LIVE THREAD: 2006 Torino Olympics - DAY 8 - Saturday Combined Thread

Free Republic ^ | February 18, 2006

[YaYa123]

Glad you found the DIRECT channel number, maybe this week you'll get to put it to more use, with ice skating heating up.

I loved the following column on the tacky skating outfits.

http://www.nbcolympics.com/figureskating/5116205/detail.html

but (heavy sigh) no mention of the real culprit...gay guys.

I was laughing the other day when I read how Johnny Wier spent his time on competition day. Not practicing...he went shopping. LOL!

[blu]

Wow, didn't anyone tell Italy or the IOC that Mussolini is dead?

So, if you go to the Olympics, the IOC can make you test whenever they feel like it? I heard last week how some IOC folks would pose at fans and get the skater to get all chummy, then tell them they had to pee. I'd have a problem with that.

Oh, and as long as I have the soapbox (pays to get up before Howlin'!) all this buzz about Shani: There is an awful lot of supposition on this thread. I would hate to think that someone might read it and take all this posts as fact. No one here REALLY knows why Shani is the way he is (I'm not defending him. But,it should be noted, at the end of the interview last night, he did smile, really big!

[little rebel]

That's exactly what I thought.

Thank you!

[LizJ]

all this buzz about Shani: There is an awful lot of supposition on this thread. I would hate to think that someone might read it and take all this posts as fact.

Yes, I agree with you. Maybe all this type of speculation is what has made him bitter. (Here I go with my own speculation!)

His post race interview on TV was incredibly rude, no doubt. In this article in the Chicago Tribune (registration required), he seems a little more gracious than Chad Hedrick, who couldn't say if he was happy for Shani:

"I wanted to win really badly because regardless of all the he-says-she-says and all the talk, I've been doing it since I was 6," he said. "And what's more rewarding than to go out there and fulfill one of your childhood dreams?"

Davis called his victory a "breakthrough" for African-Americans because it might inspire more black children to try the sport.

"That's the most important thing," he said. "The kids are the future. Kids should be able to go out there. I think skating's awesome."

He even praised Hedrick, saying: "I have a lot of respect for Chad. For someone to come over and do what he's done to the sport of skating, it's unfathomable. ...

"I want to see Chad do well. We're competitive. But it's not about being competitive with Chad right now. It's just going out there and doing the best that you can as an individual and being able to accomplish the dream that you set."

Personally, I'd prefer not to know about the little fights in the background. I wish the media didn't feel the need to hype all of that and would let us just enjoy the sports.

[Borax Queen]

1964:
The Soviet Union wins gold, beginning an era of internationl domination that will last nearly three decades. From 1964 to 1992, the Soviet hockey team will win seven Olympic gold medals in eight tries.

1972:
Canada refuses to send a team, having withdrawn from international hockey to protest the definition of amateur athletes. International hockey is restricted to amateur athletes, but the Canadians argue that the Soviets and other eastern bloc teams are amateur in name only.
After winning the gold medal, the Soviets play a team of Canadian NHL stars in an exhibition series several months later. Shocked by the excellence of the Soviet players, the Canadians win the series by the margin of a single goal in the final game.

1976:
Sweden joins the Canadian boycott, also protesting the use of sham "amateurs' by eastern bloc countries.

1988:
As the amateur era draws to a close in most international sports, the Olympics are opened to professional hockey players. But the top professionals remain unavailable due to a conflict with the NHL schedule.

http://proicehockey.about.com/od/olympichockey/a/olympictimeline.htm

[Migjagger]

I suppose a lot of people can be turned off by this or that--a lot has happened already in these Olympics--with athletes showing off and behaving like hot dogs and/or being careless. But it appears to me that athletes must do essentially what they think it's best for them. As to racism, I believe that many people are still quite racist in many ways and wouldn't be surprised if the lone black athlete in the Olympics has been the recipient of that veiled racism by others, consciously or unconsciously, and/or even so by people of his own race for going for it in a practically all-white sport. BTW, a point of information irrelevant to your comment, Hispanics are not a separate race, namely, "non-white," as they are sometimes classified in certain rosters. There are Black and Asian Hispanics. Jeniffer Rodriguez is a white girl who happens to be Hispanic--like moi.

[69ConvertibleFirebird]

Still cracking up over the Little Rebel practicing her curling technique on the kitchen floor. That mop in her hands looks like it may be an official size and weight curling mop.

[Accygirl]

Every minority athlete in a mostly white sport is going to feel out of place. Like say Tiger Woods perhaps?? I'm sure that US Speedskating wasn't jumping all over themselves to set up clubs in the inner city when Shani was eight; however, this had more to do with the fact that they didn't think that there was a market there, not because of racism. Frankly, that's something that Shani as an Olympic star could actually change. That would be the classy thing to do instead of the whining and bitching going on now.

As for the Olympics being all about ME, it seems to be affecting the U.S. team alot. Frankly, I've been hard on all the athletes that are acting like spoiled brats. (If Bode Miller wants to spend the rest of the Olympics on his backside, fine by me). However, the Olympics aren't supposed to be about ME; that's the idea behind them. Shani's actions would have been less criticized if he had decided not to do the team pursuit to begin with; however, it was despicable to ditch his teammates a few days before the race because he was mad that Chad Hedrick won the gold medal in the 5000 meters instead of him.

[Migjagger]

Of course there isn't an ice-skating market in the inner city--or, for that matter, much interest in winter sports. Winter sports are expensive! A ski lift here is $150.00 per day, plus you either must wear your expensive appropriate snow outfits, and have your own gear, or rent it and that costs, too. Americans have too many other distractions, e.g., eating potato chips while playing virtual Olympics or many other more popular less physically-challenging video games. How do you know that Shani was jealous over Hendrick's win? I don't know. Well, what can I say? Teams USA has not done that well except in snowboarding. I'm sure the Nordic Europeans are aware that Americans are a volatile bunch. They ditch training, showoff and talk to the media about getting wasted. And when all else fails, they go shopping, as Weir (spelling--the potential silver medalist) did just before his figure-skating competition. Geez.

[Accygirl]

But we aren't talking about skiing... The only thing that you need to skate is a rink and a pair of skates, which really isn't that expensive. Moreover, instead of bitching about ME and the chip on my shoulder, perhaps Shani could help get more kids from the inner city involved with speed skating. If I was his PR person, I'd definitely advise him to something like that to repair his image.

[Migjagger]

It's a good idea. Don't know how much money Shani will be making off endorsements to initiate such an ice-skating campaign. Because talking is not going to bring skating rinks into inner city areas.