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Post by Deleted on Feb 16, 2010 14:18:55 GMT -5
shuffleboard on ice isn't my bag Yeah, a dime bag is more your bag. We know...
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The Stig
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Post by The Stig on Feb 16, 2010 14:37:12 GMT -5
As somebody who enjoys shuffleboard, I like curling. As a broomball player, I also like the running on ice aspect.
The NBC commentary pair is top-notch as far as unintentional comedy is concerned. The lead commentator sounds like he knows basically nothing about curling, and his color guy sounds like he's a former curler who thinks his entire audience is also former curlers. So you get the color guy using all this wacky curling lingo (and if curling is good for anything, it's wacky insider lingo), and the lead commentator desperately trying to sound like he understands it and translate it for the TV audience.
Example: USA player is lining up a shot.
Color guy (my lousy attempt to recall a few terms): "He's going to try and bring the stone in with a lot of weight with a bit of curl to get around the guard stones and hit the inside stone off face and put it into the stone at the edge of the house to get two points."
Lead commentator: "So he's trying to hit the yellow stone in the blue area."
Another example: There's a lot of stones in the bull's eye thing (house?), and the color guy gives a long, very detailed, and completely indecipherable description of how each one affects the strategy for the upcoming shot. There's an awkward pause, then the lead guy says "Man, that's a lot of rocks."
The best part is when the lead guy starts saying how great a shot was, and the color guy immediately starts talking about how horrible it was, without acknowledging the fact that his partner just said it was a great shot.
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Boz
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Post by Boz on Feb 16, 2010 14:54:26 GMT -5
I watched more of the Great Britain match than the US match, so I missed a lot of the commentary, but I seem to recall that unintentional comedy from the last Olympics as well.
No matter, both the US and gold medal favorite Brits go down in their first match ups.
The strategy is so much fun, but I'm not sure what I like better: a truly amazing shot or one where they take five minutes to line it up and then completely miss everything (which surprisingly happened more than once to the Brits).
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hifigator
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Post by hifigator on Feb 16, 2010 15:04:39 GMT -5
Yeah, but you're kind of an idiot, aren't you? I defy anyone to watch a full match and tell me they don't get completely sucked in. Boz, you're a hoot! In all seriousness, I have watched some matches before. And if the USA is playing ... err ... rolling ... err ... hurling ... err ... curling ... then I'll watch. It isn't all that exciting, but all it takes is a vested interest, and otherwise boring stuff can be at least mildly entertaining. Also, as I recall, the women's team had a couple of real lookers last time. But I am not afraid of saying that I have zero idea if any of the players are the same. But from my almost non-existent knowledge of the sport, I would still guess that a curling career can last quite a while ... unlike boxing for example -- well, unless you're Teofilo Stephenson.
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hifigator
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Post by hifigator on Feb 16, 2010 15:10:00 GMT -5
Cam wtote:
Yeah, a dime bag is more your bag. We know...
Now come on. Be fair. I live in Florida and have for almost all of my life. So you have to understand my total unfamiliarity with curling. As for what is "my bag," touche' ... but if I's interested in a dime bag, then things are tough.
Stig, you had more in more than a mild chuckle. "Man, that's a lot of rocks."
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The Stig
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Post by The Stig on Feb 17, 2010 10:33:26 GMT -5
Hockey is underway!
USA got past the pesky Swiss, who are probably the most dangerous non-NHL-based team out there. The US got lucky that Hiller wasn't on top form - if he gets hot the Swiss could be very tough to beat. The US have a lot of good underrated players, but we still need Miller to stand on his head to have a shot at a medal.
Canada pounded past Norway. The Canadians didn't look invincible, and the 8-0 final isn't really fair to the Norwegians, who put in a great effort. The Canadian roster is scary (anytime you can have Iginla on the 4th line, you know you have talent), but they're still not quite a team yet. It pains me to say it, but Crosby really looked like their best player. It looked like a lot of his teammates weren't used to his hard passes, since they just went straight past them.
The Russians looked the most impressive, if a bit ragged. They're certainly the most explosive team in the tournament. Scariest line I've ever seen: Ovechkin, Semin, Datsyuk. They're the kind of team who will have the puck in the back of the net before you even knew they had a scoring chance.
First competitive game should be Czechs vs. Slovaks at midnight tonight. The Slovaks don't have depth, but they do have arguably the best forward and defenders in the game (Gaborik and Chara).
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Boz
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Post by Boz on Feb 17, 2010 11:38:26 GMT -5
I tried to watch the Russians, but I couldn't stay awake. I'm bummed. I agree that they are explosive. (How could they not be??) I think Canada probably still has the overall better team, though.
Good showing by the US. I haven't counted them out for a medal, simply because if they get hot goaltending (and who better than Miller for that?) that could carry them to a medal. But there is very little firepower on the US team.
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The Stig
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Post by The Stig on Feb 17, 2010 13:40:48 GMT -5
Agreed on the US chances. If the US wins anything, they'll have to do it the way the Czechs did it in 1998, when Hasek basically won the gold himself.
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The Stig
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Post by The Stig on Feb 17, 2010 13:53:24 GMT -5
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Boz
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Post by Boz on Feb 17, 2010 14:36:47 GMT -5
A couple of points from the O'Reilly piece: 1. Yes, there are some smokin' women curlers. There are some scary ones too, but I prefer to focus on the positive. 2. I've always wondered about the surface. He talks about how even the tiniest thing, like a strand of hair, can disrupt the path of the stones. But what about all the sweeping. I'd think that over the course of the match, the path to the house could change quite a bit, but no one ever seems to mention that. Anyway, US women on the ropes right now against Germany. It looks pretty dire.
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hifigator
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Post by hifigator on Feb 17, 2010 14:53:40 GMT -5
Speaking of curlers who are ... pleasing to the eye, shall we say ... I just saw a highlight of Canada winning their match. I don't know what you call her, but the chick who slides the stone for their team is definitely smokin'. She can take me to the house anyday.
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hifigator
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Post by hifigator on Feb 17, 2010 15:01:13 GMT -5
In a very tasteless move, the International Olympic Committee blames the death of the Georgian luger on "driver error." Then they proceeded to shorten the course and installs assorted safety precautions. Then they had the nerve to say that they didn't do it to make the course safer, but rather to make the lugers "feel safer." That's sort of like Nascar saying that Earnhardt dies at Daytona several years back because of driver error. Yes, they made the HANS system required, but they didn't do that to make the sport safer, but rather to make the drives "feel safer."
Sheesh ... what next?
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The Stig
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Post by The Stig on Feb 17, 2010 15:18:12 GMT -5
Did the IOC blame the crash on driver error or the death on driver error? There's a difference.
The crash was no doubt due to driver error, but the crash shouldn't have been fatal. The death was due to freak accident - lugers don't usually fly like that when they crash - and the wall being too low.
To use your Earnhardt example, his crash was indeed due to driver error (he over-corrected after a bump from behind). The cause of his death was either a faulty seatbelt (according to NASCAR) or insufficient front crumple zones and lack of a head restraint device (according to everybody else who knows anything about race car crashes).
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hifigator
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Post by hifigator on Feb 17, 2010 15:30:56 GMT -5
Siig wrote:
Did the IOC blame the crash on driver error or the death on driver error? There's a difference.
I understand that, and in all honesty, I didn't hear the IOC representative make the comments. But the wroding that I gave was from the "Back Nine" article by Pat Dooley in today's Gainesville Sun. Granted, he could certainly have gotten it wrong, but I just double checked, and at least in his article, the IOC "blames the death of Nodar Kumaritashvili on driver error. And then shortens the track and installs safety precautions on the luge course."
Also, the point in the NACSAR analogy isn't a matter of blame, but rather safety. The IOC seemed to at least implicitly deny any safety issue, noting that the modifications were to make the lugers feel safer. That was my point.
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Post by HometownHoya on Feb 17, 2010 23:03:22 GMT -5
Well tonight is the night for the USA favorite children . Lindsey Vonn won gold (with another American grabbing silver). Shani Davis wins the gold (making a nice move to the front on the second to last lap or so). Shaun White is about 5 minutes from grabbing the gold. Apolo Ohno is also racing tonight but idk if I missed it or its still coming up.
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Post by HometownHoya on Feb 17, 2010 23:10:48 GMT -5
Oh, and the Olympic halfpipe judges just gave Shaun White the gold. Both Louie Vito and Peetu? (idk the rider right after Vito) had better runs then Shaun's first run (the current gold run) and were both given scores lower. Just adding to the reasons why I hate him. On Edit: His Victory lap run would have won gold anyways. Hes a great rider but he has just sold out too much for my taste.
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Post by sleepyjackson21 on Feb 17, 2010 23:39:34 GMT -5
You got to be kidding me. Shaun White's first run was better than both Vito's and the Finnish kid's. He's head and shoulders better than anybody else. It's not even close.
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Post by sleepyjackson21 on Feb 17, 2010 23:48:03 GMT -5
Oh, and who cares if he's a so called sell out. He deserves it for all the hard work. Is Tony Hawk or Rob Drydek sellouts? How about Laird Hamilton? While we're at it how about Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing or Lebron James. I bet a large majority of snowboarders if given the sponsership opportunities or video game opportunities Shaun White has gotten would sell out as well.
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Boz
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Post by Boz on Feb 18, 2010 10:04:36 GMT -5
Oh, and who cares if he's a so called sell out. He deserves it for all the hard work. Is Tony Hawk or Rob Drydek sellouts? How about Laird Hamilton? While we're at it how about Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing or Lebron James. I bet a large majority of snowboarders if given the sponsership opportunities or video game opportunities Shaun White has gotten would sell out as well. So would every single person on this board. Yeah, they're all sellouts I guess, depending on your definition, and yeah, there are people like Allen Iverson who never sell out (not sure if he ever really had the opportunity though), but ask yourself if you would have done any different than Shaun White. At least he hasn't cut his hair, has he, Metallica? (at least not yet anyway) I'm not really a fan of snowboarding, at least not halfpipe (the snowboard cross is an actual race and pretty cool); as I said before I don't really like the judged sports, but if I have to watch one, I prefer moguls to snowboarding. But that's just probably my upbringing, having grown up skiing and never really embracing snowboarding that much. But it's not hard to recognize when one person is clearly dominant, no matter what the sport. Oh, and please stop trying to force feed women's hockey down my throat, NBC. It's not working. I love hockey, and I appreciate these women athletes for what they are doing, but they are so slow it's ridiculous and painful to watch.
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Post by HometownHoya on Feb 18, 2010 10:23:13 GMT -5
You got to be kidding me. Shaun White's first run was better than both Vito's and the Finnish kid's. He's head and shoulders better than anybody else. It's not even close. Just because he was getting about 5 ft higher out of the pipe doesn't mean it was a better run. They said before the olympics they would hold each athlete to their own personal standard (and if they would match it). Shaun White's first run was not his personal best where as both Vito and the Fin pushed themselves and both did tricks that neither had ever done in competition. Obviously its all null because his second run was heads and shoulders over everyone else (b/c he actually did his full olympic run including the dbl cork 1260 mctwist). As an am/pro snowboarder I definitely care about him selling out. Yes he has progressed the sport and is heads and shoulders above everyone else but that is because he s the d of all of his sponsors to get a private halfpipe with a foam pit at the end of it. My major beef with him (which rly isn't with him, but more the judges) is that of all his medals, at least 1 of his xgames gold, 2 of his US Open golds, and that first Olympic run, have been GIVEN to him by the judges even when he didn't have the most technical or cleanest of all runs. Obviously this is my personal opinion but in talking to other pro/ams that I have competed/rode with many of them agree with me. Doesn't help that I used to ride with him when we were in elementary school and he was a Edited bag back then and is probably still now ;D. PS: Yes Shaun White is an incredible snowboarder and has done amazing things with the opportunities given to him, I guess I'm a little bitter that I didn't get those opportunities PSS: Yes I would say that Tony Hawk sold out. Selling out is more then just getting sponsored and getting in videos. Selling out is more like riding for just the money/recognition/winning the competitions more then for the love of snowboarding Sorry bout the long/scattered post, Snowboarding is my life passion.
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