Arena 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympic thread.

And because there's no edit power over here, please excuse the double-post... my comments previously were to disentangle myself from the negativity. (In all seriousness, I'm starting to like them... it's just that I've been half-way to watching Lillehammer again for a week straight because I also miss how CBS did olympics coverage. And Verne Lundquist. And Dave's Mom. Oh, wait. That last one was Nagano... all hail the greatness that was Dave Letterman's Mom.)

Thank you, one and all, for the laughs... and what is that article? Must go look... just after I figure out who got gold and silver for the women's downhill. For some reason, NBC thinks we only care about Bronze...

They did have a great performance last night and barely won the gold. However, if it were not for that wardrobe malfunction by the French team during the short program, they may have won the gold. The Shib Sibs did well enough to take home the bronze as they're not at the level of the Canadian and French teams. Tough fall for US' Chock & Bates as their skates collided. It was the second time I've seen pairs fall. The other time was the Chinese team when they were dancing to a Star Wars medley.

And, also, as Tanith Belbin-White kept mentioning... Fusar-Poli and Margaglio at the 2006 Torino Games... the fallout from which actually carried over to the next night and was slightly hilarious... But then, it seemed like EVERYBODY was falling for Torino.

 

Goggia takes gold in womem’s Downhill. Vonn gets bronze. Not what she was hoping for.

 

It might not been what she was hoping for but she is 33. Oldest woman ever I believe to medal in the downhill. That is a pretty amazing accomplishment.

Too bad everyone pulled out of the team ski event. They had a really good chance to get a medal.

Edit: And don't even start me on the men's US hockey team....................

 

Saw an emotional post-race interview with Lindsey last night on NBC (main channel) that was very touching. She referenced her late grandfather and what it meant to be skiing in her last Olympics downhill.

And over the last several days, I have especially enjoyed seeing her respond to all the Trump supporters who have been trolling her on Twitter, etc:

Lindsey Vonn can't hear the haters over the celebration of another Olympic skiing medal

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea — Lindsey Vonn had the perfect response to the internet trolls.

She climbed yet another Olympic podium.

Vonn’s bronze in the women’s downhill Wednesday came after weeks of being the subject of scorn and vitriol for comments she made about President Trump. She has refused to back down from her views, and did so again after the race.

“I am proud of what I represent and who I am and I’m very proud to hold the American flag on the podium,” Vonn said. “All Americans deserve to hold the flag and to be proud of their country, no matter what their beliefs because that’s what makes America great.

“So I’m not beaten. I’m standing on the podium and, to me, I feel like I won a gold medal.”

Vonn’s criticism of Trump was actually pretty tame. In a December interview with CNN, she said she would represent the American people, not their president, and hoped to be a good reflection of the country.

“I don’t think that there are a lot of people currently in our government that do that,” she said.

But there are people in this country who view any criticism of Trump as being tantamount to treason, and they went after Vonn with a vengeance. They referred to her in disparaging terms they would never dare utter in her presence. They delighted when she failed to win a medal in the Super-G.

One person even said they hoped Vonn would ski off a cliff and die.

It’s appalling treatment, especially for someone who has never done anything to embarrass her country. Or, as one foreign reporter described it Wednesday, “savage abuse.”

“I think social media can be used in a very positive way if you’re a good person,” Vonn said. “I feel like recently it’s just taken a different turn, and I hope it turns around. I hope that instead of tearing people down, we can build people up.

“That’s what sports is about. You’re supposed to be uplifting. This is the Olympics, where we cheer for every country. Instead of hoping that someone falls or skis off a cliff and dies.”

While the Trump supporters are a very vocal group – or maybe they just have better, more active bots – theirs is not the majority opinion. Vonn was cheered loudly by fans, many of whom waved American flags, and there were about 20 who waited two hours for the chance to get her autograph and a selfie.

A radio reporter told Vonn later that some fans had initially planned to go to other events Wednesday, but came to downhill instead to show their support for her.

“That makes me feel really good,” Vonn said. “For all the people that say bad things, there’s 10 more than say nice things. And it really means a lot to me. I mean, there were so many American flags in the stands, and we’re in South Korea. It’s not like we’re really that close to home.

“That’s what the Olympics are about. It’s the spirit of competition and it’s the spirit of representing your country and that really makes me happy.”

Let the haters hate. Vonn won't hear their criticism over the celebration of yet another Olympic medal.

Edit:

Ah yes, I recognize a fellow fan of Olympics-gone-by nostalgia...I loved Lillehammer too, but I'm also still pining for the loss of ABC's Jim McKay and all the old "Up Close and Personal" segments ABC used to do with their coverage in the 80s. Probably my most-personally-nostalgized games are the '84 Sarajevo ones (the opening to the clip below is worth watching just for the Atari commercial with Alan Alda at the beginning, lol)



^

Huge Dave and Dave's Mom fan here too!

 

Canada's men's hockey team defeated Finland and will avoid Sweden in the semifinals after Germany upset them. It's like 2002 all over again!

 

For anyone to criticize Vinn after all the injuries she has overcome is absurd. Especially considering they’re all supporters of President Bone Spurs.

 

^yes! meant to comment on that earlier...it may be my Olympics-gone-by nostalgia goggles operating here, but it seemed to me that American TV coverage in the "old days" used to be at least slightly less Ameri-centric in that there was more coverage of "the best of the best" in all the main sports, regardless of how any Americans placed.

And my memory is that they would do nearly as many of the "up close and personal"/bio segments on international athletes that were in medal contention (or sometimes weren't, but had notable backstories for some reason) as they would of American athletes. (Maybe I would be getting more of that type of thing--if it still exists--if I had access to more coverage, but all I have is over-the-air TV.)

 

Lindsey Vonn did well in representing the people of the United States. I did wish for the gold for her, but I am happy she was able to walk away from the downhill event with a medal. And yes, it was an emotional interview with her after her downhill run. You could feel her emotions about dedicating the event to her grandfather as well as the realization that this was most likely her last Olympics as she feels her body won't be able to hold up to another four years of training and competing.

Oh man, the men's US Hockey was abysmal in the shootout. Those shots one goal were horrible. I feel like the guys choked under the pressure. It was a tough loss. At least I have the women's US Hockey team to look forward to.

I was so hoping that Mirai Nagasu would be able to land the triple axel, but as noted by Tara and Johnny, it looked like she went up too strong and over rotated and miss the landing. But, she's not out of the competition yet with the free skate upcoming, but it's certainly an uphill battle with the two Russian skaters and the skater from Canada who are all worthy of medals.

I like how they showed one of Johnny's old costumes.

 

Yesss on that past Johnny performance--I remember that well--one of my faves from him!

 

@Sith_Sensei__Prime

They didn't choke. They were just horribly built team. The kids were the only ones that could play. Too bad the only picked four and went with washed up pros for the rest of it.

I think both the NHL and IOC realized that not having the top players in the world really hurt the tournament even if Canada is always going to be the insane favorite to win (and even in this format they are doing incredibly well) the gold every time out. After seeing the NHLers out there since 1998 but now gone, you can feel the bubble just burst and the IOC will do everything it can to get them there for 2022 which the NHL wants too especially since it's in China, a market they are trying to get a foothold in somehow. Plus I think a lot of the players wanted to go. Patrick Kane made it clear around town that he is upset about not going this time since a Gold Medal at the Olympics is literally the only thing missing from his resume. He is literally done everything except that and would love one more chance at it. Patrick will be 33 in 2022 when the Winter Olympics so you assume he make the team if they are brought back in.

But going back to my original point, I don't think the men's team choke. They were outplayed for large portions of that game and were lucky to make it to the shootout. Again they were just not built right from the word go.

 

@Pensivia

The Olympics on ABC were the best IMHO. Growing up as a little kid watching with the backdrop of the Cold War with legends like Jim McKay announcing, it felt just so much bigger.

 

Yeah, Jim McKay and ABC were the Olympics for me and my family. Oddly enough, my family was more into the Winter Olympics than the summer games. Dorthy Hamill was a Olympic hero in my household growing up. I remember my mom buying tickets to the Ice Capades so we could see her perform live with Peggy Fleming. For me, my favorite skater as a young adolescent male was Katarina Witt.

I remember ABC's Wide World of Sports would have that Olympic Skier fail part of their opening montage. It's still painful to see that.

 

Yeah, that shot was a classic.

 

@Sith_Sensei__Prime

For me it was Kristi Yamaguchi and Nancy Kerrigan. I remember watching Witt competing but I was only ten in 1988 so ladies hadn’t really caught my eye yet.

 

Oh yeah, Kristi Yamaguchi was huge in our house too, especially since she was from Fremont, CA/the greater San Francisco Bay Area. So, it was great seeing Karen Chen last night and having the commentators noting that Yamaguchi is a big source of inspiration for her. Too bad Chen fell last night, but Tara and Johnny liked her bird costume and thus we got a pic of Johnny's bird costume.

 

Franz Klammer Downhill, 1976 in Innsbruck. Epic.

 

I'm loving the flow of nostalgia here...

Spoiler: My first Olympic hero:

 

I don't recall watching Eric Heiden perform, but I do remember his name being brought up every now and then, much like the US Hockey team in Lake Placid. At the time, I didn't know why it was a big deal. I mean, hockey was still pretty much a regional sport without national TV coverage.

However, watching Disney's Miracle and documentaries I got a real good understanding how meaningful that win over the Soviet Team was; especially since that Soviet Team demolished the NHL All Stars. Moreover, the morale of the country was down with the oil embargo (I do remember living through that), inflation and whatnot, and to have this long shot of a team re-instill American pride makes for a great story.



I typically watch Miracle every time the Winter Olympics rolls around. I should try and make time to see it this weekend.

This scene always gets me...

 

@Pensivia

The 80’ team always goes out of their way to say that the true star of the 1980 Winter Games was Eric. What he did will never be duplicated. I believe he was voted the star of the US Olympic team that year and the hockey team help push him to be it.

@Sith_Sensei__Prime

A good quick read about the 1980 US hockey team is “The Boys of Winter”. One of the things that didn’t come up in “Miracle” and even “Of Miracles & Men” is the fact that Brooks became friendly with a couple of the Soviet coaches and he pick their brains on what the west (Canada & USA) was doing wrong when it came to international hockey.

First Olympic memories for me where the 1984 Winter and especially Summer Games. I had no idea why we (USA) was dominating so much in LA as I knew the Soviet Union was a country, that they always look cold and had a red flag. That was about it LOL!

 

@Luke02 Thanks for the recommendation. I'll have to pick up and read "The Boys of Winter." Herb Brooks was a genius in putting the team together and understanding the psychology of his players, as well as handling the media.

 

Miracle is one of those rare movies I can watch whenever it's on from whatever point I pick it up from...

 

Somehow, despite being a huge Winter Olympics fan, I've never seen Miracle...

*hangs head in shame*

 

Not certain about the 1984 Winter Games, but the 1984 Los Angelas Summer Games were boycotted by the Soviet Union (and others), and the United States boycotted the 1980 Summer Games in Moscow, along with 65 other nations. As the USSR did not show up...

1980 Boycott: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_Summer_Olympics_boycott
1984 Boycott: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_Summer_Olympics_boycott

And looking into the boycotts a bit further: North Korea did not play nice and attend the games in 1988. So while it may not seem like much... it's huge for the North Koreans to be in attendance.