2010 Olympics (potential spoilers if you can't watch live)

[River]

Oh South Koreans hate Ohno. The guys who boxed him in and then crashed are, according to my labmate, going to get pilloried when they get back to Korea.

[halplm]

I know one of them was disqualified, so presumably even if they hadn't crashed, Ohno would have still gotten Bronze...

It's going to be interesting to see the 1000m and 500m as all these guys will be in the mix...

[halplm]

I put a spoiler warning in case anyone is dying to wait until NBC decides we're privileged enough to see with our eyes what's already happened...

I'm not saying I don't do that... while I knew who one the speed skating 5000 meter (and thus decided I could do something else), I avoided my computer all night for the 1500m final and teh mogul's final, which was fun to watch.

However, tonight I'm betting they'll be intermixing the interesting event (500m long track speed skating) with the also intersting for most (but not me) figure skating, so I'll know both results long before anyone waiting to see it here on the west coast... At least they're showing hockey live...

I imagine those that live in Seattle and such might get local broadcasts from Vancouver... but I have no doubt if they're getting it from NBC... they could probably watch it live in person, and drive home in time to see it on tv as if it were just happening... sigh...

[vison]

halplm, my sister-in-law is a figure skating judge. She isn't judging at the Olympics, but she has judged at a pretty high level. She was watching the Pairs with us last night.

It's really interesting to hear what she has to say about the skaters, most of whom she has at least met. And she knows the Canadian skaters pretty well, knows their coaches and choreographers, etc., and knows their programs inside and out. She knew when who was going to do what, when so-and-so turned a double into a single, that sort of thing.

Before the Canadian pair skated she said she was pretty sure the girl was not going to land that triple jump - and she didn't land it.

It's not "rigged", in the sense that "the fix is in", although it used to be. Now, the judges are accountable for their scores and the highest and lowest scores are not used. If there are 9 judges, in other words, only 7 scores will be used to calculate the marks.

Personally, I don't think any event requiring judges should be at any Olympics. If you can't measure it with a tape or a watch, forget it.

[Inanna]

That's cool, vison. What stories you must hear.

Personally, I don't think any event requiring judges should be at any Olympics. If you can't measure it with a tape or a watch, forget it.

But then it would all be about speed and distance.... I know what you mean, but well...

[yovargas]

And strength and the like. Pure physical ability.
I'm with vision on that one.

[halplm]

I don't have a problem with judges. Some events are a matter of who does what best, not just with the stopwatch or measuring stick. But with many events it has been proven without a doubt that the judges are biased. That I find problematic.

The more they adjust the rules to prevent it the better... But the fact is, if you're not a favorite of the judges going into the olympics, you're not going to win in several events. Figure skating (and even more dancing) is that case. I think the ski and snowboard events are more fair, but even then, there's an aspect of it.

The strict stopwatch events or team scoring events are certainly more justifiable... but when the judged events are clear... they are just as valid .

In any case, I can't wait for curling to start tomorrow

[vison]

Go, Kevin Martin, Go!!!!!!

[halplm]

I believe it's Go John Shuster Go!!!

Granted, the Canadians are much better than the American team, and probably would win say... 7 of 10 normally...

But anything can happen here .

US just tied up Germany, which is excellent. Canada seems to be sailing, but the surprise at the moment is that Sweden is beating Great Britain...

[halplm]

Ugh, I might have to pull for Canada in Curling... the US teams let me down a lot today. Granted, there were 3 measurements, one in each of the US losses... so a grand total of 1 inch about for 3 losses... sigh...

The US men really should have won against Norway... which would have been awesome...

[vison]

Don't despair, halplm. Like you say, anything can happen in the sports! And Norway is good, it's not like they never win.

Kevin Martin is just awesome, though. The guy is an amazing curler. On the other hand, so is that Scotch guy.

The women's curling is so different now. The Chinese women are looking like winning and who on earth ever heard of Chinese women curling?

[Frelga]

Curling is not my thang, but I did enjoy men's skating last night. I was giggling at the Russian guy who, in talking about the competition, kept saying "enemies" when he clearly meant "rivals," the word he finally remembered by the end of the interview. His skating was pretty impressive as far as I could tell, but I really could not fathom some of the other judging decisions. Some of those guys were at least as magnificent, to my eye. Should be fun tomorrow.

And what a shame for that poor Lindsey girl who fell in snowboarding. Although I almost felt worse for NBC, robbed of their "redemption" story.

[Primula Baggins]

I like the athleticism of the men's skating. I only saw a little of it, but I did see the Russian (and giggled over the "enemies").

Something about his eyes (and messy blond hair, and stubble) reminds me of the brothers Fara- and Boromir from the film, too, so his Denethoresque manner of speaking seemed to fit.

[Frelga]

Ha! Never thought of that, but you are right. He does have that hint of Numenorian hubris in him. It was also funny to see Dick Button, having dissed the Russian, be struck speechless to hear that the man's ambition is to be like him.

[halplm]

Indeed, vison, I had thought about it more. The US team play terribly against Germany, and much much better against Norway, so hopefully they build on it.

I think their skip is a bit frustrated, though, as he is making a lot of mistakes. Hopefully he can get back on track.

It was interesting, the US/Norway match ended exactly the same as the Canada/Norway one, the US just missed the last draw, while Canada hit it. Those are the kinds of things that separate the teams at this level...

[halplm]

Ugh, frankly, the US curlers have been embarassing thus far. It's unfortunate because they really only played poorly in one match, but they choked on their last shots in both of their other losses. I don't see how they make it to the medal round at 0-3* (the men that is, we'll see about the women today).

On the other hand, the US won 6 medals yesterday, and 3 golds, which was awesome. If you missed Shaun White's win in the halfpipe, find a video of it somewhere. The guy is light years beyond anyone else in his sport.

ETA:*0-4

[Nin]

Shaun White is awsome- I don't like snowboard, but this guy is just flying...

I have to keep my fingers crossed for some of the Swiss tonight (figure skating , curling.... so typing is difficult).

Nobody interested in cross-country skiing? And alpin? The female downhill was so tough! I could hardly watch it!

[Frelga]

We were watching alpine last night. What a tough course! And Lindsay Vonn went down it on one leg, basically.

Shaun White was an eyeopener and no mistake. How can one man be so much superior to all others in his sport?

[halplm]

The downhill was awesome, and it looks like the Super Combined was a good one today, so I might watch it when it's on later...

Nin, I must admit I'm always disappointed the US can't put better x-country teams out there... which is why I'm really excited about the US's Nordic Combined team this year.

It's difficult to figure out how Shaun White is so far ahead. He did stop training for any other events (he used to do skateboarding, as well as other snowboard events that aren't Olympic events), and focused on the halfpipe for the last year or two... which would help, of course.

[River]

Frelga, are you serious? Is that how she dealt with the shin thing?