Olympics discussion thread.

Post by **K. A. Pital** » 2006-02-21 01:10am

Well, we have another gold, figure skating. Russia is totally dominating figure skating this year.

Post by **Edi** » 2006-02-21 05:13pm

ICE HOCKEY (SPOILERS)
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The results for today's games are all in.

Finland took an easy 2-0 win over Germany even though the team sleepwalked through the game. The Germans had a few good scoring chances, but didn't manage it thanks to Norrena and the rest of the team. The pace was slack, as neither team had a very great desire to go all out.

The Canadians and Czechs played a fast, good game that neded with a 3-2 win for Canada. Good game overall, but had no effect on the top two ranking in the group.

Sweden vs Slovakia on the other hand was a farce of the highest order. Slovakia won 3-0 because the Swedish team did not even try. They wanted to lose so they would get Switzerland as the QF opponent, and their coach said as much earlier. Lidström, one of the few Swedish players who actually didn't go along with that bullshit, confirmed it in a post-game interview. The Swedish public is not very happy about tonight's events. While I'm not a Swede, I'm just as disgusted with that fiasco and I'm really hoping Switzerland will pull off a third upset win tomorrow.

In the RUS-USA game they had open house at both ends of the field. Final result was a hard fought 5-4 win for Russia. You want good hockey with plenty of goals, this is it, but the defense at both ends was obviously less than stellar.

QF pairs are SWE-SWI, FIN-USA, CZE-SLO and CAN-RUS. I'm predicting Finland and Sweden to go forward from that, though I really hope the Swedes lose due to the shit they pulled today. The other two games are tossups.

Edi

Julhelm · Post by **Julhelm** » 2006-02-21 05:25pm

Tonight made me ashamed of being a swede.

Mr. T · Post by **Mr. T** » 2006-02-21 08:47pm

Those medals with the hole in the centre are just plain ugly. I don't know what they were thinking doing that

. I know that Italy might want to make budget cutbacks to the games but you'd think they wouldn't skimp on the actual medals

Master of Ossus · Post by **Master of Ossus** » 2006-02-21 08:51pm

Mr. T wrote:Those medals with the hole in the centre are just plain ugly. I don't know what they were thinking doing that . I know that Italy might want to make budget cutbacks to the games but you'd think they wouldn't skimp on the actual medals

The hole in the center is supposed to represent the Italian plaza. I don't get it, either.

J · Post by J » 2006-02-21 08:59pm

I take it I'm about the only person who likes the medals?
I think it's a unique style, and I like the way the ribbon necklace thingy loops through the medal. It should be noted that I have an Italian ancestor way back in my family tree somewhere so that could be why.

Spice Runner · Post by **Spice Runner** » 2006-02-21 09:19pm

The medals do seem oddly shaped to me, but to each there own...
I caught as much of the Canada-Czech hockey game as I could. That was one hell of a comeback for Canada.

Post by **K. A. Pital** » 2006-02-22 12:05am

RUS-USA was good. But since it's not a game that is really important, we decided to change our goalkeeper. Nabokov has to have some rest before the next game. And Sokolov, sadly, isn't even half as good as a goalkeeper.

I also felt a bit sorry for Czech. They were very good after they changed their goalkeeper. In II and III they totally DOMINATED the field, leading something like 33:15 by throws. Canada, on the other side, in II and III went into stonish defense. If not for the goalkeeper (he was AMAZING) they would have lost.
So it was kind of sad watching as the whole team loses to ONE goalkeeper...
The rest of Canada's team by the end of II and through the whole III didn't do ANYTHING worthy of mentioning.

Thunderfire · Post by **Thunderfire** » 2006-02-22 03:00am

Germany , Austria , USA and Russia are leading the medal table. One of these nations will be the best. Norway has alot of medals but only a few of them are gold medals.

Master of Ossus · Post by **Master of Ossus** » 2006-02-22 03:08am

Thunderfire wrote:Germany , Austria , USA and Russia are leading the medal table. One of these nations will be the best. Norway has alot of medals but only a few of them are gold medals.

Frickin' Estonia is beating Norway in golds (thanks to Cross-Country skiing), but Norway has enough silvers and bronze medals to put it up with Germany and the other contenders in terms of overall medals.

Post by **Edi** » 2006-02-22 10:04am

Master of Ossus wrote:
Thunderfire wrote:Germany , Austria , USA and Russia are leading the medal table. One of these nations will be the best. Norway has alot of medals but only a few of them are gold medals.
Frickin' Estonia is beating Norway in golds (thanks to Cross-Country skiing), but Norway has enough silvers and bronze medals to put it up with Germany and the other contenders in terms of overall medals.

Yup, and that's within 15 years of regaining their independence and a population base of only 1.3 million. The Estonians are tough customers, and no mistake. I've been enjoying their success far more than I've enjoyed Finland's so far. Aside from a couple of silver medals and so far the ice hockey tournament, Finland's performance has been abysmal.

Edi

aerius · Post by **aerius** » 2006-02-22 01:04pm

Canadians grab gold & silver in women's 1500M speedskating. We were expected to claim a medal since Cindy's the world record holder in the event, but Kristina had an amazing skate too and ended up in 2nd.

Post by **Edi** » 2006-02-22 01:08pm

FIN-USA in ice hockey at 4-2 after 2nd period, and the Canadian referee is a fucking blind cripple. He's refused to call several clear US penalties while Finns seem to regularly get sent to the penalty box for looking at the US players nastily. That's a minimum of three missed US penalties and two baseless penalties for us so far. The ref is some asshat named Diverski or something like that.

The 2-0 goal for Finland was especially nice, since it came when the US was playing 4 on 3 power play.

Edi

Julhelm · Post by **Julhelm** » 2006-02-22 01:25pm

Unsurprisingly, Sweden beat Switzerland 6-2 in their quarter.

Post by **K. A. Pital** » 2006-02-22 01:46pm

Edi

FIN-USA in ice hockey at 4-2 after 2nd period

Nice work Finland

USA are weak, it's punisnment time. Just keep it to the end.

the Canadian referee is a fucking blind cripple

The one in CAN-CZE was also a blind idiot. When a canadian player hit the czech in the face - and everybody saw it on camera - he did nothing.

I really have a bad feeling about the RUS-CAN referee.

If he would even try to miss dirty play from the Canadians, we will find him and use the Russian Great Axe of Emperor Peter the Great.

Post by **Edi** » 2006-02-22 01:58pm

Devorsky/Diversky/whatever-the-motherfucker's-name-is just proved he's a complete spineless, incompetent, corrupt little fuck. The asshole whistled another baseless penalty for Finland and refused to call five US penalties in the 3rd period. Despite the asshole's best efforts, Finland advances to the semifinals with a 4-3 score. There's a very defnite reason that North American referees should be fucking banned from refereeing matches where one of the participating teams is US or Canada, because it ALWAYS, WITHOUT FUCKING EXCEPTION comes down to this same shit, allowing the NA team to do whatever the fuck it pleases without repercussions and cracking down on the other team.

Niittymäki played an amazing game again. We might have lost Salo to an injury, but I hope not. He didn't play in the 3rd period anyhow.

Edi

Post by **Edi** » 2006-02-22 02:01pm

Julhelm wrote:Unsurprisingly, Sweden beat Switzerland 6-2 in their quarter.

Fuck! After the unsportsmanlike farce with Slovakia yesterday, I was hoping they'd lose. It'd have been a richly deserved fate for them.

Edi

aerius · Post by **aerius** » 2006-02-22 03:12pm

Canadian coach Pat Quinn is a complete fucking moron. The dumbass puts the Sakic/Inginla/Bertuzzi line on for every power play, when that line's done jack shit for the entire tournament. All the best chances have come from the Richards/St. Louis line or Thornton's line, yet they get shafted on shifts every time. Way to go Quinn, coach Team Canada into the ground just like you do with the Toronto Maple Leafs. The asshole plays favourites with his players instead of putting the guys on the ice who will get the job done.

Post by **K. A. Pital** » 2006-02-22 03:17pm

Niittymäki

the name equals utter brilliance. If we win over Canada, he'll be a tough adversary.

Post by **Edi** » 2006-02-22 03:39pm

Stas Bush wrote:
Niittymäki
the name equals utter brilliance. If we win over Canada, he'll be a tough adversary.

I resent that!

*pontificates for the audience*

See, he's already dismissing the rest of the team as if they were not a factor at all! We'll show him (if the Canadians don't do it first), just let him wait till his team is down 4-0 and then complain about Niittymäki...

Seriously, yes, he's a brilliant goalie. Perhaps the best the Finnish team has ever had, and that's saying a lot when you compare to Myllys in 1995 and some of the other goalies we've had. It's almost ridiculous how many good goalies Finland has. With guys like Markkanen, Lehtonen, Kiprusoff and others what we put in the 3rd string could just as well often be the primary goalie. And with this being Niittymäki's first big name international torunament ever, he already stands head and shoulders above the rest of them.

Edi

Post by **Edi** » 2006-02-22 03:55pm

Finland just beat the UK and goes to the final in curling. A better result than anyone could have xpected before the Olympics started.

Edi

Gunhead · Post by **Gunhead** » 2006-02-22 04:03pm

the nipple man

Curling, that ultimate high speed sport of the olympics.

-Gunhead

Burak Gazan · Post by **Burak Gazan** » 2006-02-22 04:14pm

Looks like Bertuzzi and his bonehead no-need penalty just cost us the game -- the way they playing 1 goal all it's likely gonna take

J · Post by J » 2006-02-22 04:31pm

I'm calling it a game. Canada's not winning this one and they don't deserve to either. Slopply passive play, not working for the puck or to gain position for good shots, they only reason they're down by just a goal is the good goaltending. If you're a Leaf fan this will sound awfully familiar, and it should come as no surprise since you-know-who is the coach of both teams.

To succeed on international ice, you need speed and creative puck-handling to carry the puck into the zone, the NHL dump & chase does not work on the big ice. Unfortunately the problem goes all the way back to team selection, which heavily favoured veteran players who have all lost a few steps.

Burak Gazan · Post by **Burak Gazan** » 2006-02-22 04:44pm

Beat me to it

Dump n chase -- the single most STUPID style of hockey ever devised -- generally favoured by all those "veteran" players.
I donno, I always equated veteran with "too goddamned old and too goddamned slow!"

and thats what is ending up as. The peckerhead ref and his quick whistle no help, but ultimately these guys sleepwalked through the tournament. Wonder what Crosby thinking, especially with Ovechkin scoring goals left n right, and what appears to be the game-winner here. And now it really is over

* 2-0