Olympic Excitement

[crazy canuck]

Thanks to Beeb, I now understood the rules of the game.  However, I have no feel for what is a good throw, and what is a bad one (unless it's down to a couple of shots of the end, where the objective is pretty clear).

To add to what BB already said, a lot depends on what the ice is doing in that particular game.  A major part of the game is reading the ice and placing stones to best take advantage of the ice conditions.   The best thing to do is to tune into a broadcast with commentators that explain the pros and cons of each shot.  The CTV feed is excellent for that.

@Katmai, the Swiss woke the Canadians up.  Worst possible result for the Americans.

[katmai]

@Katmai, the Swiss woke the Canadians up.  Worst possible result for the Americans.

[crazy canuck]

@Katmai, the Swiss woke the Canadians up.  Worst possible result for the Americans.

You were right to pick a smilie with tears.....

[katmai]

Only one crying will be the whole nation of Canada on Sun night.

[Grey Fox]

I don't know, I'm pretty sure Russia will cry too.

[derspiess]

I'm not a huge fan of satellite TV, but I have to say DirecTV's DVR does an awesome job helping you stay in touch with what events are which channels, and it has some interactive stuff like a pop-up medal count chart you can pull up at any time.

My TivoHD does nothing like this.  You either have to hunt through the channel listings or do a clunky "swivel search" for Olympics.  If they don't refresh the UI for existing devices along with the new device they're releasing soon, I might ditch Tivo

[Barrister]

Yeah, I saw them.  They were cute.  Still don't understand the game though. 

Feel free to ask me any questions. 

Beeb, I noticed that the matches (is that the correct term in curling?) on the 16th all had real close score--basically a bunch of 1-point wins (the matches from the 17 not so much so).  Are very close matches the norm, or are the sides just that closely matched.  At an Olympic level, I would tend to think there'd be a number of blowouts--we see that in most other team sports, where some of the nations frankly seem to get in just to have enough teams to conduct a tournament.

I'd agree that the curling world is not all that well balanced.  I read somewhere that Canada has 94% of all the curlers in the world, for example.  International curling (there's a world championship every year) is dominated by just a handful of countries, and for the countries not named Canada they just tend to send the same team year after year.

However, there's a couple factors working towards a close score.  Sportsmanship is considered important in curling, and so it is common for teams to concede once the score is too far gone.  As well once you build up a bit of a lead the common strategy is to play very 'clean' - very few rocks in play, so you can't give the opposition a chance for a big end where they score lots of points.

[Syt]

GER vs. GBR in women's curling. The Brit chicks (Scots?) look doable.

[Syt]

... and they cut away after five minutes.

[Savonarola]

Olympic snowboarder's 'street' style offends JapaneseBy Kyung Lah, CNN
February 18, 2010 3:41 p.m. EST

Tokyo, Japan (CNN) -- Olympic snowboarder Kazuhiro Kokubo is the talk of Japan. Not for his athletic ability -- but for his appearance.

The 21-year-old member of Japan's national team unwittingly caused outrage from cabinet-level government lawmakers to the patrons at the corner pub when he arrived in Vancouver for the winter games.

Kokubo was wearing the team-issued uniform, which consisted of a suit, shirt and tie. But he wasn't wearing it quite right.

Kokubo's shirt was untucked, his pants hung low below his hips, and his tie was loosened revealing an unbuttoned shirt. Kokubo sported dark glasses indoors and double nose piercings. He also wore his hair down, revealing a mane of dreadlocks.

Japan's Minister of Education, Tatsuo Kawabata, was not a fan of the hip hop twist to the national uniform, to say the least.

"It's extremely regrettable that he dressed in a totally unacceptable manner as a representative of Japan's national team," said Kawabata, on the floor of Japan's parliament. "He lacks the awareness that he is participating in the Olympic Games as a representative of our country with everyone's expectations on his shoulders. This should never happen again."

The Japan Ski Association decided to punish Kokubo, along with his snowboard team manager Fumikazu Hagiwara and two coaches, keeping them from attending the Olympic opening ceremony as a show of regret.

But the punishment didn't stop there. Back at home in Japan, multiple viewing parties for Kokubo were cancelled across the city.

Kokubo's arrival in Vancouver was televised again and again on news broadcasts, analyzed by reporters and cultural experts. Kokubo's father even felt compelled to publicly apologize to the nation on behalf of his son's appearance.

In Vancouver, Kokubo held a news conference and apologized for "causing trouble to many people." In post-news conference analysis, television commentators called Kokubo's apology inadequate and his attitude appalling.

"Japan is behind the times," retorts Mika Sunaoka. Sunaoka is a hairdresser at Jambo Beauty Salon in Tokyo, a salon that specializes in black hair fashions. International and Japanese clients get weaves and dreadlocks here. If you're Japanese and you really want to celebrate hip hop culture, you can look the part here.

To Sunaoka, Kokubo is embracing the lifestyle. "Kokubo went to Vancouver to snowboard," she said. "That's what should be evaluated. It's totally wrong to criticize him about his clothes and hair style."

Customer Shu Noda, who is in Sunaoka's chair getting his dreads tightened, believes the flap began because Kokubo was wearing the uniform inappropriately.

"I like street fashion," said Noda. "I think it's cool. But this is the national uniform for the Olympics. We can't blame him if he wears it in his private time, that's his choice. But it was the uniform provided by his country and he should have worn it right. I do think the dreadlocks and nose piercing are just fine, though."

Sunaoka and Noda started bantering back and forth about Kokubo and Japan's rigid social rules. The consensus in the salon is that this is all overblown and Japan does need to loosen up.

Meanwhile at the Olympic games, Kokubo hit the half-pipe and failed to medal. That's just part of tonight's news coverage on Kokubo. The bigger question is how he'll look when he lands back home in Japan.

Why doesn't Arne Duncan comment on the way our athletes dress?  The Obama administration is leading this country astray.   

[Grey Fox]

Big surprise politicians don't understand snowboarder culture.

[Ed Anger]

GER vs. GBR in women's curling. The Brit chicks (Scots?) look doable.

The Russian women were HOTT. I actually watched shuffleboard Curling because of them.

[DGuller]

What does everyone think about men's figure skating result?  Do Russians have a point about being robbed, or are they just classless whiners?

[Eddie Teach]

What does everyone think about men's figure skating result?

Didn't watch. Glad the American won cause it helps the medal count.

[crazy canuck]

What does everyone think about men's figure skating result?  Do Russians have a point about being robbed, or are they just classless whiners?

The Russian looked ungainly and awkward when he tried to be artistic.  Also, he was unbalanced in the air.  Figure skaters are supposed to be graceful.  I was happy the American won.  The Canadian commentators said it was quads vs quality and quality won.