XXI Olympic Winter Olympics Games Thread

[Bay Hill]

USA 1-0 at the end of 1

Give USA Network credit for now airing 1 ad during the peroid.

 

[Belle Ella]

USA 1-0 at the end of 1

Give USA Network credit for now airing 1 ad during the peroid.

And the fact that it's live - even here on the west coast. All of these time delays for primetime for everything else have been driving me batty.

 

[legalsea]

http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/world_inspired_by_first

The headline: World Inspired By First Snowman To Win Luge

(note: links to The Onion)

 

[declansdad]

That's a first for these games! Things were being canceled for lack of snow.

Actually the men's downhill was postponed a day because of 40 cm of new snow.

 

[Jennasis]

Is snowboard cross like a race? Just a little confused.

It is a race. It's BMX racing without the bikes. They use snowboards. 4 riders compete against each other at once. The track has bumps, jumps, dips, hills and curves.

 

[jen0610]

It is a race. It's BMX racing without the bikes. They use snowboards. 4 riders compete against each other at once. The track has bumps, jumps, dips, hills and curves.

And the riders can and do wipe out!! Loved the mens race last night. Can't wait for the womens races. Just hope Lindsey J doens't pull a bonehead move like the last time.

 

[CourtasanSatine]

Thanks Jennasis!

 

[jen0610]

I believe I have found the answer.

I remember when the rules were changed, for the summer games, allowing NBA professionals to play basketball. That first USA team (1992 Barcelona) had Charles Barkley, Larry Bird, Clyde Drexler, Patrick Ewing, Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan, plus others.

How proud we were to watch The Dream Team beat Croatia, Lithuania and Puerto Rico! Even mighty Angola could not withstand the onslaught!

(note: I am being sarcastic. I recall not watching any of the basketball games because I thought it was silly. Rather like watching the Harlem Globetrotters beat up on the Washington Generals game after game).

Anyway, it appears that by the 1996 games the amateur status requirement of all athletes was dropped for all fields, except for boxing.

I hope the above is accurate: I did not rely on Wikipedia for any of my information, so it should be close (Sports Illustrated was useful).

The "amature" stauts was mainly enforced by the US and a few other countries. Prior to the change, it was laughable what some countires claimed for the "pros" of their countires to be able to play. Most notable the 1980 US mens hockey team vs the USSR hockey team. That was truely a amature vs pro set as up as could have been found.

And you are very correct, in that the very first US basketball dream team, while they did enjoy their winning, we found it to be a bad joke. To stack the deck, per say, that badly, was and still leaves a bad taste in our mouths. To the point, that we still think that on the "big team rosters" that the spots should be filled 50/50 - pros/amatures.

 

[jen0610]

It's almost curlin' time!

I thought this was interesting for the Canadians team.

http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/va...curler-is-five-months-pregnant?urn=oly,219941

 

[Deb in IA]

And the riders can and do wipe out!! Loved the mens race last night. Can't wait for the womens races. Just hope Lindsey J doens't pull a bonehead move like the last time.

Just heard the women's snowboard cross was also postponed due to the weather.

 

[Jennasis]

And the riders can and do wipe out!! Loved the mens race last night. Can't wait for the womens races. Just hope Lindsey J doens't pull a bonehead move like the last time.

That's the best part of the race!

Jacobellis will likely never grab Method ever again.

 

[jen0610]

That's the best part of the race!

Jacobellis will likely never grab Method ever again.

DH just waits for the carnage that can happen. And with some of the wipe outs, you just gotta love DirecTV and the ability to rewind and watch over and over again. The mogul guy who, didn't get hurt, but took out the flag the other night was worth a few rewinds. When it's bad enough to seriously hurt someone, we don't rewind those.

 

[Deb in IA]

When it's bad enough to seriously hurt someone, we don't rewind those.

There's also raw footage from the fatal luge accident in the internet too - WARNING! It is pretty graphic. I'm glad they did not show it on the broadcast. It is bad.

 

[bouldertcr]

The "amature" stauts was mainly enforced by the US and a few other countries. Prior to the change, it was laughable what some countires claimed for the "pros" of their countires to be able to play. Most notable the 1980 US mens hockey team vs the USSR hockey team. That was truely a amature vs pro set as up as could have been found.

And you are very correct, in that the very first US basketball dream team, while they did enjoy their winning, we found it to be a bad joke. To stack the deck, per say, that badly, was and still leaves a bad taste in our mouths. To the point, that we still think that on the "big team rosters" that the spots should be filled 50/50 - pros/amatures.

Oh my, how I remember watching that history making game of the USA vs USSR hockey match. What a game that was!!! And what an outcome!

Also, I am all for purely amateur competition at the Olympic level. Call me a purist but that is what I believe.

Speaking of hockey! Way to go USA men beating the Swiss team.

 

[Bay Hill]

1-0 USA over RUS

They showed Brian Burke at the end of the USA game with the thumbs up.

 

[Bay Hill]

Curling is a lot of fun with the curling song...
http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/vancouver/blog/fourth_place_medal/post/-Curling-s-a-lot-of-fun-celebrating-the-best-i;_ylt=AiFtc_Y_OARZA5QlucIrH3t9sbV_?urn=oly,219929

3-0 USA over RUS

 

[Hidden_Mickey]

The US women's hockey team is kicking the Russian women's butts - it's 4 - 0 in the first period! It's on MSNBC.

 

[damo]

Not quite sure how a mercy rule would affect that. In any case, I guess I'm just being tender hearted. I just got the gears from my hockey playing DS who thinks it would be a stupid rule. His attitude is basically if you can't handle losing, don't play. Meh, what do I know, sports isn't my strong suit.

I think another huge problem with the mercy rule would be that the audience has paid good money to watch the game. Having it end early would not go over well.

 

[Bay Hill]

Canada wins another gold medal in Women's Snowboard XC...
http://www.ctvolympics.ca/snowboard/results-and-schedules/event=SBW490000/index.html

 

[Jennasis]

Canada wins another gold medal in Women's Snowboard XC...
http://www.ctvolympics.ca/snowboard/results-and-schedules/event=SBW490000/index.html

I though snowboard cross got postponed due to weather??? Dangit. I knew I should've avoided this thread until after the stuff aired tonight.