Olympics discussion thread.

Post by **fgalkin** » 2006-02-16 01:13pm

That, and we kicked Sweden's ass this morning. Sorry, SDN's Swedes, you got buttraped by the Motherland, like you always do when you try to take us on. Hell, our former capital is a testamet to that

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

Post by **Edi** » 2006-02-16 01:27pm

I watched that. It wasn't so much a hockey game as a massacre. Good thing for us in the sense that now that group has a far more even situation with the points and it might result in us getting a relatively easier opponent in the next round. Depending on how our group ends up looking like.

Slovakia took a win over Latvia (score was 6-3 two minutes before the end, when gf took over the TV to watch figure skating). I was hoping Latvia would pull a tie or even an upset win. The referee was generally good, but he disallowed one Latvian goal for no reason at all. If he hadn't, the game might have looked very different.

The Czechs also lost to Switzerland 2-3, which is all good.

Edi

Master of Ossus · Post by **Master of Ossus** » 2006-02-16 02:40pm

Edi wrote:I watched that. It wasn't so much a hockey game as a massacre. Good thing for us in the sense that now that group has a far more even situation with the points and it might result in us getting a relatively easier opponent in the next round. Depending on how our group ends up looking like.

I actually have to question how good Sweden is against other quality teams, though. Their weird style of hockey seems like a gimick, to me, and their recent Olympic record (given the talent on the team) doesn't strike me as being stellar.

Post by **Edi** » 2006-02-16 02:58pm

Master of Ossus wrote:
Edi wrote:I watched that. It wasn't so much a hockey game as a massacre. Good thing for us in the sense that now that group has a far more even situation with the points and it might result in us getting a relatively easier opponent in the next round. Depending on how our group ends up looking like.
I actually have to question how good Sweden is against other quality teams, though. Their weird style of hockey seems like a gimick, to me, and their recent Olympic record (given the talent on the team) doesn't strike me as being stellar.

Sweden is basically suffering from a huge glut of injuries among many of its star players. Forsberg isn't playing despite his initial inclusion in the team due to an injury, and they've lost half a dozen other really big names the same way.

Most of those losses are among their forward offensive players, which is what their style of hockey relies on. Blunt that edge and they have really big trouble against other teams of like caliber. Their strong point has always been keeping the opponent too busy defending to mount attacks and then just tossing the puck back toward the other end and leaving it at that once they get a big enough lead. I assure you that here that style of play is hated with a passion.

Sweden also suffers from something of a superiority complex which generates another set of problems for them. They're used to being at the top or near there, and regard winning any and all matches as their rightful due. If the opponent's defense manages to frustrate their goal scoring attempts, their players completely flip out, lose control and start taking fucking stupid penalties. If it leads to the other team scoring power play goals, it pisses them off even more and they get into a vicious circle. That's what we saw happen today. When they're good, they're really good, but when they melt down, they go all out.

Edi

aerius · Post by **aerius** » 2006-02-16 03:48pm

Canada leading 4-1 at the beginning of the 3rd period, and McCabe just got a 10 minute misconduct as I'm writing this. Everything is pretty much as expected.

SCRawl · Post by **SCRawl** » 2006-02-16 04:09pm

On the CBC, they're actually cutting into coverage of Olympic hockey -- featuring Canada vs. Germany -- to show figure skating. Gah.

I'm sure that others have said it, but figure skating does not belong in a sporting competition. It is not a sport by any reasonable definition. It might be fun to watch for some people, but that doesn't make it a sport. Sports are not judged for artistic impression.[/rant]

Braedley · Post by **Braedley** » 2006-02-16 04:24pm

I have to agree. That, and the fiasco that the judging was before that isn't prevalent in other judged sports like freestyle skiing, snowboard halfpipe, or any other.

Burak Gazan · Post by **Burak Gazan** » 2006-02-16 04:44pm

SCRawl wrote:On the CBC, they're actually cutting into coverage of Olympic hockey -- featuring Canada vs. Germany -- to show figure skating. Gah.

I'm sure that others have said it, but figure skating does not belong in a sporting competition. It is not a sport by any reasonable definition. It might be fun to watch for some people, but that doesn't make it a sport. Sports are not judged for artistic impression.[/rant]

So in the interests of my blood pressure, NOT watching and going for groceries was the wise choice after all....

CBC.... best hockey network, just ask them

edit: just exactly WHAT did McCabe get a misconduct for? A body check?

aerius · Post by **aerius** » 2006-02-16 06:13pm

Burak Gazan wrote:edit: just exactly WHAT did McCabe get a misconduct for? A body check?

Apparently the bodycheck was a bit high and the guy's head hit the glass. "Bodychecking the head" was the call on the misconduct.

FSTargetDrone · Post by **FSTargetDrone** » 2006-02-16 06:23pm

3 words: Cute Girls Curling.

Otherwise, bring on the summer Olympics.

Burak Gazan · Post by **Burak Gazan** » 2006-02-16 06:39pm

aerius wrote:
Burak Gazan wrote:edit: just exactly WHAT did McCabe get a misconduct for? A body check?
Apparently the bodycheck was a bit high and the guy's head hit the glass. "Bodychecking the head" was the call on the misconduct.

Did he duck, or was a er, shorter fella?

That call has always struck me as a weasel call to try and even things up

J · Post by J » 2006-02-16 11:20pm

Burak Gazan wrote:Did he duck, or was a er, shorter fella? That call has always struck me as a weasel call to try and even things up

It was weird call, it was clearly an elbowing penalty since McCabe put his arm up for the hit, but he didn't try take the guy's head off or anything. There was some incidental contact with the head so maybe that's what they were going after with the misconduct. But I don't think the misconduct call made any difference in this game since it's only a 2 minute penalty for the hit, and then McCabe can't play for the next 10 minutes. Odd.

Braedley · Post by **Braedley** » 2006-02-17 08:22am

2 good curling games last night. That 22 year old Norwegian is kinda cute too.

Xon · Post by **Xon** » 2006-02-17 08:45am

FSTargetDrone wrote:Otherwise, bring on the summer Olympics.

We know how those are going to go, Australia kicking an unholy amount of ass in swimming. And probably not going so well elsewhere.

Post by **K. A. Pital** » 2006-02-17 09:21am

Well... what can I say? Plushenko is G.O.D.

Post by **Edi** » 2006-02-17 01:31pm

Stas Bush wrote:Well... what can I say? Plushenko is G.O.D.

He got way too high points for the short program compared to some of his competitors. He was better,yes, but not that much better, which just gave it a flavor of being a fixed competition.

In the free program he was also very good technically, but I hated his performance. Lambiel's was much more to my taste, even though he did make a few mistakes and wasn't as brilliant technically. Then again, figure skating is a very subjectively judged sport.

So, yes, Plushenko deserved the gold, but not by that big a margin.

Edi

GSV Use Psychology · Post by **GSV Use Psychology** » 2006-02-17 01:52pm

Well, the Swedish womens hockey team just managed one of the biggest suprises in the games so far. Congratulations to them.

Sadly this probably means Finland won't be getting any medals. No way will they beat Canada in the semifinals and with the USA playing for the bronze...

Faram · Post by **Faram** » 2006-02-17 02:32pm

GSV Use Psychology wrote:Well, the Swedish womens hockey team just managed one of the biggest suprises in the games so far. Congratulations to them.

Sadly this probably means Finland won't be getting any medals. No way will they beat Canada in the semifinals and with the USA playing for the bronze...

Well good for the girls, but why sell Finland short? They can beat USA!

Post by **Edi** » 2006-02-17 03:03pm

Faram wrote:
GSV Use Psychology wrote:Well, the Swedish womens hockey team just managed one of the biggest suprises in the games so far. Congratulations to them.

Sadly this probably means Finland won't be getting any medals. No way will they beat Canada in the semifinals and with the USA playing for the bronze...
Well good for the girls, but why sell Finland short? They can beat USA!

Uh, the match is just starting, and it's Finland - Canada now. Let's talk about it when that one is over. If we get lucky, it might be a Finland-Sweden final in women's hockey.

I'm off to watch the game, so g'night!

Edi

Braedley · Post by **Braedley** » 2006-02-17 03:27pm

You're a dreamer Edi. Unless you're talking about the bronze medal game. One of them might make it into the finals, but if they do, it'll be against Canada.

Faram · Post by **Faram** » 2006-02-17 03:28pm

Edi wrote:Uh, the match is just starting, and it's Finland - Canada now. Let's talk about it when that one is over. If we get lucky, it might be a Finland-Sweden final in women's hockey.

I'm off to watch the game, so g'night!

Edi

And I betray my utter clunenessnes in olypic sports..

aerius · Post by **aerius** » 2006-02-17 04:18pm

The officiating by the US ref is starting to get stupid. There have been 2 questionable calls against Finland which resulted in goals by Canada, make that 3.

Braedley · Post by **Braedley** » 2006-02-17 04:21pm

There was also that questionable call against Campbell (I think). Also, appollogies on the previous post, didn't realize it was the semis already. So yeah, Canada vs Sweden for the gold it seems.

Qwerty 42 · Post by **Qwerty 42** » 2006-02-17 04:25pm

Did anyone watch the Snowboardcross? Terribly interesting stuff, I thought.

The Dude · Post by **The Dude** » 2006-02-17 04:36pm

It was nice of Angela Ruggiero to demonstrate her commitment to not running up the score by missing in the shootout.