...Midway through the Winter Olympics, things couldn't be going much better for both Russia and its president, even if winter is actually missing from Sochi itself. The arenas and mountains are spectacular, the games have been peaceful and protest-free, and Russians seem filled with pride about their country's ability to put on a spectacle for the world to see.
Worries about terrorist attacks and fears that gay protests could overshadow the Olympics have faded as the world's best battle for medals on the ice and in the snow. Grandstands are mostly filled, television ratings are strong, and athletes haven't said a negative word about either Russia's laws or the food in the athlete's village.
(AP) USA defenseman Cam Fowler scores a goal on Russia goaltender Sergei Bobrovski during the second...
Yes, a heat wave turned the snow a bit slushy and drew bathers to the Black Sea just steps from the main Olympic stadium. But weather is a factor at any Winter Games, and even Vladimir Putin can't do anything about that.
In charge of it all is the Russian president, who won the games with a personal plea and has so far treated them as his personal playground. Putin presided over the opening ceremonies, celebrated his country's first gold medal on ice with figure skaters, and watched stone-faced as the Russian hockey team lost an epic shootout Saturday to the U.S. in a tournament that means more to the country than 100 gold medals.
On Friday he even paid a visit to the U.S. team house, where he wore a pin that read "Happy Valentine's Day from Team USA" while chatting with athletes over a glass of wine.
If these are Putin's Olympics, he has spared no expense to put them on. They are the costliest ever, a $51 billion gamble that transcends sports as part of an effort to show Russia's resurgence as a world power....
...Midway through the Winter Olympics, things couldn't be going much better for both Russia and its president, even if winter is actually missing from Sochi itself. The arenas and mountains are spectacular, the games have been peaceful and protest-free, and Russians seem filled with pride about their country's ability to put on a spectacle for the world to see.
Worries about terrorist attacks and fears that gay protests could overshadow the Olympics have faded as the world's best battle for medals on the ice and in the snow. Grandstands are mostly filled, television ratings are strong, and athletes haven't said a negative word about either Russia's laws or the food in the athlete's village.
(AP) USA defenseman Cam Fowler scores a goal on Russia goaltender Sergei Bobrovski during the second...
Yes, a heat wave turned the snow a bit slushy and drew bathers to the Black Sea just steps from the main Olympic stadium. But weather is a factor at any Winter Games, and even Vladimir Putin can't do anything about that.
In charge of it all is the Russian president, who won the games with a personal plea and has so far treated them as his personal playground. Putin presided over the opening ceremonies, celebrated his country's first gold medal on ice with figure skaters, and watched stone-faced as the Russian hockey team lost an epic shootout Saturday to the U.S. in a tournament that means more to the country than 100 gold medals.
On Friday he even paid a visit to the U.S. team house, where he wore a pin that read "Happy Valentine's Day from Team USA" while chatting with athletes over a glass of wine.
If these are Putin's Olympics, he has spared no expense to put them on. They are the costliest ever, a $51 billion gamble that transcends sports as part of an effort to show Russia's resurgence as a world power....
Nice to see some good news, Gunga. The visit by President Putin to the American team was a class act...and maybe there is a chance that we will all learn to get along...and survive.
yep, I think the Olympic "spirit" has finally set in and all the news reports are now about the events .
SUNDY SUNDAY SUNDAY__SEE IT!!!
The US takes on The UK in Curling
Call me the Olympic Grinch, but for the life of me I can't understand how Curling is an event in Olympics. Frankly, I don't see it as a sport...but that's just my take on it. i know it has a long tradition on both sides of the pond ... but frankly I just watch in amazement...at this as a spectator sport?
Oh..so, that being said...Go USA! Curl your asses ...oops..I mean THEIR asses off.
I think it was Monterey Jack who said, several years ago. "Curling is the sport that comBines the best of Shuffleboard AND hOUSEKEEPING"
0 Replies
Frank Apisa
1
Reply
Sun 16 Feb, 2014 10:25 am
@Ragman,
Ragman wrote:
Call me the Olympic Grinch, but for the life of me I can't understand how Curling is an event in Olympics. Frankly, I don't see it as a sport...but that's just my take on it. i know it has a long tradition on both sides of the pond ... but frankly I just watch in amazement...at this as a spectator sport?
Oh..so, that being said...Go USA! Curl your asses ...oops..I mean THEIR asses off.
There is a very funny opinion piece in today's NY Times on that very thing, Ragman. You ought to read it...lots of laughs.
Here is the part that kinda mocks the curling "sport:"
You head to the Ice Cube first, the home of the curling competition. It is probably the smallest of the venues, but it is large enough for four simultaneous matches, which take place on what look like wide, ice-covered bowling lanes. For the uninitiated, the first impression of this Olympic sport is some version of “Wait, this is an Olympic sport?” It looks like a frozen version of bocce, with brooms. Or are those Swiffers? Regardless, there is some furious sweeping going on here.
“The sweeping heats up the ice,” said a helpful Canadian woman, amused by a rube, “and makes the stone travel further.”
In keeping with the idiot’s approach to viewership, you learn nothing about the rules and decipher little by watching the scoreboard. You arrive in the midst of the fourth round robin in the women’s tournament, as Russia is losing a squeaker to Japan, 3-2. At the beginning of one end — curling speak for “inning”; thank you, Google! — a Russian woman rolls a stone directly into the middle of the target, with just a bit of sweeping assistance from teammates.
This astounds you.
And as the match goes on, you begin to appreciate the sport’s nickname, chess on ice. These women are planting stones in the way of other stones, to clog up the lane, and with the help of ever-so-subtle spin, threading stones through pathways that seem unthreadable. The glide of the curler delivering the stone takes on a swanlike beauty. The longer you watch, the more engrossing it becomes, and the crowd here erupts with touchdown-volume roars whenever the Russians outmaneuver their opponents.
Which is not often. The match ends with a Russian defeat when the team fails at what looks a bit like curling’s answer to bowling’s 7-10 split — an attempt to knock two stones with one.
You wait for a Fiat-size Zamboni to clean the ice, to the tune of “Yakety Sax,” the “Benny Hill” theme song, but it never comes.
Curling. Maybe I should run out and rent a television.
0 Replies
Wilso
1
Reply
Fri 21 Feb, 2014 03:31 am
I actually don't mind curling. It's very similar to lawn bowls. Do you have lawn bowls in the US? It's pretty popular in Australia. It used to be an old person's sport, but in recent years has been attracting a younger patronage.
And yes - it's usually associated with beer. There's bowling clubs in just about every town in Australia, where you can have a drink, get a good meal, and play the "slots".
0 Replies
farmerman
1
Reply
Fri 21 Feb, 2014 06:20 am
@Wilso,
we have some lawn bowl clubs but not a lot. We have a lot of croquet and Bocci.
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