Author Topic: The Olympics Thread  (Read 92104 times)

Julian, Alleged Computer F**kface

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Re: The Olympics Thread
« Reply #15 on: February 10, 2010, 10:41:17 am »
olympic hockey is one of the 3 best tournaments in the world

world cup (soccer) and...?
Ha, I misread that last night and thought he meant best three hockey tournaments and I was thinking "no shit, Stanley Cup playoffs, Olympics, and IIHF WJC... what else is there? That makeshift Euro-Champions league thing they tried to do for 2-3 years?"

Julian, Alleged Computer F**kface

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Re: The Olympics Thread
« Reply #16 on: February 10, 2010, 11:39:41 am »
Also since we're talking hockey, I figured some of you would appreciate this:

In my fantasy hockey league, I had the #2 overall pick and took Ovechkin (someone took Crosby #1 in a league where goals get 5 points and assists only 3... wtf?). The guy who had the #4 pick took Malkin and traded me Malkin, Gaborik, and Quick for Ovechkin. Combine that with Heatley somehow falling to my second pick at #15 and suffice to say, the January Jonestown Massacre are running away with the league.

ggw

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Re: The Olympics Thread
« Reply #17 on: February 12, 2010, 04:44:42 pm »
Luger Killed in Crash



A luge athlete from Georgia, Nodar Kumaritashvili, was killed in a crash in training on the Olympic track at the Whistler Sliding Center on Friday, an Olympic luge official at the track confirmed, the worst case scenario developing on a track that many competitors have said is too fast.

Kumaritashvili lost control of his sled 48 seconds into his run, near the end of the track. According to the speed clock on the broadcast, he was going 143.3 kph -- 88 mph ? and was propelled over the track wall. He slammed into a steel pole near the finish line.

Officials from the international luge federation and Olympic officials did not immediately confirm his condition, nor where he was taken after rescue officials removed him from the track.

Medical officials rushed to the scene and were performing chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, the Associated Press reported. Kumaritashvili was lifted into an ambulance. An air-rescue helicopter was summoned and was over the track about eight minutes after the crash.

Kumaritashvili struck the inside wall of the track on the final turn. His body immediately went airborne and cleared the ice-coated concrete wall along the left side of the sliding surface. His sled remained in the track, and it appeared his helmet visor skidded down the ice.

?It?s a very rare situation,? Georg Hackl, the three-time Olympic champion and German coach, told the A.P. ?But there?s some things that you can?t do anything about.?

Many sliders have exceeded 90 miles an hour on this course. The track is considered the world?s fastest and several Olympians recently questioned its safety. More than a dozen athletes have crashed during Olympic training.

At the finish area, not far from the crash scene, athletes, coaches and officials solemnly awaited word on Kumaritashvili.

?I?ve never seen anything like that,? said Shiva Keshavan, a four-time Olympian from India. ?I?m afraid it?s bad.?

Training was suspended indefinitely, International Luge Federation members were called for a briefing and team captains from each nation were asked to attend a meeting.

Kumaritashvili competed in five World Cup races this season, finishing 44th in the world standings.

Earlier in the day, the gold-medal favorite, Armin Zoeggeler of Italy, crashed, losing control of his sled on Curve 11. Zoeggeler came off his sled and held it with his left arm to keep it from smashing atop his body. He slid on his back down several curves before coming to a stop and walking away.

Training days in Whistler have been crash-filled. A Romanian woman was briefly knocked unconscious and at least four Americans ? Chris Mazdzer on Wednesday, Megan Sweeney on Thursday and both Tony Benshoof and Bengt Walden on Friday in the same training session where Zoeggeler wrecked ? have had serious trouble just getting down the track.

?I think they are pushing it a little too much,? Hannah Campbell-Pegg of Australia said Thursday night after she nearly lost control in training. ?To what extent are we just little lemmings that they just throw down a track and we?re crash-test dummies? I mean, this is our lives.?


godsshoeshine

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Re: The Olympics Thread
« Reply #18 on: February 12, 2010, 05:30:50 pm »
Also since we're talking hockey, I figured some of you would appreciate this:

In my fantasy hockey league, I had the #2 overall pick and took Ovechkin (someone took Crosby #1 in a league where goals get 5 points and assists only 3... wtf?). The guy who had the #4 pick took Malkin and traded me Malkin, Gaborik, and Quick for Ovechkin. Combine that with Heatley somehow falling to my second pick at #15 and suffice to say, the January Jonestown Massacre are running away with the league.
wow, i hope so
o/\o

vansmack

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Re: The Olympics Thread
« Reply #19 on: February 12, 2010, 06:04:19 pm »
Looks like I'll have to add Men's Luge to my list of events to watch/record...
27>34

sweetcell

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Re: The Olympics Thread
« Reply #20 on: February 14, 2010, 08:35:43 pm »
heart-breaker that heil didn't win in moguls, but kearney absolutely deserved the gold.  what a great run, under all that pressure.

in other news:
Detroit forward Johan Franzen, back in action after missing four months with a knee injury, will replace Red Wings teammate Tomas Holmstrom on Sweden's Olympic roster. http://sports.espn.go.com/olympics/winter/2010/icehockey/news/story?id=4914344 - care to comment, jules?
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Julian, Alleged Computer F**kface

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Re: The Olympics Thread
« Reply #21 on: February 14, 2010, 08:38:20 pm »
in other news:
Detroit forward Johan Franzen, back in action after missing four months with a knee injury, will replace Red Wings teammate Tomas Holmstrom on Sweden's Olympic roster. http://sports.espn.go.com/olympics/winter/2010/icehockey/news/story?id=4914344 - care to comment, jules?
Uh... upgrade for Sweden? Holmstrom has a nagging injury, he could go; I think he knew not being at 100% wasn't going to help Sweden or Detroit so he sat it out and let a much better player take his spot.

sweetcell

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Re: The Olympics Thread
« Reply #22 on: February 14, 2010, 09:55:44 pm »
A guide to American-Canadian relations during the Olympics
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=reilly_rick&id=4906756

LOL:

? Pretend that you have to plug in your engine block at night to keep it from freezing, too. Makes them feel better.
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vansmack

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Re: The Olympics Thread
« Reply #23 on: February 14, 2010, 10:18:01 pm »
A guide to American-Canadian relations during the Olympics
 

Totally true:

? Compliment their national anthem. It's way better than ours.

heart-breaker that heil didn't win in moguls

Yeah.  Crushing....
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HoyaSaxa03

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Re: The Olympics Thread
« Reply #24 on: February 15, 2010, 05:12:49 pm »
olympic hockey is one of the 3 best tournaments in the world

world cup (soccer) and...?

NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship
(o|o)

vansmack

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Re: The Olympics Thread
« Reply #25 on: February 16, 2010, 08:30:08 pm »
heart-breaker that heil didn't win in moguls,

I was giving Sweetcell time to tout the first Canadian Gold on home soil, but he hasn't so I'll pipe up.

I love myself more than most others love themsleves, but even I was happy to see Alexandre Bilodeau beat Dale Begg-Smith at home, as a citizen of French-Canada and not some half-cooked idea of getting citizenship somewhere else because he didn't want to practice as hard as everyone else on the team.

That's called a comeuppance moneybags, and you just got yours.  And in front of all in your old hometown no less.  Spam that.
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sweetcell

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Re: The Olympics Thread
« Reply #26 on: February 17, 2010, 03:08:51 am »
I was giving Sweetcell time to tout the first Canadian Gold on home soil, but he hasn't

sorry, it's been a stupid 3-4 days here but indeed the gold was a very memorable moment.  i was working sunday night when he won the medal, i just happened to refresh ESPN when the newsflash hit the site.  i turned on the tv in time to watch the replay of his run.  highlight: having his girlfriend rip him away from the post-win interview and plant a big wet one on him, on international television.  it was both epic and hot ;D  bet: bilodeau's face is on a stamp in the next 2 years.

btw, #2 came tonight ;D
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ggw

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Re: The Olympics Thread
« Reply #27 on: February 18, 2010, 03:55:21 pm »
Zamboni Laments Brand Confusion Over Olympic Ice Machines

Feb. 18 (Bloomberg) -- It wasn?t a Zamboni. That?s the message from Frank J. Zamboni & Co. after reports from the Winter Olympics suggested the ice-cleaning machines that leaked and forced delays in speedskating events were made by the U.S. manufacturer.

?It was widely reported that these machines were Zamboni machines, which in fact they were not,? Zamboni said in a statement yesterday, adding it?s ?deeply concerned? about the situation.

An Olympia ice-cleaning machine made by Zamboni?s rival, Resurfice Corp. of Canada, leaked water in the middle of at least two events during the Games, leading to an hour delay at the men?s 500-meter speedskating event on Feb. 15 at the Richmond Oval.

Reports by media including the New York Times said the delays were caused by a broken ?Zamboni.? The ice- cleaner is synonymous with the machine that sweeps hockey rinks around the world, much as Kleenex is used to describe tissues.

Charles Schulz, the creator of ?Peanuts? and an avid hockey fan, was so enamored with the Zamboni that he made it a recurring element in his comic strip, with Snoopy behind the wheel.

The two machines used to clean the speedskating oval in Vancouver are Olympia brands, made by Elmira, Ontario- based Resurfice. Though Zamboni machines were used to clean the ice at the Winter Games in 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2006, Resurfice won the contract for the Vancouver Games. The firm supplied 17 battery-powered machines at the Vancouver Olympic rinks used for hockey, speedskating and figure skating.

Problem Solved

The breakdowns were the result of an ?electrical malfunction,? according to a statement from Resurfice.

?This was a maintenance issue, not a design issue,? said Don Schlupp, director of sales and marketing at the family owned company. ?Contrary to what some reports have suggested, these machines are not prototypes. They have been in service at the Oval for almost two years, and this problem has never occurred before.?

?The problem was minor and we?ve got it fixed,? Schlupp said.

The breakdowns have given Zamboni a chance to take part in the Games after all. The Vancouver Olympic Committee shipped a Zamboni machine from Calgary, about 680 kilometers (422 miles) to the east across the Rocky Mountains.

Last night, the white Zamboni machine shared ice- cleaning duties during the men?s 1,000-meter speedskating event with an Olympia machine, which was painted in the green, white and blue colors of the Vancouver Games.

Higher Power

John Furlong, chief executive officer of the Vancouver Olympic committee, said organizers didn?t consider sponsorships as they tried to solve the ice-cleaning problem.

?I don?t have any opinion on any of the marketing questions,? he told reporters in Vancouver. ?The higher power here is that the venue must be perfect -- we have to have certainty. We now think we have it.?

Paula Coony, general manager of Zamboni?s merchandising arm, declined to comment after issuing the statement signed by Richard Zamboni, whose father, Jack, founded the company about six decades ago in Paramount, California.

While men?s 1,000-meter silver medalist Tae-Bum Mo said the ice was ?soft,? the condition of the ice wasn?t a distraction to gold-medal winner Shani Davis of the U.S.

?As an Olympian and a top-level skater, you have to be prepared to be able to handle any sort of situation,? Davis said. ?I?ve learned not to pay attention to things that are negative.?


Julian, Alleged Computer F**kface

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Re: The Olympics Thread
« Reply #28 on: February 18, 2010, 04:00:16 pm »
That's still funny the "zambonis" broke down in Canada. I thought those things were like pets in America; 3 out of every 4 families own at least two. *drumfill*

godsshoeshine

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Re: The Olympics Thread
« Reply #29 on: February 18, 2010, 05:54:35 pm »
i predict ted leonsis will use this as evidence that caps fans are the greatest fans in the history of the world
o/\o