PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games

[Shoogs]

I'm very much a sucker for the Olympics; I like the athlete story lines, the underdogs and admire people who dedicate their life to a relatively obscure sport.

I'm really looking forward to seeing Maame Biney, short track speed skating, and Ashley Caldwell Aerial skier... others as well of course, but their stories are amazing.

[Matthew Strongin]

As a South Floridian living in South Florida, the Winter Olympics is full of sports that are completely foreign to me, which is exactly why I enjoy them so much.

[ChristianWong]

As a Canadian, I love the Winter Olympics. However, the NHL withholding its players from the Games is a travesty for hockey. The Olympics is about bringing the best in sport together to a test of mettle. Having a bunch of former pros and juniors is less than appealing for a viewer. I imagine it would have detrimental effects the international hockey fan-base and participation rates. Seems like a short-sighted move by the NHL.

[Shoogs]

As a South Floridian living in South Florida, the Winter Olympics is full of sports that are completely foreign to me, which is exactly why I enjoy them so much.

Grew up in Palm Beach County, I get that.

the Biney article is a nice read...

U.S. Olympian Maame Biney’s short-track speedskating journey, from Ghana to PyeongChang - The Washington Post

[j44ke]

As a Canadian, I love the Winter Olympics. However, the NHL withholding its players from the Games is a travesty for hockey. The Olympics is about bringing the best in sport together to a test of mettle. Having a bunch of former pros and juniors is less than appealing for a viewer. I imagine it would have detrimental effects the international hockey fan-base and participation rates. Seems like a short-sighted move by the NHL.

The big team sports in the Olympics don't make any sense to me. I'd much rather have individual sports than professional behemoths like baseball, hockey, soccer, etc. Those big sports have big money and big championships already. Give the individual athletes an opportunity to shine.

If you absolutely need to have the big teams, make them amateur again. The only reason they allowed pros in is so the US could finally beat the USSR.

[ChristianWong]

If you absolutely need to have the big teams, make them amateur again. The only reason they allowed pros in is so the US could finally beat the USSR.

Maybe I was a bit dramatic with my original post.

That being said, I'd rather have no hockey or amateur teams than the teams we are seeing this year.

[gt6267a]

i love sports where its possible to measure the results with a stopwatch or tape measure. while some of the judged events are beautiful, humans suck a measuring with their eyes. comparing the elapsed time to ski down a mountain in increasingly contrived snake like paths, awesome. judging whether some guy had more flair going over big bumps in the snow, seems totally subjective about who gets a lifetime of championship Vs coming in 4th and not getting the cereal box pay day. add on politics in judging and its a mockery how hard these people work to get judged subjectively. don't get me wrong, the athletic achievements are amazing, i just despise splitting hairs by subjectively judging a group of people.

[72gmc]

Curling!

[j44ke]

I would like to say that yes, I have curled and yes, I was actually pretty good at it, surprising for someone who weighs about as much as one of those stones. If you have a chance to do so, go play a game or two.

[rwsaunders]

I was talking about the cold weather at the Olympics with my Dad, who served with the 1st Marine Division during the Korean Conflict in the early 50’s. “Coldest freakin’ place that I’ve ever been in my life. Why the hell they’re holding the Olympics there is beyond me.”

[bironi]

Curling!

Love the curling too. Can anyone tell me what is going on with the young male curler from South Korea on the mixed team. He keeps doing these long hard eye squints while performing. Any ideas?

[lumpy]

5th place for Jessie Diggins in the 15k skiathlon: Heck yeah, best finish ever for an American woman nordic skier. We saw her running down Stratton Mountain this summer, what a terrific athlete.

[bking]

Love it as well. I never watch as much as I hope to, but when it's over I'm always a bit sad to see it go. I also find myself rooting for S Korea, great short track skating today. Happy to see the host nation that seems to be a great Olympic host, and whether or not it produces results, I love what they've done to try to include N. Korea. Class.

[ides1056]

Lest anyone think there are no quotable athletes on the South Korean team, consider what Kim Ye-jin said on Thursday after practicing alongside two North Korean male skaters. “We had general conversations,” she said, according to South Korean media. “Jong called me ugly, so I told him back, ‘Did you look in the mirror?’”

I love this from the NYTimes story.

I did short track inline, and it was insane. The velocity, the contact, the G-forces. There's a long learning curve, and it comes like a revelation when you finally get it, when you are literally flying. The bomb.

[72gmc]

5th place for Jessie Diggins in the 15k skiathlon: Heck yeah, best finish ever for an American woman nordic skier. We saw her running down Stratton Mountain this summer, what a terrific athlete.

The US women's nordic team is so much fun to watch. Who doesn't love relay socks?

[lumpy]

The US women's nordic team is so much fun to watch. Who doesn't love relay socks?

Sophie Caldwell's blog is always a good read as well: Sophie Caldwell.

This past summer my son and his girlfriend and I were hiking up Stratton Mountain in southern Vermont and Jessie Diggins came running down. Super impressive. Super nice and friendly, too.

[j44ke]

Marit Bjørgen - krikey. I remember her biceps from the last Olympics. She took two years off to have a baby? And here she is with a silver in the skiathlon. Chapeau.

[j44ke]

Also where's the snow? They've done a good job at the X-Country ski course laying down snow so the entire area looks covered for the action shots, but the helicopter camera shows nothing but brown dirt all around.

[Shoogs]

5th place for Jessie Diggins in the 15k skiathlon: Heck yeah, best finish ever for an American woman nordic skier. We saw her running down Stratton Mountain this summer, what a terrific athlete.

Helluva race, that one.

[Shoogs]

I’ll be honest. It’s irritating to me that Russia is in the Olympics but not in the Olympics.
Stop waffling and ban them for real