# 2014 Sochi Olympic Winter Games **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [February 10, 2014, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-sochi-olympic-winter-games/680985 "2014-02-10T17:31:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2014, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-sochi-olympic-winter-games/680985/61 "2014-02-15T20:49:04Z")
> [@polar\_bear](#): > > I’m sure they thought they tested it correctly… fact is they changed suits and it didn’t help much. US hopefuls Hansen, Mantia and Davis didn’t do much… but at this point you could point to all the discussions and ‘voting’ within the team to have had an effect as well. > > For the second time this olympics the difference between gold and silver was a matter of thousands of a second. Both riders had 1.45.00… bur Brodka from Poland was 3 thousands of a second quicker. Koen Verweij will be sick to his stomach for some time. 3/1000 of a second, that’s less than 5 cm. Koen will secondguess every step he took, how far stretched on the last run. Nice curling match in the Women USA/Sweden. On the guys’ side, the British skip dropped the ball on the final stone of the 10th end against Canada, he could’ve forced an extra end. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2014, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-sochi-olympic-winter-games/680985/62 "2014-02-15T21:44:59Z")
Did nobody get up early for the USA-Russia hockey game? With Vladimir Putin in attendance, the teams played to a 2-2 tie through regulation and overtime. In the shootout, they again tied 2-2 with the three designated shooters. At that point the teams can send anyone they want out to shoot, and the US went all-in with TJ Oshie, a forward from a tiny town in Northern Minnesota (Warroad) that is known for one thing only, producing hockey players. Oshie went out five consecutive times as the teams matched each other goal for goal and save for save. Finally, on the eighth attempt, Oshie scored to give the win to the USA. Oshie was probably the last player selected to the US squad, and a large part of the decision was his uncanny ability to score on penalty shots. In a sport where a 40% conversion rate is excellent, Oshie averages 54%. He converted 4 of 6 shots in this mornings game. [http://vimeo.com/86782824#embed](http://vimeo.com/86782824#embed) ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-sochi-olympic-winter-games/680985/63 "2014-02-16T02:59:17Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > Nice curling match in the Women USA/Sweden. My club is hosting a women’s tournament this weekend and I’ve been timing some games and helping out. Watched that on our big screen; tough way to lose a game. Hell of a shot by the Swedish skip. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-sochi-olympic-winter-games/680985/64 "2014-02-16T04:25:37Z")
Semi-local guy Marc Antoine gets the bronze in skeleton. Prairie du Chien is about 75 miles south of me. Brian ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-sochi-olympic-winter-games/680985/65 "2014-02-16T19:55:58Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > Did nobody get up early for the USA-Russia hockey game? With Vladimir Putin in attendance, the teams played to a 2-2 tie through regulation and overtime. In the shootout, they again tied 2-2 with the three designated shooters. At that point the teams can send anyone they want out to shoot, and the US went all-in with TJ Oshie, a forward from a tiny town in Northern Minnesota (Warroad) that is known for one thing only, producing hockey players. Oshie went out five consecutive times as the teams matched each other goal for goal and save for save. Finally, on the eighth attempt, Oshie scored to give the win to the USA. > > Oshie was probably the last player selected to the US squad, and a large part of the decision was his uncanny ability to score on penalty shots. In a sport where a 40% conversion rate is excellent, Oshie averages 54%. He converted 4 of 6 shots in this mornings game. > > [http://vimeo.com/86782824#embed](http://vimeo.com/86782824#embed) I was! Loved it! And we spanked Slovenia today too! Whoooo! In other hockey news, Canada wins in OT, and Cindy Crosby still sucks ass. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-sochi-olympic-winter-games/680985/66 "2014-02-16T20:37:06Z")
> [@polar\_bear](#): > > Actually, the different manufacturers are working on improving suits all the time and it is often used to gain that little edge in olympic years. While no one can say for sure, anyone who knows about skating had been wondering what’s up with the Americans. Davis, Richardson and Bowe have been the strongest on the 1000 meters for the last year (and Davis for a while before that). None of them breaking the top 6 is absolutely shocking; the fact that this is pretty much true for the less favored American skaters (Tucker Fredericks outside the top 25?) ass well, makes it likely (or at least point to discuss) that something is up. I was wondering about this whole suite thing, so I went and looked at the speed skating results during the year for the last few years for the 1000m and 1500m. I see a a few things when I look at the data: 1 - Davis (and US in general) does well in Utah and Calgary 2 - Times in Utah and Calgary are generally faster than anywhere else 3 - US is inconsistent when looking across the spectrum of racing locations When 1st, 2nd and 3rd place time are slower, Davis performs more poorly (3rd, 5th, 8th, 9th, 10th, etc.) When 1st, 2nd and 3rd place place times are faster, Davis performs well (1st). He seems to win in Utah, Calgary and Kazahkstan, and generally has been unimpressive in other locations. I don’t know anything about speed skating other than looking at this pattern, but it seems like the track conditions or elevation or something has a big impact on who does well. ---
**Author:** ![polar\_bear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ec9cab/32.png) [@polar\_bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/polar_bear)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-sochi-olympic-winter-games/680985/67 "2014-02-16T21:26:09Z")
> [@RaftPeople](#): > > I was wondering about this whole suite thing, so I went and looked at the speed skating results during the year for the last few years for the 1000m and 1500m. > > I see a a few things when I look at the data: > 1 - Davis (and US in general) does well in Utah and Calgary > 2 - Times in Utah and Calgary are generally faster than anywhere else > 3 - US is inconsistent when looking across the spectrum of racing locations > > When 1st, 2nd and 3rd place time are slower, Davis performs more poorly (3rd, 5th, 8th, 9th, 10th, etc.) > > When 1st, 2nd and 3rd place place times are faster, Davis performs well (1st). > > He seems to win in Utah, Calgary and Kazahkstan, and generally has been unimpressive in other locations. > I don’t know anything about speed skating other than looking at this pattern, but it seems like the track conditions or elevation or something has a big impact on who does well. It is true that both American and Canadian skaters do better in Salt Lake City and Calgary. These are the inly indoor tracks at altitude, which means that far faster times are possible because of lower air resistance (that is why all world records are at these tracks). Europeans often seemed to struggle because they weren’t used to the higher top speeds. This is something else that is now being mentioned as being a ‘wrong’ decision: training at altitude. I’ve heard that you need to use a different technique at sea level; less gliding and more emphasis on pushing off. In any case, if I look at the world cup results this year Davis had 3 wins and 1 third place on the 1000m (out of 4 races). For the 1500 he won once and only finished outside the top 5 once. The same is true for the women on the 1000m, Richardson won once and the other world cup was won by Bowe (all US). It doesn’t matter how you look at it, it is weird that none of the US skaters has been in a top 6 after 8 events. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-sochi-olympic-winter-games/680985/68 "2014-02-16T21:27:25Z")
> [@Locrian](#): > > I was! Loved it! And we spanked Slovenia today too! Whoooo! > > In other hockey news, Canada wins in OT, and Cindy Crosby still sucks ass. 😃 That’s nice. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-sochi-olympic-winter-games/680985/69 "2014-02-16T23:09:58Z")
> [@polar\_bear](#): > > In any case, if I look at the world cup results this year Davis had 3 wins and 1 third place on the 1000m (out of 4 races). Yes, but those 3 wins were at Utah, Calgary and Kazakhstan where he consistently does well. I think because it’s a small sample and the recent events were all at locations that appear to be to his advantage, it presents a skewed picture. When you look back a few years you can see a consistent pattern. > [@](#): > > For the 1500 he won once and only finished outside the top 5 once. 1st, 2nd, 5th, 8th. Extend that back one year and add: 3rd, 9th, 10th, 1st (Kazakh), 10th The pattern becomes more clear. > [@](#): > > The same is true for the women on the 1000m, Richardson won once and the other world cup was won by Bowe (all US). I didn’t look at the women’s patterns yet. > [@](#): > > It doesn’t matter how you look at it, it is weird that none of the US skaters has been in a top 6 after 8 events. I disagree that it doesn’t matter how you look at it. When you look at an extended history, the results fit in with the pattern, they don’t look unusual. ---
**Author:** ![dzeiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/46a35a/32.png) [@dzeiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzeiger)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2014, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-sochi-olympic-winter-games/680985/70 "2014-02-17T02:02:31Z")
Well, whatever happened with the US speed skaters, the same thing seems to be happening (or worse) with the Norwegian cross-country skiers. ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2014, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-sochi-olympic-winter-games/680985/71 "2014-02-17T03:36:26Z")
> [@Locrian](#): > > I was! Loved it! And we spanked Slovenia today too! Whoooo! > > In other hockey news, Canada wins in OT, and Cindy Crosby still sucks ass. 😃 Crosby was pretty good actually. He has been all tourney. Scoring isn’t the be all and end all. ---
**Author:** ![polar\_bear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ec9cab/32.png) [@polar\_bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/polar_bear)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2014, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-sochi-olympic-winter-games/680985/72 "2014-02-17T09:34:57Z")
> [@RaftPeople](#): > > I disagree that it doesn’t matter how you look at it. > > When you look at an extended history, the results fit in with the pattern, they don’t look unusual. Well, you clearly have no clue about skating the last few years and are just listing some results when they fit in a pattern that suits you. You don’t mention how he was second in the world cup 1000m last year (after missing the start) and was on the podium in almost every race. That he was first and second in the two 1000m’s of the world sprinting championships a month ago in Nagano (so of the 6 official and international 1000m races this year he won 4 and was on the podium the other two times). If you are so convinced about location being the prime reason: last year the wolrd championships were in Sochi and he was on the podium for both distances. I’m not saying that anything but gold would have been a suprise, but 8th and 11th are very out of character and some of the worst results he has had in a decade (and no, I don’t feel like actually looking this up). PS if you go back to 2012 and 2011 (if those results count for anything), you’ll see that Davis has won about a dozen times in places like Heerenveen and Berlin (both at sea level). ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2014, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-sochi-olympic-winter-games/680985/73 "2014-02-17T14:19:08Z")
So far, it does appear the fix is in for ice dancing. The person _who literally invented one of the critical short dance moves_ said the scores given the American and Canadian teams could not be rationally explained. It’s high time ice dancing was removed from the Olympics - not because I have anything against it as a sport, but because if they cannot get the judges to stop cheating, it does not belong there at all. The judging in ice dance has been a joke for so long now that it’s clearly a deep institutional problem. ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2014, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-sochi-olympic-winter-games/680985/74 "2014-02-17T16:52:19Z")
> [@polar\_bear](#): > > Well, you clearly have no clue about skating the last few years and are just listing some results when they fit in a pattern that suits you. It’s true I do not have any experience or clue about speed skating. But it’s not the pattern that “suits me” because I didn’t go into this with any preconceived notions, I just went looking at the data to see how frequently davis wins. > [@](#): > > You don’t mention how he was second in the world cup 1000m last year (after missing the start) and was on the podium in almost every race. That he was first and second in the two 1000m’s of the world sprinting championships a month ago in Nagano (so of the 6 official and international 1000m races this year he won 4 and was on the podium the other two times). I checked all world cup races in last few years, not sure if they are the same ones you are referring to. This is the data I am looking at: 1000m, 2011 until present: 1st 1st 1st 7th 4th 5th 3rd 8th 1st 2nd DQ 3rd 1st 1st 1st 1500m, 2011 until present: 6th 1st 1st 7th 4th 2nd 3rd 9th 10th 1st 10th 8th 5th 1st 2nd > [@](#): > > If you are so convinced about location being the prime reason: last year the wolrd championships were in Sochi and he was on the podium for both distances. I’m not saying that anything but gold would have been a suprise, but 8th and 11th are very out of character and some of the worst results he has had in a decade (and no, I don’t feel like actually looking this up). > > PS if you go back to 2012 and 2011 (if those results count for anything), you’ll see that Davis has won about a dozen times in places like Heerenveen and Berlin (both at sea level). I’m not convinced of anything. It seems like location is a partial factor. The press made it sound like Davis was winning every event he was in and they should have just handed him a medal. So I checked the results and my conclusion is that he was won a lot but a low finish isn’t unusual also. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2014, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-sochi-olympic-winter-games/680985/75 "2014-02-17T18:02:27Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > So far, it does appear the fix is in for ice dancing. The person _who literally invented one of the critical short dance moves_ said the scores given the American and Canadian teams could not be rationally explained. > > It’s high time ice dancing was removed from the Olympics - not because I have anything against it as a sport, but because if they cannot get the judges to stop cheating, it does not belong there at all. The judging in ice dance has been a joke for so long now that it’s clearly a deep institutional problem. Of course my above comment should not be taken as implying that the fix is not also in to ensure Canada wins silver. The Russian team just put on a performance that was effectively flawless and vastly more technically impressive than Canada’s Virtue and Moir, but of course the judges gave the Russian team a substantially lower score - like, not a tiny bit worse, but substantially worse - because, well, they weren’t SUPPOSED to win anything better than bronze. So they won’t, even if the couples that are supposed to win gold and silver actually fling themselves over the boards. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2014, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-sochi-olympic-winter-games/680985/76 "2014-02-17T18:03:36Z")
I think I would like to have the Flower/Bouquet concession at the Figure Skating rink. Do people buy flowers so they can throw them after their favorite skaters finish their performance? ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2014, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-sochi-olympic-winter-games/680985/77 "2014-02-17T18:46:25Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Of course my above comment should not be taken as implying that the fix is not also in to ensure Canada wins silver. The Russian team just put on a performance that was effectively flawless and vastly more technically impressive than Canada’s Virtue and Moir, but of course the judges gave the Russian team a substantially lower score - like, not a tiny bit worse, but substantially worse - because, well, they weren’t SUPPOSED to win anything better than bronze. So they won’t, even if the couples that are supposed to win gold and silver actually fling themselves over the boards. I don’t know a ton about ice dancing (along with 99.9% of the general population) but it seems like every Olympics provides no real surprise as far as the final results are concerned (they always seem to be chalk). I always found that strange. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2014, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-sochi-olympic-winter-games/680985/78 "2014-02-17T18:58:16Z")
How come I never heard of snowboard motocross until last night? That was awesome. Nothing improves downhill speed snowboarding like big jumps, slushy snow and a lot of traffic. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2014, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-sochi-olympic-winter-games/680985/79 "2014-02-17T20:32:09Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Of course my above comment should not be taken as implying that the fix is not also in to ensure Canada wins silver. The Russian team just put on a performance that was effectively flawless and vastly more technically impressive than Canada’s Virtue and Moir, but of course the judges gave the Russian team a substantially lower score - like, not a tiny bit worse, but substantially worse - because, well, they weren’t SUPPOSED to win anything better than bronze. So they won’t, even if the couples that are supposed to win gold and silver actually fling themselves over the boards. I wouldn’t go that far, although judges’ second marks being based more on how well the skater was expected to do rather than how well the skater actually did has been happening for decades, and not just in ice dancing. Does anybody remember Torvill and Dean getting anything other than nine 6s on their second marks in any routine (and not just in 1988, but in 1987 as well)? Still, in the component scores, Virtue & Moir got 16 perfect 10s (out of 45), 11 of which were still counted after throwing out the high score in each of the five components, while Ilinykh & Katsalapov got only 5, of which only 2 counted. Davis and White, on the other hand, got 25, 15 of which counted - and two of the 10 that were discarded were discarded because they were the _low_ score (i.e. they got 10s from all nine judges in two of the five categories). Also, Ilinykh & Katsalapov were effectively penalized 1.5 points because their circular step sequence was determined to be Level 3 instead of 4. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2014, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-sochi-olympic-winter-games/680985/80 "2014-02-17T21:13:46Z")
Looks like Canada vs. USA in the Women’s Hockey final, eh? This should be a great game, but I think Canada has the edge. Some of the CAN women have 18 or 19 career Olympic goals?? Plus, Canadian Women’s Hockey in the Olympics won, what, the last three or four gold medals? They’re kind of like NCAA women’s UConn team! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-sochi-olympic-winter-games/680985.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-sochi-olympic-winter-games/680985.md?page=5)