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Thoughts on the Winter Olympics



 
 
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  #1  
Old February 25th 06, 03:49 AM
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Default Thoughts on the Winter Olympics

From Stefan Fatsis, Wall Street Journal sportswriter, speaking on NPR's
All Things Considered on Wednesday:

"For the American team, it's starting to be thought of as a
disappointment in terms of the total number of medals. It's going to
fall far short of Salt Lake City, and the thing that's dawned on me over
here is that winter sports are decided so much in fractions of seconds.
Some days you get them, some days you don't. I was talking with
Daron Rahlves, the downhill skier, after that event. He said, 'I skied
great, I looked up at the clock, and I shook my head. There was nothing
I could do.' The problem is that the US Olympic Committee is deciding
more and more how much to spend on these sports based on how the
athletes finish, and when the results can be as quirky as they are in
these winter pursuits, it's disappointing for a lot of these sports to
fall short and to end up with less money down the road."

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...toryId=5228639

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  #2  
Old February 25th 06, 04:46 AM
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Just heard on the show tonight that so far at these games there are more
teams from more countries winning medals. Up by a couple from SLC.
It's a big world and more people are ponying up the bucks to play with the
old time regimes.
The trend will continue. Canada has some theme like Take Back the Podium in
preparation for the 2010 Games. They are putting more money into their
teams.
These have been Games filled with the unexpected.
Pops
"Mary Malmros" wrote in message
...
From Stefan Fatsis, Wall Street Journal sportswriter, speaking on NPR's
All Things Considered on Wednesday:

"For the American team, it's starting to be thought of as a disappointment
in terms of the total number of medals. It's going to fall far short of
Salt Lake City, and the thing that's dawned on me over here is that winter
sports are decided so much in fractions of seconds. Some days you get
them, some days you don't. I was talking with Daron Rahlves, the downhill
skier, after that event. He said, 'I skied great, I looked up at the
clock, and I shook my head. There was nothing I could do.' The problem
is that the US Olympic Committee is deciding more and more how much to
spend on these sports based on how the athletes finish, and when the
results can be as quirky as they are in these winter pursuits, it's
disappointing for a lot of these sports to fall short and to end up with
less money down the road."

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...toryId=5228639


  #3  
Old February 25th 06, 03:30 PM
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Default

"Pops" wrote in message
...
Just heard on the show tonight that so far at these games there are
more teams from more countries winning medals. Up by a couple from
SLC.
It's a big world and more people are ponying up the bucks to play
with the old time regimes.
The trend will continue. Canada has some theme like Take Back the
Podium in preparation for the 2010 Games. They are putting more
money into their teams.
These have been Games filled with the unexpected.
Pops


IMO the results are skewed by the number of participants from other
countries announced as "training in New Jersey" or somewhere. Some
athletes have no more connection to the country that they are
competing for than to have been there once or having parents from
there or something.

  #4  
Old February 25th 06, 07:20 PM
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Default

Everyone wants to win, even that Canadian skiing for Ethiopia. Some teams
have more money, some people have more time on the snow, and some people
even have more athletic gifts than others. That's life. But what makes the
Olympics special is not the medal totals, it's those special moments that
are frozen in your memory, if you were lucky enough to see them. Moments in
which an athlete made an 'Olympic Run', a ski run so perfect that everyone
else knew they couldn't match it! For Bode Miller to say that he wouldn't
have beat that Frenchman in the downhill is very telling. Why? Because that
Frenchman made an Olympic Run, as good as Franz Klammer's Gold Medal run
(which is probably the standard in that department). You can't buy that, you
can't organize for it, you can't train for it, you can't coach it, although
certainly, all those things are a necessary part of it. It's why I watch the
Olympic Games, and will, until I can't.
Phil

"Mary Malmros" wrote in message
...
From Stefan Fatsis, Wall Street Journal sportswriter, speaking on NPR's
All Things Considered on Wednesday:

"For the American team, it's starting to be thought of as a disappointment
in terms of the total number of medals. It's going to fall far short of
Salt Lake City, and the thing that's dawned on me over here is that winter
sports are decided so much in fractions of seconds. Some days you get
them, some days you don't. I was talking with Daron Rahlves, the downhill
skier, after that event. He said, 'I skied great, I looked up at the
clock, and I shook my head. There was nothing I could do.' The problem
is that the US Olympic Committee is deciding more and more how much to
spend on these sports based on how the athletes finish, and when the
results can be as quirky as they are in these winter pursuits, it's
disappointing for a lot of these sports to fall short and to end up with
less money down the road."

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...toryId=5228639


  #5  
Old February 25th 06, 11:01 PM
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Default

Mary Malmros wrote:
From Stefan Fatsis, Wall Street Journal sportswriter, speaking on NPR's
All Things Considered on Wednesday:


OK. I was going to say that the only people who came out of this
Olympics looking like complete asses were reporters and NBC (and of
course a slew of usenet idiots who've never posted before but are now
skiing experts.) But maybe I have to exclude Fatsis who seems to have
actually listened to the answers to his interview questions and learned
something.

  #6  
Old February 26th 06, 02:08 AM
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Default

pe.rhodes wrote:

Everyone wants to win, even that Canadian skiing for Ethiopia. Some teams
have more money, some people have more time on the snow, and some people
even have more athletic gifts than others. That's life. But what makes the
Olympics special is not the medal totals, it's those special moments that
are frozen in your memory, if you were lucky enough to see them. Moments in
which an athlete made an 'Olympic Run', a ski run so perfect that everyone
else knew they couldn't match it! For Bode Miller to say that he wouldn't
have beat that Frenchman in the downhill is very telling. Why? Because that
Frenchman made an Olympic Run, as good as Franz Klammer's Gold Medal run
(which is probably the standard in that department). You can't buy that, you
can't organize for it, you can't train for it, you can't coach it, although
certainly, all those things are a necessary part of it. It's why I watch the
Olympic Games, and will, until I can't.


Amen to that. Thanks for putting it so well, Phil.

  #7  
Old February 28th 06, 04:06 AM
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My thoughts on the winter olympics:

I hate the fact that US coverage = the US competitors and the medal
winners. I want to see *all* the mogul runs, not just the winningest
ones, dammit! Same for several other sports.

I hate the obsession with medals (I guess I'm a Bodeist). I hate that
everyone gave that poor girl such crap because she "only" got a
silver. I can only imagine how the same people who are trying to make
her feel guilty would have cheered if she had pulled off the grab and
gotten the gold.

I hate that, in the retrospective on Michelle Kwan (sp?), the
voiceover went "When did Michelle Kwan get old?" WTF? Old? She is,
what, 24? Yeah, might as well roll over and die. Give me a break.
Whoever authorized that script ought to be kicked in the groin
repeatedly.

I was never competitive in any sport, but I remember talking to my TKD
master instructor about the top competitors. He said that at the top
level, everyone is so good that the winner could really be anyone. It
comes down to who had the best breakfast, who got better rest the night
before, and yes, it comes down to luck. (Whoever said that they watch
for that perfect, Olympic run; that's the idea.) I watch the Olympics
to get a glimpse of some of the best athletes in the world. I watch it
to be in awe of their effortless stride, their perfect spins, their
powerful turns, their breathtaking jumps. I watch it to taste the pain
of defeat snatched from the jaws of victory; to see the expression of
suffering on the endurance athlete who just keeps moving despite the
agony of every step. I watch it to shake my head in disbelief at the
people who compete despite training injuries that would have me in bed
for weeks. I watch it, in short, for inspiration.

My favorite part of the Olympics was the Bode ad about how the
obsession with winning is ruining the youth of today; how they won't
even participate in sports unless they are superstars.

--
monique
Longmont, CO

  #8  
Old February 28th 06, 05:25 AM
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"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote in message
...
My thoughts on the winter olympics:


snip...

Another one that gets it.

Thanks Monigue.
--
Marty

  #9  
Old February 28th 06, 02:11 PM
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"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote in message
...
My thoughts on the winter olympics:

I hate the fact that US coverage = the US competitors and the medal
winners. I want to see *all* the mogul runs, not just the
winningest
ones, dammit! Same for several other sports.


Join the club. Now is the time for an effort to change that. I think
there might be a place for the oprah style program in prime time for
those interested in the Olympics as a cultural event more than a
sporting one.

I'm wondering if the Olympic Commitee or the individual sport
governing body's might not be a place to start bending ears. NBC
obviously doesn't care.

I hate the obsession with medals (I guess I'm a Bodeist). I hate
that
everyone gave that poor girl such crap because she "only" got a
silver. I can only imagine how the same people who are trying to
make
her feel guilty would have cheered if she had pulled off the grab
and
gotten the gold.


First of all, most people realize that snowboarding isn't a sport to
begin with. Secondly, the mindset and realization that someone would
actually do that with the gold in sight is one of the reasons that it
isn't. It was just incredibly ignorant. So at least she lived up to
expectations.

I hate that, in the retrospective on Michelle Kwan (sp?), the
voiceover went "When did Michelle Kwan get old?" WTF? Old? She
is,
what, 24? Yeah, might as well roll over and die. Give me a break.
Whoever authorized that script ought to be kicked in the groin
repeatedly.


Thank Dog for DVR. We'd usually start the recording when the program
started then join it an hour later. Then we could blast through the
fluff. So I missed that gaffe.

I don't think much of subjective sports in that there is no clear
winner IMO, but the difficulty of much of that figure skating is
amazing. Anyone that poo poos it have no clue as to the strength,
speed, stamina, and hardness of that ice! Some of those chicks are
getting pretty cute too! :-)

I was never competitive in any sport, but I remember talking to my
TKD
master instructor about the top competitors. He said that at the
top
level, everyone is so good that the winner could really be anyone.
It
comes down to who had the best breakfast, who got better rest the
night
before, and yes, it comes down to luck. (Whoever said that they
watch
for that perfect, Olympic run; that's the idea.) I watch the
Olympics
to get a glimpse of some of the best athletes in the world. I
watch it
to be in awe of their effortless stride, their perfect spins, their
powerful turns, their breathtaking jumps. I watch it to taste the
pain
of defeat snatched from the jaws of victory; to see the expression
of
suffering on the endurance athlete who just keeps moving despite
the
agony of every step. I watch it to shake my head in disbelief at
the
people who compete despite training injuries that would have me in
bed
for weeks. I watch it, in short, for inspiration.


Yep. Well put.

My favorite part of the Olympics was the Bode ad about how the
obsession with winning is ruining the youth of today; how they
won't
even participate in sports unless they are superstars.


Lucky for me I missed that one too. I guess it turns out that some
won't compete even after.

  #10  
Old February 28th 06, 02:56 PM
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Monique Y. Mudama wrote:

My thoughts on the winter olympics:

I hate the fact that US coverage = the US competitors and the medal
winners. I want to see *all* the mogul runs, not just the winningest
ones, dammit! Same for several other sports.

I hate the obsession with medals (I guess I'm a Bodeist). I hate that
everyone gave that poor girl such crap because she "only" got a
silver. I can only imagine how the same people who are trying to make
her feel guilty would have cheered if she had pulled off the grab and
gotten the gold.


There is a very good lesson in that whole thing and it doesn't involve in
not showing off and hotdogging etc. It all is in the woman who was going to
place second. She could have easily quit the race and started doggin it.
Then when whatzherface crashed on that jump she would have been soooo far
behind she still would have placed in silver. She (i.e. The gold medalist)
kept running the race focused on what she had to do to finish.

The Wisconsin Skier is in full agreement with what you say about the
differences between gold, silver, bronze, and fourth places come down to
who had the better breakfast, whose wax job was just right etc.

--
Before Heading to the Hill head to Wisconsin Skis!
http://www.wi-ski.com/

 




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