Elsewhere on that front page is:
NBC Declared Wrong Olympic Winner in Women’s Super-GIf NBC can't even bother to get it right...
And gold medalist Ester Ledecka pulled off a massive upset.
I myself am watching quite a bit of the Olympics. I use the DVR to skip over most of it, but I like zeroing in on the best skaters and snowboarders. I wish NBC would do what I seem to remember the Olympics broadcasters doing decades ago: Focus on the individuals, not the countries, and stress that this is a place where what matters is the individual and the only question is who is the best in the world. Ironically, that's the best propaganda for America, not this continual enthusiasm for whoever comes from America.
I approve of this satire:
Norway needs to be stopped https://t.co/H0LTopFNJE
— Dan Wetzel (@DanWetzel) February 18, 2018
This is sweet:
Ester Ledecka on why she’s still wearing her goggles, hours after winning Super-G: “I was not as prepared as the other girls. I don’t have makeup on.” #pyeongchang2018 #olympics pic.twitter.com/qrsMPYohPi
— Evan Doherty (@YSportsEvan) February 17, 2018
Posts
141 comments:
If you've seen the movie "Knocked Up", you know how you get pink eye.
Trump was right - we need more people from Norway.
But only tall, good-looking skiers!
I don't understand how someone can hurdle down the hill at break-neck speed, and then be intimidated by a TV camera. Does make-up really mean that much to a woman?
Speaking of sliding* around, some spectoids got kicked out of a hockey game for yelling "basketball".
Because saying "basketball" is "harmful" and "ignorant". I did not know that!
*Lpog's 4-year-old niece said "I like everything about skiing except the sliding part."
I've been watching a lot of Olympics coverage and one thing that really stands out is that the commercials are all women. All. Including movie and sitcom promos. No men other than an occasional 'African-American', just to be safe. Perhaps more women watch the Winter Olympics but does that mean we only want to see women?
What's given me the greatest surprise in these Winter Games is the predominance of athletes from Nordic countries. The disparate results have upset me and my family.
Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs v. The Inclusive Communities Project, Inc. (2015),
Tara Lipinski, Johnny Weir and Leslie Jones teach a master class in jamming to Beyonce
It seems they also want to promote cultural appropriation as well.
Norwegians do winter sports whenever they go to the grocery.
Does make-up really mean that much to a woman?
I totally get it.
Maybe she has pink eye.
When watching the Olympic games I want to see the best of the best no matter what country they are from. The US has never excelled in the winter games overall but have produced a few outstanding skaters and downhill skiers.
Will the Jamaican bobsled team be competing this year?
According to Katie Couric, Norwegians ski to work.
"Norway needs to be stopped!"
It can be done. Has no one watched "I, Tonya"?
Don't forget Katie Couric. She's the Dan Rather of tired old nanny state fem-o-journolist
OT question: Is there a way to search through Althouse for a specific post, using key words as a search term?
Ann said: "I wish NBC would do what I seem to remember the Olympics broadcasters doing decades ago: Focus on the individuals, not the countries, and stress that this is a place where what matters is the individual and the only question is who is the best in the world."
No, broadcasters need to focus directly on the competition. The whole debacle began when the emphasis shifted away from that to those insipid "personal profiles" that filled more hours than the sports themselves. That started after 1968, I believe.
It would help if the Olympics did away with those exercises (they are not "sports") that require judges to hold up score-cards and make often unsupportable judgments on the fly. That's how politics and personalities enter into the equation, which too often lead to disasters.
Everything about everything is so wrong now. They've managed to make me either annoyed or bored by the Olympics. I used to love the Olympics. I also used to love viewing great TV programs (when there were some), and completely loved Hollywood movies (and foreign films). TV, Hollywood, the NBA, the Olympics are all out. I could care less. 'They' have managed to kill it for me.
Today's news: NBC has hired that obnoxious little skater who thought it great to insult VP Pence to get his name out there. He's all about him. He loves that he's the story. And THIS is how it's gotten, especially with the US athletes. This guy is a classless punk with skates. This comment is all the time I'll give him. I'm done. NBC? I stopped watching that network awhile ago.
I use the TV to watch live sporting events and major news events. Sports- except for NBA which is just tedious and filled with players I don't care about. Funny though: I still love college basketball. I do still watch the NFL, because being a Lions fan means you HAVE to watch until you die or they get to a Super Bowl- whichever comes first. And I'm afraid my time is getting shorter.
I not really into curling, but, for obscure reasons, it was on in a bar where I ate last night. The sheer loopiness of it holds your attention. One of the Korean competitors was very pretty, and she had this fierce Kung Fu fist of death look on her face as she concentrated on pushing the thing-gummy down the ice at just the right velocity and direction. The other girls on the team adroitly swept the space in front of the thing-gummy as it made its way down the ice. It was fun to watch, but the girls could have worn tighter or more revealing uniforms. I think that if they wore figure skater outfits the sport would have a bigger following.
"Roughcoat said... OT question: Is there a way to search through Althouse for a specific post, using key words as a search term?"
I do something like this (Google Search in Firefox):
site://www.http://althouse.blogspot.com "bob costas"
ALWAYS start with "site://www.", otherwise it fails.
No, broadcasters need to focus directly on the competition. The whole debacle began when the emphasis shifted away from that to those insipid "personal profiles" that filled more hours than the sports themselves. That started after 1968, I believe.
Agree 100%, Joe! More of the competition, less talk. The problem is that the announcers want to be part of the show and mindless interviews and 'up close and personal' profiles give them a chance to do that. A pox on them and their house!
Allen Edwards said...
site://www.http://althouse.blogspot.com "bob costas"
ALWAYS start with "site://www.", otherwise it fails.
site:althouse.blogspot.com "bob costas"
site:http://althouse.blogspot.com "bob costas"
site://www.http://althouse.blogspot.com "bob costas"
all return the same stuff.
Good golly, Althouse. Last night my wife was saying exactly the same thing about the Olympic coverage. And I agree, too. This year we’ve had a lot of American athletes who are good, but not able to get on the podium. Wrong time to focus so heavily and exclusively on just our team. Just to take one example, apparently those “Norwegian Vikings” are very well-known characters in alpine skiing circles and medal favorites in their best events — why didn’t we learn more about them?
Norwegians can ski downhill, too. Who knew?
Not NBC.
And what is do cool about Ledecka is that she is also a medal contender in snowboarding. Like the Dutch speed skater who does both short track and long, this level of versatility needs to be celebrated.
"I approve of this satire: Norway needs to be stopped."
Isn't it good, Norwegian could?
“I was not as prepared as the other girls. I don’t have makeup on.”
Late night at the Olympic Village, eh, Ester?
Why can’t our gun crazy country win medals from the Norwegians and other Europeans in the biathlon? I blame the AR-15 for fostering lazy shooters. I notice that half our medals are in snowboarding, the sport we invented. We need to invent a version of biathlon where you spray the target with automatic fire. It would make for better television.
Allen Edwards & Fernandistein:
Thanks, guys.
Some of us who are older and have watched many Olympics don't need as much introduction to each sport or personal profiles. Younger people may need more but are they watching the games on the traditional platform of TV from 8-11pm and on the morning shows where highlights are shown? I think that many people and a growing number just want the action and all of the action as live as possible. I am watching the OBS (Olympic Broadcasting Service) feed streaming through my Roku TV. The Olympic channel has day by day replays, live from NBC and special features. It is better for me but I do miss the tidy encapsulated storytelling that can make the games so compelling. Some of us don't regularly watch NBC...just on principal. Katie Couric...opening ceremony? Adam Rippon...new hire for the rest of the games?(Great skater, by the way) but it is like NBC is saying "wow we can hire the guy who insulted Pence...oh fun!"
Czechs have a whimsical sense of humor. Possible Ledecka was indulging hers.
Maybe they should end the Olympics and have an international fairness in sports event. Everybody wins, you can enter if you're grossly overweight, commentators are only allowed to introduce commercials, and advertisers are only allowed, if they sell non GMO food for children.
The Bobsled event will be interesting; overweight, middle aged athletes hurling down the hill....oh, the fun.
I can't guess what the women's super-G is. At least I don't suppose I can.
Eastern European countries that didn't use to exist are big high-speed morse ham contest participants.
You look up a weird prefix and it's always Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia or the Czech Republic.
I think they use keyboards.
Ester Ledecka wins the thread!
Norway is not good for alpine skiing. The Gulf Stream keeps us too warm. It is called alpine for a reason.
Up here in the North, we receive Canadian Broadcast (CBC) coverage of the Olympics and it is always in "real time" - not hours later during the magic 8-11 hour.
I usually root for the Canadians because they try harder.
Brian Orser (Canada, Figure Skating - 1980s)was a favorite of mine and discovered the other night that he was coaching several skaters - two of them won medals (Japan and Spain). Take that USA.
As for the pissant Rippon - he barely made it into the Top 10. Self-promoting little prick and he is NOT the first openly gay skater - he's just the first to broadcast it to the world. Guess it worked for him if he got a gig with NBC.
And the mountains in Norway are not that high; it is just that they start at sea level, but they are just what is left of an old mountain chain after 20-some iteration of total glaciation in the current ice age..
As a (half) Norwegian, I am (half) thrilled for their success.
Of course, I am not watching the Winter Olympics.
1. Most of the events are boring to me and,
2. Once politics seeps into sports, I have no refuge but to read a book or get on the computer.
I think the Olympics should be re-named "Please don't fall down" and you might win.
the USA hack press obsession with "this is the first time ever __________________ this happened" is so annoying.
Wouldn't it be interesting to hear these young athletes' opinions on Art, Music, and Literature, Science and Philosophy, as well as Politics ?
"OT question: Is there a way to search through Althouse for a specific post, using key words as a search term?"
There's also a search box in the upper left corner.
This: The problem is that the announcers want to be part of the show
Quit taking me out of the game by telling me about things not happening on the field of play.
Can you imagine going to watch a movie, and then constantly stopping the action so a person not in the movie action can tell you what you were watching and what may be happening behind the scenes?
LOL on the fez.
A few of my favorite sports fan moments come from the Albertville Olympics. Me and 3 buddies were stationed in Germany, took leave and drove down to the French Alps for a few days. Got to see the U.S. Bobsled team with Herschel Walker and Brian Shimer, which was great because we were the only ones at the top of the hill, chatting with the WAG's. Also saw Bonnie Blair win one of her Golds while sitting with the Blair family/fans group. Best part, was that except for Hockey and Bobsled, we were able to get into everything for free because fans of other countries would hand us their tickets outside the venues once their Nation's athletes had competed. 26 years ago, I'm still in touch with 2 of the 3 guys on the trip. Good times.
This brings to mind Hans Christian Heg who was Norwegian immigrant to Wisconsin who created among his settlement an all Norwegian Brigade to go down south in 1863 and fight for their new country. And he did it.
Beware of Norwegians bearing weapons.
I tried to watch the other night, but couldn't take all of the 'human interest' stories, and reporter talking to reporters about reporters. I wanted to see what else was out there, and found a European sports network (EuroSport) and it was night and day in both content and aesthetics.
It shocked me how far America has fallen.
Battle of the Brian's, Calgary 1988, one of the best Olympic events...ever! Love that Brian O. has been so richly rewarded with coaching wins! Both Brians (Orser and Boitano) have given back so much to skating as has Scott Hamilton. Tara L and Jonny W...not so much. The Olympics in Norway, 1994, were the pinnacle of broadcast excellence, interesting stories, beautiful scenery, great venue organization and well-informed fans that knew how to support the various sports. I have not heard a single cow bell at the ski venues and the ice skating has been excellent and the venues have not been full. What is that!
I love the winter olympics!
I love that most of these things look terrifying and/or dangerous.
I love that so many of the events have rules like they are made up party games (if you miss the target, you have to ski around the "penalty loop"). I love seeing what the snowboarders and skiers can do with their bodies.
I'm so happy this time around NBC has chosen to show everything live.
As for focusing on our team-- I think there's a good balance. I've lived in 3 countries during the Olympics and have traveled through more during the Olympics, and I assure you they all focus on their own team. In Japan, you would have thought the Olympics consisted entirely of curling and figure skating.
They are national teams, after all!
I saw the woman's slalom with Vonn going second and taking the lead . Then several beat her time. Then last came snow boarder Ester from the Czech Republic. And the announcers were startled at her time that was 1 1/100th of a second better. It was like Holyfield beating Tyson. The announcers were stunned.
Wouldn't it be interesting to hear these young athletes' opinions on Art, Music, and Literature, Science and Philosophy, as well as Politics ?
Yeah, it would be great to hear LeBron's opinions but don't get him on the subject of nuns as I doubt he can say "Mother Superior."
Tcrosse goes from Mature to Immature in one day!
I loved opening and the snowboarding. But the commentary is sort of mumbly and not enlightening or interesting. And the interviews where they always say "what were your emotions when you realized" .... blah, blah. And there is a kind of clash between the diversity team they have doing the commentary - a woman and a black - and the Olympics themselves where people struggle to be the best. Then the remarks about the Dutch skating to work and the charming North Korean - is that the best we have to show the world? Then NBC tried to improve commentary by hiring some loser who also insulted Mike Pence - that was it as far as I'm concerned. If I watch - if - it will be with the sound off. Yet I really like the skateboarding and skiing and always want to see the closing ceremonies. But with hard work and effort NBC has managed to make watching the Olympics seem like work, hard labor in cultural PC salt mine for thin bowl of gruel. Please sir, I want some more.
This is probably going to be the first Olympics of any kind of which I have not watched a single minute of coverage. I hadn't read any articles about it either that hadn't had been snuck into other articles about other things. Ms. Althouse's blog entry is the first article I had read about the Olympics in which it was clear from the title it was about the Olympics.
Part of it is, of course, that I don't much of the Winter Olympics interesting beyond the skiing events and the speed skating. However, NBC has basically ruined the event for me over the years that I almost no longer care about even the Summer Olympics- even with a DVR which I use ruthlessly. I think I am done with the event altogether.
The winter Olympics have gone to pot ever since Roone Arledge turned the 1976 Olympics into the Innsbruck Ice Follies.
They have become just TV spectaculars, so of course the "hosts" think they are the main attractions.
Yes, MaryBee, many of these sports are scary and it is not an illusion! The "concussions in sports crowd" better not be watching! My kids were ski racers when they were young. The skill level is amazing and the hills are much steeper than they look on TV!
I find Adam Rippon utterly charming and in his interviews and discussions at the Olympics, I haven't heard him mention Pence or take the bait when others try to lead him there.
Robin Eatmon- the skelton! How have there not been several decapitations?
NBC ruined the Olympics.
We’re watching events via the NBC Sports app on our smart tv and our mobile devices. Don’t have to ever anything, as we can watch live or replays. We watched very little of the live NBC feed. The apps allow us pretty much what we want, when we want.
"No, broadcasters need to focus directly on the competition. The whole debacle began when the emphasis shifted away from that to those insipid "personal profiles" that filled more hours than the sports themselves. That started after 1968, I believe."
I did not mean to be seeming to promote the background films. I agree that the focus should be on the competition. What I want is equal treatment of the competitors, with exclamations and praise going to them in proportion to how well they do. Voiceovers should give background on the person during the competition. I'm just offended that the announcers follow the Americans too much and (especially in the figure skating) ooh and ah over performances that are not the best and even try to make us feel that the scoring is rigged when somebody gets ahead of an American.
NBC hires gay figure skater Rippon because he hates Pence, and that's good enough for NBC.
There is a new American field sport:
First openly gay Trump/Pence bashing. Gold medal!
"NBC hires gay figure skater Rippon because he hates Pence, and that's good enough for NBC."
False. They hired him because gay men and gay-friendly viewers — that is most figure-skating fans — love his openly gay style.
Did anyone else hear Tom & Lorenzo effusing over Rippon in their newest podcast? They absolutely love that he's expressive in a way that they use the words "sissy" and "queen" to describe.
I watch a little for the visuals. It's good that my ridiculous cable bills are helping pay for some tremendous camerawork.
If you're viewing arrangement requires listening to the sappy commentary and watching commercials then you're not doing it right.
The participants in the women's skeleton are off the chart of the hot/crazy matrix. Down an ice chute, head fucking first, at about 500 miles an hour. Definitely crazy. Also, definitely hot.
Speed skating on the short track is one of the dirtiest sports I'v ever watched. Them mofo's will stick out a leg and bust your ass in a minute. Also at about 500 miles an hour. That's what I like about it.
Big Russian doping documentary coming on Netflix.
Figure skating was ruined for me many years ago while watching some competition on the BBC. Some guy was doing a very Artistic routine, and at one point the Canadian commentator said "And Bobby Hull crosses the blue line for the second time". So much for the Magic.
My best tweet ever is not getting any traction.... this is highly disappointing.
Question: Why are American 'fans' hating on American athletes who speak their mind
Answer: If Americans wanted to know what to think about politics, they would watch late night television.
maybe I should reframe it like I did above just now.
"openly gay style"
Openly gay and openly effeminate are not equal.
Did anyone else hear Tom & Lorenzo effusing over Rippon in their newest podcast? They absolutely love that he's expressive in a way that they use the words "sissy" and "queen" to describe.
I think that hurt him in the team competition, and I think he tightened it up for the individual competition.
But no, I can't really stand Tom and Lorenzo any more so I didn't listen to their podcast.
Ann, that might be true, but his Pence hate certainly made it a slam dunk for NBC.
All sorts of gay male figure skaters have been in the sport for years. I don't see what is so special about Rippon. The only stand out is his Pence attack.
Who are Tom and Lorenzo?
I usually watch a lot of the Olympics. This time around? Pffft.
Wanna know why?
Example: The lead story on Yahoo! Sports this morning is about a US male figure skater. A male figure skater who didn't even medal.
Why the lead story?
He kissed his boyfriend.
See, it's not about results anymore. It's about an agenda.
Click.
See, it's not about results anymore. It's about an agenda.
Wouldn't be a story or an agenda if people hadn't been such assholes about homosexuality over the years.
NBC is spending too much time on Russian collusion. Oh wait, that’ the FBI.
False. They hired him because gay men and gay-friendly viewers — that is most figure-skating fans — love his openly gay style.
Did anyone else hear Tom & Lorenzo effusing over Rippon in their newest podcast? They absolutely love that he's expressive in a way that they use the words "sissy" and "queen" to describe.
False back atchya, Althouse! Johnny Weir is already on the NBC payroll, and if he isn’t openly gay then the term has no meaning. At least Weir competed in two Olympics, finishing 5th and 6th, versus Rippon’s one Olympics finishing 10th. If Weir was a poor commentator, that might be understandable that they’d be looking for a replacement, but he and Lipinski are a very good team.
-.-. --.- . . ..- -.. . .-- ---.. .-.. ...- .. -.-
Wouldn't be a story or an agenda if people hadn't been such assholes about homosexuality over the years.
So, it's about revenge? Good luck with that on your little sports show.
Click.
Rippon... They hired him because the transgender spectrum is politically congruent.
In a culture of institutional diversity, female chauvinism, political congruence, selective/recycled-child, etc., it is difficult to know whether his selection was influenced by the Pro-Choice Church and derivative special and peculiar factions.
Iowahawk says figure skating would be interesting if they had defense.
All, and I do mean ALL, of the online headlines about Rippon's hiring by NBC have referred to him as "anti-Pence" or "attacked by Pence for his sexuality" or "the gay athlete who snubbed Pence", before they mentioned his sport, his age, his experience, etc. He's there so that every thing can be politicized. Lots of dim housewives watch skating, dim housewives are the MSM bread basket.
-.-. --.- . . ..- -.. . .-- ---.. .-.. ...- .. -.-
This makes no sense.
"NBC hires gay figure skater Rippon because he hates Pence, and that's good enough for NBC."
False. They hired him because gay men and gay-friendly viewers — that is most figure-skating fans — love his openly gay style.
Hating Pence is a nice bonus, though.
I always assumed Dick Button was gay but I guess he's not. I guess.
Triangle Man whines: Wouldn't be a story or an agenda if people hadn't been such assholes about homosexuality over the years.
Did you intentionally juxtapose 'assholes' and 'homosexuality' in that sentence? Wasn't that rather crude?
BTW, I'm old enough to remember Liberace. Most gay people have been accepted as such. It's the constant aggressive braying about it that many of us object to.
The Daytona 500 is on.
A black man named Darrell "Bubba" Wallace will race Petty's Iconic #43 in today's Daytona 500.
An Oral History of Bob Costas having Pink Eye at the Olympics
An oral history?? I see what you did there
A black man named Darrell "Bubba" Wallace will race Petty's Iconic #43 in today's Daytona 500.
First in 'nearly 50 years'. Why the gap?
-.-. --.- . . ..- -.. . .-- ---.. .-.. ...- .. -.-
Morse code produces CQEEUDEW8LVIK. Maybe rhardin can check my math.
IIRC
CQ = calling all stations
EEU ?
DE W8LVI = this is W8LVI
K = Over
They hired him because gay men and gay-friendly viewers — that is most figure-skating fans — love his openly gay style.
I don't doubt you, Ann, but that's the problem isn't it? NBC hired a gay to cover an event because the gay covering the event will attract viewers (in their minds) more so than the event being covered. Bob Costas wasn't well known when he started covering sports, but it was his time covering them that made his brand. Its when NBC decided to start cashing in on Costas brand and making him the story that his viewership declined.
Is that Japanese sumo wrestler competing this year?
Signs that no one gives a damn about the Olympics anymore
Four things --
*The Olympics stopped being an amateur competition and about the purity of athletic competition.
*NBC's awful coverage for the last 30 years which is more about personalities than the events themselves.
*NBC's jingoistic coverage, which makes the caricature of Trumpers look like pikers, where they put greater focus on some American in 15th place than they do the actual leaders.
*The inclusion of moronic events masquerading as sports, such as snowboarding.
Jersey asks: Is that Japanese sumo wrestler competing this year?
Alas, I didn't see him in the men's free skate. :-(
Two more things --
*The U.S. team adopted the worst aspects of the East German and Soviet teams of the past.
*The elimination of the figures component in "figure" skating.
Oh, and one more just for the hell of it --
*The other day I was watching videos of Dorothy Hamill and Peggy Fleming and enjoying them and my recollection of Hamill. And I remember watching others like Tai Babilonia, Sasha Cohen, Sarah Hughes, Harding and Kerrigan, Michelle Kwan, Tara Lipinski, Debi Thomas, Kristi Yamaguchi and even a few of the guys. What I didn't know, though, that I was gay for watching it.
I was 13 y.o. when Katerina Witt was the big breakout star of the Olympics. She made an impression.
I was a big fan of Evgeny Plushenko but the current Japanese men, Hanyo and Uno, are the best I've ever seen. The current Russian women [Medvedeva and Zagotiva] are possibly the best ever.
I can't believe that people fell for the old goggles trick. Ester Ledecka let a banned Russian ski for her and there wasn't time/the opportunity to make the switch back. If not a Russian, an evil twin.
@Jersey, @mockturtle, I did see him in a commercial. Still very elegant, but a bit light in the number of quads he threw.
Nobody ever suspected that Johnny Weir was gay before now.
Nobody ever suspected that Johnny Weir was gay
He was always very cheerful and merry, but a transgender orientation does not logically follow. There are plenty of gay men and women who are not transgender. In fact, it's a very common mental state around the holidays.
Nobody ever suspected that Johnny Weir was gay before now.
He was married to a Russian man for a while and speaks fluent Russian. He does a great job on the commentary. Not so crazy about Lipinski but maybe it's that munchkin voice that so many 'women' have nowadays...
Per Big Mike: @Jersey, @mockturtle, I did see him in a commercial. Still very elegant, but a bit light in the number of quads he threw.
I understand they barred him from attempting a quad due to possible damage to the ice should he fall.
"...his openly gay style."
Cisgender bigoted stereotype.
@mockturtle
I recognized the juxtaposition but recognize that we are adults and can get past it.
The Russians doped curling.
Curling!
It's nothing sacred anymore ;)
ABC pioneered the background coverage of Olympic athletes in short segments called "Up close and personal". I remembered them being a huge joke at the time: don't bother covering the actual events, just show canned bits to try and make you connect personally about these athletes you know nothing about.
I wanted to watch Franz Klammer fly down the hill at the ragged edge of self destruction, and not watch him talk about growing up in his small Austrian village.
ABC pioneered the background coverage of Olympic athletes in short segments called "Up close and personal".
Jim McKay, wasn't it? He made me furious.
Also, what's going on with Norway? How can a small country of 5.3 million people dominate the Olympics?
Also, what's going on with Norway? How can a small country of 5.3 million people dominate the Olympics?
They don't have the political distractions.
The pictures demonstrate one thing, that not all Norske girls are hot. My theory has been that, in the period from 850 AD to 1100 AD the Vikings traveled the continent killing men and enslaving women to be brought back to Norge. You don't think that they would have paid the freight for the ugly ones, do you? This also explains French women.
When the Cold War ended, the Olympics died.
"Also, what's going on with Norway? How can a small country of 5.3 million people dominate the Olympics?"
Uff Da!
We are Norwegians.
Try the lefsa.
Curling is the best winter Olympic sport. True athletes. Imagine being able to eat anything you want, drink lots and lots of beer, smoke cigarettes, and still be considered an Olympian -- even a gold medalist. Sign me up!
Astounded, yes ultimately to my having to redown my I.Q., by this,
Article/author/Althouse/Comments.
Drives me wild.
turns me louosupon
Even though I doubt I will ever care to define that.
Uh oh.
What are we, the not-definers aka not-defining-ones aka what Buckley, God rest his soul natch, preferred over the faculty of Harvard. Or was it Yale? Who cares, not His nor Buckley's point.
Was there ever a better Olympic moment than "The Miracle On Ice" when the USA beat the Soviets? Nothing since is even close.
Of more-coursely obviously Buckley's kicking Buchanon out over the Jews ( conceived of by these men NOT ME DON"T DESTROY ME I AM WEAK AND SMALL AND PATHECTIC PLEAE SPESALE PLEASE DION"T HURT ME SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRYSORRYSORRY
I agree way way way way wya way wayw wayugly hate aboev oute boundryies vuck me.
I cN'T BELIEVE I wnet there.
Didn't larn me uttin
Be really brave and try the Lutefiske!
Olympic athletes are now just action-figures for McDonalds and CocaCola to hang their corporate-brand medals on.
The cameras, though: they still find a way to linger on the good-looking females.
I have observed that the figure-skaters have especially good thigh gap. Even the women.
Many of the female curlers look like the actresses that portray the waitresses in Applebys commercials. In a good way.
And this would've been a good year for Playboy to have done a 'Women Of Curling' issue. If Playboy was still Playboy. Rather than dead-tree Instagram with Buzzfeed articles.
Poor Hef: the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue is now more Playboy than Playboy. Skimpy low-rise bikini bottoms: the editors can now freely show an expanse of skin that -- if the model's pubic hair were to grow back -- would no longer be publishable. They can even have Plausible Denial Cameltoe.
I am also still waiting for Bob Costas' MeToo accusers to speak out. I, for one, will believe the words of those courageous small boys.
The Germans have a word for this.
Is the word schadenfreude, yes honestly some of those covers belong behind brown paper bags.
"Be really brave and try the Lutefisk!"
Substitute the word "suicidal" for brave.
Those old 19th Century farmers were really desperate for protein in the winter.
Why are we (the U.S.) not cleaning up in snowboarding -- it was invented in Wisconsin for crying outside!
I gave up on the Olympics long ago for the same reason as many others: limited to non-existent coverage of the events. Long, boring, over-produced, gab fests by dull, boring television personalities, punctuated by long, boring, over-produced bios held no interest for me.
"Will the Jamaican bobsled team be competing this year?"
There is a female Nigerian bobsled team competing.
I wanted to watch Franz Klammer fly down the hill at the ragged edge of self destruction, and not watch him talk about growing up in his small Austrian village.
Yeah, let's blame people and a network that hasn't had the Olympics for three decades. It's the fault of ABC and the Wide World of Sports gang -- most of whom are dead -- that NBC is a complete CF.
By the way, I remember watching Franz Klammer fly down the hill. You can even watch it right now over on YouTube. You know why? Because ABC showed the events. No matter who the leaders were. And they showed the entire event.
Blame your contemporaries for what they wrought on us kids. I remember having had nowhere to go, while my mother would be screaming about what awful Americans us kids were, during the Winter Olympics.
I chose a City School that paid my tuition. Ironically, the same one that gave folks Mr. Eruzione. Mentioned that to her once, to which she replied, "Fuck that Spick."
The Olympics can go to hell, so much as many of us are concerned.
Why are we (the U.S.) not cleaning up in snowboarding -- it was invented in Wisconsin for crying outside!
Didn't we win gold in both men's and women's half pipe?
Wow, 'Be', so your mother doesn't know the difference between a 'spick' and a 'wop'? How ignorant of her!
Blogger Sebastian said...
“I was not as prepared as the other girls. I don’t have makeup on.”
Late night at the Olympic Village, eh, Ester?
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Laslo would have something to say about this..latex fest.
(Czech it)
Speaking Olympics videos on YouTube. I just saw something astounding.
A clip of a woman winning the 1976 Decathalon. You would think she would have been disqualified and the gold medal forfeited once it was shown that she wasn't a man, but a woman.
You see? The farce that the Olympics have become even extends backwards in time to taint things that happened forty years ago.
Be really brave and try the Lutefisk!
True story. Back in the early 20th century a boxcar full of lutefisk was misrouted by one of the railroads that served the northern states (let’s say the Grest Northern, but it could have been one of the others). When it finally reached its destination the recipient refused delivery on the grounds that the load had spoiled. The shipper filed a claim, and the railroad paid, reluctantly, claiming that it was impossible to tell spoiled lutefisk from unspoiled. Of course that was American lutefisk so it probably lacked the quality of the original Norwegian delicacy.
The problem with the Olympics is that it is just too gay.
Yes it appeals to the gay audience. Which is a very small segment of the population.
Instead of focusing in on traditional sports like skiing and hockey and the toboggan and shit instead of the non-stop gay stuff. The networks promote the gay agenda non stop and it is neither interesting or in general something the normal's want to see. But still they want to shove that down your throat.
Add in prancing and flouncing social justice warriors who want to attack the God Emperor and you the perfect storm of bullshit that drives the ratings into the crapper. Like CNN. Like the NFL.
Republicans buy sneakers too.
Keep it up and you will have the same interest and rating of another traditionally gay sport.
The WNBA.
Norway does well because they own the 2, 5, 10, 25, 100, 1000, 5000, 10,000, 25,000 and 10 gazillion meter cross-country ski race events. Seriously, there are twelve cross-country race events, a sport that puts most of the world to sleep, but which attracts huge crowds of wild and crazy Norwegians. If we Canadians could have twelve curling events, we'd leave the rest of you in our dust.
But still they want to shove that down your throat.
Could have done without that image.
You don’t hear Rippon going after Pence ANYMORE Maybee.
Somebody got to him and explained that every time he opened his yap the future earnings would decrease.
They hired him because gay men and gay-friendly viewers — that is most figure-skating fans — love his openly gay style.
WTF? Johnny Weir wasn’t GAY enough? AYFKM?
There were reports of norovirus among the Olympic staff a while back. Haven't heard much for a while, but haven't really been monitoring, either.
I wonder what flu season is like in the Republic of Korea this year?
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