Official 2010 Winter Olympics Thread

[Walking Tourist]

Mortal enemy!
That's pretty drastic.
But I'm ready for more short track... and Apolo Anton Ohno...

..


Bah, he is my mortal enemy!!

More short track on Wednesday! Woot!

Short track is the only spectator sport I get passionate about. I yell at my TV.

 

[wren]

It's crazy here! Ka-razy.

HEY that's me up close on the right in the black headband!

 

[PuddleRiver]

Boy that woman to your left is sure giving you the evil eye. j/k

 

[Vasilisa]

Plushenko stan

Hope those of you in Vancouver are having an amazing time!

Bob Costas looks good, but his hair looks glaringly colored to me during these games.


I'm cheering for Plushenko tonight.

RAH-SEE-YA, RAH-SEE-YA on the gold medal platform, Zhenya!

 

[Magic Poriferan]

I'm cheering for Plushenko tonight.

RAH-SEE-YA, RAH-SEE-YA on the gold medal platform, Zhenya!

Are you Russian, or just acting like a silly Russophile?

I'm rooting for the Japanese guy... It's the only way it can result in nobody from my hated three winning the gold.

EDIT: I investigated. Silly Russophile it is.

 

[Haphazard]

I dunno, Lysacek's costume last time was so silly that I just have to root for him.

I mean come on, he has feathers on his hands. What's not to love.

 

[Vasilisa]

I suspect that Americans are more open to cheering for other countries athletes, at least I am, sometimes because of those story profiles NBC produces. For example, I laughed at the USA men's basketball team in 2000 when they struggled because they arrogantly weren't expecting any competition.

But I notice that many people in other countries take it terribly seriously. I was in Russia during the last winter games, and I incurred some wrath when I brought up the Salt Lake City games skating scandal and Svetlana Khorkina's sour grapes in 2000.

Don't get me wrong, I'm an American girl and want USA to do awesome, but I have to cheer for my Russians, too because I lived there and personally saw how much Olympics meant to them.

 

[Haphazard]

Women's Snowboarding: Australia, USA, USA.

I don't see what MP has against Russia and China... last I checked they weren't even in the top five for medals...

 

[ergophobe]

I like Lysacek's costume today. Nice.

Effem - great pics. The figure skating is the first I've seen of the Olympics so far. What fun!

 

[Magic Poriferan]

Oh well... I was hoping Daisuke Takahashi would do better.

Women's Snowboarding: Australia, USA, USA.

I don't see what MP has against Russia and China... last I checked they weren't even in the top five for medals...

Russia's position right now is very odd. This is probaby the worst showing it's done in the winter olympics in a long, long time (and I'm including the USSR of course). That does make me want to hate them a little less, but not much. They're usually medal hogs, seeing them not hog the medals is the whole point. Unfortunately, this is an unusually good showing for the USA.

Anyhow, it's not just about rooting for the underdog, it's also that those three countries have an aggravating self-exceptionalism streak and tend to be geo-political bullies, so I generally just like to see them shamed.

 

[Haphazard]

Dude, MP, it's just a game.

That's kind of the whole point.

 

[Magic Poriferan]

Dude, MP, it's just a game.

That's kind of the whole point.

And..?

 

[Lacey]

Oh well... I was hoping Daisuke Takahashi would do better.

Me too...it made me really sad to see his reaction after the results...

I'm in Japan right now so I'm basically rooting for all the Japanese athletes. I was never really into rooting for anyone in particular when I watched the Olympics back home...well, maybe on a more individual basis. Like the underdog or somebody with an interesting backstory. Yes, I'm easily emotionally-manipulated by the Olympics.

 

[wolfy]

Me too...it made me really sad to see his reaction after the results...

I'm in Japan right now so I'm basically rooting for all the Japanese athletes. I was never really into rooting for anyone in particular when I watched the Olympics back home...well, maybe on a more individual basis. Like the underdog or somebody with an interesting backstory. Yes, I'm easily emotionally-manipulated by the Olympics.

I am in Japan too. Third is not bad, pity he made the mistake. Even though I live here I enjoy cheering loudly for NZ. Even more so.

 

[Haphazard]

And..?

And, if you think about it, probably what has to do with the USA winning so much crap is because they sent in nearly a tenth of the athletes competing

Y'know, just sayin'.

 

[Lacey]

I am in Japan too. Third is not bad, pity he made the mistake. Even though I live here I enjoy cheering loudly for NZ. Even more so.

Hmm...yeah, it's kind of strange. That's one thing I've always thought was funny about the Olympics... There seems to be this attitude, sometimes, of: "Oh, they only got silver or bronze? Better luck next time, I guess." Ha, like they lost or something.

I might root for my home country...but America wins so much that it gets boring for me. (That sounds arrogant but I didn't quite mean it like that, haha.)

EDIT: Oh, right. And Takahashi got the first ever medal for Japan in men's figure skating...so that's pretty awesome.

 

[Magic Poriferan]

Hmm...yeah, it's kind of strange. That's one thing I've always thought was funny about the Olympics... There seems to be this attitude, sometimes, of: "Oh, they only got silver or bronze? Better luck next time, I guess." Ha, like they lost or something.

In the original Greek olympics, there was no second place prize.

Anyhow, here's a funny fact. Studies have found that silver medalists generally feel worse about their performance than bronze medalists. I bet I know why.

EDIT: Oh, right. And Takahashi got the first ever medal for Japan in men's figure skating...so that's pretty awesome.

Yes, he did accomplish that. Still, could have done better.
When I had heard that he'd not succeeded in landing a single quad this season, I was baffled that he even tried in his long program.

 

[Walking Tourist]

I'm fickle. I cheer for everyone. I don't even care about what country the athletes are from...
... except for hockey... Go Ryan Miller!!! Let's Go, Buffalo... um... I mean... USA!

 

[Litvyak]

Me neither. I'm not into mixing sports with geopolitics and whatnot, and I cheer for sportsmen, not countries. I don't really care about my countries accomplishments either.

I guess this is because I have 0 nationalistic feelings. I think of it as a good thing, it helps me in keeping a distance when it comes to international disputes.

 

[Phantonym]

I'm fickle. I cheer for everyone. I don't even care about what country the athletes are from...

Yup. Me too. Aside from a few events in cross country skiing, I just enjoy watching and cheering for everyone.