"The" Winter Olympics thread

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SlyPokerDog

SlyPokerDog

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Opening ceremonies tomorrow night. Always interesting to see but it won't be as "spectacular" as what the Chinese did. And IMO, that's a good thing. It's great to see our neighbors to the north host the games. If you've never visited Vancouver BC you're missing out on a gorgeous, vibrant international city. Also it's a great place to party, lol.

One rather large gripe with NBC, here we are on the same coast, same time zone as the winter games and the network has decided to show the games live on the east coast and put us on the west coast on a 3hr delay. So annoying. If they are so worried about filling the 8pm-11pm time slot on the west coast if they show the games to us live just rerun it again.

Smaller gripe, get rid of all of the BS people broadcasting up there. Half of KGW's news team is up there right now. They add nothing to the coverage. It's not like they report or contribute anything of importance or value. NBC limits what they can do stories on so it doesn't interfere (or scoop) their national coverage. It screams "free trip to the Olympics on the stations dime" to me.
 
Sounds lame. I'd go up to Vancouver if I lived in Oregon though.....if I had a place to crash.
 
MY COUNTRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Seriously though, Vancouver don't fuck up.
 
cant wait for downhill skiing....and whatever Colbert does with the speed skating team
 
Vancouver is a beautiful city so I'm looking forward to it.
 
Fez "The Situation" Bush said:
Vancouver, BC is the nicest city North America.

Period.
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The before and after of Vancouver when control of Hong Kong was returned back to the Chinese is amazing. So much money rolled into that city it was unbelievable. The city has always been nice but now it's very impressive. It's funny how people on the West Coast USA just do not realize what a major metropolitan Vancouver is.
 
PDC is using Vancouver, BC as a template with their new development.

South_Waterfront_Development.jpg


The long-term vision of SoWa is very Vancouver-esqe.
 
I'll always talk trash about Vancouver because of family who live there, but goddamn I wish I was there right now. Had plans to but ultimately had to bail on them due to insufficient funds.

I can't wait for Olympic hockey.
 
Chutney said:
I can't wait for Olympic hockey.
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Same. Not a huge fan of NHL hockey, but I love Olympic hockey. The wider rinks make all the "mucking it up" tactics (left wing lock, neutral zone trap) ineffective, so you get a much more wide-open, free-flowing game.
 
"As Vancouver prepares to host the Winter Olympics, the city continues to struggle with a vicious drugs war. Dozens have been killed in escalating turf battles that have spread far beyond the city limits. But it is a war that has its roots even further away, in Mexico."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8505061.stm
 
Minstrel said:
Same. Not a huge fan of NHL hockey, but I love Olympic hockey. The wider rinks make all the "mucking it up" tactics (left wing lock, neutral zone trap) ineffective, so you get a much more wide-open, free-flowing game.
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[video=youtube;n2VVCRJ-688]
 
Wonder how the new construction is going to turn out. I hate how the main entry way into the city center is that two lane road...so bush league.
 
Really looking forward to this. The Winter Olympics always brings back memories of England for me. :dunno:
 
The winter games never really catch my attention like the summer games do, but I still love them. I just find the swimming, basketball, running, etc a little bit more captivating.
 
Breaking news:

Luger just died after hitting a metal pole during a practice run.

WHISTLER, British Columbia — A men’s Olympic luger from the former Soviet republic of Georgia crashed during training and needed emergency treatment after an accident on a track that is the world’s fastest and has raised safety concerns among competitors.

Nodar Kumaritashvili lost control of his sled near the finish Friday, went over the track wall and struck an unpadded steel pole near the finish line at Whistler Sliding Center.

International luge officials did not have an immediate update on his condition, and officials would not disclose where he was taken.

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

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

“It’s a very rare situation,” Georg Hackl, the three-time Olympic champion and German coach, said. “But there’s some things that you can’t do anything about.”

It was unclear how fast Kumaritashvili was going, although many sliders have exceeded 90 miles an hour on this course. The track is considered the world’s fastest and several Olympians recently questioned its safety. More than a dozen athletes have crashed during Olympic training.

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

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

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

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

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

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

“I think they are pushing it a little too much,” Hannah Campbell-Pegg of Australia said Thursday night after she nearly lost control in training. “To what extent are we just little lemmings that they just throw down a track and we’re crash-test dummies? I mean, this is our lives.”
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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/13/sports/olympics/13luge.html
 
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i find all of the olympics lame as fuck. maybe basketball is the exception, but can't believe people get amped up over figurskating or running. wtf.
 
Horrible.....RIP Nodar Kumaritashvili


Wow...lots of people complaining they made the course too hard and dangerous....I wonder if the track can be changed...doubt it
 
Anyone know if they will be streaming the olympics again? I watched a lot of events online for the summer games, and I'd like to be able to do that again.
 
Natebishop3 said:
Anyone know if they will be streaming the olympics again? I watched a lot of events online for the summer games, and I'd like to be able to do that again.
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From what I heard they will be streaming a lot less this year and you will have to prove that you get MSNBC from your cable company.

The 3hr tape delay still pisses me off.
 
Another Accident

WHISTLER, British Columbia (AP)—Romanian luger Violeta Stramaturaru was knocked unconscious after slamming into several walls during an Olympic training run.

Stramaturaru was taken to an onsite medical facility for assessment. A team official said she may go to a hospital, but she is not believed to be seriously injured. She must get a medical clearance before she can compete in the games.

Stramaturaru was strapped to a backboard while members of the Romanian team looked on. She was responsive and moving her arms when lifted onto the stretcher.

Her scary crash came moments after her sister, Raluca, had safely navigated the 16-turn track.

After her accident, Violeta Stramaturaru slid limply along the ice while her sled continued through curve 16. At the finish area, her sister ran to the end of the observation deck high above the track for a closer look as the public address announcer directed medical personnel to the scene.

Shortly after the accident, U.S. luger Megan Sweeney went airborne while exiting the final turn and crashed. She was shaken but walked away.

The Whistler Sliding Center track is among the world’s most technically challenging courses. Racers are expected to threaten several speed records during the luge, bobsled and skeleton competitions.
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That luge track is UNSAFE. They need nets to keep the competitors on the track. It is lined on the outside with steel beams and these guys are going 90 mph. If they get airborne and go off the track they can get killed by hitting a beam. Exactly what happened to that Georgian luger.
 
wow RIP for the Man from Georgia lost. Sad to hear.
 
video of it on youtube.. Why the F was there metal structures right next to that curve?
 
Video over it here -

Embedded media from this media site is no longer available
 
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