Winter Olympics Thread...aka 2010-2011 FIS thread

[Scott Campbell]

Good to see Bode get a bronze.

If he would have gotten the chance to ski later in the draw he would have won.

I was happy enough to see him not DNF again.

True.....but most of the course was in shadow when the early guys went and once it got light the times got a little better with the improved visibility.
Still....great showing.

Hopefully that puts all that talk of him being "over rated" to rest. With 2 World Cup titles and 3 Olympic medals, he's one of the greatest American skiers ever.

[Freak Out]

Good to see Bode get a bronze.

If he would have gotten the chance to ski later in the draw he would have won.

I was happy enough to see him not DNF again.

True.....but most of the course was in shadow when the early guys went and once it got light the times got a little better with the improved visibility.
Still....great showing.

Hopefully that puts all that talk of him being "over rated" to rest. With 2 World Cup titles and 3 Olympic medals, he's one of the greatest American skiers ever.

The guy is a natural....over rated is a joke. He dominated the tour for awhile.

Nine hundredths of a second separated gold from bronze. Crazy...

[Patler]

Not everyone thinks as fondly of him:

http://olympics.fanhouse.com/2010/02/15/bode-mille-gets-bronze-but-a-gold-for-underachieving/

[pbmax]

Tim Layden is a little more forgiving. And several skiers think he still ranks near the top.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/olympics/2010/writers/tim_layden/02/15/bode.downhill.bronze.ap/index.html?eref=sihp

Layden covers skiing as part of his beat. Blackistone is a talking head on Around the Horn whose background includes precious little Olympic coverage. He is one degree and two awards away from being a message board commentator.

KEVIN B. BLACKISTONE

HOMETOWN: Born in Washington, D.C., and reared in Hyattsville, Md.

EDUCATION/CAREER TRACK: A 1981 graduate of Northwestern University. Started as a city side reporter at The Boston Globe. In 1983, moved on to write for a monthly investigative magazine on racial and social issues in Chicago called The Chicago Reporter. In 1986, started at The News as a reporter on the city desk, then moved to business covering economics. After covering Nelson Mandela's U.S. tour in 1990, moved to SportsDay to cover sports business and write columns. Morphed into a full-time SportsDay columnist a year later.

MOST UNFORGETTABLE EXPERIENCE ON THE JOB: Spending a summer month in Europe writing about its sports.

SOMETHING PEOPLE DON'T KNOW ABOUT ME: I've never seen Roots.

IF I HAD TWO SPARE HOURS, I WOULD: Have two more to waste.

MOST MEMORABLE SPORTING EVENT I'VE COVERED: The Mike Tyson bite fight.

[Harlan Huckleby]

Letterman asked Tracy Jordan about the olympics last night and TJ said "black people don't watch the winter olympics."

[Scott Campbell]

From a fellow competitor:


"One Bode Miller is prominent in any discussion of the most talented ski racers in history. Before Monday's downhill, Kjetil Andre Aamodt, who won eight medals (four of them gold) in four different Olympics, said, "At his best [Miller] was the ultimate skier. And probably nobody has been at that level, ever." Notice Aamodt's use of past tense."



Most of the criticism I've seen leveled at Bode come from people not affiliated with the sport. He partied too hard. But that's what skiers do. He's politically incorrect, and that ticks people off who wanted him to treat his Turin Olympic opportunity more reverently. But has he ever gotten in any real trouble?

[hoosier]

Letterman asked Tracy Jordan about the olympics last night and TJ said "black people don't watch the winter olympics."

My guess would have been that most white people don't watch either. But then I see a 3 page long thread blossoming in the romper room. Who knew there were so many people who follow professional downhill skiing? (There is a pro circuit, right?)

[red]

lindsey vonn has to be the biggest drama queen i've ever seen

my god

[Gunakor]

lindsey vonn has to be the biggest drama queen i've ever seen

my god

Assuming the story about her bad shin was true, that's an incredible accomplishment winning gold on a course in such awful condition as this one was. I think she's earned the right to be emotional about her victory.

Congratulations, Lindsey.

Congrats also go out to Shani Davis for his gold in the 1000m long track and to Shawn White for his gold in Snowboarding half pipe.

[Freak Out]

lindsey vonn has to be the biggest drama queen i've ever seen

my god

She dominated. Mancuso showed just how good she was.....the others pushed and crashed or chickened out.

[Iron Mike]

The U.S. is kicking ASS!!!!

[Scott Campbell]

lindsey vonn has to be the biggest drama queen i've ever seen

my god

She dominated. Mancuso showed just how good she was.....the others pushed and crashed or chickened out.

The crashes were brutal. The course was brutal.

[Scott Campbell]

lindsey vonn has to be the biggest drama queen i've ever seen

my god

Women sometimes do that. I thought NBC should have gotten the camera out of her face, let her get a good cry in, compose herself, and then talk to her.

[Little Whiskey]

lindsey vonn has to be the biggest drama queen i've ever seen

my god

Women sometimes do that. I thought NBC should have gotten the camera out of her face, let her get a good cry in, compose herself, and then talk to her.

then it wouldn't have made for a good story. people like the story lines.

[Freak Out]

lindsey vonn has to be the biggest drama queen i've ever seen

my god

She dominated. Mancuso showed just how good she was.....the others pushed and crashed or chickened out.

The crashes were brutal. The course was brutal.

The course was tough....the weather can make any course a little more difficult but World Cup skiers can deal with it. The last compression and big air took a toll though