Just watched some of the opening coverage of the Olympics on NBC. Fabulous venue, participants & competition to come.

The sad note was on the death of the luger in practice today. I can't understand why those steel girders were not covered by thick foam as is done on the ski slopes.

Enjoy the competition!

Fred

Yeah! Great stuff, Fred.

Beautiful, smiling young people.

That's what we, the world, should be all about.

Bring it on!

The world should be about beer. That is the secret ingredient to make everyone "beautiful", "young" and smiling.

I was really disappointed they ignored your culture. The flame should've been a big bottle of Moosehead or Molsons coming up from the ground.

Can't believe you guys have never won gold in the winter. What's up with that?

Quote:

QUOTE:
Can't believe you guys have never won gold in the winter. What's up with that?

Is that right? I know that Canada hasn't won a gold in Canada - summer (Montreal '76) or winter (Calgary '88). I'm sure that'll change this time around.

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Paul D

That's what NBC has been saying.
I was taking them at their word but checking into it it's not true by a long shot.
http://historywire.ca/en/article/20647#comments

They actually had me rooting for the Canadian in the women's moguls.
Now you know why I don't like our press.
I don't care if they haven't won it in Canada, some counties haven't even had the Olympics and probably never will.

You mightn't care. They do. Believe me.

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Paul D

Of course, it's news for them.
But our press is spinning it so they have a heart string story to play up when Canada does win one (and they will). When they do win they'll stop showing the sports and show the interviews of the Canadian who wins their first gold at home 50 times a day.

I long for the days of ABC Wide World of Sports.
Oh well, at least Luge coverage is good this year (I hope that was planned and it's not all because someone died).

So poor coverage of sport is universal, then. Gee, that's a surprise - not! (Having just suffered through appalling coverage of the Australian Open tennis).

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Paul D

Your Olympic coverage is bad too? I figured it was just us because it was good back in the '60s and '70s.
Any more we get hours of fluff on the athletes' private lives and highlights of the sports.
But so far this year is much better than it's been in a very long time.
They're actually showing Biathalon, which people have said they want to see and the media tells them they don't. Now if the gun loving Americans could manage to show up on the world shooting stage for once.

I was about ready to give you some crap about a lack of Aussies at the games and I finally saw one.

Someone must've let NBC know they were saying it wrong because today they were very clear that it was home turf gold at any Olympics Canada was missing.
I even checked to make sure I was paying attention and the person I checked with said he was also under the impression they were claiming no Winter gold not no home turf gold Winter or Summer.

Canada finally won their medal tonight so maybe they will stop whining and cover the games. If you are good enough you win, if not you don't.

Quote:

QUOTE:
Canada finally won their medal tonight so maybe they will stop whining and cover the games. If you are good enough you win, if not you don't.

How long to come up with that and are you related to Yogi Berra?

BTW, if we could take a brief moment out from the bitching and moaning, the young man's name is Alex Bilodeau.

Congratulations, Alex.

Quite a while to get it easy enough for the Canadians to understand.

Obviously still too hard for the Yank who finished third. (Yes, and the Australian who finished second).

Bilodeau had a great final run, and thoroughly deserved his medal.

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Paul D

Obviously not easy enough for you to understand though. :rolleyes:

The more of the Olympics I watch, the more I'm convinced that the top ten of each category on any given day could win gold. Only tenths of seconds - sometimes less - separate probably a half dozen contestants. I suppose the more consistent they are, the higher the probablity of winning a medal.

In the end - always fabulous performances from youngsters. I love it.

:clap: :clap: :clap:
Fred

What's next it's not over till it's over?:lol:
Btw congrats to Bilodeau despite the Aussie coach's sour grapes.I've heard rumors that Begg-Smith made his money as a spammer on the internet.That's probably false though as people here don't have a good impression of him and probably someone spreading it to hurt his image.

No, that's true. And in a big way, too.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2006/03/03/1141191842651.html

Begg-Smith is an expatriate Canadian who moved here as a teenager because he was (or his parents were) unhappy with the way the sport was run in Canada. He's not exactly Australia's favourite athlete - not many tears will be shed outside the small skiing community here over his defeat. And his coach's whingeing won't help his image here either.

I should make it clear that being Canadian-born has nothing to do with his unpopularity. He's just not a particularly pleasant bloke. And many Australians are very aware of his internet activities.

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Paul D

He didn't do much here to endear himself either after Bilodeau won he tried to shake Begg-Smith's hand but he just turned around and left the area.After in an interview he said all the right things but they rang hollow and people suspected he was told to be gracious.

We're pretty light on for snowfields here. Given that, we don't do too bad in the Winter Olympics. We may pick up a few more medals (silver in men's moguls today). We've got a couple of fairly good female freestyle skiers, and probably the favourite in women's snowboard half-pipe.

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Paul D

My granddaughter (13 at the time) was in Australia several years ago, and sand-boarded on the dunes. That should be a good training ground for your skiers.

Ray

It may be a starting point, but it's sure as hell not training for elite competition, despite Cool Runnings. Actually, most of the good aerialists start as kids on skateboards, but there's a limit to how far you can go on foreign surfaces, and lack of snow will always be a problem here.

Our luge entrant certainly spends very little of her life in Australia currently.

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Paul D

Skating rinks are indoor. I think they said one of the American figure skating couples trains in Tampa FL.

As far as the elite skiing, you need to end up on the elite courses no matter where you're from.
Luge and Bobsled, you're either going somewhere that there's a track or you're the Jamaican Bobsled team. Few countries have that sport big enough that you can stay at home to train.

I would say it's more an issue of not having winter sports big doesn't get kids interested at a young age.

That's certainly a factor too, although we've had a number of very good female aerial freestyle skiers. Four Australian girls have been in the top 5 world rankings in recent years, although only one of them has medalled at Olympic Games - twice, a gold and a bronze. I believe (although I can't confirm this) that all these girls had aa background in gymnastics.

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Paul D

I wonder if they were from around your ski resorts or their families frequented then.

I'm hoping them showing Biathalon gets kids here interested in that. You can cross country ski in probably at least half of this country.
The two runs today were very exiting. I could imagine if there was any hope for the US to win a medal it would be as good as watching Ono skate. Coming in 9th yesterday was enough of a shocker.

I understand that it was an aimed recruiting drive by our Olympic federation. They approached fringe Games quality gymnasts and induced them to switch. Alisa Camplin won gold and bronze in the last two games. I don't know if they specifically targeted girls with skiing backgrounds.

Biathlon isn't big here, again because of limited training possibilities. But we are represented - one male.

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Paul D

There's your gold.

I'd be worried about spoiling this for you but it's already tomorrow there.

Even though I just watched it live you probably watched it live yesterday.

Thanks - I've seen it already. Watched the whole event this morning.

This one Australia WILL celebrate. The fact that she's drop dead gorgeous probably helps.

She was our flagbearer at the opening ceremony, and probably our best hope. It was a great recovery after crashing in the first round of the final.

One thing that seemed very evident from our coverage was that all the girls in the event seem to genuinely get on very well with each other. Nice to see in these sometimes overly competitive days.

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Paul D

Incidentally, Christine Nesbitt, who won gold for Canada in speed skating, was born in Australia.

If we swapped her for Begg-Smith, we lost out on the deal.

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Paul D

Sounds like a cue for the old claim that in mid winter Australia has a greater area of snow than Switzerland


Malcolm

But everyone in Switzerland probably lives within one hour's drive of a ski slope.

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Paul D

I thought Austria was small and covered with snow. }(

Are you related to Donald Rumsfeld?

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Paul D

Shaun White - simply superb!

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Paul D

I agree. Shawn White is made from another mould when it comes to inventiveness & performance. He'll make a great poster person for a host of advertising & special causes across the spectrum of ages.

I must admit to being glued to the TV these past evenings watching performances that have been waiting for 4 years like never before.

I'm heading skiing to Colorado in March. After watching the Olympics, I think I'll have to check my medical coverage after seeing some of those falls!

:lol: :lol:
Fred

Just stay off the women's downhill course and you'll be fine :lol:

Now that's taking chasing women too far!

:lol: :lol:
Fred

I'd just wait at the bottom of the Vancouver course.
Many didn't seem to be moving fast enough to get away by the time they got to the end.

I'm kind of surprised that no one had any comments on last nights "shootout" between the Russian & American skaters.

I enjoyed both their performances.

Fred

No coverage in Australia, at least on free to air. Surprise, surprise.

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Paul D

My wife loves that stuff but she's PO'ed they air it so late on the east coast. The DVR is filling up.

Personally, I like the sports that are athlete vs athlete or athlete vs clock. It gets a little too murky when the judges get involved.

Generally I agree with that. There's the occasional standout exception - Shaun White, Torvill and Dean, Nadia Comaneci, Greg Louganis (most of the time) come to mind. But a lot of the time they're splitting hairs that are too fine for Joe Average to see.

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Paul D

Subjective judging has always been a problem. It has historically been tainted by fraud, favoritism and national political interest, but some things can only be decided subjectively by those considered experts in a sport. Everything can not be decided by a clock, and even then in a competition among the best in the world, fractions of a second will generally rule.

I am surprised by the poor results so far by Russia. They have traditionally been a power house at the Olympics but to date only have one gold, two silver, and two bronze. The wheels seem to have come off their sports program. They're showing a lot of sour grapes too.

The next winter games are in Russia, and it will be interesting to see how they do then.

According to my wife, Plashenko has always been considered artistically weak in his skating. This year the judges ruled on that. Next year they may not. (If he comes back)

Yes, Evan said he'd compete, IF they gave him a visa!

Fred

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYoTJItSPt0

Tom Brokaw explains the relationship between Canada and The United States, in a pre-recorded short film that aired on NBC prior to the Opening Ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on Feb. 14th, 2010.
Perhaps this might help dispel some misconceptions Americans have of Canada.

I have been to nearly every Country in my nomadic traveling sea faring life but I call Canada "The greatest Country on Earth".

Sorry Scaramouche. I meant that Evan said he'd compete in the NEXT Olympics, if Russia would give him a Visa.

Fred

No misconceptions here, In a fight I would welcome a Canadian or Australian at my side anytime, and I speak from experience.

The sliding course is a disaster. It is considerably faster than the preliminary design calculations suggested it would be (up to 20mph, according to reports I have read), and experienced competitors in all the sliding sports (luge, skeleton and bobsleds) are having great difficulty handling it. There were numerous overturns in the two-man bobsleds yesterday.

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Paul D

It was an excellent hockey game between the USA and Canada. Both sides played an excellent game and Ryan Miller, goalie of the Sabres, made the difference. It is amusing to see our local Buffalo Sabres coach Lindy Ruff as an assistant coach for Canada.

I'm disappointed but I agree.

To this we at least agree. Canada played a terrific game and maybe a better game. Not a time to celebrate as there is a lot more hockey to come. Time to let my blood pressure settle back down after that third period.

Quote:

To this we at least agree. Canada played a terrific game

Losers! :P

We are treating the loss here as a National Disaster, although its just the preliminary rounds. If the Canadian Hockey team does not win Gold the flags will fly at half mast and the Government might fall. Its not just a game here but an obsession. :D

Ryan Miller was the winner of that game! An amazing performance.

Absolutely. The only clear difference between the teams. And that's not meant as a slur on the Canadian goalie, either.

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Paul D

We get to see Ryan Miller play that way quite often. UPS just dropped off tickets to one of his games next week here in Buffalo when my daughter is in town. He is a pleasure to watch and rarely disappoints.

Superb performance by Virtue & Moir yesterday.

Bravo Canada!

Fred

Canada kicked Russian butt in hockey tonight 7-3 final score.First time in 50 yrs we have beat them in the Olympics.Luongo was great when he had to be but Getslaf and Perry with Boyle were the stand outs tonight.The Ovechkin/Crosby match up didn't play much of a factor.Go Canada!! Sweden or Slovakia next I think.

We were awesome. This team has a purpose and is getting better with each game. I've a hunch (hope) we'll see a Canada/U.S. rematch for the gold Sunday -- and, the way Canada's playing, the U.S. team had better hope young Miller has another rabbit in his hat.

The Canada and U.S. women's teams play for the gold today. Lots of fun... Some of those ladies are slick enough to be playing on the men's teams.

It wasn't really that great of a game. It was one good team against one not very good team. The Russians of old are gone as witnessed in this Olympics.

I like how the women's Hockey was the only one where it seemed everyone in the audience could sing "Oh Canada".

Too bad the Canadian ladies hockey team went from being classy to being trashy.

What'd they do?

I spent most of last night catching up on recordings to clear the RW so I missed most of the reports.

It is the Olympics not Hooters. :-)


http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/vancouver/blog/fourth_place_medal/post/IOC-to-investigate-Canadian-women-s-hockey-team-?urn=oly,224338


http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/vancouver/slideshow/ss.124;_ylt=AlqoQxcAoz83X7WETq84gchotLV_

They beat the USA in the medal match. Apparently that makes them trashy in Ed's eyes.

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Paul D

Doubt it.
I have no problem with their celebration but Ed may have different morals. The IOC obviously does.

Stop being an idiot as usual Paul. The win was fine, the celebration on ice was trashy.

Cuban cigars, Molson Dry and screech. We love our trashy Canadian ladies to death.

And, BTW, speaking of trashy behavior, I seem to recall an American women's hockey team who once upon a time not very long ago, before a match up, in their dressing room, used the Canadian flag as a doormat upon which to wipe their dainty little feet.

But none of that is here or there.

Bottom line, final score -- after everyone`s best effort -- two to zip.

We Canadians vs you Americans may own little else, but we still own ice hockey. And watch us nail the lid Sunday.

Trash is trash either way.

Winning one game owns nothing. That is why most good Canadian hockey players come to the USA for school and the NHL to improve their games. Canadian hockey fans are a bit below the NASCAR fans so just below the Canadian trailer trash you so claim to despise.

Not saying much for the Canadian men just crawling away from the game with Slovakia. They do need more practice.

They go to the States for school because we award scholarships for academic achievement only. Young Americans who are serious about the game come here to learn and play in our junior leagues.

As for the rest, we'll see tomorrow,

I know of absolutely no young US players that went to Canada for training. They are all doing their training here and playing in the NHL. The Canadian powerhouse ended in about 1993 when they won their last Stanley Cup. You are right in a sense, you do own the Australian hockey team.

As for the game tomorrow being about the best, it isn't. It is a one game winner take all for that day and time. It is not like a 7 game series. And that goes for both teams.

After Sunday all those Canadians will hurry back to their USA NHL teams and bask in the money.

Edit: Today 800 players take to the ice in Buffalo for pond hockey games in the harbor. Ten years ago you never saw this in the US.

Canada went the route of putting all superstars on their team. That doesn't always work as we have seen with our basketball dream teams.

The US team has a lot of workers and grinders and a couple of superstars. And most importantly, a goalie who enjoys standing on his head. :-) :-)

I am really looking forward to it.

Good luck to all you moose-heads. You'll need it.

Canada had no choice but to put superstars on the team. We even had to leave a bunch off because there was no room left on the roster.

That you guys can muster only a couple is sad, but you gotta use what you got.

America will lay back, send one man in and play the neutral zone trap, try to lull everyone (including us spectators) to sleep and hope to capitalize on mistakes.

It worked last game because Miller was seeing basketballs instead of pucks.

Anyhow, it should be fun.

I'd wish you guys luck but I wouldn't mean it.

Well, the NJ Devils made that famous and won like a bazillion Stanley cups with it and too many Canadian players and coaches to count made it happen. So your guys know how to run it but can they defend it?.

Enough sweet talking and more trash talking. Game is less than 17 hours away.

Let me know if you need a wake up call! I'll send over a Swiss prostitute. :-)

Multi-game finals series are a device for extracting more money from patrons. Nothing more.

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Paul D

No, they are to make sure it is not a single game fluke. In that case they wouldn't need the gold medal round as the US already defeated Canada.

In principle, I sort of agree with that. In my view there are two ways to run any sporting event - everyone plays everyone (one or more times) and no finals, or straight knockout. Many Olympic and other events - ie Football (soccer) World Cup - fall somewhere in between (pools into finals), and I've never thought that's entirely fair. But understandable - one method gives too many games, the other gives not enough, so again it's about extracting money from the spectators.

There are some exceptions. Golf is one obvious one, because in essence golfers are primarily competing against themselves.

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Paul D

Golfers are competing against the course. If one of the other guys who happen to be there defeat the course better they win.

It is obvious you never received one those scholarships.

Now, that hurts.

I don't know who will win the Gold or who will win the Silver today. The Canadian team is superb and will be tough to beat, but I hope whoever wins displays more sportsmanship than is evident in this thread.

Since they went pro is there really such a thing as a country team?
Only two of Canada's players play on Canadian teams. That's the same number the US team has. The Russian team has more.
Go to the NHL, pick your dream team, find an excuse to call them part of your country. Throw in a few local minor league players if you can't come up with enough excuses.
And the game reflects the change. Not that I mind going to the fights and having a hockey game break out, but cheap shots are not Olympic Hockey, or shouldn't be.

What an absurd statement. Money doesn't buy patriotism.

Go to an Australia v New Zealand Rugby League test. Your question will be answered in the first minute of play.

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Paul D

I'm going to assume you were prefacing your absurd statement with a warning that it was coming.
I didn't know you were allowed to hire people for the Olympics.
Pro-Rugby isn't the Olympics.

I didn't check who they play for outside of the Olympics or where they are citizens but,
Dany Heatley, Canada. Birthplace Freiburg, Germany
Evgeni Nabokov, Russia. Birthplace Kamenogorsk, Kazakstan
Stefan Liv, Sweden. Birthplace Gdynia, Poland
All three Belarus goalies are Russian born
Hnat Domenichelli, Switzerland. Birthplace Edmonton Alberta
Travis James Mulock, Germany. Birthplace Langley British Columbia
John Tripp, Germany. Birthplace Kingston Ontario
Michael Wolf, Germany. Birthplace Ehenbichi Austria
Jakub Ficenec, Germany. Birthplace Rhadec Kralove Czech Republic
Chris Schmidt, Germany. Birthplace Beaver Lodge Alberta
Dimitri Patzold, Germany. Birthplace Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kazakstan

I don't know what the US policy is. All our hockey players are US born. I can't imagine them having that policy for everything, it's probably that way for Hockey because we have enough to pick from. I know Canada had a US Olympian because his father was Canadian. Jamaica had a US skier that didn't make the team and justified it because his father was Jamaican.

But my real point was, does it really matter any more with these pro sports, they're all professional dream teams.
If they happen to be playing for your country in the Olympics you're for them just like if they happen to get drafted to your favorite pro team.

You don't need to check their citizenship. That's the sole mandated qualification for Olympic selection.

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Paul D

Obviously not since the Jamaican skier was and is still from California and the American skier on the Canadian team didn't move to Canada.

Then they have dual citizenship. Many countries grant citizenship based on ancestral birthplaces, and also many don't recognise renunciation of citizenship.

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Paul D

That's fine but the US doesn't necessarily allow (or disallow) dual citizenship.
Neither of the above will get their US citizenship revoked.
They denied a British friend married to a Navy officer because she wouldn't renounce the British citizenship. I bet if she was a sports star they may want for the Olympics some day there would've been no problem.

Get the immigration policy some want for the US where if you're on our soil you can be a citizen and we could claim any athlete in the world.

But the main point was about Hockey. Once it got down to Canada vs USA the NHL had already won.
A commercial came on about how two Chicago Blackhawks were enemies today and will be friends next week. I'd much rather see that game (and will).
Five of the local farm team's former players were on Olympic teams. Two for the US. Two for Czech Rep. One for Latvia. I cared more about the Czech team than I did about the US team.
Professionals in the Olympics has ruined those sports for me.

No one in the Olympics has been an amateur in the strict sense of the word for a very long time.The level of commitment to be the best precludes that for every nation not just Canada and the US.

And as I recall that was the problem.
Athletes from some other countries were paid to do nothing but be athletes, they were professionals.
For someone like the USSR nobody is a professional and everybody is a professional, it's all a government program. Yet an athlete in our two countries couldn't reference their sport in a commercial for a soup company or have an equipment sponsor without being called a professional.

Instead of telling the countries with "programs" to stop they opened the floodgates.

If that game was between a Canadian farm team and an American farm team I could've got into it more. It would've been in the Olympic spirit.
Watching two Chicago Blackhawks play each other wasn't.

I would rather see every country hire Olympic Hockey teams on the "program" payroll than to see these "Pro-Bowls".
The NFL Pro-Bowl or Baseball's All-Star games are not worth watching and that's all these pro-team sports in the Olympics are.

I'm sure being on your end with the outcome gives some satisfaction because you get to smack talk. But at least for me, after the first game that didn't have as much smack talk satisfaction as it did when they weren't pros.

sigh Your usual bitter negative attitude about everything.I won't debate the issue you have your opinion I have mine your world must be devoid of pleasure how sad.

It's not bitter, it is my opinion. And it is based on fact.
Once it got down to Canada vs the US it was nothing more than a pro-bowl for the NHL.

Maybe you are able to apply double-think and believe we've always been at war with Eastasia one week and we've always been at war with Eurasia the next week. But I am not.

Why would what goes on in mainly two sports of all the Olympics make my whole world devoid of pleasure? If that minor of issues for you effects your whole world that is what is sad.

The last time I checked there is no USSR anymore, has not been for many years.

If US political history comes up you could mention there are no Whigs or Federalists.

At the time I was talking about it was the USSR.

Replace "claim" with "buy".

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Paul D

And therein lies my problem with it.

Ask the Canadian hockey players which they'd rather have - an NHL premiership with all its financial rewards, or their Olympic gold medals.

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Paul D

What's a "premiership"? Contract?

You didn't see any of them staying amateur when pros weren't allowed did you? Not in anything that had any amount of money tied to going pro.
If a hockey player got offered a contract they didn't put it off for another four years so they could experience the Olympics again. Some of the figure skaters could've stayed out of the show circuit and competed for a lot longer than they did.

Ask an old guy who was a young kid that got noticed because of non-professional hockey in the Olympics what he thought of just being there and not getting a medal.

Canada's not that good of a judge on the issue of Hockey. They're probably national heroes because of gold (except they won't be able to enjoy it because they're back playing in the NHL next week so only two of them will still be in Canada). They would be the same heroes if a Canadian NHL team won the Stanley cup and they'd be able to bask in the glory because the season would be over.

In the world of professional sports money talks. If it was all about patriotism why did the Canada team only have two players from Canadian teams? Wouldn't they be staying at home to play in Canadian teams and try to bring the Stanley Cup home every year instead of gold once every four years?

Either I need more folic acid in my diet or you're talking gibberish.

The National Hockey League is a professional sports entertainment enterprise.

The best players are recruited from different parts of the world to ply their trade and earn a living in its thirty franchises in the United States and Canada.

When the Olympics roll around, various nations form teams to represent them comprised hopefully of their best players. Most play the game in the NHL, and so are drawn from there, while some are chosen from professional European teams, and (where pickings are slim) one or two from teams in local industrial leagues.

Much the same situation exists in most other major team sports that are part of the Olympic games -- baseball, basketball, football (soccer), etc.

Them's the facts of life here in the 21st century, which most of us have happily adapted to.

Because for two weeks every four years we get to see the best athletes in the world compete for their various nations, individually and on teams, without involving the blatant hypocrisy of the past.

And everyone, except you sadly, has one hell of a good time during an all too rare time that nations get together to celebrate rather than exchange gunfire.

And, as a Canadian, I'm damned proud of the show we put on, and pleased as punch with our record setting fourteen gold medals. We may be strutting around a bit for a while, but we sure as hell ain't (as you've implied) slapping anyone else down.

If you had anything to say you wouldn't have started off with a flame.
Come back when you grow up.

I knew you were young but I didn't realize you were so young you wouldn't know about International Hockey and the Olympics, you know, the game that is usually played in the Olympics? You never stopped to wonder why the Olympic Hockey games aren't exactly like they are in the NHL? Is this your first year of seeing Olympic Hockey? If so that would explain your ignorance since they decided with a North American host it would NHL sized ice.

When the USSR was putting PROS on the ice and NHL players were not allowed to play in the Olympics the Russians were not putting NHL players on the ice, bright boy. The NHL is not the only game in town.

European Hockey has slim pickings??? Are you really that stupid?
Like you I am biased toward the NHL and think it is the best hockey with the best rules but the pickings are hardly slim in Europe. Just where do you think all the Europeans that are in the NHL come from? Do you think we hire from Europe farm pond games because it's cheaper than hiring from our own minor leagues?
Jagr was drafted into the NHL in '90 and won cups in '91 and '92, do you think he was taught how to play hockey in '90 and got that good that fast? He was playing in the Czech pros before he came here.

The reason they come here is because the money is better not because there's no hockey to speak of there, we pay good players millions. The reason we hire them is because they have good players that play in professional hockey leagues.
Those pickin's are "so slim" Latvia had two from the NHL, Norway had one, Germany had seven, Switzerland had two, Belarus had two and Slovakia was about 50/50.
My gods, learn a little bit about the game your country invented and you claim to like, it's worldwide not just North America.

Do you realize how sad it is that an American has to teach a Canadian about Olympic and international Hockey? My main focus is on the NFL and don't pay that much attention to hockey and I know more about it than you.
I hope they revoke your citizenship and set you adrift on an iceberg.

What show did "you" put on? All 2 of your Canadian team players that were playing for Canada? The rest were all from US teams. Or maybe it was the German you had on your Olympic team. The woman's team was your show, an amateur team representing the country they play their sport in.
The men's show that was put on was put on by the pros in the NHL. 3 golds and a silver for the Chicago Blackhawks. Maple Leafs got a silver. Canucks got a gold and silver. Flames got a gold. Ducks got 3 golds and 2 silvers. And the list goes on.
Maybe if I actually paid no attention to hockey like you I'd find it easier to swallow. But since I do pay attention I can't buy into I'm supposed to be for 3 players the whole season, then be against them for 2 weeks and then go back to being for them the following week.

BTW, in case your iceberg lands in the US and you're able to claim you're Cuban with dry feet, "strutting around a bit" is the same as smack talk unless you mean you're actually going to strut around (post a video if you do), it's not "slapping down". I can't believe "smack talk" is totally unknown to you since in addition to Hockey we share baseball.
Are you sure you pay attention to sports other than figure skating?

And don't lie claiming I'm the only one in the world against pros in the Olympics. That just makes you look even more stupid than you already made yourself look.

What's all this bullshit about the Chicago Blacks Hawks and the Toronto Maple Leafs substituting intramural squad games for what we saw in the Olympic tournament?

You are talking patent nonsense, and shouting nonsense at the top of your lungs doesn't change the fact that it is nonsense.

I made my point. If you are incapable of understanding it, then so be it. And I'm not about to address the way you have twisted my words and deliberately misrepresented my thoughts. Folks who read here are not stupid and can figure stuff out for themselves.

Oh, and I'm sixty five and have followed hockey since the cradle. So, I for one, am not in the least impressed by your meaningless stats and head counting.

As per usual, you sound like you know what your talking about. But you're a jack of all trades and a master of none and a self-styled, self-satisfied loud-mouthed expert in absolutely nothing.

And you prove it here each time you post.

Take another Valium.

So you're so wrapped up in your own little world of Canada you had no idea that there is indeed Internation Hockey even though that is what is played in the Olympics?
I guess we can turn a new phrase with "Ugly Canadian".

And it's Xanax.

What jbmcmillan said a couple of posts back. Thank goodness most people don't have the bitter attitude to life displayed by you and one other here.

---

Paul D

Ahh yes, because I have a different opinion about professionals playing in the Olympics I have a bitter freaking attitude on life.

Or perhaps that's just a way to put down opinions other than your own.
And since I came up with a way to prove your assumption wrong (by pointing out no player would deny going to the NHL to stay in the Olympics) all you have left is to go on some little attack of the poster and not the post.

Maybe since your opinion doesn't match up with mine it's you that is bitter. Ever stop to think of that?

You are a ranting nonsensical lunatic that doesn't have any idea about hockey or the Olympics beyond what you look up on the internet.Pretending to take the high road about "amateur pure Olympics" you don't have any frigging idea how at least like James said they ended the hypocrisy by letting NHL players take part and picking apart where people emigrated from to play for their adopted country in phony moral indignation.What a load of crap you are spewing.Going on about International rules and rink size which I bet you didn't know anything about until you started to desperately looking for something to support your worthless argument.Go back to their American teams really where would you have them go?52% of the NHL is made up of Canadians followed by 22% Americans.There is 24 teams in the US and 6 in Canada dictated by the size of the market not by the makeup of the players country of origin.Lament all you want for the return of the pure Olympic spirit(phony from you) it rings hollow in these modern times as games of this scope and talent wouldn't be possible without funding the athletes to allow them to concentrate on one thing.In conclusion you don't know if you are punched bored or reamed when it comes to hockey or the Olympics.

Wow, I really started out with a disliking for the Olympics, traffic changes, working double shifts, not even being able to partake in the Olympics. As the competition went on and the 2 weeks went by it became a normalcy, I watched all the hockey I could whilst I wasnt working and in the end I can say Im a very very proud Canadian. While others play hockey, Canada IS hockey!!. I took a trip downtown on one of my nights off, wandered down Robson and down Granville, down Georgia, and I cant explain the feeling. People were HAPPY,no hostility, just happiness and a great sense of pride in being Canadian. While the Olympics had a very rough start in the end Canada did a great job pulling the Olympics off. I loved the aboriginal participation in the opening ceremonies, wished there had been more aboriginal participation in the closing ceremonies though. Im so glad I could partake in it if even for just a lil bit.

I can't wait until next time when the NHL decides to not allow their players and you're whining because it's amateurs vs Europros.

I agree that by allowing the NHL they stopped the hypocrisy. But I think what they should've done is stop the Europros.
That would probably give Canada the biggest advantage.

I've known about international rules in the Olympics since I started watching the Olympics and was old enough to be coherent, which was quite a long time ago. If hockey wasn't popular in Europe and the NHL was the only game in town there wouldn't be hockey in the Olympics any more than there's NFL football in the Olympics.

What's phoney is you. We shall see the truth when the NHL makes their decision.
It's certainly not that I was 'reamed', I was talking about this long before Sunday. But the fact that it didn't become a topic for you guys Sunday must have something to do with your opinion.

Then you should know that they play on a rink that is the size of what is used where they play.North America would be our size rink and when it's played in Russia it will be played on the larger rink.This would have happened whether the NHL was involved or not.If we don't have NHL involvement next time you won't see the best from here or Europe.Hopefully we won't have Gary Bettman screwing up the NHL by then.There isn't that huge of a gap in the rules any more.You are the one whining that you would rather watch a local farm team which by the way are still being paid to play hockey.To get where you want we would be watching pond hockey with coffee cans for goals.

I already said that about the size of the ice.

It wouldn't quite be pond hockey. It would be Olympic Hockey where amateur teams competed throughout the years between Olympics. Some would be from college teams, some would be from highschool teams. Some would be special Olympic teams not much different than gymnastics or figure skating.

The difference without the NHL is I would have an easier time being for my country's team because it wouldn't be what amounts to an NHL pro-bowl, especially if it comes down to Canada vs USA again.

What you will see without the NHL is some of the best from Europe vs the not yet anybodys from North America unless the IOC changes the rules for Olympic qualification and they won't because it's not all about Hockey.

Cmon Myk you really can't believe even if they changed the rules countries would be bending them to get around using pros like we saw with the former USSR saying the team was in the army.The best from Europe are mostly here.The NHL scouts over there as well and if asked most jump at the chance.It will still end up being an inferior brand of hockey.You really think that the players from European countries that weren't from the NHL were of the same caliber?Why do you want to see second best?

I'm sure there would be cheating.
But you also can't tell me that if we had a 16 year old Jagr that wanted to go pro at 19 we wouldn't slip him some under the table money to keep him amatuer. College scholarship perhaps?

But like I said it's not going to happen because it's not just about hockey.

Second best isn't that bad when they're playing equal caliber players. I never miss a televised local farm team game because they're pretty good games.
Was this bad hockey to watch? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_on_Ice

The dog's breakfast you describe may be what you would want to see. Personally, I'd rather watch paint dry while having bamboo slivers shoved under my fingernails.

And this highly competitive hockey tournament we've just watched, among the world's best playing at their peak performance level, is not in any way compatible the throwaway NFL Pro Bowl game. Even to suggest so is insulting.

Perhaps you should try to find a better analogy, or dream up a more appealing scenario -- that is, if you want to be taken seriously.

Maybe you should try coming up with some better thought out arguments if you want to be taken seriously.

What is insulting is what you just called all the previous amateur Olympians. Somewhere around 100 years of Olympians, Canada's first hockey winners from when it was an exhibition sport, all "dog's breakfast" who would be less entertaining to watch than paint drying or bamboo slivers shoved under your fingernails.

Yes it was competitive. So are All-Star games and Pro-Bowls. You'd better start up a writing campaign to a lot of sports writers if you want that analogy to end. It's exactly what it was once it got down to Canada vs US and 100% of the players were NHL.

Actually, from your perspective, Gary Bettman the President of the NHL won. Since he became part of the NHL he's bastardized the game. Watching pre-game events of NHL games (i.e. laser lights etc.) is comparable to watching "Professional Wrestling". ;-) ;-) ;-)

You can bet if there wasn't something in it for the NHL and the teams they would not be suspending their season every four years.

Putting the NHL players out there for the world to watch gets new NHL fans. All those Canadian players on US teams trade value just went up.

I totally agree. I'm sure that some NHL scouts were in attendance.

So nice to see your Olympic spirit, you make all Americans proud. :rolleyes:

My spirit is great. Not surprising you only see certain words when they are not used by your Canadian lapdog. Must be really hard watching the Olympics with your chair swaying 6 feet from center all day long.

Canada can't "own the podium" so they decided to cheat and take the US down.

I can handle Short Track DQ's and the 500m DQ on Ono would been acceptable if Canada had been DQ'd for touching Korea in that race and they would've been DQ'd for touching Ono when he slipped in a previous race.

A Canadian ref on Canadian soil when two Canadians are in the medal race? Ono gets DQ'd for having a hand on a Canadian that goes down but the Canadian doesn't get DQ'd for having a hand on the Korean that goes down at the same time a few feet away?
Yeah, that one doesn't smell at all.

That guy took a friggin dive to insure his teammate wins gold! He should have been DQ'd for hitting Ono's leg with his left hand just before he went down. Ono barely touched him. Brings back memories of the old Russian judges in figure skating.

Are you going to contact homeland security to declare war on Canada over an Olympic medal????

Google the name Stacey Livingstone. She was the "unbiased" "Yank" referee during a Canada, U.S. hockey game at Salt Lake in 2002. With all her cheap calls Canada still won!!!!
:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

No call for war from me but it sounds like you're still holding something from Salt Lake.
I bet you'd really go over the edge if you heard what I thought about sending Vonn and Mancuso down on the same foggy course at the same time.

I have no idea what happens when 2 people are DQ'd in a 4 man medal race, but if 1 was worthy of a DQ, 2 should've been DQ'd.
Really for a medal race neither should've been DQ'd. Neither seemed intentional or major and actual bumping is overlooked in medal races.

DQ's happen, that's short track. Bad DQ's happen, that's also short track.
Just apply the same criteria to everyone.

I find nothing about Stacey Livingstone. But they shouldn't have had a hometeam ref for that either. It's bad enough the Olympics has that stuff entering the judging contests, they don't need it entering into everything else.
Is that what you want from the Olympics? Just wait until Short Track when South Korea gets the winter games.

Quote:

I have no idea what happens when 2 people are DQ'd in a 4 man medal race

Just before that final, they had what they called a "B" final just for the purpose of promoting 1 or 2 of those racers to the podium if needed.

That's what that's about.
I bet Ho-Suk would've been kicking himself over not trying.

Yeah that call is pretty inconsistent. Given that we don't have scifi-like, pressure sensitive suites that can tell how hard one guy is pressing on another, we should at least be consistent about it. If you want to say, "if you touch, and the other guy goes down, then you are at fault", that's fine. But let's apply that to everyone.

Quote:

QUOTE:
Canada can't "own the podium" so they decided to cheat and take the US down.

Wow ,what an ''ugly american'' you are.

We won 14 Gold medals,the most ever by any country,period.

Oh and if you want to compare athletes in the Olympics,lets talk about the N.B.A. players being in them and blowing teams away by 60-70 points.

How is that fair?

1 of those medals was a cheap win. It should've been Korea gold, Canada silver and I think Korea bronze, or Canada gold, US silver, Korea bronze. Instead it was Canada gold, Korea silver, Canada bronze.

I was for the Steelers in the SuperBowl that the refs made a lot of bad calls. As far as I care that win wasn't a Steelers win.

If you hadn't noticed I was including ALL pros, not just NHL. NHL and the NBA should not be in the Olympics. I imagine Soccer is in there too but I don't pay any attention to that game.
So yes, let's talk about NBA. Everything I've said above applies.

All in all - a wonderful gathering of people showing off their accomplishments on a world-wide basis.

There were the inevitable stories of disappointment, injury, & personal loss, but the spirit & perserverence of our best young athletes were demonstrated.

Were the world that way as a generality on a day-to-day basis instead of every 4 years. Here's hoping we'll all be around 4 years from now.

:clap: :clap:
Fred

Absolutely!

This was an especially gratifying Olympics for me. Putting on the games is a huge undertaking, and Canada did an excellent job.

I have a long memory of previous Summer and Winter Olympics games and there are inevitably some questionable decisions, but they were few and far between in Canada. This was one of the few games in which judging was not a main topic of discussion instead of performances.

This was largely due to the new rules this year to make judging more objective, but also because of the Canadian's innate sense of fair play. I only hope the games in Russia four years hence are as well judged.

Quote:

QUOTE:
Absolutely!

This was an especially gratifying Olympics for me. Putting on the games is a huge undertaking, and Canada did an excellent job.

I have a long memory of previous Summer and Winter Olympics games and there are inevitably some questionable decisions, but they were few and far between in Canada. This was one of the few games in which judging was not a main topic of discussion instead of performances.

This was largely due to the new rules this year to make judging more objective, but also because of the Canadian's innate sense of fair play. I only hope the games in Russia four years hence are as well judged.

It was the most thoroughly organized event I have ever seen.
As one who works in the Transportation system in Vancouver, I can tell you they pulled out all the stops and spared no expense for this event.

Holidays and leave for all transit operators (over a thousand) as well as supervisors and pretty well all transit staff was canceled for the month of Feb.
All transit operators and supervisors were paid a full day's pay to attend a six hour Olympic training session to make sure everyone knew what was going on and where.
All bus, rapid rail, and sea bus service was extended.
Apart from the regular service there were large numbers of extra buses in different locations waiting to be dispatched to any location where they were needed within minutes.

Things went very smoothly considering the huge crowds that had to be moved every day.

I spoke to many people from all over the the U.S. and Canada during the Olympics and many said that ours was the best transit system they had ever seen.
The fact that most of our buses (diesel and electric) are brand new probably helped as well.

All in all, I think all the visitors were happy and enjoyed the city.

One lady from the state of Georgia told me that if there was a second life, she hoped she could come back as a resident of Vancouver...

Quote:

QUOTE:
Absolutely!

This was an especially gratifying Olympics for me. Putting on the games is a huge undertaking, and Canada did an excellent job.

I have a long memory of previous Summer and Winter Olympics games and there are inevitably some questionable decisions, but they were few and far between in Canada. This was one of the few games in which judging was not a main topic of discussion instead of performances.

This was largely due to the new rules this year to make judging more objective, but also because of the Canadian's innate sense of fair play. I only hope the games in Russia four years hence are as well judged.

Judging by the Russians negative reaction to their results,we already know how those games will go.

They will have to win at all costs,unfortunately.