The Official Winter Olympics Thread

[WayAbvPar]

Best coverage is CBC. The Canadians are in damn near everything, so you get to see a wide variety. Plus they say a-boot, which is quite endearing.

[Strazos]

The webs on the suits is because they all wear Spyder ski gear - it's some of the best out there.

[Fabricated]

The only entertaining part about the olympics is when people fuck up. Sure, it's their dreams crumbling to nothing in front of the world, but damn.

[Paelos]

So...she's dead, right?

[Signe]

So...she's dead, right?

You are so innocent.  Of course she's dead.

[Wolf]

like dead for real? That's not really nice :/

[Signe]

like dead for real? That's not really nice :/

Sorry... I apologise.  I didn't realise you came here for the "nice".

[El Gallo]

Nothing here is real.

[Nebu]

Anyone listen to Bryant Gumbel go off on the Winter Olympics on his HBO sports show (Real Sports, I think it is)?   Basically, he said that the winter olympics were like a GoP convention in their ethnic diversity and nothing but filler for broadcasters until March Madness.  While I can see where he was going with the whole thing, it did make me feel badly for the kids that had devoted their lives to training for the winter events. 

[Murgos]

Because white people can't be REAL atheletes, am I rite Bryant?

[Strazos]

The only people keeping black people out of winter sports en masse are themselves....well, that, and there are not many opportunities to Ski or play Ice Hockey in Africa.

And lets be serious, dumbass Gumbel is pulling the race card. Fucking moron. If the Winter games are like a GoP convention, then what is the NBA, an NAACP conference?

[WayAbvPar]

Anyone listen to Bryant Gumbel go off on the Winter Olympics on his HBO sports show (Real Sports, I think it is)?   Basically, he said that the winter olympics were like a GoP convention in their ethnic diversity and nothing but filler for broadcasters until March Madness.  While I can see where he was going with the whole thing, it did make me feel badly for the kids that had devoted their lives to training for the winter events. 

Stinging commentary from Bryant Gumbel, the whitest black man that ever lived.

Although I don't think it is based on racism, he does have a point- not many Hispanic and African countries have the weather conditions to make training for many Winter Olympic sports feasible. I was happy to see that Kenya and Ethiopia both had 1 representative apiece- both cross country skiers. I would think that with the number of great distance runners that come out of Kenya especially that the cross country might be something they would gravitate toward.

[Strazos]

Also, there's nothing stopping countries with poor winter training conditions from training in other countries. I believe the UK does this for their Skiing atheletes (I am assuming they do field skiiers, etc).

[Nebu]

And lets be serious, dumbass Gumbel is pulling the race card. Fucking moron. If the Winter games are like a GoP convention, then what is the NBA, an NAACP conference?

Silly you.  Don't you know that the first statement is ok while the second blatently racist?  Making discriminatory comments only matters if you do it in a non-politically correct fashion!

My favorite comment by Gumbel was that there were no winter sports at the Greek Olympics, making them a farce.  Perhaps he could tell us what the score of the basketball game was at the first Olympic games.

[WayAbvPar]

Also, there's nothing stopping countries with poor winter training conditions from training in other countries. I believe the UK does this for their Skiing atheletes (I am assuming they do field skiiers, etc).

When you are having trouble feeding your populace, battling AIDS, hemmorhagic fevers, and civil wars, sending a few folks off to learn how to ice dance is pretty low on the radar.

[Murgos]

While there are obviously concerns with background (You are going to get better skiiers in a country where people learn to ski when they learn to walk) saying that since there are few black people in the winter olymipcs the sports are somehow less of a 'real' competition and that even though many millions of people watch it and there is near constant coverage on FOUR different stations that it is a "farce" is rather, err, farcical.

[Bunk]

I plan on only watching the US Men's Hockey, because that's really all I give a shit about.

*snicker*

[Paelos]

Has anyone else noticed how insanely young the snowboarding "experts" are? I think the chick that won the gold for the US halfpipe is 19. It's a very big indicator of who patently ridiculous the event is in the Olympics since the Americans almost swept the medals. The rest of the world seems to not have snowboarding on the radar while Americans have indulged in it for over a decade. I just think the inclusion was like, hmmm America needs more medals...snowboard!

[Margalis]

Winter Olympics are barely sports.

Everyone knows how to run and has some idea of how fast they are. Everyone jumps a few times in their lives. A lot of people ride bicycles.

NOBODY does Luge or Bobsled or Ice Dancing. Sports like that are impossible to take seriously because there are so few competitors. When you watch the NBA you know the guys there are good because there are millions of people all over the world who want to be in the NBA, and only a few of them can be. How many people in the world want to be a top Luge person? How many people in the world have ever tried something even remotely similar to Luge a single time in their lives?

The entire competitive nature of sports means nothing if the pool of potential participants is tiny. It's being the best out of 10 people - wow!

[Murgos]

There are millions upon millions of people who ski and ice skate.  Possibly even more than play basketball, large parts of the Earth get covered with ice and snow at various times of the year.

PS Your frame of reference is showing.

[Abagadro]

I set up a luge run in my backyard. But is only 3 feet long so I don't get much practice at any one time.

[WayAbvPar]

I set up a luge run in my backyard. But is only 3 feet long so I don't get much practice at any one time.

On the upside, the crashes are much less painful.

[Margalis]

There are millions upon millions of people who ski and ice skate.  Possibly even more than play basketball, large parts of the Earth get covered with ice and snow at various times of the year.

PS Your frame of reference is showing.

NOBODY does Luge or Bobsled or Ice Dancing.

Reading is hard I guess. Yes, people ski and skate, which is why I did not mention those. Luge though? Ice Dancing? Bobsled?

I'm fine with basic ski events. But about half of the winter olympic events are the equivalent of synchronized swimming. The summer olympics do have this problem as well but to a much lesser extent.

I can't even tell you what it takes to be good at Luge. I have some idea of how to be good at gymnastics or high jump - what skills does Luge even use? I literally have no idea. You lie on something and shift your weight around - did I leave something out?

[Murgos]

No I read fine you said, "Winter Olympics are barely sports." and followed that with pointing out how things people do all the time somehow make for better, more 'real', sports.  You used, "NOBODY does Luge or Bobsled or Ice Dancing." as specific examples but no where did you exclude any winter sports from your opening all inclusive statement.

I think I was quite correct in pointing out common activities of normal people as represented in the winter Olympics to counter your premise, since you made no effort to exclude those things.

Maybe you should pay attention to what you write?

[Margalis]

How about this: MOST PEOPLE don't do do MOST Winter Olympics sports.

Good enough?

Clearly NOBODY was a purposeful overstatement. Yes, there are at least 10 people on earth that Luge.

Edit: Let's settle this like real men - (Ice) dance off!

[Murgos]

How about this: MOST PEOPLE don't do do MOST Winter Olympics sports.

Good enough?

No, because many people do actually do most winter sports in some form.  Down hill sledding?  Done it.  Ice Skating? Done it.  Snow Skiing?  Done it. 

Your point sucks.

[Signe]

I once sledded (is that a word?  I'm sure the spell checker will tell me)  from the 5th ski lift in Taos, through the trees to the valley, on a toboggan.  It was the fastest ,most uncontrollable, scariest ride I've ever taken... including the one where Righ took me around Brand's Hatch.  It was also one of the most stupid things I've ever done and I do a LOT of stupid things... I couldn't see, I couldn't scream and I couldn't properly control the sled.  I'm lucky to be alive!

Spell check likes the word!

[Sky]

I used to luge when I was a kid. One of our local ski resorts had one.

[UD_Delt]

We also have a luge at one of the metroparks near me. It's set up next to the sledding hill. No room for ski slopes there though so you actually have to drive 20 minutes further to the south for skiing. I also live about 5 minutes away from a year round ice skating rink.

And speaking of winter vs. summer sports I'm honestly not sure if our high school had a track & field team. I don't think we did, I think it was just cross country. But we definately had a ski team.

[Strazos]

But we definately had a ski team.

I hate you. 

[UD_Delt]

But we definately had a ski team.

I hate you. 

Well I never got to participate as it was one of the pay-to-play teams at our high school and I was always the poor kid at the rich kid school (poor me). A season was something like $600 + equipment and if I wanted to do it would have had to pay for it myself. $600 is a lot of money to a 15-16 year old...

[Margalis]

Fine, I give up. Clearly the winter olypmics are full of very universal sports, which is why they are immensly popular. I forgot that nearly everyone on earth belongs to a ski club that has a luge track - silly me.

To sprint you need 100 meters of unobstructed terrain. To luge you need snow, a luge, a luge track, membership to a ski club, and a reason to luge. I don't know why I didn't see that they are basically equivalent.

Basically every person in the world runs at some point. I suppose most people luge as well. I'll count myself as part of the tiny non-luging minority.

I would also point out that to do winter sports of any kind you need snow and ice, whereas to do most summer sports you just need a roof. Although again that's just me being silly.

[Signe]

People laugh at me when I try to sprint.  Evidently, I run like a girl.

[UD_Delt]

Fine, I give up. Clearly the winter olypmics are full of very universal sports, which is why they are immensly popular. I forgot that nearly everyone on earth belongs to a ski club that has a luge track - silly me.

To sprint you need 100 meters of unobstructed terrain. To luge you need snow, a luge, a luge track, membership to a ski club, and a reason to luge. I don't know why I didn't see that they are basically equivalent.

Basically every person in the world runs at some point. I suppose most people luge as well. I'll count myself as part of the tiny non-luging minority.

I would also point out that to do winter sports of any kind you need snow and ice, whereas to do most summer sports you just need a roof. Although again that's just me being silly.

What the fuck? Why does something need to be immensely popular to exist?

[kaid]

Actually in a lot of nordic countries these kinds of sports ARE immensly popular. Is the winter olympics for everybody no but there is a good chunk of the populated landmass of this world that lives in areas that get enough snow and ice to enjoy these sports.

Hell look at some summer games.

Pole vaulting while neat to watch how many people really head out to the field with a long pole and start hurdling themselves 15 feet up?

Crew racing. Um if you can find a more elitist sport you would have to look hard.

Shot putting. Ya there is a huge following of people who watch burly guys chuck lead weights.

Both have some silly sports that you would likely never participate in nor probably even know somebody who does. This does not mean that the events are not sports. Hell for things like this the olympics are the one time every four years that they get to shine. Let them have their time in the sun and you can go back to watching months and months of NBA games with jackasses I can't stand again.