The Olympics

BunsenBurner · February 17, 2010, 1:24am

Kristi Yamaguchi is now shilling for TurboTax -funny!

Okay, we are done with the Europeans and the Japanese, can’t wait for our guys to skate.

So sad about the snowboard cross - Lindsay got DQ’d Oh well, at least the gold medal went to our friendly neighbors!

Cardinal_Fang · February 17, 2010, 2:36am

Lysacek looks sinister: And now, Meester Bond, I vill strankle you weeth thees feather boa.

So many are using guitar music-- is it required?

BunsenBurner · February 17, 2010, 2:51am

Evan definitely needs to lose the ugly feathers, and Plushenko needs to get rid of the mega bling around his neck and get a haircut! I thought that Johnny’s costume and hair looked just fine if not perfect!

Rachacha · February 17, 2010, 7:19am

Wow - did the Japanese show up or what???

Am I the only one that is annoyed at the “here is how (sport) would have been contested 1000 years ago” commercials for the upcoming Dreamworks movie? One or two would have been cute, but I think it is a bit much…

woody · February 17, 2010, 7:48am

“Dick Button had on some seriously comfy looking shoes! Wow! He’s a funny old guy”
They reminded me of Herman Munster.
I hate the Dreamworks stuff.

missypie · February 17, 2010, 8:12am

Dick Button is 80. He can wear whatever shoes he wants.

Evan! Evan! Evan! My D’s have a serious obsession. So glad he skated a clean program. Johnny looked great too. (Of the pink corset jumpsuit D said, "Didn’t Ludmilla Slutskiya [sp?] wear that last time?)

Poor Jeremy. I think he’s a big goofball, but I didn’t want him to self-destruct…just wanted him to be safely behind Evan.

Canuckguy · February 17, 2010, 8:26am

Have not been watching figure skating for a long time; interesting to see how things have changed.

Does Weir always dress like this?

Friends always said that I am hard on the British, but after reading something like this:

[London</a> 2012 can’t be worse than the Vancouver Games this winter - Times Online](<a href=“The Times & The Sunday Times: breaking news & today's latest headlines”>The Times & The Sunday Times: breaking news & today's latest headlines)

I think I have not been hard enough. What a hatchet job.

This is from some one who was never easy on the Great White North.

frazzled1 · February 17, 2010, 8:29am

Hate hate hate the men’s costumes - so distracting from their amazing athletic ability. LOVE everything about Dick Button. When he competed, men wore jackets and ties and looked damned good in 'em. Just looked him up on wikipedia - he’s got a Harvard law degree (didn’t know that), and was the youngest guy ever to win the Olympic title (hadn’t known that, either). Hope he’s around for a few more Olympics yet.

silvervestersmom · February 17, 2010, 8:30am

I can’t decide if Dick Button’s shoes are diabetic shoes or elevator shoes. His make Bob Costas’ feet look petite. I miss his commentary during the skating though. He has always been wonderful.

Johnny Weir is from Manhattan but trains in NJ. He is so over the top in his little wiggles, etc. but is disciplined enough that he gets the work done.

A couple I know are avid skiers and say Whistler’s weather is always like it is this week. While the skiing there used to be great, global warming has affected skiing there for a while.

I am SO glad the US hasn’t landed an Olympic Games lately. I’ve read that Greece’s financial woes are partly because of huge losses from the Athens Olympics and also because bloated government salaries and benefits are 51% of the national budget.

Kajon · February 17, 2010, 8:46am

Next time Tom Brokaw sits in the chair next to Costas, notice his shoes. I swear they are 2 inch chunky heals.

It will be fun in 2014 to watch for that first French skater (the abandoned Brazil kid) and the last Japanese skater. I also like the Puttin’ on the Ritz kid.

And why do we never get to see the skating judges? I think it would be fun to watch their reactions to the skaters.

There is no way I would attend a curling event unless there was massive amounts of liquor being served. Maybe it is because I don’t understand it, but I like my Olympics to move at a faster pace.

woody · February 17, 2010, 9:04am

Herman Munster shoes notwithstanding, I think Dick Button is the best! I love his commentary - so much more meaningful than the faceless female announcer who just grunts and groans whenever an error is made. I wish they would be a bit more instructive with their remarks.

FallGirl · February 17, 2010, 9:09am

I think Dick Button is great. It just wouldn’t be Olympic figure skating without him.

Frazzled-I would love to see the men wearing jackets and ties again. Very classy look.

UMDAD · February 17, 2010, 9:16am

I miss CBC. Here in the Detroit area we could always pick up the CBC broadcasts from Windsor, Ontario, which are much better than NBC, even though they are aimed at a Canadian audience and feature Canadian athletes. Our cable systems include the local CBC channel.

This year the Canadian tv contract went to CTV. The closest CTV station is in Sarnia, Ontario, which means it isn’t local and isn’t included in our cable system group of stations.

No CBC and no Canadian coverage at all. Booo!!

cartera45 · February 17, 2010, 10:03am

I read that the short program took the place of the compulsory figures. Supposedly, they incorporated the figure work into the short program. In the footwork, they have to do certain moves that involved circles in different directions, etc.

missypie · February 17, 2010, 10:06am

I think they finally eliminated the school figures because of Midori Ito. She was a fabulous Japanese skater - could jump higher than anyone. But she couldn’t medal at the Olympics because she was terrible at the school figures.

Just looked up Midori - she won her Olympic silver in 1992 - the school figures were eliminated in 1990.

Nrdsb4 · February 17, 2010, 10:17am

Even way back when they did the school figures, they still had a short program. I remember when Dorothy Hamill won the gold, she placed second in figures, but first in the short and long programs. So they have simply eliminated the school figures portion, though it may be true that they are subtly incorporated into the short program as required elements.

cartera45 · February 17, 2010, 10:22am

You’re right. I looked it up and they went from just having compulsories and free to lessening the value of the compulsories and adding in the short program so they had all 3. That was in the early 70s. The reason they added the short program was so they could move away from the compulsories counting so much.

intparent · February 17, 2010, 10:25am

I took eight years of figure skating lessons in my youth, and I absolutely LOATHED figures. They are the opposite end of the scale from free skating… they make curling seem like the most thrilling event on the planet. Honestly, they literally are a lot like watching paint dry. Best thing that ever happened to skating to get rid of those silly things. There had been decades of discussion prior to their elimination, I don’t think you could attribute it to one skater or anyone’s desire for that skater to win a gold medal.

Silverstersmom, the modern Olympics are usually a money-making event for the host country if they are well managed. Athens made a decision to avoid sponsorship as much as possible to keep the games “pure”. Every country that has hosted the games since LA in 1984 has made a profit except Athens (although the accounting for Beijing’s games is not very transparent, so you can’t really tell for sure with them). Hosting the Olympics is a terrific way to upgrade a city’s sports venues and transportation infrastructure and get a return on the investment.

Youdon_tsay · February 17, 2010, 10:34am

I worked the Atlanta Olympics and loved it. We stayed down the street from the womens gymnastics team at Emory, and I have pics of myself with the Karolyis as they arrived back to their house the night they won gold!

canuckguy, you must have missed the hoopla about Weir and PETA. Yes, he always dresses with panache!

missypie · February 17, 2010, 10:38am

Sorry, the name of the female skater that Johnny Weir is channeling is Irina Sluzkaja (not Ludmilla):

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