Winter Olympics

[robinb]

Ugh. It looks like the norovirus is sweeping through the Olympics area. There are already 128 cases.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Hopefully they have as big a supply of Gatorade as they do condoms!

 

[cabanafrau]

Maybe instead of a subjective committee vote, they could go to event scoring like World Cup Skiing, NASCAR Chase, Golf FedEx points, etc. I don't follow figure skating, but it seems like Rippon might still have got in, but perhaps with less controversy.

Maybe that would help, I really couldn't say. What I do know is figure skating needs to clean up its judging. It's been dirty for so long that it's beyond ridiculous. I think that has a lot to do with why I've basically drifted away from watching for the last 20-ish years. Used to be my favorite. For years I've looked forward to watching almost everything but figure skating at the Olympics. Now I absolutely adore the chaos of snowcross, the unbelievable endurance and skill of biathlon, the guts to fling yourself off a hill in ski jumping. And bring on the curlers, preferably in pants that hurt my eyes, thank you very much.

I find myself drifting more and more to events where nobody is a "marquis name" and there's no mad rush to tell me why Suzie, Hans or Ragnild has been a prodigy since they were four and what mummy fed them for breakfast every morning. Don't care.

 

[Cogswel_Cogs]

I didn't get to watch the figure skating controversy neither skater sounded like they did to well at Nationals.
And it seemed like the big name boarder guy squeaked in with a perfect run on his last chance.
I am sure there are certain people they want in for a number of reasons and due there best to get them in.

 

[declansdad]

Here is the article since you are unable to read it:


U.S. Figure Skating committee picks Olympic stars but leaves heartbreak in its wake
Christine BrennanUpdated 6:06 p.m. ET Jan. 7, 2018
These are the women that will represent the U.S. in Pyeongchang, South Korea in February. USA TODAY Sports

The article says there is a 3 tiered ranking system but then says they ignore it. Do you know what the selection process is?

 

[soccerdad72]

The article says there is a 3 tiered ranking system but then says they ignore it. Do you know what the selection process is?

 

[Turn the Page]

Maybe instead of a subjective committee vote, they could go to event scoring like World Cup Skiing, NASCAR Chase, Golf FedEx points, etc. I don't follow figure skating, but it seems like Rippon might still have got in, but perhaps with less controversy.

Of course the problem with that is the scoring within individual competitions is still highly subjective. There are technical scores that reflect the difficulty of elements the skaters attempt but there are also execution scores where judges determine how well elements are done as well as other things like musical interpretation and skating quality. The examples you named like World Cup Skiing, Golf, and NASCAR all are pretty cut and dried. You ski the fastest you win. You cross the finish line first you win. You have the fewest strokes you win. Skating isn't like that at all. Skating, like gymnastics, is heavily based on the judges' discretion which makes it inherently difficult to standardize.

 

[declansdad]

Of course the problem with that is the scoring within individual competitions is still highly subjective. There are technical scores that reflect the difficulty of elements the skaters attempt but there are also execution scores where judges determine how well elements are done as well as other things like musical interpretation and skating quality. The examples you named like World Cup Skiing, Golf, and NASCAR all are pretty cut and dried. You ski the fastest you win. You cross the finish line first you win. You have the fewest strokes you win. Skating isn't like that at all. Skating, like gymnastics, is heavily based on the judges' discretion which makes it inherently difficult to standardize.

and very easy to cheat

 

[declansdad]

 

[ashley0139]

That is my understanding. They are part of the team officially, I want to say they can share in the medals if it is a team event... like I think that is what happened with the team gymnastics' alternate, but they are not allowed to compete in any of the individuals. LOL hard to keep up with all the regulations. But I think that it is kinda like everyone on the hockey team gets a medal if the team wins, even if they don't see any ice time during the games. Alternates have uniforms, march in the ceremonies etc.

Does figure skating have a team event like gymnastics? Or is it all individual events?

Alternates for the Olympic gymnastics definitely do NOT get medals. Figure skating does not have a team event.

I am a four-year skiing fan. What did Vonn do?

 

[cabanafrau]

Alternates for the Olympic gymnastics definitely do NOT get medals. Figure skating does not have a team event.

I am a four-year skiing fan. What did Vonn do?

Tune in to NBC primetime coverage tonight for coverage of the figure skating team event -- the first competition occurred in Sochi four years ago.

 

[jrmasm]

Alternates for the Olympic gymnastics definitely do NOT get medals. Figure skating does not have a team event.

I am a four-year skiing fan. What did Vonn do?

She made a political comment.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Thank you for the post.

Still got to say... that vote was not close. 11 to 1. Those are a lot of folks who had no faith in Miner... and more faith in Rippon. That is the way it goes. Not the only sport to do this. Gabby Douglas was included on the last USA Gymnastic's team for the same reason. Sometimes the entirety of your career's successes is more important than a single day.

Here's the thing. The guy that finished second was clearly a one hit wonder. Do you take the one hit wonder or the guy that's been performing but had a bad day? Obviously in Olympic swimming, because it's a series of individual events, you don't have that problem. And even if you did, if a guy isn't on form in the trials, the chances of him being in form at the olympics is not high. In skating, the same guy that fell on his rump 5 times can pop off a flawless performance as soon as the next day. But in team swimming, with limited number of events per swimmer, the coaches are faced with the same kinds of decisions. There's no right answer. In the end the coaches or in this case the committee has to make the decision it feels is best.

 

[ashley0139]

Tune in to NBC primetime coverage tonight for coverage of the figure skating team event -- the first competition occurred in Sochi four years ago.

There's a team skating competition now? I stand corrected.

 

[ashley0139]

She made a political comment.

Wow, I thought she actually would have done something bad to have people rooting against her like that. Not making a comment they didn't like. How sad.

 

[Jennasis]

Like many, every four years i become an armchair expert in figure skating (you call that a SALCHOW??), skiing, snowboarding (that was totally under-rotated!!) and speed-skating among other sports. I bleed red, white and blue for those 16 days. I don't care about controversy. i don't care about politics (and wish the politicians and statesmen would stay the heck home), and I DO care about the athletes and their stories. What it took to get them where they are..and I LOVE a good dark-horse/Cinderella story.

Let the games begin!

 

[NinaBella]

And here I thought this would be a fun thread. I'm out.

 

[pryncess527]

Really looking forward to the Opening Ceremonies! I will watch as many events as I can online. Skiing, Skating, Snowboarding, Luge & Curling are among my favorites, but it's always fun to watch something new.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Like many, every four years i become an armchair expert in figure skating (you call that a SALCHOW??), skiing, snowboarding (that was totally under-rotated!!) and speed-skating among other sports. I bleed red, white and blue for those 16 days. I don't care about controversy. i don't care about politics (and wish the politicians and statesmen would stay the heck home), and I DO care about the athletes and their stories. What it took to get them where they are..and I LOVE a good dark-horse/Cinderella story.

Let the games begin!

I do, too. Nancy Kerrigan used to skate at the same rink I grew up going to. It helped make it real for me hearing and seeing the local stories about how hard she worked to get where she was. Any athlete that's made it to the Olympics has a great story!

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Wow, I thought she actually would have done something bad to have people rooting against her like that. Not making a comment they didn't like. How sad.

Hey. When Gary Halll made that comment we're going to smash the aussies like guitars, I wasn't necessarily rooting against him. But I thought it funny when we lost the relay he was talking about and the aussies all played their air guitar afterwards. He deserved it for all his smack talk.
We have a female swimmer with a big mouth too. I do root against her. Let your swimming do the talking. You don't have to accuse anyone and everyone that ever beats you of cheating. The ones that claimed they were robbed and it turns out they were drunk and went to the bathroom on the walls and stuff, well if they swim again, I'd kind of like to see them lose to be honest. Behavior like that will tend to get me to root against you even though you're American.

But people were saying they hoped Vonn would break her neck. Most uncool.