Norway always goes apeshit about the Winter Olympics because they actually have a chance at winning loads of stuffAustralia is the same about swimming.
(http://24.media.tumblr.com/596cdedeaa0b206e805e554468c3ca72/tumblr_n0ldm0N1Kp1qewacoo9_r1_500.png)In
(Oh, and so not to send pwhodges or any mods into a tizzy: "Сочи" is the Cyrillic translation of "Sochi", the region where the games are being played.)It's the other way around, "Sochi" is the Latin translation of the Russian name "Сочи".
See, we Americans think everything-- objects, people, cities-- have a "real" word in English, of which other countries use translation. We're still wondering why the Chinese didn't change their Mandonese translation when the capital's name got changed from Peking to Beijing. (Okay, I admit I'm being hyperbolic. But I'm sure there's someone out there looking at an old map and saying, "wonder when they changed the name?")(Oh, and so not to send pwhodges or any mods into a tizzy: "Сочи" is the Cyrillic translation of "Sochi", the region where the games are being played.)It's the other way around, "Sochi" is the Latin translation of the Russian name "Сочи".
...I never thought I'd hear Akima make that kind of joke.She stoops to conquer. :angel:
See, we Americans think everything-- objects, people, cities-- have a "real" word in English, of which other countries use translation.
'Murrica...
It's definitely an English speaking thing. I don't know if other languages do it very much.
I'm just sitting here shocked to learn Australia has a winter olympic team.Austrailas first gold medal in the winter olympics:
Speaking of München, did you know it's called Monaco in Italian? Confusion level = 100%See, we Americans think everything-- objects, people, cities-- have a "real" word in English, of which other countries use translation.
But there are those of us that don't and are in fact annoyed when we look at maps in native languages and go, "Wtf. Why don't we just call "Munich" München (and so on), because that's what it actually is." :wink: English isn't the only language, 'Murrica... I don't even care if it's rewritten in Latin letters if need be, but dang it, at least get it to phonetically sound the same as the native pronunciation.
Hakko, that Video is Embedding Blockedfixed.
Biathlon is the most insane thing ever. Much respect.
(http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/19f3fd0vir1xbjpg/ku-xlarge.jpg)
That takes me back.... to last week?
That takes me back.... to last week?
I'm really stoked about Olympic hockey. The ice rinks are HUGE compared to NHL rinks, making the players have to play harder if they're gonna be successful in shot block attempts and gaining possession of the puck. More distance to cover to get there. Shit's so fucking epic.
And no one's commenting on her choice of words in response to the score?
Apparently there's strife in Lebanon as one of their female skiers has been discovered as to have been topless at one point in time with a camera around.
Apparently there's strife in Lebanon as one of their female skiers has been discovered as to have been topless at one point in time with a camera around.
I won't speak of the women's tournament. That's essentially a two-team show.Ain't that the unfortunate truth. Finns occasionally manage to keep a single match vs. US or Canada close a few minutes into the third period, even an occasional upset in an unimportant game, but that doesn't affect the validity of the conclusion.
Heh. That's kinda why I like watching US Olympic Men's hockey. It IS an NHL dream team roster for the most part. Ditto the Canadians. So sure it's a bit like throwing the other nation's teams to the lions, but you know, blood sport's entertaining.
Heh. That's kinda why I like watching US Olympic Men's hockey. It IS an NHL dream team roster for the most part. Ditto the Canadians. So sure it's a bit like throwing the other nation's teams to the lions, but you know, blood sport's entertaining.
This sends the signal that Team US and Team Canada want the benefit of a "hometown ref" for their matches :-).Well... Why wouldn't they? It does presumably make it easier to win. :-D
Well, the NHL's refs do have the most experience.
Well, the NHL's refs do have the most experience....and that's not gonna change if you only allow NHL's refs to get more experience :roll:
Uh, was that a typo or intentional? I'm bad at figuring that out in written text :psyduck:
The 2018 Olympic games are in Pyeongchang in South Korea, not Pyeongyang, the capital of North Korea. I do hope that the IOC would not be so stupid as to ever give the games to North Korea... (Until after a drastic change of their political system, I mean.)
The NHL shut down entirely?
The question will be what will happen in 2018 if the NHL decides not to shut down for the Pyeongyang Olympics.The North American hockey fans are the only people that can really put any kind of pressure on the NHL. Because you're kinda paying for the show. Tell them that you want to see the stars in the Olympics.... Please.
So. It's setting up for a Canada-USA showdown in the semifinals, not for the Gold.
Also, hugely disappointed that olympic curling doesn't use the Page playoff system (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Page_playoff_system). Most domestic competitions here do.
I just have an old axe to grind here. When my hometown co-hosted the WCs some time in the 90s, there were complaints about the Europeans refs by the North American teams. We were quite puzzled by some of the complaints, as the local ref was voted by the players of our league to be the best year after year (by a fair margin I may add). It turned out that the complaint was not so much about his calls, but the fact that he couldn't communicate in English. So are all the players entitled to talk with the ref in their own language?
Also, hugely disappointed that olympic curling doesn't use the Page playoff system. Most domestic competitions here do.
There is no way I could ever be anything close to a ping pong player. It's sooo difficult.
Also,I want poetry and city design and poodle grooming back in the olympic games.
I'm basically against any "sport" that is commonly plaid on cruise ships being considered an epitome of human physical endeavour. (Let's be honest, Curling is shuffle board on ice with younger players, they even have the same wacky pants now)
Why not chess, bridge, go ... Indeed.
On other things: Latvia vs. Canada in hockey is likeThe only way I'll get over it is to laugh about it, I suppose :roll:a Pop Warner football teamthe Denver Broncos vs. the Seattle Seahawks in (American) football.
Why not chess, bridge, go ... Indeed.
As someone who was always on the smaller end of the scale growing up, I like that there are sports that are about more than raw strength and speed. Ideally, there should be sports out there for all body and mind types, and I have no problem with all of them being feted at the Olympics.
While you didn't ask, you probably won't be surprised to learn that over here, the WCs are considered about as important as the Izvestia tournament. That is to say, not very.
Also, I still think in dressage the horse should get the medal, not the rider.
While you didn't ask, you probably won't be surprised to learn that over here, the WCs are considered about as important as the Izvestia tournament. That is to say, not very.
Ok, ok. This has been explained to me many times. I just have a hard time swallowing. You see, I have this wonderful conspiracy theory of how the NHL ... it explains everything! Real clearly!
Well, in the old times the WCs were held in the winter/early spring, and all the other leagues, save the NHL, were suspended for the duration of the WCs. And it is hardly the Europeans fault, if the NHL wants to run winter sport play offs in May/June :-). I have not heard of the NHL suggesting a different date for the WCs, but I may be wrong. FWIW I would welcome such a suggestion!While you didn't ask, you probably won't be surprised to learn that over here, the WCs are considered about as important as the Izvestia tournament. That is to say, not very.
Ok, ok. This has been explained to me many times. I just have a hard time swallowing. You see, I have this wonderful conspiracy theory of how the NHL ... it explains everything! Real clearly!
Really the conspiracy runs that way? Hold the world championships every year during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, so most of the best Canadian players are busy and can't come, but the NHL has a conspiracy?
btw, sounds like you're a bridge player, too. Canada won in SLC iirc...
I do find it interesting that you throw figure skating and synchronized swimming under the bus, but gymnastics is just as judged, and just as...questionable.
The Olympics is a sports event. Stuff that isn't sport shouldn't be in there.This begs the question. What makes an activity a sport? Compare and contrast ice dancing, and ballet dancing, for example. Essentially, the only thing that makes the former an Olympic sport, and the latter an art, is that a score is awarded at the end of one, but not the other.
The events I would throw out are the ones where artistic impression and style judges play too large a role. Sure, figure skating, slopestyle, halfpipe, synchronized swimming and the like are physically demanding - no question about that. But evaluation of style always seems to leave too much room for differences of opinion as to who actually was the best. May be that is part of the fun actually?Style and physical beauty, as assessed by very culturally-specific standards, is certainly a big part of the marketing appeal, I think. By curious coincidence: On subjective judging, racism, and injuries in figure-skating. (http://www.economist.com/node/21596710)
I believe Chess will be a sport in the 2016 Olympics in Rio. Along with Rugby Sevens.
But no wrestling. :? :? :?
Style and physical beauty, as assessed by very culturally-specific standards, is certainly a big part of the marketing appeal, I think. By curious coincidence: On subjective judging, racism, and injuries in figure-skating. (http://www.economist.com/node/21596710)Marketing appeal certainly plays a big part as to why figure skating is a sport rather than art. Racism I'm not very sure about. Possibly? The case of Surya Bonaly (France) came to my mind, too. She made her debut at European championships at the age of 15 or something, and earned the reputation of "a teenager doing acrobatics on skates". Not surprisingly she scored high on technical merit, but artistic impression was a bit lacking. My eye is largely untrained, but even to me she did not seem to quite have the grace of a grown woman. Circus stunts like back flips did little to help that. She did mature quite a bit as years ticked by, eventually winning a few medals, but the old reputation stuck. That may have affected some of the judges, and is actually a thing that has been bothering my untrained eye - in figure skating you apparently need to make yourself known in advance to earn top marks. But I'm not ruling out the possibility that Miss Bonaly's initially unsatisfactory style marks were partially affected by the unfamiliar sight of black legs on ice. At the level of World Championships I would think that judges have grown out of racism. After all, women's figure skating in particular has lately been dominated by athelete/artists from Asia or in Michelle Kwan's case (US) of Asian heritage - and justifiably so, they have earned their good marks.
Edit: Sounds and looks awesome. Seriously, how does this not win?According to the article I linked above, when Ms. Bonaly performed the flip at the Nagano Winter Olympics, not only did it not win, but although the flip was technically permitted because Ms Bonaly landed on one blade, the judges retroactively ruled it illegal and reduced her score.
It's probably just that the figure skating community in general is highly resistant to change. Just look at the Duchesnays back in the 80s - they would get low 4s and high 5s for the same routine because they were so innovative and controversial.This is probably close to the mark. It seemed to me that in the dance in the early 80s the rankings were mostly preset. Any changes from the predicted rankings were close to scandalous.
I think the nation stopped there for an hour or two.I know that's exaggeration and I know it's the Olympic championship but...is it really that big a deal to Canada as a country? I mean sports are fun to watch but are they really that important to people? I've never really understood this.
I think the nation stopped there for an hour or two.I know that's exaggeration and I know it's the Olympic championship but...is it really that big a deal to Canada as a country? I mean sports are fun to watch but are they really that important to people? I've never really understood this.
(I'd be saying the same thing regardless of who won, and congrats to Canada's team)
Crap.Squared.
I think the nation stopped there for an hour or two.I know that's exaggeration and I know it's the Olympic championship but...is it really that big a deal to Canada as a country? I mean sports are fun to watch but are they really that important to people? I've never really understood this.
I know that's exaggeration and I know it's the Olympic championship but...is it really that big a deal to Canada as a country? I mean sports are fun to watch but are they really that important to people? I've never really understood this.I sympathise. In Australia a single horse-race, the Melbourne Cup, is said to "stop the nation". It draws TV viewership of an estimated three million people on a weekday afternoon, despite being about as exciting as watching grass grow (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNB7gS8eDU8) (though watching horses run always has an appeal, I think). I've never worked in an office that didn't hold stupid betting pools on the race, and failing to be excited about it is definitely regarded as slightly unAustralian. I think sport-obsession provides a useful, relatively safe, outlet for primitive tribal instincts. :-D
I know that's exaggeration and I know it's the Olympic championship but...is it really that big a deal to Canada as a country? I mean sports are fun to watch but are they really that important to people? I've never really understood this.I sympathise. In Australia a single horse-race, the Melbourne Cup, is said to "stop the nation". It draws TV viewership of an estimated three million people on a weekday afternoon, despite being about as exciting as watching grass grow (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNB7gS8eDU8) (though watching horses run always has an appeal, I think). I've never worked in an office that didn't hold stupid betting pools on the race, and failing to be excited about it is definitely regarded as slightly unAustralian. I think sport-obsession provides a useful, relatively safe, outlet for primitive tribal instincts. :-D
Congratulations to Canada. It is always nice to see David defeat Goliath. :angel:
I think sport-obsession provides a useful, relatively safe, outlet for primitive tribal instincts. :-DYup. Europe's been a relatively peaceful place ever since wars were replaced with football matches.
Congratulations to Canada. It is always nice to see David defeat Goliath. :angel:Not sure about this. I don't know the numbers, but it wouldn't surprise me, if Canadian players outnumber Americans in the NHL.
I think sport-obsession provides a useful, relatively safe, outlet for primitive tribal instincts. :-DYup. Europe's been a relatively peaceful place ever since wars were replaced with football matches.
I think sport-obsession provides a useful, relatively safe, outlet for primitive tribal instincts. :-DYup. Europe's been a relatively peaceful place ever since wars were replaced with football matches.
Spoken like a man who's never been to a Manchester United match! Up'em Reds!
Also might be nice if you guys could export some of that peace to South America, there's that whole "beheading a ref" incident, and the "hand grenade" incident, and that other beheading...
this is more two Jotunn slugging it out
Apart from two decades of Canadian citizenship outweighing a year and a half of American, Team Canada has Toews, Keith, and Sharp, whilst Team USA only has Kane. Advantage, Canada.
this is more two Jotunn slugging it out
You're really big into Norse mythology, right?
whoa whoa whoa, don't forget Pavelski, Kessel, van Riemsdyk as skaters, and Quick, Howard, and what's his tits from the Sabres as net minders. I am proud of the U.S. team even though Canada definitely nailed it. I'm pulling for a Canuckistani gold this year.
So... Ready for Ragnarok today?GM is ready to Ragnarok and roll!
Yes! It's also a Finnish tradition, so they might not appreciate the Judeo-Christian inference when they can just say "Just like that time we curb checked the Red Army at 100 to 1 casualties, or pretty much every war proceeding."Now that's an exaggeration, but yeah. There was a lot of high-fiving today in these parts.
| Rk | Nation | G | S | B | TM | PTS | %AMA |
| 1 | Russian Fed. | 13 | 11 | 9 | 33 | 70 | 11.19% |
| 2 | United States | 9 | 7 | 12 | 28 | 53 | 9.49% |
| 3 | Norway | 11 | 5 | 10 | 26 | 53 | 8.81% |
| 4 | Canada | 10 | 10 | 5 | 25 | 55 | 8.47% |
| 5 | Netherlands | 8 | 7 | 9 | 24 | 47 | 8.14% |
| 6 | Germany | 8 | 6 | 5 | 19 | 41 | 6.44% |
| 7 | Austria | 4 | 8 | 5 | 17 | 33 | 5.76% |
| 8 | France | 4 | 4 | 7 | 15 | 27 | 5.08% |
| 9 | Sweden | 2 | 7 | 6 | 15 | 26 | 5.08% |
| 10 | Switzerland | 6 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 26 | 3.73% |
| 11 | China | 3 | 4 | 2 | 9 | 19 | 3.05% |
| 12 | Korea | 3 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 17 | 2.71% |
| 13 | Belarus | 5 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 16 | 2.03% |
| 14 | Czech Republic | 2 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 16 | 2.71% |
| 15 | Poland | 4 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 15 | 2.03% |
| 16 | Slovenia | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 14 | 2.71% |
| 17 | Japan | 1 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 14 | 2.71% |
| 18 | Italy | 0 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 2.71% |
| 19 | Finland | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 1.69% |
| 20 | Great Britain | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 1.36% |
| 21 | Latvia | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 1.36% |
| 22 | Australia | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 1.02% |
| 23 | Ukraine | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0.68% |
| 24 | Slovakia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0.34% |
| 25 | Croatia | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0.34% |
| 26 | Kazakhstan | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.34% |
What on earth was the referee thinking when Elise Christie was penalised AGAIN? If there were a gold medal for stoicism in the face of incredible unfairness and bad luck, she would win it without question.
So Finland beat the USA in ice-hockey? Now that surely must be David beating Goliath... :-DNow that's an exaggeration, but yeah. There was a lot of high-fiving today in these parts.
I don't know how the media in US/Canada saw this tournament, but our bronze was nothing like the biggest upset in the history of the game. The NHL players have been allowed to participate in the olympics since 1998 (Nagano), so this was the fifth time. Medals won in those five tournaments are (we don't know the outcome of tomorrow's final, so I list both alternatives for Canada and Sweden)
Country Gold Silver Bronze Total
Canada 3/2 1/0 0 3
USA 0 2 0 2
Sweden 2/1 0/1 0 2
Russia 0 1 1 2
Czech Rep. 1 0 1 2
Finland 0 1 3 4
Yeah, the color of our medals could be brighter, but I guess I'm relatively happy with what we can take. Note:
- No medals to any nation other than the listed six. At this level hockey is not very widespread. Slovakia and Belarus made it into the bronze medal game in 2010 and 2002 respectively, but drew the short straw.
Yeah, I hardly consider Finland an underdog. All the top 6 countries are albe to beat each other, imo. I honestly put Slovakia in that list, but after this olympics, I'm wondering if they just had a golden generation go by or something.
Switzerland isn't far behind, because I'm pretty sure they ARE having a golden generation at the moment.
...
All that said, I'm baffled as to why only 2 of the 6 big hockey countries play the women's game at the top level. Are Sweden and Finland (to name 2) just not as progressive with regards to women's sports?
Did anyone else get the impression that they were not really tested in the final game?
I quoted Akima, who quoted your bit about David and Goliath.I quoted Metope about Ragnarok. I'm entirely to blame for the David & Goliath thing.
Wait what? I got a Tapatalk notification that you someone quoted me, but I never wrote the post you quoted! What happened here, I don't even care about hockey. :psyduck:
You said you didn't give a f__ about hockey
And I never saw someone say THAT before...
Curious...is that line a positive (as in the person is unique) or negative (as in the person doesn't care about hockey and is therefore unworthy)?QuoteYou said you didn't give a fuck about hockey
And I never saw someone say THAT before...
If there's a goal that everyone remembers
It was back in old seventy two
We all squeezed the stick and we all pulled the trigger
And all I remember is sitting beside you
You said you didn't give a fuck about hockey
And I never saw someone say that before
You held my hand and we walked home the long way
You were loosening my grip on Bobby Orr
All that said, I'm baffled as to why only 2 of the 6 big hockey countries play the women's game at the top level. Are Sweden and Finland (to name 2) just not as progressive with regards to women's sports?I like to think that we both are very much ok with women's sports. In the 90s it was mostly about us being behind. At the time at women's WCs the final was usually between Western Canada and Eastern Canada. Then USA started catching up. But women's hockey here just hasn't really caught on. I can think of the following reasons.
The Russian Federation had applied to have Bandy included for these games, but it was turned down by the IOC. I think that's a game the women are more prone to play in the former Soviet republics, but I could be wrong.
Floorball sounds a lot like floor hockey, which is played a lot over here, recreationally.