2010 Winter Olympic & Paralympic Games

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Originally posted by: Meg

Originally posted by: confused04

. . .  Plus, its not like all 300+ million Americans live in what you'd call "winter" (or even what I'd call winter). quote>

True.  It's not like Mississippi is going to produce any cross-country skiers. 

I think pretty much every nation performed well at the expense of Russia. quote>

 

There were about 90 countries there and 5 of them (US, Germany, Canada, Norway, and Austria) won over 50% of the medals.    Russia is upset that it isn't in that group.

It used to be that, if you added up the medals won by the various countries who used to be part of the Soviet Union, that combined total would still be at the top of the list.   This time, that total does not beat Norway's.

quote>

Russia's problem is that it is no longer the U.S.S.R.  A lot of medals went to countries that used to be part of the Soviet Union.  Now they are on their own, and their population is pretty large compared to most.

[Duke87 1,070]

Medals per capita makes sense as a measure if the capitae in question are those of the competing athletes. This eliminates any advantage a country could garner by participating in more events.

Using the population of the country makes no sense, though, for reasons which have been pointed out. Note that by this measure The Bahamas won the 2008 games with a grand total of 2 medals.

...also, what "Paralympics" are we meant to discuss, exactly?

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Originally posted by: Duke87

...also, what "Paralympics" are we meant to discuss, exactly?

quote>

The ones starting next week at the Vancouver Olympic venue.  Also anything about these games that turns you on or off.

[Meg 368]

Originally posted by: N_O_Body

Originally posted by: Duke87

...also, what "Paralympics" are we meant to discuss, exactly?

quote>

The ones starting next week at the Vancouver Olympic venue.  Also anything about these games that turns you on or off.

quote>

As far as I know, those of us south of the border will not have access to television coverage of these games.

If I'm missing something, someone let me know.

[Duke87 1,070]

Huh? Oh, you mean the Special Olympics. ("special" = greatest euphemism ever, by the way)

A legitimate "easy mode" for those who cannot handle the real thing, I suppose. But then again, like with any other easy mode, nobody finds your performance stunning and nobody cares about your high score.

[beebs 129]

Originally posted by: Duke87

Huh? Oh, you mean the Special Olympics. ("special" = greatest euphemism ever, by the way)

A legitimate "easy mode" for those who cannot handle the real thing, I suppose. But then again, like with any other easy mode, nobody finds your performance stunning and nobody cares about your high score.

quote>

Uh... no. The Paralympics are not an "easy mode" for those who cannot handle the real thing. At all.

[Meg 368]

Originally posted by: Duke87

Huh? Oh, you mean the Special Olympics. quote>

Nope.  Two different things.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Quite right.  The Paralympics usually have participants who are athletes that have been disabled in some way, often paralyzed.  The events are different iin that some allowances are made, but for example, Sledge Hockey is every bit as tough as regular hockey.  The only difference is that the players are strapped to a sledge and have picks to get around on the ice.  Full contact sport, too.

Are not the Special Olympics usually held for people who have some mental disability?

[krbe 193]

Never heard about Special Olympics before I saw Eircom's ads last year... But at least I know what the Paralympics are. I doubt you'd see any of the Paralympics participants getting through hockey qualification or do the spurt in the 50 km cross country.

[Duke87 1,070]

They have a separate event for physical versus mental handicaps, eh? Interesting. I didn't know that. Shows how much attention I pay to this stuff...

[Meg 368]

Originally posted by: Duke87

They have a separate event for physical versus mental handicaps, eh? Interesting. I didn't know that. Shows how much attention I pay to this stuff...

quote>

It also shows you how much coverage American television networks give to the Paralympic Games.

Does anyone know where and when coverage can be found?

[beebs 129]

Paralympicsport.tv will be streaming coverage everyday, but I don't think you guys will have any coverage on TV. I know Canada will be broadcasting it on CTV.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Originally posted by: Meg

It also shows you how much coverage American television networks give to the Paralympic Games.

quote>

While this is a world event, the American Networks treat it as an also ran.  The torch relay is on now.

Some of the athletes in these games were Olympians before their accidents or illness, and do not want to give up sports competition on a world basis.  Others were born with disabilities and have persevered to achieve world status.

[Meg 368]

Originally posted by: N_O_Body

While this is a world event, the American Networks treat it as an also ran.quote>

Unfortunately true.

Meanwhile we have this:

What If Everybody in Canada Flushed At Once?

Written by Pats Papers | Monday, 8 March 2010 12:42 PM

The water utility in Edmonton, EPCOR, published the most incredible graph of water consumption last week. By now you’ve probably heard that up to 80% of Canadians were watching last Sunday’s gold medal Olympic hockey game. So I guess it stands to reason that they’d all go pee between periods.

But still—the degree to which the water consumption matches with the key breaks in the hockey game is stunning. quote>

 

[beebs 129]

Ahaha I believe that. I'd hazard a guess that the two or so jumps mid-period would also be the commercial breaks they do at around 5 minutes in and 15 minutes in.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Somehow I think that this discussion is now talking about a new Olympic sport:  the municipal pissing contest.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Link

While it is in a Canadian paper, the tone of this article seems to indicate that Obama & Co. are rather poor losers.  Obama should learn not to bet against the house.

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Results Saturday, March 20 2010 01:45 PM

I think this thread is going to die of apathy.

[Nucks8 1]

Ah.

What an awesome period of time.

As somenoe who lived near the games (Victoria BC) I know that during both the games, we all didn't even know what was happening in our own communities.

R.I.P

Kimberly Proctor

[Meg 368]

Originally posted by: N_O_Body

I think this thread is going to die of apathy.quote>

I would watch these events if I could.   At the moment it's rather like those various World Cup events.  They may be happening but I can't see them so I know very little about them.   If there is TV coverage available to me, I do not know where it is.

Originally posted by: Nucks8

As somenoe who lived near the games (Victoria BC) I know that during both the games, we all didn't even know what was happening in our own communities.quote>

    So you can imagine that the rest of us don't know now. 

 

[beebs 129]

Originally posted by: Meg

Originally posted by: N_O_Body

I think this thread is going to die of apathy.quote>

I would watch these events if I could.   At the moment it's rather like those various World Cup events.  They may be happening but I can't see them so I know very little about them.   If there is TV coverage available to me, I do not know where it is.

Originally posted by: Nucks8

As somenoe who lived near the games (Victoria BC) I know that during both the games, we all didn't even know what was happening in our own communities.quote>

    So you can imagine that the rest of us don't know now. 

 

quote>

I thought I read somewhere that the official Paralympics site would be streaming it online. Smaller screen to watch on, but that might be an option for you!

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

These games appear to be completed.

I have been watching live feeds of the ISU World Championship in Figure Skating the last couple of days.  The CBC digital channel is broadcasting it at strange times (normal times for Italy, I expect) from Turin.

I suppose that edited summaries will be available on various TV channels, edited to emphasize the local talent, if any.