Winter Olympic Discussion

[TMB]

Glad to hear that. Women's hockey is the forgotten child a lot of the time, but frankly is often far more entertaining than the Men's game. I went to a bunch of the womens' games in Vancouver. Good hockey.

[dashDustin]

I keep coming back and reading this. I can't decide if you are serious or not.

I guess the answer depends entirely on where you get your news from. There have been no shortage of tremendous performances and stories.

I'm not talking about performances. It's the Olympics. Those are a given. I'm talking about the non-sporting press.

[abbeyQ]

When does Men's hockey start? Sorry ladies but I've got no love for you, and neither does my wife.

Figure skating is a waste of ice time. There I said it. So with that in mind, why don't they score the team skating event like they do track and field. Everybody does their event and points are awarded based on finishing position. Highest cumulative score wins. Now I only glanced at this waste of ice time and didn't get a full grasp of it's rules, but it appears that they are essentially doing all of the figure skating TWICE. When does hockey start again?

[bironi]

I agree on the horrible announcers, luckily if you watch the full length live/replays of non-US centric events the announcers are much better.

Please give me a link to save me from the NBC misery.
Thanks much,
Byron

[TMB]

Talk about getting a crappy draw, Slovenia opens the hockey tournament with a game against Russia.

Poor bastards are going in circles. Their goalie is keeping them in it to this point, but he can only do that for so long.

[SteveP]

somebody help me.
the event where they roll the rock down the ice.
what the hell is it with the brooms?

plz make it one sentence. thats how much time in my life i have allocated to this question.

[Tom]

Thank God they have super slo-mo replay in that sport, I'd never be able to follow it without that.

[s_curran]

When does Men's hockey start? Sorry ladies but I've got no love for you, and neither does my wife.

(US) Mens started this morning, some started yesterday. I watched half pf the US vs Slovakia game on dvr so far. US looking pretty solid. Chara is going to come back really tired this year if they Slovenians expect him to carry all the weight.

I enjoy watching the womens because you can really break down the strategies easily on the big ice. Mens more so than in the NHL too, but its so fast these days. That said, a lot of the ladies teams are so far behind the big guns it can get rather boring. The US team is incredible, Canada also played great yesterday. I think the women took a big jump from vancouver, and a big jump before then too, there doing things I've never seen women attempt.

One more thing about womens hockey, the penalty calls are insane, this is still hockey.

And one more thing about NBC, I still hate Pierre McGuire. I thought I would get a break from him watching the Olympics, I was wrong.

[Nathanrtaylor]

plz make it one sentence.

The brooms makes a thin, slippery water layer that helps the stone go straight when it's natural tendency is to "curl" slightly to one side due to the spin the thrower imparts upon release.

[Lewis Moon]

Gah! When does figure skating end? I have absolutely no interest in any of the disciplines of that sport, yet it seems to dominte the coverage. Bring on biathlon, the skeleton, XC, speed skating...anything but figure skating.
Probably needed to be in the grump thread.

[SteveP]

The brooms makes a thin, slippery water layer that helps the stone go straight when it's natural tendency is to "curl" slightly to one side due to the spin the thrower imparts upon release.

tks
..

[abbeyQ]

(US) Mens started this morning, some started yesterday. I watched half pf the US vs Slovakia game on dvr so far. US looking pretty solid. Chara is going to come back really tired this year if they Slovenians expect him to carry all the weight.

I enjoy watching the womens because you can really break down the strategies easily on the big ice. Mens more so than in the NHL too, but its so fast these days. That said, a lot of the ladies teams are so far behind the big guns it can get rather boring. The US team is incredible, Canada also played great yesterday. I think the women took a big jump from vancouver, and a big jump before then too, there doing things I've never seen women attempt.

One more thing about womens hockey, the penalty calls are insane, this is still hockey.

And one more thing about NBC, I still hate Pierre McGuire. I thought I would get a break from him watching the Olympics, I was wrong.

It's been a long time since I've played hockey, but I remember playing against a couple of girls in my pee wee days. Always drove me nuts when they wanted to half play with the boys. It's all or nothing little lady. Of course I was ~ 5' 9" in the fifth grade without skates on so I imagine I could seem a bit intimidating.

[sailor]

Per request here is the link to the full replays
2014 Winter Olympics Live Extra Schedule | NBC Olympics
Announcer quality varies by sport, the alpine announcers are slightly annoying, the speed skating and nordic ones are much better. You need to log in with a cable subscription, I borrowed one from a family member. I tried streaming the CBC but the VPN made the video too choppy to watch, and NBC has solid speeds. I also have noticed I can fastforward most events but not the alpine skiing.

[SteveP]

norway can suck it.
we took all 3 medals in the thing where you ski along a fence and then ski backward for awhile and then turn around and go forward.

haha
america #1.

[echelon_john]

That was a great game.

[rowdyhillrambler]

Southerner with no knowledge of hockey. But, SNAP! What o game. The pressure on Oshie must have been great, kid is a baller.. Outsider looking in and all. Rowdy

[tele]

That was a great game and end....hard to believe that wasnt even for a medal!

[TMB]

The brooms makes a thin, slippery water layer that helps the stone go straight when it's natural tendency is to "curl" slightly to one side due to the spin the thrower imparts upon release.

Small point but they don't use brooms any more. Brushes now. Only brushes. Usually foam so no hairs can be left on the ice and cause a rock to either die or go off line.

Brooms were made of corn fiber and they left corn all over the ice. But man, the sound of two powerful brushes working the corn brooms in a closed space ... Holy smoke.

It's been a long time since I've played hockey, but I remember playing against a couple of girls in my pee wee days. Always drove me nuts when they wanted to half play with the boys. It's all or nothing little lady. Of course I was ~ 5' 9" in the fifth grade without skates on so I imagine I could seem a bit intimidating.

I was at a major-junior game last night. One of the blue liners on the visiting team was 17 yrs old. 6'7" and 245 pounds. He was the only thing you saw on the ice when they came out for the warm up.

[christian]

Charlotte Kalla. Goosebumps! What a performance.

[SteveP]

Charlotte Kalla. Goosebumps! What a performance.

was fantastic.
she chased for a long time, caught and smoked the finish.
great work.