# Is the Winter Olympics just various types of sliding? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Tags:** olympic-sports\ **Created:** [February 11, 2026, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-winter-olympics-just-various-types-of-sliding/1027586 "2026-02-11T19:18:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![jjakucyk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3d9bf3/32.png) [@jjakucyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjakucyk)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-winter-olympics-just-various-types-of-sliding/1027586/101 "2026-02-13T18:57:23Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Croquet is mallet soccer. Nice. > [@Horatius](#): > > Billiards is just heavy darts. And darts is target soccer. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-winter-olympics-just-various-types-of-sliding/1027586/102 "2026-02-13T18:58:18Z")
Artillery is just long-range high-powered lethal soccer? ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-winter-olympics-just-various-types-of-sliding/1027586/103 "2026-02-13T19:03:26Z")
> [@jjakucyk](#): > > Pretty much all ball sports are soccer. Basketball is bouncy soccer. Baseball and cricket are stick soccer. Water polo is pool soccer. I have to disagree about baseball and cricket. A soccer-like sport involves trying to get the ball/puck into a goal area. In baseball and cricket, the point is to run to a goal area while AVOIDING the ball. As Ken Burns’ _Baseball_ documentary series put it, baseball is the only American sport in which the Defense has the ball. ---
**Author:** ![jjakucyk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3d9bf3/32.png) [@jjakucyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjakucyk)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-winter-olympics-just-various-types-of-sliding/1027586/104 "2026-02-13T19:21:50Z")
> [@tracer](#): > > In baseball and cricket, the point is to run to a goal area while AVOIDING the ball. I can’t speak to cricket, but in baseball the fielding team is trying to pass the ball from the pitcher to the catcher (put the thing in the thing). The batter is trying to stop that by hitting the ball into the field, like a goalie. The scoring is different/backwards yes, but that’s my take. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-winter-olympics-just-various-types-of-sliding/1027586/105 "2026-02-13T19:39:39Z")
I think games with a single ball and a goalie are fundamentally student from games where everyone has access to a ball and isn’t allowed to improve access to the goal for the other party. I guess curling and croquet allow you to move your opponents ball with your ball, but it feels very different. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-winter-olympics-just-various-types-of-sliding/1027586/106 "2026-02-13T20:01:48Z")
Curling is skittles, with fewer skittles ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-winter-olympics-just-various-types-of-sliding/1027586/107 "2026-02-13T21:16:13Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > But there’s one movie where he & she are in IIRC Switzerland and chased by baddies w machine guns. he / they end up skiing downhill, shot at a bunch, somehow end up going downhill in some car, etc. And somehow evade the baddies and live to make to a fancy hotel in time for dinner & sex before the baddies return. I think you’re probably mixing up a few Bond films in your head here haha, but it’s probably _The Living Daylights,_ where they initially make their escape in an Aston Martin, but this crashes so they blow it up and continue by sledding on a cello case (and it was in Czechoslovakia, crossing the border into Austria. The Swiss ski/snow chases were in _On Her Majesty’s Secret Service,_ I’m sure you’re dying to know). ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-winter-olympics-just-various-types-of-sliding/1027586/108 "2026-02-13T21:25:21Z")
It was the cello sledding. I recall how well the mooks in black outfits could hit the cello case and nearby trees, but not Bond & the hot girl. Thank you. They do all sort of run together after a couple decades. 😁 ---
**Author:** ![Patx2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/73ab20/32.png) [@Patx2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patx2)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2026, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-winter-olympics-just-various-types-of-sliding/1027586/109 "2026-02-14T01:19:23Z")
I just learned something new! ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2026, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-winter-olympics-just-various-types-of-sliding/1027586/110 "2026-02-17T06:19:45Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > > [@Spiderman](#): > > > > Nah, underwater driving would be in the _Summer_ games 😉 > > My recollection of the various Bond movies as separate stories is pretty soft. To me it’s more one big blur of ridiculous chases, close scrapes, and hot eye candy. [The Spy Who Loved Me](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1MDwVRgoQc&t=258s) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-winter-olympics-just-various-types-of-sliding/1027586.md?page=5)