Simon Ammann...brilliance!

Congrats to Switzerland!

Speaking of Norway, a country that punches above its weight in the Winter Olympics (although understandably so), I noticed something interesting about the Scandinavian countries--Norway has an extremely strong skiing tradition (both alpine and downhill), yet its hockey program has traditionally been relatively weak. In comparison, both Sweden and Finland are two of the top international hockey programs, but their skiing has been relatively weak (although sweden has done pretty well in skiing these olympics), and Finland has become a snowboarding hotbed. Meanwhile, Denmark hasn't really done squat in any sport other than curling (although their lack of downhill skiing is understandable, considering their aren't any mountains in denmark). Are these differences merely flukes--a matter of personal preference--or is there something more?

Swedes are as I type this dominating the mens 30km freestyle, the Norwegian mens cross country skiers are currently missing in action. Norwegians do play ice hockey but it's a minor sport, I don't know of anyone who plays or is even interested in it.

Why is NBC so bad? If you're in the US you can't access this site:
http://www.ctvolympics.ca/index.html

But, if you could you'd be able to watch streaming, real time live coverage of many events. You can't do that on www.nbcolympics.com. Sure, you can see a few, but the majority are blocked, and NBC won't let you watch other countries coverage. My hats off to the CTV coverage, just like when the CBC ran the olympic coverage for Canada.

I heard somewhere that Americans love pre-packaged, heavily edited, prime time coverage of the Olympics. I'm not sure about that, maybe some do, but it won't be until the Rio olympics that the events could reasonably be held in real time here. It's an embarrassment how NBC covers the games.

quite impressed with the CTV coverage. basically 5 channels showing sports all day(don't forget OLN) and there is also online live streaming.

What's with the british media and criticizing these games? i read a story where they were actually complaining canada was trying to 'own the podium'. They were criticizing the decision as 'uncanadian'.

LOL great interview on Dutch TV with Sven Kramer over his remarks to the NBC reporter he called "stupid":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4cG1j0qHww

Quoting Aaron747 (Reply 55): LOL great interview on Dutch TV

It's bullshit. You just win a gold medal and she's asking for your biography.      

Quoting Wingman (Reply 40): And all these little hotties gliding down the ice yelling out strict commands like "even harder, even harder"

Quoting AirframeAS (Reply 48): Quoting FighterPilot (Reply 46): I know this has nothing to contribute to the topic but I have to point out... the one on the right in that pic...

SHe's the only one. Seriously though, a LOT of hte curling women are pretty attractive.

Quoting YYZALA (Reply 45): Sure he didn't do the quad jump, but all his jumps were PERFECT.

I have both performances on DVR. While I'm 100% for Lysacek and his Gold win, I think saying "all his jumps were PERFECT" is an overstatement. He messed up on one, with definite instability on one of his jumps. Other than that, he deserved the Gold, which he got.

There is one thing that I agree with Plushenko on, though. The sport needs to progress, and skill needs to improve. Lysacek skated a very low-key routine, playing it safe in all regards, but brilliantly doing so regardless. I really do hope that we will see men doing quads in Sochi, because we can't be stuck on the same thing over and over again. Plushenko was brave to do what he did in the medal skate.

I am very proud of our Canadian Athletes.

Go Canada!!

Vaporlock

Quoting KiwiRob (Reply 49): 5 golds for Norway so far, pretty good for a little country.

Yes, 5 golds, 3 silver and 3 bronse so far. The corss country mens have been seriously bad this year though an far from expected.



Norway is the country with the most medals won in the history of the winter olympics with

http://www.nrkol.no/medals/all-time-standings/index.html



103 Gold
101 Silver
87 Bronse

291 in total so far

[Edited 2010-02-20 21:51:02]

Quoting canoecarrier (Reply 53): But, if you could you'd be able to watch streaming, real time live coverage of many events. You can't do that on www.nbcolympics.com. Sure, you can see a few, but the majority are blocked, and NBC won't let you watch other countries coverage. My hats off to the CTV coverage, just like when the CBC ran the olympic coverage for Canada.

What do you mean, I am watching most of the events in real time on NBC?

Quoting LTU932 (Reply 10): CNBC has been showing nothing but Curling. Everytime they start their coverage, it's curling, maybe some hockey in the middle (and they'll only go to a hockey match already in progress if a curling game isn't over before the first face-off), and then they may mix some women hockey, followed by more curling.

What's wrong with that? As a curler myself, I am glad that my sport is getting such great coverage and that its not all US teams either, as I watched a great match between Great Britain and Canada earlier. They even had Wayne Gretzky doing commentary for a bit as well.

I like the curling although damned if I know what the object is! I like that they're trying to make it cool in a geeky way.
And just for the record i could really get used to waking up with the Swedish guy Elin and the Canadian guy John Morris on either side of me.

Oh hell, let's just throw the US bobsledder Steve Holcomb in there just for fun.
 

Quoting Mortyman (Reply 60): Yes, 5 golds, 3 silver and 3 bronse so far. The corss country mens have been seriously bad this year though an far from expected.

The men were pretty bad in Turin as well, I'm also not impressed with Northug, he came in with a huge rep (massively hyped in Norway) and has failed to fire. I'm super impressed with Marit Bjørgen, I had thought she was passed her prime, I also hope Ole Einer wins a race, and I think Aksel Lund has a good shot at winning the super combined and maybe the giant salom.

Quoting scrubbsYWG (Reply 54): quite impressed with the CTV coverage. basically 5 channels showing sports all day(don't forget OLN) and there is also online live streaming. What's with the british media and criticizing these games? i read a story where they were actually complaining canada was trying to 'own the podium'. They were criticizing the decision as 'uncanadian'.

"own the podium" is a campaign named and instigated by the Canadian Olympic committee. The objective of this is to increase the number of candaian competitors reaching said podium, by exploiting home advantage. Of course we all know that there is such a thing as "home advantage" the support of home fans, the usual feeling of familiarity in your surroundings etc, nothing wrong in that, and entiely above board

The specific complaint however is that Canadian athletes have been granted far superior access to the sliding course, and ski slopes in order to maximise this advantage, the figures quoted for sliding are 300 practice runs for Canadians, 30 for anyone else. In most sports this wouldn't be considered a major problem, when however it is a potentially lethal sliding track, this could be viewed as a step too far.

In conclusion don't blame the UK media for "owning the podium", blame the Canadians who coined the phrase and made it their official policy.

Quoting bongodog1964 (Reply 64): In conclusion don't blame the UK media for "owning the podium", blame the Canadians who coined the phrase and made it their official policy.

I thought the UK had a similar policy in place for the 2012 Summer Games?

Quoting KiwiRob (Reply 65): Quoting bongodog1964 (Reply 64): In conclusion don't blame the UK media for "owning the podium", blame the Canadians who coined the phrase and made it their official policy. I thought the UK had a similar policy in place for the 2012 Summer Games?

I'm 100% certain that the UK will never prioritize access to any facility where safety is a concern.
The UK Olympic authority has expressed a desire to improve from 4th to 3rd in 2012, we won 19 Golds in 2008, compared to Russia in 3rd place scoring 23.

There will certainly be no "owning the podium" style campaign, as it would not do down well with our sense of fair play.

We will however be spending quite a bit of money on the sports where we do well, thus expect us to try and do well at sailing, cycling and rowing.

Overall I have found the Olympics quite disappointing. It was a national embarrassment in the beginning, and now the "own the podium" plan has totally backfired. It's obvious that everybody put too much pressure on team Canada, and now it's effecting their performance. It seems that the overall environment is becoming more positive, and I hope the last couple of weeks, including the Paralympics, go well for everybody.

One thing's for certain: Jessica Dubé and Bryce Davison should get some serious props for their performance. I definitely wouldn't go back to the rink after suffering a huge concussion and getting my face sliced open. If they stick with it, they'll be the strongest pair on the ice in 2014. Team Georgia also deserves props for sticking it out after the tragedy the suffered at the beginning.

Quoting YooYoo (Reply 21): I do have another grip. I really don't care about the in depth background information about the athletes. I don't need to know where they went to school and their fathers occupation. I just want to watch the sports and the more live coverage the better.

CTV has been more of a propaganda machine than anything else. The commentators constantly butter-up the Canadian athletes and rag on the rest. I think that's just poor sportsmanship. The pressure becomes too much for team Canada, and the rest of the teams don't deserve that treatment.

I really must congratulate the Canadian cross country ski team, they got 3 of their skiers in among the best 10 in yesterday's 30km.        
Norway's team placed 11,18,19 and 36
Canada also had a 4th member on their team, he placed #16 -but he fell...

Canada's cross country coach is Norwegian....
Can anybody imagine what is going on in the Norwegian press today?   

Scooter01

Quoting TheCol (Reply 67): CTV has been more of a propaganda machine than anything else. The commentators constantly butter-up the Canadian athletes and rag on the rest. I think that's just poor sportsmanship. The pressure becomes too much for team Canada, and the rest of the teams don't deserve that treatment.

If Canada loses to the USA in men's hockey tonight, I'm staying SOUTH of the US-Canadian border.

The best part of these, as with any Olympics is the actual events and competition itself, even if it doesn't involve as in my case USA members. The winter games have a wide range of events with something for everybody but not too many. There is something great about a speed skater winning by a microsecond, a ski jumper flying over 120 Meters/ 400 Feet, a downhill skiier on the edge of crashing a cross-country skiier pushing to thier limits that or an exciting hockey game that keeps us wanting to watch. I can be on the web, then turn to the TV when the stuff I want to watch is on.

Yes, the coverage in the USA by the NBC network while extensive is annoying. Far too much of the coverage is USA only , not recognizing enough events or participats, unless podium prospects or Americans. Too many commercials, too much 'commentary' and background pieces instead of showing more competitors live, but it is the only source and is presenting many events so that the most number of people can see them and thus gain advertising revenues. That one cannot use the web to access Olympics coverage from non-USA based sources on the net is about protecting NBC's revenues and rather smacks of censorship we condemnd China and other countries for. Because of the economic conditions of our time reducing advertising revenues and higher costs of production including HD coverage and security, NBC may lose as much as $200 Million in these games. I suspect that for the Summer 2012 games NBC will negotiate a more favorable rights payment. Despite their iffy coverage, NBC is getting more people watching that in the last Winter games.

Of course there have been some significant problems with these games but that is nothing new. Some events have been conterversial as to their judging, the weather has been too warm, some protests with property damage have taken place, the torch site had hypersecurity until recently. In the end, it about the compeition, not the medal counts, not the fancy shows, not the bad behaviors.

Hope the Vancouver police are ready today--I read somewhere that something like 400,000 people are expected in Vancouver today because of the Super Sunday hockey action.
If the Canadians don't riot when the U.S. beats them today, I will be sorely disappointed... 

Quoting US330 (Reply 71): If the Canadians don't riot when the U.S. beats them today

you're living in 1980  

If the US beat Canada today the shit will fly, even though this doesn't eliminate the Canucks. The Canadians in general are not achieving the way some people said they would, a defeat to the US would put a bigger damper on the country.

I like the Olympics because it's a once-every-four-years chance to see some really interesting sports. While other world competitions may be on TV between each Olympics, I simply do not see events like bobseld, luge, ski jumping, skiing, speed skating (my favorite event) etc. unless it's during the Olympics. As a full-time student with a full-time job, I wouldn't be able to watch events live during the day. If NBC focused on showing everything live, I would miss many of my favorite events. For that reason, I don't really mind NBC's prime-time coverage. My only complaint is that if USA isn't a contender for a medal, they don't show that event until the late night coverage at 1am. But I'm generally happy as long as I get to see a little bit of every event regardless of when it is shown.

Quoting canoecarrier (Reply 53): I heard somewhere that Americans love pre-packaged, heavily edited, prime time coverage of the Olympics. I'm not sure about that

I would not be surprised if that statement is true. Remember, Americans today have very short attention spans. They just want to see the action. Some events when shown live have an element of down time between each athelete. Just keep the action going and get rid of all the "in-between" and I think most Americans are happy enough not to flip to another station out of boredom.

Another thing I have considered. Even though Vancouver is located in the same time zone as myself, watching the Olympics on NBC is no different than watching the past several Olympics. Time of events and location are not relevant. They are shown in prime-time the same way they would be if the events had taken place almost a full day before. It's consistant with every other Olympics. Many will find that to be a bad thing. But to me, it is what it is.

Quoting mirrodie (Reply 57): SHe's the only one. Seriously though, a LOT of hte curling women are pretty attractive.

What's that girl's name? I want a poster of her!   

Oh, I found this....

http://www.nbcolympics.com/photos/ga...719.html#the+women+olympic+curling

Magdalena Neuner just won her 2nd gold medal.

And yes, I only care about the hot female athletes.  

I am beside myself, engulfed in an overwhelming and bitter rage against NBC. They have not shown the live hockey game between the Czechs and the Russians, at least out here in SF, CA on Comcast. Instead they are showing some absolutely inane sport called Cross Skiing. Is this real or am I currently in an alternate universe where mindless *ssholes are in charge of television coverage? I just spent 65 minutes attempting to stream this game live to no avail. Between these NBC morons and their brainless brethren at Comcast my day is just screwed. And as all this rage is being expressed I see news that Bode Miller has just taken Gold in Super-G...JUST NOT LIVE ON MY FOOKIN TELEVISION.

Quoting Wingman (Reply 77): And as all this rage is being expressed I see news that Bode Miller has just taken Gold in Super-G...JUST NOT LIVE ON MY FOOKIN TELEVISION.

I just saw that he won with -0.33. Guy isnt doing too bad, hes got a Gold, Silver and Bronze so far.

The Russia vs. Czech game is Live on NBC here in Chicago. Its intense.

Quoting apodino (Reply 61): What do you mean, I am watching most of the events in real time on NBC?

Most of the weekday coverage is not live on NBC. Some of the curling events are being carried live on CNBC or MSNBC. I've watched all the alpine events live online through Eurosports nearly 10 hours before they are shown on NBC.

Quoting TheCol (Reply 67): I definitely wouldn't go back to the rink after suffering a huge concussion and getting my face sliced open.

I saw that footage on YouTube. He didn't just graze her face with her skate he hit her in the face with his skate. She should get a medal just for getting back on the ice.

Quoting Silver1SWA (Reply 73): Another thing I have considered. Even though Vancouver is located in the same time zone as myself, watching the Olympics on NBC is no different than watching the past several Olympics. Time of events and location are not relevant. They are shown in prime-time the same way they would be if the events had taken place almost a full day before. It's consistant with every other Olympics. Many will find that to be a bad thing. But to me, it is what it is.

The reason I disagree with this is there were something like 64 women athletes in the Super G. NBC probably showed us around 10 of them. Just because "it's always been this way" doesn't make it right. If you can, find a link and stream Eurosport during the men's Super G. Then watch it on NBC later in the day. There's a noticeable difference.

Huge disappointment for Norway in the men's mass start today. Great skiing/shooting today by the Russian.

Quoting Wingman (Reply 77): They have not shown the live hockey game between the Czechs and the Russians, at least out here in SF, CA on Comcast. Instead they are showing some absolutely inane sport called Cross Skiing.

Actually, biathlon is pretty cool to watch--that said, it is b.s. that they aren't showing anything live on the west coast, even on a saturday or sunday afternoon. They don't tape delay their Sunday Night Football coverage, why are they tape delaying the Olympics?

Another bronse to Norway. we now have, 5 golds, 3 silver and 4 bronse.

It's has been an almost total disaster for Finland so far, only snowboarding giving some comfort... And hopes for the ice hockey are growning.
The Finnish ladies have been on the top in the European figure skating , but hardly in the Olympics. Anyway, the unofficial Miss Figure Skating Kiira Korpi is always popular...





[Edited 2010-02-21 15:54:24]

Quoting bongodog1964 (Reply 64): "own the podium" is a campaign named and instigated by the Canadian Olympic committee. The objective of this is to increase the number of candaian competitors reaching said podium, by exploiting home advantage. Of course we all know that there is such a thing as "home advantage" the support of home fans, the usual feeling of familiarity in your surroundings etc, nothing wrong in that, and entiely above board The specific complaint however is that Canadian athletes have been granted far superior access to the sliding course, and ski slopes in order to maximise this advantage, the figures quoted for sliding are 300 practice runs for Canadians, 30 for anyone else. In most sports this wouldn't be considered a major problem, when however it is a potentially lethal sliding track, this could be viewed as a step too far. In conclusion don't blame the UK media for "owning the podium", blame the Canadians who coined the phrase and made it their official policy.

If you think own the podium was just about adding more athletes and closing venues from training then that is fine. But It was more about providing funding so we could level the playing field as far as training, coaching, and technology. While the alpine team received the most funding from own the podium, most, if not all, of the other sports did as well. I was not blaming the UK media for terming it own the podium, as that is what it is called. My beef with the article was they were saying it was 'uncanadian' for us to do what we have been doing. I hazard to guess if it was the US, the article wouldn't have been written in that way. I suppose canadians have to lay down and let the rest of the world do what they want, and when we want things better for ourselves, it is 'uncanadian' which they mean in a derogatory way.

So i ask, what is wrong with 'own the podium' and our desire to do well at our home games? Why is that 'uncanadian'? If you consider own the podium as the reason for the luger's death, then i think you are making a huge logical leap.

As far as it being a lethal sliding course, well, after the shock wore off, i heard most lugers say that it was in fact that it was a rider's mistake that led to that tragic accident. There WERE thousands of runs on the track without anyone dieing. Should the pole have been there? no. But then again, no luger was ever ejected from a course. This was a tragic accident. The luger died during his 26th run down the course. Canadians, as you have said, have done hundreds of runs, and no one died. Does that mean the course is too much? I don't think the world should be dumbing down the tracks in order for more people to be able to compete. As we all know, the course has been approved for several years, and has been open for just as long.

How about that improptu "O Canada" during the GB and Canada Curling game on Saturday? It's moments like that are just awesome!

How about this curler?  

Hello again all!! IHAP, pour yourself a vodka and tang!

Quoting canoecarrier (Reply 79): The reason I disagree with this is there were something like 64 women athletes in the Super G. NBC probably showed us around 10 of them. Just because "it's always been this way" doesn't make it right. If you can, find a link and stream Eurosport during the men's Super G. Then watch it on NBC later in the day. There's a noticeable difference.

I didn't say it made it right. I just said it's consistent with coverage we have gotten used to seeing.

As much as I love watching the olympics, I don't think I could sit through 60 athletes in the Super G. And if I can't, there is no way in hell the average casual viewing American can. Like I said, I am happy as long as I get to see a little bit of everything, and the bit I care most about is seeing the medal rounds and contenders.

I do agree though...there should be a place to watch live coverage if one wishes. But network NBC isn't the place for it IMO.

[Edited 2010-02-21 17:34:07]

Quoting AirframeAS (Reply 75): Oh, I found this....

No good pics ofhte Canadian red head.

Quoting ScarletHarlot (Reply 85): Hello again all!! IHAP, pour yourself a vodka and tang!

There she is. Good to see you. I was watching the mens curling.....wasnt into it as much.


Come to think of it, if women's curling was required to be done while wearing swimwear, the sport would jump.

In fact, any winter sport in a swimsuit.....now there's an idea

sad story for a canadian athelete: http://www.ctvolympics.ca/figure-ska...l#tragedy+strikes+joannie+rochette

Joannie Rochette's mother passed away shortly after arriving in vancouver to see her daughter compete.

Quoting RayChuang (Reply 69): If Canada loses to the USA in men's hockey tonight, I'm staying SOUTH of the US-Canadian border.

I guess you are staying here. We have better snow anyway  

5-3 final, USA.

Quoting Dreadnought (Reply 89): 5-3 final, USA

Crap.   

Awesome hockey game! Poor Canadian Fans though  . Like everyone else I'm disappointed with the NBC coverage of these games, my favorite events to watch are the alpine ski events and the coverage has been dismal. Great to see Miller come back from the disappointments of Torino to prove that he's one of the best, and even better to watch Vonn's reaction when she completed her downhill run. It wasn't perfect, but she knew when she landed the last jump that she'd won, and with the pain of her shin injury it must have been especially sweet. NBC did show some cool super slow motion shots of her legs moving around in her ski boots during the hard turns of her run, makes you realize what an absolute beating your legs and shins take during a downhill race. Speaking of Vonn, she is clearly a very attractive lady, though I think she's topped by Gretchen Bleiler of the US Women's halfpipe team. Seems like the winter olympic athletes are much more attractive IMO than the summer athletes on the women's side, and to prove it here's an obligatory shot of a scantily clad Bleiler-

Quoting AirframeAS (Reply 75): Oh, I found this....

The Vancouver Sun had another good group of photos on women's curling today
http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/2...Olympic+curling/2592537/story.html

Quick update that I will forever call "The Day After"...so NBC and Comcast did figure out that it would be neat to show the US/Canada hockey game live, even out West. I think someone called them to let them know there are several NHL teams and a number of life long fans living in the hinterland. But just so you guys know I wasn't losing my mind yesterday...NBC and COMCAST showed the game in LOW DEF on regular MSNBC while the replayed the Czech/Russia game AT THE SAME TIME in high def! I have to apply for a senior executive job at these places because there is no question, I guarantee that it is a scientific fact that I would be the smartest person in either place. Between me and my pet monkey we could do a better games than these witless twits.

Anyway, the glorious US victory over the Unsinkable Canadians has at least soothed my soul. Ryan Miller, the boy was off his rocker last night.

Quoting canoecarrier (Reply 79): Most of the weekday coverage is not live on NBC. Some of the curling events are being carried live on CNBC or MSNBC. I've watched all the alpine events live online through Eurosports nearly 10 hours before they are shown on NBC.

If you have internet access its live on NBCOlympics.com, that's what I meant.   But you have to be a cable subscriber to a partner cable provider to view coverage there.

Canadian women are doing nicely against Sweden in this afternoon's curling game. Both teams would really like this win to solidify their position into the playoffs.

Another gold, and two bronse to Norway...

Quoting canoecarrier (Reply 92): The Vancouver Sun had another good group of photos on women's curling today

Good man. A few lookers. Seriously, interesting sport.

Quoting mirrodie (Reply 97): Seriously, interesting sport.

First time I saw someone curl I was in Ft. St. John, BC. I've always loved the game, we don't always get it here in the US, but sometimes it's on the CBC. One of the few sports I think the difference in skill between women and men isn't that much, if at all.

Quoting Mortyman (Reply 96): Another gold, and two bronse to Norway...

Good for Norway, great showing this olympics so far. I saw someone today on the vancouver sun say something about how of course the US should have more medals than Canada they are 1/10th the size of the US. Norway doesn't make excuses about your population, you just go out and win events. Great job!

Quoting YooYoo (Reply 7): My biggest disapointment is the Snowboarding Halfpipe. Yes, it's amazing what they can do and i appreciate it, but i'm not too much into a judged sport and that includes figure skating et al and some of the boarders have their pants hanging down around their ass, listening to their ipods, jamming their boards in the camera for all to see their sponsor, it just turned me off so i turned it off. Ya, i know, it's a grumpy old man comment

You know, I guess I can see your point. The one thing I noticed about the American snowboarders is that they all wore blue jeans. Or at least that was what I saw. Were blue jeans encouraged to be part of the "uniform?