SuperBeaverInc.
Groucho
I hope they re-air the closing ceremonies again so I can watch the non-musical act parts again!
2010 Winter Olympics
- Thread starter Weik
- Start date
CTVHD is just restarting the ceremony now...
warpus
Sommerswerd asked me to change this
Man, I have been drinking beer ever since I woke up at 2:30pm earlier today, and it is indeed a glorious day.
The only thing the closing ceremonies were lacking were huge bags of milk parading alongside the mounties and the beavers.
Last I heard parts of downtown Toronto are shut down with crazy spontaneous street parties happening at major intersections and Yonge street.
Nickelback sucked, but that's what the beer is for.
The only thing the closing ceremonies were lacking were huge bags of milk parading alongside the mounties and the beavers.
Last I heard parts of downtown Toronto are shut down with crazy spontaneous street parties happening at major intersections and Yonge street.
Nickelback sucked, but that's what the beer is for.
warpus
Sommerswerd asked me to change this
SuperBeaverInc.
Groucho
What other country would break out into a giant, nationwide street party after winning a hockey tournament?
Weik
Warlord
Medal table for the 46 events contested at the 1988 Olympics:
Germany 6-9-4=19
Norway 6-6-4=16
USA 5-8-4=17
Switzerland 5-0-1=6
And for the 40 new events:
Canada 11-6-2=19
USA 4-7-9=20
Germany 4-4-3=11
China 4-1-3
The new events are not very good for Europe.
Missed medals table (4th, 5th and 6th places):
Austria 9-7-7=23
Russia 9-0-6=15
Germany 8-8-7=23
USA 8-5-8=21
Sweden 8-3-2=13
Canada 7-17-9=33
Germany 6-9-4=19
Norway 6-6-4=16
USA 5-8-4=17
Switzerland 5-0-1=6
And for the 40 new events:
Canada 11-6-2=19
USA 4-7-9=20
Germany 4-4-3=11
China 4-1-3
The new events are not very good for Europe.
Missed medals table (4th, 5th and 6th places):
Austria 9-7-7=23
Russia 9-0-6=15
Germany 8-8-7=23
USA 8-5-8=21
Sweden 8-3-2=13
Canada 7-17-9=33
Finland and Slovakia.
haven't you heard? every country uses the metric that makes their country look best. So Norway and Germany both can claim having won the most medals ever
Oh, and Switzerland trumped Austria for once, which is all that matters
El Koeno
Emperor
- Joined
- May 22, 2006
- Messages
- 1,926
haven't you heard? every country uses the metric that makes their country look best. So Norway and Germany both can claim having won the most medals ever
Oh, and Switzerland trumped Austria for once, which is all that matters
Meh... It sucks having Germany and Belgium as neighbors. Belgium hardly ever wins anything, so beating them doesn't count, and Germany wins too much, making it impossible to beat them... But we did win our very first "snow" (i.e. non-skating) gold medal, perhaps the first of many. Watch out Germany!
I blame the reunification, before that, we were usually able to beat the Germans, since western germany generally sucked at winter games.
In other words, Germany ranks far ahead of Norway.haven't you heard? every country uses the metric that makes their country look best. So Norway and Germany both can claim having won the most medals ever
This Olympics should have been the last ones where athletes raised and trained in the GDR competed. I'm eager to see myself how negative the impact will be on the German medal count from 2014 onwards...I blame the reunification, before that, we were usually able to beat the Germans, since western germany generally sucked at winter games.
warpus
Sommerswerd asked me to change this
So, I have a bit of a question about the Olympic in general. I've always been a bit of a causal observer of the Olympics. This year I watched WAY MORE than I ever have before - likely something to do with the fact that it was all broadcast in HD and that it looks amazing on my tv. Plus it was in Canada!
When I was growing up, I was a bit under the impression that the Olympics were for amateur athletes - a reason that NHL players were not able to compete (at the time). This is the same reason why there are limits on soccer players in the Summer Olympics (you can only have 3 players over 22 years old, or something like that).
So when did this change? It seems to me like these days a lot of the athletes are professionals - they compete professionally in leagues, world cups, etc. The most obvious example of this are the hockey players - but you can also point to the ski jumpers, speed skaters, cross country skiiers, etc. I'm not really sure which winter sports do NOT have a lucrative league/world cup set up somewhere.. Curling, maybe? Some of the newer sports? Either way, when did this change, or have I just been mistaken when I was younger?
When I was growing up, I was a bit under the impression that the Olympics were for amateur athletes - a reason that NHL players were not able to compete (at the time). This is the same reason why there are limits on soccer players in the Summer Olympics (you can only have 3 players over 22 years old, or something like that).
So when did this change? It seems to me like these days a lot of the athletes are professionals - they compete professionally in leagues, world cups, etc. The most obvious example of this are the hockey players - but you can also point to the ski jumpers, speed skaters, cross country skiiers, etc. I'm not really sure which winter sports do NOT have a lucrative league/world cup set up somewhere.. Curling, maybe? Some of the newer sports? Either way, when did this change, or have I just been mistaken when I was younger?
Maniacal
the green Napoleon
I blame the reunification, before that, we were usually able to beat the Germans, since western germany generally sucked at winter games.
And the East German women's swim team was made of sasquatches.
I'm so glad we won the hockey game, otherwise the horde of hungry people who flooded the the grocery store I work at after the game would not have been very happy. In a 4 hour shift I crammed 5 hours of work into about 2 hours. So. Many. Bloody. Customers.
There were definitely fewer pro athletes competing before. I don't know when it changed for most sports, but I know hockey changed in '98. I believe that was under pressure from the NHLPA because NHL players wanted to play. Prior to '98, if a player wanted to play in the Olympics, they had to hold off on going into the NHL. ECHL coach Mark Morrison was to play in an Olympic games, went to the opening ceremony, then found out the next day he couldn't play because he'd played a whole 10 games in the NHL in a previous season. NHLers wanted to compete on the biggest stage, and forced the change with the IOC. Now Bettman's hinting at now allowing NHLers to leave for 2014, but I don't think the NHLPA will let him get away with that. It'll be a big bargaining tool when the CBA comes up.
As for soccer, the player cap is actually a FIFA mandated thing because they want their world cup to be the world's biggest soccer tournament - they don't want any competition from the Olympics.
I don't know for sure, but I think some of the increase in 'pro' athletes could just be a result of how televised sports and even sponsorships have taken off. How do you define a professional athlete? One who gets paid to play? Then what's the difference in making a salary for playing a sport (team games) or winning a cash prize for playing a sport (individual sports)? Or being sponsored by someone (Nike, RBK, etc)? There's no clear line between professional and amateur athletes these days.
Overall, I think I'm in favor of allowing professional athletes compete. I don't think athletes should be punished for choosing a sport than can afford them a living, and being good enough to earn that living while playing. If they're good enough to earn a living at it, then they should be good enough to play in the Olympics.
Most of them are officially amateurs competing on an amateur circuit (most of your World Cup of _____ are officially amateurs, despite the fact that some gain their living from it (or more commonly from endorsements resulting from it).
That said, most sports sports (obvious ones being as basketball and hockey) allow professionals to compete for two main reasons:
1) Difficulty determining status, which was a major argument in Hockey as all Soviet teams were composed of "full time amateurs" in leagues essentially equivalent to the NHL, giving the Soviets a huge advantage, while Canadian (and other Western) NHLers, and even from lower leagues, were barred from competition.
2) Quality of the game. Make the games more interesting for the audience to watch.
Evie
Pronounced like Eevee
Yeah, the Soviets were cheating rather outrageously on the technical definition of "amateur" (IIRC, it involved having Army teams that consisted of people whose sole duty as soldier was to play hockey), which led to their utter domination of everything hockey. As a result, the IIHF eventually changed definitions to allow more players to play - that was in the late seventies or early eighties, I think.
Then it took Buttman until Nagano '98 to let his players play in the Olympics. Since then, mysteriously enough, Russia hasn't won one (Czech Republic at Nagano-Canada at Salt Lake City-Sweden at Turin-Canada at Vancouver).
Then it took Buttman until Nagano '98 to let his players play in the Olympics. Since then, mysteriously enough, Russia hasn't won one (Czech Republic at Nagano-Canada at Salt Lake City-Sweden at Turin-Canada at Vancouver).
Orange Seeds
playing with cymbals
I think the IOC came to realize that restricting the Olympics to amateur athletes was arbitrary and defining an amateur is far too difficult to do accurately.
warpus
Sommerswerd asked me to change this
Yeah, I agree that having the "professionals" in there makes the olympics far more entertaining.
As for the party, I'm still recovering.
As for the party, I'm still recovering.
