<p>Fireflyscout - me too! H and I turn to each other and say “Niedermeyer! DEAD!” (not wishing the hockey player any bad luck - just quoting Animal House!)</p>
<p>I’m not at all a hockey fan. And there were plenty of times when that puck skidded so fast I couldn’t even see it. But it was exciting… and disappointing. </p>
<p>How many times has NBC shown those last excerpts when they went into overtime. </p>
<p>I think I’m going to have trouble trying to re-establish my nightly routine, I’m not a TV fan at all.</p>
<p>I thought of Animal House, too.</p>
<p>Anyone watch the closing ceremonies? I heard NBC moved away from it, before it was over but understandable that the first part was so kitsch…but too bad if before Buble, Avril Lavigne, Alanis Morrisette, Nickelback, and Simple Plan!?</p>
<p>The closing ceremony did not look that great. I liked that they poked some fun at the cauldron failure in the beginning, but it went downhill from there, although the Russian dancers were great. Here NBC cut the coverage off after the Buble’s performance, so no Avril, no Alanis… Sad.</p>
<p>Now NBC is trying to be funny with some really stupid celebrity marriage ref show. Bleh!</p>
<p>Please don’t criticize the US Hockey players. I wonder if those of you who think they were “unsportsmanlike” every competed much less competed in a BIG game. The emotional let down is very real. They probably weren’t waving because 99% of the crowd was CANADIAN! In many sports the medal ceremonies are hours after the event - then athletes have time to gain their composure.<br>
If you watched the closing ceremonies, you saw Ryan Miller marching in with his silver medal - all smiles! </p>
<p>I actually enjoyed the closing ceremonies and Canada’s sense of humor. Michael J. Fox looked terrific. I am so fond of him. The closing ceremony ended with Michael Buble’ - was there more?
BB- I didn’t stay up for that dumb marriage ref show - looked idiotic. If they cut away for that show - one more reason to hate NBC.</p>
<p>NBC later showed the rest of the closing ceremony. If I hadn’t learned from starbright’s post last night I would have thought it ended before Morrisette, et als. The opening ceremony was wonderful, the closing one less so. The balloons reminded me of the Macy’s parade and the suspended human maple leaves looked ridiculous. Too bad that part wasn’t eliminated so it could end with the rock party. Friends say the same producer was responsible for opening and closing. His judgment was suspended for a while during the closing.</p>
<p>Some enterprising person needs to come up with a garment that the male sliders can wear that allows them to move while not exposing their junk to the world. NBC really needed to have photographed those guys only from the waist up!</p>
<p>I thought the performance by Neil Young was interesting. (Long May You Run). I like the guy…his music brings me back to my youth. His voice is quirky for sure. But they kept panning out to the young audience and most of them seemed to have a look on their face “Who IS this guy?”<br>
And what about William Shatner? I turned it off after about 2 minutes. What was he doing? I guess he can’t sing…and they wanted to give him a role. But come on, it was embarrassing.</p>
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<p>That’s exactly what my kids were saying about Neil Young. But c’mon, who can complain about Shatner being Shatner?</p>
<p>I liked the goofiness of the closing ceremony. My mind reeled when I saw those giant beavers.</p>
<p>It was too bad that Shatner being lame was followed by someone else being lame. I couldn’t tell what the skateboarders were spelling/picturing most of the time. I thought the giant puppet things were hideous. I never watch the closing ceremonies, but for some reason it was on so I watched… I like Neil Young in small quantities and thought he was very good. It was nice to see Michael J. Fox looking so good.</p>
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<p>Not only had they just lost, but they just lost in sudden death overtime. There’s no low lower than losing in sudden death. They were probably trying not to cry. Later, they will be proud of their silver medals, but just then, they were overcoming the disappointment of not getting the gold medals they worked so hard for.</p>
<p>The players graciously went through the handshaking line with the Canadian players and coaches. They stood there politely as the Canadian players exulted. That’s all one can ask for.</p>
<p>Re: Neil Young, I think (and I may be wrong) that he was the only one in the closing ceremony that wasn’t lip synching. Something to be said for just playing/singing, as opposed to putting on an “event”.</p>
<p>When the US athletes walked in, the commentators made a point of following one of the hockey players - I think it was even the goalie - walking in wearing his silver medal.</p>
<p>Our local NHL team had two players in the Olympics - one playing for Finland and one for Canada.</p>
<p>To call the US Hockey team unsportsmanlike is ludicrous. To me they looked devastated, and I’m sure they were. They just went from the highest high, scoring that tying goal, to the lowest low, losing the gold medal game. I wanted to tell them all not to be so sad, they played their hearts out and we are so proud of them.</p>
<p>Congrats to Canada, they played their hearts out too. I’m sure the Canadians aren’t disappointed with the American players reaction. They would have felt the same way had the game ended differently.</p>
<p>Once again, I think everyone is entitled to a human reaction in the heat of the moment. If our hockey players had been all smiles after their defeat, we all would be saying that they’re all just a bunch of pro players who don’t really care. (Remember when one of our basketball dream teams flamed out?)</p>
<p>i saw the US goalie in the closing ceremonies. He was smiling…but his eyes looked…wet.
Poor guys. I agree that they were devastated after the winning goal and it just shows how much the game meant to them. I have always thought that it’s much harder to lose a close game. They should be proud and will be once they get over the initial disappointment…they played well. And congrats to Canada…awesome performance under MUCH pressure. </p>
<p>Sorry, I still think Shatner was lame. I’m a fan of Captain Kirk…but find the Priceline ads to be unwatchable.</p>
<p>Of course Shatner is lame. What I love is that it seems like he still thinks he is as hot as he was 45 years ago. The man amuses me to no end.</p>
<p>I agree that they had just lost in sudden death and it is devestating but is that any worse than losing a race a by 1/100 of a second. Yes it is a gut wrenching experience but even if they have a hard time getting their head around it, could they not have at least acknowledged the crowd chearing for them as they received their medals. They didn’t have to smile or try to be happy we know they weren’t but at least wave to the crowd who where being supportive. I dont think they were being unsportsmanlike,they didn t do anyhting wrong but I do think their personal egos got in the way of recognizing those people who paid thousands of dollars for tickets to support them. These teams in particular are made up of professionals who should know better. My feelings would be the same had the Canadian team lost and we reacted the same way.
I have my own problem with some of the things the Canadian coaches did in the 50 K cross country ski competition that I believe where very UN-Olympic that I wont get into here. I have filed my personal complaint with them.</p>