The Briefing Room
General Category => Sports/Entertainment/MSM/Social Media => Topic started by: Rapunzel on February 06, 2014, 12:28:55 am
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http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-Sports/2014/02/05/Shaun-White-tells-Today-Show-hes-out-of-Olympic-slopestyle--will-still-compete-in-Sochi
Shaun White Withdraws from Olympic Slopestyle -- Course Too Dangerous
from AP 5 Feb 2014, 5:30 AM PDT
KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia (AP) — Shaun White pulled out of the Olympic slopestyle contest Wednesday after being dinged up on a course that riders are criticizing as unduly harsh.
White issued a statement, saying that after much deliberation, he has decided to forgo the new snowboarding event and concentrate on halfpipe, where he will try for his third straight gold medal next week.
"With the practice runs I have taken, even after course modifications and watching fellow athletes get hurt, the potential risk of injury is a bit too much for me to gamble my other Olympics goals on," White said in a statement.
White, who was among the favorites in the new Olympic event, jammed his left wrist during practice Tuesday and when he came off the slopestyle course, he called it "a little intimidating."
Slopestyle is a speed-packed trip down the mountain, filled with rails, bumps and, most notably, steeply angled jumps that allow riders to flip two, sometimes three times, before landing. White hurt his wrist on one of the takeoff ramps, which one top rider, Canadian Mark McMorris, said were built "kind of obnoxiously tall."
White, 27, has been dealing with a number of nagging injuries during a winter in which he was one of the few riders trying to compete in both events. The wrist added to a list that includes his shoulder and ankle, both injured during qualifying events for the U.S. team.
His focus will now solely be on next Tuesday's contest in the halfpipe, which is essentially a hollowed-out ice shell with 22-foot sidewalls. There is danger there, but unlike slopestyle, it's based mostly on the types of tricks the riders try and not the setup of the pipe.
In a news conference about an hour before he gave first word of his decision to the "Today" show, White was asked whether halfpipe was more important to him.
"For me, I definitely feel the halfpipe carries a bit more weight, a bit more pressure. I guess that's fair enough to say," he said.
He deemed his jammed wrist as nothing serious and said reports about it were overblown.
But he said there remained serious issues with the slopestyle course.
"There are definitely concerns about the course," he said. "It's been interesting to see how it's developed and changed over the past couple days. The big question is, if it will continue to change. Because every day, they have riders meetings and they give feedback. Sometimes there's changes, sometimes there's not."
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It's too warm there - shirtsleeve weather makes for terrible skiing conditions. The snow is sticky because it is mostly man-made snow... we're likely to see a lot of injuries at these olympic games.
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If you don't mind, I'm going to sticky this thread to the top so we can have one big live ongoing thread.
Oh yea... and this..
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/t1/1510810_10152273197783933_1438079918_n.jpg)
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The CNN TV people are complaining like crazy about the quality (or lack of) their accommodations. Tonight on Real News they opined on this and said this view inside a socialist country is going to be a real eye-opener to the media.
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http://msn.foxsports.com/olympics/story/moguls-course-also-undergoing-tweaks-as-olympics-loom1-020514
US concerned about 'issues' on moguls course
FEB 05, 2014 2:48p ET
(http://msn.foxsports.com/content/dam/fsdigital/fscom/Olympics/images/2014/02/05/020514-OLY-Australia-Nicole-Parks-crashes-PI.vadapt.620.medium.11.jpg)
Australia's Nicole Parks crashes Tuesday at the finish of the moguls slope during a training session at the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park.
KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia -- The ambitious slopestyle course that sent Shaun White sprinting for the serenity and apparent safety of the halfpipe isn't the only Olympic event at Sochi's Extreme Park turning heads and sending riders tumbling down the mountain.
Things have been nearly as dicey in moguls. The U.S. was among several countries to unsuccessfully ask officials Wednesday to tweak the course, expressing concerns about unusual sequencing along the 700-foot sprint across bumps and jumps that make for a unique mixture of daredevil downhill racing and aerials.
"There's a lot of issues with the course," American Patrick Deneen said.
Deneen, however, cautioned against confusing "issues" with "danger."
"Everybody is scrambling a little bit," he said. "This isn't what anybody expected, but it's really good. We're really liking it. They made a few mistakes while they were building the course and we're fighting those ... but they also did some pretty cool things."
Still, Deneen admitted it was a "battle" when the U.S. team arrived for its first practice earlier this week. The course had barely been completed when the Americans popped on their skis and went careening down the hill at speeds of up to 35 mph.
Things didn't go so well. During practice Tuesday, the 26-year-old Deneen caught an edge entering the second of the course's two jumps and slammed into it.
"There was no way around it," he said. "It was like crashing into a wall. It's just not going to feel good no matter what happens."
Deneen underwent X-rays for an unspecified injury and plans to be ready when the men's competition begins next week. There's a chance by then the course's rough edges will have been smoothed out.
There's not that much time for the women, who begin qualifying Thursday. American Heidi Kloser, making her Olympic debut, called the course "challenging," but pointed at improvements during three days of training.
"The course is pretty safe now," she said. "The first day it was a little bit rough because no one had skied it and we were worried about the bottom of the course being more dangerous."
She's no longer concerned about the final moments of her run being any more perilous than any other event on the World Cup circuit. She fell on Tuesday, but chalked that up to the inherent risk that comes with flinging yourself over dozens of balance-testing bumps and two jumps, where skiers mix a combination of spins and flips.
"It's not normal training if you don't fall," she said with a laugh. "You're not pushing yourself."
Maybe, but Deneen and Kloser echoed the sentiments of snowboard riders who are questioning whether the slopestyle course -- located about a half-mile down the mountain from the moguls run -- pushes the boundaries of safety a little too far.
White bailed on his bid to leave Sochi with multiple gold medals when he pulled out of slopestyle partly out of fear an injury in that event could harm his chances of capturing a third straight gold in halfpipe.
Several other riders expressed surprise over the size and the speed of the slopestyle route, which includes a mixture of rails and big-time jumps designed to allow competitors enough air time to pack in two or three flips.
Yet for every detractor, a list that includes White and defending women's halfpipe gold medalist Torah Bright of Australia, there have been those, such as American Sage Kotsenburg, praising its sheer audacity.
Deneen sees both sides of the argument. Yes, it's different than what he's used to. He's not entirely sure that's a bad thing. Yeah, the moguls are bumpy, but isn't that kind of the point?
"This is a moguls skiing competition," he said, "so it's good to have some crazy moguls in there."
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http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/sochi-kicks-what-watch-day-one-n23331
Sochi Kicks Off: What to Watch on Day One ↪
[Image: Niklas Mattsson of Sweden performs a jump during slopestyle snowboard training.] Here's a look at the compelling events, athletes and storylines of the Sochi Olympics on Thursday, Feb. 6.
WHAT TO STAY UP LATE FOR …
Men’s snowboard slopestyle, 1 a.m. ET (qualifying)
CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE EVENT LIVE
The first event of the Olympics lost its megastar Wednesday with the withdrawal of two-time halfpipe champion Shaun White. White cited injury risk in pulling out, drawing criticism from other medal contenders, but he wasn’t the only rider concerned with course conditions. He’s also focusing on winning the halfpipe Tuesday.
White would have had a tough time beating the Canadian trio of Mark McMorris, Max Parrot and Sebastien Toutant in slopestyle’s Olympic debut though. They’re all X Games champions and are heavily favored to advance from two qualifying runs into the semifinals and/or finals Saturday. The top three from each of two heats advance through to the final, and the next six from each heat go to the 12-man semifinals.
The Americans entered are Chas Guldemond, Sage Kotsenburg and Ryan Stassel.
Women’s snowboard slopestyle, 4 a.m. ET (qualifying)
CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE EVENT LIVE
American Jamie Anderson will begin her quest toward a possible gold medal in women’s qualifying. She’s a better hope for gold than White was before pulling out of the men’s competition. Anderson won the 2012 and 2013 X Games and was upset at this year’s Aspen, Colo., event by Norwegian Silje Norendal.
Australian Olympic halfpipe champion Torah Bright is also competing here, the first of a planned three snowboarding events for her. The other Americans are Ty Walker, Karly Shorr and Jessika Jenson.
The women follow the same format as the men except their semifinals and finals are Sunday.
WHAT TO WAKE UP EARLY FOR ….
Women’s moguls, 9 a.m. ET (qualifying)
CLICK HERE TO WATCH EVENT LIVE
Hannah Kearney begins her quest to become the first freestyle skier to win multiple Olympic gold medals. She’s fully expected to qualify into the 20-woman final Saturday.
Kearney’s biggest competition is a trio of Canadian sisters – Chloe, Justine and Maxime Dufour-Lapointe. The other Americans are Heidi Kloser, Heather McPhie and Eliza Outtrim.
Nothing can be taken for granted though. Kearney entered the 2006 Olympics as a medal hope and failed to advance out of qualifying.
WHAT YOU CAN’T MISS DURING THE DAY …
Figure skating, team event, 10:30 a.m. ET (men’s, pairs short programs)
CLICK HERE TO WATCH EVENT LIVE
This is the marquee event of the first day of competition. Skating fans will get their first looks at Olympic gold-medal contenders Patrick Chan, Yuzuru Hanyu and Russian pair Tatyana Volozoshar and Maksim Trankov. Volozoshar and Trankov skate last, looking to bring the home crowd to their feet to complete the night.
The U.S. is represented by national champions Jeremy Abbott and Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir.
The top five of 10 teams after the women’s and ice dance short programs Saturday will qualify for the long program portions this weekend. The U.S., Canada and Russia are seen as medal favorites in this new Olympic event.
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Chuck "I've got nothing better to do than stick my face in front of a camera" Schumer is handling the delicate yogurt issue for Team USA:
Schumer pushes clearance of yogurt to Team USA in Sochi
By S.A. Miller
February 6, 2014 | 12:49am
NY Post (http://nypost.com/2014/02/06/schumer-pushes-clearance-of-yogurt-to-team-usa-in-sochi/)
WASHINGTON — An international stir over yogurt is leaving a bad taste at the Olympics.
The Russian government halted a large shipment of Chobani Greek yogurt bound for US athletes in Sochi, stranding more than 5,000 single-serve cups at Newark Liberty Airport, according to the company.
Sen. Charles Schumer, a longtime supporter of Chobani and other New York-based yogurt producers, intervened and called on the Russians and the International Olympic Committee to quickly break the blockade.
“With the Sochi Olympic Games starting at the end of this week, there is simply no time to waste in getting our Olympic athletes and employees a nutritious and delicious breakfast — Chobani Greek yogurt,” declared Schumer on Tuesday, getting across his point while plugging the brand.
He accused the Russians of imposing an “unreasonable customs-certificate requirement” to block the product.
The yogurt is being stored in a temperature-controlled facility while awaiting the go-ahead from Russia.
I'm guessing Chuck is richly compensated for his commercial endorsement.
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The CNN TV people are complaining like crazy about the quality (or lack of) their accommodations. Tonight on Real News they opined on this and said this view inside a socialist country is going to be a real eye-opener to the media.
I've been watching the tweets from reporters and others. It is funny (and kind of sad for the atheletes). They were warned not to drink water out of the tap, it could be toxic. And now bottled water supplies are running low. Toilets don't flush, if they have a toilet. They have to find the hotel owner's bedroom in order to check in. Toilet paper is scarce and you aren't supposed to flush it. Dogs are running around the hotels.
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I've been watching the tweets from reporters and others. It is funny (and kind of sad for the atheletes). They were warned not to drink water out of the tap, it could be toxic. And now bottled water supplies are running low. Toilets don't flush, if they have a toilet. They have to find the hotel owner's bedroom in order to check in. Toilet paper is scarce and you aren't supposed to flush it. Dogs are running around the hotels.
It was either Rush or Savage yesterday that spoke about this being a result of crony corruption....where EVERYBODY skims off the top.
There's no $$$ left to finish the project/rooms/infrastructure.
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I've been watching the tweets from reporters and others. It is funny (and kind of sad for the atheletes). They were warned not to drink water out of the tap, it could be toxic. And now bottled water supplies are running low. Toilets don't flush, if they have a toilet. They have to find the hotel owner's bedroom in order to check in. Toilet paper is scarce and you aren't supposed to flush it. Dogs are running around the hotels.
Apparently the Russian Army has squads out hunting and shooting wild dogs around the venues.
Keep in mind folks, this is the most expensive Olympics ever held. Russia has reportedly spent $50 Billion to get to get the venues to the point we are at right now. It makes you wonder what the real terrorist threat to the Olympics really is...the Muslim extremists or the IOLC. It is insane to spend that much money on this. We now have competition for future venues based on who can build the grandest and most expensive sports facilities ever.
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A reporter from a Pittsburgh paper tweeted his accomodations in Sochi were excellent.. :shrug:
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Chuck "I've got nothing better to do than stick my face in front of a camera" Schumer is handling the delicate yogurt issue for Team USA:I'm guessing Chuck is richly compensated for his commercial endorsement.
(http://thenypost.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/schumer.jpg?w=720&h=480&crop=1)What is up with this photo of him? He has hair. he looks different doesn't he?.
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You be the judge:
(http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.164607!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_635/alg-schumer-speaks-jpg.jpg)
This photo is from 2010.
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http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-Sports/2014/02/06/Sochi-2014-Woman-Caught-Spray-Painting-Brown-Grass-Green
Sochi 2014: Woman Caught Spray Painting Brown Grass Green
by Breitbart Sports 6 Feb 2014, 7:06 AM PDT
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BftnAMUCAAA4X7V.jpg)
In another example of how ill-prepared Sochi may be for the Winter Olympics, a woman was caught using green spray paint to paint the brown grass around an Olympic venue.
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http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-Sports/2014/02/06/Sochi-2014-Woman-Caught-Spray-Painting-Brown-Grass-Green
Sochi 2014: Woman Caught Spray Painting Brown Grass Green
by Breitbart Sports 6 Feb 2014, 7:06 AM PDT
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BftnAMUCAAA4X7V.jpg)
In another example of how ill-prepared Sochi may be for the Winter Olympics, a woman was caught using green spray paint to paint the brown grass around an Olympic venue.
I doubt that is paint. There are plenty of lawn fertilizer products out there that are deliberately dyed green. A lot of states use a product called hydroseed, sprayed on freshly graded earth alongside interstates. It stabilizes the topsoil and anchors the grass seed in a fertilizer matrix to help it sprout.
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http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-Sports/2014/02/06/Russians-Saved-Snow-from-Previous-Winters-for-Sochi-Games
Russians Hoarded Snow from Previous Winters for Sochi Games
by Breitbart Sports 6 Feb 2014, 9:16 AM PDT
In addition to the nearly 500 snowmaking machines that will be in Sochi, Sochi organizers have been literally preparing for the Winter Games in Russia's sub-tropical resort town by saving snow from previous Russian winters in case the machines cannot produce enough powder for the next two weeks.
Because the Winter Olympics are held in Sochi, which has a sub-tropical climate, organizers are making sure that they will be able to make plenty of snow in the resort town that Russians usually go to in order to escape the country's brutal winters:
If the weather doesn't deliver them the snow they need, or there simply isn't enough, they have over 400 fixed snowmaking machines installed at the resort, along with 27 mobile ones, fed by two huge water reservoirs. These will produce artificial snow for the slopes by blasting a mixture of water and compressed air above the slopes. This combination breaks up the stream of water into tiny droplets, which freeze into snowflakes before reaching the ground. If conditions aren't right for the water to freeze on its own, agents can be added to the water to give the ice crystals something to form on.
If that does not work, organizers have reportedly stored "710,000 cubic metres of snow from previous winter seasons, just in case":
This isn't like sticking a snowball in a freezer, though: That just results in a hard ball of ice, and it wouldn't be of much use for the ski slopes. This snow has been collected into stockpiles, stored high up in the mountains, under heavy insulating blankets. While a little unconventional, this is a perfectly reasonable idea for storing snow, especially over the summer.
After the Games, Russia intends use the technology in Sochi to extend skiing seasons to 180 days a year at some resorts.
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I doubt that is paint. There are plenty of lawn fertilizer products out there that are deliberately dyed green. A lot of states use a product called hydroseed, sprayed on freshly graded earth alongside interstates. It stabilizes the topsoil and anchors the grass seed in a fertilizer matrix to help it sprout.
very true
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http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-Sports/2014/02/06/Sochi-Etiquette-Adviser-Don-t-Wear-Coat-in-Indoor-Public-Areas-Even-If-Heat-Doesn-t-Work
Sochi Etiquette Adviser: Don't Wear Coats Indoors--Even if Heat Doesn't Work
by Breitbart Sports 6 Feb 2014, 9:15 AM
A travel expert who specializes in Eastern Europe and Russia says that it is bad etiquette to leave your coat on indoors in public areas in Sochi--even if the heat is not working. It's considered "extremely rude" in Russia.
Greg Tepper, who has "has spent more than 600 days in Russia in the past 11 years, speaks the language fluently, and has offices in Kiev, Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Prague," gave the "tip" to Conde Nast Traveler:
Don't wear your coat indoors in public areas. "In Russia it's considered extremely rude to leave your overcoat on indoors, so try as hard as you can to take it off and hang it up when inside, even if the heat is not working!"
Many arriving in Sochi this week complained that they had no heat in their rooms and hotels, and Americans in Sochi may not mind being looked at as "rude" Americans if they have to wear their coats indoors in hotels that lack sufficient heat.
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Wow, did anyone else see the Russian pair skaters? Fantastic!!!!
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Tomorrow night is the opening ceremony. They are going to do the parade of nations first instead of last. Something went wrong today with practice for lighting of the Olympic Flame and they had to evacuate the stadium and had fire trucks there to put the fires out.
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Bob Costa doing an entire segment on Putin being anti-Gays. A Russian journalist said this is fine with the country as 85% of the country is very homophobic and they are not silent about it.
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'Am I still an Olympian, dad?' Heartbreaking words of American skier after she broke her leg during a training run in Sochi
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2553879/American-freestyle-skier-pulls-Olympics-fracturing-leg-tearing-ACL-training-run.html
American freestyle skier Heidi Kloser has had to pull out of the Olympics after breaking her right leg during a training run before moguls qualifying.
Kloser, 21, broke her femur and tore knee ligaments in a crash on Thursday night, only moments before she was supposed to head to the starting gate.
Images showed her being carried away from the course on a sled and she was taken to a medical clinic for athletes in the Olympic village.
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'Am I still an Olympian, dad?' Heartbreaking words of American skier after she broke her leg during a training run in Sochi
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2553879/American-freestyle-skier-pulls-Olympics-fracturing-leg-tearing-ACL-training-run.html
That was a bad fall, her legs got out in front of her and she totally lost it and in moguls that isn't a good thing.
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http://msn.foxsports.com/olympics/story/russian-police-arrest-four-gay-rights-activists-in-st-petersburg-020714
Russian police arrest gay rights activists in St. Petersburg, Moscow
AP
FEB 07, 2014 10:33a ET
Evgeny Feldman / AP
A police officer detains a gay rights activist Friday in Red Square in Moscow. Police quickly detained 10 LGBT activists in Moscow who waved rainbow flags on Red Square, according to Russian news reports.
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia -- Russian police on Friday arrested several gay rights activists protesting in St. Petersburg and Moscow on the opening day of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.
In Moscow, police quickly detained 10 gay rights activists who waved rainbow flags Friday on Red Square, according to Russian news reports. Moscow police refused to comment.
In St. Petersburg, four activists were detained Friday after unfurling a banner quoting the Olympic Charter's ban on any form of discrimination. The protesters, who gathered on St. Petersburg's Vasilyevsky Island, were quickly rounded up by police, according to Natalia Tsymbalova, a local lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender activist.
Police there also refused any immediate comment.
A Russian law banning gay "propaganda" from reaching minors has drawn strong international criticism and calls for boycott of the Sochi Games from gay activists and others.
Russian law also bans any unsanctioned protests and violators may face fines or prison sentences.
Human Rights First, a rights watchdog based in New York and Washington D.C., quickly condemned the arrests of Russian LGBT activists.
"The most alarming thing is, despite the international attention, the authorities are still bringing more charges under the law and it is being applied on a larger scale," spokesman Shawn Gaylord said in a statement.
All Out, the international group that organized events in 20 cities this week to pressure Olympic sponsors to condemn Russia's "gay propaganda" law, also harshly criticized the detentions of activists.
"This outrageous move directly contradicts the IOC's assurance that Russian laws are in line with the Olympic Charter," said Andre Banks, executive director of All Out.
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http://msn.foxsports.com/olympics/story/maria-sharapova-leads-russian-athletes-in-olympic-torch-lighting-020714
Maria Sharapova leads Russian athletes in Olympic torch lighting
FOX Sports
FEB 07, 2014 1:57p ET
Matt Slocum / AP
Irina Rodnina and Vladislav Tretyak light the Olympic cauldron.
Tennis star Maria Sharapova led a group of six notable Russian athletes for the torch lighting at Friday's Opening Ceremony.
Sharapova was joined by pole-vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva, former gymnast Alina Kabaeva (who has been linked romantically to Vladimir Putin), figure-skating legend Irina Rodnina, wrestling star Alexander Karelin and former hockey goaltender Vladislav Tretiak.
Rodnina and Tretiak were the two to physically light the torch.
Often called the greatest goaltender of all time by those who saw him play, Tretiak was the first Russian-born player to enter the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Rodnina won three gold medals for the Soviet Union before moving to the United States in 1990 to work as a coach. She won 10 world pairs titles in a row with two different partners and has coached two Czech skaters to a world title.
The honor Thursday night capped a rollicking opening ceremony in Sochi's Olympic Park, which opened with a welcome "to the center of the universe."
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http://msn.foxsports.com/olympics/story/out-snowboarder-flashes-rainbow-gloves-in-another-apparent-sign-of-protest-020714
Out snowboarder flashes rainbow gloves in another apparent protest
FOX Sports
FEB 07, 2014 3:42p ET
Cheryl Maas is an openly gay Dutch snowboarder who is making waves on the Internet for what appears to be an on-camera protest of Russia's anti-gay policies.
After a preliminary run in the slopestyle event Thursday, Maas took a moment to let the camera have a good look at her gloves, which depict a rainbow and a unicorn, leading many to interpret it as a protest. Russia has been under fire for months over their lack of discrimination protection for gays and a new law banning "propaganda" supporting same-sex causes.
Maas has not commented yet on her intentions, and some reports indicated she has worn the gloves for years. Take a look and judge for yourself:
https://v.cdn.vine.co/videos_trellis/2014/02/07/A806FBC2731043581555735777280_1.4.7.2148444377706156342.mp4
Russian snowboarder Alexey Sobolev had a similar moment Thursday, displaying a custom-designed snowboard that seemed to also be a form of protest.
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http://msn.foxsports.com/olympics/story/here-s-vladimir-putin-at-the-precise-moment-of-that-olympic-ring-glitch-020714
Here's Vladimir Putin at the precise moment of that Olympic ring glitch
FOX Sports
(http://msn.foxsports.com/content/dam/fsdigital/fscom/Olympics/images/2014/02/07/020714-oly-Vladimir-Putin2-pi-mp.vadapt.620.medium.71.jpg)
FEB 07, 2014 1:43p ET
Ehhhhh ... close enough. Right, Vladimir?
Russian President Vladimir Putin was just chilling in the presidential lounge at Fisht Olympic Stadium, waiting to be introduced at Friday's Opening Ceremonies, when that little glitch with the Olympic ring lighting display went down. And thanks to one photographer with impeccable timing, we have a visual of it.
In the photo above, you can see Putin examining his nails as the TV at far right shows the portion early on in the ceremony where the transformation of snowflakes to Olympic rings went about 20 percent awry.
Is he nervous? Is he unaware? Is he reeling from a night spent without a pillow? We may never know.
Putin went out to his seat shortly thereafter and carried out the traditional honor of declaring the Games open.
More than with most games, these Olympics are closely tied to the leader of the host nation. Putin personally pushed for the right to stage them in this Black Sea summer resort and the nearby Caucasus Mountains slopes.
He then spent $51 billion to transform Sochi into a winter sports paradise, in a project fraught with corruption, environmental abuses and fears of terrorism from nearby Chechnya and Dagestan.
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http://msn.foxsports.com/olympics/story/sochi-olympics-kick-off-with-grand-opening-020714
Sochi Olympics kick off with grand opening ceremony
FEB 07, 2014 12:36p ET
Mark Humphrey / AP
Todd Lodwick carries the flag for Team USA in Sochi.
(http://msn.foxsports.com/content/dam/fsdigital/fscom/Olympics/images/2014/02/07/020714-Oly-United-States-Todd-Lodwick-CQ-PI-CH.vadapt.620.medium.42.jpg)
SOCHI, Russia -- A crowning achievement of Vladimir Putin's Russia kicked off Friday with a celebration of its past greatness and hopes for future glory, most especially for a raucous group of Russian athletes who marched into the rollicking opening ceremony of the Sochi Olympics with a message.
To the best athletes in the world, who they've invited to the edge of the Black Sea to compete on ice and snow, they sang: you're "not gonna get us."
Just after the sun set over the Caucasus Mountains and along the seashore just outside Fisht Stadium in the wet-paint-fresh Olympic Park, Russian TV star Yana Churikova shouted to a crowd still taking their seats: "Welcome to the center of the universe!"
For the next two weeks, it certainly is for the 3,000 athletes who will compete in 98 events, more people and contests than ever at the Winter Games.
It will be, too, for all those worried the games will be a target for terrorism, fears of which were stoked during the ceremony itself when a passenger aboard a flight bound for Istanbul said there was a bomb on board and tried to divert the plane to Sochi. Authorities said the plane landed safely in Turkey.
The opening ceremony and subsequent games are Russia's chance to tell its story of post-Soviet resurrection to the world, and dispel the anger, fear and suspicion that has marred the buildup to these most expensive Olympics ever.
The ceremony was a celebration of Russia and presented Putin's version: a country with a rich and complex history emerging confidently from a rocky two decades and now capable of putting on a major international sports event.
Putin was front and center, looking down from his box high above the stadium floor as the real stars of the games -- those athletes, dressed in winter wear of so many national colors to ward off the evening chill and a light man-made snow -- walked onto a satellite image of the earth projected on the floor, the map shifting so the athletes emerged from their own country.
Every athlete who makes it to Sochi is honored with the title Olympian, but who might be deemed the games' stars at the closing ceremony?
Well, American snowboarder Shaun White is certain to wow crowds in the Krasnaya Polyana resort halfpipe. On the ice, Canadian hockey players Sidney Crosby and Jonathan Toews will try to add another gold medal to their collection of Stanley Cups. In the rink, American's Ashley Wagner and Gracie Gold will try to dethrone South Korean marvel and defending goal medalist Yuna Kim.
As always, Greece -- the birthplace of Olympic competition -- came first in the parade of nations. Five new teams, all from warm weather climates, joined the Winter Olympics for the first time. Togo's flagbearer looked dumbstruck with wonder, but those veterans from the Cayman Islands had the style to arrive in shorts!
The smallest teams often earned the biggest cheers from the crowd of 40,000, with an enthusiastic three-person Venezuelan team winning roars of approval as flag bearer and alpine skier Antonio Pardo danced and jumped along to the electronic music.
Only neighboring Ukraine, scene of a tense and ongoing standoff between a pro-Russian president and Western-leaning protesters, could compete with those cheers.
That is, until the Russians arrived.
Walking in last to a thundering bass line that struggled to overcome the ovations from the hometown crowd, the Russians reveled in all the attention. Their feeling could perhaps best be summed up by Russian singers Tatu, whose hit "Not Gonna Get Us" accompanied them to their seats.
Russians place huge significance in the Olympics, carefully watching the medal count -- their dismal performance in Vancouver four years ago is on the minds of many. These games are particularly important for Russians, many of whom are still insecure about their place in the world after the end of the Cold War and the years since that have seen dominance of the United States and China.
Perhaps cuing on those feelings, it didn't take long for the classic Russian pride to come shining through at the opening ceremony.
As Churikova rallied the crowd to scream "louder than ever," she told the fans in their cool blue seats their keepsakes from the night would last 1,000 years. When explaining the show would be hosted in English, French and Russian, she joked that it didn't matter, because in Sochi, everyone "speaks every language in the world."
The official ceremony opened with the Russian alphabet projected on the stadium floor, as a young girl told the story of her country's heroes and their globally renowned achievements: composer Tchaikovsky; artists Kandinsky, Chagall and Malevich; writers Tolstoy, Pushkin and Chekhov; Mendeleev and his periodic table; the first spaceship Sputnik and Russia's space stations.
There was a glitch, too, as the lighting of the five Olympic Rings overshadowed the singing of the Russian national anthem. Five stars on cables drifted together above the stadium, and four of them turned into Olympic rings -- but the fifth never unfurled and they all failed to erupt into white flames as planned, marring what's traditionally a key moment in the ceremony.
In a nod to Russia's long history, the anthem was sung by the 600-year-old Sretensky Monastery Choir, a symbol of an increasing rapprochement between the state and the Russian Orthodox Church. The monastery is led by Tikhon Shevkunov, who is known to be Putin's confessor and one of the nation's most influential clergymen.
Not in the show Friday: Putin's repression of dissent, fears of terrorism and inconsistent security measures at the Olympics, which will take place just a few hundred miles (kilometers) away from the sites of an insurgency and routine militant violence. Also looked over: the tensions with the United States over neighboring Ukraine, NSA leaker Edward Snowden and Syria.
And the poorly paid migrant workers who helped build up the Sochi site from scratch, the disregard for local residents, the environmental abuse during construction, the pressure on activists, and the huge amounts of Sochi construction money that disappeared to corruption.
The show cleared its first chance to focus on one of those issues without so much as a wink, as Tatu performed and steered clear of the very real anger over a Russian law banning gay "propaganda" aimed at minors that is being used to discriminate against gays.
The women in Tatu put on a lesbian act that is largely seen as an attention-getting gimmick, but on this night, they merely held hands, stopping short of the groping and kissing of their past performances. At MTV awards in 2003, the duo performed with dozens of young women dressed in tightfitting schoolgirl uniforms that they stripped off in the end.
This time, their lead-in act was the Red Army Choir MVD singing Daft Punk's Grammy-winning "Get Lucky."
While some world leaders stayed away, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was in Sochi. Ban has spoken out about the anti-gay law, but did not refer to it at the opening ceremony.
Asked whether Putin might arrive at the ceremony from the air, like stunt actors playing James Bond and Queen Elizabeth II did at in London, the ceremony's director, Konstantin Ernst, said "it's hardly worth hoping for that."
But with the Russian president safely in his box alongside IOC President Thomas Bach, who will carry the Olympic torch to light the cauldron for the games, after the flame's unprecedented journey to the North Pole, the cosmos, Europe's highest mountain peak and beyond?
"It's the biggest secret ever," ceremony director Konstantin Ernst said, with a smile.
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http://msn.foxsports.com/content/dam/fsdigital/fscom/Olympics/images/2014/02/07/020714-Oly-United-States-Todd-Lodwick-CQ-PI-CH.vadapt.620.medium.42.jpg
Russia leads team figure skating while US tied for fifth after Abbott falls
FEB 06, 2014 12:07p ET
SOCHI, Russia -- Thrilling their countrymen on the first day of competition at the Sochi Olympics, Russia took the lead after the pairs and men's short programs in the new event of team figure skating.
Three-time Olympic medalist Evgeni Plushenko finished second to Japan's Yuzuru Hanyu in the men's portion Thursday night, then world champions Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov convincingly won the pairs.
The combined 19 points -- 10 for first place, nine for second -- lifted the hosts ahead of Canada, which earned nine points in pairs from Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford, and eight in men's from three-time world champion Patrick Chan.
Team USA is in a three-way tie for fifth place.
The team competition continues Saturday with ice dance, the women's short program and the pairs free skate. It concludes Sunday with the other three long programs.
Three-time medalist Plushenko, in what certainly is the swan song to a brilliant career, put on his best performance in years Thursday night. For nearly three minutes, he had the crowd enraptured. For almost an hour he had Russia atop the standings.
But Hanyu, the Grand Prix champion and among the favorites for the individual gold medal, was even better -- by 6 points. The 19-year-old Japanese was smoother and more intricate with his footwork, his jumps were massive -- he nearly crossed the width of the ice on his triple axel -- and his spins were exquisite.
When he finished, Hanyu bowed to his teammates who were celebrating in the cheering section set aside for them behind the end boards. While awaiting the marks, his teammates joined him in the kiss-and-cry area, dancing behind Hanyu before the 97.98 points hit the scoreboard.
That earned Japan 10 points to nine for Russia and eight for Canada as three-time world champion Patrick Chan struggled. The United States was seventh after a poor showing by Jeremy Abbott, who fell during his program.
"He was my hero," Hanyu said of Plushenko. "That's why I was happy to skate here with him."
His coach, Brian Orser, helped Yuna Kim win the 2010 Olympic gold, but was perplexed about how to approach the team competition.
"It's so strange for all of us, for the athletes, for the coaches," said Orser, a two-time Olympic silver medalist. "You want your athlete to nail it. You can't tell them to hold back."
The 31-year-old Plushenko pulled out all his tricks, and they were considerable. But after hitting his quadruple toe loop-triple toe combination, an insecure triple axel and a triple lutz to open the routine, he also slowed down considerably.
No matter because the three-time Olympic medalist had the crowd -- and the judges -- eating out of his hands. And when he pumped his arms midway through his skate to "Tango de Roxanne," as if asking for more cheers, the sound level skyrocketed.
"I already win for myself, because after 12 surgeries in my body, I can skate for (a) fourth time in Olympic Games," said Plushenko, who won silver in 2002 and 2010, gold in 2006. "So it's already good. And today, with this day, this first day for me, I'm so happy today."
Ever the master showman, at the end of his 2-minute, 48-second performance, Plushenko spent just as much time soaking up the adulation. He threw kisses to the fans, took long and deep bows, including a final one just before he exited to be surrounded by his teammates.
"It's hard competing at home, so hard," he said. "But, sometimes it helps. I came from there, from there, there, there, everybody screaming, everybody talking. I was a little bit shocked, I was like dizzy. Concentrate, concentrate."
There was little celebrating for the Americans after four-time U.S. champion Abbott crashed to the ice on his planned quad and popped a triple axel into a single. His 65.65 points severely damaged U.S. chances for a gold medal in the new event and he said he was "torn apart" by his performance.
It was yet another flop for Abbott on the international stage, where he has never finished higher than fifth in a major championship. He plans to retire from competition after this season.
Chan also disappointed, stepping out of a triple axel and doing only a double toe loop at the end of his combination jump.
"There's many times in my career where I went out and did the program and came back off the ice and said, 'Oh, I wish I could do it again,' " Chan said.
All 10 teams had contingents sitting in a cheering section divided by nations. There were group hugs for skaters as they exited the ice, and the Germans even brought a huge cowbell they chimed after Peter Liebers' season-best program.
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http://msn.foxsports.com/olympics/story/sochi-opening-ceremonies-kick-off-with-olympic-ring-glitch-020714
Sochi Opening Ceremonies kick off with Olympic ring glitch
FOX Sports
FEB 07, 2014 11:36a ET
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We've had a lot of fun this week with the various stories coming out of Sochi about yellow water, double toilets, pillow shortages and more. So perhaps it should come as no surprise that Friday's Opening Ceremonies didn't get off to the most auspicious start.
The Games kicked off with a little girl named Lubov walking us through Russian history and culture in an eye-catching opening sequence. When it was over, five giant illuminated snowflakes appeared suspended inside the Fisht Olympic Stadium, looking like something straight out of a child's Spirograph:
ADRIAN DENNIS-AFP
This was the big payoff. The snowflakes morphed into the five Olympic rings. Except for that pesky last snowflake. It was stubborn:
(http://msn.foxsports.com/content/dam/fsdigital/fscom/Olympics/images/2014/02/07/020714-Oly-Opening-Ceremony-Rings-CQ-PI-CH.vadapt.620.medium.58.jpg)
Welcome to Sochi!
To be fair, Vancouver had its own issues during the Opening Ceremonies back in 2010, when the elaborate cauldron failed to fully form, leaving Wayne Gretzky hanging.
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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2554049/Hand-gold-Olympic-medal-winners-taxed-39-6-PER-CENT-cash-bonuses-plus-value-precious-metals-medals.html
Hand over the gold: Olympic medal winners taxed up to 39.6 PER CENT on cash bonuses, plus the value of the precious metals around their necks!
The U.S. Olympic Committee awards $25,000 for a gold medal, $15,000 for silver and $10,000 for bronze
The United States is one of the few countries that taxes money earned outside its borders, at rates as high as 39.6 per cent
The Olympic medal tax also applies to the value of the base metal in each medal – and gold is currently trading at $1,260 per ounce
Athletes who excel in Sochi will have to treat their prize money as though it were earned in the U.S., even though they'll be competing in Russia
House Republicans have a bill that would exempt Olympic athletes from taxes on their medal bonuses, and the White House has expressed support
By David Martosko, U.s. Political Editor
PUBLISHED: 12:47 EST, 7 February 2014
The White House doesn't like it, and neither does a prominent Senate Republican, but Olympic athletes who win medals in Sochi will have to pay federal income taxes on their cash bonuses.
The U.S. Olympic Committee awards $25,000 for each gold medal, $15,000 for silver and $10,000 for bronze. But top athletes who are in the top income tax bracket , 39.6 per cent, will have to fork over as much as $9,900 of a gold medal payout.
Competitors in Sochi, Russia will be able to deduct their expenses that aren't covered by the Olympic Committee or their others sponsors, but there may be additional taxes levied by states and cities on top of what Uncle Sam takes.
And adding insult to injury, any precious metals in their medals will also be taxed. The Sochi gold medals will be worth $566, and contain mostly silver.
All hail the Olympic taxpayers! Any valuable Americans win in Sochi, and the cash bonuses that come with them, will be subject to hefty federal income taxes
Magic: The Sochi Winter Olympics are underway, and as the u.S. medal count rises, so will Uncle Sam's take of the proceeds
In 2012 Florida Senator Marco Rubio introduced legislation that would exempt Olympic athletes from paying income taxes on their bonuses. The White House said at the time that President Obama supported the measure.
'Our tax code is a complicated and burdensome mess that too often punishes success, and the tax imposed on Olympic medal winners is a classic example of this madness,' said Rubio when he introduced the Olympic Tax Elimination Act.
'Athletes representing our nation overseas in the Olympics shouldn’t have to worry about an extra tax bill waiting for them back home.'
A Rubio spokesman told MailOnline that the Republican lawmaker hasn't reintroduced the bill since the end of the last Congress.
But some House Republicans, led by Texas Rep. Blake Fahrenthold, have launched a similar effort, he said, and 'we’re seeing how the effort proceeds in that chamber.'
Fahrenthold filed his bill on Wednesday, saying that 'this needless tax illustrates how complicated and burdensome our tax code has become. We need a fairer system for all, and eliminating this unnecessary tax burden on our athletes is a good way to start.'
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney signaled the president's enthusiasm for Rubio's measure in August 2012 when a reporter asked about it.
Smile: You're not American: British cyclists won gold in London, but they'd be faced with a big tax bill if they were part of Team USA
Not that kind of ring, so no new taxes: The presentation of the Olympic rings was part of the opening ceremony in Sochi, Russia on Friday -- but the fifth ring failed to light up
Americans for Tax Reform, an anti-tax crusader group in Washington led by conservative firebrand Grover Norquist, publicized the Olympic medal taxes on Friday with the suggestion that the U.S. should stop taxing all money earned overseas.
'Because the U.S. is one of only a handful of developed countries that tax income earned abroad, it is likely America's competitors will not be subject to such a tax,' the group said in a statement.'
'Taken together – the tax on Olympic athletes and the tax on income earned abroad – it can be said the U.S. has officially "earned the Gold" for having one of the most backwards and illogical tax codes in the world.'
The nonpartisan Tax Foundation agrees the the U.S. should adopt a so-called 'territorial' tax system that would allow Americans to bring their overseas earnings back home without fear of hefty taxes. Much of that income has already been taxed in the countries where it was earned.
'There is no reason to privilege the winnings of American Olympians over the income earned by any other hardworking citizen,' the group said.
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(http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/02/07/article-2554049-1B4677DA00000578-873_634x426.jpg)
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~ROFLOL~ Real News showing pictures being posted from Sochi re accommodations... like a shower head with a live wire running to the head - in the shower...... yellow water, falling light fixtures, door knobs coming off the doors, etc.
The keystone cops of Olympics venues.
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http://www.latimes.com/sports/olympics/la-sp-sochi-plaschke-20140207,0,3172243.column#axzz2sbSR2oB6
From Russia with dread; Sochi lacks joy
The Winter Olympics begin in Sochi with a distinct chill in the air, and it's not the weather. There are no smiles among the locals, and a gloomy sense of repression threatens to douse the Olympic spirit.
February 6, 2014, 12:53 p.m.
SOCHI, Russia – From the gently rolling Black Sea to the jagged Caucasus Mountains, from gleaming modern stadiums to colorfully ancient Matryoshka dolls, the Sochi Olympics open Friday with every conceivable natural wonder except one.
There is a visible lack of joy.
The strong-armed dream of Russian President Vladimir Putin has thus far succeeded not in embellishing the Olympic motto, but altering it, from ''swifter, higher, stronger'' to, "unfinished, unsettling and uninviting.''
Along the cramped streets in the Adler neighborhood above Olympic Park, the locals keep their heads down and their expressions grim as they walk through a shopping district bereft of any sort of Olympic embrace.
Two days before Friday's opening ceremony, there were no Olympic signs in windows, no Olympic memorabilia for sale, and few willing to even make eye contact with the reporter with the shiny Olympic credential.
Some of their homes have been crushed by bulldozers to make room for Olympic facilities. Their beloved stray dogs, a friendly tail-wagging Adler landmark, have been rounded up and "relocated." Their once-verdant land has turned into a muddy mess by hurried construction crews who are working with an Olympic-record $51 billion and still couldn't finish on time.
"People here didn't really want this, no,'' said Alim Subthan, a retiree. "They do not like what has happened.''
Throughout the Olympic Park area, there are also few smiles, unless you count the wry grins of the young soldiers as they fumble with their cigarettes. There is constant worry about attacks from regional terrorists who have engineered several recent bombings and have threatened to use this occasion to embarrass their longtime nemesis Putin.
There is also a sense of repression in the wake of Russia's recently enacted anti-gay legislation, the Internet filled with videos of Russian gangs assaulting men believed to be homosexuals. It's so discomforting for some Americans here that USOC boss Scott Blackmun used his group's welcoming press conference Thursday to restate a sad and obvious truth.
"You want the athletes to be aware of the fact that if they are not in an accredited area and they are wearing Team USA apparel, then they create an increased risk for them," he said.
This uncertainty is also seemingly felt by the athletes themselves, who have already made clear statements about the safety of the venues. On Wednesday, U.S. Olympic star Shaun White dropped out of one of the Games' new and glamorous events, slopestyle snowboarding, because he was concerned about the course. A day later, the women's downhill skiing practice was delayed because the skiers complained about the unsafe difficulty of the course, claiming that it had not been properly smoothed by forerunner skiers.
"You're welcome, I'll be your test dummy,'' American Laurenne Ross told reporters.
The torch cannot be lighted quickly enough Friday, these Olympics desperately in need of some warmth. The most tested icon during these two-week Winter Games will not be a renowned German luger or Norwegian biathlete, but the Olympic ideal itself.
Can it survive in a Games that are already being unofficially played under protest? The United States is not sending its president, vice president or first lady to the opening ceremony for the first time in 26 years. It is thought to be in part because of the strained relations between the countries over issues such as the anti-gay laws and Edward Snowden. Being sent in their place will be, among others, two openly gay American former Olympians, skater Brian Boitano and women's hockey star Caitlin Cahow.
Can the ideal thrive in a Games that have already been subject to dire warnings from America's security boss? Recently, U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, told CBS News, "The security threat to the Olympics [is] the greatest I think I've ever seen."
With the possible exception of the legendary furry-hatted Cossack vigilantes who meet visitors as they arrive at the Adler/Sochi International Airport, the security presence here has been visibly underwhelming. There are a variety of men in different sets of police uniforms hanging around sporadic street corners, but they all appear to be 15 years old, and none of them carries a gun. In terms of security checks, it can be more difficult to get into a USC football game at the Coliseum than the main press center.
And if the Olympic ideal does survive, how many visitors will be settled enough to recognize it? The early arrivals here, mostly journalists, were placed in hotel rooms that lacked running water, electricity, and even doorknobs. The lack of preparedness has been only slight less unsettling as the lack of privacy, with Russian officials admitting that visitors will be under constant electronic surveillance.
"We all like Putin,'' said Subthan, the Adler retiree. ''But we know he likes to do things a little too strongly.''
While no Olympics in recent memory have begun under such a cloud, these Games can still be saved as other troubled ventures have been saved, with great athletic performances and triumphs of the spirit.
Will the Russian hockey team bring homeland glory to fans who will surely fill the Bolshoy Ice Dome? Will South Korea's popular Yuna Kim defend her Olympic figure skating title against Japanese rival Mao Asada? Will the Jamaican bobsled team have a cool run?
While Team USA will be led by familiar names like White and downhill veteran Bode Miller, there could be new stars such as slalom favorite Mikaela Shiffrin and ski jumper Sarah Hendrickson. American fans love teams, and the Olympics could deliver there, with both the men's and women's hockey teams expected to challenge for a gold medal while the much-maligned figure skaters could also medal in the new team competition.
There is plenty of room here for inspiration, plenty of time for tears. But right now, the Sochi Olympics feel as distant as the city of Sochi itself, which is 30 minutes down the road.
Walking along a nearly deserted Black Sea boardwalk on the eve of the opening ceremony, I passed three elderly women wearing colorful shawls contrasting their thick gray overcoats. Hoping to spark some recognition, I held out my credential and offered the universal name for the world's greatest sporting event happening right down the street.
"Olympics!" I said.
"Nyet," they said in unison, and hurried on their way.
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http://www.mediaite.com/tv/bob-costas-profile-of-putin-portrays-him-as-statesman-superior-to-obama/
Bob Costas Profile of Putin Portrays Him as Statesman Superior to Obama
by Noah Rothman | 12:06 pm, February 7th, 2014 video 87
NBC Sports anchor Bob Costas opened the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia with a short profile of the country’s president, Vladimir Putin. Airing on NBC, the profile package portrayed Putin as a statesman and an accomplished peacemaker, crediting him for preventing an American airstrike on Syria and for coaxing the Iranian government to the nuclear negotiating table. The profile also framed Putin as President Barack Obama’s superior in terms of global statesmanship.
“Just in the past year, Putin brokered a deal to allow Syria to avoid a U.S. military strike by giving up its chemical weapons,” Costas said in a voiceover, “and helped bring Iran to the negotiating table over its nuclear intentions.”
“And he has repeatedly showcased his confidence to take on the West, particularly the United States,” Costas continued. “Offering asylum to national security agency leaker Edward Snowden, enticing Ukraine to back out of a deal to join the European Union, and passing laws viewed as repressive to members of the gay community and their supporters.”
Costas closed by noting that Putin was published in the New York Times last year criticizing the notion of “American exceptionalism” and was named by Forbes as the world’s most powerful person, “knocking Obama down to number two.”
Watch the clip below, via NBC:
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Huh? I thought Shortcake aka Costas was reliably in love with Obama. Maybe just the gungrabbing. :shrug:
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Huh? I thought Shortcake aka Costas was reliably in love with Obama. Maybe just the gungrabbing. :shrug:
I watched it last night, he was all over Putin being anti-gays and had two Russian journalist guests who said on this subject the country is totally united with Putin, the Russian people do not like homosexuals...... then Costa switched to discussing the subject of this article.
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http://thehill.com/blogs/global-affairs/europe/197795-russian-who-tweeted-racist-obama-pic-lights-olympic-torch (http://thehill.com/blogs/global-affairs/europe/197795-russian-who-tweeted-racist-obama-pic-lights-olympic-torch)
February 07, 2014, 02:21 pm
Russia snubs Obama with torch-lighting
By Julian Pecquet
(http://thehill.com/sites/default/files/styles/article_full/public/blogs/olympictorch_sochi_020714getty.jpg?itok=cDP-bIX4)
Russia chose a lawmaker and former figure skater who tweeted a racially charged photo of President Obama to light the Olympic cauldron on Friday.
Irina Rodnina made international headlines last September when she sent out a doctored photo of Obama and first lady Michelle Obama appearing to stare at a banana. The photo outraged the Obama administration and prompted U.S. Ambassador Michael McFaul to denounce Rodnina's "outrageous behavior, which only brings shame to her parliament and country.”
Opposition leader Alexei Navalny retweeted the photo, with the caption: “Look at the jokes Russian MPs make.”
Rodnina erased the tweet soon after but defiantly refused to apologize.
“Freedom of speech is freedom of speech, and you should answer for your own hang-ups,” she wrote at the time.
Rodnina is a member of Vladimir Putin's United Russia and one figure-skating's most decorated athletes, having won three Olympic gold medals in consecutve games from 1972 to 1980. She lit the torch with Vladislav Tretiak, a former goal-keeper for Russia's national ice hockey team and also a three-time gold medalist.
A string of famous athletes carried the torch through the Olympic stadium at Sochi before handing it off to Rodnina and Tretiak for the symbolic finale. Tennis star Maria Sharapova carried the torch into the arena, which was handed it off in turn to pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva, wrestler Aleksandr Karelin and gymnast Alina Kabaeva, who is widely rumored to be Putin's girlfriend.
photo in question
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bf5PlKUCYAEAxQe.jpg)
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I never thought I would enjoy Russia poking a stick on our Presidents eye.
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Okay, she replaces Salma Hayek as my 3rd choice of people on that bench. :laugh:
Heck...I'd settle for a cup of tea.
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Good grief I'm suffering through a long interview with Obama by Costa right now.... :3: :3: :3: lying though his teeth - oh and he named the delegation the US sent -- all gay.
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Good grief I'm suffering through a long interview with Obama by Costa right now.... :3: :3: :3: lying though his teeth - oh and he named the delegation the US sent -- all gay.
I had to mute it...he looked high on drugs
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I had to mute it...he looked high on drugs
I thought so,too... hmmm
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The German costumes are ugly.
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Ha..I wasn't the only one
‘Is Obama stoned?’: President just not that into Bob Costas interview
http://twitchy.com/2014/02/07/is-obama-stoned-president-just-not-that-into-bob-costas-interview/ (http://twitchy.com/2014/02/07/is-obama-stoned-president-just-not-that-into-bob-costas-interview/)
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Russia looks like a pretty nice place...I want to live there..lol...seems they are skipping over a large part of their commie history..talk about propaganda....lmao
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Smoke and mirrors?
Russian state television aired footage Friday of five floating snowflakes turning into Olympic rings and bursting into pyrotechnics at the Sochi Games opening ceremony. Problem is, that didn't happen.
The opening ceremony at the Winter Games hit a bump when only four of the five rings materialized in a wintry scene at the start of the spectacle. The five were supposed to join together and erupt in fireworks. But one snowflake never expanded, and the pyrotechnics never went off.
But everything worked fine for viewers of the Rossiya 1, the Russian host broadcaster.
As the fifth ring got stuck, Rossiya cut away to rehearsal footage. All five rings came together, and the fireworks exploded on cue.
Producers confirmed the switch, saying it was important to preserve the imagery of the Olympic symbols.
http://www.people.com/people/package/article/0,,20778965_20784858,00.html
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Ha..I wasn't the only one
‘Is Obama stoned?’: President just not that into Bob Costas interview
http://twitchy.com/2014/02/07/is-obama-stoned-president-just-not-that-into-bob-costas-interview/ (http://twitchy.com/2014/02/07/is-obama-stoned-president-just-not-that-into-bob-costas-interview/)
Good find, Myst. I was feeding my dogs or would have commented here at the time.. it was all too obvious he was on something.
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http://newsbusters.org/blogs/matthew-balan/2014/02/07/nbc-glorifies-russias-soviet-past-one-modern-historys-pivotal-experim
NBC Glorifies Russia's Soviet Past as 'One of Modern History's Pivotal Experiments'
By Matthew Balan | February 7, 2014
NBC whitewashed Russia's communist legacy in the lead segment of its Friday broadcast of the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in Sochi. Game of Thrones actor Peter Dinklage narrated the network's lionization of the largest country by land mass: "Russia overwhelms. Russia mystifies. Russia transcends. Through every stage of its story, it's resisted any notion of limitation. Through every re-invention, only redoubling its desire to cast a towering presence."
However, Dinklage continued with a glorification of the Marxist-Leninist totalitarian state that slaughtered tens of millions of people between 1917 and 1991: [MP3 audio available here; video below the jump]
PETER DINKLAGE (voice-over): The empire that ascended to affirm a colossal footprint; the revolution that birthed one of modern history's pivotal experiments. But if politics has long shaped our sense of who they are, it's passion that endures....
This isn't the first time that NBC has cast a positive light on Russia's Soviet past. The Media Research Center, in its November 2009 special report "Better Off Red?" pointed out how Today anchor Matt Lauer suggested, during a February 12, 2004 segment, that Russians were somehow better off under the far-left regime:
MATT LAUER: We're gonna be talking about the New Russia, how a few people are doing very well and the fear that others are being left very far behind....Russia's rush to capitalism left the vast majority scrambling to survive. For many, life is worse than it was in Soviet times.
The Big Three network has also played up the accomplishments of other communist regimes while glossing over their human rights abuses. Correspondent/anchor Andrea Mitchell acclaimed Cuba's medical system during a March 2012 report on MSNBC:
Story Continues Below Ad ↓
ANDREA MITCHELL: Cuba is highly regarded for its health care, and especially one of Fidel Castro's signature project, which is training doctors....We went back to the Latin American medical school here to talk to American medical students about what they're learning about medicine, about Cuba, and about themselves
CYNTHIA AGUILERA, MEDICAL STUDENT: The idea is that we come from under-represented and under-served communities and that after graduating with no debt, no worries about paying off loans and having to get a high-paying job, we can return to our communities and work in them and try to uplift them the same way that Cuba uplifted us.
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and why is Russia doing better??? One big reason is OIL......
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Once the parade was over the rest of the opening ceremony is interesting.
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http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/russia-terror/who-are-circassians-why-are-they-outraged-sochi-n23716
Who Are The Circassians, And Why Are They Outraged At Sochi?
By Alexander Smith and Ghazi Balkiz
Only one day old, the Sochi Olympics have already proved the most controversial games in decades. But while gay rights, Islamic terrorist threats and bleep Riot have stolen the headlines, the Circassian ethnic group has a far older grievance with Sochi, a city it says is steeped in 150 years of bloodshed.
Who are the Circassians?
(http://media1.s-nbcnews.com/j/newscms/2014_06/170881/140207-circassian-people-10a_754ef1893a26a325793bcbe0183b58ff.nbcnews-fp-960-600.jpg)
The Circassians are an ethnic group from the North Caucasus, an area in southeast Russia between the Black and Caspian seas. (The photo above shows men dressed in typical Circassian style near Sochi in October.) Activists say the Sochi Olympics is an "outrage" because the event falls on the 150th anniversary of an alleged genocide by Russian troops in 1864, a massacre that Russia denies. The Circassians' anti-Sochi protests around the world have been peaceful, but their cause has now been taken up by computer hackers and militants in the North Caucasus.
How will this affect the Sochi games?
The host city has particular significance to Circassians because one of their tribes, the Ubykh, were the region’s original inhabitants. According to the Circassians, Tsarist troops massacred or deported their people to Turkey, where many later perished. Krasnya Polyana, the town where many of Sochi's mountain events will be held, translates to "red glade" and gets its name from the blood spilled by Russian invaders, according to Glen Howard, an expert on the region and president of the Jamestown Foundation, based in Washington, D.C.
"This was the site of the last big battle of the war, and for the Circassians it is holy ground - it's like our Gettysburg," Howard said. "Imagine if someone came and built an Olympic theme park at Gettysburg."
President Vladmir Putin has further angered the Circassians because he has not acknowledged their historical presence or any of their grievances. In a bid to highlight the issue, activists in what is now a Circassian global diaspora set up the No Sochi organization.
The group led protests in London, Vanouver and at the United Nations in New York and penned an open letter to the Olympic International Organizing Committee highlighting what it called "a period of unprecedented and inhumane ethnic cleansing." And a delegation of Circassians from Jordan, Syria, Turkey, Israel, Canada, Germany and the United States traveled to the North Caucasus last year to visit historic sites of their ancestors' homeland.
But now that the games are on, their message has been adopted by more sinister elements.
Members of a Circassian ethnic group shout slogans during a protest against the Olympic Winter Games 2014 in front of the Russian Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey,on Sunday.
A hacking group called Anonymous Caucasus announced on Twitter that it was urging its members to take action against Sochi-related sites in revenge for the alleged Circassian killings 150 years earlier.
But Howard said the hackers were clearly not actually associated with Circassian groups, who have been for the large part peaceful, and he called the hack attacks mere opportunism. His point was perhaps illustrated by the hackers' targeting of the Jamestown Foundation and the No Sochi website.
Vistors to the games were warned by the Department of Homeland Security that these hackers could target their cellphones and use them to spread viruses.
What about other threats from other groups?
While not directly linked to the Circassians, another group that has adopted their message is the Caucasus Emirate.
Known in Russia as the Imirat Kavkaz, or IK, this loose network is led by Dokka Umarov, a Chechen national sometimes referred to as "Russia's Bin Laden." It was established in 2007 with the aim of establishing strict Islamic law, called Sharia, in the North Caucasus.
Evoking the Circassians' plight, Umarov said in a video last year: "We know that on the bones of our ancestors, on the bones of many, many Muslims who died and are buried on our territory along the Black Sea, today they plan to stage the Olympic Games."
The Caucasus Emirate has already made an impact on the games after one of its member groups, Vilayat Dagestan, claimed responsibility for two deadly bombings in the Russian city of Volgograd in December that killed 34 people. They also said they had a "surprise" in store for Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Olympic tourists.
But Matthew Light, an assistant professor of European, Russian and Eurasian studies at the University of Toronto, said these groups should be seen in the same opportunistic light as the hackers.
"Umarov claims to represent the Islamic terrorists in the North Caucasus and it's very convenient for him to use the games to demonstrate that he can wreak havoc," Light said. "But the fact that he claims to identify with the Circassians grievances does not mean he is associated with them."
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http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2014/02/08/american-sage-kotsenburg-wins-first-gold-medal-at-sochi-olympics-in-slopestyle/ (http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2014/02/08/american-sage-kotsenburg-wins-first-gold-medal-at-sochi-olympics-in-slopestyle/)
American Sage Kotsenburg wins first gold medal at Sochi Olympics in slopestyle
Published February 08, 2014Associated Press
(http://a57.foxnews.com/global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/660/371/sageap.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
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Man Responsible For Olympic Ring Mishap Found Dead In Sochi
The man responsible for operating the Olympic Rings during last night’s Winter Olympic Opening Ceremonies in Russia was found dead today.
According to local reports the body of T. Borris Avdeyev was found his hotel room early this morning with multiple stab wounds.
Avdeyev was a technical specialist responsible for the Olympic Ring spectacle, which embarrassingly malfunctioned last night. Five animatronic snowflakes were supposed to transform into Olympic Rings. The first four functioned properly but the fifth snowflake failed to change shape.
(http://dailycurrant.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/olympic-rings-mishap-doctored-by-russian-tv-257x144.jpg)
Although his body was badly mangled and the wounds were consistent with a struggle, so far officials say they don't suspect foul play.
“Sure there were stab wounds and bruises all over the body,” admits the lead investigator on the case, “But who knows what caused them. Maybe he tripped and fell on a set of knives. Right now we’re ruling this an accidental death.
http://dailycurrant.com/2014/02/08/man-responsible-for-olympic-ring-mishap-found-dead-in-sochi/ (http://dailycurrant.com/2014/02/08/man-responsible-for-olympic-ring-mishap-found-dead-in-sochi/)
“But who knows what caused them. Maybe he tripped and fell on a set of knives.
:wtf: :wtf:
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It is Russia.. don't embarrass Putin.
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http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-Sports/2014/02/08/French-Newspaper-Accuses-U-S-Russia-of-Colluding-to-Fix-Ice-Dancing-Events
French Newspaper Accuses U.S., Russia of Colluding to Fix Ice Dancing Events
by Breitbart Sports 8 Feb 2014, 4:01 PM PDT
A French newspaper has accused officials from the United States and Russia of colluding to fix the ice dancing competition at the Sochi Games to squeeze out the Canadians. The deal allegedly would involve a U.S. ice dancing pair winning the gold and the Russians sweeping both paris and team events.
According to the Chicago Tribune:
The French newspaper L’Equipe, quoting an anonymous Russian coach, said the United States and Russia have struck a deal that would help Davis and White win the ice dance gold and Russia win both pairs and the team event.
U.S. and Russian skaters have "been in close competition with Canadian rivals Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir for five seasons. Virtue and Moir are reigning Olympic champions, Davis and White reigning world champions."
U.S. Figure Skating "categorically" denied the rumors and the International Skating Union said they would not comment on allegations without evidence.
"Comments made in a L’Equipe story are categorically false," U.S. Figure Skating said in a statement. "There is no 'help’ between countries. We have no further response to rumors, anonymous sources or conjecture."
On Saturday, "Davis and White scored 75.98 to 72.98 for Virtue and Moir. The Canadians were penalized because Virtue made a significant mistake on one element, a form of pirouette known as a twizzle."
Marina Zoueva, who coaches both teams, said she had not read anything about the reports and that the scores for the programs were “reasonable. Tessa made a technical mistake, and Meryl and Charlie skated clean. I can see (how) they can get a little bit better.”
During the 2002 Winter Olympic Games at Salt Lake City, the International Olympic Committee had to embarrassingly "award a second pairs gold to Canadian pair Jamie Sale and David Pelletier" after they finished "second in the judging to Russian team Elena Bereznaia and Anton Sikharulidze."
Little did they know that there had been a deal, "involving and exposed by French judge Marie-Reine LeGougne," to "ensure that the Russians and a French couple, Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizeray, won the dance."
The International Skating Union "revamped the entire scoring and judging system in an attempt to negate any impact of attempts at score trading."
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http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-Sports/2014/02/08/Ski-star-Miller-blasts-Olympic-danger-course-as-US-win-first-gold
American Ski Star Bode Miller Blasts 'Treacherous' Course: It 'Can Kill You'
by Breitbart Sports 8 Feb 2014, 7:48 AM PDT
AFP -- Outspoken ski star Bode Miller blasted the Olympic downhill course as "treacherous" Saturday after seeing a teammate narrowly avoid serious injury as US snowboarder Sage Kotsenburg claimed the first gold of the Games.
Kotsenburg won the men's slopestyle snowboarding competition and shortly afterwards Marit Bjoergen became Norway's most successful female Olympian by taking the cross-country skiathlon.
Ski veteran Miller, who won gold, silver and bronze at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, was fastest in training for Sunday's medal race up in Rosa Khutor.
But he left no-one in any doubt as to his thoughts on the course, delivered in his usual forthright manner.
"This course is very treacherous. It has teeth everywhere," the 36-year-old said after his teammate Marco Sullivan almost crashed out in spectacular fashion.
"It looks like an innocuous place, there's nothing there but he almost killed himself. If that crash doesn't go just the way it went, he goes flying through the nets going 75 (mph) into the trees," Miller said.
"If you're not totally focused and paying attention, this course can kill you."
Kotsenburg, who only just squeezed into Saturday's final, claimed the inaugural slopestyle title on a course that has also witnessed a series of spectacular falls and bone-crunching injuries.
His first run scored 93.50 and although some of his rivals put in high scores on their second runs, the 20-year-old from Utah held on for victory.
"I'm really excited. It feels awesome. I dont know what to call it," said Kotsenburg.
Norway's Staale Sandbech (91.75) claimed silver while Mark McMorris of Canada took bronze with 88.75.
Norway's cross-country skiing superstar Bjoergen claimed her fourth career gold to become her country's most successful female Olympian, surpassing legendary figure skater Sonja Henie.
Under stunning blue skies at the Laura cross-country ski centre, Bjoergen won the combined 7.5km classic style/7.5km freestyle event.
Sweden's Charlotte Kalla was second with Heidi Weng of Norway taking the bronze.
Bjoergen, 33, won three golds in Vancouver four years ago.
"One gold was my goal, so now I can relax a little bit. I can enjoy the rest of the Games," she said.
Later Saturday, Norway may be celebrating again when biathlete Ole Einar Bjoerndalen looks to win a 12th medal and equal the record of Bjorn Daehlie, the all-time most decorated winter Olympian.
The man known as "The Cannibal" is 40 but his enthusiasm for the sport, which incorporates cross-country skiing and shooting, burns as brightly as ever in what will be his sixth Olympics.
Among his huge collection of Olympic medals he has six gold, as well as 19 world championship titles.
History will definitely be made when the first training runs in women's ski jumping take place.
Japan's 17-year-old Sara Takanashi, the runaway World Cup leader, is the overwhelming favourite to take gold in the inaugural event.
The day's last two medals will be in men's 5,000m speedskating, where defending champion Sven Kramer of the Netherlands aims to become the second male skater to win the event in successive Games after Tomas Gustafson of Sweden in 1984 and 1988.
In freestyle skiing, American defending champion Hannah Kearney is favourite to retain her women's moguls crown.
Number-one ranked Kearney is the 2005 and 2013 world champion.
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http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-Sports/2014/02/07/Woman-Who-Lit-Olympic-Flame-Under-Fire-for-Tweeting-Racist-Photo-of-Obamas
Woman Who Lit Olympic Flame Under Fire for Tweeting Racist Photo of Obamas
by Breitbart Sports 7 Feb 2014
The woman who was chosen over Vladimir Putin's alleged girlfriend to light the Olympic flame on Friday during the opening ceremony tweeted a photo of President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama last year containing a banana that was photoshopped.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bf5PlKUCYAEAxQe.jpg)
Terry Moran ✔ @TerryMoran
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The Russian skater who just lit the Olympic flame tweeted this doctored, racist photo of the Obamas last September.
12:20 PM - 7 Feb 2014
Irina Rodnina, who won gold medals in figure skating for Russia, deleted the photo but refused to apologize.
”Freedom of speech is freedom of speech, and you should answer for your own hang-ups,” she wrote then.
Rodnina is also a politician who is member of Putin's political party. Putin named her to Russia's public chamber in 2005.
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If having her light the torch was Vlad poking Barry in the eye, then I kind of liked it.
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If having her light the torch was Vlad poking Barry in the eye, then I kind of liked it.
:beer: :beer:
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http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/johnny-quinn-usa-olympic-bobsledder-gets-stuck-in-sochi-hotel-bathroom-201482
Bobsledder, Gets Stuck in Sochi Hotel Bathroom
Celebrity News February 8, 2014 AT 5:05PM By Stephanie Webber and Jennifer Peros
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Johnny Quinn USA Olympic bobsledder Johnny Quinn got stuck inside his Sochi hotel bathroom on Friday, Feb. 7 -- see the hilarious photos Credit: Courtesy of Johnny Quinn
No shower curtains, water, or doorknobs is just some of the issues that journalists have had to deal with since arriving in Russia for the 2014 Sochi Olympics. But on Friday night, it was a USA bobsledder who (hilariously!) got stuck in his hotel bathroom.
PHOTOS: Olympics Ceremony 2014 -- fireworks, fanfare, malfunctions!
"I was taking a shower and the door got locked/jammed," Johnny Quinn tweeted on Feb. 7. "With no phone to call for help, I used my bobsled push training to break out. #SochiJailBreak."
(http://assets-s3.usmagazine.com/uploads/assets/articles/70319-johnny-quinn-usa-olympic-bobsledder-gets-stuck-in-sochi-hotel-bathroom/1391895607_johnny-quin-olympics-bust-through-door_1.jpg)
Trying to laugh it off, Quinn also posted a picture of the aftermath for his followers' amusement. In the funny pic, the middle of the door is completely demolished, with several pieces sprawled out on the wood floor.
At the time, Quinn was alone in his Olympic village room and was taking a shower. He's since posted another photo of the smashed door with a Photoshopped image of himself in the hole looking tough while wearing workout gear.
Despite the bad rap some Sochi hotels have already received, Us Weekly reporter Jen Peros says that, for the most part, the city's conditions have been blown out of proportion. "Sochi is beautiful and everything is brand-new," she said of her first-hand experience. "The hotels are by no means luxurious, but they're fine."
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The Russian ice dancing pair was amazing. They said they traveled to the USA to do some work with Cirque de Solis - I believe it after watching their performance of Swan Lake. But the USA took first in Ice Dance - the Russians won the team event - we came in third behind Canada. The little 15-year-old Russian figure skater is really something to watch.
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Forgive me if this has already been pointed out, but it seems this Olympics has far less channel coverage than previous. NBC has 3 channels covering and most aren't covering at one time. I am watching most on chomecast from online sources.
I remember the last few there were at least a half dozen channels to choose from.
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Forgive me if this has already been pointed out, but it seems this Olympics has far less channel coverage than previous. NBC has 3 channels covering and most aren't covering at one time. I am watching most on chomecast from online sources.
I remember the last few there were at least a half dozen channels to choose from.
I've been watching on NBC....... (ugh)
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Forgive me if this has already been pointed out, but it seems this Olympics has far less channel coverage than previous. NBC has 3 channels covering and most aren't covering at one time. I am watching most on chomecast from online sources.
I remember the last few there were at least a half dozen channels to choose from.
Part of it is the time zone: Sochi is about 8 hours or so ahead of the USA, so when it's prime time here, everyone is asleep over there. That means anything that airs in prime time-- or even in the afternoon-- has to be done on tape delay.
The other part is that this is the Winter Olympics, and there aren't as many events as in the summer.
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The Russian ice dancing pair was amazing. They said they traveled to the USA to do some work with Cirque de Solis - I believe it after watching their performance of Swan Lake. But the USA took first in Ice Dance - the Russians won the team event - we came in third behind Canada. The little 15-year-old Russian figure skater is really something to watch.
I’m kinda pulling for the Canadian Ice dancers Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue. And Tessa being a Hedy Lamarr look-a-like, drop-dead gorgeous, so hot she melts the ice below her feet, the most beautiful girl to ever put on a pair of skates has nothing to do with it. No really.
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I’m kinda pulling for the Canadian Ice dancers Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue. And Tessa being a Hedy Lamarr look-a-like, drop-dead gorgeous, so hot she melts the ice below her feet, the most beautiful girl to ever put on a pair of skates has nothing to do with it. No really.
Easy, big fella!
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The little 15-year-old Russian figure skater is really something to watch. (http://The little 15-year-old Russian figure skater is really something to watch.)
She was perfection! Her performance was the best I have ever seen, and I've seen a lot of good ones. She was amazing!
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So far the only negative to me has been the over the top NBC praising Russia and it's "collective" political system (they actually used the term collective).... seems they love them some communists.
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http://msn.foxsports.com/olympics/medal-detector/bob-costas-appears-to-be-having-a-problem-with-both-of-his-eyes-021014
Bob Costas appears to be having a problem with both of his eyes now
9:07p ET
Posted by Andy Nesbitt
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Bob Costas is off to a tough start at the Sochi Olympics.
We're not talking about his duties as the primetime host of NBC's Olympics coverage.
We're talking about his health.
Last week he explained to viewers that his right eye was red and swollen due to a case of pink eye.
Well, it appears he's now having a problem with both eyes as this is how he looked Monday night:
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BgJ7YwWCcAAMe3O.jpg:large)
Talk about terrible timing for such an ailment.
People on Twitter, as they're known to do, quickly chimed in on the situation:
Nathan T. Wright @nathantwright
Follow
The parasite living in Bob Costas' left eye seems to have migrated to his right. How soon before it jumps to a new host? Matt Lauer is next.
6:28 PM - 10 Feb 2014 from Des Moines, IA, United States
Dave Zirin @EdgeofSports
Follow
Bob Costas needs to sit the next couple of plays out.....
6:36 PM - 10 Feb 2014
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Wonder if he got it from the water in the hotel - the pics of what comes out of the tap is gross...
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http://msn.foxsports.com/olympics/medal-detector/watch-this-terrifying-video-of-what-it-is-like-to-ski-downhill-course-at-sochi-olympics-021014
The downhill skiing course at the Sochi Olympics is frightening.
Even some of the Olympians feel that way. Heck, Bode Miller said the course could kill you.
That sounds pretty darn scary.
BBC reporter Graham Bell, a former Olympic skier, recently grabbed a handheld camera and some skis and took a run down the course to show us just how dangerous it can be.
Want to have an anxiety attack? Watch this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNXAIj0sP6I
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If it's pinkeye, I wonder how many more will get it?
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If it's pinkeye, I wonder how many more will get it?
Good question - looks terrible and aren't you supposed to stay out of bright light with pinkeye??
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Good question - looks terrible and aren't you supposed to stay out of bright light with pinkeye??
Most wear sunglasses outside because the light is painful to pink eye.
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Most wear sunglasses outside because the light is painful to pink eye.
That's what I thought.
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I had pink eye a couple of years ago and my eyes looked worse than that...Doc gave me eye drops and within a few days my eyes looked normal again...so not sure what he has or what he's being treated with....Ruskie doctors?
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I had pink eye a couple of years ago and my eyes looked worse than that...Doc gave me eye drops and within a few days my eyes looked normal again...so not sure what he has or what he's being treated with....Ruskie doctors?
Must be getting even worse, I heard Matt Lauer will fill in for him tonight.
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As an aside, my late father (a TV exec) knew Bob Costas when Bob had one of his first professional sports jobs in St. Louis. According to my mother, Bob was one of the very few people in the TV business my father ever actively disliked. He was the most incredibly arrogant and obnoxious 20-something my father ever met. ^-^
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As an aside, my late father (a TV exec) knew Bob Costas when Bob had one of his first professional sports jobs in St. Louis. According to my mother, Bob was one of the very few people in the TV business my father ever actively disliked. He was the most incredibly arrogant and obnoxious 20-something my father ever met. ^-^
Doesn't surprise me, M. I can't remember when he hasn't come across as a pompous jerk.
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The Phoenix news person in Sochi said the problem with Costas eyes they don't think (now) it is pink eye - it seems to be something much worse and he can't even see out of both eyes right now.. no doctors of any worth in Russia so they are taking close up pics of his eyes and sending them to doctors in New York to figure out how to treat him.....
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The Phoenix news person in Sochi said the problem with Costas eyes they don't think (now) it is pink eye - it seems to be something much worse and he can't even see out of both eyes right now.. no doctors of any worth in Russia so they are taking close up pics of his eyes and sending them to doctors in New York to figure out how to treat him.....
It's just me, but I think I'd fly my entire body to NYC to be checked out in person. :shrug:
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It's just me, but I think I'd fly my entire body to NYC to be checked out in person. :shrug:
I thought the same thing.
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I thought the same thing.
My first thought as well.
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It's just me, but I think I'd fly my entire body to NYC to be checked out in person. :shrug:
Wouldn't you think someone at NBC would connect the puzzle pieces and wonder why he can't get proper medical care in Russia?
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Wouldn't you think someone at NBC would connect the puzzle pieces and wonder why he can't get proper medical care in Russia?
Maybe they can't stand him either? :whistle:
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I hear bottled water is selling in Sochi for over $14 American, while the local rotgut vodka is running about .18 cents......
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I hear bottled water is selling in Sochi for over $14 American, while the local rotgut vodka is running about .18 cents......
So maybe Shortcake's eyes are red for some reason other than infection?
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A few years back, we had a couple clients who had pinkeye caused by STDS. Maybe Costas ran into some hot Russian Babe? You never know... :nono:
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With the way the Americans have performed so far, they'd have been far better off boycotting. At least they wouldn't have been such an international embarrassment. Disgusting. Every single one of our medal hopefuls has laid an egg.
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Wouldn't you think someone at NBC would connect the puzzle pieces and wonder why he can't get proper medical care in Russia?
Come to think of it, that would be a good story.
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So maybe Shortcake's eyes are red for some reason other than infection?
yah...I hear that cheap vodka makes for some wild tootbrushing and mouthwash parties......
:beer:
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With the way the Americans have performed so far, they'd have been far better off boycotting. At least they wouldn't have been such an international embarrassment. Disgusting. Every single one of our medal hopefuls has laid an egg.
They have been pathetic.... I'm watching, but I do like it better when we win something... The Russian skaters are definitely back on top.
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They have been pathetic.... I'm watching, but I do like it better when we win something... The Russian skaters are definitely back on top.
At least the men's hockey team is living up to expectations.
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Call me a bit more optimistic, but it’s the Russians that should be concerned when it comes to the medal count.
Germany 6 Gold
Canada 4 Gold
Norway 4 Gold
United States 4 Gold (total 10 medals)
Netherlands 4 Gold
Switzerland 3 Gold
Russia 2 Gold (total 9 medals)
And yesterday the US swept men ski slopestyle with Gold, Silver, and Bronze. Yes our big name hopefuls have not lived up to expectations, but we’re still staying ahead of the favored Russians, at least for now. I would expect to see them take more Gold when we get to the Ice Skating finals
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Track worker struck by bobsled ahead of race at Sochi
By Associated Press
February 13, 2014 | 8:07am
KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia — A forerunning sled struck a worker near the finish line of the track being used for sliding races at the Sochi Olympics, just before the start of Thursday’s two-man bobsled training at the Sanki Sliding Center.
Training was delayed for about 35 minutes before getting underway. Officials did not immediately release any information about the worker’s condition, though an ambulance was seen leaving the track shortly after the incident.
A work crew was seen repairing a light fixture that was suspended several feet over the ice surface, as well as picking up pieces of debris from the finish area. Olympic athletes remained in the start area, well away from the crash location, during the delay.
The International Bobsled and Skeleton Federation did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Forerunning sleds are used before training and competition sessions to assess track conditions and make sure the facility is safe for racing. Also, people in the vicinity of the track are almost always alerted that a sled is in the track through public-address announcements, though it was unclear why the worker struck Thursday was unaware that the session was beginning.
In 2005, US skeleton racer Noelle Pikus-Pace was struck by a bobsled in the outrun of a track in Canada, shattering a leg and ultimately causing her to miss the 2006 Turin Olympics because of the injury. And the Sanki track was designed with several safety initiatives in mind after Georgian slider Nodar Kumaritashvili died in a luge training accident at the Whistler Sliding Center just hours before the start of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
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Evgeni Plushenko out of the men’s figure-skating event for medical reasons
Stephanie Myles
Russian skating icon Evgeni Plushenko came out for the warmup in the third flight of skaters for the men's short program.
He revved up for his triple axel, bailed out of it in mid-air, landed and grabbed his back.
After a brief word with the event referee, he apologetically raised both hands to the crowd that had given him a huge ovation as he took the ice, and walked off.
For the 31-year-old who has had 12 surgeries, including recent back surgery, the Olympic comeback was over before it began. And the air went out of the figure-skating venue like a pricked balloon.
It's likely he already knew he wouldn't be able to go, but suited up to at least salute the crowd and hope for a miracle.
Plushenko had been erratic in his presence at practices this week, undergoing a whole lot of treatment on his back.
In practice Wednesday, he reportedly fell twice – hard. Whether he would have even been able to muddle through a program was sort of beside the point. It seemed fairly obvious he wouldn't be able to skate at a high-enough level to even be a factor.
It's a break for Canadian Patrick Chan and his two Japanese rivals, who are to skate later on in a field of 30 skaters.
But it's a huge disappointment for Plushenko and the Russian people. He was the only one who had any shot at a medal.
But there will always be his efforts in the team event – and that quadruple-triple combination he showed off in the short program.
http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/eh-game/yevgeny-plyushchenko-men-figure-skating-event-medical-reasons-161108653.html (http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/eh-game/yevgeny-plyushchenko-men-figure-skating-event-medical-reasons-161108653.html)
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Corruption Sting Follows Indian Athletes to Sochi
NEW DELHI — The taint of corruption followed India's Olympic athletes everywhere in Sochi. They were not allowed to enter the Olympic stadium marching under the Indian flag. They were warned the national anthem would not play if they won any medals.
But the athletes had done nothing wrong. Their administrative exile was the result of ethics violations by the Indian Olympic Association, which had elected two corruption tainted officials as its leaders. Although the IOC executive board reinstated the Indian Olympic body Tuesday, five days after the games began the episode laid bare India's intractable problems with corruption on an international stage.
"The whole world is watching and when the Indian flag doesn't fly, people know that it's because of corruption and it's not a nice image for the country," said luger Shiva Keshavan, India's top winter sports athlete. "Symbolism is really important at the Olympic Games," he told The Associated Press in Sochi.
The bureaucratic bumbling had all the makings of a national scandal, touching on resonant issues of national pride and prestige. But despite the sting of embarrassment for the athletic community, the episode has failed to stir up much outrage among ordinary Indians.
The muted response stems, in part, from India's virtually non-existent presence at the Winter Olympics. It is likely the public sense of embarrassment would have been greater had the controversy broken out before a summer Olympics.
India has never won a medal at the Winter Olympics, and the three Indians competing this year at Sochi — a luger and two skiers — are not household names. Keshavan finished 37th out of 39 competitors in Sunday's men's singles event for luge.
In a country where cricket is the pastime of choice, and where temperatures are scorching for much of the year, winter sports have never gained much traction here.
"People haven't been bothered much about the developments on the Olympics front," said T.S. Sampath, a businessman in New Delhi and an avid sports lover. "It's not been very important for me even though I'm a sports lover because I don't think our performance level is good at the (winter) Olympics."
The quiet reaction to the Olympic snub is starkly different from the national mood ahead of the Commonwealth Games of 2010, which deeply embarrassed India on its own turf. India's preparations for the games were seen as an international humiliation, with filthy athletes' housing, a collapsed pedestrian bridge, security worries, corruption accusations and even an outbreak of dengue fever.
Still, the Olympic snafu was no small matter, particularly as the country tries to showcase its clout as a superpower.
"It's a big disgrace to be suspended because of any reason, more so because we were seen to have tainted officials," said Randhir Singh, a member of the IOC and a former secretary-general of India's national Olympic body. "It's a matter of shame if a country's athletes are unable to participate under the national flag, irrespective of how many medals you're expected to win."
More of article at link:
Read Latest Breaking News from Newsmax.com http://www.newsmaxworld.com/GlobalTalk/India-Taint-of-Corruption/2014/02/13/id/552598#ixzz2tE6z2ybV
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http://msn.foxsports.com/olympics/story/american-abbott-falls-during-short-program-finishes-routine-021314
American Abbott falls during short program, finishes routine
Peter Schrager
FOX Sports
FEB 13, 2014 1:03p ET
Paul Chiasson / CP
Jeremy Abbott crashes into the boards after falling during the men's short program.
SOCHI, Russia —
This was supposed to be American figure skater Jeremy Abbott's Olympics. Twenty-eight years old and looking to avenge a disappointing ninth-place finish in Vancouver in 2010, this year's great hope of American men's figure skating had it all lined up for a huge Sochi experience. 2010 gold medalist Evan Lysacek withdrew from the Games, opening up a door for Abbott to steal the show in Russia. The Team Event. The Short Program. The Free Skate. He'd ace them all, as he'd done all year, and he'd finish his Olympic career as the next American figure skating legend.
Alas, it hasn't gone as planned.
Abbott awkwardly fell and finished in seventh place during the men's short portion of the team event earlier this week. On Thursday, he started his short program by immediately stumbling and falling hard on his right hip on the first quadruple jump of his program. Abbott, who'd endured a week of reporters asking questions about his ability to handle pressure and the spotlight, spent a solid 12 seconds lying on the ice in pain. As Abbott lay nestled against a padded wall, the Iceberg Arena crowd let out a collective gasp. When Abbott finally rolled over, he grabbed his hip, gingerly rose to his feet, and dutifully finished what remained of an abridged routine.
Abbott rebounded well, finishing with a respectable score of 72.58.
He landed a triple lutz-triple toe combination, followed by a clean triple axel. But the damage had already been done. After nearly 30 seconds of tense silence in the crowd, the mostly Russian fan base responded to Abbott's finish with buzzing horns and the waving of Russian and American flags.
Thursday wasn't Abbott's night. Truthfully, this hasn't been his week. The 2014 Sochi Games haven't been what was long hoped for.
Minutes later, 19-year-old American Jason Brown took to the ice with little fanfare or expectations. He finished his short program with an 86.00, his career best, sixteen points ahead his American counterpart, Abbott.
Brown, a long shot to make the team six months ago, currently sits in sixth place heading into Friday with a legitimate chance at a bronze medal.19-year-old Yuzuru Hanyu (Japan) leads the men with a 101.45 score. Patrick Chan (Canada) currently sits in second with a 97.52 and Javier Fernandez (Spain) is in third with a 86.98.
Brown and Abbott will both skate Friday evening. If it's Abbott's last time on Olympic ice, as has been rumored, it could be a chance at redemption. A medal, however, looks to be out of the question.
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http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-Sports/2014/02/13/Sochi-2014-US-Men-s-Hockey-Team-Beat-Slovakia-7-1
Sochi 2014: US Men's Hockey Crushes Slovakia, 7-1
by Mary Chastain 13 Feb 2014, 8:06 AM PDT
The US men's hockey team showed the world they want the gold medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. They annihilated Slovakia 7-1 on Thursday despite predictions of a close game.
Both teams played hard in the first period, but John Carlson put Team USA first on the scoreboard with a goal at 14:27 in the opening period to make it 1-0. The Americans received a small scare when Slovakia's Tomas Tatar scored 24 seconds into the second period. The team appeared offsides, but it was not called.
That motivated the Americans and they immediately took over.
The men scored six goals in less than fourteen minutes. Ryan Kesler, David Backes, Phil Kessel and Dustin Brown each contributed a goal. Paul Stastny scored two goals in the victory.
Halfway through the period, Slovakia replaced goalie Jaroslav Halak with Peter Budaj. Halak made 20 saves out of 25 shots and Budaj saved six of eight shots.
Though the US team scored six goals in the second frame, their shots on goal outpaced the Slovakians just 16 to 13 for the period. Slovakia slowed down the US in the third period and both teams remained scoreless after firing six shots on goal, respectively, for the final period. The American team out shot Slovakia 33-23 for the contest.
US goalie Jonathan Quick saved 22 of 23 shots in his Olympic debut.
The big test for America comes on Saturday when they play Russia.
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http://msn.foxsports.com/olympics/story/plushenko-dismissed-as-invalid-by-russian-politician-021414
Plushenko dismissed as 'invalid' by Russian politician
FOX Sports
FEB 14, 2014 12:26p ET
Ivan Sekretarev / AP
Evgeni Plushenko of Russia prior to pulling out of the men's short program.
Evgeni Plushenko's abrupt decision to drop out of the men's individual event continues to send some of his countrymates into a tizzy.
One Russian politician lashed out at the Russian skating star for putting his country to "shame" and called him an "invalid," questioning whether or not the heavily-decorated Olympian should have been included on the Sochi team at all.
Plushenko made headlines when he was placed on the Russian team over Maxim Kovtun, 18, the actual national champion. The four-time Olympian helped the Russians secure the gold medal in the figure skating team event.
But since Plushenko withdrew from the men's individual event after complaining of spinal pain during the warmup, politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky said he brought "shame" to his country.
"Maxim Kovtun is shoved aside and this invalid has brought shame upon us," Russian politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky was quoted as saying in the Toronto Sun.
Zhirinovsky also said Plushenko's withdrawal was "dishonorable" and called for a law prohibiting any Russians from competing in more than two Olympics, according to a Yahoo report.
"Two Olympics and get lost. Let the youngsters have a go," Zhirinovsky reportedly said to Russian media. "Plushenko is an invalid."
Though the proposed legislation would also prohibit the likes of Alexander Ovechkin from also competing in future Olympic events.
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(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bgb8HwwCMAASVps.jpg:large)
Justin Sablich @JSablichNYT
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Happy Valentine's Day significant others of @SochiNYT staff! Happy to say the #sochistrays in photo are being adopted
6:02 AM - 14 Feb 2014
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http://msn.foxsports.com/olympics/story/lizzy-yarnold-gbr-wins-skeleton-gold-noelle-pikus-pace-usa-gets-silver-021414?related=3d4ce5a0-6a38-4182-84b5-c04180f4883c
UK's Yarnold wins women's skeleton, USA's Pikus-Pace gets silver
AP
FEB 14, 2014 12:39p ET
KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia -- Britain's Lizzy Yarnold won the season's first race on a technicality.
The season's last race, there was no argument.
Yarnold won the Olympic women's skeleton gold medal Friday night, a victory that puts the 25-year-old unquestionably atop her sport, probably for years to come. Her four-run time was 0.97 seconds faster than silver medalist Noelle Pikus-Pace of Eagle Mountain, Utah, who entered retirement by exorcising the memory of letting a medal slip away in Vancouver four years ago.
"It won't sink in for a few more days, but I'm over the moon," Yarnold said, as a full moon illuminated part of the Russian night sky. "I'm so proud. I put in all the work for five years and it all worked out."
Yarnold, who also won the World Cup overall title this season, claimed Britain's first gold at the Sochi Games. Her time was 3 minutes, 52.89 seconds, and the final trip down the track was a mere formality, given that she already had a 0.78-second edge over Pikus-Pace and only needed to avoid a giant mistake.
It didn't happen. The fourth run was like all the others -- flawless.
She grabbed a British flag, hopped near the finish line, embraced teammate Shelley Rudman and seemed to just never stop smiling.
"Lizzy's been a beautiful bubble of confidence in every one of her races," said Amy Williams, the 2010 skeleton gold medalist from Britain. "I'm so proud of her that we kept the medal in Great Britain and wrote ourselves into the history books."
Pikus-Pace insisted that this time, she'll retire happy. Simply being in the Olympic race was victory enough; Pikus-Pace revealed afterward that she was dealing with concussion-like symptoms for several days before the race and minimized her training time on the advice of doctors.
"I felt fine and safe sliding but my vision has been going in and out of being able to focus, which slows my reaction time," Pikus-Pace said. "It has been an extremely difficult week but my family, coaches, and prayers of many allowed me to come out and compete the best I can given the situation."
Elena Nikitina of Russia won the bronze, another 0.44 seconds off the pace and just 0.04 seconds ahead of Katie Uhlaender of Breckenridge, Colo., who took fourth for her top Olympic finish.
And afterward, Uhlaender wasn't lamenting coming so close. Instead, she picked up Pikus-Pace's daughter Lacee, gave her an embrace and sang her teammate's praises.
"I couldn't be more proud of her," Uhlaender said. "This is a great last race for us both. Noelle finished fourth last time and now she's on the podium and I couldn't be happier for her."
The Lizzy-vs.-Noelle rivalry was back and forth all season, starting with the World Cup opener in Calgary, where Pikus-Pace crossed the line first and was originally announced as the winner. But Yarnold was awarded the victory after race officials said the American used too much tape on the handle of her sled.
That decision played a huge role in deciding the World Cup title. From there, Pikus-Pace set her sights on closing out her sliding career with an Olympic medal -- which is really the only thing that lured her from retirement two years ago, especially since a trip to the podium in Vancouver was lost when she made a mistake in Curve 2 of her final run at the 2010 Olympics.
"This is a dream come true for myself and my family," Pikus-Pace said. "Absolutely unbelievable. I stood up there at the start knowing this was my race and I knew I was just going to go for it."
When she crossed the line Friday night, knowing hardware was hers, she flashed a megawatt smile. Retirement, she said, would be about spending time with her family. She couldn't wait to get started, hopping over the track wall to join her husband and children for hugs and kisses -- her first, ever, as an Olympic medalist.
Then she waved to fans.
Waving goodbye, essentially.
Yarnold, she's basically just saying hello.
She announced herself as the next big thing in skeleton two winters ago, winning two of her first four World Cup races. A year ago, she vaulted to No. 4 in the World Cup rankings, and inconsistency kept her from rising even higher.
This season, she figured it all out. World Cup champion. Olympic champion. And her top rival is retiring.
Yarnold covered her face, almost in disbelief, on the flower podium afterward. Pikus-Pace wept softly through her smile and was the last to leave the stand, seeming almost unsure where to go next.
Then she figured it out. She's going home.
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super wins gold for Belarus in women's aerials
AP
FEB 14, 2014 1:45p ET
Cameron Spencer / Getty Images Europe
Alla Tsuper of Belarus celebrates after her run in the Freestyle Skiing Ladies' Aerials Finals on day seven of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics at Rosa Khutor Extreme Park on February 14 in Sochi, Russia.
KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia -- Lydia Lassila already has a gold medal sitting back home in Australia.
At these Olympics, she was looking for something better.
So, she raised her hand and took off down the biggest ramp on the aerials course Friday night for a jump that would cement her as the sport's foremost trailblazer regardless of whether it earned another gold or not.
She bounded off the ramp, flew six stories high and packed four twists inside of three flips. In a training run a day earlier, she had become the first woman to land that jump on snow. In the final, she bowed backward on the landing and her hands spiked against the landing hill.
The 32-year-old mom from Melbourne settled for a bronze medal but did her sport a favor -- make that two favors.
She raised the bar for the next generation of jumpers, while clearing the way for another of the grand veterans of the game, Alla Tsuper of Belarus, to win the gold medal in her fifth and final try at the Games.
"I'm really happy with the bronze," Lassila said. "I came into these Olympics wanting to get the most out of myself and wanting to push the sport. I wanted to lift barriers and inspire women to do harder tricks."
Xu Mengtao also bobbled backward during her landing and settled for silver, giving the Chinese women their world-leading fifth Olympic medal in this daredevil sport. None of them are gold, however.
The 34-year-old Tsuper was the only skier of the four in the super final to land her jump cleanly. She scored a 98.01. At the last Olympics, she competed for Ukraine and finished eighth after winning the qualifying round -- another disappointment for a woman who had been favored to medal in the three Olympics before that but had always come up empty.
"In Vancouver, when I made it to the final but I didn't medal, I thought that was it," she said. "I took a break for two years, had a daughter and was offered to try again."
The victory gave her new country, Belarus, its third gold medal of the Olympics, leaving it one behind the United States, Norway and Canada, and one ahead of the host country, which has about 15 times the population.
"I don't think it will be our last medal of the Olympics," Tsuper said. "Our guys are still going to perform here."
It was an American, the late Jeret "Speedy" Peterson, who became the most notable boundary pusher on the men's side of this sport, consistently throwing caution to the wind and throwing his Hurricane jump -- five twists inside of three somersaults -- before finally being rewarded for with a silver medal in 2010.
The women's side has been looking for that sort of push for a while. Li Nina won silver four years ago with a four-twisting double flip and attempted the same jump in the final Friday. Going first, she wiped out wildly and scored a 46.02.
That gave Lassila a better chance of winning the gold even without trying her most difficult jump. But that decision had already been made.
"It was all or nothing for us," she said.
The jump looked good in the air, the green stripes sewed onto the inside of her arms and the outside of her pant legs lining up in almost perfect symmetry -- an easy way for the judges to see that she's "penciling" the jump.
But in aerials, the jump counts for 50 percent, while the take-off counts for 20 and the landing is the rest. Lasilla wiped out and scored 72.12.
"It's a tough call," said American Emily Cook, who competed in her third and final Olympics and finished eighth. "The winner's the one who puts down the best jump. But she's amazing. She's transforming the sport, which is incredible."
American Ashley Caldwell, who finished 10th after leading the way in qualifying, agreed.
"That's who I'm inspired by," Caldwell said. "She's trying to push the sport so that girls are jumping like the boys, and she's doing it, and it's really impressive."
Asked if she wanted to be remembered more for the time she won the Olympics or the time she finished third but also gave her sport a little nudge, Lasilla didn't hesitate.
"I really hope it's for the trick I did today and what I tried to do today," she said. "I hope I left my mark on the sport and inspired some other athletes."
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My daughter was very touched and moved by the pullout of Evgeni Plushenko, who she recognizes as a great champion.
In dropping out he decided to walk, vs. risk becoming paralized or an invalid.
I think I come down with my daughter, and not the puffed up bad-mouth Russian politico.
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It takes the Russians to make the Obama Administration look good by comparison. I think Barry is rejoicing that there is so much attention on the conditions in Sochi, urine colored water and Bob Costas' pink eye; but once the fiasco in Sochi is over attention is going to swing back to what's going on here at home.
And for the record, I have not watched one moment of Olympic coverage yet.
:smokin:
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And for the record, I have not watched one moment of Olympic coverage yet.
:smokin:
Always feel slightly guilty about that. Here are people who have trained for years for their moment in the sun - and I can't be bothered to watch.
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The snow conditions are the worst I've ever seen. Romney was interview on Kelly File the other night. We spent three billion on Salt Lake Olympics.. which were great success...the Chinese spent 50 billion on their summer games and this cost 50 billion... :thud: :thud:
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It takes the Russians to make the Obama Administration look good by comparison. I think Barry is rejoicing that there is so much attention on the conditions in Sochi, urine colored water and Bob Costas' pink eye; but once the fiasco in Sochi is over attention is going to swing back to what's going on here at home.
And for the record, I have not watched one moment of Olympic coverage yet.
:smokin:
DrewMTips @DrewMTips
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Maybe Obama should consult with T.J. Oshie on how to deal with the Russians. T.J. has a much better record against them.
http://twitchy.com/2014/02/15/only-a-matter-of-time-is-this-how-obama-will-celebrate-the-team-usa-hockey-victory-pic/ (http://twitchy.com/2014/02/15/only-a-matter-of-time-is-this-how-obama-will-celebrate-the-team-usa-hockey-victory-pic/)
Scroll down for the winning shot!
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/as-medals-slip-away-americans-are-getting-steamed-at-sochi-games/2014/02/14/7e4f782a-95a1-11e3-9616-d367fa6ea99b_story.html
As medals slip away, Americans are getting steamed at Sochi Games
By Sally Jenkins February 14, 2014, 2:54 PM E-mail the writer
Photos: View Photo Gallery: Bode Miller back in action, men’s Alpine skiing super combined, men’s hockey and more on Friday at the Winter Olympics.
SOCHI, Russia — COLUMN | The snow in the Caucasus Mountains is dissolving, the white patches shrinking, and many athletes on Team USA seem to be melting down with them. Some Americans are drained, and others are dragging. When they ski or they skate, they think they went fast, but then they look up at the clock and are stunned to find they were a second slow, and finish eighth. Team USA’s self-esteem is leaking away, and it’s triggering anxious super-secret coaching meetings and conspiracy theories. What’s in the Russian water table — and why are those Swiss timers so suspiciously slow?
It must be a plot — some foreign machination, causing this massive slippage. Four years ago in Vancouver, the Americans won more medals than anyone, with 37, but halfway through Sochi, the 13 medals they have won somehow don’t feel quite as memorable as the ones they let get away. They can’t win so much as a foiled chocolate in speedskating, where they’ve yet to finish any better than seventh. U.S. speedskating coach Ryan Shimabukuro said: “The fact that we’re that far out, something’s up.”
“It’s a mystery to me,” skater Brian Hansen said. “I think it’s a mystery to a lot of people.”
A mystery! At least that’s something for the American television audience to grab on to, because there is precious little suspense otherwise, save for the matter of when Bob Costas will return from his eye infection, and that’s a dodgy matter too. Who or what is poisoning us?
What accounts for this? Ted Ligety was the gold medal favorite in Friday’s super combined, yet he finished 12th, while Bode Miller was sixth, both of them shooting up huge rooster-tails of snow, futilely.
The results are . . . odd. What is this weird eighth-place niche the Americans keep falling into? Julia Mancuso, eighth. Miller, eighth. Two-time gold medalist speedskater Shani Davis, eighth in the men’s 1,000 meters, while Dutchman Stefan Groothuis was taken aback to win. (“It’s great, but it’s also very strange,” Groothuis said.) Women’s speedskater Heather Richardson, world champion in the 500 meters? Eighth again. Silver medalist Olga Fatkulina was so stunned by the result that she put on someone else’s warmups. (“I’m wearing somebody else’s tracksuit trousers, and I have to give them back,” she said. “I don’t know whose they are.”)
Let’s play detective and go over the likely suspects. Four potential culprits come to mind immediately:
1. Vodka: The little shooters are ubiquitous in the restaurants, in flavors from cranberry to horseradish.
2. Embarrassment: The shoulder-curling humiliation of those snowflaky Ralph Lauren sweaters the Americans had to wear in the Opening Ceremonies.
3. Toxins: Leached into the Americans either environmentally or intentionally; and, of course . . .
4. Sex in the Athletes’ Village.
“We could make a list of everything that’s wrong, it could be the suits, could be the food, we don’t know,” speedskater Joey Mantia said.
The food! Maybe it was the food. Too many dumplings? Too much shashlik, those tasty Russian kebab skewers, too many khinkali dumplings, or khachapuri, the Danish-shaped cheese tarts.
Could it be? But no. When snowboarder Hannah Teter was asked what she has been snacking on, she delivered a grocery list straight from an organic health food store. “I’ve got kale chips, sprouted nuts, electrolyte drinks — all the healthy stuff, all the super-food,” she said.
If it wasn’t the food, maybe it was the clothes. The growing collective neurosis over the lack of medals coalesced around the speedskaters’ racing skins, those high-tech Under Armour-Lockheed dimpled racing unis. They came under intense examination Friday, when coaches and team members began to obsess on whether air vents on the back were design flaws that might be slowing them down. The Case of the Fractional Aerodynamic Hoodie. A seamstress was called in.
But the suits were not why American champions were slower by a second — unless they were catching their skate blades on the hems and tripping.
“Shani has won in the same suit,” Mantia said. “All speed suits feel like crap.”
Nevertheless at Friday’s training sessions, there were emergency conferences and whispers of more alterations.
“There is a meeting later today about some stuff I have no idea about,” Davis said.
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But what if there was no culprit, nothing to blame except themselves, and the weather? What if the Americans trained for a Winter Olympics at altitude on hard-packed snow and ice, and arrived in Sochi to find they should have trained for an Early March First Buds of Spring Olympics at sea level?
As the temperatures hovered between 60 and 65 degrees, Sochi became a giant tanning parlor and everyone was breaking out their Maui Jims. The balmy air grew heavier down on the coastal plain where the speedskaters competed, while up in the peaks, the snowcaps liquefied. The surface of the Alpine courses looked as if they’d been poured out of a Slush Puppie machine. Miller, the famous snow chemist, described it as grainy “crystals, mushy stuff.”
The Americans weren’t the only ones who gave marginally slower performances in the warmth, or who were frustrated by sloggy conditions. “I’m a big guy and I just sink in this slush,” British cross-country skier Andrew Young said. A German official grabbed scissors and cut the sleeves off some of the cross-country uniforms, but it didn’t help former World Cup champion Axel Teichmann, who finished eighth in the men’s 15K.
“I became a winter athlete to do my sport in winter, not in summer,” he seethed.
Maybe it was the sheer beachiness of the whole affair that compromised the Americans.
“It’s easy to lose a sense of time and structure in the Olympic Village,” figure skater Jeremy Abbott said. “It feels like summer camp. Like Neverland.”
Maybe things were just too dreamy. “Wishing in skiing does not get you far,” Miller observed. Maybe while the Americans were puzzling over their suits and their food and the temps, others have just reached out and grabbed the medals. Like Iouri Podladtchikov, nicknamed I-Pod, who made this immortal play on the Olympic slogan after beating out Shaun White in the halfpipe, “It’s hot, cool, and it’s [expletive] mine.”
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I think it is sort of indicative of what is happening to our country as a whole........
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http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/02/15/oshie-leads-team-usa-to-epic-3-2-victory-over-russia-but-its-what-he-said-after-that-you-will-want-to-see/
Oshie Leads Team USA to Epic 3-2 Victory Over Russia — But It’s What He Said After That You Will Want to See
Feb. 15, 2014 2:43pm Oliver Darcy
SOCHI, Russia (AP) — T.J. Oshie scored four times in the shootout and got the winner in the eighth round, leading the United States past Russia 3-2 Saturday in the thrilling revival of an Olympic hockey rivalry.
Cam Fowler and Joe Pavelski scored in regulation for the Americans in the marquee game of the preliminary round. Jonathan Quick made 29 saves and stopped five attempts in the shootout.
International rules allow the same player to take multiple shots after the first three rounds of a shootout, and U.S. coach Dan Bylsma leaned on Oshie. The St. Louis forward went 4 for 6 against Sergei Bobrovsky.
TJ Oshie (@OSH74) when called a hero after the game: "No. The real heroes wear camo. I'm not one of them."
Captain Pavel Datsyuk scored two goals in regulation and another in the shootout. The fast-paced game was played in front of Russian President Vladimir Putin and an energized crowd.
—
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TJ Oshie (@OSH74) when called a hero after the game: "No. The real heroes wear camo. I'm not one of them."
(http://TJ Oshie (@OSH74) when called a hero after the game: "No. The real heroes wear camo. I'm not one of them.")
Good for him. However, saying that makes him a different kind of hero in my book.
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I never heard of Cat Curling: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=evNi4_2qHPY
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:silly: :silly: :silly: funny......
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http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/02/15/team-usa-not-happy-with-controversial-under-armour-suits-and-theyre-finally-doing-something-about-it/
Team USA Not Happy With Controversial Under Armour Suits — and They’re Finally Doing Something About It
Feb. 15, 2014 1:25pm Oliver Darcy
The U.S. speedskating team will abandon their newly designed, controversial Under Armour suits and revert to older ones following a series of poor results at the Olympics, the Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.
The move reportedly comes after several athletes placed blame on the suits for hindering their performance.
Under Armour, which has now promised to “move heaven and Earth to make them better,” had designed the suits in conjunction with Lockheed Martin and bragged about them being “the fastest speedskating suit in the world.”
“…move heaven and Earth to make them better.”
Share:
But, according to the Wall Street Journal, the suits have faced criticism, particularly for a vent on the back. The vent, intended to let heat escape, may have been letting air in, compromising the performances of athletes.
The Wall Street Journal has more:
U.S. Speedskating executive director Ted Morris said Friday that the team members were locked in a debate over which suit to wear going forward. He said the team’s members were split evenly and no final decision had been reached. “The general feeling from the athletes, it’s pretty darn close to 50-50,” Morris said at the time.
Haley said the team ultimately decided to change the suits largely at the insistence of a minority of skaters on the team who are considered medal contenders.
The uniform swap puts Under Armour in a tough spot. If the U.S. team wins medals in the old suits, “it will be embarrassing for Under Armour,” said Matt Powell, an industry analyst for SportsOneSource. Baltimore-based Under Armour Inc. is primarily known for its performance apparel. Shares of the company closed at $106 late Friday, down 2.38%.
Haley, the Under Armour executive, contested the notion that changing to the previous suits would harm the company’s reputation. “They’re all Under Armour suits,” he said. “We just want the skaters to win.”
Nevertheless, the results for the team at the Sochi Olympics have been disappointing.
“Coming off one of the stronger fall seasons, of course we were expecting to take home a bunch of medals, lots of hardware,” Kip Carpenter, a coach with the U.S. team, told the Wall Street Journal.
(H/T: The Verge)
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http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-Sports/2014/02/15/Olympic-Fail
Why the Sochi Olympics Are an Epic Fail
by Ben Shapiro 15 Feb 2014, 5:29 PM PDT
The Winter Olympics have not lived up to the hype. NBC’s primetime numbers are down dramatically from the Olympics coverage four years ago. That was down 29% from the first Wednesday broadcast in Vancouver. The average of 20.8 million viewers represented a drop of more than 8 million viewers.
Why have this year’s Winter Olympics been such a bomb? There are multiple reasons: lack of any big name stars chasing any big name records (there is no Michael Phelps), lack of live events in the age of the internet (Vancouver is in North America), mediocre coverage starring a red-eyed Bob Costas.
But there’s something else, too: a lack of geopolitical drama.
In the past, classic Olympic Games have acted as a sort of cathartic battle of nations, in which geopolitical foes duke it out on the playing fields, ice, or slopes. The Lake Placid Olympic Games, for example, married great hockey with high political drama: coming in the aftermath of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and at the low ebb of American power, the Miracle on Ice inspired a nation as a group of college boys took on the mighty Soviet hockey machine. Geopolitical drama lessened but did not die after the Cold War; in 2008, the specter of thousands of seeming automatons banging drums at the opening of the Beijing Games frightened and enthralled the world, reminding us that China was a nation on the rise, a competitor for global dominance.
This year’s Winter Olympics in Sochi could have provided similar drama. After all, it pits the United States against its chief geopolitical foe, the host country, Vladimir Putin’s Russia. Putin himself is a character out of fiction, an uber-macho former Soviet thug running a massive, expansionist kleptocracy. The man stages photographs riding horses barechested and hunting tigers. His enemies find themselves on the wrong end of radioactive poisoning.
And he isn’t a cartoon villain. In the last few years, Russia has flexed its muscle across the globe. Russia’s continued interference in Ukraine has crippled that country; Russia’s Georgian intervention split that country into chunks. For the last few decade, Russia has been aiding Iranian nuclear development.
And just months ago, Russia humiliated President Obama on the world stage with regard to Syria. After waiting for President Obama to twist in the wind regarding his blustery “red-line” statement on Syrian chemical weapons use, Putin stepped in with a supposed disarmament deal. That deal, unsurprisingly, has been a chimera: Syria has continued to massacre its opposition, Bashar Assad has remained in power, his negotiators have insisted that he will not relinquish his scepter, and Syria has not disarmed itself. Russia sits by, grinning. President Obama and his administration wring their hands and whistle past the grave, suggesting that Russia must have an interest in a peaceful Syria.
The Russians are open about all of this. They don’t mind the world thinking of them as imperialistic. On the contrary: they seek that image. Why else would the opening ceremonies at Sochi have featured a stories-high hammer and sickle, marking homage to the brutal and genocidal Soviet regime?
Given this juicy narrative pitting a corrupt dictator with dictatorial power and world ambition against the flailing United States, what did the media choose to highlight?
Gay rights.
The media have centered the Sochi Olympics drama entirely on the question of whether gays and lesbians in Russia can kiss in public – even as Russia continues to fund nuclear development for a country that hangs gays. The truth is that while Russian treatment of gays and lesbians is abysmal, it ranks somewhere near the middle of the pack in terms of global treatment: homosexuality is fully legal in Russia, and less than a dozen people have been arrested under the infamous anti-gay propaganda law. This isn’t quite Kristallnacht.
Now, this isn’t an argument that gays in Russia don’t face discriminatory attacks. The official Russian statistics on anti-gay attacks are almost meaningless, with even Russia’s RT.com explaining, “assaults are rarely reported, and almost never recorded as hate crime incidents.” And there have been some incredibly disturbing and horrifically evil attacks on gays.
But anti-homosexual laws are part of a broader problem in Russia: a problem of oppression and corruption, of lost power and attempts to reclaim it. So why not focus on the real problem of Russia? Why not draw a moral narrative pitting American freedom against Russian repression and expansionism?
There’s a rationale for that failure of narrative: were the press to point out Russia is a threat to US interests, the press would have to acknowledge that President Obama is weak. The press would have to openly recognize that Obama has been bested by a two-bit KGB bully. Obama, in other words, would have to lose.
Instead, the media turned to portrayals of Russia as a laughing stock, unable to build hotels with working doorknobs and struggling to rid the neighborhood of stray dogs while quixotically hunting gays. Journalists who have said nothing about Russia’s support for the slaughter of 100,000 in Syria complained about their toilets not flushing in Sochi and the plight of gays in a city with two gay bars.
This isn’t high drama. This is low comedy. And low comedy doesn’t draw ratings.
Simply put, the Olympics is now boring. Sports thrives on competition. Given the narrative put forward by the media, few Americans truly care whether we beat the Russians. And as it turns out, few Americans are obsessed enough with luge to tune in without any added drama.
A good story makes for a good Olympics. In order to protect President Obama, the media provided a mediocre story. No wonder the Olympics is such a drag.
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http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-Sports/2014/02/15/NBC-Brought-Own-Starbucks-Shop-to-Sochi
NBC Brought Own Starbucks Shop to Sochi
by Mary Chastain 15 Feb 2014, 4:24 PM PDT
There is a Starbucks in Sochi, Russia during the 2014 Winter Olympics even though they are not an official sponsor of the games. The nearest one is in the small town Rostov-on-Don.
But NBC employees enjoy this small luxury most Americans take for granted. They flew in their own Starbucks and set up shop in their corner of the Olympics broadcasting center. It is open 24 hours for the 2,500 people NBC flew to Sochi. NBC said they are not violating the non-sponsor rules because it is behind closed doors and not open to the public.
Bringing in the joe is a delicate exercise. NBC flies in a rotating crew of some 15 baristas from Starbucks coffee shops in Russia, sets them up with accommodations in Sochi, and pays their regular wages. As with past Games, Starbucks has gladly cooperated with the effort.
All told, the barista battalion is larger than the Sochi Olympic teams of some 57 countries.
One barista working at the covert facility next to the NBC cafeteria on Friday night said she had come from Moscow; another one arrived from St. Petersburg.
NBC has set up its own personal Starbucks at every Olympics since the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney, according to Mr. Fritsche. But Sochi is only the second time NBC has brought Starbucks to a city that doesn't have one. Turin, the coffee-rich site of the 2006 Winter Games, was the other.
Rachel Rominger, an International Olympic Committee representative, said no rules are violated since NBC is bringing in the coffee for their personal use. The main sponsors, Coca-Cola and McDonald’s, are not concerned with Starbucks. Coke does not own a hot drink business in Russia and people are left with McDonald’s McCafé drinks. The coffee is very popular, which probably explains why it does not bother them that NBC brought in their own Starbucks.
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review sports columnist Dejan Kovacevic is addicted to Starbucks and once had a connection to the NBC shop. But now the person is on the other side of the park and he carries his empty Starbucks cup with him.
"It's a status symbol," he explains. "It shows I'm not some kind of lowlife."
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Coffee is the best thing McDonald's has on its menu. I don't like Starbuck's because it tastes like burned coffee beans. I reckon most people throw different flavorings in it, so it's not really coffee. It was tacky of NBC to do that, but then, what else can we expect from those dolts?
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Coffee is the best thing McDonald's has on its menu. I don't like Starbuck's because it tastes like burned coffee beans. I reckon most people throw different flavorings in it, so it's not really coffee. It was tacky of NBC to do that, but then, what else can we expect from those dolts?
It's kind of funny, in a pathetic sort of way, that the NBCers seem to consider Starbucks the high-status pinnacle of coffee. I agree with you, it tastes scorched.
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http://nation.foxnews.com/2014/02/16/us-hockey-player-tj-oshie-being-called-hero-%E2%80%98-real-heroes-wear-camo-i%E2%80%99m-not-one-them%E2%80%99 (http://nation.foxnews.com/2014/02/16/us-hockey-player-tj-oshie-being-called-hero-%E2%80%98-real-heroes-wear-camo-i%E2%80%99m-not-one-them%E2%80%99)
U.S. Hockey Player T.J. Oshie On Being Called A Hero: ‘The Real Heroes Wear Camo. I’m Not One Of Them
(http://nation.foxnews.com/sites/nation.foxnews.com/files/styles/story_624_300/public/4405.jpg)
U.S. Hockey Player T.J. Oshie On Being Called A Hero: ‘The Real Heroes Wear Camo. I’m Not One Of Them’
St. Louis Blues forward T.J. Oshie became an instant star on Saturday morning, as his incredible effort in a shootout lead the United States men’s hockey team to a big win over Russia in the 2014 Winter Olympics.
After the game, Oshie was asked what it felt like to become a U.S. hero, but he was quick to let everyone know that he does not believe he has earned that label.
TJ Oshie (@OSH74) when called a hero after the game: "No. The real heroes wear camo. I'm not one of them."
— Shawn Hutcheon (@ShawnHutcheon) February 15, 2014
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I understand Meredith Viereia (sp?), filling in for Shortcake PinkEye as NBC's host, seemingly praised Oshie's remarks by saying that he should be Hillary's running mate, or words to that effect.
:chairbang:
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A Google search using the parameters "Bob Costas, pink eye" reveals literally thousands of highly amusing and very rude photoshopped images of Our Bob.....too many for me to even decide on a good selection......
:beer:
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I understand Meredith Viereia (sp?), filling in for Shortcake PinkEye as NBC's host, seemingly praised Oshie's remarks by saying that he should be Hillary's running mate, or words to that effect.
:chairbang:
I would enjoy the coverage more without people like Viera and Costas on my screen.
BTW I have never seen such pathetic winter skiing conditions at what is a major event as these skiers are subjected to this year. The only time I can ever remember skiing in something this bad was during a drought period we spent a week at Tahoe skiing all the runs there and Heavenly Valley was so bad I actually broke a pole coming off a lift in the hardpack. What they are going through in Sochi is awful. Didn't Russia have any mountains further north?
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Are you watching it now? I just saw a female snowboarder crash. She appears to be unconscious, but I noticed she was breathing. I don't know who she is.
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Are you watching it now? I just saw a female snowboarder crash. She appears to be unconscious, but I noticed she was breathing. I don't know who she is.
It isn't on here, another hour before our coverage starts. I'll watch it - thanks.
What the women were experiencing last night is the sort of conditions that caused me to screw up my knee up at Mammoth Mountain spring skiing - hardpack up at the top and then the slushy corn snow at the bottom, it transitions quickly and in my case I lost it, did a spiral turn and my left ski didn't come off, the slush grabbed hold and tore my knee.
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What the women were experiencing last night is the sort of conditions that caused me to screw up my knee up at Mammoth Mountain spring skiing - hardpack up at the top and then the slushy corn snow at the bottom, it transitions quickly and in my case I lost it, did a spiral turn and my left ski didn't come off, the slush grabbed hold and tore my knee.
My sister had such an injury recently while skiing in icy/slushy conditions. The surgery was extensive and recovery is painful.
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My sister had such an injury recently while skiing in icy/slushy conditions. The surgery was extensive and recovery is painful.
Worst surgery I've experienced. My hysterectomy was a piece of cake by comparison. I had surgery up at Century City hospital on a Friday. When I left the hospital after the surgery (with crutches) I felt no pain and wanted to go eat - which we did... and then we got on the freeway for home. Friday night traffic is a nightmare on the LA freeways. We had a van and I was able to prop my leg up on the drive home, when we got near our house George wanted to stop and fill my pain prescription. I told him no, because "I didn't have any pain and was certain I wouldn't" Went to bed and around midnight my left started to throb and then really throb worse and worse... so I went downstairs to the sofa as to not wake George. I was in agony... he came downstairs about 5 a.m. to see where I was and by then I was in tears and of course the pharmacy didn't open for several hours yet. He got some peas out of the freezer and I applied to the knee - didn't help much - and at 8 a.m. he went to the pharmacy to fill the prescription (after a couple of I told you so's).
Unfortunately it is a double-edged sword with me. Pain pills make me sick. Anyway, he had to drive me back up to the doctor for a check on Monday and they drew a LOT of fluid out of the knee - which helped some - but I was on crutches for over a month. Thank goodness I didn't weight a lot so I didn't have to deal with extra weight causing me more difficulty in the healing process. The surgery was in January - we went to Colorado skiing in March. Wasn't a lot of fun for George as I'd take one run and then sit out the next run and then go up with him again. It also affected my waterskiing in the summer since the knee just never felt that stable to me after the injury and surgery.
What really made me mad was we always had a rule when we called last run we quit at the bottom, but we'd been having such a good day and we got to the bottom and said what the heck, let's take ONE MORE..... it was that one more that got me.
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It was Amerian Jacki Hernandez. She received a concussion - her second concussion in two months
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http://msn.foxsports.com/olympics/story/meryl-davis-charlie-white-of-us-lead-olympic-ice-dancing-021614
Davis and White of US lead Olympic ice dancing
FEB 16, 2014 2:02p ET
SOCHI, Russia -- Charlie White threw his arms in the air in celebration to try to describe how he'd felt Sunday morning.
After four years, the moment had finally arrived for White and Meryl Davis, seeking to win the United States' first Olympic gold medal in ice dancing.
"I definitely woke up today ready," Davis said. "And yes, it's great to wake up with a smile on your face."
They were grinning even more broadly after their short dance, when they set an international personal best with 78.89 points to lead training partners Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada by 2.56.
Davis and White won silver at the 2010 Games when Virtue and Moir became the first Olympic ice dance champions from North America. The free dance is Monday, and Davis and White, both from Michigan, are one performance away from gold.
"I told Charlie in the middle of the program I felt like I was in a dream," Davis said. "It is such a surreal experience."
Virtue and Moir rebounded from a shaky performance in the team event, but the Americans, skating last, have overtaken their rivals over the last four years, and it was no different Sunday.
A Russian team was in third, though it wasn't world bronze medalists Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev. Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov were 3.29 points behind Virtue and Moir.
France's Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat were fourth, just 0.26 out of the bronze position, with Bobrova and Soloviev fifth.
Davis and White will again skate last Monday.
Their twizzles are at another speed from the rest of the field, and yet they spin across the ice in perfect unison. Skating to "My Fair Lady," they gaze at each other and into the crowd with an exuberant bliss.
"They fly," said their coach, Marina Zoueva, who also works with Virtue and Moir. "And you can see at the same time where they are strong. And they are so light at the same time and so flowing."
With White's tuxedo and tails and Davis' gauzy pink dress, they were decked out for a coronation.
"They really did the best this program can be done, with joy," Zoueva said. "Total joy."
When it was over, they held their embrace for a few extra seconds.
"We kept in the moment and neither of us was pushing it," White said. "We were out there enjoying each other's company. This was special for us."
The other American teams, Madison Chock and Evan Bates and siblings Maia and Alex Shibutani, were eighth and ninth.
Virtue had a bobble on a twizzle during the team short dance, but on Sunday, she and Moir looked much more like the couple that charmed the home crowd in Vancouver four years ago. Their footwork again crisp, they seemed to bounce over the ice as they performed to jazz standards from Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald.
In his black bowtie and suspenders, Moir, ever the showman, smiled coyly from start to finish, eyebrow arched. Virtue's face beamed brighter than the sparkles on her flapper-style dress.
With the two still posed cheek to cheek just like the lyrics to the final song in their medley, Moir shouted out "Yes!" and pumped a fist. He whirled across the ice in celebration, then lifted Virtue into the air, burying his face in her shoulder.
"That was more like it," Moir said afterward.
The week between their programs seemed to drag on forever -- Moir called the waiting miserable.
"I just wanted my chance to be on the stage and do that," he said.
So when the music ended, he let out all that tension, though Virtue teased him: "You left me."
"I didn't get the memo on that," she joked later of his extra little dance.
"I get a little emotional after we skate like that," he explained.
Both couples have been together since they were little kids, and each talked about wanting to revel in the moment of these Olympics. That was accomplished Sunday.
"We've been together 17 years and that plays a huge part in just how comfortable you are on the ice in big moments," White said. "We have been through so much together in competitions and in life. It's just having that consistency in our training and our approach, and when it comes to big competitions, being a little bit nervous. You want to be able to count on that."
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http://msn.foxsports.com/olympics/story/olympic-viewing-sagging-ratings-costas-to-rescue-021614
Olympic Viewing: Sagging ratings, Costas to rescue
AP
FEB 16, 2014 5:02p ET
Highlights from television coverage of the Sochi Olympics:
RATINGS: After a quick start, NBC's ratings for the Sochi Olympics are fading. Saturday night's prime-time telecast was seen by 17.1 million viewers, the smallest audience so far and smaller than any night of the Vancouver Olympics in 2010. The Saturday telecast opened with the compelling story of the U.S.-Russia men's hockey game, but things quickly went downhill, and there were few notable performances by Americans to keep home team fans interested. The comparable Saturday in Vancouver had 26.7 million viewers, and the Turin Games in 2006 had 19.7 million. The hockey game on the NBC Sports Network was seen by an average of 4.1 million people, swelling to 6.4 million during the shootout, strong numbers that indicated how word spread quickly about what was going on.
EYE ON COSTAS: Ol' Red Eyes is coming back! NBC said that Bob Costas will return Monday night as host of the network's prime-time telecast, with Matt Lauer filling in one last time on Sunday. That means Costas will have missed seven days because of a stubborn infection that reddened first one of his eyes, then the other, and left him sensitive to light.
WEIR WARDROBE WATCH: Skating analyst Johnny Weir had a bright green jacket with white shirt, and a green and gold headband. Or maybe it was a tiara.
ICE DANCING: Weir is warming to his job, firing off some good lines during the ice dancing competition Sunday. ''They sold that program like the rent is due tomorrow,'' he said of one pair. ''With ice dancing being the peacock of our sport, we need some plumage,'' he said, urging Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates on.
HOCKEY HANGOVER: NBC's hockey team was quick to call out the U.S. men for looking energy-deficient during part of the game against Slovenia on Sunday, probably a natural hangover from the previous day's excitement. The announcers were a little less inviting to the non-hockey fanatics, with repeated references to a ''natural'' hat trick without explaining the phrase. We'll assume it has nothing to do with hairstyles.
CURLING: Was it just us, or were there some long, lingering closeups on competitors in the Russia-Sweden women's curling match?
---
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http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/feb/16/bode-miller-olympics-alpine-skiing/
Bode Miller happy with Sunday's results
By Mark Zeigler11:04 a.m.Feb. 16, 2014
United States' Bode Miller comes to a halt at the end of the downhill portion of the men's supercombined at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, Friday, Feb. 14, 2014, in Krasnaya Polyana, Russia. (AP Photo/Gero Breloer) United States' Bode Miller comes to a halt at the end of the downhill portion of the men's supercombined at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, Friday, Feb. 14, 2014, in Krasnaya Polyana, Russia. (AP Photo/Gero Breloer) The Associated Press
(http://media.utsandiego.com/img/photos/2014/02/13/6968115657c0c7064b0f6a7067009483_r620x349.JPEG?75d51d0aea2efce5189afce216053cbc530c46a8)
SOCHI, Russia — Bode Miller won his sixth career Olympic medal in alpine skiing on Sunday, a bronze in the super G at Rosa Khutor. From strictly a performance standpoint, he called it “worse than any of the other five medals I’ve won.”
And from an emotional standpoint?
The stout, unflappable Miller collapsing into his wife’s arms afterward and sobbing answered that question.
“Some days medals matter,” Miller said. “Today it mattered.”
Kjetil Jansrud of Norway won in 1 minute, 18.14 seconds, but that shouldn’t be a surprise. Norway has now the last four super G golds, three by guys named Kjetil.
American Andrew Weibrecht was second at 1:88.44 after never having been on a World Cup podium, but that shouldn’t be a surprise, either. He did the same thing four years ago, coming out of nowhere in the super G to win a bronze.
And in third were Canada’s Jan Hudec and Miller, tied at 1:18.67. They’ll both get bronze medals.
Maybe that’s no surprise, either. Miller is the most decorated alpine skier in U.S. history, with one gold, three silvers and two bronzes now. And he has made a career of sneaking onto the podium at the Olympics just when you think he won’t, just when you think that no one older than 34 has medaled in alpine skiing might apply to him.
Apparently it doesn’t. Miller is 36.
“I’m happy,” he said, “to still be kicking around.”
These have been a tumultuous four years for Miller – the nasty, cross-country custody battle over his 11-month-old son, the knee injury that nearly ended his career, the plastic surgery for his wife after he hit her with a golf ball, the death of his younger brother Chelone last year as he tried to make the Olympic team in snowboarding.
“Losing my brother was really hard,” Miller said. “He wanted to come to these Games. For him to pass away the way that he did, it sort of connected with my journey coming back. Today I felt that was all very connected and raw and emotional.
“In the finish (area), it all kind of came out.”
Shortly after the race, he tweeted: “Thanks for all the support, today was one of the most emotional days of my life. I miss my brother.”
Miller raced like he always does, which means he took audacious risks on the Rosa Khutor course and nearly lost it all. Teammate Ted Ligety, one of the race favorites, made a major error in the course’s middle section and finished 14th. Miller avoided that pratfall but made a mistake on the bottom that could and maybe should have cost him a medal.
“When you get older and go through a lot of stuff, you always have those moments where you want to quit when things just don’t go your way,” said Miller, who spent much of the last four years living on a yacht in San Diego Bay. “Especially when you have a lot of accomplishments, it’s a scary process to put yourself out there again when you have that resume. People expect the best.
“Today was disappointing on the one hand that I didn’t ski better, but under the circumstances it’s a miracle.”
The slalom and giant slalom still remain at Rosa Khutor, although Miller is not expected to contend in either. He talked about skiing next season with the World Championships in Vail, Colo., where he raced his first worlds 17 years ago.
And then? If he can win a medal at 36, why not 40?
“Beyond that,” he said, “it’s really hard to tell.”
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http://www.buzzfeed.com/adamdavis/nbc-correspondent-repeatedly-asks-bode-miller-about-his-brot
NBC Correspondent Repeatedly Asks Bode Miller About His Brother’s Death During Post-Race Interview
Following his bronze-medal winning run in the Super-G competition, Bode Miller was asked several questions by NBC reporter Christin Cooper about his recently deceased brother. Many viewers felt the questions were too invasive. posted on February 16, 2014 at 11:12pm EST
Adam Davis BuzzFeed Staff
American alpine skier Bode Miller won the bronze medal in Sunday’s Super-G competition, giving him a total of six Olympic medals over his career — the most of any U.S. skier.
(http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/2014-02/enhanced/webdr07/16/22/enhanced-buzz-5328-1392606861-14.jpg)
American alpine skier Bode Miller won the bronze medal in Sunday's Super-G competition, giving him a total of six Olympic medals over his career — the most of any U.S. skier.
Leonhard Foeger / Reuters
Miller, far right, on the podium with, from left to right, silver medalist Andrew Weibrecht of the United States, gold medalist Kjetil Jansrud of Norway, and co-bronze medalist Jan Hudec of Canada.
(http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BgpSXtzCMAAktPz.jpg)
Miller’s bronze also made him the oldest alpine skier to win a medal, at age 36.
NBC Olympics @NBCOlympics
.@millerbode stopped by earlier and snapped a #SochiSelfie with his sixth Olympic medal:
10:14 PM - 16 Feb 14
During Miller’s post-race interview with NBC, journalist Christin Cooper asked Miller about his brother Chelone, who died of an apparent seizure in 2013.
(http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/2014-02/enhanced/webdr06/16/22/enhanced-buzz-3047-1392607112-8.jpg)
Miller became noticeably emotional during Cooper’s line of questioning, which continued until Miller crouched to the ground, seemingly unable to continue with the interview. USA Today’s FTW site has the transcript.
(http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/2014-02/enhanced/webdr05/16/22/enhanced-buzz-21777-1392608566-25.jpg)
Many viewers, reacting online, felt Cooper went too far.
Thomas J. Forestier @tforestier
@NBC Olympics Mr Lauer should apologize to Bode Miller when he interviews him and NBC should implement sensitivity training
10:04 PM - 16 Feb 14
Young Pandas @YoungPandas
What I just saw from NBC reporter Christin Cooper interviewing Bode Miller was completely tasteless and unacceptable. #Olympics #NBCFail
10:03 PM - 16 Feb 14
ewellsie @ewellsie
In another Olympics full of failure, that interview of Bode Miller was the worst thing yet. Shame on you @NBC. #Sochi2014 #NBCFail
10:03 PM - 16 Feb 14
Carina MacKenzie @cadlymack
Christin Cooper @ NBC Sports is the absolute worst. There was no journalism in that interview w/ Bode Miller, just badgering & scrounging.
10:03 PM - 16 Feb 14
Alan Robinson @arobinson_Trib
Thought questioning of obviously emotional Bode Miller way over the line. Who do you think he was pointing to? Let picture tell the story.
10:03 PM - 16 Feb 14
(http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BgpPuS2CIAE2-vy.png)
Рыан Худсон @ry_hudson
Sounds like there was a terrible interview with Bode Miller ...
10:02 PM - 16 Feb 14
Ana Gasteyer @AnaGasteyer
Nice work getting bode miller to break down douchebag reporter.
9:52 PM - 16 Feb 14
Graham Gano @GrahamGano
Sad that the reporter kept asking Bode Miller q's after he was emotionally distraught. I know that's her job, but have some respect...
9:55 PM - 16 Feb 14
Sage Rosenfels @SageRosenfels18
Keep in mind that NBC did that interview with Bode Miller about 10 hours ago, saw the result, and still ran the entire fiasco. #smh
10:32 PM - 16 Feb 14
Miller’s wife Morgan was seen comforting him after the interview.
(http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/2014-02/enhanced/webdr02/16/22/enhanced-buzz-8612-1392607336-28.jpg)
Afterwards, Miller himself tweeted about the emotional day.
Bode Miller @MillerBode
Thanks for all the support, today was one of the most emotional days of my life. I miss my brother.
4:17 AM - 16 Feb 14
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I watched this and was yelling at this dumb woman to leave him alone, they had the camera real close to his face and you could see him tearing up and she just kept pushing and pushing...
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http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/02/bode-miller-brother-nbc-interview/
Bode Miller broke down in NBC interview talking about his late brother
By Chris Chase
After winning a bronze medal in Sunday’s super-G and becoming the oldest medalist in Olympic alpine skiing history, Bode Miller stood for an NBC interview. He was asked how his sixth Winter Games medal felt different than the rest. The resulting talk with NBC’s Christin Cooper was as raw and emotional as an interview at a sporting event can get, as Miller talked about his younger brother Chilly, who died last year of an apparent seizure thought to be related to a brain injury from an old motorcycle accident. The camera zoomed in tight as Bode spoke.
Miller: This was a little different. With my brother passing away, I really wanted to come back here and race the way he sends it. So this was a little different.
Cooper: Bode, you’re showing so much emotion down here. What’s going through your mind?
Miller: (Long pause) A lot, obviously. A long struggle coming in here. And, uh, just a tough year.
Cooper: I know you wanted to be here with Chilly experiencing these games, how much does it mean to you to come up with a great performance for him? And was it for him?
Miller: I mean, I don’t know it’s really for him. But I wanted to come here and uh — I don’t know, I guess make my self proud. (Pauses, then wipes away tears.)
Cooper: When you’re looking up in the sky at the start, we see you there and it just looks like you’re talking to somebody. What’s going on there?
After that question, Miller fell to his knees and rested himself on a fence separating him from Cooper. The NBC interviewer could be heard whispering “sorry” and gently put her hand on Miller’s shoulder before he walked away a few seconds later.
photo (1)
(http://usatftw.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/photo-17.jpg?w=1032&h=774)
(NBC screenshot)
Cooper was the subject of some criticism on Twitter for pressing with the interview after it was clear Miller was getting emotional. Though the chat could have stopped when Miller shed a tear after what would be his last words, it was Miller himself who initially brought up his brother and appeared interested in talking about him during the interview. When that proved too hard for Miller, Cooper backed off and offered her hand.
Later, Miller sent a tweet in which all the words he couldn’t say were summed up with one heartbreaking line.
Bode Miller ✔ @MillerBode
Follow
Thanks for all the support, today was one of the most emotional days of my life. I miss my brother.
2:17 AM - 16 Feb 2014
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Why Bode Miller was so emotional after making history as oldest Olympic Alpine medalist
Charles Robinson
By Charles Robinson 16 hours ago Yahoo Sports
KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia – Bode Miller has spent the balance of his career brushing off numbers. Wins, losses, podiums, seconds … he has strived to keep such digits from defining him.
But age, even on fast skis – perhaps especially on fast skis – is inescapable.
Now the clock is catching up to Miller, and he's beating it back with numbers he has historically shunned. A few hundredths of a second here, one more podium there, and Miller made history on Sunday in the Sochi Games. At 36 years and 127 days, he became the oldest Alpine medalist in Olympic history, winning bronze in the super-G. That surpassed Kjetil André Aamodt, an all-time Alpine great who won super-G gold at the 2006 Turin Games at 34 years and 170 days.
So now Miller's name is forever linked with Aamodt, whom he grew up watching and whose total medal count of eight is the only one that surpasses Miller in Alpine. And Miller hears that he trails only speedskater Apolo Ohno's eight total medals on the United States' all-time count.
What does it mean?
"It means I'm old," Miller said in a wry tone.
Humor aside, Bode understands the ramifications. Sunday's bronze was special because it means Miller is still battling, still shredding, still hanging in with the best in the world. And he's done it through one of the toughest periods of his life, following a knee injury that sidelined him in 2013 and the far more devastating death of his younger brother Chelone in April.
Those events could be seen through the window of Miller's skiing in Sochi, where he has put up some of his best training runs in several years, but displayed frustration at mistakes that kept him off the podium in the downhill and super-combined. And it was particularly evident on Sunday, when after finishing his run and realizing he'd secured another medal, Miller could be seen wiping tears from his face.
"Losing my brother this last year was really hard for myself, my family, our sort of whole community," Miller said of the emotional moment. "It was just, yeah, a lot of emotion."
It's not the first time Miller has reacted with open emotion in these Games. He failed to hit the podium in the downhill after looking like a gold-medal contender in practice runs, and spent almost 10 minutes at the bottom of the hill in a single-man huddle, sorting through his thoughts. After Miller once again missed a medal in the super-combined, his wife, Morgan, could be heard demanding he take a more positive view of the performance.
While Miller would be loath to admit it, he looks like a skier who knows he's gone over the last pitch in his career and is in his final tuck, heading toward the inevitable end. He seems ever so slightly reflective, and even shared a story of how after collecting a large portion of his trophies over the summer, he was able to see the bigger picture of his accomplishments.
"That was one of the times where it kind of sunk in," Miller said, "where when you look at your body of work – of basically my adult life – in a phrase or in one sort of visual context the way it was with my trophies, it sort of makes it a little more raw for you emotionally."
It was appropriate that Miller won his sixth and possibly final medal in the typical Bode way, going all out on a difficult top portion of Sunday's super-G course. A top portion that led fellow American Ted Ligety to call the run unremarkable only in that it showcased what Miller still has left.
"You know he has that kind of speed," Ligety said. "His speed this year has always been there."
But that speed was undone by something Miller has done so often in his career – inexplicably and unnecessarily pushing a line too far and giving back time. Miller did it again Sunday at the bottom of the course, saying he believed the mistake cost him as much as five- or six-tenths of a second. That margin could have ultimately been the difference between the .53 that separated his bronze and the gold won by Norway's Kjetil Jansrud.
"My mind was still looking for hundredths of a second and I pushed too hard," Miller said.
But that disappointment didn't last. It never does. Miller found history and a silver lining.
"I've never been so stuck on counting [medals]," Miller said. "For me, I've put in a lot of work and this was a really hard year and a lot of effort coming back to get fit and get ready and just battle through everything that life throws at you. …It's almost therapeutic for me to be in these situations where I really have to test myself.
"If not the most important of my life, [this race was] right there with it. I had a lot to show today."
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http://sports.yahoo.com/news/jacobellis-falters-again-women-39-1001130
Tough-luck Lindsey falls again at Olympics
By EDDIE PELLS (AP National Writer) 11 hours ago AP - Sports
Tough-luck Lindsey falls again at Olympics
KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia (AP) -- Same sting, different day for Lindsey Jacobellis.
The woman who has dominated her sport for a decade came to the Olympics for the third time Sunday, in search of the gold medal she gave away once and lost in one of those so-called ''racin' deals'' the other time.
Far ahead of the other five riders in her semifinal heat on a sunny, slushy afternoon at Rosa Khutor Extreme Park, Jacobellis misjudged the second-to-last turn on the course, flew over a jump too fast, lost her balance and skidded onto her back.
She raised her hands for leverage as she skittered into the middle of the course, hoping the momentum might pull her back to her feet. But the snow was too soft and Jacobellis was stuck. She moved to the side and trudged down the hill, snowboard in hand.
''It's how the wheel turns,'' she said. ''It just so happened not to work out. It's hard to accept that.''
Moments after her latest hard-luck loss in the Olympic version of NASCAR on snow, she overcame a slow start and dominated the field in what they call the Small Final - the race that decides seventh place.
Jacobellis now has second-, fifth- and seventh-place finishes in her three Olympic trips. Yes, it keeps getting worse.
Her first Olympic loss, eight years ago in Italy, was a sheer matter of showboating. Out in the clear with two jumps left, she tried a showy grab of her board and tumbled, then got passed for the victory and held up for ridicule in some corners, derision in others.
Four years ago in Vancouver, she collided with Canadian Maelle Ricker, the eventual winner, on an early turn in the semifinal round. That put her off balance and she couldn't regain control before she rode completely off course. She won the consolation heat - then a four-woman race - that day, as well.
This time, it was a cruel melding of human error and the randomness of snowboardcross that combined to ruin her day.
Jacobellis was well in the lead when she headed into the second-to-last turn and set herself up for a set of four gentle bumps - called ''rollers'' in snowboard parlance. The traffic behind her - bunched in a four-way scrum for what looked like the last two spots in the final - wasn't bearing down, but Jacobellis wasn't sure, so she pushed things as she headed to the corner.
…
The last roller shot her blindly into the final turn and she lost her balance.
Within seconds, the entire field passed her.
''There's a lot out there you can't control, but unfortunately, what I could control today was what didn't work,'' she said. ''That's the unfortunate part.''
Over a career that began when she was a teen, the 28-year-old Jacobellis has a record of putting things together when it counts. She won her eighth Winter X Games title last month, and also has 26 World Cup victories and three world championships.
Lindsey Jacobellis of the United States reacts after winning the small final of the women's snow …
''People don't understand how much pressure is on her,'' said her American teammate, Faye Gulini, who finished fourth. ''It breaks her heart because I think it takes the fun out of it for her. Just for this event. She loves the sport. She's a phenomenal snowboarder. But it's in her head, with that much pressure on you. I've never had that kind of pressure but I know it just breaks her as an athlete.''
Another American, Nate Holland, was on hand a day before he tries to end his own 0-for-2 Olympic drought.
''A little bit of heartbreak, for sure,'' Holland said.
Jacobellis, who made this Olympics after a full recovery from a pair of knee operations in 2012, acknowledged that heartbreak but said it wasn't pressure that did her in.
''It's not that I'm over-amped, or over-excited,'' she said. ''I was really happy with how the course was coming together for me. It just didn't work out. I don't really know how else to say it.''
Jacobellis will be 32 in 2018. There's talk the Olympics might add a team snowboardcross event for the Games in South Korea - essentially a relay. Jacobellis has been excited about the prospect of racing with her American teammates instead of against them.
It would've been so much easier to take one last trip with a gold medal in her pocket.
But it wasn't to be. Again.
''There are worse things in life than not winning,'' Jacobellis said. ''A lot worse. And, of course, it's very unfortunate this didn't work out for me.''
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We're tied with Russia for medals - 16 each - Russia has more silver. Norway is in first place.
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http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/02/bode-miller-brother-nbc-interview/
Bode Miller broke down in NBC interview talking about his late brother
By Chris Chase
After winning a bronze medal in Sunday’s super-G and becoming the oldest medalist in Olympic alpine skiing history, Bode Miller stood for an NBC interview. He was asked how his sixth Winter Games medal felt different than the rest. The resulting talk with NBC’s Christin Cooper was as raw and emotional as an interview at a sporting event can get, as Miller talked about his younger brother Chilly, who died last year of an apparent seizure thought to be related to a brain injury from an old motorcycle accident. The camera zoomed in tight as Bode spoke.
Miller: This was a little different. With my brother passing away, I really wanted to come back here and race the way he sends it. So this was a little different.
Cooper: Bode, you’re showing so much emotion down here. What’s going through your mind?
Miller: (Long pause) A lot, obviously. A long struggle coming in here. And, uh, just a tough year.
Cooper: I know you wanted to be here with Chilly experiencing these games, how much does it mean to you to come up with a great performance for him? And was it for him?
Miller: I mean, I don’t know it’s really for him. But I wanted to come here and uh — I don’t know, I guess make my self proud. (Pauses, then wipes away tears.)
Cooper: When you’re looking up in the sky at the start, we see you there and it just looks like you’re talking to somebody. What’s going on there?
After that question, Miller fell to his knees and rested himself on a fence separating him from Cooper. The NBC interviewer could be heard whispering “sorry” and gently put her hand on Miller’s shoulder before he walked away a few seconds later.
photo (1)
Cooper was the subject of some criticism on Twitter for pressing with the interview after it was clear Miller was getting emotional. Though the chat could have stopped when Miller shed a tear after what would be his last words, it was Miller himself who initially brought up his brother and appeared interested in talking about him during the interview. When that proved too hard for Miller, Cooper backed off and offered her hand.
Later, Miller sent a tweet in which all the words he couldn’t say were summed up with one heartbreaking line.
My wife and I were yelling at that nosey reporter to "Shut Up"..... It was like her mission was to make Bode cry on camera, and she didn't get what she wanted with her first set of question so she kept the questions coming until he broke down.
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I have a new favorite womens down-hiller. Austria's Anna Fenniger "the Cheeta Girl". WOW! is she Ho.......... at the risk Mrs. NavyCanDo reads this the previous description has been omitted, and changed to she is a really good skier.
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I have a new favorite womens down-hiller. Austria's Anna Fenniger "the Cheeta Girl". WOW! is she Ho.......... at the risk Mrs. NavyCanDo reads this the previous description has been omitted, and changed to she is a really good skier.
:silly: :silly: :silly: :silly:
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I have a new favorite womens down-hiller. Austria's Anna Fenniger "the Cheeta Girl". WOW! is she Ho.......... at the risk Mrs. NavyCanDo reads this the previous description has been omitted, and changed to she is a really good skier.
Is she one of the few who have managed to make it all the way down the slope without a massive wipeout?? I hear the slopes are so poorly planned and the snow quality so bad that things are outright dangerous....
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Is she one of the few who have managed to make it all the way down the slope without a massive wipeout?? I hear the slopes are so poorly planned and the snow quality so bad that things are outright dangerous....
It's probably the worst conditions I can remember at the winter games.
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"Olympic ice dancing due Charlie White and Meryl Davis won the U.S. its first-ever dancing gold medal on February 17 in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Soche Russia. They defeated their archrivals, Canadians Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, who came in 2nd place and Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov of Russia took 3rd place. Charlie and Meryl finished with the final score of 195.52. This win makes the U.S. 15th gold in Olympic figure skating and the country's very first in ice dancing. Congrats to Charlie and Meryl. I'm sure they are overjoyed about this."
As much as I was pulling for the American’s and Canadians to win Gold and Silver consecutively, which is the way it turned out, the Russians Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov had an OMG jaw-dropping performance that had my wife and I saying “Wow” on several occasions during their powerfully dark rendition of “Swan Lake.” As flawless and the White/Davis performance was two teams later it seemed anti-climatic and a bit boring in comparison to what we just witnessed from the Russian team. Not taking anything away from them because I know nothing about how ice dancing is scored and the NBC announcer was not breaking down each performance like they did in the preliminaries, but I was expecting the Russians to score far higher than they did.
Still congratulations to Charlie White and Meryl Davis.
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The "Swan Lake" Russians didn't score higher because it was explained that their choreography wasn't as difficult or as well-executed as that of the higher-scoring teams. Judges award higher points to correspond with degree of difficulty and complexity of the dance as a whole.
That young Russian team nailed their required elements beautifully, which is why they looked so awesome, but their skating moves in-between them was not up to what the better teams scored. They are the Ice Dance up-and-comers this Olympics. They will likely be one of THE teams to beat 4 years from now.
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Yea I think you nailed the explanation ,which should have been NBCs job. The Russian’s performance had the beautiful “wow factor” choreography of a Stars-on-Ice performance but lacked the little details that effect the judges score that go unnoticed by us novices looking at the broader pitcher. Details like how close their skates come during the quick-step session. The closer they are and more fluid and flawless the steps are the higher the score.
With that said the medal distribution seems right.
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Watching the Russians and Team USA in their exiting Hockey shootout did it seem more like the NHL’s version of the Pro-Bowl to anyone else? Seemed nearly every player on both teams play professional Hockey in the US or Canada and they face each other individually in games all season long. It didn’t seem like it was so much as where you live, train, or play hockey that determined if you played for the team USA or Russia, but more on your last name. A total different feel that the 1980 Miracle on Ice when the Team in red had a big CCCP across their chest and truly did represent the Evil Empire.
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And our two-man bobsled team won their first medal since the 1950's!
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http://www.cbsnews.com/news/winter-olympics-2014-ice-dancing-finale-leaves-hurt-feelings/
February 18, 2014, 12:15 PM
Ice dancing finale leaves hurt feelings in Sochi
SOCHI, Russia - Like bruises from falls and cuts from blades, split loyalties come with the icy territory in figure skating.
"We sometimes felt like (Zoueva) wasn't in our corner," Moir said, more in the way of stating a fact as he and Virtue perceived it than as a complaint. "We had some odd things happen this year that hadn't happened before. For the first time, she wasn't there."
Zoueva is the acknowledged master of the craft, and like many mothers, she'll never say which one of her “children” she likes best, reports CBS News correspondent Mark Phillips.
Moir mentioned Zoueva not being at the Canadian championships this year. That event coincided with U.S. nationals, which Zoueva did attend. Each couple won its national title.
Zoueva told CBS News she did not choose between the two, adding “I love and respect both teams.”
The routines she created for the two pairs are completely different in character. The Canadians' is smooth, subtle, artistic -- the qualities that won them gold last time.
The American routine is fast, athletic, exciting, and has been scoring well all season on the circuit, and was judged good enough for gold here.
That didn't happen for the 2010 gold medalists, although they insisted they understood why Zoueva spent so much time with Davis and White, and they praised Zoueva for how she handled the dicey situation.
"The shoe was on the other foot," Moir said.
"Whatever differences we had to take care of on our own," Virtue added, noting the support the couple got from the Canadian federation.
Zoueva said after the short dances that working with the world's two best ice dance teams, as well as with many other highly ranked duos, "is a balancing act."
"I keep both couples in my heart," the renowned Russian coach said Sunday, when Davis-White stood first and Virtue-Moir were second heading into the free dance. "They train together nine years, in the same group and on the same ice with each other since they were babies. They are like a generation, and they are still skating together and grew up and made the same progress and go on together."
When Virtue and Moir won the Vancouver Olympics ahead of Davis and White, they were on the cutting edge of ice dance. But the Americans overtook them in the last four years and came to Sochi as world champions and Grand Prix Final winners.
There were times in the last year when Virtue and Moir had to re-evaluate their relationship with the coach. Moir said they went to Zoueva "on countless occasions" to tell her they would not be happy with a silver medal.
"We felt a little bit like it was getting away from us," Moir said. "We were trying to get balance. She listened to us and kind of reshaped our programs. She's an artist, too, and wanted to keep her vision."
The Canadians, who have not yet announced future plans but are expected to retire from competition, were not downgrading the silver after it was in their hands. They admitted to being thrilled with how well they skated.
"We couldn't have asked for more about our performances," Virtue said. "It's nice to be satisfied and content with our job. We've managed to create the Olympic moment."
Many skaters griped about the scoring this year. The performances are evaluated for subtleties not visible to normal people. Many in the skating twittersphere thought the Canadian pair was technically superior but marked lower.
Losing skaters were left to wonder whether the results were predetermined -- a naughty word in scandal-plagued skating -- because the winner's style was currently in favor.
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Yea I think you nailed the explanation ,which should have been NBCs job. The Russian’s performance had the beautiful “wow factor” choreography of a Stars-on-Ice performance but lacked the little details that effect the judges score that go unnoticed by us novices looking at the broader pitcher. Details like how close their skates come during the quick-step session. The closer they are and more fluid and flawless the steps are the higher the score.
With that said the medal distribution seems right.
Due to bad weather on the east coast, I spent much of Sunday watching ice dance during the day on one of the adjunct NBC channels. The expert commentators were Johnny Wier and Tara Lipinski. They were EXCELLENT. They did the job the experts are supposed to do--connect the viewer with the intricacies of the sport. That's the only reason I told you what I did--I learned it from them. That insipid evening ice dance commentator is useless. Scott Hamilton and his Cannuck sidekick aren't much better, but I know they'll reappear for ladies singles later this week, unfortunately.
I wish they'd kick them out and put Lipinski and Weir on during primetime. Both smart and articulate and very informative without being talky.
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I'm glad I'm not the only one who is over Scotty Hamilton.
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Yeah, Hamilton's passed his sell-by date IMO.
I loved the team of Dick Button and Peggy Fleming. I think those two did a fabulous job the whole time they were skating commentators.
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Yeah, Hamilton's passed his sell-by date IMO.
I loved the team of Dick Button and Peggy Fleming. I think those two did a fabulous job the whole time they were skating commentators.
Oh, yes.. absolutely... loved them.
IIRC years ago didn't ABC do the Olympics coverage? Can't remember when "NBC" got the contract, but they suck overall.
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I know!!!!
ABC hasn't had the Olympics in eons I don't think, but you're right--their coverage was so much better! Remember those "up close and personal" things they did of the athletes? I loved those. :laugh:
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Remember Lolo Jones? The track and field Olympian from a few years back? She's on the womens' bobsled team!
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Remember Lolo Jones? The track and field Olympian from a few years back? She's on the womens' bobsled team!
Interesting - is the Women's Bobsled tonight?
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I know!!!!
ABC hasn't had the Olympics in eons I don't think, but you're right--their coverage was so much better! Remember those "up close and personal" things they did of the athletes? I loved those. :laugh:
Jim McCay was so much better than what we get from NBC....
History
1960s
The first telecast of the Olympics on American TV was from the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, California. It was shown on CBS. During the games, officials asked Tony Verna, one of the members of the production staff, if it could use its videotape equipment to determine whether or not a slalom skier missed a gate. Verna then returned to CBS headquarters in New York City and developed the first instant replay system, which debuted at the Army–Navy football game in 1963.
Later that year, CBS showed the 1960 Summer Olympics from Rome. The network showed about 20 hours of coverage of track and field, swimming, and other sports. Because communications satellites, which would have provided direct transmissions between the United States and Italy, were not yet available, production staff members flew footage from Rome to CBS headquarters in New York for later telecast. Jim McKay, then a relatively unknown radio and TV personality, was the host.[1]
In 1964, a different network showed the Winter Games: ABC. Roone Arledge won broadcast rights for his network and began a relationship with the Olympics that would last over two decades. The program used many of the same production staff from ABC's Wide World of Sports, as well as the same host, McKay, who moved to ABC in 1961. The following October, NBC showed the 1964 Summer Olympics from Tokyo, marking its Olympic TV debut. This time, NBC used the Syncom 3 satellite for direct broadcasts, with the opening ceremonies being broadcast live and in color (the first live color television program ever transmitted by satellite from overseas to the United States; the opening and closing ceremonies were the only portions of NBC's 1964 coverage from Tokyo seen in color). In 1968, ABC showed both the Winter Games and the Summer Games; both of which were (with the exception of a handful of events) broadcast in color.
1970s
In 1972, NBC showed the Winter Games from Sapporo, Japan, then ABC returned to carry the Summer Games in Munich, Germany. It was during the Summer Games that terrorists attacked the Olympic Village and killed 11 Israeli athletes. Although Chris Schenkel was the actual host of the Games that year, Arledge assigned the story to McKay largely because he was a local news anchor in Baltimore, Maryland prior to joining CBS (and later ABC). McKay was joined on set by ABC news correspondent (and former and future evening news anchor) Peter Jennings, and coverage continued for many hours until the outcome was known. McKay later won an Emmy Award for his coverage.[2]
By the time the 1976 edition came around, McKay was now installed at the host, a role he would play throughout the 1970s and '80s.
1980s
ABC aired the 1980 Winter Olympics, both the 1984 Winter and Summer Games, and the 1988 Winter Olympics. After that, the network, at the insistence of new owner Capital Cities Communications (much to the chagrin of Roone Arledge's successor at ABC Sports, Dennis Swanson), opted not to bid for the rights to show any future Games.
NBC had won the U.S. broadcast rights for the 1980 Summer Olympics, but when the United States Olympic Committee kept U.S. athletes home to honor the boycott announced by President Jimmy Carter, the telecasts were canceled. In the end, what had been 150 hours of scheduled coverage, shrunk to practically nothing. Highlights were fed to local NBC stations for use on local newscasts. Many affiliates however, refused to show the Olympic highlights on their local news. They also refused to clear airtime for what little coverage NBC did present.
NBC then bid for, and won, the rights to show the 1988 Summer Olympics. Network officials convinced the organizers in Seoul to stage most of its gold-medal finals in the afternoon, which is primetime of the previous night in the U.S. Bryant Gumbel was the host that year.
1990s
Just as his mentor Roone Arledge had before, Dick Ebersol, who took over NBC Sports in 1989, decided to make the Olympics a staple of his network's sports television schedule. NBC continued its Summer Games coverage into the decade, with both the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona and the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta. And as with Arledge, Ebersol had to deal with breaking news during the Games. During the Centennial Olympic Park bombing in 1996, NBC suspended its coverage of a volleyball game and broadcast the news for several hours commercial-free. Bob Costas made his debut as primetime host in 1992. Costas had previously, hosted the late night coverage in Seoul.
As for the Winter Games, CBS had a similar sweep of coverage in the U.S. during the decade; it showed all three contests (1992, 1994, and 1998). The 1994 Games saw the nights with the highest ratings in the history of American Olympic telecasts, as a result of the scandal in which associates of Tonya Harding attacked Nancy Kerrigan and the media frenzy that followed, as well as Dan Jansen's speed skating gold medal win. The short program on February 23 is, as of 2008, the sixth-highest rated primetime TV program in American history. It had a rating of 48.5 and a share of 64. The long program two days later had a rating of 44.1 and another 64 share; it ranks 32nd.[3] Each telecast had a different primetime host(s): Paula Zahn and Tim McCarver in 1992, Greg Gumbel in 1994, and Jim Nantz in 1998.
To help defray the increasing costs of broadcast rights, both CBS and NBC turned to cable and satellite services for additional coverage. CBS' Winter Games coverage was shared with TNT, which aired events under the promotional slogan "The ultimate daytime drama." Jim Lampley was the host all three times. In 1992, NBC teamed up with Cablevision for the Triplecast, which provided three channels of pay-per-view telecasts that supplemented NBC's regular coverage. However, NBC lost over $100 million, the package was dropped, and there was no supplemental coverage from Atlanta.
2000s
Coverage in the first decade of the 21st century revolved around two major storylines:
NBC became the sole U.S. rights holder for the Olympic Games for the entire decade and beyond. The network could rightly boast of being "America's Olympic Network" as it made the longest and most expensive commitment ever since the Olympics were first presented on TV. For the 1996 Summer Games, and all Games from 2000 to 2008, NBC paid a total of $3.5 billion, mostly to the International Olympic Committee but also to the USOC and local organizers. To extend rights to the 2010 Winter Olympics and 2012 Summer Olympics, NBC then gave up another $2.2 billion.[4]
The rise of various media platforms extended the reach and availability of Games coverage. NBC returned to supplemental cable/satellite coverage in 2000, with some events on CNBC and MSNBC. In 2004, it added USA Network, Bravo, and Telemundo, all of which parent company NBC Universal had acquired earlier in the decade. Finally, in 2008, events were streamed live for the first time on the Internet through the website NBCOlympics.com (Also in 2008, Oxygen replaced Bravo as a supplemental network, and NBC launched high-definition channels dedicated to the basketball and soccer competitions).
As was the case with Seoul in 1988, NBC convinced the organizers of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics to stage many of their major events during the late morning and early afternoon hours, which translated to live coverage during prime time in the United States.
2010s
With Comcast taking over NBCUniversal many people thought they would not bid for the television rights for the next Olympics, after losing money from the 2010 Olympics. Also Dick Ebersol left as NBC sports chairman, who lead NBC for overbidding in the last two Olympics. However it was announced on June 6, 2011 that NBCUniversal had won the television rights for the 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2020 Olympics, beating out ESPN/ABC and Fox. The entire package for the rights was $4.38 billion, making it the most expensive television rights deal in Olympic history. NBC paid $775 million for the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia, and $1.23 billion for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Also NBC paid $963 million for the 2018 Olympics to be held in Pyeongchang, South Korea and $1.45 billion for the 2020 Olympics, which will be held in Tokyo, Japan. NBC has announced that it will begin airing all of the events live on TV or either the internet.[5][6]
Thanks to favorable time differences, much of NBC's coverage from Vancouver (2010 Winter Games) was live; as will be most of NBC's prime-time coverage of the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro. It is commonly believed in the television industry that NBC will likewise push the organizers of the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeonchang to schedule major events (such as alpine skiing, figure skating, and the championship game in men's hockey) during the late morning and early afternoon hours to allow live prime-time broadcasts to the East Coast of the United States.
Criticisms
Of course, there are some complaints about Olympic coverage on American TV. Perhaps the most often heard is the insistence that some events be shown on tape delay rather than live, which is what most sports fans seem to prefer. Even if sports are shown live to some parts of the country, it may remain delayed in others, especially in the Pacific Time Zone. NBC has explained that primetime coverage of select events, regardless of when they actually occur, is designed to maximize the total viewing audience.
Some examples of tape delay include:
The 1980 Miracle on Ice, which ABC showed in primetime, about three hours after it actually took place. (The Americans' gold medal-clinching game against Finland was aired live, despite a start time of 11am EST on a Sunday morning. All US hockey games in Winter Olympics since 1988 have been shown live, and since 1992, in full.)
The relay race in 1984 in which Carl Lewis won his fourth gold medal.
In 1996, much of the Artistic Gymnastics competition at the Atlanta Olympics was held in the afternoon, and was shown by NBC three to four hours after the competition ended.
Nearly the entire 2000 schedule from Sydney, Australia, in some cases by nearly a day. (The only live telecast was the men's basketball final, which was shown live only after fans objected to the delayed coverage of earlier games.)
For Pacific and Mountain Time Zone viewers, most of the 2010 Winter Olympics coverage was on tape, despite that the games were held in the Pacific Time Zone. As a result, viewers in Bellingham, Washington couldn't watch NBC's live coverage as it aired on the east coast despite the fact that they are just over 50 miles away from Vancouver.
Also, viewers in most of the Mountain time zone and all of the Pacific time zone couldn't watch live prime-time coverage of the 2002 Winter Olympics despite the fact many of the prime time events took place around the Salt Lake City, Utah area. However, KSL-TV was allowed to air NBC's prime-time coverage live.
The Opening Ceremonies for the 2012 London games, which NBC refused to air (or even stream on the internet) live, choosing instead to tape-delay for US audiences, and during which broadcast chose to cut away from important segments of the performance to air a taped interview with US swimmer Michael Phelps.[7]
The tape delay practice even for major events has become increasingly frustrating with viewers in recent times due to the increased usage of social networking and Web sites (including the official Olympic site and NBC's Olympic website) posting results in real time.[8] As a result, these practices has spawned outrage across the internet and even raising concerns from politicians.[9]
Anecdotal, if not official, evidence indicates that some American viewers in border cities have decided to turn away from NBC coverage to watch events live on such stations as CBET in Windsor, Ontario, Canada and XEWT in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. Nearly all Olympic coverage broadcast in Canada (traditionally CBC, CTV for the 2010 Vancouver Games) and Mexico (Televisa) is live regardless of venue or time difference. Often, events shown live during fringe hours in Canada and Mexico will be rebroadcast there in prime-time.
In a related note, networks not part of the Olympic coverage, even including NBC News, are given very restrictive policies on showing highlights. For example, ESPN can show only a total of eight minutes of highlights per day, and must essentially wait until the next day to show any of it. (Reportedly, the only reason it can even show highlights at all is the deal that sent Al Michaels to NBC Sunday Night Football in 2006.)
Some decisions as far as what events to show also seem to create questions. For example, NBC got the Beijing organizers to show live swimming, gymnastics, and beach volleyball in U.S. prime time in 2008 (the next morning in Beijing). Such prominent sports as track and field and basketball were not selected. The network cited Phelps' potential for winning a record eight gold medals at a single Olympics (which he did), as well as demographics for gymnastics and beach volleyball that favor females.[citation needed]
One other concern among some critics is the emphasis on covering American athletes ahead of all others on the U.S. telecasts. Frank Deford of Sports Illustrated noticed this in 1984, when the Games were held in Los Angeles, California.[10] After winning that year's decathlon gold medal, Daley Thompson of Great Britain wore a T-shirt that read, "America, thanks for the Olympics, but what about the TV coverage?" Again, NBC has said that the emphasis on American athletes and teams is what the public has demanded.[citation needed] To that end, a minor controversy erupted during the 1984 Games when it was discovered that televisions inside the Olympic Villages were showing the US ABC Network feed and not the world feed.[11] It should be noted that any country's Olympic coverage usually has a major emphasis on sports where the country the network is broadcasting to has the best shot at medals.[12] Also, in 2008, USA Network called itself "home of the United States Olympic Team" in event promos and commercial breaks.
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Okay, here's an NBC tidbit: Access Hollywood (or one of those kind of shows--not sure of the name of it) comes on NBC right before the Olympics. The show is highlighting the Games/athletes at this time. Tonight they interviewed Johnny Wier. I'm sure you remember what he looks like and how he dresses, right? (http://ls1tech.com/forums/images/smilies2/limpwrist.gif)
Weir said that during negotiations with NBC last fall, the only limitation they put on his on-air dress/hair/make-up was that he couldn't wear fur. He could dress like a total flamer goddess, but God-forbid he upset PETA. :silly:
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OMG........... :thud:
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I watched this and was yelling at this dumb woman to leave him alone, they had the camera real close to his face and you could see him tearing up and she just kept pushing and pushing...
And viewers "react" to the drama created by the professional entertainers, brought into your homes on their television equipment and channels.
They would do it again. If it bleeds it leads.
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We're tied with Russia for medals - 16 each - Russia has more silver. Norway is in first place.
Norway has 4 million people
Russia over 150 million
The US over 300 million
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He could dress like a total flamer goddess, but God-forbid he upset PETA
This is a tad off topic, but I have an infiltration of tiny ants. Those beasts kept coming back, and driving me nuts. I put Terro behind the frig and places the cats can't get to, but still had a problem, even trying cornmeal, and all the other things that repel ants without killing them.
I then Googled the problem and came upon a site that gave me a spray that would repel them without harming my cats. The directions said to spray where they appear, but to be cautious not to spray them directly because ants have feelings and the spray is painful. You guessed it, it was a PETA site.
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, but to be cautious not to spray them directly because ants have feelings and the spray is painful.
:thud:
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Finally they are getting some snow at Souci..... too bad they didn't get this a week ago.
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Norway has 4 million people
Russia over 150 million
The US over 300 million
How many of America's "over 300 million" live in cold, snowy climates akin to those of Russia and Norway?
If you're going to toss one of your monkey wrenches into this discussion, putting some thought into it would be refreshing.
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How many of America's "over 300 million" live in cold, snowy climates akin to those of Russia and Norway?
If you're going to toss one of your monkey wrenches into this discussion, putting some thought into it would be refreshing.
About a quarter live in the Northeastern megalopolis, and another good chunk live in the Midwest, Great Plains and Rocky Mountains. So I'd venture to say probably about half. Granted it's not as many as it used to be because of the South's growth, but it's still a good chunk.
We northerners may be a dying breed, but we ain't dead yet.
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Historically the Norwegians are just where they should be in the Sochi medal count. The Norwegians have a record 107 Golds in Winter Olympics competition. The Americans are No. 2 in Golds and Silvers (behind Norway) and No. 3 in bronze medals (behind Norway and Austria). Overall, the U.S. is No. 2 in the medal count behind the Norwegians.
We can take all of those population totals and forget about them. It really comes down to the per capita involvement in competition winter sports, and when it comes to that, Norway has a stranglehold on that record and is not likely to give it up. The country has a deeply engrained sports culture, and has organized competitions at every level encouraging young talent,
I found this interesting tidbit - 700,000 Norwegians over the age of 18 (in a country with a total population of just 5 million) own two or more pair of skis that are in frequent use. Norwegians, according to the survey, have the most pairs of cross-country skis per capita in the world. An astonishing 70 percent of Norwegians have at least one pair of cross-country skis.
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About a quarter live in the Northeastern megalopolis, and another good chunk live in the Midwest, Great Plains and Rocky Mountains. So I'd venture to say probably about half. Granted it's not as many as it used to be because of the South's growth, but it's still a good chunk.
We northerners may be a dying breed, but we ain't dead yet.
Come on where is the optimism?
The United States is still the king (and queen) of speedskating and figure skating. U.S. athletes have won the most medals in both those sports, as well as newer disciplines like freestyle skiing, snowboarding and skeleton. And the only sport that the U.S. has not medaled in, the Biathlon we have finally won that.
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http://www.nbcolympics.com/
Czech-mate
WATCH: The United States defeated the Czech Republic on Wednesday, advancing to meet Canada in the semifinals on Friday.
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http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/ted-ligety-finally-lives-expectations?ctx=att-olympic-news-desk
Ted Ligety finally lives up to expectations
News Desk: Julie Donaldson checks in with Ted Ligety and the men's giant slalom. After failing to meet expectations in his earlier races, Ligety grabbed the gold medal in what is largely considered his best event. This is Ligety's second Olympic gold medal in Alpine skiing, becoming the first American man to ever accomplish that feat.
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http://www.nbcolympics.com/news/bode-miller-tweaks-knee-first-run-giant-slalom-sochi-games-come-end?ctx=team-usa
Bode Miller tweaks knee in first run of giant slalom, Sochi Games come to end
KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia (AP) — Bode Miller will skip the last Alpine race at the Sochi Olympics, the slalom, after tweaking his surgically repaired left knee during Wednesday's giant slalom.
Miller finished 20th in the giant slalom with a two-run time of 2 minutes, 47.82 seconds, more than 2½ seconds slower than gold medalist Ted Ligety. Given that he'll be 40 during the 2018 Winter Games, the GS might have been Miller's last Olympic race.
Miller owns a U.S.-record six Olympic Alpine medals, including a bronze in the super-G last weekend that made him the oldest ski racer to win a Winter Games medal. He said Wednesday that his knee bothered him after that race, and it's been swollen during the Sochi Olympics.
He missed all of last season while coming back from a knee operation.
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Medal Standings
Feb 19 4:33pm ET
USA
23
7
5
11
RUS
22
6
9
7
NED
22
6
7
9
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Women's Bobsled
Oh, so close
Canada won its second straight gold medal in women's bobsled Wednesday, rallying to edge the American duo of Meyers & Williams by .10 seconds. The U.S. team of Greubel & Evans won bronze.
http://www.nbcolympics.com/
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About a quarter live in the Northeastern megalopolis, and another good chunk live in the Midwest, Great Plains and Rocky Mountains. So I'd venture to say probably about half. Granted it's not as many as it used to be because of the South's growth, but it's still a good chunk.
We northerners may be a dying breed, but we ain't dead yet.
People living in Southern California (2nd largest megalopolis) can be in mountains for skiing in 1 to 2 hours max. People living in Phoenix can be in Flagstaff in 2.5 hours. People in the SF Bay area say 3 to 4 hours.
From Texas to Florida, plus Hawaii seems like the only regions where snow skiing is out of easy reach.
Indoor winter sports can and are done everywhere, all year.
Equally important would be that Olympic caliber competitors often go to training centers--both during winters and off season, when nobody in the US lives next to a snowy locale.
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Canada survives Latvian scare, advances to men's hockey semifinals
http://olympics.cbc.ca/news/article/canada-survives-latvian-scare-advances-men-hockey-semifinals.html
Canada needed a third-period goal from Shea Weber to earn a tight victory 2-1 over Latvia, advancing to the semifinals.
Latvia gave Team Canada everything it had and more in a game that was astonishingly close despite the massive discrepancy in talent between the two teams.
Once again Canada’s defence came to the rescue. Weber drilled home his third goal of the Olympics with just under seven minutes remaining in the third period. It was a slap shot from the left point, with Latvia shorthanded.
While Latvia didn’t win, the Ted Nolan-coached team threw a gigantic scare into Team Canada — not to mention Canadian hockey fans.
Nolan was hired by the Buffalo Sabres on Nov. 13 to replace Ron Rolston with the understanding that he would honour his commitment to coach Latvia at the Olympics.
He somehow managed to get a team with hardly any NHL experience to believe in itself and after knocking off Switzerland in the qualifying round Tuesday and followed it up with a heroic effort against Canada.
Nolan was the NHL’s coach of the year with the Sabres in 1997, but has drifted around hockey for years before returning to Buffalo when the organization decided to shake things up.
Canada owned the ice, severely out-shooting Latvia, but the never-say-die Latvians bent, but would not break.
USA's offense explodes again in win against Czechs
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/sochi/2014/02/19/usa-czech-republic-men-hockey/5611193/
The U.S. men's hockey team has flown across nine time zones to continue a long-standing feud with their neighbor.
The Americans (4-0) moved into the Olympic semifinals for a meeting with Canada (4-0) after downing the Czech Republic 5-2 in the quarterfinals Wednesday.
With the win, the Americans are guaranteed to either be in the bronze medal game or the gold medal game. The semifinal against Canada (noon ET) is a rematch of the 2010 gold medal game won by Canada.
Van Riemsdyk, Dustin Brown, Backes, Zach Parise and Phil Kessel all scored for the Americans, who have outscored the opposition 20-6 in the tournament.
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Too bad Alex Ovechin....now that Russia can't win a medal whatsoever, can't put on a USA jersey for the semi-finals. LOL!
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I don’t know if I’m working too hard, or have been watching too much Olympics, or maybe both – but I had a dream last night I put my shop to work building a bobsled for team USA. Woke up just as the ugly skinless, frame-only contraption was taking off down the run.
Good God, if I’m going to have a dream about the Olympics, can’t it include Austrian alpine ski racer Anna Fenninger?
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I don’t know if I’m working too hard, or have been watching too much Olympics, or maybe both – but I had a dream last night I put my shop to work building a bobsled for team USA. Woke up just as the ugly skinless, frame-only contraption was taking off down the run.
Good God, if I’m going to have a dream about the Olympics, can’t it include Austrian alpine ski racer Anna Fenninger?
:silly:
:silly:
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I don’t know if I’m working too hard, or have been watching too much Olympics, or maybe both – but I had a dream last night I put my shop to work building a bobsled for team USA. Woke up just as the ugly skinless, frame-only contraption was taking off down the run.
Good God, if I’m going to have a dream about the Olympics, can’t it include Austrian alpine ski racer Anna Fenninger?
Think curling, but the Russian girls are already out. **nononono*
Canada took out our girls in hockey today. 3-2 in OT. We were up 2-0 and let them come back and tie with two goals in the 3rd period. US almost clinched it with an open netter that bounced off the post.
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The bobsleds used by the US team were designed by BMW, using high tech materials.
(I wonder if the team turned to BMW after requests to GM, Ford and Chrysler were declined?)
http://www.bmwusa.com/standard/content/explore/sports/olympics/default.aspx?source=bmw11olynbc&origin=bmw11olynbc
and
http://designworksusa.com/
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People living in Southern California (2nd largest megalopolis) can be in mountains for skiing in 1 to 2 hours max. People living in Phoenix can be in Flagstaff in 2.5 hours. People in the SF Bay area say 3 to 4 hours.
From Texas to Florida, plus Hawaii seems like the only regions where snow skiing is out of easy reach.
Indoor winter sports can and are done everywhere, all year.
Equally important would be that Olympic caliber competitors often go to training centers--both during winters and off season, when nobody in the US lives next to a snowy locale.
I wonder what percentage of the athletes on the US Winter Olympic team actually originate from the warm climates? The skiiers? The hockey players? The Snowboarders? The luge folks? The skaters? The curlers, even?
Somehow I would feel safe wagering... very few. :thud:
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Our gold and silver snowboarders were from Salt Lake and Telluride, one of our better female boarders from Lake Tahoe. Bodie Miller from New Hampshire (family has 160 acres there) and he has lived in San Diego and now Orange County.....
A lot of the really serious winter games contestants pretty much follow the seasons between the USA and South America
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http://newsbusters.org/blogs/matthew-balan/2014/02/19/nbc-23-year-old-olympic-freestyle-skier-wife-kid-living-alternative-l
NBC: 23-Year-Old Olympic Freestyle Skier With Wife, Kid Living 'Alternative Lifestyle'
By Matthew Balan | February 19, 2014 | 16:10
NBC can't seem to keep its left-leaning slant out of its coverage of the Winter Olympics. One day after playing up Stalin's "palace for the people" in Moscow's metro system, the Big Three network's spotlighted how an American freestyle skier is living an "alternative lifestyle" – for being married at 23 and having a young daughter.
Correspondent Skyler Wilder underlined how David Wise, who won the gold medal in the half pipe on Tuesday, is "mature far beyond his years....At such a young age, Wise has the lifestyle of an adult. He wears a Baby Bjorn baby carrier around the house." Twenty-three is "such a young age?" Perhaps the network is following ObamaCare's definition of "children", which includes those aged 18 to 26.
Wilder used his "mature" label of Wise three times in first four sentences of his article on the skier, "David Wise's alternative lifestyle leads to Olympic gold:"
"Hey, Nayeli," he said peering into the camera. "Daddy loves you!"
Those were the words of David Wise, the freestyle skiing halfpipe gold medalist Tuesday night after he won his event's first-ever Olympic medal.
David Wise is at the top of his sport. He's always smiling among his friends and competitors, however, he's not like the rest of the field. He is mature.
Not to say the rest of the freestyle skiers of halfpipe are not mature, but Wise is mature far beyond his years. At only twenty-three years old, he has a wife, Alexander (sic), who was waiting patiently in the crowd, and together they have a two-year-old daughter waiting for them to return to their home in Reno, Nevada.
The NBC sports writer continued with his "lifestyle of an adult" description of Wise, and added that "he [Wise] also attends church regularly and says he could see himself becoming a pastor a little later down the road. Not exactly the picture you had in mind while watching him nail two double corks wearing baggy pants."
Despite his post-modern language in the beginning, Wilder painted a very positive picture of Wise during the remainder of his piece:
...Wise is, well, wise. He knows where his head should be at all time, focused on being the best father and husband he can be. Then comes skiing.
"I think my lifestyle — the fact that I have a little girl to take care of and a wife — really takes the pressure off of my skiing, because first and foremost I have to be a good husband and father."
...While the rest of his competitors are hanging with their friends, traveling the world searching for endless winter, hitting the party scenes accustom to their action sports lifestyles, Wise is hurrying home for quality time with the family. That is what sets his mental game apart from his competition. He likely has the most stable life of them all....
Well, now that the gold is in the bag and Team USA can add another one to their overall medal count...Wise can get back to his other life, and back to the Baby Bjorn.
On Wednesday, Mollie Hemingway at The Federalist website called out NBC for its characterization of the Olympic skiier: "sn't it fascinating that NBC views a man taking care of his wife and daughter as an alternative lifestyle? I'm glad David Wise won gold, but if this is any indication of media views on normalcy, our society is pretty much doomed."
By contrast, the Bleacher Report website on Tuesday heralded how Wise "busts freestyle skiing stereotypes," and noted that "Wise is a husband and father of a young daughter, Nayeli. He is a devout Christian who met his wife Lexi at a youth church camp and has said in many interviews that it is his faith and family that motivate him."
Columnist Joe Menzer also pointed out that "he [Wise] enjoys many of the same things his fellow competitors do—like driving fast, performing outlandish tricks in the halfpipe or just joking around...but being a husband and a father has also kept him grounded and brought about a maturity that forces him to take seriously the things which are meant to be taken seriously."
[H/t: Mollie Hemingway on Twitter]
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Oh Canada! US women's hockey team suffer heartbreaking defeat in overtime gold medal game
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2564154/US-Womens-hockey-team-taken-overtime-Canada.html#ixzz2tvcqjr8B
We were THIS close. 8888crybaby
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By contrast, the Bleacher Report website on Tuesday heralded how Wise "busts freestyle skiing stereotypes," and noted that "Wise is a husband and father of a young daughter, Nayeli. He is a devout Christian who met his wife Lexi at a youth church camp and has said in many interviews that it is his faith and family that motivate him."
Don't know whether "alternative" is the right word, but - sadly for this young man's generation - "atypical" might be.
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I wonder what percentage of the athletes on the US Winter Olympic team actually originate from the warm climates? The skiiers? The hockey players? The Snowboarders? The luge folks? The skaters? The curlers, even?
Somehow I would feel safe wagering... very few. :thud:
Don't have a clue on that, but did you know there are more minor league hockey teams in Texas than there are in Canada?
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Don't have a clue on that, but did you know there are more minor league hockey teams in Texas than there are in Canada?
I'm a big fan of the Warren Miller Ski films and have been attending the Seattle premiers of these fun and trilling films for years - even back in the days when Warren would narrate them in person himself. One thing I noted about the champion level skiers and snowboarders in those films is that many of them hit the slopes 200 and even 300 days a year. That is how you get that good. And to be able to do that you pretty much have to live within a close drive to the mountains. And if the lifts are closed you are helo-skiing. Which here in the Northwest, Colorado, and California you can do all year. Some also spend their summer months in the southern hemisphere skiing South America, and even New Zealand.
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I'm a big fan of the Warren Miller Ski films and have been attending the Seattle premiers of these fun and trilling films for years - even back in the days when Warren would narrate them in person himself. One thing I noted about the champion level skiers and snowboarders in those films is that many of them hit the slopes 200 and even 300 days a year. That is how you get that good. And to be able to do that you pretty much have to live within a close drive to the mountains. And if the lifts are closed you are helo-skiing. Which here in the Northwest, Colorado, and California you can do all year. Some also spend their summer months in the southern hemisphere skiing South America, and even New Zealand.
We ski on water and surf on waves here, no mountains and no snow. LOL
Canada beat US in men's semi-final hockey today 1-0. US now goes for the bronze, Canada for the gold.
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I'm a big fan of the Warren Miller Ski films and have been attending the Seattle premiers of these fun and trilling films for years - even back in the days when Warren would narrate them in person himself. One thing I noted about the champion level skiers and snowboarders in those films is that many of them hit the slopes 200 and even 300 days a year. That is how you get that good. And to be able to do that you pretty much have to live within a close drive to the mountains. And if the lifts are closed you are helo-skiing. Which here in the Northwest, Colorado, and California you can do all year. Some also spend their summer months in the southern hemisphere skiing South America, and even New Zealand.
I have a feeling we would have been friends ~LOL~ George and I used to attend the Warren Miller Ski films every single year - it was always an event to find where it was showing and go see it - many times with our friends from the ski club.
BTW I remember there was a few years you could ski up at Mammoth right until the 4th of July.
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We ski on water and surf on waves here, no mountains and no snow. LOL
Canada beat US in men's semi-final hockey today 1-0. US now goes for the bronze, Canada for the gold.
That sucks that the men's hockey team lost to Canada, especially since some Canadian D.J.'s mocked up on the radio for beating us.
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Don't have a clue on that, but did you know there are more minor league hockey teams in Texas than there are in Canada?
Not surprising. There are a lot more venues for them here than there are in Canada. That being said, I'll still wager that most of the League's players originated in the cold climates.
Now, on to figure skating! The Olympic figure skating Gala is being shown on coverage tonight, and Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski are hosting it. :beer:
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Don't have a clue on that, but did you know there are more minor league hockey teams in Texas than there are in Canada?
That's only because they count "junior hockey" teams separately.
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http://msn.foxsports.com/olympics/story/canada-3-sled-crashes-in-4-man-bobsled-at-olympics1-022214
Canada-3 sled crashes in four-man bobsled run
FEB 22, 2014 1:51p ET
John David Mercer / USA TODAY Sports
Canada-3 piloted by Justin Kripps and teammates Jesse Lumsden, Cosy Sorensen and Ben Coakwell on their second run in the 4-man bobsled.
file
KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia -- One of Canada's three bobsleds has crashed during the second run of the Olympic four-man competition.
Driver Justin Kripps, with three new brakemen in his sled, flipped on one of the curves on the Sanki Sliding Center track Saturday. The bobsled slid through several turns on its side with the team member's helmeted heads digging scarily into the ice. All four were checked by medical personnel as they climbed out of the sled, and none of the men appeared to be injured as they walked up the hill to the finish area.
On Saturday, Canada's coaches pulled brakemen Jesse Lumsden, Cody Sorensen and Ben Coakwell from Canada-1 with driver Chris Spring and put them with Kripps, who had better training times.
Canada-3 was in eighth place after the first run.
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http://msn.foxsports.com/olympics/story/fla-center-treating-paralyzed-olympic-skier2-020714
Florida center treating paralyzed Brazilian Olympic skier
FEB 07, 2014 5:14p ET
Vladimir Rys / Bongarts
Lais Souza of Brazil shown here competing in the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China.
file
MIAMI -- A Brazilian Olympic freestyle skier who was on her way to competing at the Sochi Winter Games when she was paralyzed while training in Utah remained in critical condition at a Florida hospital that specializes in spinal injuries, her doctors said Friday.
''Right now she's fighting for her life,'' said Dr. Antonio Marttos, a trauma surgeon at the University of Miami Jackson Memorial Hospital.
Lais Souza, 25, was injured while preparing to compete as a skier at the Sochi Winter Games. Dr. Marttos had been involved in her care since the accident on Jan. 27 and was sent by the Brazilian Olympic committee to Salt Lake City to assist in her car.
''Mentally she's strong,'' he said of Souza, who was also described as always smiling and ''cheering up'' the staff at the hospital.
Souza remained in an intensive care unit at the Miami hospital and is eating and breathing with the help of machines, but her doctors said she was ''starting to breathe by herself without the machine.'' They were optimistic that her condition will be downgraded to serious over the coming days and that she will be able to breathe without a machine.
''This is the first big step for her,'' Dr. Marttos said. ''So if she can have this happen, be able to live without the machine to breathe, it can be something huge for her life and her quality of life in the future.''
The ex-Olympic gymnast injured her spine while preparing to compete as a skier at Sochi. Souza was at the University of Utah hospital since hitting a tree while skiing recreationally. Her spinal cord was not severed, but her doctors said the accident left her unable to move her legs and arms.
Souza participated in the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics as a gymnast before switching to the winter sport. Another Brazilian skier is scheduled to take Souza's place at the Olympics.
Her level of fitness and health will contribute to her recovery, doctors said.
''Someone with the same injury... has a 90 percent chance of being dead or dying within the first couple weeks,'' said Dr. Barth Green, a neurosurgeon who co-founded The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis at the University of Miami which is one of the largest research centers in the country to help treat her type of injury. ''So the fact that she's young and lean and mean and strong is a wonderful prognosis sign because she exceeds what the norm is and she'll show us the same stuff in rehab I'm sure.''
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Injured skier Komissarova airlifted after spinal surgery
Russian freestyle federation
Maria Komissarova been transported to Germany after undergoing surgery for her fractured spine.
SOCHI, Russia -- Olympic skicross racer Maria Komissarova has been airlifted to Germany for further treatment after surgery on her fractured spine, the Russian freestyle ski federation said Sunday.
The 23-year-old Komissarova crashed during a training run Saturday, fracturing the 12th dorsal vertebrae in her lower-middle back, and underwent emergency surgery lasting 6 hours.
"Masha Komissarova was rendered all necessary medical care at this stage by Russian doctors," the federation said in a statement. "By the decision of her relatives, she is being sent for further treatment to a clinic in Munich, Germany, specializing in the treatment of this kind of injury."
A team of specialists inserted a metal implant in Komissarova's spine in a successful operation, the federation said, though they declined to discuss the skier's prognosis.
R-Sport quoted Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko as saying Komissarova would have another operation and rehabilitation in Munich, adding "We are trying to make everything OK."
Komissarova was listed as being in a "grave but stable" earlier Sunday, on a day when two women's snowboardcross riders were carried off on stretchers after bad falls.
The IOC said it had no concerns over the course conditions and maintained that there have been no more crashes and injuries than in previous Winter Games.
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That sucks that the men's hockey team lost to Canada, especially since some Canadian D.J.'s mocked up on the radio for beating us.
And then we got dusted in the bronze game by Finland! Really dusted.
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And then we got dusted in the bronze game by Finland! Really dusted.
Wait till you see what the Russians do to the Ukrainians.....
OOPS! Wrong thread....
:smokin:
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Wait till you see what the Russians do to the Ukrainians.....
OOPS! Wrong thread....
:smokin:
LOL, not really. Their Olympic team said they didn't want to go home because they wanted to see their flag raised in Sochi. Yeah right.