# 2018 Winter Olympics Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [February 9, 2018, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-winter-olympics-thread/808525 "2018-02-09T16:55:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2018, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-winter-olympics-thread/808525/81 "2018-02-13T19:11:54Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > No she didn’t. > > She did it **26** years ago. Oops, sorry, proofreading error. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![phungi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phungi/32/395_2.png) [@phungi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phungi)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2018, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-winter-olympics-thread/808525/82 "2018-02-13T19:49:47Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Heretic! Pebble her! No offense to Green Bean, but wouldn’t it be more appropriate to “Stone” her? ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2018, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-winter-olympics-thread/808525/83 "2018-02-13T20:49:41Z")
Got my haircut at noon. The shop had the Olympics on. They were showing short-track speedskating (something I’m mildly interested in as wife and kids used to do it.) For the entire time I was in the shop, they showed competition (with short ad breaks.) Astounding how different the coverage was than primetime. (Yeah, I know I can search to see various competition instead of just watching primetime. However, I just don’t care enough about it to exert even such minimal effort. Stopped by the library yesterday and picked up 6 books - not particularly interested in watching ANYTHING on TV for the next week or 2! ;)) ---
**Author:** ![Buttercup\_Smith](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buttercup_smith/32/473_2.png) [@Buttercup\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buttercup_Smith)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2018, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-winter-olympics-thread/808525/84 "2018-02-14T01:21:11Z")
Interesting thing about Russia this go around. The Russian athletes are participating under the Olympic flag and are known as the OAR-Olympic athletes of Russia. This is punishment for a doping incident in Sochi. Damn Russians just cannot be trusted. ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2018, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-winter-olympics-thread/808525/85 "2018-02-14T02:48:16Z")
The North Korean pairs figure skaters were the only ones from North Korea that qualified on merit and I just saw why–a very good performance, only a bit behind the Russians. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2018, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-winter-olympics-thread/808525/86 "2018-02-14T05:19:45Z")
> [@Buttercup\_Smith](#): > > Interesting thing about Russia this go around. The Russian athletes are participating under the Olympic flag and are known > as the OAR-Olympic athletes of Russia. This is punishment for a doping incident in Sochi. Damn Russians just cannot be trusted. Well, not just “a doping incident at Sochi”–rather, a state-sponsored systematic program of doping over a period of several years. There were coverups galore, athletes instructed to take certain substances, drug tests tampered with, drug-riddled urine samples switched for “clean” ones, laboratories on the take, etc., etc. Not just a few athletes, not just during a brief period, but a sustained effort on the part of Russian higher-ups to beat the system and take home a few more medals. Pretty awful. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2018, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-winter-olympics-thread/808525/87 "2018-02-14T05:43:34Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > Rippon’s main problem, as has already been said here, was, his routines’ base scores (74.63 - this is what he would have received had all of the Grades of Execution (the -3 to +3 ratings) been zero) weren’t worth as much as Chan’s (77.29) or Kolyada’s (81.41). > > A prime example: Kolyada’s first jump was a quad Lutz, and he got 8.83 points (taking the automatic -1 for a fall into account), which is just about the lowest possible score you can get for that jump (the absolute lowest is 8.6, but two of the nine judges gave it a -2 instead of a -3). On the other hand, a “perfect” (all +3s) triple Lutz is worth only 8.1 points. Rippon had no quad jumps in his routine. > > Also note that, despite being called “free skate,” there are limits. Watch the individual men’s free skate; you will notice there are always 13 “boxes” beneath the score, and, almost always, they end up getting filled. This is because a men’s routine is limited to 8 jumps/combinations (bonus fact: starting next year, it becomes 7), 3 spins, 1 step sequence, and 1 “choreographic sequence” (defined as “any kind of movements like steps, turns, spirals, arabesques, spread eagles, Ina Bauers (I “think” that’s where a skater is gliding “sideways” with one skate facing forward and the other facing backward), hydroblading, any jumps with maximum of 2 revolutions, spins, etc.”). > > [Link to detailed scores](http://www.isuresults.com/results/season1718/owg2018/) All that math just makes my head throb. I know the business about difficulty and points. Where’s the artistry and beauty supposed to fit? I mean, I know it’s a sport and not ballet or dance but we wouldn’t watch if it wasnt nice to look at, or at least I wouldn’t. ---
**Author:** ![DKW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dkw/32/3118_2.png) [@DKW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DKW)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2018, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-winter-olympics-thread/808525/88 "2018-02-14T07:48:59Z")
Got more stuff to say, but for now, just a quick question: What the heck happened to _replays?_ There have been so many great moments, spectacular feats, close calls, and I can’t remember a single one that’s been replayed. And every time something really awful happens (I just watched a complete train wreck of a wipeout in women’s luge), not only is there no replay but they spend about two freaking minutes showing _nothing!_ Picking apart big moments is as much a sports tradition as high-fives; what is NBC doing here? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2018, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-winter-olympics-thread/808525/89 "2018-02-14T13:25:28Z")
> [@phungi](#): > > No offense to Green Bean, but wouldn’t it be more appropriate to “Stone” her? Curling ice isn’t Zamboni smooth like skating ice. It’s pebbled: the ice makers spray droplets of water on the ice so it has an uneven, pebbled surface, to help the rocks curl. Personally, I call the things we play with rocks, rather than stones, but YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2018, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-winter-olympics-thread/808525/90 "2018-02-14T13:52:54Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > All that math just makes my head throb. I know the business about difficulty and points. Where’s the artistry and beauty supposed to fit? I mean, I know it’s a sport and not ballet or dance but we wouldn’t watch if it wasnt nice to look at, or at least I wouldn’t. There are two parts to the score; technical and “Program component”. The latter includes “Skating Skills, Transitions, Performance, Composition, and Interpretation”. These are judged on a scale of 0 - 10 each, by each judge, and averaged by tossing out the high and low score awarded, then taking the mean of the others (nine judges). The component scores are very important; in the team competition, during the women’s free skate, as I recall the Italian skater, Carolina Kostner, almost finished third because although her technical score was low (59 and change), here component score was very high (74+); only the top performer, Alina Zagitova of Russia, scored higher in components. ---
**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 14, 2018, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-winter-olympics-thread/808525/91 "2018-02-14T15:12:56Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > There are two parts to the score; technical and “Program component”. The latter includes “Skating Skills, Transitions, Performance, Composition, and Interpretation”. These are judged on a scale of 0 - 10 each, by each judge, and averaged by tossing out the high and low score awarded, then taking the mean of the others (nine judges). The component scores are very important; in the team competition, during the women’s free skate, as I recall the Italian skater, Carolina Kostner, almost finished third because although her technical score was low (59 and change), here component score was very high (74+); only the top performer, Alina Zagitova of Russia, scored higher in components. Note that, in order to keep the technical and component scores close to each other, the component scores can be multiplied by some factor depending on the competition. Men’s short program scores are kept as they are; free skate scores are doubled. Ladies’ and pairs’ short program scores are multiplied by 0.8 (so 80 is a perfect score), and free skate scores are multiplied by 1.6. Ice dancing is 0.8 for the short dance and 1.2 for the free dance. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2018, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-winter-olympics-thread/808525/92 "2018-02-14T16:00:55Z")
> [@DKW](#): > > Got more stuff to say, but for now, just a quick question: > > What the heck happened to _replays?_ There have been so many great moments, spectacular feats, close calls, and I can’t remember a single one that’s been replayed. And every time something really awful happens (I just watched a complete train wreck of a wipeout in women’s luge), not only is there no replay but they spend about two freaking minutes showing _nothing!_ Picking apart big moments is as much a sports tradition as high-fives; what is NBC doing here? I don’t know what version of NBC you’re watching, but I see replays all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2018, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-winter-olympics-thread/808525/93 "2018-02-14T16:30:15Z")
> [@DKW](#): > > Got more stuff to say, but for now, just a quick question: > > What the heck happened to _replays?_ There have been so many great moments, spectacular feats, close calls, and I can’t remember a single one that’s been replayed. And every time something really awful happens (I just watched a complete train wreck of a wipeout in women’s luge), not only is there no replay but they spend about two freaking minutes showing _nothing!_ Picking apart big moments is as much a sports tradition as high-fives; what is NBC doing here? Was watching that on NBCSN. Seemed that they held off on showing replays until after the sledder’s well-being was ensured. In the meantime, there was no action to show. After what happened a few years ago, they probably didn’t want to risk re-running a death or serious injury to “pick it apart” ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2018, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-winter-olympics-thread/808525/94 "2018-02-14T18:24:10Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > I don’t know what version of NBC you’re watching, but I see replays all the time. I don’t know what version I’m watching, but I’m in a constant state of befuddlement. Shaun White. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![dzeiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/46a35a/32.png) [@dzeiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzeiger)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2018, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-winter-olympics-thread/808525/95 "2018-02-14T20:02:38Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > All that math just makes my head throb. I know the business about difficulty and points. Where’s the artistry and beauty supposed to fit? I mean, I know it’s a sport and not ballet or dance but we wouldn’t watch if it wasnt nice to look at, or at least I wouldn’t. The artistry and beauty is supposed to fit in the time machine that takes you back before 2002 or so and all the points scandals. ---
**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, 2018, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-winter-olympics-thread/808525/96 "2018-02-15T01:26:34Z")
I wonder how the North Korean Hockey players feel about their team/teammates when so many of them are North Americans? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2018, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-winter-olympics-thread/808525/97 "2018-02-15T01:34:44Z")
Ick. Korean women are thrashing Canada at curling. Stole 2 to lead 4-1. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2018, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-winter-olympics-thread/808525/98 "2018-02-15T01:37:38Z")
Triple take-out! Beauty! ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2018, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-winter-olympics-thread/808525/99 "2018-02-15T01:42:26Z")
So more figure skating tonight. I am skittish to say/ask this, what do y’all think about Johnny Weir? Personally I think he’s crazy, quirky and funny. But the boys fashion sense kinda scares me. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2018, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-winter-olympics-thread/808525/100 "2018-02-15T02:36:51Z")
Wow. Canadian team just gave Korea a steal of three at the end of the 9th. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-winter-olympics-thread/808525.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2018-winter-olympics-thread/808525.md?page=6)