Vancouver Olympics Discussion

[FreezeC77]

I am a 40 year old man who prides himself on a long history of learning and knowing a little bit about everything. And I have no idea what Curling is about. Can someone please tell me what the hell they are doing!?

It's shuffleboard on ice. Basically. You're trying to get your stones/circle things inside a certain scoring zone and then the opposing player/team tries to knock it out of the scoring section.

 

[Geck]

I am a 40 year old man who prides himself on a long history of learning and knowing a little bit about everything. And I have no idea what Curling is about. Can someone please tell me what the hell they are doing!?

I'm a competitive curler, and yeah, it confuses a lot of people who have never played before. It's a mixture of skill and strategy. Two teams of four, each player throws two shots, with the ultimate goal being to get rocks of your colour closest to the centre of the rings on the far side of the sheet at the end of each end (round). Only the closest team gets points at the end - one point for each rock closer than the closest opponent rock. The team with the most point after 8 or 10 ends wins.

The purpose of sweeping is to (a) straighten the path of the rock/reduce the amount of curl, and (b) make it go farther. The friction heats the ice just enough to have that effect. I'm not a physicist so can't get too specific how effective it is, but it works.

It's a great social sport. Tradition is after a game you go up to the bar and the winning team buys drinks for the losing team. Most people are surprised by how fun the game is when they finally try it - it's a lot harder than it works, and sweeping is a surprisingly good workout.

That's the nutshell version. Watch a game on TV, you'll either enjoy it or be bored to tears, haha. The commentators are usually quite good at explaining the strategy of the game as it goes on.

 

[FreezeC77]

I'm pretty bored by now and just waiting for the inevitable Gretzky torch lightning. I hope he has a hockey stick and 'wrist-shots' the flame from the torch.

 

[Zulu Romeo]

It'll be Shatner.

 

[FreezeC77]

BTW can I just say that Olympic Torch looks retarded. Is it supposed to be a 22nd century Bic lighter version of it?

*edit* oh noez the Canadians arez broken!

 

[PlainSimpleJoel]

I knew it would be him, before it even got to him. Almost time now.

 

[FreezeC77]

lol poor Canadians. You wait all this time for the Olympics again get the entire world watching and boom goes the dynamite.

Poor Steve Nash, he gets screwed over

 

[Hunter X]

When Canada did the opening festivities with the First Nations, were they all actual representatives of the First Nations? Cuz damn some of them looked as white as me and I'm Irish/German.

Yeah, they're all actual First Nations. Could you imagine the controversy if Canada had white people imitating First Nations to represent them in a ceremony like that? It would be akin to having the Olympic games in New Orleans and during the jazz tribute having it performed by a bunch of white dudes in black-face. I think some of the First Nations people have lighter skin because Canada is a colder climate...it wouldn't surprise me if that was completely incorrect, though.

Overall I thought the ceremony was all right. The best part by far was the fiddling/dancing, though I also liked the Cathedral Grove tribute--mostly because that was basically my backyard growing up--and the whales blowing vapor, swimming through the stage. The Nellie Furtado/Bryan Adams song was awful--obvious lipsynching too--as was the prairie tribute and certain parts of other sections dragged on too long. Also, would someone please tell Brian Williams and Lloyd Robertson to shut up? I can see that the "waves" are washing into the crowd and that the Northern Lights are now above the performers. And stop telling me what's going to happen next. You two are like those annoying friends who never shut up during a movie you haven't seen yet, and describe upcoming scenes just to annoy you more.

 

[Gil T.Azell]

...... Also, would someone please tell Brian Williams and Lloyd Robertson to shut up? I can see that the "waves" are washing into the crowd and that the Northern Lights are now above the performers. And stop telling me what's going to happen next. You two are like those annoying friends who never shut up during a movie you haven't seen yet, and describe upcoming scenes just to annoy you more.

They also must be really blind when Wayne Gretzky was carrying the torch in the car they commented on how long it was burning that it was special., I saw the exchange.

 

[Squiggy]

 

[Mr. Adventure]

^^ So I wasn't the only one who thought that

 

[tomalak301]

That was a bit embarassing with the Cauldron. At least they got it lit, but after China, I don't think anything could top that.

You know what I miss though. It's 12:30 AM at night, and I want to see an Olympic event. One year it was Rowing, the last summer games it was Fencing. I'm anxious to see something.

 

[Malleus]

It was the best Winter Olympics opening ceremony ever. Beat that!

Seriously, there are too many complaints about the cauldron gaffe and lip-synching, and too many comparisons to Beijing. How about topping all the other Winter Olympics opening ceremonies for starters, being held in a metropolitan area?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Poor Uzbekistan. They got crushed in between the US and Canadian delegations. The Uzbekians should have gone on before the Americans, even though it's not alphabetical. I don't think they even *showed* the Uzbek athletes onscreen, did they?

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Poor Uzbekistan. They got crushed in between the US and Canadian delegations. The Uzbekians should have gone on before the Americans, even though it's not alphabetical. I don't think they even *showed* the Uzbek athletes onscreen, did they?

I'm suprised NBC would show anyone after they got to the United States.

 

[Roger Wilco]

Men's downhill postponed to monday, great choice of venue.
Well, they have two weeks to continue moving it back, maybe they get lucky sometime...

 

[Gil T.Azell]

Men's downhill postponed to monday, great choice of venue.
Well, they have two weeks to continue moving it back, maybe they get lucky sometime...

well I dought they could have predicted the weather all those years ago when the venue/host was chosen.
Also the weather here on the West coast has been effected by El Niño

 

[Roger Wilco]

I'm not complaining about the Vancouver Olympics in general, but there are always problems with races in Whistler.

Anyway, skijumping is starting soon, please may the best one win, as long as his name isn't Ammann.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Poor Uzbekistan. They got crushed in between the US and Canadian delegations. The Uzbekians should have gone on before the Americans, even though it's not alphabetical. I don't think they even *showed* the Uzbek athletes onscreen, did they?

I'm suprised NBC would show anyone after they got to the United States.

You think they would have intentionally ignored Canada's athletes? A group almost as large as ours? Not even NBC would do that.

 

[Malleus]

Anyway, skijumping is starting soon, please may the best one win, as long as his name isn't Ammann.

Ammann won the qualification round.