The Winter Olympics 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Oh Canada

[Marc]

Yes, I know, I'm far too early.

Still: from February 12th the Winter Games will be ON!

Being a Dutchie myself, I will be looking forward to the speedskating events. But there are a lot of winter sports that I like to watch, especially ice hockey.

Any fans of the Winter Olympics around on this board?

And, if I may ask (just curious), is our beloved board composer related to one of my childhood heroines .... who won Olympic Gold at the precious age of SIXTEEN?

[

She had a dramatic race against Canadian Sylvia Burka, who refused to give Henning the right of way at the crossing. Still, Anne Henning was the fastest of them all in a new Olympic record!

http://www.youtube.com/v/my2SWVLy1EY

[bhodges]

Despite having no family history of participation in winter sports ( ) I'm a big fan of the Winter Olympics, especially the luge, bobsled, aerial skiing and snowboarding events.  Will definitely be watching (and talking with friends in Vancouver). 

--Bruce

[Brahmsian]

I'm a huge fan of the Winter Olympics, way more than the Summer Olympics.

I pretty much would enjoy watching any of the events.

In Ice Hockey, any of the big 6 teams (Canada, US, Russia, Czech Rep., Finland, Sweden) could win the gold (basically toss a 6 sided coin to determine the winner).

[Marc]

And, for lonesome cowboy Bill ....

having the opportunity to get aroused by the screaming (ice)floor cleaning curling ladies!

[Cato]

Mrs. Cato might want to watch the ice-skating.

I keep waiting for Extreme Gladiatorial Snowball Fighting to be accepted, but so far no luck!   0:)

[Marc]

Mrs. Cato might want to watch the ice-skating.

I keep waiting for Extreme Gladiatorial Snowball Fighting to be accepted, but so far no luck!  0:)

Ice-skating: is that figure or speed skating?

And about the Gladiators: say no more.
I think, back in Lake Placid 1980, I could have gained myself a gold medal. I mean, I was a lousy sportsman at school, but hey, did I flourish in those hazy shades of winter!

[Marc]

Already one of the Gladiators has lost his life.



A tragic start of the Olympics, the fatal crash of Georgian luge athlete Nodar Kumaritashvili, even before the Opening Ceremony. Only 21 years of age ....

R.I.P.

[Opus106]

basically toss a 6 sided coin to determine the winner.

We call that rolling a fair die in these parts.

[Scarpia]

Already one of the Gladiators has lost his life.



A tragic start of the Olympics, the fatal crash of Georgian luge athlete Nodar Kumaritashvili, even before the Opening Ceremony. Only 21 years of age ....

R.I.P.

It seems ridiculous to have a row of exposed steel columns beside the track just beside the exit to a turn with no guardrail.  Has that track been used in competition before, or was it built for the olympic games this year? 

[Brahmsian]

It seems ridiculous to have a row of exposed steel columns beside the track just beside the exit to a turn with no guardrail.  Has that track been used in competition before, or was it built for the olympic games this year?

Just built this year.  Even the more experienced lugers are calling it a very, very dangerous track.  Simple common sense would seem to dictate to put up a high guard wall around that last sharp turn, and make sure that those metal beams had more than ample cushioning on them.

Shame on the organizers for overlooking something so simple.  This should not have happened.  Terrible senseless tragedy.  Even someone like you and I should be able to go down that track and not fly off the track.  That's just ludicrous.

[karlhenning]

Wonderfully engaging opening ceremonies last night.  I don't normally watch that sort of thing, so this was a most pleasant surprise!

[Gurn Blanston]

Wonderfully engaging opening ceremonies last night.  I don't normally watch that sort of thing, so this was a most pleasant surprise!

Yes, it was very good. Particularly in that they didn't attempt to challenge the Chinese extravaganza, which was unsurpassable IMO. They entirely went their own way, with nice results. 

[Tapio Dmitriyevich]

I'm not interested in winter olympics.

[Gurn Blanston]

I'm not interested in winter olympics.

Excellent, thanks for letting us know that. I was kinda wonderin'; "Yeah, but what does Würstwasser think?".



----------------
Listening to:
Cappella Coloniensis / A. Spering / VokalEnsemble Köln - Hob 24a 02 Cantata in G  "Destatevi, o miei fidi"  pt 1 - Récitativo "Destatevi, o miei fidi"

[Marc]

Sidney Crosby (superiour ice hockey player for the Canadians) has got it all to do, now that his Dutch 'look-a-like' Sven Kramer already has collected Olympic gold (5 kilometers ice skating).
With a huge surprise silver medal winner from Korea, called ..... (what was his name again .....?) .... errr ..... LEE!

Also enjoyed the ski jumping, and was pleased to see another veteran, Adam Malysz from Poland, perform very well to win silver. The faves from Austria disappointed on the whole, though Gregor Schlierenzauer managed to get the bronze.
That's the great thing about the Olympics: the Nice Surprise!.
Let's have a Tropical one this year!

[springrite]

I won't have much time to watch, but I think we will definitely be watching curling and figure skating. I will be watching some luge, downhill and ski jumping.

They should at least make snowball fighting an exhibitiion sport!

[suzyq]

I wish there were a way to watch the Olympics on the net. 

Figure skating is a favorite of mine and their coverage is for the birds.  Today
Sunday is the Pairs Competion - they show one or two pairs and they jump to some other sport - then two more and so on.  NBC dosen't do this with other sports.

They have several channels that they can use to show this competition. 

Thanks for letting me vent - still don't know why they don't show the entire Pairs - bet they mess up the rest of the Figure Skating Competition.

[kishnevi]

There is, btw, an baroque angle on the Olympics.

[Gurn Blanston]

I wish there were a way to watch the Olympics on the net. 

Figure skating is a favorite of mine and their coverage is for the birds.  Today
Sunday is the Pairs Competion - they show one or two pairs and they jump to some other sport - then two more and so on.  NBC dosen't do this with other sports.

They have several channels that they can use to show this competition. 

Thanks for letting me vent - still don't know why they don't show the entire Pairs - bet they mess up the rest of the Figure Skating Competition.

Actually, they DID show the entire pairs short program, Suz. It was live, and there was a long pause between each of the groups of 4 or 5 pairs. So in that pause, they showed other sorts, also live. Otherwise, what? We would have been sitting there watching the Zamboni?   I know that's fun in person, but on TV?

[springrite]

Don't you just love Women's Hockey? Unless it is Canada vs. USA, the scores will be XX to zero. Canada beat Slovakia by ... well, I watched a small part and switched when it was 18:0. USA beat China 12 to 1, and China is supposedly one of the teams fighting for the bronze? Hehee...

The luge was exciting!