Olympics Thread

[Special K]

By the ways, Special K, if the Russian Hockey team is so great why has Slovakia taken them into OT? USA beat Slovakia 7-1. If you ask me Russia looks a little dysfunctional, they struggled with both Slovenia and Slovakia, and lost to the USA, all on home ice. They supposedly have all these great guys on the power play but the results do not match the supposed greatness. This teaches that you need role players, guys like TJ Oshie, and I am not seeing that they have any intangibles.

Also they only have 5 goals in 3 games- on home ice. Russia is actually lucky that USA put that beating on Slovakia as total goals may be decisive in whether they advance or not.

In 1980 the USSR had supposedly the best team in the world but they got beat by a team of American college kids who were better conditioned while the USSR was sucking wind in the 3rd period allowing uncontested slapshots on goal.

This asinine first comment bolded in my quote doesn't even deserve a response. Hahaha...You're truly amazing at times Beav. You're watching an extremely small sample of play and making uneducated, foolish assumptions.

Facts...Russia scored 5 goals in their first game, (not in all 3 games!) That was against Slovenia and do you really think they struggled to win that game with a score of 5-2?

Lastly...That's the beauty of sports, anybody can be beat on any given day. There's a reason they call 1980 the MIRACLE ON ICE. USSR outshot the Americans 39-16 (9-6 in 3rd period) that game, more than double. Your reference to USSR giving up uncontested slapshots is meaningless.

 

[Special K]

Hockey playoff round:

First round Tuesday, quarterfinals Wednesday, semifinals Friday.

• No. 1 Sweden plays winner of
No. 8 Slovenia vs. No. 9 Austria

• No. 4 Finland plays winner of
No. 5 Russia vs. No. 12 Norway

• No. 3 Canada plays winner of
No. 6 Switzerland vs. No. 11 Latvia

• No. 2 United States plays winner of
No. 7 Czech Rep. vs. No. 10 Slovakia

If things work out with all the top seeds advancing it will be the US vs Canada in the Semis. That's still a ways away though.

 

[montrealrez]

I like the sport of curling. But at these Olympics, i especially like women's curling. Even though i find Great Britain's Eve Muirhead to be the hottest curler, here's a clip of why i love women's curling so much:

Why i like women's curling

I also have been watching women curling and I think i fell in love with the Swiss skip Carmen Schaefer. Google her.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Curling is not really a sport, it is a game, similar to shuffleboard, horseshoes, and darts. If curling is an Olympic sport the other 3 should be as well.

I understand where you're coming from, but if golf, autoracing & horseracing are sports, than curling is definitely a sport. Same thing with equestrian events at the summer olympics. Or the bobsled, luge & skeleton events at the winter olympics.

I curled for 20 years and let me tell you that you have to be in good shape to play that 'sport'. That's why you don't see any fat or old people on the best curling teams. This morning, i watched the Russian & British women in their curling match. They were all very fit & the oldest player was 25 years old. Any person who isn't used to playing curling will spend the day in bed recovering from all the soreness the day after playing in a match. It's actually very physical demanding. Especially for the two sweepers. That's why many of today's best curlers look like their spending their days in the gym. Just take a look at Canada's men's curling team. These guys are buff!

 

[Doc Holliday]

I also have been watching women curling and I think i fell in love with the Swiss skip Carmen Schaefer. Google her.

I haven't seen her, but i will google her. This morning, i fell for the Russian skip, Anna Sidorova:

 

[Doc Holliday]

Lastly...That's the beauty of sports, anybody can be beat on any given day. There's a reason they call 1980 the MIRACLE ON ICE. USSR outshot the Americans 39-16 (9-6 in 3rd period) that game, more than double. Your reference to USSR giving up uncontested slapshots is meaningless.

Quite true. For example, the San Jose Sharks recently shot 59 times at the Edmonton Oilers goalie and lost 3-0. I don't even think Edmonton had 20 shots. The final stats showed that San Jose had attempted a total of 100 shots at the Edmonton net....many of those shots either missed the net or were blocked.

On another note, the Russians did find a bit of luck during this tournament since they only beat Slovenia on a shootout after being scoreless throughout the game, and won't face the US or Canada during the quarters or semis. But you need a bit of luck in order to win in all sports. Even if you're the NY Yankees or Boston Red Sox.

In their first game against Finland, the Canadian women outshot Finland 42-14 and only won 3-0. The game was scoreless until the 3rd period. Who knows, Finland could have stole a win had they scored a lucky goal early in the third. The entire tide of the game could have been changed had Finland scored first.

And finally, some teams always have a harder time playing against certain teams. Toronto has always had a miserable time against the Buffalo Sabres & Ryan Miller when playing in Buffalo. Boston has the same problem with the Habs, and the Habs often have the same problems against the weaker teams, yet will be a totally different team against some of the better teams in the league. There was a time once when the Jays had won something like 20 in a row against the Orioles. Some teams just happen to have another team's number. Some great tennis players just can't seem to win a particular tournament. Same thing in golfing. Jacques Villeneuve was never able to win the Canadian GP even though he won the world championship one year. That's actually very common in all sports.

 

[EagerBeaver]

Here is an interview with TJ Oshie's Mom in which she admits that she and the others in the USA cheering section were unfamiliar with the international rule permitting TJ to take more than 1 penalty shot against Russia in the shootout. Fortunately the team USA coaches were familiar with the rule:

http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/today-oshies-mom-talks-modern-miracle?ocid=yahoo

 

[EagerBeaver]

Russian Hockey Fans Protest Disallowed Goal at US Embassy:

http://espn.go.com/olympics/winter/...ey-fans-protest-disallowed-goal-united-states

 

[Special K]

I haven't seen her, but i will google her. This morning, i fell for the Russian skip, Anna Sidorova:

Wow, she is f'n gorgeous!!!

 

[Special K]

Spoiler alert for Ice Dancing fans. The US team of Charlie White and Meryl Davis just took the Gold medal in their event, followed by the previous Gold medal winning team of Virtue / Moir with the Silver in Sochi.

 

[Special K]

Quite true. For example, the San Jose Sharks recently shot 59 times at the Edmonton Oilers goalie and lost 3-0. I don't even think Edmonton had 20 shots. The final stats showed that San Jose had attempted a total of 100 shots at the Edmonton net....many of those shots either missed the net or were blocked.

On another note, the Russians did find a bit of luck during this tournament since they only beat Slovenia on a shootout after being scoreless throughout the game, and won't face the US or Canada during the quarters or semis. But you need a bit of luck in order to win in all sports. Even if you're the NY Yankees or Boston Red Sox.

In their first game against Finland, the Canadian women outshot Finland 42-14 and only won 3-0. The game was scoreless until the 3rd period. Who knows, Finland could have stole a win had they scored a lucky goal early in the third. The entire tide of the game could have been changed had Finland scored first.

And finally, some teams always have a harder time playing against certain teams. Toronto has always had a miserable time against the Buffalo Sabres & Ryan Miller when playing in Buffalo. Boston has the same problem with the Habs, and the Habs often have the same problems against the weaker teams, yet will be a totally different team against some of the better teams in the league. There was a time once when the Jays had won something like 20 in a row against the Orioles. Some teams just happen to have another team's number. Some great tennis players just can't seem to win a particular tournament. Same thing in golfing. Jacques Villeneuve was never able to win the Canadian GP even though he won the world championship one year. That's actually very common in all sports.

US Women outshot Sweden this am. 70-9!!!! Scoring 6 goals and winning 6-1. Is it even fair to have women's hockey as an Olympic event when it's dominated by only 2 teams?

 

[EagerBeaver]

Here is video of the Davis-White free dance performance:

http://www.nbcolympics.com/news/mer...st-olympic-gold-ice-dance?ctx=olympic-journey

 

[Lily from Montreal]

The other countries are improving...there is still a long way to go but it is not as one sided as before...

 

[Doc Holliday]

US Women outshot Sweden this am. 70-9!!!! Scoring 6 goals and winning 6-1. Is it even fair to have women's hockey as an Olympic event when it's dominated by only 2 teams?

Years ago, it was the same story for men's hockey. Any senior A or senior B hockey team that Canada would send to the Olympics would come up with the gold medal. Then Anatoly Tarasov read Lloyd Percival's book (The Hockey Handbook) on the fundamentals of hockey & he changed Russian (Soviet) hockey forever. The country's best hockey players were recruited into the army, permitting them to make a good living playing hockey for the army (Red Army) and playing together year-round. They then started winning their shares of medals at the Olympics and until Lake Placid had won the gold at the Olympics for nearly the past 20 years. And once Lake Placid was over, they continued their winning ways until the late 90's when the NHL's professionals were allowed to play in the Olympics, which evened out the platform.

What i'm saying is that if the IOC would have given up on men's hockey back when Canada was first dominating and then the Soviets took over, we'd be missing out on possibly the most popular event at the Winter Olympics over the past 16 years.

As we've seen today, a team such as Switzerland is making inroads in women's hockey. The reason why Canada and the States are so dominating today is because these two countries currently have the best women's hockey programs in the world. Like we've seen in men's hockey with countries such as Russia, Sweden, Finland, the Czechs/Slovaks and the USA, other countries are catching up & a case could be made that they've already caught up to Canada's program. Switzerland isn't on the same level as those countries yet, but every year they're making inroads. I also predict that the USA might surpass Canada & become THE elite hockey team at future Olympics/World Championships in the not-to-distant future. The NCAA program has done wonders for the game of hockey & the Gretzky trade to LA in 1988 has also been a huge factor for minor hockey in the state of California.....similar to Vince Carter's heroics during his time in Toronto back in the late 90's. Without Vince Carter, there likely is no Anthony Bennett or Andrew Wiggins today.

 

[EagerBeaver]

The Swedish girls just had a tough game and sucked some giraffe dick. Back in 2006 the Swedes knocked the Americans out in the semifinals so nobody should be feeling too sorry for them.

 

[The Snark]

I also have been watching women curling and I think i fell in love with the Swiss skip Carmen Schaefer. Google her.

I know what you mean... those eyes!!!

 

[Doc Holliday]

Oh-oh.........Bob Costas & his funny glasses are back tonight!!

p.s. I hope EB doesn't have nightmares.....

 

[Merlot]

Hello all,

Here is video of the Davis-White free dance performance:

http://www.nbcolympics.com/news/mer...st-olympic-gold-ice-dance?ctx=olympic-journey

The American dance pair begins around 3:10:00 of the video, which appears to come with a time viewing limitation well below the length of the video.

Having learned to skate well after some very rough experiences on ice I have always loved the incredible excellence of the skating sports in the Olympics, especially given the unbelievable athleticism required of a human being to be in total control on such an alien surface. Having seen hundreds of performances over the years I'm always awed by figure skating and ice dancing pairs. Ice dancing has come a long way from the much more simple form of grounded (on ice) dancing to the much more extreme gyrations and leaps dancing on ice has become.

At the local rink I tried out the speed skating turns I saw in racing with its very demanding leaning in and crossing over of the legs to maintain speed. It is physically very challenging for the way the human body is designed. I wouldn't dare attempt a leaping spin with artful control even as a joke. Now add in all the momentum and timing forces that must be kept in perfect sync as the two bodies of the worlds top competitors turn, twist, and spin around each other in full control with contact or during separations during as ice dancing competition, with the added factor of maintaining aesthetic artful beauty to the timing of music and you have a skill and athleticism that far exceeds anything in hockey, basketball, or anything else. It's especially impressive that the female partner must accomplish all of this often with a frail appearing physique like that of Meryl Davis that defies the extremely rigorous demands of this sport.

Russian team of Elena Ilinykh And Nikita Katsalapov (note where the sharp blade of her right foot is anchored).

Elena Ilinykh

Congratulations to all of the competitors.

SIMPLY MAGNIFICENT, :thumb: :nod:

Merlot

 

[Merlot]

Olympics fans,

US Women outshot Sweden this am. 70-9!!!! Scoring 6 goals and winning 6-1. Is it even fair to have women's hockey as an Olympic event when it's dominated by only 2 teams?

With all respects SK, does this mean we should give back all of those basketball Olympics golds, or have kept soccer out of the games until the U.S. could catch up to current world skill standards?

Back in 2006 the Swedes knocked the Americans out in the semifinals so nobody should be feeling too sorry for them.

True. It indicates the Swedes have not kept up while the U.S. has excelled versus them, not that the U.S. has an unfair advantage in overall skill and experience.

There's usually some dominating country or countries in a sport when it enters the games. Others just have to catch up.

Cheers,

Merlot

 

[Doc Holliday]

It indicates the Swedes have not kept up while the U.S. has excelled versus them, not that the U.S. has an unfair advantage in overall skill and experience.

There's usually some dominating country or countries in a sport when it enters the games. Others just have to catch up.

IIHF President Rene Fassel indicated in his press conference yesterday that women's olympic hockey is here to stay & explained that the major reason why Canaada & the US are in a league of their own is mostly because of the incredible amount of female hockey players in those countries as compared to Scandinavian & European countries. So until something drastic is done to encourage young females in those countries to want to play hockey, results will remain the same.