Jordan Posted 19 December 2013 Posted 19 December 2013 It's almost that time... We're less than two months away from another winter version of the greatest show of geopolitical passive-aggressiveness in the world. The IOC is just awful, but I must admit I the Olympics and I've always liked the Winter games. I'm a huge ice hockey fan, so the Olympics are an awfully big deal for me. For now, the Olympics are the only "best on best" international competition, but since the NHL is planning on resurrecting the World Cup of Hockey, this may be the last time the Olympics are the crown jewel of international hockey. North American teams generally underperform on the bigger ice in Europe, but Canada remains the most talented team and the USA have developed a generation of players that have the perfect skill sets to win internationally, including several excellent goalies. Russia will be going all-out to win at home, but I question their defense. I would place a bet on Sweden if they get good odds; even though goalie Henrik Lundqvist hasn't been as sharp as he has been in years past, he's still Henrik Lundqvist, and they have a really skillful team including some defensemen that can skate and move the puck well. The women's event is essentially Canada vs USA. Since Vancouver 2010, I've gotten really into curling, and I play and follow the sport a lot in the winter. Thanks to the Scots, GB have a great chance to win two medals here. Eve Muirhead's rink, the 2013 World Champions, are considered by many to be the favorites to win gold (although I'd probably tip Canada's Jennifer Jones). Muirhead is a fantastic player and has improved greatly as a skip over the past 4 years, thanks in large part to improved support from government sport programs. The New York Times even ran a piece on Muirhead yesterday, which was nice to see: http://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/12/17/sports/olympics/muirhead-and-britain-are-pushing-for-an-olympic-medal-in-sochi.html On the men's side, GB's David Murdoch & Co. are certainly among the contenders. As with Muirhead, Scotland/GB have put all of their Olympics eggs in one basket, and even out Murdoch's erstwhile rival Tom Brewster on the team as vice. That's nae curling, but whatevs. The hockey and curling events are the only events that I will get up at crazy hours to watch live, and I'll post more detailed previews of those later (esp when the hockey rosters are announced). Besides that, I do watch the other events when they are shown on replay in prime time, and I try not to miss short track speed skating, which is almost like roller derby on ice. It's great stuff. And any guy that's got a lady friend is gonna have to watch the women's figure skating competition, too. Anybody else looking forward to Sochi? What events will you be looking out for?
purpleronnie Posted 19 December 2013 Posted 19 December 2013 Cetainly worthy of a watch, and that's snow joke.
Guest MattP Posted 19 December 2013 Posted 19 December 2013 The Winter Olympics pretty much gets zero coverage over here from what I can remember, I couldn't name you one British competitior and I'm a right Sport Billy. I'm just hoping by the end of it Peter Tatchall and Dame Ben Summerskull are sharing a prison cell with Pussy Riot.
Jordan Posted 28 December 2013 Author Posted 28 December 2013 The Winter Olympics pretty much gets zero coverage over here from what I can remember, I couldn't name you one British competitior and I'm a right Sport Billy.I suppose that's fair enough, as Britain doesn't have a skiing tradition quite like some other nations in Europe, and a lot of other sports are really Olympics-driven events where a select few train and compete (who grows up racing 4-man bobsleighs?).That said, it's a bit of a shame that Eve Muirhead doesn't get the recognition that perhaps she deserves (although her profile was raised a bit in 2010 and will surely go up even more in 2014). Curling is by far biggest in Canada but Scotland is the motherland of the sport, after all. I'd have thought Eve would have perhaps gotten a token nomination for BBC SPOTY--her and her rink are the reigning women's World Champions--but upon looking at the nominees it's clear that GB sports are still in a purple patch (aside from cricket I suppose) so I can see how she was overlooked. The ice hockey tournament is going to be amazing, though--you can mark my words.
Trav Le Bleu Posted 9 January 2014 Posted 9 January 2014 With just under a month to go, who's looking forward to the Sochi Olympics? Normally I wouldn't be too excited by the Winter Olympics, but with everything that's been happening in Russia lately, there's going to be an extra edge. Just consider... Slalom - going to be a whole lot trickier with bombs being thrown on to the piste. Ski Jump - make sure you clear the IEDs! Bobsleigh - 4 Russian women in balaclavas shoving a bob into a frigid groove? Arrest them! It's Pussy Riot! And the Biathlon - masked men (and women, let's not forget, they can ski too) with guns! Seriously though, could be good and seems we have more than the usual chances of medal (I.E. more than 0)
Webbo Posted 9 January 2014 Posted 9 January 2014 I'm looking forward to the winter Commonwealth Games. It's between us and Barbados for the ski slalom.
Jordan Posted 10 January 2014 Author Posted 10 January 2014 I'm pretty stoked about the Winter Olympics... I think these events are about as well-liked in the UK as Mongolian throat singing, though I posted this before, but it bears repeating: if you want to back a British medalist, you'd do well to check out the curling events. Eve Muirhead's rink is one of the favorites for the women's gold, if not the outright favorite, and IMO David Murdoch's rink is one of the top 3 teams on the men's side. It's shocking that the Scots have only won one medal since curling was made a medal sport in 1998. And I'm telling ya, "best-on-best" international ice hockey played on the larger international-standard surface is pretty much the best thing ever. Enjoy this while you can: this will likely be the last Olympics for at least a while that will feature NHL players, as the NHL will look to resurrect the "World Cup of Hockey" played on the narrower rinks in North America.
Trav Le Bleu Posted 10 January 2014 Posted 10 January 2014 Ahhhh, Ice Hockey... full-on, no-holds-barred, violence, occasionally interrupted by outbreaks of sport.
SystonFox Posted 11 January 2014 Posted 11 January 2014 Someone post a pic of Amy Williams to save this thread
Jordan Posted 11 January 2014 Author Posted 11 January 2014 Amy Williams? Seriously, that's the best you can come up with? I see your Amy Williams and I raise you an Anna Sidorova, skip of the Russian women's curling team:
Jordan Posted 12 January 2014 Author Posted 12 January 2014 Team Muirhead just won an event in Bern, Switzerland that also featured the Olympics teams from China, Denmark, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, and USA. Earlier this season, Muirhead won a Grand Slam event in Calgary, with a win over Jennifer Jones (one of the all-time greats and Canada's Olympics representative) and two wins over rival Rachel Homan (2013 Canadian champ) en route to the title. The Scots are gonna head to Sochi with lots of momentum and confidence, but they will play in the Continental Cup (a Ryder Cup-style competition) in Las Vegas next weekend. One would hope the combination of playing non-traditional formats there (mixed doubles, singles, etc.) and all the partying going doesn't throw them off their game. While I'm on the subject of curling and the Olympics, although I won't be wearing USA on the back of my jacket anytime soon, I was a little disappointed that the teams that I was rooting for with just missed out on qualifying for Sochi. Two players at my club played on the 2012 USA men's national champion team and competed in the Olympics trials in November. They rallied after a slow start, but their 4-4 record was only good enough for 3rd place out of 5. Also, on the first weekend of my team's season, we went up to Ottawa for an under-5-years-of-experience "cashspiel" at Navy Club. Earle Morris, who coaches Rachel Homan's rink and was a pretty good player himself back in his day, was kind enough put us up at his place for the weekend. Earle's son, John, is one of the most well-known players in Canada, having won a shitload of titles (including Olympics gold in 2010 as vice for Kevin Martin's rink). After a couple of beers the night before the spiel, Earle went into his closet and fetched four game-worn John Morris shirts from the Brier, the World Curling Tour, the World Championships and Vancouver 2010 and let us borrow them to wear during our games for fun. Martin and John Morris parted ways this summer, and Morris latched onto a new team in British Columbia. Team Morris qualified for the Canadian Olympics Trials (the "Roar of the Rings") via the pre-trials tournament (the "Road to the Roar"). At the Roar, Morris went on a great run, beating former skip Martin in the semifinals before losing to 2013 Brier champ Brad Jacobs in the final. Canadian men's curling is absolutely stacked--Jacobs himself had to play through the pre-trials, and IMO there are 7 Canadian teams that could have easily be considered favorites for Olympics gold had they won, and a few more that would have a decent shot as well. Before we headed back to New York, Earle had us stop by the Ottawa Curling Club (a beautiful old club right in downtown Ottawa), where he was running a practice for Team Homan. Earle stopped their practice and called us out on the ice to say hi to the gals and take some photos . Homan and Jones were considered the co-favorites to wear the Maple Leaf in Sochi, but just when it looked like Homan and her team had solved their early problems at the Roar, they had a meltdown in the semifinal. There's a lot more parity in women's curling than the men's game, both in Canada and internationally. For various reasons, Canadian women don't dominate on the international scene like their male counterparts--Canada hasn't won the Worlds since Jones took gold in 2008 (and even that was her only win in four tries), and they haven't won Olympics gold since the late, great Sandra Schmirler won the first event in Nagano 1988.
SOCCERROO FOX Posted 12 January 2014 Posted 12 January 2014 Will be hoping Australia win another couple of golds again.
Maybes Posted 12 January 2014 Posted 12 January 2014 Always enjoy watching the winter olympics. Find it more entertaining than the summer olympics.
Hugo Sanchez Posted 12 January 2014 Posted 12 January 2014 Don't get how you can class it as a sport really ... Its snow and ice ... what next ??? Snowball fighting??? snow angels ???snowmen making ???
Jimothy Posted 13 January 2014 Posted 13 January 2014 Don't get how you can class it as a sport really ... Its snow and ice ... what next ??? Snowball fighting??? snow angels ???snowmen making ??? Eh? You what? So because performed on snow and ice it's not a sport? Because making snow angels is exactly the same as flying down a mountain at 100mph on a pair of skis? I like the Winter Olympics, it's all those sports we don't think about much in this country, and most have never tried. It's something different, and always potential for mayhem in a lot of events. Two hilarious ones stick in my mind, the Aussie winning the speed skating golf when everyone else crashed in the last corner, and the American woman missing out on gold in a snowboarding race because she tried a stupid trick on the last jump and fell over.
KFS Posted 13 January 2014 Posted 13 January 2014 Don't get how you can class it as a sport really ... Its snow and ice ... what next ??? Snowball fighting??? snow angels ???snowmen making ???Is this a windup?So, normal elements required for something to be a sport? How about we ditch football for mud wrestling, gardening and ploughing? Funny guy.
Chilwell_Fox Posted 13 January 2014 Posted 13 January 2014 Looking forward to the Ice Hockey and the Bobsleigh Anyone fancy Wes Morgon to try his hand at the bobsleigh when he retires?
davieG Posted 20 January 2014 Posted 20 January 2014 Violinist Vanessa Mae set to compete at Winter Olympics http://www.foxestalk.co.uk/forums/topic/92101-sochi-winter-olympics-2014/?hl=sochi
Alexikokopops Posted 31 January 2014 Posted 31 January 2014 Mexico's sole entry is looking gooooooooooooooood
SOCCERROO FOX Posted 2 February 2014 Posted 2 February 2014 Eh? You what? So because performed on snow and ice it's not a sport? Because making snow angels is exactly the same as flying down a mountain at 100mph on a pair of skis? I like the Winter Olympics, it's all those sports we don't think about much in this country, and most have never tried. It's something different, and always potential for mayhem in a lot of events. Two hilarious ones stick in my mind, the Aussie winning the speed skating golf when everyone else crashed in the last corner, and the American woman missing out on gold in a snowboarding race because she tried a stupid trick on the last jump and fell over. Amazing! Steven Bradbury it was his last tournament before he was to retire. In the Quarter Final he got knocked out only for someone to get disqualified. In the Semi's people fell in front of him and he was able to scape thru to the Final. Then this happend in the final. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAADWfJO2qM
MC Prussian Posted 3 February 2014 Posted 3 February 2014 And we have a little doping scandal. Germany undercover TV reporters have secured a probe of a relatively new doping substance called Full Size MGF - sold by a member of the Moscow Academy of Science. Tests have now proven that it is one of the purest muscle building-enhancing agents the researchers have ever encountered. Here's some more info on MGF: http://www.somface.com/blog/2152/mgf-ii-a-growth-hormone-enhancing-drug/ This story follows the news on Friday, when three biathletes were tested positive, including Russian athlete Irina Starych.
Manwell Pablo Posted 5 February 2014 Posted 5 February 2014 The Winter Olympics pretty much gets zero coverage over here from what I can remember, I couldn't name you one British competitior and I'm a right Sport Billy. I'm just hoping by the end of it Peter Tatchall and Dame Ben Summerskull are sharing a prison cell with Pussy Riot. Your joking aint ya, they've got about 50-60 hours worth of coverage, it's just no one cares.
Uncle Albert Posted 5 February 2014 Posted 5 February 2014 There's an actual Jamaican bobsleigh team? Wow.
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