]

quote:
Originally posted by Eyes Without A Face:
Best skater tonight won the gold: Sarah Hughes!
Yeah!!

quote:

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Originally posted by willow420:
I have just three words for you:
You Are Crazy!

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No he's not! Sarah was truly the best (and she looks more like another Sarah...McLachlan). It was amazing what she did, just absolutely frickin' amazing! I didn't think it would be enough for gold, but all her better's in the short program either wobbled (Cohen and Slutskya) or fell (Kwan). I was disappointed that Michelle didn't skate better considering what was at stake: I mean 4 years of hard work down the drain.

Congrats to the Canadian Women's Hockey Team. Though I wanted the home team to win badly, the penalty killing and the last-second 2nd period goal were too much to overcome.

Lastly, IMHO, Ohno deserved the gold. He was interfered with. End of story. That fact that he appeared yo sell it by throwing is arms up is irrelevant. Besides I've seen a lot worse in World Cup soccer matches (talk about Oscar worthy performances).

Congrats again to Sarah and to all the US medal winners to today. We'll catch up to the Germans yet.

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Amberholic #1969
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from 'Witch Hunt' by Rushquote:

[Xanadu]

I just got finished watching the skating my very kind roomie tapes for me, and wow, Sarah is AMAZING!!! Her performance was breathtaking! I loved her and her coaches reaction when she won, it was soooo cute

I admit, I was pulling for Michelle too, and I still feel bad for her. Poor thing looked so sad Still, the best skater won

GO SARAH!

Amy

[Wiccagrrl]

Wow, what an amazing night. I admit, I felt a bit disappointed for Michelle, but Sarah was SO amazing tonight, and really deserved to win. And yes, she does look like Aly to me.

[BBOvenGuy]

Okay, I've seen the West Coast broadcast, and the judges definitely got it right.

The lesson for the evening, as the NBC commentators put it, was that Sarah concentrated on giving her best possible performance, while both Michelle and Irina skated like they were thinking about the medals. Ironically, I saw an interview with Irina last weekend where she talked about that very subject and also emphasized the need to concentrate on the skating. If she had just remembered her interview a little better, she might have won the gold. For those of who are also trying to balance thoughts of performance and thoughts of results (like a certain writer I could mention ), it's something to keep in mind.

I feel bad for Michelle, but not as bad as I did in 1998. I still say that was her gold medal. Tonight Sarah won it fair and square. They said Sarah was the first female skater to hit two triple-triple combinations in the same routine. Did anyone else even hit one?

The most entertaining moment of the evening, though, might have been when they cut back to the back room where Sarah and her coach Robin Wagner were waiting for Irina's marks to come in. Before the marks were posted, Sarah looked at the camera and said, "Oh no, there's no pressure..." (Sounding a bit Willow-like there.) And then when the scores came up and they realized Sarah had won, Robin went absolutely berserk. It was fun.

Another thing the announcers mentioned was the fact that some fans were questioning Sarah's appearance on the cover of Time magazine's Olympic issue. The funny thing here is that appearing on the cover of Time's sister magazine Sports Illustrated is considered something of a curse. At least in Sarah's case, the curse didn't extend to Time.

Edited to add late-breaking news: It looks like the Russians were bluffing about their threat to pull out of the Games. Reportedly the Russian hockey team desperately wants to play the US tommorrow and they've persuaded the Russian officials to stay put.

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Remember the Kitten Board Mantra: "Joss is nuts about Tara, Willow/Tara and Amber!"
(...and Marti's rather fond of them, too...)

[This message has been edited by BBOvenGuy (edited February 22, 2002).]

[cachaco]

Yeah, Bob, looks like there's no curse for being on the cover of Time, and that at least for Ohno, the Sports Illustrated jinx seems only to be holding partially (controversy and falling) if at all (but still two medals so far).

Sarah's program was just unbelievable. I don't think anyone else hit even one triple-triple - Irina and Michelle both had one in their program, but were only able to pull off triple-doubles. Technically, aesthetically, in terms of no mistakes - Sarah was just the best tonight. I like how at the very end of tonight's coverage, NBC just played 15 seconds (no voiceover, no captions) of Sarah and her coach's overjoyed reaction to the news. A nice moment....

Also, go Bode Miller! Came back from a blah first run in the men's giant slalom to pull out a silver medal - Eberharter was not to be denied, congrats to him.

Looking forward to the rollerderby - I mean, short-track - on Saturday night....

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PASTURE: See... that is, where you are a mockup. With I think on..., you grew up to what, and... then regard I, which you form... it me are proud. It educates me to love you more.

[Walker]

What a night. First I get to go watch a football (I believe some country's call this soccer) match and witness some crowd violence for absolutely no extra charge. I'm beginning to wonder why I go to these things.

But then I come home and watch the British women's curling team win gold! (They were of course being called the Scottish curling team when we were expected to lose. But I'm not bitter. Honest.) Those in nations like Canada and the USA probably don't have to put up with the winter olympics coverage we get. At the start of the games we were celebrating reaching the heady heights of 25th in some sports.

The first gold for Britain in 18 years and Britains best performance in a winter olympics since 1936 (we won a bronze earlier in the week). Also the first time a Scot has won a medal since 1936. So well done the ladies of the G.B. curling team.

Also well done to Canada's Ladies Ice Hockey Team. That's the first game of hockey I've ever watched and actually enjoyed.

[Irascible]

I agree with what a number of the folks on this board have already eloquently stated - Sarah Hughes skated the best last night. She deserved the gold. Furthermore, I think she was robbed on Tuesday night, she deserved better placement than fourth. In the end, that placement in fourth may just have been what brought out the amazing skate last night. The pressure was somewhat off her and as she said in the interview - she just wanted to have fun. A gold medal is probably a lot of fun....

Sarah's mother is one of my mom's patients and my mom says that the whole family is sweet and kind as can be. She has met Sarah several times and says that she is an incredibly well mannered and polite sixteen year old.

I called my mom when they were scoring Irina and she was crying her eyes out... I thought it was a great night of fair judging.

[KathleenWolf]

Was sitting on my seat for almost then entire gold medal women's hockey match... and as a very proud Canadian I am on cloud nine to know that despite a mirade of horrendously stupid penalties we fought the fight and came up gold!!!!!

another thing I think it worth note is the coach of the Canadian team was the only woman coach... so damn good for her!!! especially with all the shots she's been taking that said she wasn't qualified or competent enough...

and did anyone see her boucning up and down on the bench when they won!! superb!!

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"Are all you witches gay?" Buffy - Walking In Circles

[This message has been edited by KathleenWolf (edited February 22, 2002).]

[Kalita]

quote:

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Originally posted by KathleenWolf:
another thing I think it worth note is the coach of the Canadian team was the only woman coach... so damn good for her!!!

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What impressed me even more is her day job... she's an undercover cop in Montreal. She got a leave of absence to go coach this team.

Hopefuly, she's not too recognizable now to the criminal element, or she might be out of a job... quote: