The OFFICIAL Unofficial Achewood Message Board
Trivial Pursuits => Sports & Leisure => Topic started by: pmcd9 on February 15, 2010, 07:03:26 am
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Been watching this on the Olympics tonight. This is one of those "extreme" sports isn't it? Seems like slalom for dummies to me.
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Oh man I don't give a fuck about the Winter Games unless it involves curling. Have you seen any curling yet?
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Man, shuffleboard is only fun if everybody's drunk.
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What's up with the uniform? Looks like they are wearing pajamas.
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All I know is they must be related to Tigger. Nothing turns your legs to smoking stumps of agony faster than skiing the bumps fast.
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drugs are bad, mmmm kay.
you know what else is bad. that shit where they take 3D film of the athlete doing his thing and feed it into a computer and analyze it so they can figure out which muscles need to be flexed and how he can optimize his movements. And how about the science of nutrition. The blood analysis to figure out which nutrients and salts and whatever the body needs more or less of.
there's such a thing as having too much science in your life.
it'd be nice if there was an Olympics where science is banned. I'd watch that, assuming I could get an audio feed without a dumb ass American announcer.
The Olympics are so fuck*ng stupid. Why do they need to build a medium sized city? Why not spread the games out a bit. One week you could have this sport... the next week you could reconfigure the field and have some other sport, and so on, for a few months, until they've done all the sports. Why does everything have to happen all at once? If all that modification of the urban landscape was such a good idea, wouldn't cities be doing it already, with or without the Olympics?
You want f*ckin' economic development, why not focus on education and health care and homelessness?
I think that people who watch the Olympics and discuss the Olympics are all evil people feeding into an evil system. I think the only proper response to someone saying something about the Olympics is "I don't give a *uck about the Olympics and f*uck you for watching the Olympics. And then you stab the person in question in the eye with a rusty spork.
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Been watching this on the Olympics tonight. This is one of those "extreme" sports isn't it? Seems like slalom for dummies to me.
Moguls are the only thing I've tried that made me want to die afterwards.
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That must be hell on one's knees.
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That must be hell on one's knees.
No joke there fella. I was told I wouldn't be fit enough to do it and I wasn't that unfit so I thought I'd give it a go, stupid mistake. I'm not a great skier anyway so in the end it was one great fat fail of an idea.
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I haven't watched the Olympics this year.
It's really not nearly as exciting as it was before the Berlin Wall came down.
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Watching these winter sports makes me want to go skiing so bad! Looking out my window at all the snow only makes this worse.
I've gotten a bit better at moguls over the past few years, but I can't ski them for that long. I need to move out west where they have real mountains and not these little anthills we have over here.
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the olympics arent so exciting to me because im not 8 or 12 anymore, but i still catch an even here and there.
how about that dude that flew off his luge? it was a practice run and he was too high coming out of a curve. muh'fucker was going 88 miles an hour through the air until he hit an unpadded steel walkway.
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My comment elsewhere that "You can't make everyone happy" was generated in large part by this Bill Plaschke item (actually linked in the Deadspin item) where he basically complains that people aren't sad enough about the luger who died.
http://deadspin.com/5471451/bill-plaschke-master-of-finding-controversy-where-none-exists
I'm not sure what exactly he wants people to do. And if they called off the luge event entirely, which may have satisfied Plaschke, that would have thrown out four years of preparation on the part of ALL THE OTHER COMPETITORS, and then people would be pissed about that.
I don't mean to sound callous; what happened to the Georgian guy was obviously terrible. But there's a lot of terrible things in this world. If we collapsed in a trembling heap every time something bad happened, we wouldn't get very much done.
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I like the Winter Olympics because it's a chance to check out sports I otherwise would have absolutely no clue about. Nordic Combined? Moguls? Biathlon? WTF???
It's just interesting to me because all of these (obscure to me) sports has a culture and heroes of its own. Women's biathlon might be comparable to the friggin' NFL in Austria for all I know. And it's obviously of vital importance to the partici#####, so it's fun to watch them.
Personally, I believe winter is a time for indoor sports. If you can get wet and cold doing it, I will pass. Where I come from this time of year is for college basketball and you better not forget it.
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I think the only proper response to someone saying something about the Olympics is "I don't give a *uck about the Olympics and f*uck you for watching the Olympics. And then you stab the person in question in the eye with a rusty spork.
Man, they grow middle-aged Moms mean in Michigan.
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My point being is that this sport is all about being gnarly and cool and "extreme," but I think it's much less extreme than some of the so called stodgy established events. It's all about attitude. This (http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/vancouver/blog/fourth_place_medal/post/Nate-Holland-thinks-your-#####-are-too-tight?urn=oly,219715) article pretty much sums it up. I noticed yesterday they have a couch at the bottom of the mogul for the contestants to chill out on while they watch the other dudes shred, maybe pack a few bowls, gruffle up some Doritos and Mountain Dew. It's hilarious.
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Nah, XTREME is for snowboarders. Moguls are for skiers, who are just as stodgy and established as the other competitors.
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i think the adrenaline rush of sports is pretty extreme, in general. if not, lots of people do silly things in silly clothes for no good reason.
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I don't mind the Olympic games, summer or winter style, but I just don't pay a whole bunch of attention anymore. The times of Champions bringing about any sort of useful change is long ago gone.
As far as the luger? Strike a replica of the medal for the games out of iron, so as not to compete with the Gold/Silver/Bronze triptych, and present it to his spouse/family.
I think that sounds about right, as far as recognition can go for this kind of thing.
Not sure his family would appreciate an item made of a ferrous metal
I think that would be a touching tribute in all honesty
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Not sure his family would appreciate an item made of a ferrous metal
Yeah, insert joke about "iron-y" here.
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Yeah, insert joke about "iron-y" here.
Alright you win
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At least nobody said anything about him being a "pillar of the community."
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I fuck*ng love the olympics, every season, every event, no matter what. I will watch and enjoy at least 96% of all the olympics that are aired this year and any other year because the olympics are the best.
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Amen. Although not every event. Not that I don't want to. One year the broadcaster had some "Red", "White", and "Blue" cable channels that was like Olympic C-Span. You could watch the heats of the 400m hurdles with Upper Volta and Trinidad. That shit was riveting. (Not being sarcastic).
I fuck*ng love the olympics, every season, every event, no matter what. I will watch and enjoy at least 96% of all the olympics that are aired this year and any other year because the olympics are the best.
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After seeing the downhill alpine skiing tonight mogals seem tame.
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I like the Winter Olympics because it has a high proportion of events in which I:
- Don't know what the fuck is happening
- Am sure I would die if I tried to participate
- Am amazed by the scenery
I'm getting seriously tired of NBC's bull, but that's why I have a DVR. Everything else is awesome, even the parts where Wayne GretzkyTM stands around and looks awkward holding fire.
Also: Plaschke is a giant douche. I have come to this conclusion though many hours of playing the "Around the Horn" game, in which I pause after the topic is announced, try to think of the lamest stance to take on the topic, and see if Plaschke can say something lamer. He's about .800 on it. Now I just skip the show entirely for PTI.
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After seeing the downhill alpine skiing tonight mogals seem tame.
It's merely just different. Sports shouldn't be judged on how fast they are to recognise their tameness. Is a 40 mile desert run tamer than a Formula 1 race? Less exciting to watch perhaps, but for the athlete involved it is just as difficult, just in a different fashion.
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As usual, I am trying and failing to watch the Olympics. Whenever it occurs to me to turn it on, they are not playing a sport. Last night, it was a story about polar bears. I am pretty sure that polar bears do not compete in the Olympics?
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Alexandre Bilodeau won the first Canadian gold on Canadian soil for the Mogul on Saturday. There was a beautiful post-win clip on, where they interspliced him skiing with his special-needs brother watching him in the stands. That dude's bro was experiencing full-out, total joy, and it was so beautiful that it brought a tear to my eye.
Interestingly, when watching, I was specifically thinking about skier's knees - as many of you have commented on. My husband used to ski competitively, but he didn't stick with it very long, so his knees are okay. Unfortunately I never got to see him in a stretchy skier's outfit. His sister, who is 14 years younger than him and in highschool, is training intensely as a skier, and she does Alpine as well as moguls and all sorts of other skiing. She's currently aiming to compete in the 2014 games. She trains intensely through out the year, with a lot of dry land and swimming training in summer, along with trips to mountain destinations to ski even when it's warm. It's seriously time consuming and so expensive, but she really enjoys it and it's good to see a young lady developing strong self-esteem, regardless of the how's and why's. She has commented that her knees are going to be ruined, but then my knees are ruined for basically no reason, so at least she's got something amazing to blame for her future joint issues.
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I am pretty sure that polar bears do not compete in the Olympics?
Ha! I understand the polar bears have fielded at Curling team (squad? crew? battery? bunch of broom-wielders?).
You should not underestimate bears. Steve would be offended.
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Alexandre Bilodeau won the first Canadian gold on Canadian soil for the Mogul on Saturday. There was a beautiful post-win clip on, where they interspliced him skiing with his special-needs brother watching him in the stands. That dude's bro was experiencing full-out, total joy, and it was so beautiful that it brought a tear to my eye.
I enjoyed that story too, although I wish NBC had let us know that the brother was speaking French instead of English. It made him seem more incapable of understandable speech than was accurate.
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Look, I'm not trying to denigrate the sport of Moguls per se. I'm just calling bullshit on the whole Xtreme hype which presents it as being wilder, more dangerous, crazy. Which in my opinion it's not. It also tries to come across as counter culture. Which now that it's a part of the Olympics seems pretty silly.
Same goes for snowboarding.
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sub-cultures have a way of becoming mainstream.
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Look, I'm not trying to denigrate the sport of Moguls per se. I'm just calling bullshit on the whole Xtreme hype which presents it as being wilder, more dangerous, crazy. Which in my opinion it's not. It also tries to come across as counter culture. Which now that it's a part of the Olympics seems pretty silly.
Same goes for snowboarding.
Yeah, I basically don't consider any type of skiing to be in the Xtreme catagory, and certainly most of the competative skiers I've met seem to hold a lot of disdain toward the whole Xtreme sports world. Skiing is old skool.
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In my mind, anything where you go airborne is terrifying to a normal person and therefore "Xtreme".
Skiing where you just go down the hill? Non-extreme.
Skiing where you go flying and do flips and shit? Xtreme.
Even though skiing where you do flips and shit has been around for a long long time.
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http://bieniosek.com/gallery/spacemoose/extreme
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I am watching curling. It is only extreme in goofiness.
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http://bieniosek.com/gallery/spacemoose/extreme
Extremely Canned.
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Caveat: I am probably a crusty old fart in training.
Fixed that for you us.
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I am watching curling. It is only extreme in goofiness.
The schedule online says it should be on now, but it's not. It's Hockey. fuck*ng bullshit. I want my curling!
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A friend of mine went to Vancouver for the Olympics and got ticket to 8 events. 5 of them are curling, including the men's gold medal round.
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I'll admit that probably the primary reason I like curling is because it was the only event I attended during the 2002 Olympics in SLC. It was one of the few events left that still had tickets available, and I believe it was the cheapest. But there is something captivating about it.
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Curling is the funniest winter Olympic sport. It used to be two man luge, but luge isn't funny since it started killing people.
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luge should give skeleton its image back
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Why are there Mens and Womens curling? Are the stones different weights? If they were the same weight, would men have a quantifiable advantage?
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Why are there Mens and Womens curling? Are the stones different weights? If they were the same weight, would men have a quantifiable advantage?
Because the Olympics hates intergender sports. Except non-sports with "dancing" in their names.
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Are there equestrian sports where men and women compete together? Dressage or something?
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Yes, I think equestrian is the one thing where men and women compete together.
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Yes, I think equestrian is the one thing where men and women compete together.
equestrian (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVMKQP0K3a0), eh?
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I think I'm also pissed because these bullshit xtreme sports are getting major coverage at the expense of the other sports.
Also, I am becoming a figure skating fag. That shit is intense.
Also, also, cross country skiers have really good physiques. All those ladies have top shelf booties.
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top shelf booties.
I'm trying to determine how to parse this phrase. Does it just mean "the best asses" (i.e. "top shelf" booties) or "the best asses which are shelf-like in form" (i.e. top "shelf booties").
Points to ponder.
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There is no wrong answer
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a bootie that can be used to store items upon is awfully "top shelf".
also, the lady speedskaters have goddess thighs.
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also, the lady speedskaters have goddess thighs.
Bonnie Blair's rig (http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/02qC3PR1E99GG/610x.jpg) seems to be holding up well.
She appears to be among the unfortunate group of people who saddle their kids with ridiculous names. Pictured with her is her daughter, Blair.
Really?
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a bootie that can be used to store items upon is awfully "top shelf".
also, the lady speedskaters have goddess thighs.
Women at Renaissance festivals have top shelf racks.
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She appears to be among the unfortunate group of people who saddle their kids with ridiculous names. Pictured with her is her daughter, Blair.
Giving a child the mother's maiden name is not at all uncommon. My brother is thusly named.
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Bonnie Blair's rig (http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/02qC3PR1E99GG/610x.jpg) seems to be holding up well.
She appears to be among the unfortunate group of people who saddle their kids with ridiculous names. Pictured with her is her daughter, Blair.
Really?
Yes. Not ridiculous at all, considering that the kids have their dad's last name, Cruikshank.
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equestrian (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVMKQP0K3a0), eh?
Aww, shit! That song is the jam!
Is that even a real phrase?
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Okay, they are showing the women's downhill now and the American's are in the lead currently. Damn, that Swiss skier totally ate it on that last jump. I hope she's alright.
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Yes. Not ridiculous at all, considering that the kids have their dad's last name, Cruikshank.
Well thank goodness they didn't do it the other way round.
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Oh dear
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I did this beacuse thae daughter would bea caled Blair Blair
Actually her name is Blair Cruikshank, but that would be funny if her name were Blair Blair.
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Okay, Shawn White was pretty dang cool on the half pipe.
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Okay, Shawn White was pretty dang cool on the half pipe.
Yes. Yes he was.
But somebody needs to tell those fellows to have some dignity.
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But somebody needs to tell those fellows to have some dignity.
Yeah, this. When he asked if he should just ride down the center of the pipe... man Im glad someone told him no.
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But somebody needs to tell those fellows to have some dignity.
They were "massive."
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They were "massive."
And "heavy". I'm amused that the slang of my youth is still in vogue somewhere. If one of them busts out a "bitchin" I'm gonna be rolling.
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Aww, shit! That song is the jam!
Is that even a real phrase?
i use that phrase every so often, but that doesnt make it real.
also, i didnt think anyone else would actually admit to liking that song.
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Everytime I watch the interview with an athlete after a snowbording event, my first thought is that they would be a fun person to smoke up with. It must be pretty tough to be a snowboarder and not be able to spliff the green, as it is so clearly part of the culture of the sport...
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Everytime I watch the interview with an athlete after a snowbording event, my first thought is that they would be a fun person to smoke up with. It must be pretty tough to be a snowboarder and not be able to spliff the green, as it is so clearly part of the culture of the sport...
Didn't they take a guy's medal away a fear years ago when they discovered he'd been playing a certain game of golf? Despite protests that it was actually a performance dehancer.
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Yup that was Ross Rebagliati (http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=M1ARTM0011527), who was thankfully allowed to keep his metal. I'm pretty sure all the snowboarders are hyper aware of this issue. As the World Anti-Doping Agency has since added Cannabinoids to the list of banned substances (http://www.wada-ama.org/rtecontent/document/2009_Prohibited_List_ENG_Final_20_Sept_08.pdf), the boarders are likely avoiding the green these days.
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They really should have the womens event before the mens.
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The skeleton, now THAT'S fuck*ng badass
And some of these women are extremely tasty
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As the World Anti-Doping Agency has since added Cannabinoids to the list of banned substances (http://www.wada-ama.org/rtecontent/document/2009_Prohibited_List_ENG_Final_20_Sept_08.pdf), the boarders are likely avoiding the green these days.
That's bullshit man. I recently swore off weed because my friend at work told me this horror story about how he got this pretty dope job offer as an financial analyst, but it was for a mining company, and they do follicle drug testing. Dude smokes everyday, so he turned it down. Ever since then I'm afraid of ruining an opportunity, so now it's only beer and shit I can produce a scrip for.
Also, finally saw some curling! Caught some women's over a beer after work. A few of them were pretty attractive so that's a plus.
This headline is hilarious: Curling: Swedes stun world champions Britain (http://www.vancouver2010.com/olympic-news/n/news/afp-news/curling--swedes-stun-world-champions-britain_281368UE.html)
Stun is not a word I'd associate with curling, and I'm a fan.
I caught Shani Davis winning the gold in the 1000 meter last night. That was pretty impressive.
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Stun is not a word I'd associate with curling,
Well I guess it depends what you do with those big rocks with the convenient handles on them.
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Well I guess it depends what you do with those big rocks with the convenient handles on them.
excellent point.
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What is up with the double luge? Do you go faster? The dude who steers can't see, and the dude who can see can't steer. Also: gay panic!
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It would be far cooler if they were each on their own luge and it was their job to swerve around each other in intricate patterns. Hey look, I just invented and Xtremer sport! W00t! Who would like me to coach them?
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It would be far cooler if they were each on their own luge and it was their job to swerve around each other in intricate patterns. Hey look, I just invented and Xtremer sport! W00t! Who would like me to coach them?
street luge is pretty damn gnarly.
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My third night this week I'm up late drinking beer and watching hockey. How'd I ever not pay attention to this sport?
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Got in a really intense argument with my roommate when he called Lindsey Vonn a "fuckup" and an "idiot" while watching the olympics. she fell during one event, or something.
it got to a point where I just kept saying, you get to say that when you are recognized as being THE BEST PERSON IN THE WORLD at something.
He shares a tendency with my parents for labeling people as Losers and Fuck-ups in a way that makes me very upset.
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She did win a gold medal at this Olympics, right? I'd love to be that kind of a fuck-up.
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USA scores with 24 seconds to go. Game goes into overtime.
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Oh Canada!
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Oh Canada!
Canned for that, because I'm on top of the world right now!
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Christ, NBC and the NHL got THEIR storylines, didn't they?
USA/Canada IN Canada, overtime for the gold, the NHL's one attempt at a crossover star winning it IN said overtime?
Jeebis Macreebus.
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Oh christ just let these people enjoy their win
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not as if we don't ave enough medals already
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cann'd for canada
oh please won't you give
just a cup of coffee a day
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Yeah, it's just about best-case scenario for the NHL. A lot of people who weren't interested in the NHL before this may start tuning in.
Worst-case scenario for us Caps fans though. All our Olympians (primarily Ovechkin & the Russians) got shut out of the medals, and our arch-enemy (Crosby) is the hero. Until the Caps win the Stanley Cup, we will never hear the end of it in the ongoing Ovechkin vs. Crosby debate.
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I had a vague sense of terror yesterday that if Canada lost at hockey, in sudden death overtime, that there would have been a riot in the streets.
P.S. the closing ceremonies were terrible... why did they have Neil Young sing so early on, then taper off with more and more terrible, obscure performers? I held out, watched the entire thing thinking for sure they would have some great act to close with, but no...
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I had a vague sense of terror yesterday that if Canada lost at hockey, in sudden death overtime, that there would have been a riot in the streets.
But a really polite and well-organized riot.
I was at a bar in Truckee, CA (just some random bar I found so I could watch it--I was on the road) and when the US tied it the place went nuts. It would have been so great if we would have won in OT, but, you know, I like Canada and all, and it's totally their thing, and it's not like we lost to the Russians.
Up until a week and a half ago I couldn't bother to give two shits about hockey. Now I'm checking standings and schedules on ESPN for the NHL.
Oh yeah, and what about Ryan Miller? There should be a special medal for him.
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But a really polite and well-organized riot.
I don't know - when Canadians have been drunk for two weeks strait, they aren't polite anymore.
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I would have loved to see the American's win that game if only so I could gloat to the Canadian living in my driveway, but I say congratulations to Canada, this meant a lot to you, not just the hockey, but the whole thing. You've really put on a great Olympics. Canada, you done yourself proud. 14 golds, wow!
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I don't know - when Canadians have been drunk for two weeks strait, they aren't polite anymore.
They closed the liquor stores in the area when the canadians won. When asked why, the spokesperson said "The fans have been drinking long enough" I think it was like 2pm BC time.
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it's not like we lost to the Russians.
'Round these parts a lot of people were actually rooting for the Russians just because of Ovie.
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Oh yeah, and what about Ryan Miller? There should be a special medal for him.
i thought i heard someone say he got the MVP award..... unless it was just that persons opinion and not an official award.
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I heard that too, but I don't know what it means. A special medal? Trophy? Blow job?
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I had a vague sense of terror yesterday that if Canada lost at hockey, in sudden death overtime, that there would have been a riot in the streets.
P.S. the closing ceremonies were terrible... why did they have Neil Young sing so early on, then taper off with more and more terrible, obscure performers? I held out, watched the entire thing thinking for sure they would have some great act to close with, but no...
Rush. They totally dropped the ball.
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P.S. the closing ceremonies were terrible... why did they have Neil Young sing so early on, then taper off with more and more terrible, obscure performers?
Seriously. I am not a Neil Young fan but he was just right for the moment. And then they followed him with, like, bad standup comedy? I gave up soon after that.
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Seriously. I am not a Neil Young fan but he was just right for the moment. And then they followed him with, like, bad standup comedy? I gave up soon after that.
I liked the comedy part where she apologized for all the problems. "We're sorry the snow showed up late, We're sorry you thought Canada was a giant frozen tundra."
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i thought i heard someone say he got the MVP award..... unless it was just that persons opinion and not an official award.
It's official. I'm sure he gets a nice little trophy of some sort.
http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=519314
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Mongoloid: Awesome song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWmf7r_37eA), but no longer PC.
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I always had in the back of my head that I'd get some talky about Mongols, dammit.
hell dude, we only managed to talk about Moguls for about a half a page.