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<p>Last Olympics my family happened to be staying in a hotel that picked up NBC signals from both the Pacific and Mountain Time zones. It was great to be able to hear a result on the radio then watch it live 90 minutes later and live a second time after another hour. And I particularly enjoyed the way NBC emphasized that it was all live.</p>
<p>Love the snowboard cross, so much fun. </p>
<p>I thought the second place Chinese skaters were robots. Technically proficient, but no fun to watch. The Germans and the first place Chinese were way more entertaining.</p>
<p>The Japanese-turned-Russian skater left her behind behind in Japan, apparently. I know that thinner skaters are easier to throw, but a few of those women looked like chopsticks.</p>
<p>Tomorrow, men’s hockey!</p>
<p>This is the third Olympic we hosted and we finally win a gold. This is a record of futility that will be hard to break. How embarrassing.</p>
<p>I blame it on the British influence. Americans or Chinese would never allow this to happen. I have always admired American athletes for coming up big in major events, while we have the tendency to do the opposite.</p>
<p>If not for the results of the short program, I fear there would have been a Chinese sweep in the pairs.</p>
<p>I am hoping the Canadians would sweep ice hockey. 
We will see.</p>
<p>Time for some standards - make a rule that you need to perform your skating program without falling. argh!
After the third or fourth couple in a row fell, I went to bed. It was my bedtime. I spent nearly all of prime time wanting to scream “Shut up!” at my TV.<br>
Polar bears - really?</p>
<p>I haven’t seen my DVR of last night’s skating yet, but I did see Al Michaels’ interview of Dick Button from yesterday afternoon’s show. Dick challenged Al to count how many times a skater “grabs” a skate to pull up his/her leg to get extra points. He hates it, thinks it takes away from the artistry of the sport. Glad in a way my D switched to hockey…</p>
<p>Now it’s Miller time (the OTHER Miller, congrats to Bode though…)</p>
<p>I thought the gold medalists in the pairs figure skating (I’m not even going to attempt their names) had a lackluster free skate, except for that very lenghty and showy lift that was used at least twice. I guess they were so far ahead after the short program that it was almost impossible for them to lose, but they were way out of sync with each other on the parts where they were skating the same moves side by side (think bad Rockettes), and there was one big mistake (which made the commentator gasp loudly) and several small ones in their acrobatic elements. The silver medal winners had a free skate program (“Impossible Dream” music) that was just magically lyrical and technically perfect–it made my heart sing.</p>
<p>Interesting article in the New York Times today about how the breakup of the Soviet Union and its economic aftermath left a void in Russian figure skating, after so many years of dominating the sport. Looks like the Chinese will be running the table for many years to come. I wonder why the Americans never excel in pairs.</p>
<p>I loved the snowboard cross when they had 4 snowboarders going at one time. It was more exciting than watching the individuals. I agree with Card Fang that some of those female skaters are way too thin. I thought the German girl had the right physical shape for a skater. (I would die for that body) I wish they would show more of the Olympic Village and the athletes wandering around the town enjoying themselves.</p>
<p>Loved the snowboard cross (especially Wescott’s exciting finish!) and the pairs skating. I don’t remember seeing so many skating errors in past Olympics. Anyone else feel the same?</p>
<p>I don’t know how any of you are watching the Olympics on television. The coverage is mostly ads and personal stories…the events are barely shown. It’s frustrating.</p>
<p>How much longer does NBC have the broadcasting contract?</p>
<p>I was shocked that Shen and Zhao messed up like that in the free skate. It was such a basic mistake. She was too far back in the lift and the weight wasn’t balanced.</p>
<p>If it hadn’t been for their short program score, Pang and Tong would’ve won hands down. I loved their free skate. Huge improvement from their short program. Technically amazing. They aren’t quite as passionate as some of the other pairs, but they’ve got the skill.</p>
<p>You could see how devastated Kavaguti and Smirnov were at the end when they lost the place for Russia. But they made far too many major mistakes.</p>
<p>Savchenko and Szolkowy almost ruined their medal chances with their fall, but they managed to do a little better than Kavaguti and Smirnov. </p>
<p>On a snowboarding note, that was a helluva close race between Wescott and Robertson.</p>
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<p>One reason is the lack of financial support for US skaters. The Chinese (and the Russians in the Soviet days) were chosen fairly young to be skaters, paired as mere children, and then do nothing but skate. They live in compounds - don’t have to worry about rent, food, etc. </p>
<p>The US skaters (and others . . .) have to support themselves in addition to their skating. Works ok for singles where the competitors are young and have their parents to pay the bills (although it has been a hardship on many a skating family). But pairs need years to work together so they tend to be much older than single skaters. At some point the parents don’t pay any more (or went broke!) so in addition to the hours of practice, they have to work. </p>
<p>I used to be a skating junkie but haven’t watched skating in a long time (pretty much gave it up when the new, indecipherable scoring system was put into place). I was quite impressed with the US skaters even though they didn’t have a chance in h***.</p>
<p>The Russian pairs were pathetic to watch. I can’t watch pairs without remembering Gordeeva and Grinkov. When I watched them it was so relaxing because I totally knew they were never going to fall. (BTW, did you know that Gordeeva is now married to Ilia Kulik? I always enjoyed him, too.)</p>
<p>The free skates were for the most part so boring. I beginning to think there was a rule against mixing in several songs, until Pang and Tong did the Man of La Mancha songs.</p>
<p>I got this in one of those “Random Thoughts” joke email and it’s so apropos:</p>
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<p>OK…so I said to my husband…“I’m not going to sleep until I see a pair that skates without falling.” It took a long time. I thought most of them were boring too. What’s with the brown outfits and the guy wearing cargo pants? </p>
<p>I don’t mind the personal stories. In fact, I like them. Makes the competition more interesting. I read a good story on Lindsay Vohn in the NYT and now I really want to follow her. </p>
<p>What I don’t like. Mary Carrillo (don’t like her in tennis either…she gabs too much!). Bob Costas’s hair…is he using shoe polish? When they go completely quiet on the skaters after a fall. Say something! Curling…although I haven’t run into it yet. And that thing with the skiing and rifles.</p>
<p>I agree that Bob Costas is very irritating. Seems like he has to have the last word on anything. He was contradicting Dick Button on skating last night. Really, Bob?</p>
<p>Love the fact that the men’s and women’s hockey games are carried in their entirety on cable…it drives me crazy when the other events are cut and presented out of sequence. I know there is limited TV time, but seeing the first downhill skiers (including Bode) and then only the 3 that challenged him was annoying. And Rachacha, I too am waiting for Miller time- the “between the pipes” version! Sure hope he’s as on as he has been most of the season in Buffalo.</p>
<p>I really don’t know what I’m talking about, but I think there are more falls because the pairs skaters are doing much more complicated side by side jumps and throws. One couple did, or attempted, a quadruple throw. In order to do this, the man has to literally hurl the woman. Years ago, they sort of gently tossed her, she did one of two spins and landed gracefully. They are also doing triple side by sides - sometimes twice. Unless the judges stop placing them near the top just for trying these acrobatics, it won’t change. I thought the American couple was wonderful but their difficulty level was not in the ballpark of the top contenders. They were so much more beautiful to watch than either of the top two in my opinion.</p>
<p>The American couple was the one in which the man was in such terrible financial trouble because of competing. He worked a bunch of different jobs, maxed out the credit cards and is practically bankrupt.</p>
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<p>You are so right. I’ve been watching figure skating all my life and this is the first time I’ve noticed the guys working so hard to throw the girls. They looked really ungraceful and you know that the girls weigh next to nothing.</p>
<p>Some of the double spins are really silly looking too. In order to make them complicated, they grab each other, toe to head and then the man ends up straddling the woman and they are a mess of limbs. </p>
<p>Agree about grabbing toe/heel and lifting the leg. Legs don’t look good lifted unless the toe is pointed and they can’t point their toes - especially now that their ankles are wrapped to within an inch of their lives. The gold winning pair did a particularly awkward looking move in which they both grabbed toe and glided in unison. I’m sure it was difficult, but it was ugly.</p>
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<p>Yeah, sort of looked like illustrations from the Kama Sutra.</p>
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<p>Dick Button really hates those. And I miss the old “ordinary” death spiral. The women seem compelled to put their leg in some weird position that looks awkard instead of beautiful.</p>