The Olympics

Parent Cafe
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<p>The Onion’s take on the US Olympians:</p>

<p>[Onion</a> Sports Guide To Team USA | The Onion - America’s Finest News Source](<a href=“The Onion | America's Finest News Source.”>The Onion | America's Finest News Source.)</p>

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<p>Apparently Sports Illustrated decided that too:</p>

<p><a href=“http://despardes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/lindsey-vonn-on-sports-illustrated-cover.jpg[/url]”>http://despardes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/lindsey-vonn-on-sports-illustrated-cover.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Wonder how much they’d be pushing her if she was really homely? What if our #1 skier was homely and #2 was beautiful?</p>

<p>Have you noticed that the dowhill skiers (male and female) tend to be really attractive?</p>

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<p>oh, I don’t blame Lindsey, she is out there doing her thing and the media decided that she would be the one they wanted to pimp. I don’t think she is pushing it in any way, but Matt Lauer sure is. And I agree with missypie, if she wasn’t good looking they wouldn’t be pushing her.</p>

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<p>That’s why I am so glad that she got the gold. The media chooses a favorite, then acts like it’s such a monumental let down for the country if they don’t medal.</p>

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<p>Well she is the first American woman to get a gold in downhill, and considering how many top skiers couldn’t make it down the hill, she is a pretty big deal. Because of the crappy conditions, they had not been able to train at full speed on that hill. I think it’s amazing any of them made it down. Very few were ready for that last jump. </p>

<p>I thought it was interesting that she had been training using men’s skis and when she got to Vancouver and the others saw that, they freaked and tried to use men’s skis too. </p>

<p>I thought the release of emotion was very touching. I felt the same way when Evan (whose last name I can’t spell) became emotional after the skating short program. She really did devote her entire life to this one thing and it was appropriate to be overwhelmed by the achievement.</p>

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<p>I would have cried, too if I had so much pressure on my shoulders to deliver the gold while not being 100 percent healthy. She was just relieved that she made it down the hill in one piece!</p>

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<p>I hope it is OK to post this link but it is about the poor Ceverage that NBC is giving you folks
[Pressure</a> Builds On NBC To Explain Why It’s Ruining The Olympics](<a href=“http://www.businessinsider.com/henry-blodget-pressure-builds-on-nbc-to-explain-why-its-ruining-the-olympics-2010-2]Pressure”>Pressure Builds on NBC to Explain Why It's Ruining the Olympics)
If I should not have posted it could someone tell me how to get it off</p>

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<p>I can’t remember who the silver went to, but I wanted to slap the tiara off of her head. She showed immaturity by doing her little dance. Bullet and I were fortunate enough to go to the Torino Olympics in 06, we met athlete families from around the world, including Apolo Ohno’s father. They are happy for them, but take it very serious that they are representing our country. The little dance and tiara just made me feel like she did not get it!</p>

<p>Shaun White’s performance was unbelievable! The height he got made my jaw drop. I also give him credit for still going all out there knowing that he could have not risked it and still got the gold.</p>

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<p>I have to get this out…I have never seen an athlete like Vonn “talk up” an injury as much as she did prior to a major competition. I’ve always seen them try to downplay an injury. To me (and maybe I’m just cynical) it almost seemed like she was trying to reduce expectations (of the press/public), thus taking some pressure off of her prior to the DH race. If she did well, it would be a miracle; a great story. If she did poorly, well, we knew all about the injury, so it wouldn’t be a big “failure”.</p>

<p>Just sayin’. But I’m glad she won, good for her…and she had so much emotion/relief after the race.</p>

<p>Shaun White was SO MUCH BETTER than the others. Even for the untrained eye! :D</p>

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<p>I thought Shaun White was inspiring…like, Phillipe Petit inspiring. His second run was so much fun to watch, and he looked like he was having so much fun (I know, there was no pressure because he knew he already had the gold). But he still looked like the face of snowboarding because of it!</p>

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<p>My daughter’s AP English teacher actually used this as an example of a specific type of communication (the name escapes me) where one intentionally downplays expectations.</p>

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<p>It was Julia Manucuso who wore the tiara. She won a gold (in a different event) last time and wore the tiara then too. </p>

<p>And, if you watched the race, you may have noticed that for quite a distance before the finish line, Vonn was skiing on one ski. (She had two skis on, but it was evident that all of her weight was on one.) I don’t think she was faking the injury; I think it hurt. </p>

<p>As for bringing up the injury…the press kept ASKING her about it. When Ono raced to a silver, the reporters asked if he thought he was interfered with. He said yes, he definitely was, but it’s part of the sport and changed the topic. What was he supposed to do, lie? Later, the Korean gold medal winner ranted about what Ono had said. But if you watched Ono say it…it wasn’t as if he brought it up. He answered a direct question.</p>

<p>IMO, Vonn did the same.</p>

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<p>Jonri, totally agree…she was answering direct questions. What surprised me was the candor with which she described her pain, and publicly voiced her own doubts in her ability to ski well. Typically athletes will answer the questions with a little bit of downplaying…you know, the usual “I’ll do my best” sort of thing…while keeping any real doubts/fears private.</p>

<p>Like I said, this may be the cynic in me…and I was GLAD that she won, she deserved it with a great run on a difficult course. But if she hadn’t won, or even medaled, nobody would have been particularly surprised.</p>

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<p>I wonder how much guidance these athletes get on how to talk to the press, etc. I’m sure that the big names who have agents and endorsements get a lot of guidance, but the first time, out of the blue winners probably have little interview experience at all. I shudder to think how my own 19 year old son would come across on TV. I’d be saying things like “Don’t scratch when you’re on the medals podium.”</p>

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<p>Vonn had a hat with olympic rings on her head. If they wear tiaras or glue pigtails to their helmets or sport a soul patch, that’s fine with me - we have plenty of bland-looking competitors. Vonn was not faking her emotions and tears. Imagine what the press would be saying today if she had not made it down the ice mountain without falling! When media starts blasting an athlete for not performing, all I want to say is, “Go do it yourself - we’ll see what kind of medal you get!”</p>

<p>Two American ladies winning the two top spots in an event ruled by the Europeans - amazing! I was very happy for the girls, and also relieved that no one was hurt despite the nasty falls.</p>

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At the opening ceremony an NBC guy was interviewing three US snowboarding women–two attractive blondes, and one less attractive girl. He directed almost all the questions to the two blondes, even though the other girl had won a gold medal in Torino.</p>

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<p>Bunsen I agree I am glad that nobody was injured. It seemed that medal winners won because they made it down the course. It was UNREAL! SO sad to see the competitors fall with the goal line in sight. </p>

<p>Wonder how NBC feels that American Idol beat them out in ratings.</p>

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<p>American Idol was on? Darn, I missed it - I just assumed it would not be on as everything elsre has been repeats. I’d have DVRd it if I’d known Guess I’d better get over to the AI thread and see what happened.</p>

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<p>I heard today at NPR that the 6 medals won by the US was the most number of medals the US has ever won in one day. Not only that it equals the number of medals the US won in Calgary. I didn’t look it up but if I heard that correctly - that’s amazing.</p>