Official 2014 Sochi Olympic Winter Games thread!

[jrmasm]

I am guessing he means timed sports are not subjective. You win or lose on your own skill (or lack thereof), not what someone else decides is acceptable.

Yeah, I got there eventually in my stream of consciousness.

 

[Jennasis]

I am guessing he means timed sports are not subjective. You win or lose on your own skill (or lack thereof), not what someone else decides is acceptable.

Oh. Well that's just nonsense then (not your explanation...LBIJim's sentiment IF that's what he meant).

 

[jrmasm]

They only way to ensure that would be to make it a junior-aged or younger tournament.

That confuses me. There are no non professional hockey players between the ages of 18 and 25? Really?

 

[Jennasis]

That confuses me. There are no non professional hockey players between the ages of 18 and 25? Really?

I agree with you. No more pro's. They can mine collegiate teams for their athletes.

 

[NaLisa]

Here's a good article about the Olympics moving away from amateur to professional athletes.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/22/opinion/greene-olympics-amateurs/

TV and money were the major impetus for change. And how can amateur athletes afford to train, travel and compete without sponsors, endorsements and a whole lot of cash? My recollection is that a lot of "amateur" athletes were not truly amateurs after all.

From the article:


What made it an easy sell was the suspicion that athletes from certain Eastern Bloc nations were de facto professionals anyway: They were supported full-time by their governments to train and compete. So, by the end of the 1980s, the move toward professionalization of the Olympics had gained full steam.

 

[declansdad]

That confuses me. There are no non professional hockey players between the ages of 18 and 25? Really?

At the Olympic level, they would be few and far between. You could look to the universities but they have their own version of the Olympics - The World University Games. The top players under 21 players will but playing in the Canadian Junior Hockey League and that is run in a similar manner to the NHL.

The issue of only being amateur athletes is that when you are talking athletes at this caliber, the term amateur is very different. The Soviet Union hockey team was a good example. They were considered amateurs because they weren't paid to play hockey, they were soldiers whose only job was to play hockey.

 

[Geoff_M]

What made it an easy sell was the suspicion that athletes from certain Eastern Bloc nations were de facto professionals anyway: They were supported full-time by their governments to train and compete. So, by the end of the 1980s, the move toward professionalization of the Olympics had gained full steam.

Um, it was a bit more than a "suspicion". The Soviet national hockey team wasn't known as the "Red Army" team for nothing. Officially, they were "soldiers" who just happened to be hockey players.

 

[jrmasm]

At the Olympic level, they would be few and far between. You could look to the universities but they have their own version of the Olympics - The World University Games. The top players under 21 players will but playing in the Canadian Junior Hockey League and that is run in a similar manner to the NHL. The issue of only being amateur athletes is that when you are talking athletes at this caliber, the term amateur is very different. The Soviet Union hockey team was a good example. They were considered amateurs because they weren't paid to play hockey, they were soldiers whose only job was to play hockey.

So the caliber of play goes down. Why is this a problem?

 

[PrincessKsMom]

Just saw a funny pic on FB.

American and Canadian hockey players and it says "GAME ON, LOSER KEEPS BEIBER"

 

[jrmasm]

Just saw a funny pic on FB. American and Canadian hockey players and it says "GAME ON, LOSER KEEPS BEIBER"

That's awesome!

I saw a comment on Espn yesterday that the Canadian hockey players could never win an argument over superiority since their country birthed Beiber.

 

[declansdad]

So the caliber of play goes down. Why is this a problem?

Why wouldn't you want to see the best at the Olympics and how would you keep a country from creating another team of "soldiers"?

 

[jrmasm]

Why wouldn't you want to see the best at the Olympics and how would you keep a country from creating another team of "soldiers"?

Because I would prefer to watch all the best amateurs in the world at the Olympics. There are plenty of other opportunities to watch professional athletes.

 

[declansdad]

That's awesome!

I saw a comment on Espn yesterday that the Canadian hockey players could never win an argument over superiority since their country birthed Beiber.

Yes but he moved to the US. You all now have both Bieber and Celine Dion, good luck.

 

[jrmasm]

Yes but he moved to the US. You all now have both Bieber and Celine Dion, good luck.

Deportation is being worked on as we speak.

 

[soccerdad72]

I wonder if it would be possible to put the worms back in the can, so to speak, when it comes to professional athletes in the Olympics?

I mean, I know it wouldn't be that difficult for the NHL to just say that they won't shut down during the Olympics and I'm sure that would cut down on the number of pros playing. But would that result in amateurs playing again or would it just end up being a bunch of teams with ex-NHL'ers and/or minor league pros?

And I think it's completely impossible to create a completely amateur Olympics these days -- so many of the sports have pro tours now and the top athletes are paid pretty well.

 

[declansdad]

Because I would prefer to watch all the best amateurs in the world at the Olympics. There are plenty of other opportunities to watch professional athletes.

What is an amateur athlete?

 

[declansdad]

Woohoo! Curlers mine some gold!

 

[jrmasm]

What is an amateur athlete?

The simple answer is an athlete that does not receive monetary compensation for performing their sport.

Before you pick this apart, don't waste your time because I'm honestly not all that interested.

I just think it's silly to have sports like hockey in the Olympics when the top teams are just NHL teams mixed up.

And not just hockey but that's what we started talking about.

IMO, it cheapens the games. Again read IMO!!

 

[soccerdad72]

Woohoo! Curlers mine some gold!

Doesn't count as a "real" gold medal -- because the US sucks at curling.

I'm kidding, BTW.

 

[PrincessKsMom]

Woohoo! Curlers mine some gold!

Congrats! Just sad that "the pants" went out early.