It's only three days until the opening ceremonies kick things off in Vancouver. http://www.vancouver2010.com/ Focus: Discuss what's happening in the Winter Olympics and just how awesome they are in general. From how Curling should be really boring but you still get really into it, how Ghana will be in its first Winter games ever, to just how hot Lindsay Vonn is. For me, it's all about the countdown to Feb 21st, Canada vs USA Men's Ice Hockey. I have a gentleman's bet with a friend of mine in Vancouver. Don't let me down boys. U-S-A! U-S-A!
Opening ceremony is tomorrow night. There's no way they match what China did for the summer Olympics, but I'm still looking forward to it. The thing about sports like curling (lets face it, it's the lamest event) is you don't really give a shit until the medal counts start getting tallied, and then next thing you know you're screaming at the television because America is two golds behind. I don't know many of the individual athletes. Who does? Personally I enjoy just about everything I find time to watch. My dad put it pretty well: "Find somebody who's the best in the world at anything and I'll show you something interesting." Olympics sports are defined by a technical complexity and grace we find lacking in the mainstream. Not that other sports can't be complicated, the level of precision is just different. Oh man, I can't wait.
You have, clearly, never watched curling. It's really fascinating, and I got real into the last winter olympics. Trust me, watch it and you'll enjoy it. I think the winter olympics are awesome. There are a ton of events I want to watch, but won't have the time too. Also, I don't have cable, and you know nbc main coverage is going to blow. I'm going to look into how much coverage they'll have online tonight. Hopefully it's a lot.
Already sad news from Vancouver. A man from the former Soviet Republic of Georgia died during a luge trial run today. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/13/sports/olympics/13luge.html Apparently it was broadcast live on TV in Canada at the time, should you feel the desire to find the video. That article says he was injured, though my friend in Vanc has told me he's dead, which is being confirmed by the NY Daily News.
You know it's going to be a good international tournament when someone dies on the opening day. Go Canada, especially the hockey team.
Fuck NBC, they're showing Ice Dancing instead of the US/Canada game. NBC has fucked hockey/the NHL over so many times all you can do is sit there and cry, praying for it to be over. I should still be able to catch the game, hopefully in HD, but it's still a fucking embarrassment.
Its on MSNBC. I don't get MSNBC in HD What the fuck? They should put that shit on NBC, barring that, some channel that is commonly broadcast in HD. I am not even a hockey fan but wanted to watch these games. And watching hockey in non-HD kinda sucks.
it was posted on youtube before people knew he died. What happened was he came out of the corner too fast and went up the opposite wall which flung him across the track (is that what you call it? Where they luge down) and over the other wall where there were big beams which he hit. Pretty sad. They said it is the fastest track ever and a couple people have already broken speed records with 154km/h speeds. They esitmate that he ws going around that fast. RIP Video of it Spoiler http://www.lionsdenu.com/vancouver-2010-olympics-update-luger-killed-in-sled-crash-during-practice-run/
Is there anyone in Canada besides Donald Sutherland who does voices overs? Jesus, he's even narrating the Olympic games. I keep expecting him to start talking about Ford or orange juice.
That poetry slam was really well done as was the entire opening ceremony. I love it when countries show such pride and heart. China was technically precise but Canada put heart and feeling back into it. Well done. Now let's have a cool torch lighting and kick some ass USA! By the way...I felt awful for the Georgian delegates. They looked just shell shocked. Such a sad moment.
Holy fuck, how embarassing is that? I know a bit about engineering, and I know that something like this should have been checked and re-checked, and had about 4 backups just in case. Only three of the four torches would lift? Give me a break. Way to ruin a flawless opening ceremony.
I thought it was simply marvelous how they honored the indigenous peoples from zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz . . . . . What? Is it over? What'd I miss?
Looks like it's off to a bad start. <a class="postlink" href="http://w...shingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... id=topnews</a> For those that haven't seen the video he basically loses control at 90 mph coming out of a turn and flies off the track to his left into a metal pole chest or head first. As a note my father saw the track first hand a few months ago and couldn't believe how steep it was. His guide told him that the athletes were only allowed two runs per day since the G forces were so high (0 to 7 back to 0 in fractions of a second) their bodies needed time to recover. The women weren't even allowed to use the whole track, they were starting about .5 mile down from the men. On the portion of track the racer in question crashed the side wall went up only about 3 feet, had the wall been higher or some sort of net been used this whole thing could have been avoided, padding is completely useless at the speeds these guys are going so that's out of the question. The IOC and track designer have a LOT of answering to do because most of the athletes already knew this track was borderline over-the-top.
Just heard the best quote yet from an announcer: "I love her attitude, especially considering the pounding she takes while on her knees". Again, totally impressed with the streaming coverage we're getting from <a class="postlink" href="http://ctvolympics.ca" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://ctvolympics.ca</a>
Wow. Women's hockey. 3:40 to go in the first, and it's 7 to 0 for Team Canada. Sucks to be Slovakian. And now they play duelling banjos in the background. Too funny!
I have to say that I'm liking most of the commercials they're showing during the televised coverage. They have that same feel as the Joe Canada / Molson Canadian commercials. The Team Canada jerseys at the US Border stop are funny, but the Chevy commercials where the cars/trucks are talking crack me up. The "Human!" one, the smelly hockey gear, the American car asking "Do you know Dave?". Fucking hilarious.
All I want to do is watch some Olympics. Apparently, the powers that be don't think I should. It is 7:40. All I saw was the end of a blowout Canadian woman's hockey game (and as far as I understand, there is no checking in woman's hockey, so it does not count). Give me fucking something to watch. I want Olympic fever. <perhaps this should go in the rant/rave thread>
I've been in downtown Vancouver with a bunch of friends for the past two nights and I'm going back down tonight with my girlfriend. That place is a shitshow. They have blocks and blocks of the downtown core blocked off from the traffic. There's been impromptu dance parties in the middle of the streets with a bunch of people bringing their own boom boxes. Street hockey matches in the middle of intersections. Crowd surfing. The national anthem being started at random time's and everyone joining in. And then there's the official events like free concerts all over the place, and light shows and firework displays to cap the night off right in the middle of the downtown core. And I haven't even seen half the shit going on. Walking around in one of these those does seem to get everyone excited. Already been in maybe close to 1000 pictures between the two nights and have been interviewed twice and filmed by TV crews another 3 times. Fuck the stupid protesters smashing out windows at one of the Hudson's Bay Company, this has to be one of the greatest things to happen to the city.