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

[lesbianinmaine]

A big woo-hoo and congrats to the Canadians! I love the fact that they had a woman coach.
Congratulations to the Brits-well done!
Finally, Sarah Hughes(sp?). What a program! She was the only one who looked like she was having FUN out there, she deserved that gold. And she was so cute in the interviews, bubbly and sincere. I see a little Willow there, but to me, she really looks like a mini Reba McIntyre(sp?)
Now for something that ticked me off. I was watching the late night programming, flipping back and forth, because Jay Leno bugs me too much to watch constantly. He made a "joke" about how mad the Korean short track skater was about being disqualified. "He was so mad, he went home and kicked the dog. And then ate it. He was really mad." Does anyone else find it incredible that he got away with making this blatent racist "joke"? He wouldn't get away with it with any other race or religion, I fumed about it 'til I went to sleep. It really grates my cheese!

[SiWangMu]

Re: Women's Figure Skating... (the event I look forward to the most in the Winter Olympics (my formative Winter Olympics were with my hero Kristi Yamaguchi in '92 )).

I was very sad when I first saw the medal results, as I am a big fan of Michelle Kwan, but when I got to see a tape of all of the long program performances, I was simply blown away by Sarah Hughes. Wow! It was probably the most beautiful program of women's figure skating I've ever seen. 'Nuff said, really.

I was disappointed with the fact that Irina Slutskaya's performance was ranked higher than Michelle's, and although at first that may not make sense (Michelle fell), I have my reasons. *Note: If I get my facts wrong, please please correct me!
Neither of them emoted particularly well in the performance, but in my eyes Michelle's was clearly superior artistically.
Technically speaking, they both converted triple-triples to triple-doubles, and Michelle fell and Irina nearly fell. The obvious counterpoint is that falling and almost-falling carry very different penalties, but I would venture to suggest that we don't often see the result of a performance where a skater falls and then rallies as well as Michelle did. She fell, got up and very soon thereafter (if I remember correctly) did a gorgeous triple-something (don't remember what, exactly).
My point here is that I did not see the justification for Irina's much higher technical scoring, as she was nearly as bad as Michelle, and certainly should have been much closer to Michelle's scores than Sarah's. In addition I felt that the gap in the presentation scores should have been more clearly in Michelle's favor. I admit that I'm biased--(I have tried to work past the fact that Michelle is my favorite) I have to admit that almost the first thing I noticed about Irina's presentation scores was that the Russian judge gave her a 5.9, which really shocked me (NOTE: I am using my suspicion as evidence that I am biased, not to accuse the judge of bias).
Disclaimer: I am not actually well-versed in the specific aspects of figure skating judging. I have little more to go on than my limited experiences, comparisons of relative scores and performances, and the comments of the announcers (who also were surprised by Irina's high technical marks).

I would be very interested in hearing the opinion of someone who thought Irina's program last night was clearly superior to Michelle's.

[Kalita]

I haven't really seen these programs (just clips this morning on the news), but under the current point system, a fall is quite deadly to your placing. No matter how you rally or perform further on, you have little chance of recovery unless our technical aspects are superior by a significant degree - which it doesn't seem Michelle's were.

Granted, the ISU is now considering the new judging/point system, and things could make a radical shift on this in future. But as it stands, Irina's near-fall beats Michelle's fall. Period.

[SiWangMu]

Thanks, Kalita, for pointing that out--but even more for doing it so kindly . I'm just the type of person who occasionally decides to care about this kind of thing, and :: embarassed cough :: gets out a calculator to do the math herself. .7 difference in each of their totals for the program... (in other words, in the 4 scoring decisions each of the 9 judges made (2 for I., 2 for M.) or 36 total judgements, if seven had gone one tenth higher for Michelle or one tenth lower for Irina, it would have been a different ballgame) :: sad sigh ::
It does make me happy that this gave Sarah the gold, though. At least there's an upside
All pesky math and tenths-of-points aside, the sheer beauty of these performances (I'm a dancer--Sarah's arms entranced me) makes up for anything I might consider grouching about.

[fell]

I thought Sasha Cohen's performance was underrated, probably because of low expectations. A lot of people were surprised she made the Olympic team after being out all last season with an injury, but she is the only woman skater to land a quadruple jump in a competition and she's so athletic she makes it look easy.

I think, of all of them, she's the most exciting skater to watch - she's easily as graceful and balletic as Michelle Kwan (not to mention more flexible) and at her best she's technically superior to Slutskaya, who doesn't have a quad. If Sasha hadn't missed so much of last season she would have been in serious contention for the gold.

Sarah Hughes' biggest problem, last night notwithstanding, has been consistency. She looked tentative and a bit awkward at the Nationals. Not to take anything away from Sarah- her performance was great and she deserved to win. I wonder if, like Tara Lipinsky, Kristi Yamaguchi and Oksana Baiul, Sarah will decide to turn professional.

[BBOvenGuy]

According to an interview at MSNBC, Sarah has SAT's on her mind more than she does a pro skating career.

I really hope Sarah and Sasha keep their amateur status. They can build a (friendly, I hope) rivalry over the next four years that will push both of them to be better and more consistent. The rules governing how much money you can make and still be considered an "amateur" have changed drastically in recent years (Michelle Kwan gets several million bucks a year), so it's not like they have to turn "pro" in order to cash in.

Meanwhile... surprise surprise, the Russians protested the outcome of the figure skating competition and demanded a second gold medal for Irina Slutskaya. And surprise surprise they were turned down.

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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).]

[Kalita]

Okay, Men's hockey anyone?

I think we all knew what would happen with Canada-Belarus; the upset of Sweden was incredible luck (on top of the perseverence) for Belarus and that kind of thing doesn't strike twice.

USA-Russia was quite a snorer for 40 minutes and I was wondering what sedative they'd slipped into the Russians' food; whatever it was, they shook it off after 2 and gave a third period to really remember. Too bad it was ultimately fruitless, they really did put some oomph into it.

Oh, and Canada has no Curling gold this year. Kevin Martin missed the simple draw he needed and lost the gold medal game to Norway. Still, silver's nothing to sneeze at.

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

[BBOvenGuy]

I can't help wondering if the Russian officials and politicians poisoned the minds of their own athletes with all this talk about how the officiating is biased against them. The Russian hockey team didn't play for two periods, and when they left several of them were pointing at the referees. Anyone think another protest and threatened walkout is coming?

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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]

actually one of the big Russian players gave the referee a thumbs-up at the end of the game for calling a fair game. very classy.

as for Sarah Hughes, Irina, Michelle placement, my feeling is this: if the long program had finished Sarah, then Michelle, then Irina. Michelle would have won gold over Irina, and we would be stuck in an endless circuit of debate comparing the two (seriously) flawed performances (doubled triples, fall vs. stumble, Irina slowing down her normally dominate speed and spins (best bets at artistic marks, usually her weaker marks), etc.). And Russian's would be screaming bloody murder.

By scoring Sarah, Irina, then Kwan in the long program (and thus the final standings), the skater with the best performance at the long program (hands down, visible to anyone who watched the top 6's performances) wins. And it is a lot harder to question that, then nitpicking between two flawed performances. I love Kwan and was saddened that she didn't win. But it just didn't happened. And I would have loved for Irina to have come out and rocked out her performance (see her exhibition performance tonight with those amazing spins, great speed, and big triples), but she didn't. The best skater that night won.

As for the exhibition skates, I think I think Michelle Kwan's was the classiest (despite possible questions of preparing an exhibition program with a gold outfit and the song "Fields of Gold"). But Alexei's (with that huge triple axel- damn), Irina, and B/S were the funnest to watch (less filler, more punch-) Yes they all had cheesy music. But Alexei and Irina skated fast and big (I kept begging for a quad from Sasha, Todd, and any of the top men. No luck). And B/S did amazing unison work and some great lifts. Don't get me wrong S/P are infectious, but B/S's filler isn't filler. It's actually amazing to watch, and I don't find myself begging them to get to the jumping and the lifting already. Still I respect all skaters not wanting to risk injury with some of their more tricky stuff.

Nevertheless, I still hold Viktor Petrenko's 8 triple axel exhibition skate in Albertville is still my gold standard. Sorry for the pun, but triple axel's were such a big deal back then. It's like if Timothy Goebel had busted out 8 quads in his performance tonight. Pity he didn't. I would have loved that.

[La]

quote:

---

Originally posted by lesbianinmaine:
Now for something that ticked me off. I was watching the late night programming, flipping back and forth, because Jay Leno bugs me too much to watch constantly. He made a "joke" about how mad the Korean short track skater was about being disqualified. "He was so mad, he went home and kicked the dog. And then ate it. He was really mad." Does anyone else find it incredible that he got away with making this blatent racist "joke"? He wouldn't get away with it with any other race or religion, I fumed about it 'til I went to sleep. It really grates my cheese!

---

Now, I'm not saying that his joke was perfectly fine. I'm not sure how I feel about it, to be honest, but Koreans do eat dog. My host father has offered numerous times to take me for dog soup which is a delicacy here. Some Koreans no longer eat it (my host brother says it's good, but he doesn't want to eat dog anymore). Some have it once a year, every year in July during a lunar calendar holiday (I forget the name of the holiday). Just FYI.

~La

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

[fell]

I believe that the Russians' complaints hurt their athletes a lot more than they helped. I think Irina Slutskaya would have had to spend half her program falling on her butt to get anything less than silver regardless of how much noise the Russian skating federation made; after the Pairs judging debacle it was inevitable. There's always some pre-judging and political correctness. I think a lot of people were relieved, politically, that neither Kwan now Slutskaya won. Imagine how much howling there would have been if there'd been a US sweep that competition.

Did anyone else find the French skaters Anissina and Peizerat's ice dancing program a bit, um, tacky? The audience seemed to like it but it just made me cringe. At first I had the sound turned down and I thought it was a comedy routine. Their costumes were bizarre and the music, with the booming MLK blurbs, was way over the top. It just left me scratching my head. How is this a sport, especially when everybody seems to know exactly what the results are going to be before hand?

[Dave V]

Well, managed to miss the women's figure skating long program entirely. Is there any resource on-line to re-watch those finals?

[grifter]

Great Britain´s Alan Baxter wins Bronze in the Men´s Slalom!!!!!!
That´s a real sensation!

Most of the favorites (including USA´s Bode Miller) crashed or were to slow on a horrible track unworthy of Olympia (shame on Salt Lake for that). Vidal of France (solid racer, but not a favorite) won; silver went to France´s Amiez (once a great racer, now average at best); bronze to Baxter (quite good last year, nowhere to be seen this year up to now).

And btw, Austria´s Benni Raich finished fourth...again, after the giant slalom! ;(

[This message has been edited by grifter (edited February 23, 2002).]

[emily 'first']

Alain Baxter,a Scot !,now that he's won a medal (our first ever medal in the Winter Olympic's slalom) has been elevated to British...Well spotted,the BBC!
****
Am I miffed? No,not really,but if he'd come 4th,or if the Curling team hadn't got a medal,the BBC would have been quick to get their nationality right...We just can't win,no matter how we try to educate them...

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vive,valeque.

[This message has been edited by emily 'first' (edited February 23, 2002).]

[Still Waters Run Deep]

quote:

---

Originally posted by emily 'first':
Alain Baxter,[has been elevated to British...Well spotted,the BBC!
****
Am I miffed? No,not really,but if he'd come 4th,or if the Curling team hadn't got a medal,the BBC would have been quick to get their nationality right...

---

Aha! you've noticed that too.
Not wanting to cast aspersions on our English kitties out there, it has long been noticed by us out west and north, that is Scottish, Welsh or Irish only become British when we do well. As soon as we don't live up to expectations we suddenly revert to our nationalities. as far as the Beeb is concerned the opposite is true for England. Whilst being average on all counts, the Brits keep going. Once won the plucky English gal/guy is feted as a true son / daughter of albion.

Which is as it should be. Just a bit more consistency across the board would be nice.

And no, I'm not being paranoid check it out. Most Celts out there would agree

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Still Waters Run Deep

*Hands! Hands in new places!*quote:

[Kalita]

Hey, three cheers for Canada's speed skaters!

4 medals yesterday, a bronze in long-track plus 2 golds and a silver in short-track!

The long-track medallist was Clara Hughes (no relation to Sarah Hughes ), who becomes the first Canadian (and only the fourth olympian) to medal in both summer and winter events (she got 2 bronzes in cycling in Sydney).

Oh, and the Spanish (though once German) skiing phenom, Johann Muehlegg, has apparently tested positive for a performance-enhancing substance. He's met with the disciplinary committee, and word will apparently come down this afternoon on whether he keeps his 3 gold medals.

Also this afternoon - some hockey game. Should be good, I guess I'll check it out.

[tommo]

quote:

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Originally posted by Still Waters Run Deep:
And no, I'm not being paranoid check it out. Most Celts out there would agree

---

Yes they would, but then most of the populous of Northern England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland are pretty much Celtic in origin. It's only the bloody southerners who are hybrid people. Heh.

Sorry, that really was uncalled for.

Okay, I'm English. We pillage and are highly snippy to anyone who isn't us. I admit it. I'm a bad bad person...

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Sweetie...I'm a fag.quote:

[Still Waters Run Deep]

quote:

---

Originally posted by tommo:
I admit it. I'm a bad bad person...

---

Ruth, I'm glad you are a *bad, bad* person

Life would be sooo boring otherwise!

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Still Waters Run Deep

*Hands! Hands in new places!*quote:

[tommo]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Still Waters Run Deep:
Ruth, I'm glad you are a *bad, bad* person
Life would be sooo boring otherwise!

---

You know it. And boredom...it's death to the middle classes. Heh. And lesbians.

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Sweetie...I'm a fag.quote:

[Warduke]

The big game is over and the only thing I can say is...

Team Canada - Olympic Gold!

WOO HOO!!! Team Canada - Olympic Gold!

[KathleenWolf]

GOLLLLLLLDDDDDDDDDD!!!! For Canada!!!!

Men's Hockey final is in... 5-2

whew... that was nervewracking!!!

and the country goes wild!... can't wait to see Don Cherry's comments

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

[Righteous Babe]

Woohoo Canada!

[Eyes Without A Face]

We've paid our dues
Time after time
We've done our sentence
But committed no crime
And bad mistakes
We've made a few
We've had our share of snow
Kicked in our face
But We've come through

And we mean to go on and on and on and on

We are the champions - my friends
And we'll keep on fighting
Till the end
We are the champions
We are the champions
No time for losers
'Cause we are the champions of the World

We've taken our bows
And our curtain calls
You brought us fame and fortune
And everything that goes with it
We thank you all
But it's been no bed of roses
No pleasure cruise
We consider it a challenge before
The whole human race
And we ain't gonna lose

And we mean to go on and on and on and on

We are the champions - my friends
And we'll keep on fighting
Till the end
We are the champions
We are the champions
No time for losers
'Cause we are the champions of the World

We are the champions - my friends
And we'll keep on fighting
Till the end
We are the champions
We are the champions
No time for losers
'Cause we are the champions

On a sadder note:

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Olympic Ski Champs' Medals Stripped
Sun Feb 24, 5:20 PM ET
By LARRY SIDDONS, AP Sports Writer

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Cross-country skiers Johann Muehlegg of Spain and Larissa Lazutina of Russia were stripped Sunday of their most recent gold medals at the Salt Lake City Olympics after testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug.

Photos

AP Photo

A third cross-country skier, Olga Danilova of Russia, also tested positive for the same drug, darbepoetin, which is used to treat anemia by boosting the production of red blood cells that carry oxygen to muscles.

All three athletes were tossed out of the Olympics.

The International Olympic Committee (news - web sites) said Muehlegg, who won three gold medals at these games, was ordered to return his gold in the 50-kilometer classical race. But he will be allowed to keep his gold medals in the 30K freestyle and the 10K pursuit events.

Lazutina, who tied an Olympic record Sunday with her 10th medal when she won the women's 30K classic, will be forced to foreit that medal. But she will be allowed to keep two medals she won earlier in these Olympics.

Danilova was disqualified from the 30K classic in which she finished eighth.

A random urine test Thursday found traces of darbepoetin in the German-born Muehlegg, who was called before the IOC's disciplinary panel early Sunday, along with Spanish Olympic officials and the team doctor.

Before Saturday's 50K race, he was randomly selected to be tested for high levels of hemoglobin, an oxygen-carrying molecule in red blood cells that can increase endurance.

His levels were above the limit for the first test, but beneath the threshold in a second test administered five minutes later. He was allowed to race, and made a strong comeback over the final 10 kilometers to beat Russia's Mikhail Ivanov by 14.9 seconds.

Asked why the tests showed different levels, Muehlegg responded, "I don't know if the machine is not working well." He also said a change in his diet three days before Saturday's race might have altered his blood levels.

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[This message has been edited by Eyes Without A Face (edited February 24, 2002).]

[Still Waters Run Deep]

quote:

---

Originally posted by tommo:
You know it. And boredom...it's death to the middle classes. Heh. And lesbians.

---

What? Lesbians are the death of the Middle Classes...more power to your, um, *bits* then Ruth

Edited to add: Oh God I just had a strange Winter Sexlympics thought, with visions of scantily clad couples rolling around in the snow...I've been round Ruth too long

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Still Waters Run Deep

*Hands! Hands in new places!*

[This message has been edited by Still Waters Run Deep (edited February 24, 2002).]quote:

[Willowlicious]

Ah, I was glad to see Canada win the gold in Men's Hockey. See, I firmly believe that seeing Steve Yzerman and Brendan Shanahan receive gold medals was only a pre-cursor to the real prize, which is, of course, the STANLEY CUP!! Forget the Olympics! I want the NHL! GO WINGS!

[kitten scout]

Congratulations to the Canadian hockey team! The closing ceremonies are on, so I'm going to go watch it since I missed the opening ceremony.

[tommo]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Still Waters Run Deep:
What? Lesbians are the death of the Middle Classes...more power to your, um, *bits* then Ruth
Edited to add: Oh God I just had a strange Winter Sexlympics thought, with visions of scantily clad couples rolling around in the snow...I've been round Ruth too long

---

Heh heh heh...you're too funny. Sweet. My bits are fairly rocking with power, thanks love. And as for the Sexlympics, that's nothing to do with me. I'm not responsible for your smutty mind.

And by the way, we might have only won 3 medals in total (I'm literally crying with the shame here...) but one of them was a gold. Thank the Lord for the women's curling team...
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Sweetie...I'm a fag.

[This message has been edited by tommo (edited February 25, 2002).]quote:

[stacey_bourgeois]

Congratulations Team Canada!

I was so stressed yesterday watching the game but it was amazing! I'm so happy we won! People were out in the streets all night, honking horns, waving flags. This is really the only sport in the Olympics that made us go nuts!

So, we have gold in both men's and women's hockey!

And we came in 4th in the medal standings which is amazing for a country this size!!! Congratulations to all of the Canadian Olympians!

[This message has been edited by stacey_bourgeois (edited February 25, 2002).]Congratulations Team Canada!

[Still Waters Run Deep]

quote:

---

Originally posted by tommo:
. I'm not responsible for your smutty mind.

---

Ah Ruth, no youre not. That is all my own work. Unfortunately, I detect a kindred spirit out there when it comes to *extreme smut*

And by the way, we might have only won 3 medals in total ....but one of them was a gold. Thank the Lord for the women's curling team...

Agree totally with your last sentiments. Curling is one of those games which require at least a modicum of calm and reason, the testosterone in the male camp did them no favours whatsoever.

Oh well Commonwealth games next. I look forward to you, Ruth, providing us all with free passes, since its being held in your home town

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Still Waters Run Deep

*Hands! Hands in new places!*

[This message has been edited by Still Waters Run Deep (edited February 25, 2002).]quote:

[BBOvenGuy]

You knew it was coming. Sarah Hughes is getting her own Wheaties box.

Details can be found here.

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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...)