<p>Hooray! The American ice dancers, Belbin and Agosto, just won the silver medal at the Olympics! Too bad they didn’t show it on American channels!</p>
<p>I really didn’t want to look, but I couldn’t help myself. Hooray! Way to go, USA! I thought they were great last night, especially after three of the couples fell. I hope that one girl was okay (the one who fell on her hip). Did she skate in the final? When last I saw her, they were taking her away on a gurney to the hospital. I thought the finals were going to be shown on NBC. Are they not? Thanks for the info. Like I said, I couldn’t stop myself from looking! :)</p>
<p>I couldn’t help myself either! But I couldn’t stand to watch and be disappointed tonight. Somehow it’s not the same when you know that the outcome has already been decided.</p>
<p>Ice dancing? lol. Sounds like a real hardcore “sport.”</p>
<p>lol, it looked pretty hardcore last night…seriously, those were some serious wipeouts.</p>
<p>cavalier - It’s more hardcore than you can possibly imagine.</p>
<p>Oh man, I’m sure! In my opinion, it’s a dead heat between “ice dancing” and “ballroom dancing.”</p>
<p>Actually, I had to get the results before setting out to watch the finale tonight. Last night was painful just to watch. At least now, knowing how it ends, I can watch the home team without holding my hands over my eyes.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, the Canadian pair (the woman fell on her hip) had to withdraw. Here in Michigan we get CBC (Canadian TV) on cable, so we actually get to see much of the Olympics live and with EXCELLENT commentators. I just don’t see why NBC has chosen to show all of this stuff “taped”. I don’t watch the Olympics on NBC.</p>
<p>I love watching the American ice dancing couple. When Belbin smiles it could light up the stadium. I couldn’t believe the Italian diva who stood with her hands on her hips and stared down her partner and then stalked off the ice. Okay I know he dropped her but that was a bit harsh IMO. Can you say “D.I.V.A.”? lol</p>
<p>Ah, for the days of old scoring - the Italian DIVA would have been trashed even more than they can now just for her behavior after the dance. BTW - I posted that curling was on MSNBC, but it was on CNBC. Sorry about that. Watched it this afternoon. I felt terrible for the Canadian couple that had to withdraw. All that training! To qualify for the Olympics and then to not be able to finish. What a tragedy. They skated so well, too, until that fall. And yes, it was painful to watch last night. My heart broke for them all! (except for the Italian diva after her tantrum.)</p>
<p>ice skating sucks cause of the blisters… boooo</p>
<p>When describing that hideous italian, diva must be the understatement of the Olympics. She might be a prima donna, but there is little lady like in her attitude: she is one ugly [fill the blank with chosen expletive]. I was really, really rooting for the guy to drop her on the ice … again. </p>
<p>Oh well, these Olympics can use a bit of passion. It’s been a horrible bore. Even one of my all-time favorite reporter (Jimmy Roberts) is struggling to find something to take us out of the torpor. Thank god for the excitement of curling.</p>
<p>Hardcore is right. . .I’d give extra points to those wearing clothes.</p>
<p>I love to watch, though–I appreciate how difficult it is.</p>
<p>What was up with the ice dancing costumes last night? Some were beyond ugly, and then there was the one that looked like a stripper!</p>
<p>I honestly don’t like the new rules for ice dancing. There is so much emphasis on those ridiculous ‘lifts’ where they grab a skate and throw their heads back. I long for a return to the actual athletic artistry and actual DANCE of Torville/Dean, Wilson/McCall, and Bourne/Kratz. Now THERE were some talented and classy skaters.</p>
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Honk if you think the bronze medalist’s costume was one step away from pasties.</p>
<p>And I agree about the lifts. With only a few exceptions, they are unattractive positions and ugly transitions into them. One of them last night looked like a pure squat. How many points for that?</p>
<p>The lift (and all the foot-to-head) rules will probably change after the Olympics/Worlds. The ISU likes to ban things when skaters are over using them (for instance, there’s the Zayak rule, which says you can’t do more than 2 of any non-axel jumps and the second must in combination, hence why Johnny Wier only got credit for 7 jumping passes). Last year, they banned the inverted split lifts. It won’t be long until there’s at least a limit on the catchfoots. That’s the problem with the new judging system – you get points for ugly positions until the ISU bans them.</p>
<p>And IMO, ice dancing is one of the hardest sports out there (ice dancers are actually in way better shape than singles skaters because there are absolutely no rest breaks). Do football players have to preform on a 1/8 inch piece of steel and still make it look easy?</p>
<p>The NYT had a wonderful article about the costumes. Some of them are held on with glue: <a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/20/sports/olympics/20ice.html?_r=1&oref=slogin[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/20/sports/olympics/20ice.html?_r=1&oref=slogin</a></p>
<p>“Do football players have to preform on a 1/8 inch piece of steel and still make it look easy?”</p>
<p>The problem is that technical -or physical- difficulty does not always translate into entertainment. I am sure that people who are well versed in the sports appreciate it a LOT more than the common TV viewer. This is not much different from me trying to explain to someone that a 0-0 soccer game could have been very exciting (Think USA-China World Cup Final when Chastain scored last penalty.) </p>
<p>This said, watching the Ice Dancing competition is a painful exercise because of all the weird moves that belong at Cirque du Soleil. Difficult as they may be, they do not seem to fit the music. IMHO, Contortionism on ice is rather dull. Add the ridiculous and tacky costumes and the displays of unsportmanship among athletes and judges, and I wonder why I even paid attention to this event. </p>
<p>From my vantage point, the snowboarding events represent a breath of fresh air in an otherwise boring event.</p>
<p>PS I did like the performance of the US and enjoyed watching the couple.</p>