This year's new event will be the Ski Cross. Some of you may remember last year's new event, Boarder Cross, which was the same event for snowboarders. Basically, four skiers at a time launch and head down the hill, whoever finishes first (if any finish at all), wins the round, and advances.
I've read a lot of complaining that Ski X gets to be its own Olympic sport when female Ski Jumpers have been clamoring for a women's medal event for years. The IOC said that there aren't enough female jumpers, and the male jumpers tend to be a little snooty by saying the women would get injured. Female jumpers are quick to point out that there are more jumpers in some individual countries than there are Ski X participants in the entire world. The reasoning isn't hard to discern though. X Games sports are exciting and boost coverage. It's why the halfpipe, Boarder X and Ski X are even events, despite the fact that they tend to be dominated by the same three or four nations (and most of those medals go to Americans).
The US skiing team is considered particularly strong this year. And there are a few medal contenders for figuring skating, which will be a tough competition as always. Chinese skaters are expected to burst onto the scene this year in a way they haven't in the past, possibly wrenching away control of the medals from a small group of nations that tends to frequent the podium more often than not.
More news as I find it. 8 days until the opening ceremony.
Posted by Mucus (Member # 9735) on :
Huh. Only 8 days? There has been remarkably little news here (Kitchener, ON and media as in Toronto Star/Globe/National Post) for an Olympics. The medal rally is especially lacklustre IMHO.
Posted by The White Whale (Member # 6594) on :
So what are you all going to follow?
I'll be following hockey because my team's goalie is the first string US Olympic goalie. And hockey is just plain old awesome.
And curling, when I can. I still can't believe it's an Olympic sport, so I watch it with a sort of befuddled awe.
Posted by Mucus (Member # 9735) on :
I usually make an effort to watch the opening and closing ceremonies Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
I usually watch pretty much everything except cross country skiing and the ski jump. Aerials I really like though.
Posted by Carrie (Member # 394) on :
I'm a bit of an Olympics junkie, so I'll watch whatever I can find.
Except ice dancing. I can't get behind that. Anything else, though - I'm totally there. Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
Should be fun, Jenni is a skating junkie because she use to skate.
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
No real chance of a US female skater this year winning anything. At least, it's unlikely. Taiwan, Japan, Canada ,and China all have medal contenders. The US has a good chance for two medals in ice dancing, maybe one in pairs, and maybe one in men's singles. Apparently Evgeni Plushenko came out of retirement, so that should be interesting. He always had fun footwork. Either way, it looks to be a fun year if you just like the sport and don't care who wins.
Posted by Xavier (Member # 405) on :
This will be the first year that it's on and we have a DVR. Before I'd watch pretty much anything that was on and I happened to be watching TV. Now I'll get to pick and choose. I wonder if I'll lose some of the fun of watching when I am overloaded with options.
I'll for sure watch a lot of hockey this year. Especially when Canada, US, Russia (and to a lesser extend Sweden, Finland, and Czech Republic) are playing each-other. Other than that I'll probably record a whole bunch, and fast forward through events if they bore me.
Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
I'm an Olympics junkie so I'll watch a lot of it, I'm sure. I prefer the Summer games - more of my favorite sports, but if I have a choice between most of television and Olympic competition I'll almost always choose the Olympics. Heck, I even watched curling once. Posted by Mucus (Member # 9735) on :
Opening Ceremony today! (Hopefully CBC/CTV(?) will have live feeds)
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
For any American ski fans: Lindsey Vonn may not participate in the Olympics due to a fall she took earlier in the week in practice. This mirrors exactly what happened to her before Torino.
Posted by Fitz (Member # 4803) on :
I won't link to any video of the crash, but it's pretty awful.
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
They keep calling it "Vancouver, Canada" on the TV news. Which sort of sounds like, "Chicago, United States" to me. Shouldn't it be "Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada"?
Posted by Mucus (Member # 9735) on :
Results 1 - 10 of about 525,000 for "Chicago, United States". (0.13 seconds) Results 1 - 10 of about 531,000 for "Chicago, Illinois, United States". (0.15 seconds)
Results 1 - 10 of about 4,450,000 for "Vancouver, Canada". (0.63 seconds) Results 1 - 10 of about 1,940,000 for "Vancouver, BC, Canada". (0.28 seconds) Results 1 - 10 of about 1,240,000 for "Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada". (0.34 seconds) Results 1 - 10 of about 10,800,000 for "Toronto, Canada". (0.17 seconds) Results 1 - 10 of about 2,910,000 for "Toronto, Ontario, Canada". (0.23 seconds)
Results 1 - 10 of about 5,730,000 for "Los Angeles, United States". (0.26 seconds) Results 1 - 10 of about 11,500,000 for "Los Angeles, California, United States". (0.28 seconds)
I dunno, it is only four cities but it seems like you guys like the state/province name more?
Posted by theresa51282 (Member # 8037) on :
Looking forward to the opening ceremonies in just a bit. Sorry the Olympics had to start off with such sad news about the Georgian luger. I was surprised they didn't pad the steel with something for cases like this.
Posted by Ron Lambert (Member # 2872) on :
News reports said the luger came off his sled, and his helmet came off his head and went rolling on down the run, so it was his unprotected body that hit the steel pole at 80 mph. Even padding the pole probably would not have helped.
There have been many complaints from atheletes that this luge run is the most dangerous one in the world. Designers are trying to get more and more speed for the luges. If they are going to keep doing that, they should at least raise the walls higher. Maybe completely roof them over, with tiny CCD video cameras recessed inside the roof.
Posted by Ace of Spades (Member # 2256) on :
quote:Originally posted by Lisa: They keep calling it "Vancouver, Canada" on the TV news. Which sort of sounds like, "Chicago, United States" to me. Shouldn't it be "Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada"?
They should just call it "Canada". Nobody in America really knows the difference between Vancouver and Toronto and Alaska.
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
Americans aren't stupid...though, I did have to tell my best friend the other day where Vancouver is...::sigh::.
Mucus -
How do Canadians generally view their provincial identity? I'm thinking that might be the biggest factor.
Posted by Sean Monahan (Member # 9334) on :
That was an excellent performance of "O Canada".
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
I love "O Canada." I get chills whenever I hear it.
And I also love how Canadians always sing along with it in such numbers, and with such vigor. It's a song that makes me happy.
Must be in my French-Canadian DNA somewhere. Some sort of triggered genetic patriotic response.
Posted by Launchywiggin (Member # 9116) on :
I like "O Canada", too--but the arrangement was SO SLOW. After 30 seconds it just began to drag and plod along. With such a slow tempo, the ends of each phrase lose energy and disrupt the flow of the song. I can stand a rubato interpretation (like the way we usually hear The Star Spangled Banner these days), but they turned it into a dirge!
Despite that, the singing was very good.
Most annoying: The Olympic Anthem sung by Mrs. Mile-Wide Vibrato. It sounded like a parody. It boggles my mind that the style is considered high art.
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
quote:Most annoying: The Olympic Anthem sung by Mrs. Mile-Wide Vibrato. It sounded like a parody. It boggles my mind that the style is considered high art.
Agreed.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
I thought k.d. lang nailed it, as did the girl who sung O Canada. Sarah McLachlan was awesome too.
[ February 13, 2010, 05:31 AM: Message edited by: Kwea ]
Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
"Vancouver, Canada" sounds perfectly normal to me and I am a Canadian, so I guess it's not out of the ordinary. Everyone knows where Vancouver is. "Vancouver, British Colombia, Canada" sounds highly redundant and long.
I watched the Opening Ceremonies on CTV's online feed, which was great, since I don't have a television.
I have very mixed feelings about the Opening Ceremony. First, I was glad it wasn't embarassingly horrible. Canadian events of this kind can be very uninspired. I thought it pulled it off: the tree and fiddling (and the Orcas!) sequences were good (although who knew punk fiddling was so much a part of our culture?)
Secondly, though, I thought it was a little uninspired. A whole five minutes of the boy flying through the field was tiresome (and named after an extremely boring book). The endless singer/songwriters was also tiresome, and more like a concert than an opening ceremonies. I appreciate they need music, but our country has choirs, instrumentalists (other than fiddlers) and orchestras. I felt that after a while the "list of Canadian singers" became (extremely) tiresome.
I felt that the show could have been more purposeful. It was slow and it lost its way as it went.
Canada still has a ways to go when it comes to creating a large scale show, but from what I've heard it was considerably better than Calgary Olympics, so perhaps we're improving.
Posted by theresa51282 (Member # 8037) on :
I thought the ceremony probably fell somewhere along the C, C- scale if I was giving it a letter grade. There were parts that were interesting and beautiful. Singers I thought did a terrific job. But it didn't really have much of a wow factor for me. There wasn't much that I think I will be talking about or thinking about by teh next Olympics. Certainly nothing that rose to the level of extraordinary as the Beijing Olympics did for me.
Posted by Tarrsk (Member # 332) on :
The whales and the fiddle dancers were great. The kid flying over amber blocks of grain became boring after the first 30 seconds or so. The other stuff was good but not particularly memorable
Overall, a solid B-, I thought. I appreciated that they didn't even try to compete with the Chinese culture show - no way is a country of 33 million going to outdo the ludicrous display of manpower that a nation of 1.3 billion can manage.
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
Most of the commentators talking about the opening ceremonies noted that while it might not have been as big or outwardly impressive as China's was two years ago, it was impressive, not for its scale, but for its diversity, its welcoming, its comfort, and its sense of community. In other words, it wasn't big and flashy, because Canadians aren't big and flashy.
I missed a lot of it. I SAW a lot of it, because we had it on the big screen at the restaurant, but the sound didn't really bleed into the kitchen. I heard kd lang, and wasn't impressed at first, but I thought she did okay by the end. Still not my favorite version of that song, but it was good. I'll have to catch some of these others when the whole thing makes it online.
Posted by Glenn Arnold (Member # 3192) on :
quote:They keep calling it "Vancouver, Canada" on the TV news. Which sort of sounds like, "Chicago, United States" to me. Shouldn't it be "Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada"?
quote:Tevye: Where are you going? Lazar Wolf: Chicago. In America. Tevye: Chicago, America? We are going to New York, America. We'll be neighbors.
I really like the design this year. It looks very organic, like the person in the video says, they look like ripples on the water. I thought China's two years ago with the jade inlaid were beautiful, and were also representative of the country, since we relate jade to China. In that sense, I think the natural looking design really helps bring out Canada as well.
They're unconventional, but I like them.
Posted by The White Whale (Member # 6594) on :
quote:Originally posted by Kwea: I thought k.d. lang nailed it, as did the girl who sung O Canada. Sarah McLachlan was awesome too.
Here's the official K.D. Lang Olympic version. It is really quite awesome. For some reason, you need to install Silverlight in the browser. But it's worth it.
ETA: The link! : KD Lang Hallelujah Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
Just watched Apollo win silver in the short track, man! what a thrilling race, not to mention an incredible finish. I felt terrible for the two Koreans.
I also watched the American skiers squelch Canada's attempts to shake the curse, at least tonight.
Posted by Ron Lambert (Member # 2872) on :
The luge track has had its wall raised significantly higher where the luger went over it. The starting point for the luge course was moved down about 600 feet, so the lugers will not develop quite such great speeds as before. Had these measures been taken earlier, the luger from the Republic of Georgia might have survived. I wonder if there will be lawsuits.
Some of the single men's lugers are still developing speeds up to 90 mph. So it is still a fast course.
I don't think it should be said that the Canadians are suffering from a curse just because one of their skiers came in with the silver medal in women's moguls. We should all be so "cursed"! But Yay for Hanna Kearney! USA!
Posted by Ace of Spades (Member # 2256) on :
quote:Originally posted by Ron Lambert: The luge track has had its wall raised significantly higher where the luger went over it. The starting point for the luge course was moved down about 600 feet, so the lugers will not develop quite such great speeds as before. Had these measures been taken earlier, the luger from the Republic of Georgia might have survived. I wonder if there will be lawsuits.
Some of the single men's lugers are still developing speeds up to 90 mph. So it is still a fast course.
I don't think it should be said that the Canadians are suffering from a curse just because one of their skiers came in with the silver medal in women's moguls. We should all be so "cursed"! But Yay for Hanna Kearney! USA!
She sacrificed a large portion of her life training for a race, only to lose. She might as well have stayed home.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
I didn't feel bad for those 2 Korean's at all. The only reason we didn't take the Gold is that they were bumping and pushing Apollo on the last 2 turns, and then tried to team skate and form a wall we couldn't pass. They should have been DQ'd as it was, but team skating is hard to prove.
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
The curse isn't no medals, it's that they're the only nation in Winter games history to not win a gold when hosting. And they've done it twice.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
quote:Originally posted by Ace of Spades:
quote:Originally posted by Ron Lambert: The luge track has had its wall raised significantly higher where the luger went over it. The starting point for the luge course was moved down about 600 feet, so the lugers will not develop quite such great speeds as before. Had these measures been taken earlier, the luger from the Republic of Georgia might have survived. I wonder if there will be lawsuits.
Some of the single men's lugers are still developing speeds up to 90 mph. So it is still a fast course.
I don't think it should be said that the Canadians are suffering from a curse just because one of their skiers came in with the silver medal in women's moguls. We should all be so "cursed"! But Yay for Hanna Kearney! USA!
She sacrificed a large portion of her life training for a race, only to lose. She might as well have stayed home.
This may be the stupidest post I have read in quite a while. Talk about missing the entire point of competition, not to mention the Olympics in general.
Posted by Ace of Spades (Member # 2256) on :
The point is to win. You can tell who the winner is; she's the one wearing the gold medal.
Posted by Fitz (Member # 4803) on :
Though Ace of Spades is an obvious troll, he is being representative of a pervasive attitude in sports. Jennifer Heil, who's won multiple World Cup moguls events, as well as an Olympic gold medal in the 2006 Olympics, was clearly disappointed with 2nd place. For many athletes, 2nd place is just first loser. It's not my personal view, but it is the philosophy of a lot of training camps.
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
I'd say the point is to compete. Winning is something they all try really hard for, and losing can be a disappointment, but just being there, for a lot of them, is a win in itself.
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
quote:Originally posted by Kwea: I didn't feel bad for those 2 Korean's at all. The only reason we didn't take the Gold is that they were bumping and pushing Apollo on the last 2 turns, and then tried to team skate and form a wall we couldn't pass. They should have been DQ'd as it was, but team skating is hard to prove.
Jockeying for position is an intrinsic part of the sport. I don't think they were trying to team skate, especially since it was a Korean who hit the other Korean and thus opened the way for Apollo to move into second on the final turn.
Posted by Fitz (Member # 4803) on :
Alexandre Bilodeau just won gold in men's moguls. The "curse" is over.
Posted by Ron Lambert (Member # 2872) on :
Come on, Ace! It would be a great honor for anyone to win a silver medal in the Olympics!
Talk about training for a large portion of someone's life only to lose--what about Hanna Kearney? She had been favored to win in Torino, and wound up not even qualifying. But she came back four years later, and won the gold in Vancouver. That was a true triumph in every sense. That is the best of championship competition.
Sure, Jennifer Heil had winning the gold as her goal, and she has to be disappointed not to win it. Especially since she had it won with only one more competitor to ski, but that competitor was Hanna Kearney, who took the gold away from her with an even better performance on that very last ski. But I don't think that Heil will be ashamed when she tells her grandkids that she won a silver medal at the Vancouver Olympics. And she did win the gold in the Torino Olympics in 2006. She has a lot to be proud of.
The "Vince Lombardi" attitude that winning is "the only thing" is not real sportsmanship, no matter how many coaches in how many training camps may keep alive such a wrong way of thinking. Remember the famous Jamaican bobsled team, immortalized in the movie, Cool Runnings, whose sled broke down before they reached the finish line, but they picked up their sled and carried it over the finish line, to the wild cheers of everyone, who appreciated that demonstration of the true spirit of Olympic competition, which is supposed to be a celebration if what is good in the human spirit? Even winning the gold medal could never top that!
Like Fitz said, a Canadian finally won gold in men's moguls Sunday. So the "drought" is over! Letting down her country is a burden Heil will not have to carry. She still added to her country's total medal count.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
If you go there and do a personal best, it's a win. The vast majority of people who show up for that do not have any realistic chance of winning, yet they are there with smiles on their faces.
Plus, at the top of the game rankings, regardless of what sport it is, there is a point of diminishing return for effort and for skill. I talked about it in my landmark post, and it's even more true at the top of any ranking system. The level of competition is so high that many times the difference between 1st and 5th is highly subjective. Even when it is not subjective, it the people are so close in ability and present skill that one mistake, or one bad turn of weather while you are competing can kill your chance of a medal.
On any given day any of them could win, or beat anyone else out. If it was all about rankings, why even have a competition?
Because all that proves is who is better THAT day, THAT time.
And no one with a clue can say any different.
While IN the event, of COURSE you focus on winning. It's the only way to completely focus. But to say that someone winning anything other than Gold is a loser is the definition of ignorance.
I wish I was the second best pool player in the world, that's for sure. Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
I could easily settle for 100th best piano player in the world based on technical skill. But unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, I will have to work to get there, as there is no other way available.
Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
So much in these sports is totally out of the Atheletes control. A lot of the time, they're racing against hundredths of seconds. It's not a meaningfully large amount of time.
As far as I'm concerned, a lot of these golds and silvers are basically "on this day, at this hour, taking this particular path down the mountain, I came a tenth or a hundredth of a second slower. We are basically equal."
It's nice to get that gold medal and disappointing to miss it, but winning or getting second, there's a lot of luck. I think that Canada has been awfully negative about Jennifer Heil's medal. She won a silver medal! That's great! CTV has been reasonably good at saying, "no, she didn't lose gold she won silver."
Congratulations to Jennifer Heil and all athletes who make it to the Olympics. You made it to the Olympics, guys! That's incredible!
Posted by The White Whale (Member # 6594) on :
Disclaimer: the following anecdote is not intended to compare my high school grades with Olympic Athlete achievements.
My senior-year GPA in high school (78 students) was one of around a dozen that were all within 0.05 grade points. And the silly think was that these dozen-or-so students were all my closest friends. So when we got out class rankings, and saw how ridiculous the differentiation was, we all accepted it as absurd. There was no animosity or competition.
I hope the Olympic athletes feel the same way. To get to the Olympics at all puts you in the best-in-the-world category, and the silly hundredths of seconds that determines the color of your medal is really meaningless.
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
quote:Originally posted by Ace of Spades: The point is to win. You can tell who the winner is; she's the one wearing the gold medal.
Yo Ace of Spades I'm really happy for you and I'm gonna let you finish but Reshpeckobiggle was the greatest Olympics troll of all time
Posted by sinflower (Member # 12228) on :
I hope Shen and Zhao win today! They're so cute and incredibly good. And it's their last chance.
I think the Dube and Davison were overscored, but that's okay I suppose.
Posted by kmbboots (Member # 8576) on :
quote:Originally posted by Samprimary:
quote:Originally posted by Ace of Spades: The point is to win. You can tell who the winner is; she's the one wearing the gold medal.
Yo Ace of Spades I'm really happy for you and I'm gonna let you finish but Reshpeckobiggle was the greatest Olympics troll of all time
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
quote:Originally posted by BlackBlade:
quote:Originally posted by Kwea: I didn't feel bad for those 2 Korean's at all. The only reason we didn't take the Gold is that they were bumping and pushing Apollo on the last 2 turns, and then tried to team skate and form a wall we couldn't pass. They should have been DQ'd as it was, but team skating is hard to prove.
Jockeying for position is an intrinsic part of the sport. I don't think they were trying to team skate, especially since it was a Korean who hit the other Korean and thus opened the way for Apollo to move into second on the final turn.
Looked like they were trying to set up a wall against us, and one skated too close to the other.
2 laps before that one of them shoved him so bad it was obvious, and he got jostled out of his stride. Had teh one who did that not fallen, I am sure it would have been reviewed at the least.
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
quote:Originally posted by Kwea:
quote:Originally posted by BlackBlade:
quote:Originally posted by Kwea: I didn't feel bad for those 2 Korean's at all. The only reason we didn't take the Gold is that they were bumping and pushing Apollo on the last 2 turns, and then tried to team skate and form a wall we couldn't pass. They should have been DQ'd as it was, but team skating is hard to prove.
Jockeying for position is an intrinsic part of the sport. I don't think they were trying to team skate, especially since it was a Korean who hit the other Korean and thus opened the way for Apollo to move into second on the final turn.
Looked like they were trying to set up a wall against us, and one skated too close to the other.
2 laps before that one of them shoved him so bad it was obvious, and he got jostled out of his stride. Had teh one who did that not fallen, I am sure it would have been reviewed at the least.
Yeah I noticed the shove too after reviewing it today. That sort of behavior is unfortunately part of the sport as you can get away with it. I wish the athletes would check themselves, but with so much at stake, you're going to get the very best and worst out of people in these events.
Posted by Mucus (Member # 9735) on :
quote:Originally posted by Lyrhawn: How do Canadians generally view their provincial identity? I'm thinking that might be the biggest factor.
Well, before thinking too deeply about it, I wouldn't have thought that it was too different. However, I think I can convince myself that there is a bit of a difference, particularly in the Ontario case.
I find it hard to articulate precisely why though. Think muddled thoughts along the lines of how the Civil War, the 13 original states thing, and balance of power between the federal and provincial/states might have affected attitudes differently (except in Quebec).
quote:Originally posted by Launchywiggin: ... Most annoying: The Olympic Anthem sung by Mrs. Mile-Wide Vibrato. It sounded like a parody. It boggles my mind that the style is considered high art.
Yeah. On the other hand, during that performance I was thinking that she looked awfully tough. Like she could single handedly crush four of the female singers that performed as a quartet during the closing ceremonies of Beijing Olympics.
quote:Originally posted by Teshi: ... I have very mixed feelings about the Opening Ceremony. First, I was glad it wasn't embarassingly horrible. ... Secondly, though, I thought it was a little uninspired. A whole five minutes of the boy flying through the field was tiresome ...
Yep, sums up my thoughts well. (Also, is that person singing the song from Watchmen )
[ February 16, 2010, 01:17 AM: Message edited by: Mucus ]
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
You know I don't usually get that involved in the figure skating, but they've managed to make this pairs figure skating competition fairly exciting. I'm really rooting for this last Chinese pair.
Posted by Ron Lambert (Member # 2872) on :
The silver medal winning Chinese pair actually skated better in Monday night's competition than the Chinese pair that won the gold, but the latter did a much better short form the previous day, so the combined scores put them ahead.
It is surely a great day for the Chinese coach that his skaters came in 1 and 2 in this Olympics. Personal vindication in his decades-long effort to build the Chinese figure skating program into respectability.
Sad day for the Russians, who were shut out of Olympic medals for the first time in decades. They had been so dominant for so long!
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
Not only shut out, but it was the first time the Russian's hadn't won gold in pairs in something like 50 years.
Posted by Sean Monahan (Member # 9334) on :
Though, at least one of those wins was a bit suspect.
Posted by Ron Lambert (Member # 2872) on :
Sean, you referred to the infamous scandal in the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City. Would it be reasonable to say that the judging of figure-skating in the Olympics has improved lately? I have heard no suggestions of anything wrong with the judging in the current Vancouver Olympics, other than complaints from some observers such as Dick Button that some of the recent requirements (such as skaters grabbing their skates in some positions) is unnecessary, contrived, and gets in the way of the artistry.
Posted by Mucus (Member # 9735) on :
quote:Originally posted by Lyrhawn: The curse isn't no medals, it's that they're the only nation in Winter games history to not win a gold when hosting. And they've done it twice.
Woo! Reversal!
quote:Canada have become the most successful ever hosts of a Winter Olympics after guaranteeing that they will finish top of the medals table in Vancouver.
With 13 golds, Canada have beaten the previous record - jointly held by the United States and Norway - of 10.
"We have come on strong and we thought we had the right plan," said Canadian Olympic Committee chief Chris Rudge.
"But I don't think in our wildest dreams we thought we'd get this many gold medals."
Ironically though, Canada have fallen short of their own definition of success which was to win more medals - of any colour - than any other team.
The vast majority of countries judge Olympic success on the basis of the number of golds won, but Canada and the US prefer to measure the total number of medals.
With 36 medals in all (nine gold, 14 silver and 13 bronze), the US comfortably beat any other nation on that measure. But Canada's 13 golds, three more than nearest rival Germany, ensure that most of the world view the hosts as the most successful team at the Games.
Luckily, I think I'm on record as being for the international measure in 2008.
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
Great job for Canada.
I personally trend towards total medals won. But I like the idea of sort of a weighting system. Weight golds as worth more, but don't totally discount silver and bronze. Why should only first place count?
Regardless, Canada has done an absolutely amazing job in these Olympics. Tomorrow is going to be an amazing game.
Posted by Mucus (Member # 9735) on :
Technically, in the international system, silver and bronze are still used to tie-break, so they aren't totally discounted.
But I agree that a weighing system would be preferable. That said, since the obvious merits of metric over imperial measurements are still being fought over, the actual parameters used to weigh would probably be harder to find broad agreement on.
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
Nice. Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
Medal count should also be modified by percentage of the country able to participate: population, percent of the population able to participate (e.g. age, reasonable access to relevant sports geographically or economically) etc.
However, either way, Canada did splendidly.
Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
Canada did wonderfully, as did the US. The US surpassed its record of total medals in a winter games, and we were weaker in some areas (like Ladies figure skating) than we normally are yet worn medals in area we traditionally have not done well (Nordic combined, for one).
Posted by Mucus (Member # 9735) on :
Teshi: Again, the parameters and weighing would be heavily debatable.
But, I guess we could take advantage of that debate by looking at what odds were given before the games. It doesn't look like Intrade has anything for the Olympics but there is this gambling site:
quote:Germany is expected to dominate everyone in the Vancouver Olympics this year and the betting odds show them as the 1/1 even money favorite. ... The Germans do have a bit of competition if they want the top spot in the gold medal count for the Vancouver games. The United States is supposed to be a prime contender and their betting odds for the Winter Olympics are at 7/2 as the 2nd choice. Russia and Canada should also figure into the top spot in the gold medal count and both countries are listed at 4/1 betting odds in Vancouver.
Norway at 10/1 odds for the 2010 Winter Olympics figures to be the only other country with a real chance at winning the gold medal count. There are some 100/1 long shots if you are feeling lucky and those are the betting odds for China, Finland, Holland, and Japan to top the gold medal count.
4:1 odds are pretty good in terms of being an unexpected result. (But I'm not much of a gambler)
Posted by Ron Lambert (Member # 2872) on :
Canada won the big showdown hockey game this afternoon against the USA for the gold medal, with a score of 3-2 in overtime. They will of course be celebrating north of the border.
We Americans regard Canadians as our little cousins, so naturally we are proud when they do well.
Although, it should be noted that the USA defeated the same Canadian team when they met earlier, 5-3. Perhaps we should have another game, to make it best 2 out of 3.
Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
Woot!
It is pretty crazy up here. I'm stuck at home, but there is a lot of partying. I knew we had won from the cheering in the streets, rather than the internet.
Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
I totally agree with the need for a best 2 out of 3 game! But, honestly, for Canada to win the gold and the US to win the silver is a nice way to end the Olympics. I like seeing the host country do well - and I find myself now wanting to visit British Columbia for a vacation because I've been sold on how beautiful it is. They seemed to do a great job hosting and from what I could see it was a very successful winter Olympics.
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
I was totally okay with Canada winning. I've got maple syrup in my blood, so my Canadian half was very happy. Posted by Mucus (Member # 9735) on :
In honour of the closing ceremonies, I'll have to quote myself from the other thread
quote:Originally posted by Mucus:
(But seriously, this music is pretty bad)
Edit to add: Ok, now its really bad.
[ February 28, 2010, 10:55 PM: Message edited by: Mucus ]
Posted by Ron Lambert (Member # 2872) on :
Lyrhawn, I prefer my maple syrup from Vermont, or northern New York. I think there are some farms here in Michigan that produce it, too. Some people will be mapling in the spring and fall anywhere that sugar maples grow--which is a very wide area. I've tapped maple trees for sap here in southeastern Michigan. The challenge is in boiling it down 20:1 for sugar maple sap, or up to 50:1 for other kinds of maples, to get syrup--without making the wallpaper in your kitchen peel. (Pros do it outdoors, in little shacks.)
You can get sap from some other kinds of trees, too, and boil it down for syrup. I did it once from a water birch tree, and the syrup tasted like sweet potatoes.
Posted by The White Whale (Member # 6594) on :
Maple syrup from anywhere outside of Vermont ain't nothin' but nasty sugar goo.
And those closing ceremonies where painful. Giant inflatable beavers and moose? Really?
I drove back home to watch the gold medal hockey game with my brothers and father. We were torn: we all follow the Buffalo Sabres, so my brother declares "We are cheering for Miller and Canada." It was a confusing blend of emotions at the end.
And really, what more can you want? U.S. and Canada going to overtime? I guess a shootout would have been fantastic. And after that great game, the U.S. team looked WAY to upset to receive the silver, IMO.
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
quote:Originally posted by Ron Lambert: Lyrhawn, I prefer my maple syrup from Vermont, or northern New York. I think there are some farms here in Michigan that produce it, too. Some people will be mapling in the spring and fall anywhere that sugar maples grow--which is a very wide area. I've tapped maple trees for sap here in southeastern Michigan. The challenge is in boiling it down 20:1 for sugar maple sap, or up to 50:1 for other kinds of maples, to get syrup--without making the wallpaper in your kitchen peel. (Pros do it outdoors, in little shacks.)
You can get sap from some other kinds of trees, too, and boil it down for syrup. I did it once from a water birch tree, and the syrup tasted like sweet potatoes.
It was a joke. Posted by Foust (Member # 3043) on :
quote:Although, it should be noted that the USA defeated the same Canadian team when they met earlier, 5-3. Perhaps we should have another game, to make it best 2 out of 3. [/QB]
It's worth pointing out that this was the second Canada/US gold medal game in the 21st century, and we've won both. Four years from now, it'll be a three for three sweep.
I live in Seoul, and had to wake up at 4 am and go to a bar owned by Canadians to watch the game. It was packed, like, fire code violation packed. A vocal cadre of Americans off in the corner. Misery and silent stares at them as they chanted "USA! USA!" after that ridiculous goal in the third period. Absolute chaos when Crosby pulled off the OT goal.
Posted by Ron Lambert (Member # 2872) on :
The symbol on the Canadian flag is a red maple leaf--which has to be from a red maple. Sugar maple leaves turn yellow in the fall. So maple syrup cannot really be a Canadian symbol. They should put Dudley Doright on the Canadian flag instead of the red maple leaf. At least then people wouldn't call it "a nosebleed."
Dudley Doright on the flag would be great, to go along with their Loonie Tunes money. ("Loonies" and "Toonies" are what Canadians call their one dollar and two dollar coins. Loonies have a picture of a loon on them.)
I'm kidding. I love Canadians. They're the hobbits of America.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
It was a hell of a hockey final, and it was won in a great way. IF you are going to lose, let it be in overtime, with the best hockey player of this generation scoring the winning goal against you.
Hell of a job by BOTH goaltenders. I thought Canada should have scored at least 3 times in overtime, and the US almost scored 2-3 times as well, including a heck of a slap shot for our least shot on goal.
I LOVE seeing good hockey, and this game was wonderful.
Posted by Ron Lambert (Member # 2872) on :
It will probably be remembered as the hockey game of the century.
Posted by Foust (Member # 3043) on :
Yeah, Ryan Miller was a beast for the whole tourney.
Ron, the taunting's ok. We'll let our skates do the talking for us.
Posted by Ron Lambert (Member # 2872) on :
That's one of the things I like about Canadians. They can take a little kidding. Then every once in a while they come back with something like the Canadian lighthouse vs. the U.S. carrier task force. One of the funniest jokes ever!
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
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