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Post by MelMac on Feb 12, 2010 17:04:25 GMT -5
Well, here we are at the Winter Olympics in Canada. From the sound of things, this is going to be a very unusual Olympics, starting with apparently an INDOOR opening ceremony (I think first of its kind).
And, today they had a luge contestant from Georgia (the country) die in practice. It makes me wonder if a. They're going to have the luge and b. if they will even consider the skeleton race, since that goes head first and could be just as deadly given these conditions. (Not sure about bobsled, as there is at least some protection with the sled).
I personally am still going to watch, because the games are every other year and there are quite a few sports I like more in the Winter Games to the number I like watching in the Summer.
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Post by HoudiniDerek on Feb 16, 2010 12:19:02 GMT -5
I am not really a watcher of the Olympics. My condolences go out to the family and team members of the Georgian athlete who died though. It's a sad state of affairs for all the competitors.
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Post by MelMac on Feb 16, 2010 22:37:09 GMT -5
I am not really a watcher of the Olympics. My condolences go out to the family and team members of the Georgian athlete who died though. It's a sad state of affairs for all the competitors. Yes I agree - and, I will get on my soapbox here because I really truly feel for the Georgian delegation and his family, I was DEEPLY dismayed that NBC and the other stations aired the footage of the actual crash. While yes, there has been footage of dead bodies in things such as the Indonesian tsunami a few years ago and Haiti, these were massive devastation and such. I can vouch looking on wire sites that have photos of these events, it's very difficult to find any type of photo without a dead body/body part peeping out somewhere. (It is possible though). That's just a fact of life. To me, showing this footage of the luger was just improper on so many levels. There was the family to consider, there was just a matter of taste - even Sept. 11 and "9-11" (the film those documentarians made), they did NOT show the people jumping off the Towers to their deaths. Yes, they did maintain the sounds... but no, no footage: because of taste and sensitivity. How is this different? Maybe that's just the common sense/tact POV in me when I watch these news shows, and understand stills - but still, was it worth actually showing the FOOTAGE? |
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Post by HoudiniDerek on Feb 16, 2010 22:47:27 GMT -5
They should have done it after the Olympics. I watched the women's biathalon today. It was not what I expected sadly.  |
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Post by MelMac on Feb 17, 2010 0:13:24 GMT -5
They should have done it after the Olympics. I watched the women's biathalon today. It was not what I expected sadly. What I like about the competition is that they have to hit a target the size of a silver dollar in order for it to turn white and not be assessed a penalty. In Nordic combined the other day, it was also snowing and given the target is white, it made it so challenging that I felt all three medalists earned their medals. I'm looking forward to the half pipe and the rest of figure skating. Bobsled and skeleton interest me too, not just because they're fun to watch but because I wonder if they're going to shorten the tracks again for those two events. The skeleton I can understand them keeping the track starts the same as the luge, given that the racers go head first, but bobsled does go a bit slower. |
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Post by HoudiniDerek on Feb 17, 2010 0:20:15 GMT -5
That's fine, but they are standing still. I would prefer a bigger target AND have them shooting while they ski, which would be better.  |
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Post by MelMac on Feb 17, 2010 11:13:47 GMT -5
That's fine, but they are standing still. I would prefer a bigger target AND have them shooting while they ski, which would be better. That would be fun to watch - I agree. Reminds me of a book they did during the Barcelona or Atlanta games for kids where they mocked (in a fun way) some of the things athletes do in sports, and added a fun twist to it. One case was archery, where they said it wasn't fun if they have all these sights and balances so... add a balance board to it for the challenge. ;D I do think the South Koreans are being bad sports in saying that Apolo Ohno shouldn't have won the silver in the 1,500 for "Shoving." Never mind the fact that the officials obviously viewed the video and didn't DQ him (so it wasn't serious if it occurred) and the other two Koreans eliminated themselves with that slipped skate. |
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Post by HoudiniDerek on Feb 18, 2010 1:12:44 GMT -5
I don't watch the other sports. I'm not really an Olympics person, especially not the winter ones. ;D
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