2010 Winter Olympics II--Ice Dancing & Bobsledding! Oh My!!

[3113]

Thought that the original thread was getting a little long in the tooth and we might continue it afresh here, maybe gain a few more viewers for new events?

http://www.smileyshut.com/smileys/new/Food/eating-popcorn-03.gif

Everyone ready for the Ice Capades?

 

[Freefall_mc]

Are couples hitting the ice tonight? uh oh...I'll get dragged into watching that, get wrapped up in it, and follow up with "yes, yes, yes...amazing!"
checking schedule

 

[jomar]

Dude! Bode won gold!

 

[Emperor_Nero]

USA tops Canada in hockey, 5-3 ... the silence in the arena is deafening

 

[3113]

USA tops Canada in hockey, 5-3 ... the silence in the arena is deafening

Uh-oh! Does this mean the Canadian Hockey team has to commit seppuku?

 

[stephen55]

There is no joy in Mudville.........

USA tops Canada in hockey, 5-3 ... the silence in the arena is deafening

The universe is definitely not unfolding as it should.............

I'd go and drown myself in Maple syrup right now, but the damn stuff is frozen.

 

[sr71plt]

I don't pay much attention to ice hockey at the Olympics. That's one of those all-professionals sports being played at the Olympics now. Sort of destroys the image for me of what the Olympics represents--not in making money in endorsements but playing the same sport professionally that you compete in at the Olympics.

 

[3113]

Okay. Ice Dancing tonight was nuts! The British dancing to Johnny Cash and dressed as truckers...

The French dressed as cowpokes and dancing to "Country Boy " ("thank god, I'm a country boy!")....

The U.S. team doing Bollywood, the Isrealis doing the Hora (what is this a bar mitzvah?)....

And the Russians, um....

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/artworks/img/oksana_dom_m1843531.jpg

It really was the Ice Capades!

 

[sr71plt]

And the Russians, um....

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/artworks/img/oksana_dom_m1843531.jpg

It really was the Ice Capades!

This wasn't the Russians tonight. This was the Russians at the Worlds. They toned the costumes down for tonight (but not enough).

Back on the comment that ice dancing isn't a sport, Dick Button last night said it, athletically, was the most demanding of the ice skating forms.

 

[Cool_Papa]

Usa! Usa! Usa! Usa! Usa! Usa! Usa! Usa! Usa! Usa! Usa! Usa!
Usa! Usa! Usa! Usa! Usa! Usa! Usa! Usa! Usa! Usa! Usa! Usa!
Usa! Usa! Usa! Usa! Usa! Usa! Usa! Usa! Usa! Usa! Usa! Usa!
Usa! Usa! Usa! Usa! Usa! Usa! Usa! Usa! Usa! Usa! Usa! Usa!
Usa! Usa! Usa! Usa! Usa! Usa! Usa! Usa! Usa! Usa! Usa! Usa!

 

[Weird Harold]

The U.S. team doing Bollywood, ...

I was beginning to wonder if the hidden requirement was that they couldn't use any references to their own culture.

Davis and White had much better costuming than for the compulsories -- she didn't look like an underfed vampire this time.

The Canadian pair deserved their first place standing at the 2/3 point.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

I was beginning to wonder if the hidden requirement was that they couldn't use any references to their own culture.

Davis and White had much better costuming than for the compulsories -- she didn't look like an underfed vampire this time.

The Canadian pair deserved their first place standing at the 2/3 point.

They were brilliant.

 

[3113]

This wasn't the Russians tonight. This was the Russians at the Worlds.

Yeah, I know, but I couldn't find any contemporary pics posted when I wrote it up...here's one!

http://www.reuters.com/resources/r/?m=02&d=20100222&t=2&i=64992088&w=460&r=2010-02-22T154629Z_01_BTRE61L17TN00_RTROPTP_0_BUSINESSPROPICKS-US-OLYMPICS-FIGURE-SKATING-COSTUMES

Do we vote these the worst costumes ever on ice?

And I think the French should have danced to a French version of "Country Boy" Or "Remerciez Dieu que je suis un garçon de pays!"

The lyrics would be something like...
"...Well, I got my cigarettes and I've got my old fiddle,
When the sun's gonin' down, I've got crepes on the griddle,
Life is only a very sad, sad riddle,
Mon Dieu! I live in Côte d'Azur!"

 

[3113]

I was beginning to wonder if the hidden requirement was that they couldn't use any references to their own culture.

I was beginning to feel like I was on the Small World ride at Disneyland....

 

[sr71plt]

I was beginning to feel like I was on the Small World ride at Disneyland....

Bingo. I was on the original Small World ride (at, what, the 1963 World's Fair?), and I was looking for ways to get out of there half way through. Good thing I didn't develop diabetes until much later or I would have died under a smiley face.

I thought the the French pair that did the Can Can were well dressed and picked a dance representing themselves well. (But isn't she getting a little thick around the middle?)

 

[Tarakin]

(...) Do we vote these the worst costumes ever on ice? (...)

Hm, how about Johnny Weir?

http://portal.gmx.net/images/450/9927450,pd=4,w=300,mxw=600,mxh=400,h=400.jpg

Or Tina Maze?

http://portal.gmx.net/images/462/9927462,pd=1,w=533,mxw=600,mxh=400,h=400.jpg

Ben Sandford?

http://portal.gmx.net/images/464/9927464,pd=2,w=300,mxw=600,mxh=400,h=400.jpg

Jeff Pain?

http://portal.gmx.net/images/452/9927452,pd=1,w=533,mxw=600,mxh=400,h=400.jpg

Ole Einar Bjoerndalen?

http://portal.gmx.net/images/456/9927456,pd=1,w=533,mxw=600,mxh=400,h=400.jpg

There are some real fashion heroes out there...

 

[3113]

Hm, how about Johnny Weir?

Don't you dis Johnny boy! Compared to those skin colored costumes with the rope and the leaves, he was Ralph Lauren!

You've only to consider this, if forced to choose, which would you rather wear? Johnny's costume or the Russian guy's?

As for the others, I like the angry beaver helmet (that sounds so dirty...), but painted helmets hardly count when compared to...

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.popeater.com/media/2010/02/weir.jpg
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.popeater.com/media/2010/02/skeleton.jpg
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.popeater.com/media/2010/02/evan.jpg

and....

http://www.reuters.com/resources/r/?m=02&d=20100216&t=2&i=61984351&w=460&r=2010-02-16T221244Z_01_BTRE61F1PNN00_RTROPTP_0_OLYMPICS-CURLING

Go Norway!

 

[stephen55]

Now, here's a real sport.........

http://portal.gmx.net/images/456/9927456,pd=1,w=533,mxw=600,mxh=400,h=400.jpg



I'm a bit surprised that biathlon isn't getting more media attention. I would have thought that careening around the country side packing heat would be front and center.

Back in '88 when the Winter Olympics were held in Calgary, I believe that biathlon was a demonstration sport. The Canadian men didn't do all that well. (The women did very well.) There was a great cartoon I saw showing one of the Canadian men crossing the line about an hour later than everyone else, packing out a moose!!

 

[3113]

I'm a bit surprised that biathlon isn't getting more media attention. I would have thought that careening around the country side packing heat would be front and center...There was a great cartoon I saw showing one of the Canadian men crossing the line about an hour later than everyone else, packing out a moose!!

See, there's the problem with the biathlon and why it isn't more popular. They're not shooting at anything. Let 'em start shooting at each other and this would be, bar none, the most popular sport in the Olympics!

 

[Freefall_mc]

And just think of the stamina it must take to pack those big guns/rifles through the whole course! And the steady hand, trained eye...

Ooooo...gives me the shivers.

What's the strange lens for? Focus? Or shading from blinding glare of the snow?

 

[voluptuary_manque]

And just think of the stamina it must take to pack those big guns/rifles through the whole course! And the steady hand, trained eye...

Ooooo...gives me the shivers.

What's the strange lens for? Focus? Or shading from blinding glare of the snow?

That's not a lens, it's just an eyeshade. A lot of target shooters use them to block out extra light and make the sight picture clearer. I used to use one attached to my glasses when I competed (poorly!) in pistol. For a rifle shooter in snow-glare, it's probably essential.

 

[stephen55]

No optical sights allowed....

And just think of the stamina it must take to pack those big guns/rifles through the whole course! And the steady hand, trained eye...

Ooooo...gives me the shivers.

What's the strange lens for? Focus? Or shading from blinding glare of the snow?

That great looking gadget is an eye shade and it's not attached to his rifle. It's stuck to his goggles. In Olympic biathlon, no type of lens is allowed in the sight. The sights are "iron sights" only. Almost universally, it's peep sight.

 

[lisa123414]

Loved, loved, loved the Brits Ice Dancing to Linkin Park

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Captain, these free-style skiers is crazy!

 

[3113]

Oh Canada!

Congratulations to Canada for a well deserved win of the Ice Dancing Gold Medal!

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/02/23/sports/23icedancing_337-inline/23icedancing_337-inline-articleInline.jpg

Virtue and Moir were magnificent.