Olympics

[wegner]

3 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

Besides the obvious ones, it is always curling for me, and I have no idea why.  I just can't turn it off.

I've been watching a lot of CNBC as well for the curling.  I enjoy the strategy. I remember when it was nearly impossible to find any Olympic curling coverage...it's cool that it gets so much more coverage now....I guess we can thank the current US skip for his surprise gold medal run last time. 

[caulfield12]

2 minutes ago, Two-Gun Pete said:

1. Those moments on WWOS weren't tied to coddling authoritarian regimes and looking the other way as individuals and entire nations cheat.

2. I agree with Rogan, when he says that the Olympics are gross, given that the performers get jack and shit for compensation, while the ioc and nbc get free labor.

3. I can watch all of that, without giving the attention that the ioc craves.

4. Good moments, to be sure. But since then, the games have regressed into a competition of "our dopers vs your dopers." Its akin to a basketball player being allowed to run without dribbling, and the ref just shrugging his shoulders.

5. And thats another gross thing: pre-teens in figure skating and gymnastics competing as "women," vice actual, ya know, WOMEN competing in Witt's day. Add into it the pre-teens and teens being doped up, and its all a bit nauseating.

There are exceptions.  Eileen/Ailing Gu has already made $35 million from endorsements at age 17-18 before the Olympics even began…if she gets yet another gold in her next two events, she will easily be at $100 million (just in China) before she starts freshman year this fall at Stanford.

It’s also telling that Almaty, Kazahkstan was the only other choice for the IOC this year.

Then you have the upcoming Qatar World Cup debacle as well.

[Two-Gun Pete]

23 minutes ago, caulfield12 said:

1. There are exceptions.  Eileen/Ailing Gu has already made $35 million from endorsements at age 17-18 before the Olympics even began…if she gets yet another gold in her next two events, she will easily be at $100 million (just in China) before she starts freshman year this fall at Stanford.

2. It’s also telling that Almaty, Kazahkstan was the only other choice for the IOC this year.

3.Then you have the upcoming Qatar World Cup debacle as well.

1. Yes, thank you for reinforcing my point that its "one or two stars" that make anything, while the other thousands of performers are indentured servants. FFS, even the NCAA can compensate its performers moreso than the overwhelming majority of olympians. 

2. And yes, thank you for reinforcing the point that most cities don't need/want to squander time and resources on getting ripped off by the ioc. I mean, Athens just made out like gangbusters, amirite? 

3. Nice "whattabout." But hey, since you offered, I'll give you an answer to your "whattabout":

I hate the fact that corruption lead to workers dying in the desert for a WC that should have gone elsewhere. But, at a minimum, losers at FIFA lost jobs, and a few officials went to jail.

Contrast that with the "hardass" approach of the ioc, like, totally stomping on russias nuts by forcing them to compete as something called the roc.

 And look at all those crooks the ioc rounded up and put in jail, amirite? And the (snicker) "olympic movement," like, totally brought down the hammer on cheating cheaters, right?

So yeah, like, totally similar situations.

Edited February 11, 2022 by Two-Gun Pete
Forgot that you're in a place where I can't mention t@!w@n

[CentralChamps21]

36 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

Besides the obvious ones, it is always curling for me, and I have no idea why.  I just can't turn it off.

Every Olympic sport is some combination of skill and strategy. None of us are ever going to have the skill to make it to an Olympics, but we can follow along with the strategy. Of all the sports, curling is weighted (pun intended) more towards strategy than any other sport.

[CentralChamps21]

30 minutes ago, wegner said:

I've been watching a lot of CNBC as well for the curling.  I enjoy the strategy. I remember when it was nearly impossible to find any Olympic curling coverage...it's cool that it gets so much more coverage now....I guess we can thank the current US skip for his surprise gold medal run last time. 

Curling got lots of TV eyeballs even before the 2018 gold. The 2000s brought multiple cable channels where one channel could show lots of curling without infringing on the figure skating and downhill skiing coverage that have the widest appeal. Now we have Peacock where every event can be watched live or on demand at any time afterwards.

[Harry Chappas]

44 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

Besides the obvious ones, it is always curling for me, and I have no idea why.  I just can't turn it off.

Agree 100% it is rather odd and feeds Two Gun Pete's theory but IDGAF I dig it.  I'd never watch it on regular basis.  

While saying that, I was unaware the US played Sweden yesterday. 

I told my wife I wanted to open an axe throwing, curling Brew Pub in NW Indiana. 

 

[Harry Chappas]

7 minutes ago, CentralChamps21 said:

Curling got lots of TV eyeballs even before the 2018 gold. The 2000s brought multiple cable channels where one channel could show lots of curling without infringing on the figure skating and downhill skiing coverage that have the widest appeal. Now we have Peacock where every event can be watched live or on demand at any time afterwards.

I hate figure skating so Peacock is the way to go.  

[southsider2k5]

1 minute ago, Harry Chappas said:

Agree 100% it is rather odd and feeds Two Gun Pete's theory but IDGAF I dig it.  I'd never watch it on regular basis.  

While saying that, I was unaware the US played Sweden yesterday. 

I told my wife I wanted to open an axe throwing, curling Brew Pub in NW Indiana. 

 

I recorded the Great Britain match to finish watching.  I did not see Sweden either.

[caulfield12]

https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/33267925/us-ski-snowboard-investigating-sexual-misconduct-racism-allegations
 

Uh-oh.  Impeccable timing.

 

(CNN)The United States could prosecute Russian individuals allegedly involved in figure skater Kamila Valieva's doping case under the American Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act (RADA), the head of the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), Travis Tygart, told CNN on Friday. 

The RADA bill, named after whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov who helped expose the Russian doping scandal, was signed into law by former US President Donald Trump in December 2020. 

The bill enables the US to impose criminal sanctions on individuals involved in doping at major international sports competitions that feature US athletes, sponsors and broadcasters.

Penalties for violating the law include up to 10 years imprisonment and fines of $250,000 for individuals and $1 million for organizations.

"As more facts are developed, I think the Rodchenkov Act potentially could come into play," said Tygart.

"If there's a doctor, or a coach, or state officials, sport official, who conspired to dope her [Valieva], then [the Rodchenkov Act] fits like a glove, because it is an international major competition, as defined by the Rodchenkov Act, which includes U.S. money, companies broadcasting, or sponsoring, the WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) code applies, there's more than three foreign athletes, and there's more than one US athlete competing," he added.

"Russia's doping, state sponsored and otherwise, has taken away from what we ought to be celebrating, which is the Olympic values, competition done the right way, athletes who win because they're doing it the right way," Tygart added.

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/02/11/sport/usada-prosecute-russia-kamila-valieva-doping-spt-intl/index.html

 

Are skating and the media that covers it complicit?

Amid Valieva’s failed doping test and accounts of what sure seems like disordered eating and careers cut very short due to injury, it raises the question of what skating’s governing bodies are doing about this. The answer seems to be rewarding her.

In 2020, the International Skating Union awarded Tutberidze its “best coach.” And if you’ve been watching NBC’s figure skating coverage, commentator and former skater Johnny Weir has been — up until news of Valieva’s failed doping test broke — talking about spending time at her coaching facility and the splendid time he had getting to know Tutberidze and the girls. Weir posted on Instagram in November, about how thankful he was to visit the school. In hindsight, these decisions haven’t aged well.

“If people start to look under the hood of what’s going on in Team Tutberidze, that might actually be positive for the sport because it would really shine a light on adolescent girls being abused physically, mentally, emotionally. And now pharmacologically, with these drugs,” said Dave Lease, who runs the skating analysis YouTube channel The Skating Lesson.

While he acknowledges that Tutberidze’s skaters are talented, Lease has been critical of Tutberidze on his show, specifically calling into question her training practices. He has spoken with guests about allegations of eating disorders and possible doping (prior to Valieva’s positive test). He says what’s happening at Tutberidze’s school is analogous to the abuse that happened at US Gymnastics and the Karolyis’ ranch. Saying that Tutberidze’s coaching practices are “abusive” has gotten Lease harangued in the Russian press.

“It doesn’t take a genius to realize that there’s something aberrant taking place with Tutberidze’s training methods as opposed to training methods around the rest of the world,” he said. “I don’t think that any intelligent person who follows figure skating should be surprised. The clues have been there.”

The clues Lease refers to are accounts from former skaters, but also Russian press interviews about diets, the injuries from over-training, interviews with coachesabout possible doping, and Russia’s history with state-sponsored doping. 

Since the news broke, former skaters like Adam Rippon and Katarina Witt have spoken out about holding Russia and the adults surrounding Valieva responsible.

 

Edited February 12, 2022 by caulfield12

[ranger2004]

3 hours ago, wegner said:

I've been watching a lot of CNBC as well for the curling.  I enjoy the strategy. I remember when it was nearly impossible to find any Olympic curling coverage...it's cool that it gets so much more coverage now....I guess we can thank the current US skip for his surprise gold medal run last time. 

I've been a fanof Schuster for many years now especially after working with his Dad for 10yrs. It's been cool to see the pride Dad has for John...wishing best of luck to these guys .

 

 

[wegner]

16 minutes ago, ranger2004 said:

I've been a fanof Schuster for many years now especially after working with his Dad for 10yrs. It's been cool to see the pride Dad has for John...wishing best of luck to these guys .

 

 

That is awesome to hear.  He really is clutch in the matches I have seen, as well as a good tactician.  It would be terrific to see them bring home another medal.  

[caulfield12]

Two golds for Jacobellis at age 36…this time in mixed team snowboard cross.

Her partner Nick Baumgartner is 40.

Cool story…like that 41 year old alpine/downhill skier who got a silver medal after persevering for decades in the sport.

[Texsox]

Here's a stage we built for you, do you want to play? Turn down the invite if you don't want to play. 

The problem was it stopped being about amateur athletics. If enough professionals refused to play we'd get back to the Olympic roots and what made it special to begin with. 

[wegner]

Time to switch over to watching monobob as it looks like Canada is going to smoke the USA in curling tonight

[caulfield12]

Kind of reached a real lull…waiting for women’s hockey and then Erin Jackson in the 500 meters.

Seems pretty clear that Kamila Valieva will be blocked from skating (Monday afternoon decision)…if they don’t, it will get really ugly with the US government entering the fray as well and with Russia on the verge of war with Ukraine any day now.

Humphries out to roughly a quite significant one minute lead in monobob after two runs out of four…that’s encouraging, other American (she was quarantined for Covid early) right in the battle for 2nd through 4th.

 

Christine Brennan of USA Today being really aggressive questioning Russians at presser 

Edited February 13, 2022 by caulfield12

[caulfield12]

Erin Jackson with the gold by .07 over Japan in 500 meters.

Two for monobob in good positions tmrw, two teams for ice dance fighting for 2/3, both hockey teams (men’s leading Germany 2-1), a team pursuit in speed skating seems poised to medal.

Women’s hockey has a really tough battle to get past Finland to face Canada again IMO.

[Two-Gun Pete]

16 hours ago, Texsox said:

Here's a stage we built for you, do you want to play? Turn down the invite if you don't want to play. 

The problem was it stopped being about amateur athletics. If enough professionals refused to play we'd get back to the Olympic roots and what made it special to begin with. 

Disagreed.

Compensating people fairly for their efforts is morally upright, and is the basis for freedom,  capitalism, and all that's good in today's economy.

Some might call "free labor" "slave labor." Or "indentured servitude." The ioc and nbc blowing smoke up your ass, while taking free slave labor ain't "special," whether its free labor to build venues nobody wants, or free labor from the athletes themselves.

 

The problem with the olympics is the corruption, them allowing cheaters to cheat, the ioc stealing from hosts, and their stupid marketing. (I.e. "the olympic movement," as if it were a fucking religion or something.)

Pay the athletes. "Amateurism" is thievery. If you read the history of the modern olympics, "Amateurism" was actually a way to keep working class types out of the competition. Coubertin wanted to keep working sailors and rowers out of the Olympics, so moneyed elites had a chance to win. IOW, keep the poors from competing and beating the rich in competition.

 

Carry on, then...

Edited February 13, 2022 by Two-Gun Pete

[Texsox]

5 hours ago, Two-Gun Pete said:

Disagreed.

Compensating people fairly for their efforts is morally upright, and is the basis for freedom,  capitalism, and all that's good in today's economy.

Some might call "free labor" "slave labor." Or "indentured servitude." The ioc and nbc blowing smoke up your ass, while taking free slave labor ain't "special," whether its free labor to build venues nobody wants, or free labor from the athletes themselves.

 

The problem with the olympics is the corruption, them allowing cheaters to cheat, the ioc stealing from hosts, and their stupid marketing. (I.e. "the olympic movement," as if it were a fucking religion or something.)

Pay the athletes. "Amateurism" is thievery. If you read the history of the modern olympics, "Amateurism" was actually a way to keep working class types out of the competition. Coubertin wanted to keep working sailors and rowers out of the Olympics, so moneyed elites had a chance to win. IOW, keep the poors from competing and beating the rich in competition.

 

Carry on, then...

I believe there is a place in the world for amateur athletics. 

Why should they only compete in crappy facilities with no crowds? 

[caulfield12]

And now they're still going to allow Kamila Valieva to skate after all, opening up the biggest can of worms in the history of the modern Olympics...arguably.

 

And we're going to hear a lot about this in the coming days and weeks.

The United States could go after those involved in Russian Olympic Committee figure skater Kamila Valieva's doping case under a U.S. law that allows someone to be prosecuted if their actions affect the results of an American athlete.

The Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act (RADA) was signed into law in 2020, allowing prosecutors to seek fines up to $1 million and jail sentences for up to 10 years if someone's actions affect the outcome of U.S. athletes, Travis Tygart, the head of the U.S. Anti Doping Agency (USADA), told Reuters on Friday.

The law could allow prosecutors to go after those involved with the 15-year-old skater, who led the team to a gold medal during the team event on Monday, with the U.S. taking silver and Japan bronze.

https://www.newsweek.com/those-kamila-valieva-case-may-prosecuted-under-new-us-law-report-1678561

Edited February 14, 2022 by caulfield12

[whitesoxfan99]

The Court of Arbitration for Sport is a fucking joke or an organization so little surprise there.  Same organization that walked back some of the sanctions against Russian athletes despite a world of evidence of systemic doping in 2014 (and thereafter).  

[caulfield12]

3 hours ago, whitesoxfan99 said:

The Court of Arbitration for Sport is a fucking joke or an organization so little surprise there.  Same organization that walked back some of the sanctions against Russian athletes despite a world of evidence of systemic doping in 2014 (and thereafter).  

This is six Olympics in a row with Russians corrupting everything.

Biggest loophole ever created right now...just dope 14-15 year olds, reap all the benefits of no consequences due to protected status as minors.

“If she’s too young for consequences to be imposed on her or her team, she’s too young to compete. This is insanity.“  Ironic, if she was just 2+ months older, the situation would have turned out completely differently.

Have to think of all the US skaters like Gracie Gold and Japanese and even fellow Russians who have either gotten injured chasing impossible jumps since 2014…the ones unfairly denied medals…her two teammates who have been painted with the same broad brush as well as one US skater who had to give up quads and triples as she matured and gained weight/mass.  Then there’s the Israel skater who is now being denied that last open spot on the list of performers.

Not only that, but the millions in endorsements impacted adversely…

Edited February 14, 2022 by caulfield12

[Two-Gun Pete]

14 hours ago, Texsox said:

I believe there is a place in the world for amateur athletics. 

Why should they only compete in crappy facilities with no crowds? 

Yeah. It's called "high school."

Well, at least its mostly amateur in the rest of the country...

3 hours ago, caulfield12 said:

This is six Olympics in a row with Russians corrupting everything.

What's that saying?

"Fool me once, shame on you."

"Fool me SIX FUCKING TIMES IN A FUCKING ROW, well, WTF am I still wasting my finite time left on earth watching this shit, giving air to a corrupt organization, and giving ratings to a (snicker) 'competition' that's lost all fucking credibility?"

 

I think that's the saying. That said, if after SIX FUCKING TIMES IN A ROW, who's the fucking moron, you the viewer, or the ioc?

 

just askin'.....

[CentralChamps21]

19 minutes ago, Two-Gun Pete said:

Yeah. It's called "high school."

Well, at least its mostly amateur in the rest of the country...

What's that saying?

"Fool me once, shame on you."

"Fool me SIX FUCKING TIMES IN A FUCKING ROW, well, WTF am I still wasting my finite time left on earth watching this shit, giving air to a corrupt organization, and giving ratings to a (snicker) 'competition' that's lost all fucking credibility?"

 

I think that's the saying. That said, if after SIX FUCKING TIMES IN A ROW, who's the fucking moron, you the viewer, or the ioc?

 

just askin'.....

Money talks. If the US isn't willing to boycott over this unfairness, then it will continue. Eliminating US TV audiences from the Olympics will get their attention. Would suck for all the US athletes so I understand why they don't do that but that's what it would take.

[Texsox]

Last I heard we weren't requiring anyone to compete. If they want to compete I'll cheer for them. If they don't want to, that's cool. 

I wonder why so many athletes are there? 

[caulfield12]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/kamila-valievas-doping-test-sample-201613301.html

Now it turns out she had three heart-related drugs in her A sample, including hypoxen.

And now an implausible excuse about her grandfather burping or breathing into her cup or mug...as he is supposedly the one taking the illegal heart medication she got caught using.

Hypotenuse and the third drug will likely be added to the banned substances list quite quickly, but it will undoubtedly take a decade at least for the sport to recover in the eyes of the world.

 

 

"Airing immediately after the Super Bowl, the Beijing Winter Olympics scored easily its highest ratings yet on NBC.

Abbreviated primetime coverage of the Winter Olympics averaged a 9.8 rating and 21.28 million viewers on NBC immediately following Super Bowl 56, marking easily the highest rating and viewership of the Games. The NBC-only audience is not only the highest of this year’s Games, it also surpasses every night of last year’s Tokyo Summer Olympics to rank as the network’s largest Olympic audience since the first Sunday in PyeongChang four years ago (22.7M)."

https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2022/02/olympics-ratings-super-bowl-lift-most-watched-night-beijing-games/

Edited February 16, 2022 by caulfield12