The Olympics

Canada shocks the USWNT! I didn't watch the match but saw the penalty. That's going to get called every day. Think that their coach got it all wrong, although I saw some folks say that Rapinoe and Lloyd were two of the best players when they came on. So, is it not integrating younger players, still playing older players who are past it (or not past it)? or is it just tactics?
 
wokeupnew said:
Canada shocks the USWNT! I didn't watch the match but saw the penalty. That's going to get called every day. Think that their coach got it all wrong, although I saw some folks say that Rapinoe and Lloyd were two of the best players when they came on. So, is it not integrating younger players, still playing older players who are past it (or not past it)? or is it just tactics?
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After the controversies of the 2012 olympic semis, we'll take it.
 
bump.

this is how I feel about the Olympics this go around.



Anyone been watching? They just don't feel that exciting compared to the summer ones last year.
 
I actually still have a few things on my DVR from the Tokyo summer olympics that I'm now trying to clear out before I start watching the beijing winter olympics. almost done, haha.

I did watch the first round robin mixed doubles curling match with USA vs. Australia. Here is my book report on curling based on only having watched one match ever:

Pros:
  • It is cool that they try to actually put spin on the stones and curl their trajectory as they travel across the ice. I had a vague sense that curling was like shuffleboard on ice, which is true, but I didn't realize that they actually put spin on it like that to sneak around behind the other stones.
  • I like that the players have mics, so you can hear their banter and strategizing.
  • I can't overstate how viscerally satisfying it is to see how plump and shiny and invincible the stones are and to hear the sound they make when they hit each other.
  • I really love that they're re-using the "water cube" from the 2008 olympics and calling it the "ice cube" now. That's got to be the best part of this whole olympics so far.
Cons:
  • It feels very low-stakes overall - it seems like there's a lot of luck involved, and it also seems like it's really easy to make mistakes, even at the Olympic level. Maybe the intensity is more apparent once you get out of the round robin stage, though.
  • A roughly 2 hour match feels like it takes all day - it's hard to pay attention because it's kind of monotonous. There's no real sense of momentum like you have in other sports.
  • The players all look and sound kinda dorky. Furiously scrubbing with a brush doesn't look as elegant or impressive as athletes look in other events like gymnastics, swimming, surfing, skating, basketball, fencing, karate, soccer, running, hurdles, volleyball, etc. Even events like weightlifting and wrestling have these epic moments with feats of skill and strength - with curling, it just feels like the way the stones bounce off each other is impacted by so many variables that it's rarely breathtaking or emotional and the players are just kind of watching what happens along with the rest of us. Like once they release the stone, all they can do is scrub and it looks really frantic a lot of the time but their efforts only go so far (and they all know that).
 
Jan said:
Those are actually furnaces from a decommissioned steel mill. The nicer venues for the alpine skiing events are more problematic because they refresh the boundaries of a nature reserve to build the skiing venues there

Is that a nuclear plant? Behind the Beijing Olympics Big Air Shougang stadium
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Yeah, I wondered that too at first when I saw them, but realized pretty quick they were too small to be from a nuclear power plant.

Then I saw an article the day after on CNN about it. Guess a lot of people have thought that.

In other news I'm watching the Olympics in 4K HDR.

At first it didn't really seem like the HDR made any difference over the regular feed. The 4k offered some noticeable improvement in picture quality. But with the sun shining that white snow was blinding bright last night in HDR. Too bright for my eyes in the dark living room... :ROFLMAO:
 
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