Olympic "sports" (curmudgeon warning)

[Penguin]

I admit right up front that I absolutely love the winter olympics. And I am a bit of a traditionalist.

I consider cross-country skiing to be THE premier endurance sport in the world. I love watching the 30 mile race that usually is one of the last events. The bobsled races are absolutely amazing. Downhill skiing gives me shivers it is so cool. Luge, skeleton, distance skating, all of it is out of this world.

Almost.

I want to know exactly who thought flipping loopty-loops on a half pipe or jumping twirly-gigs off a ramped up mogul was on par with these great Olympic sports. You mean to tell me some 17 year old hipster who comes up with a new ~move~ that impresses a judge can get the same gold medal that a man who trains for 10 brutal years just to be competitive on a world stage at biathlon? Come on.

You gotta know Norway is snickering under their breath at all these "sports" that only seem to have caught on in the US and Canada. Since when is a sport something a judge has to tell you who the winner is? I am shaking my head sadly at the state of affairs in the US Olympic system.

The bronze medal that Erin Hamlin won is more meaningful than all of these golds that all of these hipsters have won since these idiotic "sports" were added to the roster. And what is worse all of this trash takes up prime time that could be spent on real competitions.

Rant off. :)

Will

[Buckrub]

Stuff where a judge has to tell me who won............that ain't sports. Sports keeps a running score.

[BarryBobPosthole]

I'm always a USA fan first, but it was cool to see that Mayer kid from Austria win that downhill competition. I remember watching his Dad compete in the Olympics in the 80's. I guess I've been a fan of winter sports ever since listening to 'the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat' on ABC Wide World of Sports. I'm with Bucky on the judged events. I like the timed ones better. the women's biathalon was fun to watch and the men and women's 'ski-athalon' was pretty fun to watch too.

I can't wait for skeleton. that's the one that takes balls of steel.

BKB

[Bwana]

So Posthole, how does one go about watching the biathlon? From what I see those events take place at around 8:00 - 9:00 am our time when the morning news shows are on. My kids have mentioned really wanting to see it but not sure how to make that happen. Any insight?

[BarryBobPosthole]

I'm afraid the biathlon is over for this Olympics. Slovakia won its first ever gold in women's 10K with some awesome shooting and I think the other shorter race was won by Belarus. On the men's side the Nordskies won, as per usual. I don't know how they shoot like that barely being able to catch a breath. What kind of rifles are those, 22s?
BKB

[Penguin]

Yeah, I agree with you bucky. No real sport needs a judges scorecard to tell you who won. And that includes boxing and figure skating if you ask me.

Barry I think the skeleton is a great one too. My wife was saying how cool it would be to ride one of those things and I agree. Then she said it would be scary as hell and I again had to agree with her. :)

I've always wanted to drive a bobsled. Man that is one slick ride. Can't wait till that stuff gets off the ground later on. Hopefully we will have a good team but you never know till they start going down the track.

That old dude that won the biathlon was something else... that little flag of spit hanging off his chin aside. That was kid of groty. He should have grown a beard the way the old crosscountry guys used to do. At first I thought it was a zipper or something lol.

Will

[Chicken Dinner]

Biathalong is the best sport. Ever. Gotta love a sport where a 7.5k is the sprint and they make you take an extra lap when you miss. They showed some of it during the day this past weekend.

[Chicken Dinner]

TBH, I haven't watched much of the prime time stuff. Every time I slip over to it, there's a commercial on...

[BarryBobPosthole]

Most of what I've watched too has been the late night stuff. the ski jumpers is another of my favorites. Man those dudes can do some flying.

BKB

[Penguin]

I'm lucky. My cable package automatically puts up the different olympic sports so you don't have to wade through others if you are willing to wait a half day or so after it is over. And you can fast forward through the commericals. :)

Will

[Buckrub]

Channel surfing is ALWAYS on a commercial. Every channel. Content is about 10% of the time, best I can figure.

We have some kind of "hit the red button for a list of all olympic events on tv today" and if you hit it, you get a list by channel of each sport by hour of day.

[LJ3]

Definitely a curmudgeonly post :)

Go sit in the corner with Bucky.
And Jimmy...
And JB...
And BBP...
Eddie...
Cap'n...
etc...

Crap... where'd everyone go?!?!?

[Penguin]

~snort~

I have arrived at last. :)

Will

[Buckrub]

I'm so wrongly accused constantly.

[LJ3]

While that may br true... you ARE a curmudgeon.

BUT... and it's a big BUT. Since Jimmy died 19 times, he has become a MUCH bigger curmudgeon than you... So you're just a member, not the President.

[Thumper]

I gots yer dang curmudgeon hangin', Ticboy! ;)

[Buckrub]

See?? Proof!

[HideHunter]

I know it's a different Olympics - but as long as they give little girls medals to twirl ribbons - I guess snowboarding don't bother me much. and I agree with Will on the cross-country. I've done a very little bit of that.. Those people are "hydraulic".

[BarryBobPosthole]

Is that why they always fall down after they cross the finish line?

I always thought a cool olympic sport would be to ski a lap, take a shot of liquor, ski another little bit, shoot at something, anything, then ski a little more, take a shot of liquor,.......you get the idea. And then try NOT to fall down when they cross the finish line. Whoever is still standing wins.

BKB

[Niner]

No real sport needs a judges scorecard to tell you who won. And that includes boxing and figure skating if you ask me.

Will

I could not agree more!

[BaseballCoach (Rev A)]

My youngest asked me if these were the gay Olympics. He saw two men dressed in spandex laying on each other riding a sled and just assumed. Couldn't help but laugh at that one.

[Penguin]

My wife surprised me last night. After watching the pursuit 12.5 km biathlon (the Frenchman won it) she turns to me and said "Wow that was exciting! I want to go out and shoot something!" :)

It is very interesting to see the medal count at this point: Norway 4 gold, 3 silver, 6 bronze. US 4 gold, 2 silver, 6 bronze.

The Norwegians have one silver medal from a judges scorecard that came in snowboarding (I'm neglecting the nordic combined ski jump since the judge almost never determines the winner). The US has only 2 bronze medals from sports not being judged. Ah well, maybe we will get a good medal in hockey. That would be nice I suppose even if we are playing pros.

Will