# Brrr...The Winter Olymics Is Coming **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [January 23, 2010, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brrr-the-winter-olymics-is-coming/526096 "2010-01-23T09:06:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brrr-the-winter-olymics-is-coming/526096/21 "2010-01-24T22:36:06Z")
I used to enjoy the Olympic, both winter and summer. Then they split them, so it’s always either an Olympic year, or everyone is getting ready for an Olympic year. Also, figure skating once got attention only during Olympic years. Now, you can’t get away from the damned stuff. Finally, the coverage on American network TV sucks, plain and simple. Too much focus on the warm and fuzzy personal stories, not enough coverage of non-American athletes or sports. Fortunately, I live close enough to Canada to watch it on the CBC. My enjoyment of them has nearly vanished. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brrr-the-winter-olymics-is-coming/526096/22 "2010-01-24T22:41:09Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > Fortunately, I live close enough to Canada to watch it on the CBC. I hope you also live close enough to get CTV and it’s associates, because it’s the Olympic Broadcaster, not the CBC this year! ---
**Author:** ![Neptunian\_Slug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce7236/32.png) [@Neptunian\_Slug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neptunian_Slug)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brrr-the-winter-olymics-is-coming/526096/23 "2010-01-24T22:42:14Z")
Never had much interest in the summer or winter. If nothing is on and something like ski jumping or bobsledding comes on, I might watch for five minutes. Maybe if they introduced the drunken slalom I could get into it more. ---
**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:** [January 24, 2010, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brrr-the-winter-olymics-is-coming/526096/24 "2010-01-24T23:34:04Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > The only really non-obscure sport in the Winter Games is hockey. Figure skating, let’s be honest, isn’t a huge deal except AT the Olympics. It’s a popular participation sport, but more than half the people who watch it watch it every four years during the Games. > > By comparison, the Olympics is not hockey’s biggest event. I forgot about hockey. And figure skating has been all over TV for years. They even show the “Scott Hamilton’s Stars on Ice tribute to _the Wizard of Oz_, featuring Aerosmith” type stuff. > [@YogSosoth](#): > > For years I’ve wanted to see fencing but I haven’t been able to catch much at all. I was finally able to see some skeet shooting this last Olympics and I was absolutely blown away at the level of competition. These guys have reflexes like the Flash! To be somewhat fair, I think fencing used to be incredibly hard to cover on TV. When I have seen it, it’s “nothing happening, nothing happening, something happening, point,” and the thrusts and parries are so fast, yet subtle, that it’s impossible to get an appreciation for what the fencers are trying to do. It’s been years, though, so I’m wondering if technical advances, like high-speed cameras, have made things better. > [@](#): > > How the heck did you get a concussion from curling?? Slipped on the ice? 😉 > [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > You were, obviously, doing it wrong. Yeah, I was sweeping and the skip called us off. I think I stood up a little too fast and went over backwards. I didn’t feel too bad at first, but when I woke up the room was spinning. Couldn’t get up and get to a doctor for more than a week. Which is a shame, 'cause I liked it and was kinda good at it, for a beginner. The first rock I ever slid stopped in the house. I’d love to join the curling club, but I don’t ever want to feel like that week again. ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brrr-the-winter-olymics-is-coming/526096/25 "2010-01-25T00:15:55Z")
I look forward to the speed skating events. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brrr-the-winter-olymics-is-coming/526096/26 "2010-01-25T01:21:10Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > I hope you also live close enough to get CTV and it’s associates, because it’s the Olympic Broadcaster, not the CBC this year! Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get them, too. And I pity everyone who has to put up with the domestic brand. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brrr-the-winter-olymics-is-coming/526096/27 "2010-01-25T03:01:41Z")
> [@Svejk\_1](#): > > I look forward to the speed skating events. Do they wear underwear underneath that skin-tight spandex? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brrr-the-winter-olymics-is-coming/526096/28 "2010-01-25T03:02:48Z")
> [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > I usually avoid the Olympics like the plague but I plan on watching the hockey games. Please keep Mike Milbury away. > > I actually turned on the TV a few times two years ago for the Red China Olympics for the first time since the Munich disaster and was surprised how often it was beach volleyball. What ever happened to track, throwing javelins and hurdles..I always thought as those as “Olympic sports”. Beach Volleyball has become the “cool” sport of the games. Especially the females 😉 Personally, I watched it mostly for Xue Chen 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![dzeiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/46a35a/32.png) [@dzeiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzeiger)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brrr-the-winter-olymics-is-coming/526096/29 "2010-01-25T05:12:07Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I like the chance to see a variety of sports that I never see anyplace else. One of the things that drives me nuts about the Summer Olympics is that the coverage always focuses on the same sports. I only ask for a few minutes of fencing, archery, equestrian, etc. every four years; get rid of the damn basketball, already. Fencing got quite a bit of US TV coverage in the last Olympics, just not on the main broadcast channel. There was a ton of Equestrian, I think the Bravo broadcasts were 75% equestrian. Archery didn’t get much more than a summary, but in fairness, a person standing absolutely still, with only an occasional releasing motion isn’t the most exciting TV–if it’s a choice, I’d rather see a handball match between two countries I can’t pronounce the name of. And to answer the original question, people know that during the Olympics, I am not to be bothered. My DVR tuners are pretty much always going full blast, with 2 TVs running so that I can be watching two events at once. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brrr-the-winter-olymics-is-coming/526096/30 "2010-01-25T06:39:55Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I like the chance to see a variety of sports that I never see anyplace else. One of the things that drives me nuts about the Summer Olympics is that the coverage always focuses on the same sports. I only ask for a few minutes of fencing, archery, equestrian, etc. every four years; get rid of the damn basketball, already. Do you not have cable? There was pretty good coverage of lots of stuff once you got away from NBC. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brrr-the-winter-olymics-is-coming/526096/31 "2010-01-25T15:22:42Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > One of the things that drives me nuts about the Summer Olympics is that the coverage always focuses on the same sports. I only ask for a few minutes of fencing, archery, equestrian, etc. every four years; get rid of the damn basketball, already. Dude, you seriously need to get cable. Or if you have it, start watching it. I watched maybe 45 minutes of basketball in 2008, and yet I was watching the Olympics something like three hours a day for three weeks. (Wow, that sounds pathetic.) I watched a _ton_ of Equestrian, several rounds of women’s fencing, various martial arts, and more handball and water polo than I can comfortably admit. Plus, I saw that guy from Togo break the oar over his knee in celebration when he won his country’s first medal. That was fucking great television. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brrr-the-winter-olymics-is-coming/526096/32 "2010-01-25T21:43:42Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > This. > The United States is sending Rachael Flatt and Mirai Nagasu to the Olympics in women’s figure skating. They finished this weekend 1 - 2 in the US Championships. Michelle Kwan wasn’t skating; Sasha Cohen did try a comeback, was in the running after her short program, but fell on her butt during the free skate and finished 4th overall. Flatt is slow and boring without any musicality. Nigasu is okay but she’s nothing special and cheats her jumps. This may be the first Olympics since 1964 that American ladies are shut off the podium. Then again after Hughes and Arakawa the last two golds won anything’s possible. Hughes was only third in the US nationals that year. Americans probably have the best shot for a medal in ice dancing or the men’s. Belbin and Agosto are the silver medalists from the last olympics. Davis and White (who just beat them) won the Grand Prix final last December. On the men’s side Lysachek is the reigning world champion, Abbott has a smooth style and lots of great technique and Weir has medaled at the worlds twice. So a medal and even possibly the gold is possible from at least one of them. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brrr-the-winter-olymics-is-coming/526096/33 "2010-01-25T21:49:45Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > Do they wear underwear underneath that skin-tight spandex? 😕 Not sure about speed skating, but a poorly-timed wardrobe malfunction in some recent winter event revealed a thong. ---
**Author:** ![infinitii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e8c25b/32.png) [@infinitii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/infinitii)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brrr-the-winter-olymics-is-coming/526096/34 "2010-01-26T05:37:00Z")
> [@LavenderBlue](#): > > Flatt is slow and boring without any musicality. Nigasu is okay but she’s nothing special and cheats her jumps. This may be the first Olympics since 1964 that American ladies are shut off the podium. This was obvious before the Nationals decided who was going to be on the ladies Olympic team. The rest of the world in that field is just too good; none of them can compete with Yu-Na Kim, Mao Asada, Joannie Rochette, or Miki Ando, to name just a few. ---
**Author:** ![footballisplayedwithyourfeet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9f8e36/32.png) [@footballisplayedwithyourfeet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/footballisplayedwithyourfeet)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brrr-the-winter-olymics-is-coming/526096/35 "2010-01-26T12:39:44Z")
I’ll be getting up at 3 am to watch the speedskating (and yes, they wear underwear underneath\*) ior at least some of the events. Pretty much all of the mens titles are already kind of certain (Shani Davis for 1000, 1500 and Sven Kramer for 5k and 10k) but the team pursuit can become a tight race between the dutch and the USA. The women’s side seems more open. Also looking forward to the skiing, especially downhill men (go Andrejs) and technical disciplines for the women (go Tina)\*\*. I should probably also mention that games that ar e obscure to soem are quite mainstream to others. As a dutchman I watch quite a lot of speedskating every winter; olympics or not. I guess a norwegian might say the same about cross country skiing; or an Austrian about ski jumping. - After a race is finished most ridiers unzip their suits and it usually shows some kind of thermal t-shirt underneath, I assume what goes for the top goes for the bottom) \*\* Bonus points for which country I’m supporting here 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sarabellum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarabellum/32/3492_2.png) [@Sarabellum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarabellum)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brrr-the-winter-olymics-is-coming/526096/36 "2010-01-27T01:41:39Z")
Ladies figure skating does look to be a bit of a bust this year for the US. How long has it been since the US failed to qualify 3 slots for ladies figure skating, anyway? I remember Kerrigan/Harding in 1994 was a 2-slot year, and a damn shame, too - Michelle Kwan was waiting in the wings in the #3 spot. (technically, she was #2, but her spot was surrendered to Kerrigan.) Those games might have been very different, since we now know what kind of skater SHE grew up to be. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brrr-the-winter-olymics-is-coming/526096/37 "2010-01-27T02:45:33Z")
Not to mention what kind of skater Harding was. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Sarabellum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarabellum/32/3492_2.png) [@Sarabellum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarabellum)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brrr-the-winter-olymics-is-coming/526096/38 "2010-01-27T20:55:04Z")
Ugh, that performance of Tonya Harding - awful! “I broke my skate lace!!” (with the most unpleasantly whiny sneer on her face imaginable) Triple Axle? Uh, no. FAIL. ---
**Author:** ![DaphneBlack](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daphneblack/32/5389_2.png) [@DaphneBlack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaphneBlack)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brrr-the-winter-olymics-is-coming/526096/39 "2010-01-28T12:20:12Z")
The idea that the US might have a better chance to medal in _ice dancing_ rather than ladies - does not compute. I’ll be watching! ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brrr-the-winter-olymics-is-coming/526096/40 "2010-01-28T16:02:38Z")
> [@Sarabellum1976](#): > > Ladies figure skating does look to be a bit of a bust this year for the US. How long has it been since the US failed to qualify 3 slots for ladies figure skating, anyway? > > I remember Kerrigan/Harding in 1994 was a 2-slot year, and a damn shame, too - Michelle Kwan was waiting in the wings in the #3 spot. (technically, she was #2, but her spot was surrendered to Kerrigan.) Those games might have been very different, since we now know what kind of skater SHE grew up to be. The real shame with Kwan was that she didn’t get the gold. To heck with Lipinski. That should have been Kwan’s year. Her performance at nationals in 1998 is pretty much my favorite program ever. [Here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okPRcajUQrM). Judge for yourself. Just exquisite. A perfect meshing of movement, music and a sense of flight. I especially love that last move of hers when she throws her arms into the air. One of the most amazing moments in figure skating of all time. > [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > Not to mention what kind of skater Harding was. 😛 She was the triple axel and that was it. No taste in music and barely any musicality at all. > [@Sarabellum1976](#): > > Ugh, that performance of Tonya Harding - awful! “I broke my skate lace!!” (with the most unpleasantly whiny sneer on her face imaginable) Triple Axle? Uh, no. > > FAIL. Pure embarrassement. > [@DaphneBlack](#): > > The idea that the US might have a better chance to medal in _ice dancing_ rather than ladies - does not compute. > > I’ll be watching! I really thought the Americans might be in better shape after Kimmie Meisner won the worlds in 2006. But the Americans have not stepped up to it at all. The little girls skate like little girls. And the older women like last year’s champion Alissa Cizny just can’t pull it off technically or leave it in the practices. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brrr-the-winter-olymics-is-coming/526096.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brrr-the-winter-olymics-is-coming/526096.md?page=3)