2026 Winter Olympics

[Sir Henry]

I haven’t seen a thread on the Olympics. I guess I’m the only one watching them.

[BrokenolMarine]

I didn't post on the Olympics because of the politics.

First and foremost, the difficulty in watching unless you have paid channels or cable. I guess I miss the days of the full page event schedules in the daily papers, and watching with the fair and balanced coverage from known sportscasters, plus color commentary from the former Olympic athletes who explained the nuances of their sports.

[Coach]

I'm watching.

Our women hockey team is kicking butt. 4-0 in the prelims. They beat Canada 5-0 today.

We have a 21 yr old male figure skater that's very dynamic and good. he could win the mens gold.

[cooperhawk]

We've been watching every night. We have DISH living out here in the country so we can get several sports channels
with different activities on. Some gets a little boring.

[Mags]

I didn't post on the Olympics because of the politics.

First and foremost, the difficulty in watching unless you have paid channels or cable. ...

If you have over the air broadcast TV, watching is free on NBC.

[BrokenolMarine]

I didn't post on the Olympics because of the politics.

First and foremost, the difficulty in watching unless you have paid channels or cable. ...

If you have over the air broadcast TV, watching is free on NBC.

No over the air NBC out where we live. Antenna TV is spotty at best.
The Sat TV requires subscription for local programming.
Right now, we get Netflix, Hulu, and prime... some youtube via wifi tv.

[brm4450]

Been watching them nightly since opening, both on sir NBC and Peacock. I like watching both winter and summer Olympics and becoming acquainted with the athletes from all the countries and USA.

[Sir Henry]

Been watching them nightly since opening, both on sir NBC and Peacock. I like watching both winter and summer Olympics and becoming acquainted with the athletes from all the countries and USA.

I like both summer and winter but seem to watch more winter. In the summer it competes with other activities.

Go USA

[rickhem]

Been watching since before the opening ceremonies. Some events, like curling and hockey, started prior to that. The curling gets more interesting every time for me, lots of strategy involved along with the physics. Our Vseebox gives us a few different channels that offer coverage, and different channels have different events. There are a lot of YouTube offerings too, but those are usually summary broadcasts. Still, I enjoy watching the shooting events from prior olympics and other global competitions, now using the shootoff format. They cover those well, even on the Youtube offerings.

I tend to enjoy the events that don't include judging a bit more than those that do use it. Judging takes out the innovation in my mind. I don't like that something such as ski jumping also includes judging. To me, the farthest jump should win. When you include judging, you all but eliminate any transformational breakthroughs, and competitors thinking outside the box. Imagine if the high jump had judging based on a specific style, and then here comes Dick Fosbury. How about shot-putters that spin in the circle instead of just hopping backwards? I get that it's a necessity for some events, but it finds it's way into things where I prefer it wasn't.

[Coach]

Our young man got the yips in the ice skating final. He was timid and it looked like the moment got to him. With 2 falls he went from 1st to 8th.

Bummer because I thought he was going to get the gold going in…

[Sir Henry]

Our young man got the yips in the ice skating final. He was timid and it looked like the moment got to him. With 2 falls he went from 1st to 8th.

Bummer because I thought he was going to get the gold going in…

Heartbreaking.

[rickhem]

When he decided to switch from the difficult jump to the "easy" one early in his routine, even the commentators commented about that.

There is a big difference between trying to win, and trying not to lose. He's been such an all-out, watch what I can do, kind of skater for so long, that taking his foot off the gas left him in an unfamiliar place. I thought his sportsmanship in going right over to the kid from Kazakhstan and congratulating him was a credit to his character though.

[Sir Henry]

When he decided to switch from the difficult jump to the "easy" one early in his routine, even the commentators commented about that.

There is a big difference between trying to win, and trying not to lose. He's been such an all-out, watch what I can do, kind of skater for so long, that taking his foot off the gas left him in an unfamiliar place. I thought his sportsmanship in going right over to the kid from Kazakhstan and congratulating him was a credit to his character though.

He also blamed himself and not the ice when it was suggested the ice wasn’t all that good. He wasn’t the only skater that fell.

[brm4450]

Watched the ladies cross-country ski relay. It was raining prior to and during race making snow slushy and tough to ski on. Sweden was leading until there second leg hit some slush and it cut her a flip. It tore the binding off her ski (it was still attached to her boot) and she had to travel with one ski and her boot until she could locate a person with a new ski. It put the Swedes behind considerable, but they persevered and eventually reclaimed 2nd place and won a silver medal!

[Sir Henry]

Watched the ladies cross-country ski relay. It was raining prior to and during race making snow slushy and tough to ski on. Sweden was leading until there second leg hit some slush and it cut her a flip. It tore the binding off her ski (it was still attached to her boot) and she had to travel with one ski and her boot until she could locate a person with a new ski. It put the Swedes behind considerable, but they persevered and eventually reclaimed 2nd place and won a silver medal!

I saw it too. It was one of the best event I’ve seen this year. Watching curling now.

[rickhem]

The controversy involving the Canada curling team is heating up. Apparently you aren't allowed to touch the stone part of the "rocks" and can only touch the handle. I'm guessing that is only when sliding forward with one, in the act of playing your shot, cause almost everyone does a quick wipe of the bottom when they're preparing to go.

From the videos I've seen, and watching some on YouTube at ¼ speed, it looks like the one guy from Canada has his finger touch the stone part as he releases it. He does seem to release it prior to the green "hog line", as per the rules, but his hand falls off the handle with his finger appearing to be dragging down onto the stone as he releases it. There is a woman on the Canada team that seems to do it as well.

I don't think that has even the slightest impact on the throw, and that's been stated repeatedly by those more in-the-know, but it's a rule. My gut tells me that there's more to it. His reaction to the players that mention it, is a bit over the top, and he repeatedly states how long he's been doing this and how successful he's been. Most of the other teams can be seen interacting with their opponents during the match, and enjoying themselves, appreciating a well played stone. The rules seem to put a lot of faith in honor and accountability, and I'm betting that it's been something that has come up before, and the others have had enough.

[Sir Henry]

Any rule is fair if enforced equally. Even if it’s a stupid rule. I watched the USA/Japan game last night.

[rickhem]

Any rule is fair if enforced equally. Even if it’s a stupid rule.

Agree completely.

I play a lot of pool lately, and I've been through the process to become a referee for the Amateur Poolplayers Association (APA). There are a few rules in the APA rule book that make no sense to me, and seem wildly out of place, but the rule and associated penalties, or lack of a penalty, is well presented in the rulebook. You have no choice but to abide by what is in the rulebook, and move forward from there. When those things happen, you know someone is going to be pissed, but the rule is clear.

[Sir Henry]

The men’s speed skating turned into a demolition derby.