2010 Olympics (potential spoilers if you can't watch live)

[vison]

Man, that Swiss hockey team. They should get a special medal all their own!!!

What a game. I sat and watched it instead of working.

Terrific.

[halplm]

It was an awesome game. I was listening to it as I worked, and spent a fair amount of time clicking over when it was exciting .

[halplm]

Well, the idiocy that had them starting skiers in the women's giant slalom while the previous skier was still on the course cost Mancuso a medal. Her second attempt at a run yesterday was a full second slower... and she finished her second run today only half a second out of first place.

You can never know for sure of course, but when the people running the event have an impact on the outcome, it's not right.

[halplm]

Unbelievable! US takes Gold and Silver in Nordic Combined! No medals for 80 years, and 4 this year, including Gold! I can't wait to watch this race...

[halplm]

Great Hockey game by the Canadian Women for Gold! They simply played better from start to finish.

[halplm]

Great day for the US team (I'm ignoring the idiocy that is women's figure skating judging). It seems highly likely the US will surpass it's all time record of 34 medals, and has a good chance of winning the medal count for the first time!

There are 5 medals left with the US having a good shot... short track mens 500 and the relay, women's 1000... the 4 man bobsled, and Men's Hockey!

Three of the five, and it's a new US record! It will be tough to win the Gold medal count, however, as Canada will shoot for gold in both men and women's curling, the 500 meter short track, and of course hockey

The slalom events are there too, and anything can happen there.

It should be an exciting weekend!

I hope Canada wins both Curling Golds, but I have to pull for the US in hockey! The Canadian Women won already, let the US have the men's gold! However, any medal for the US men is a huge accomplishment.

[Inanna]

Great day for the US team (I'm ignoring the idiocy that is women's figure skating judging)

Really? I have no experience with this stuff, but it looked like the Gold was well deserved. Kim Yu-Na's grace was something to see. Although, after seeing the free skate bit, I did expect that U.S. teenager Mirai Nagasu would get the bronze. She was quite incredible. And Canada's Joannie seemed "okay" to me. But as I said, I really have no clue.

[River]

I'd need to see video if Nagasu and Rochette's programs side by side to decide for myself how they stack up. Nagasu must've had one helluva skate to move from 6th place to bronze contention. But I just watched Kim's free skate and . Did you see the speed she carried into those jumps? She's so graceful you almostt can't see the power behind the take-off...you have to infer it from the way she just flies over the ice.

[Frelga]

Ah, yes, another great night of Olympic competition that I slept through....

[Elentári]

Congrats to Maria Riesch who just won her second gold in the ladies slalom...but how poignant was it to see her consoling her distraught sister Suzanne who fell while in a possible Bronze medal position...

[halplm]

Congrats to the US Hockey team with an impressive game to move into the final. They're playing really well together.

Should be quite the event on Sunday.

[vison]

Sunday darned well better be between the US and Canada, that's all I have to say about that, right now.

The figure-skating sister-in-law seems to think that Rochette earned the bronze fair and square. Stuff to do with edges and what not, all Greek to me.

My s-i-l figure-skated for years herself, and in those days you had to do "figures", which was making designs on the ice. Just making designs, while shifting from edge to edge and foot to foot, skating backward, skating forward. The "Compulsory Figures" part of the competition was only eliminated in what, 1970's? Yes. (In a famous year, a rather lumpen Dutch woman won the women's gold medal because she could do figures perfectly even though she jumped like a . . . doughnut.)

However, the judges are still looking for certain moves to be performed certain ways, on certain edges, and while to us lay people the performance can seem flawless, there can be a reduction in marks according to the "edge" used. Make sense?

[River]

Perfect sense to me but I used to skate.

[halplm]

Sweet, the US is now guaranteed at least 35 medals, which will be the most they've ever had. If they can take one in the upcoming short track relay or the 4 man bobsled they'll at least tie Germany's 36 from 2002.

Given the outlook before the games started (people were saying the US would be lucky to get 25 medals), this is an outstanding effort by the US team. I'm pretty happy about it

The most golds is still up for grabs, it will be between the US and Canada... hockey, speed skating team pursuit, bobsled... each in the mix for all those golds. Canada certainly has the edge as they have the Curling final, but the US women eliminated Canada in the team pursuit... and there's a bunch of other medals that get decided tomorrow.

All in all, I'm entirely satisfied with a great two weeks of winter sports

[halplm]

Short track speed skating has to be the craziest event ever created, especially the relay With the bronze the US just won, they'll match the most medals ever in a winter olympic games

Congrats to Canada on another gold!

[halplm]

I gotta say, Apolo Ohno's disqualification from the 500 meter was totally absurd. The fact the head judge was Canadian casts a HUGE cloud on that call.

Massive props to him for not making a deal about it. The sport is crazy, and he knows how things work, so more power to him... but I gotta say that he deserved silver.

[halplm]

Congrats to Kevin Martin. Total domination for two weeks!

Also big congrats to the US bobsled team, first win for the men since 1948!

[vison]

I was glad to see Kevin Martin win, but a little sad to see the women lose to Sweden. Still, as the skip said, "we didn't lose gold we won silver". She's a cool cookie, that one.

I couldn't quite see what Ohno was supposed to have done, either. That "sport" is sort of fun to watch, but in all honesty I don't see what it's doing at the Olympics.

Well, the last big thing is tomorrow. I thought the game was today and arranged my morning so I could sit down and watch it, only to find out I was 24 hours early.

It should be a GOOD game.

[halplm]

As far as I can tell, Ohno is not protesting his disqualification, which is at should be. However, I think his coach, US speed skating, and the US Olympic committee (or whatever the name of the organization is), should be heavily protesting it, even looking to get medals re-awarded (that is, he should be awarded a silver, and everyone else can keep theirs). Whether or not the sport should be an Olympic one, I'm not sure (although as I said earlier in this thread, the more sports the better ). It is usually a ton of fun to watch (that relay was amazing ). But I've said it before and I'll say it again, judges should be held accountable when they make obvious mistakes, as was the case here. I would argue the same thing for the disqualification of the Korean team in the Women's 3000 meter relay as well... although it's amazing every team doesn't get DQed in those relays .

Having watched a lot of random blog commentary and such the last few days, the rampant anti-US sentiment is sad. Not that the US side is blameless of course, but I find it... "un-Olympic" to be rooting against any athelete.

I also find the arguments about "overall medal count" vs. "gold medal count" to be a bit odd. I can understand people wanting their country to win the most gold medals... I have had the same desire... but to say that is all that matters... is disrespectful to anyone winning a silver or bronze. It seems to me that the people pushing such a view of the Olympics are only doing so to diminish the United states... which is not what the Olympics are about... IMHO. To really compare all Olympic teams, you would really want to have a weighted average of all placings from gold to last place... Saying winning first is all that matters is understandable... but unfortunate.


As for the hockey game... wow, it's going to be crazy. I gotta say, the US team seems to be playing better throughout the tournament than the Canadian team. The absolute domination of Finland, while Canada struggled against Slovakia, shows a lot IMHO. While the Canadian Women fed off of the pressure, this struggling of the Men might mean the pressure will be an issue. The US men had no expectations coming in, and were not expected to even be in contention, but they have played lights out. Their defense is simply amazing, and Ryan Miller seems flawless in goal. They seem to have gelled as a team better than any US team since the NHL players were allowed in.

I feel for Canada, as this is basically the whole games for them. I wish that weren't the case, because it's unfair to the players. I will be pulling for the US, but I don't think I'll be disappointed as long as the game is good .

I know I already said congrats, but I have to admit watching Kevin Martin get his Gold was THE Olympic moment for me. There were other great ones of course (Shaun White, the Nordic Combined wins, to name a few), but I am a fan of Curling, and it's always great to see the best at their best. If I thought I could do it without lots of pain (bad knees), I'd consider taking up Curling.

Go USA Hockey!

[Primula Baggins]

Hal, I doubt that anyone arguing about what medals count is aiming to diss the United States. I imagine what Americans do or don't think, or whether we're happy or sad, is pretty far from anyone's minds at the Olympics. Which is (need I say it?) a good thing. The point, after all, is the competition and whether everyone did their best and had fun.

It's a youth sports festival with a few world-class athletes. For most of the athletes, medals are the last thing on their minds; they're not going to get anywhere near the medals or the medalists. It's the experience itself that matters.