View Full Version : Winter Olympics 2010
Starts in 2 weeks in Vancouver. Anyone else looking forward to it? Due to the time difference there should be a fair amount of stuff on our evening time.
Yes i'm looking forward to it, the only bit i can't stomach is the ice skating.
My buddy in Vancouver said they set the air raid siren off the other morning for 10 minutes or so just to **** everyone up.:lol:
have we got any possible medalists this time ?
I used to love watching the Winter Olympics when I was younger - I had a scrapbook full of Lillehammer articles, would be great to find it but I reckon it has been thrown out! Must give it a watch to get myself geared up for my Ski holiday in a few weeks!
Theres a pub in London with a lot of the hockey on live at midnight. It's going to be a long few weeks :)
Go Canada Go!
maddogsuk
29-01-2010, 19:49
I'm looking forward to it. Never done any winter sport at all myself, but always watched the Winter Olympics.
horseflesh
29-01-2010, 19:49
Yes i'm looking forward to it, the only bit i can't stomach is the ice skating.
Do you mean specifically the figure skating? I agree that's crap.
Coverage on Eurosport HD :thumbs:
surfer_chicky
30-01-2010, 22:05
Yeah looking forward to it, hopefully a couple of medals in Skelton, bobsleigh, curling and speed skating.
Do you mean specifically the figure skating? I agree that's crap.
Coverage on Eurosport HD :thumbs:
Just that, love the speed skating though.
I really like the BBC ad for this. Very stylistic.
Looking forward to it. :)
PlanetDiscs
30-01-2010, 23:52
how can figure skating be crap...just watch blades of glory beforehand
KennyVader
13-02-2010, 19:41
What I don't get with the Winter Olympics, given that it includes so many fairly unusual sports.
How the hell do people find out that they're good at the luge or the ski jumping that was just on or even curling etc.
It's not like you can just get up one day and think "oh I think I'll give that luge a go this afternoon". I've been to Oslo and climbed up to the top of their olympic ski jump, in the middle of winter, as far as I could tell it's out of commission most of the time except for the odd annual competition, is it different for luge tracks i.e. are they maintained all winter for whoever wants to turn up and try them, or are they also only usable for odd weekends when there's a contest on?
What makes someone think "I'll be a champion bobsleigh rider" as opposed to "I'll be an accountant".
What I'm getting at is that with atheletics, football/rugby, cycling, motorsports etc etc ... I can see the route into all those sports, either through playing them at school, or maybe buying your own bike or car and racing it and finding you're good and getting deeper into it and gradually specialising into a particular atheletics discipline or motorsport class. But most of the winter sports seem completely impossible to get into or try out because so many of them fundamentally need very specialist facilities.
I know I'm not much good at volleyball, or rowing, or tennis, because they're all things that are just part of school or (rowing) I've been in a boat for one reason or another. But I could be the world's best bobsleigh captain but I'd never know because there's never been an opportunity to try it and find out.
Isn't it a case of people getting involved in these bizarro events simply because it'll be easier to represent your country in something? Look at Eddie the Eagle - there is zero chance he could have represented the UK in athletics, swimming, football etc, yet there are probably more people who know about him in the UK than Gail Emms, who won an Olympic silver and World gold.
The same could be said about the Jamaican bobsleigh team - they had a film made about them!
If I was into thrill sports, base jumping and stuff like that I'd probably be up for having a go at bobsleigh, luge, skeleton bob and ski-jumping, purely to see if I could get a place on team GB. Would be a great thing to say you'd been in the olympics.
downhillbiker
13-02-2010, 20:33
You have to remember that in many countries, these aren't bizarre sports at all - ski jumping is HUGE in Austria, for example, and skiing in general is bigger than F1 (check out videos of the Schladming Night Slalom to see what I mean). The Nordic countries excel at cross-country skiing and biathlon, because again, it is incredibly popular in that part of the world.
Britain doesn't fit in with any of this - skiing, luge, bobsleigh.. none these disciplines have any decent facilities in this country, so it's pretty hard for anyone to break through on the international stage - the fact that we have competitive athletes in these areas is nothing short of astounding.
To be fair, he did say some of the sports. I don't know of any country where luge is a massive pastime, though obviously the Scandinavian countries will have an advantage based on facilities. People pick sports which are unusual in their countries so they can represent them. I think there was a thread here where someone asked which sport it would be easiest to get to Olympic standard for in time for 2012 (IIRC handball was the answer). Swimming may be a massive sport but it didn't stop Eric the swimmer getting into the Olympics because it was a non-sport in his country of origin.
i've always loved the Biathlon since playing a computer game version in the 80's. I hoping Ole Einar Bjoerndalen can add to his 5 olympic golds.
For some reason I cheer on the Norwegians in winter sports.
i've always loved the Biathlon since playing a computer game version in the 80's. I hoping Ole Einar Bjoerndalen can add to his 5 olympic golds.
For some reason I cheer on the Norwegians in winter sports.
Winter Olympiad '88 by any chance?
I loved biathalon and slalom in that.
Canada womens off to a good start in the ice hockey with an 18-0 win over the Slovaks :)
Anyone know when the snowboarding halfpipe will be on, really enjoyed this last time. Is that USA guy here too (will try to find out name )
Schedule is at www.vancouver2010.com
Bapapapa
14-02-2010, 13:30
Winter Olympiad '88 by any chance?
I loved biathalon and slalom in that.Gotta be Winter Games (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_Games) on the C64, Shirley..? :thumbs:
Still remember the teeth-grinding offkey note during the GB national anthem - think it was present in their whole 'Games' series (Summer; World etc.).. :nuts:
Awesome games though.. :notworthy
Anyone know when the snowboarding halfpipe will be on, really enjoyed this last time. Is that USA guy here too (will try to find out name )
Shaun White? It's called 'superpipe' now for reasons unknown. http://www.vancouver2010.com/olympic-snowboard-schedule-results/
Anyone know when the snowboarding halfpipe will be on, really enjoyed this last time. Is that USA guy here too (will try to find out name )
Do you mean Shaun White? Yeah he's there NBC were showing a clip of him crashing while trying a new trick in practice a few days ago, managed to hit his head on the lip of the pipe and sent his helmet flying off
KennyVader
14-02-2010, 14:21
I wish the Canadians or the BBC would find some people that know about sound, it was bloody awful throughout the opening ceremony repeatedly switching down from the quality musicans-only sound to a crap echo-tastic "general stadium ambiance feed". And they keep losing the sound on the live coverage or the linky bits from the foot of Whistler ski lift too.
Some of the super-slo-mo footage of the ski jumps and stuff is great though.
Shame the Vancouver location means it's nearly all well through-the-night stuff.
The opening ceremony was a shambles, very bad lip syncing and then the torch thing never really worked. There was so much speculation about who would do the torch, how it should be a native Canadian and then only 3 of 4 light it and it took forever to come out of the 'ice'. I imagine if Iceland ever did Eurovision with an unlimited budget, it would be similar.
MetalGearAl
14-02-2010, 16:19
Enjoyed the men's normal ski-jump yesterday. Keen boarder myself, but didn't even know that Snowboard Cross event existed! Then again haven't really tuned into the winter games before. After seeing this vid (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPCOin3l8OY) of Lindsey Jacobellis' slip-up in 2006, I can't wait to see that tomorrow + Tuesday night.
Decent schedule can be found here (http://www.vancouver2010.com/dl/00/17/26/compschedolympic_86d-wd.pdf), just add 8 hours on to the time to get GMT. Or perhaps here (http://winterolympics.external.bbc.co.uk/event-results-schedules/index.html) for the BBC's one, might be easier :)
This time last year was in Whistler myself!
A lot of these obscure sports seem to be familt affairs. So one nutter kicks it off and then drag their kids into the madness
KennyVader
14-02-2010, 16:36
Yeah that snowboard cross is bonkers, I remember watching that at the last winters.
Don't forget you can watch loads of it live (legitimately - it's linked from the vancouver2010.com page) at http://www.eurovisionsports.tv/olympics/, if you can't be doing with waiting until the BBC get around to showing anything. There is a schedule of which channels will be showing what via the "Programme Guide" at the top.
Coolio: yes I thought that might be the case a lot of the time, inheriting the madness from an enthusiastic mother or father!
Don't forget you can watch loads of it live (legitimately - it's linked from the vancouver2010.com page) at http://www.eurovisionsports.tv/olympics/, if you can't be doing with waiting until the BBC get around to showing anything. There is a schedule of which channels will be showing what via the "Programme Guide" at the top.
You can watch all the live coverage on the bbc red button or through the BBC website.
Canada womens off to a good start in the ice hockey with an 18-0 win over the Slovaks :)
Absolute destruction, USA women v China in 30mins, expecting a similar outing.
i've always loved the Biathlon since playing a computer game version in the 80's. I hoping Ole Einar Bjoerndalen can add to his 5 olympic golds.
For some reason I cheer on the Norwegians in winter sports.
Looks like he's messed up his chances already, 3 misses in the first shoot.
Absolute destruction, USA women v China in 30mins, expecting a similar outing.
China shouldnt be as much of a walkover but barring the most unforseen upset, it will be a USA v Canada final. The two teams have been living and training/playing together for the last 6 months, total time out from work and family. My OH played Team USA in a pre olympic warmup for a previous games and has played against and on the same league teams as Team Canada before. They are unbelievable. Caught them playing each other last month and Canada won in a shoot out. We got invited to come and watch both teams practice that morning. Was pretty cool :) USA has a very short player, about 5'2"
The ref from the Canada game was British.
surfer_chicky
14-02-2010, 19:57
Enjoyed the men's normal ski-jump yesterday. Keen boarder myself, but didn't even know that Snowboard Cross event existed! Then again haven't really tuned into the winter games before. After seeing this vid (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPCOin3l8OY) of Lindsey Jacobellis' slip-up in 2006, I can't wait to see that tomorrow + Tuesday night.
We have a british girl(zoe gillings) who is quite good, an outside chance of a medal.
Mens starts tomorrow night at 6.30pm and final at 10pm, womens following on tuesday. Then the super pipe follows later on in the week, although if on form Shaun White is unbeatable and his biggest rivals out injured shuan will get gold! I love the girls there are a bunch of them that are about the same level so it could be a choice of 3 or 4 to win, il support Torah Bright (aus) and gretchen blither (US)
KennyVader
14-02-2010, 20:43
You can watch all the live coverage on the bbc red button or through the BBC website.
Only got Freeview these days and the red button stuff on there is crap since they reduced it to channel 301 only. Think Sky may still have multiple red button channels but Freeview doesn't any more.
I find the BBC streams frequently break up or stutter whereas the www.eurovisionsports.tv don't for me. Plus the commentators on the BBC never shut up! I like how the official Vancouver streams often stay broadcasting inbetween or sometimes for quite a while before specific events, and you can see/hear the spectator noise / local music / local announcers / crowd warm up men and get a lot more in to the local party than just the "technical display" of the sport.
Only thing really annoying about the official Vancouver streams are that they only play for 30 minutes at a time, and then you have to refresh the page to get it going properly again.
The "HD Channel" stream on the eurovisionsport.tv site is magnificent too, seems a much bigger and sharper picture than even the "Play in High Quality" option on the BBC site, unfortunately they don't seem to be putting many events on this HD stream :(.
So yes it's true that you can get much the same streamed pictures from both sites but the quality and audio is different, BBC when I don't really know what I'm watching and want some constant babbling to explain what's going on, Vancouver Live when I want to "be there" with the crowd I think :)
downhillbiker
15-02-2010, 01:06
Men's moguls on right now... awesome sport. If you think you can ski, watch this, and then think again.
surfer_chicky
15-02-2010, 08:12
Men's moguls on right now... awesome sport. If you think you can ski, watch this, and then think again.
It looks so harsh and jarring on the old body that game! But finally the long awaited home Gold was won tonight!
Looking forward to some downhill action tonight and the Mens SBX both on at 6.30.
ascender
15-02-2010, 08:26
Really enjoying it and the PQ on Eurosport is fantastic. Brilliant that they're running the coverage 24*7 at the moment.
downhillbiker
15-02-2010, 09:00
It looks so harsh and jarring on the old body that game! But finally the long awaited home Gold was won tonight!
They wear gumshields so they don't smash the teeth out of their heads...
That kid made real history last night - Olympic champion is one thing, but the first Candian to win a gold medal at a Canada Olympics? He'll never have to buy a drink again...
KennyVader
15-02-2010, 14:51
That crazy Moguls / snowboard stuff / biathlon / luge is what makes the winters so much more fun than the summer olympics. Winter olympics rock! I can't think of anything in the summer olympics that's as nuts and exciting to watch ... maybe some of the diving. The moguls MUST wreck people's knees and ankles (as well as the teeth!) surely?
The speed skating is pretty damn awesome too, running doesn't do it for me, maybe the olympic cycling offers comparable excitement to the speed skating, on account of the speed / crash likelihood / wacky rules I suppose.
I love those giant ravioli-like beanbags they had at the bottom of the Moguls slope for the previous skiers to simply flop out and watch the next few from! So refreshingly informal :D
Yep must admit , i'm hooked. Used to watch this early 80s when we had next to no sport on telly so everything was a bonus but not watched it for years. Especially like the spped skating. Mens race yesterday when 2 Koreans took each other out at last bend was great TV
KennyVader
15-02-2010, 21:12
oooh they've got helmet-cam on selected boarders in the snowboard cross final :D
several of them have gone off the edge already!
MetalGearAl
15-02-2010, 22:19
That was an ace final, but such a close second for Canada, a real shame! That USA boarder though did brilliantly to catch up though, he came thundering in.
KennyVader
15-02-2010, 23:33
I am loving all the dicking about with the broken down eco-zambonis (made by Olympia, the rival to the proper Zamboni company) that's going on at the Speed Skating rink :D
All very amusing. great crowd there though.
I bet you're not loving it as much as Zamboni are. :D
That snowboarding stuff was brilliant. It makes the 'normal' skiing look boring. Downhill racing with 2 or 3 at a time - nice!
surfer_chicky
16-02-2010, 10:09
Womens SBX is on tonight 6pm for timed runs and then 8pm for 1/8, 1/4s, semis and finals! they must be knackered by the final especially on that track its insane as courses go. Watch out for Zoe Gillings in this, also US lindsay jacobellis she is pretty much unbeatable in this event but as last Olympics anything could happen especially on that track.
ascender
16-02-2010, 10:28
Boarding last night was fantastic to watch, can't wait for the women's tonight.
That boarding competition was addictive viewing, brilliant comeback from that US guy, shame about the ridiculous female co-presenter on the beeb i doubt i have ever heard a worse one.
KennyVader
16-02-2010, 18:03
That boarding competition was addictive viewing, brilliant comeback from that US guy, shame about the ridiculous female co-presenter on the beeb i doubt i have ever heard a worse one.
She was funny when she started commenting on some random bloke she saw out the side window and then said "oops I was looking out the wrong window" :lol:
Can't blame her that much, she was an actual snowboarder and seemed knowledgeable enough at first, the problem was the bloke wouldn't let her get a word in and just talked more and more, so she was reduced to cries of "oh no" when people fell over. Unfortunately quite a lot of what he was babbling was just bunkum half the time :nuts:
edit: today's snowboard cross is ******, it's already a couple of hours late, the course has been trashed by rain, some of the competitors are saying they can't complete it, and it's currently suspended again due to the fog.
surfer_chicky
16-02-2010, 19:34
SBX is stop start at the mo, Zoe Gillings is currently fastest out of 4 starters! currently stopped due to fog. finals are going to be the wee hours of the morning now!!!!
KennyVader
16-02-2010, 19:52
Yep but (if the finals still happen today) they are going to be fantastic, when the multi-racer starts. They are nearly all falling over now, and they're currently going pretty carefully! Love it when they come off the track and hop themselves up the top of the next hill to get going again :D
surfer_chicky
16-02-2010, 20:13
Its going to be carnege when they race each other lol! one of them hardly made it over the 1st obstacles
Crashing all over at the moment, and the last couple have looked painful.
edit: interesting time to stop the coverage :(
KennyVader
16-02-2010, 22:01
Oh dear Lindsey! DOH!
MetalGearAl
16-02-2010, 22:02
So many unlucky moments today, really thought Zoe Gillings had a good chance. Jacobellis was very unlucky.
Did anyone see Gillings' second qualification run? That flip to avoid injury was inspired!
Who's the woman commentating (though to call it that is charitable) on the snowboarding? She sounds like some random they've just pulled off the street!
MetalGearAl
16-02-2010, 22:15
I'm not sure, think some skiing athlete from yesteryear, she was quite (unintentionally) funny yesterday, To be honest that guy isn't much better either, she's been having to correct him every few minutes.
KennyVader
16-02-2010, 22:15
Stine Brun (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stine_Brun_Kjeldaas)
MetalGearAl
16-02-2010, 22:23
She doesn't come across as someone who had intimate knowledge of the sport, but I guess I'd put that down to English being a second language for her.
KennyVader
16-02-2010, 22:28
Well that link says her discipline was half-pipe, so maybe she knows the generics of snowboarding, but doesn't know a lot about the cross stuff or the people in it, and will come into her own later.
dco_chris
16-02-2010, 22:29
To be honest that guy isn't much better either, she's been having to correct him every few minutes.
Urgh, did he ever stop? Seemed to be yammering on at about a million words per minute. Good final though.
MetalGearAl
16-02-2010, 22:31
Fantastic event either way, shame Zoe appeared to injure herself, but still great in at 8th. Thought the women's snowboard cross was much more eventful and entertaining than the men's.
Holy cow, this womens downhill has it all! Great skiing, biiiiiiig falls (small fall too out of the gate) and of course many lovely sights ;)
robbie99
17-02-2010, 19:40
Holy cow, this womens downhill has it all! Great skiing, biiiiiiig falls (small fall too out of the gate) and of course many lovely sights ;)
The Womans downhill has to be a sporting highlight of the year already!
chong168
17-02-2010, 21:28
The king (Shaun White) is on tonite! Let's see how good this guy is.
ascender
18-02-2010, 07:30
That women's downhill was amazing to watch, absolutely incredible stuff. I take it no-one was badly injured, haven't seen any mention of it.
KennyVader
18-02-2010, 08:26
Georgia Simmerling was taken off the course by helicopter (they even slo-mo'd footage of that on the live stream) but I haven't read if she's OK or not.
chong168
18-02-2010, 10:43
Well Mr White didn't disappoint. Pulled off a new signature move at the end. He is simply unbeatable!
Georgia Simmerling was taken off the course by helicopter (they even slo-mo'd footage of that on the live stream) but I haven't read if she's OK or not.
Anyone know what happened with Anja Pärson (why is everyone spelling it Paerson), seeing her flying 60m off the last jump sideways was a bit scary.
Wow, how good was Shaun White and say hello to the tomahawk!
KennyVader
18-02-2010, 14:05
it certainly looked like both he and the crowd were having a LOT of fun!
Womens downhill was great viewing.
As opposed to the womens ice hockey which should be stopped now and let the Canadians and US fight it out to stop these endless one sided borefests.
KennyVader
18-02-2010, 15:25
Georgia Simmerling was taken off the course by helicopter (they even slo-mo'd footage of that on the live stream) but I haven't read if she's OK or not.
My mistake it was Edith Miklos from Romania that was the one helicoptered off, and she has torn ligaments and is out of the games, but is otherwise OK, as far as I can find out.
Apparently they are changing the course due to all the crashes in the women's downhill yesterday; I don't really get why they wouldn't have found out that the course was so evil in test runs in the last couple of weeks or even in previous seasons for that matter ... as I understand it the downhill courses are a bit like some motorracing circuits in that they can bring different bends/bits into play for different events, but the basic course was built years ago, it's not something brand new just for the olympics fortnight :?:
edit: as for the ice hockey isn't it a bit like football in the summer olympics, i.e. always pretty dull compared to the big money non-olympic equivalents, NHL / FIFA World Cup respectively?
I think the added problem for the womens downhill course was the less than good weather leading to icy and bumpy patches and interrupted training runs. I think the commentators were saying that only one of the racers had a complete run down the track in practise so that wouldn't help.
basegreen
18-02-2010, 21:16
Anyone know what happened with Anja Pärson (why is everyone spelling it Paerson), seeing her flying 60m off the last jump sideways was a bit scary.
Paerson is the correct way of writing Pärson where you have no umlaut.
Brilliant first slide by Amy Williams - not so by Rudman :(
That snowboarding stuff was brilliant. It makes the 'normal' skiing look boring. Downhill racing with 2 or 3 at a time - nice!
Looks like I partly get my wish - Ski-Cross on Sunday night. 4 skiers on track at the same time!
Great performance by Williams hope she can hold it together tonight.
Mens ice hockey is starting to get very interesting with Canada just
scraping a win and the big red machine hitting the buffers.
I have to give Ed Leigh a :notworthy for having the guts to go down that skeleton bob track.
Hopefully a UK gold coming up shortly. Please tell me someone else is watching this?
Gold medal :clap::clap::notworthy
GOLD !!!!!
:clap::clap::clap:
Great win - she went for it on her last run too and really deserved it as she nailed that track on all 4 runs.
downhillbiker
20-02-2010, 02:48
Go on Williams! Considering that the UK doesn't even have a real track for her to practice on, this is nothing short of unbelievable... Think 'Cool Runnings' but instead of sucking admirably - she's destroyed the rest of the field. Outstanding.
scooby snacks
20-02-2010, 03:18
Williams was brilliant from start to finish and completely deserved the gold. Shelley Rudman's last 2 runs were also very good.
Canadian's protesting again against William's helmet:razz:
US complained as well but that was already thrown out, NBC just quoted one of the federation guys saying they expect this one to be rejected as well. Lets hope so sounds like a big case of sour grapes
scooby snacks
20-02-2010, 03:35
US complained as well but that was already thrown out, NBC just quoted one of the federation guys saying they expect this one to be rejected as well. Lets hope so sounds like a big case of sour grapes
Definately sour grapes, considering the Canadian riders had way more track practice than everyone else. Hopefully they'll stop moaning now that they've just won the men's skeleton.
Great effort in a sport that looks truely terrifying...I was watching last night and was really impressed. Well done Amy Williams!
Really pathetic that they've complained considering it's been passed by the inspectors already.
I thought it was interesting the comment from Rudman about her being about ten runs away from really knowing the track. You could clearly see her improvement with each run. Amazing to think that with a bit more practice time we could have seen two Brits on the podium.
With that win we've already exceeded the haul from the Torino olympics, so hopefully this will take some of the pressure off our other medal hopefuls.
happy.hooker
20-02-2010, 09:10
Wonderful performance I've just watched her last 2 runs again, listened to them on the radio in the night. Truely deserved through all four runs- what a scary sport!
Really great result.
Dunno why they are complaining about the helmet. Surely some of the big arses of the women makes a bigger difference.
Caught the skeleton last night - awesome acheivement. Just where/how on earth does she practice?!
nwgarratt
20-02-2010, 14:13
Caught the skeleton last night - awesome acheivement. Just where/how on earth does she practice?!
At the Bath practice facility.
http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/UmuRuEgUry6/British+Skeleton+Pre+Season+Media+Opportunity/yHSsAvD3I4H
KennyVader
20-02-2010, 14:57
At the Bath practice facility.
http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/UmuRuEgUry6/British+Skeleton+Pre+Season+Media+Opportunity/yHSsAvD3I4H
Very interesting but surely the only thing they can practice at that tarmac+rails facility is the starting, which is done in a groove at the real thing? Don't see how they can practice steering when from those pics most of the facility is on rails.
scooby snacks
20-02-2010, 15:48
It still baffles me how ski jumpers learn. Theres no way you could perfect the flying position and landing without tons of practice. First time down the slope must be terrifying.
Back to skeleton, I never realised the speeds were so high until watching this years event. Definately looks **** scary but something I'd love to try though. I can't imagine its the easiest sport to get into and some of the equipment is crazily expensive.
nwgarratt
20-02-2010, 16:21
Very interesting but surely the only thing they can practice at that tarmac+rails facility is the starting, which is done in a groove at the real thing? Don't see how they can practice steering when from those pics most of the facility is on rails.
As far as I can found out, that facility is all she used. They did a report earlier today from it on the news.
You're very limited as to what you can do while coming down the track. You may have noticed sliders putting their foot outside of the sled slightly on certain corners. The start is vitally important as it affects your potential speed down the whole of the rest of the course, so from a technical viewpoint being very good at starting is probably what they have to work on the most.
Still shows up some of the competitors who have regular access to entire courses.
KennyVader
20-02-2010, 17:36
Hmm something I saw made out that there was an element of steering available by shifting her body slightly, it's not just the crazy unstoppable hurtle that it appears :D. Maybe that foot out business is all that's needed to influence the "racing line".
I like those "ghost replays" they were doing with one person's run overlaid precisely on to the other so you could see the different lines/speeds taken.
Adjusting your body will definitely affect things as it changes your aerodynamics, but to a degree it has to be trial and error, hence Rudman's comments about learning the track.
Womens downhill was great viewing.
As opposed to the womens ice hockey which should be stopped now and let the Canadians and US fight it out to stop these endless one sided borefests.
Finland actually beat the USA a few months ago. The problem is there is such huge investment and an amazing buildup for both teams. Unfortunately this success is actually at their detrament. Caught a pre Olympic warmup game between the two last month and over 18000 people turned up to watch.
Kenny - with regards to hockey and the olympics, the NHL don't really support the Olympic break. For example, teams were still playing incl Olympic players on Sunday. But it is pretty highly regarded for those who follow hockey especially as it's anticipated the NHL won't stop and won't like teams releasing players to go to Russia in 2014. It's probably on par with the Stanley Cup. The annual World Championships, well players can't even be arsed to take part in that.
I love the ski cross and loved the snowboard cross the other day. Apparantly they're thinking of having extreme skating in the olympics. This type of thing http://www.redbull.com/cs/Satellite/en_INT/001242785030624
Some of those bobsleigh dudes are massive.
I love the ski cross and loved the snowboard cross the other day. Apparantly they're thinking of having extreme skating in the olympics. This type of thing http://www.redbull.com/cs/Satellite/en_INT/001242785030624
That Ski cross was great, looking forward to the womens tomorrow.
I enjoyed the ski cross but not as much as the snowboard version. Probably because I was trying to watch the Silver Surfer at the same time !
I enjoyed the ski cross but not as much as the snowboard version. Probably because I was trying to watch the Silver Surfer at the same time !
I missed the snowboard version, but my wife watched it & said it was great.
I loved the Canadian, pretty sure in the ski-ing one. The guy was thrown out of the US team for smoking pot. Then they said he was out njured for 2 years for being drunk and falling down a hole.
euqiddis
23-02-2010, 22:08
Delbosco his name was i think.
KennyVader
25-02-2010, 23:28
The Winter Olympics have not really excited me these last few days as much as they did last week. The general BBC2 coverage lately only ever seems to be Curling, Curling, Curling, Hockey, Curling, Hockey, Curling, with the occasional Bobsled in the Curling breaks.
scooby snacks
26-02-2010, 00:55
I like how they got someone (Steve Cram) who knows **** all about Curling to commentate on it:thinking: Then Paula Radcliffe was in the commentary box for 1 match..wtf:nuts:
Women's skiing has probably been the best thing about these games. Felt a bit sorry for Mancuso when her first GS run was flagged, second run was superb.
KennyVader
26-02-2010, 01:13
Yes. That is part of my lethargy with the whole Curling thing - Steve Cram commentating, he's just so dull. Might as well have got Harry Hill to do it, or the office cleaner. Plus it just seemed to go on FOREVER, match after match, night after night, compared to the skiing and boarding events which each discipline basically happened in 1-3 sessions or so, often all on the same day.
downhillbiker
26-02-2010, 11:54
Curling is just bowls on ice. Both of them are ****, and curling shouldn't be in the Olympics - it makes for television that's about as exciting as Songs of Praise.
I think they get a lot of people out of their comfort zone for some of these more fringe sports. IIRC the bloke commentating on the speed skating is the same one who does the cycling in the velodrome. I actually think Cram has done pretty well, and they've always got Rhona Martin in the box to point out the stuff he misses.
Worst commentary by a country mile at these games has been the woman on the snowboard cross.
Curling is just bowls on ice. Both of them are ****, and curling shouldn't be in the Olympics - it makes for television that's about as exciting as Songs of Praise.
Working it night curling is the ideal Olympic sport as it doesn't need your constant attention. Mind you I found quite a lot to distract me during the women's event :n0rty:
I just caught up on the Women's Figure skating. What a performance by Kim Yu-Na of South Korea!! :eek:
Another vote for curling being boring. Such an awful contrast to the fast moving pace of pretty much all the other sports. It's about as valid as darts in the summer olympics. Why celebrate someone's ability to use a swiffer effectively?!?
downhillbiker
01-03-2010, 01:22
So that's it, the closing ceremony is on as I type, and Canada got the win that means they've secured the most gold medals of any nation ever at a Winter Games, and also ensured that the whole country will be drunk for about a week.
I ******* loved these Games. So many great sports, so many brilliant performances and epic moments - exactly as the Olympics should be. Highlights for me include the hockey final, the men's moguls, Shaun White's run in the super pipe, skiier cross... but my personal moment of choice is one recognised by the Terry Fox award (alongside the performance of Canadian figure-skater Joannie Rochette, whose mother died just before her bronze-winning performance).
Petra Madjic fell in practice for one of the cross country skiing events, breaking a bunch of ribs and puncturing her lung. She then went on to compete in the race, and won the bronze - she was in a wheelchair for the podium, and ended up in hospital after the race. Say what you like about cross country skiing - that is complete and utter dedication to your sport, and what a hard ******* she must be. Total respect.
I was blown away by how behind the Games the country got... they even had the good grace to take the **** out of themselves - the duff part of the torch from the opening ceremony featured in a tongue-in-cheek start to the closing event. The whole 'Own the Podium' thing was very well thought out, with the maple leaf mittens everywhere on coverage. I've never ever felt that pride conveyed in the coverage of previous Olympics.
So, Russia next time for the Winter Games, but the next time the torch is lit will be in London in just over two years. I have to admit, following Beijing, and now Vancouver, I'm going to be impressed if the UK does as good a job, but I'd like to think they can give it a good go. However, the UK press only seem to give a **** about everything that's wrong with having the Olympics (as they so brilliantly demonstrated when trying to pick holes in the Vancouver Games). It's frankly embarrassing to have such a focus on negativity, and I'm ******* sick of it all.
Prime example - one of the top articles when you Google the London Olympics comes back as this: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/article-1254494/CHARLES-SALE-London-2012-medals-China.html. I mean really, who the hell cares?
One final point - the BBC coverage was good; great at times, **** at others, but I really think the depth of their feature pieces within the shows was impressive. I also thought the graphics for the intro were very good too this year. I can't wait to see how they do when the Games are in their back garden, it should be fantastic.
Sorry for the length of the post, but in my book, the Olympics are the greatest sporting event on Earth, bar none. Nighto.
EDIT: Oh, and Russia just **** all over GB's contribution to the Beijing closing ceremony - we had a double decker with an old rocker and a reality show contestant; the Russians had the primary dancers from the Bolshoi, choirs, figure skating, and a live trans-continental broadcast of a symphony orchestra in Moscow, being conducted by someone in the Vancouver arena. Sigh.
I agree with a lot of what dhb has said. I really liked the info pieces they did.
What an end for the Canadians though. I was at the High Commission watching it and then onto a pub then Trafalgar Square to celebrate. I'm not feeling too good this morning but good on them for winning the equivalent of the World Cup.
vBulletin® v3.8.7, Copyright ©2000-2012, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.