2006 Olympics

“TORINO, Italy (AP) -- Michelle Kwan wouldn't rule out a withdrawal from the Olympics after cutting short her first practice Saturday because of stiffness in her groin...

The nine-time U.S. champion quit the 40-minute workout session with about 15 minutes remaining and smiled at assistant team leader Taffy Holiday when she left the ice. When she skated, though, she looked serious, even dour, and missing three triple flips couldn't have helped her mood...

It was not pretty. Her first jump, a smooth triple toe loop, came 13 minutes into the workout. She then two-footed her first triple flip, and fell hard on her next attempt at the jump. Kwan also cut another try into a double flip.



If she drops out before the Feb. 19 draw for the women's event, then Emily Hughes , the third-place finisher at the national championships and younger sister of 2002 Olympic champion Sarah Hughes, would take her place...

But asked directly if she might drop off the U.S. team, the five-time world champion said: "I really have to pay attention to how I am feeling these days. Dropping out, it's not something I want to do, but I have to listen to what my feelings are.''

Kwan said she will be at practice Sunday.
last edited: 2/11/06 2:39:33 PM”

“Wear and tear. :o(

Eric Guay of the Canadian alpine ski team had to drop out too....he was one of the athletes that could've made it to the podium.

A few NHL players had to drop out too.”

“Apollo is skating now!”

“Ego attack, almost down --out!”

“WOW... I thought that Apollo was the God of Arts, Archery and Divination.....strange I don't see ice skating as a BIG Greek sport....”

“Kwan should have never made the team. At least she dropped out in time for the alternate to get to Italy”

“Men's curling this morning.

What an exciting way to start the day.”

“Italy vs Germany, mens hockey on CNBC beats curling.”

“I worked evening shift, I wanted to see skeleton racing. I did see snowboard half pipe male and female. I saw some ski jumping and of course some hockey. All in all I missed and will miss most of it.”

“Couldn't believe the American snowboarder who was way out in front on the Snowboard race final, then showboated on a jump and fell on her butt. The second place woman from Switzerland zipped past her and got the Gold medal.

Youth is wasted on the young!
last edited: 2/18/06 4:41:53 PM”

“Was that 'showboating' or 'wind'?”

“Yes, I saw that. So sad. Trying to give the crowd something extra, I don't fault her for it.”

“Throughout that race she showed acceleration , that wasn't present in her other trials. Maybe the waxer was too good.”

“Tango, my husband agreed with you, but I think it was in poor taste and what she was really doing was sticking her win in the other snowboarders face. She said she was just doing it for her fans, but I don't believe her. It's poor sportsmanship to do that. Win gracefully.

Her what I consider gloating at little too soon is like when the football players do the touch down dance which I think has been outlawed. This gal should have at least waited until she actually won. She blew her win for what? I don't know if she was part of a team in her event, but if I were her team mates, I kick her @ss!!!! Nevermind she feels bad enough crap. She needs a butt kicking!”

“I didn't see her fall...just heard it on the radio. Her coach and the U.S Snowboarding Fed. must be mad as heck. She was definitely showing off.

Maybe in four years (if she's still on the snowboard team) she'll remember these words:

DON'T COUNT YOUR CHICKENS BEFORE THEY HATCH”

“LH, here is the history why I didn't fault her. I was watching the X Games, Moto X freestyle. This guy was the last to go and by points he had already won (if he just finished). Well basically that's what he did. He did the safest, most blaise' tricks (yawn if you could call them tricks). He totally sucked he did nothing and the poor people that paid to see him do his stuff and I were so disappointed. He lost me as a fan. So that's why I didn't fault her. I liked her exuberance.”

“I saw one of the extended interviews with her before the event, and her interview afterwards. She is young, overcome by her exuberance, and it came out as a little silliness. She likes to race the guys every chance she can.

The Swiss gold medal winner, Tanja Frieden, is from a cool city.

”

“Looked like it was time for a lesson in humility...it must suck to have done it in front of the world...”

“Lindsey Jacobellis was showboating. IMHO, it serves her right. She was lucky to get a medal at all.”

“not only that, she was supposed to be representing her country, not performing for her fans...”

“Yes, she was showboating. I not going to be too hard on her though. I saw several other heats where the racers were doing tricks when they were way out in front. I think the last thing she was trying to do is stick it in the face of the other competitors - like she said, just playing it up to the crowd.

Like it or not, those types of reactions seem integral to that sport. I would have rather seen her just finish out the race without the added flair though. It's sort of like holding the football over your head as you run into the endzone uncontested after a big catch or run.”

“Imagine when she fell and got knocked out...and the rest of the field passed her.

"Like it or not, those types of reactions seem integral to that sport." That's a stereotype....not all snowboarders go do dangerous or exciting tricks....especially when the gold medal is on the line.

It's almost saying that aerial and mogul skiers are reckless. :o)

Btw, I finally got to see her fall on her butt during CBC's "Mis-Play of the Day".”

“Another reason snowboarding should not be in the Olympics. Snowboarding is not a sport like Curling and Ice Dancing.”

“You're joking right?”

“Curling. Nighty-nite!”

“From orygawn
on Backpacker.com

Posted: Feb 18, 2006 11:37 AM


I'll start watching the Winter Olympics when the following events are added:

Polar Bear Cross: Contestants on snowshoes are lathered up in baby seal puree, and hungry polar bears are turned loose on them. There are only 3 more contestants than polar bears - those 3 survivors win the medals.

Frozen Lake Escape: Blindfolded constestants are tied up loosely in a burlap sack & thrown down a hole cut in a frozen lake. They have to find the hole in the ice without removing the blindfold.

Xtreme Ice Fishing: Contestants are judged by blood alcohol content level after 12 hours. You're DQed if you pass out.

Combined Avalanche: Snowboarders are buried in a massive avalanche. Their teammates (with the aid of a dog) have to dig them out before they suffocate.

Blindfolded Thin Ice Dancing: Dancers are blindfolded so they cannot see the thin patches of ice (or holes cut out) on a frozen lake.

Obese Luge: Incredibly fat people in spandex bounce & jiggle down the course, with a cheeseburger as a reward. The medals go to the people who can stand watching it all.

Ski Jumping Skeet: Biathletes try to hit ski jumpers in mid-air. The jumpers are armed with hand grenades as defense.

Midget Curling: Just like regular curling, except midgets are used in place of stones.

Frostbite-a-thon: Contestants are turned loose for several days in the arctic. Whoever loses the most body parts wins! (they have to survive though, of course)

Xtreme Hibernation: Simple: whoever sleeps the longest, over the 3 weeks of the Olympics, without the aid of pharmaceuticals of course.

And finally....
Master of their Sauna Domain: Contestants are locked in a sauna decked with Scandanavian pornography (the walls are painted with it, videos run on loops, etc). The last one to, uhhh.....flog their lutefisk.....wins the gold! If the contest gets too slow, actual members of the Scandanavian teams are sent in naked.

his signature line: I was born ugly. I got fat & obnoxious through hard work!
last edited: 2/20/06 9:38:13 AM”

“I'm not sure if what she did was a trick or not. I had heard she was holding her board as she was to pass he finish line. That doesn't sound like a trick.

In the end, where did it get her.”

“I agree with whoever said that its lame when people take the conservative win. I say go all out, this is your one chance, The stakes are HUGE but its a once in a lifetime deal, live large.”

“Wow, did you see those Italian ice dancing partners glaring at each other after their earlier fall today??

They are up shortly. This ought be good!!!!”

“Sorry Birch, I'll have to disagree....It's like saying a NASCAR driver should be doing donuts before crossing the finish line.

And it's not like she needed to do the trick....wasn't part of the program....

Yes she grabbed the edge of the board...I think it's called a "Mute Air"....she just didn't land it. And it was at the second to last jump.

There were alot of Ice Dancers falling (5 pairs...I don't think I've ever saw so many skaters fall in one competition)....I felt bad for the Italian and Canadian teams...the Italian had only 15 seconds to the end of their program, while the Canadians only had 5 seconds left...Ouch. What's worse...the Canadian woman was too injured to compete in the finals.”

“Stanlee, not being a nascar fan I think donuts would be fun, heck I might even watch. Its awful boring watching left hand turns...LOL

I see yer point though.”

“I was also shocked at the amount of falls in ice dancing, normally a very low-risk sport. The new judging system, which I like although I don't claim to completely understand it, has been said to be responsible for dancers pushing themselves...”

“I haven't heard much about Gumbel's comment on the Olympics.”

“Is curling that thing where they slide the little thingy across the floor, and two people scrub the floor in front of it? That's literally the most boring thing I've ever seen on TV, except for golf. Every time I turn on the alleged "Olympics," it's on!!”

“tsk tsk tsk.
get used to it lyra, now that you're just a hop skip from canada.

i think it was really nice of them to add all those snowboarding X-game type events so us americans could be competetive in something.”

“LOL. Hi wacko sacco. :-)

What I want to know is, how does one get drawn into the sordid world of curling, much less be in the Olympics for it?

I like the snowboarding okay, and the skiing. But really, the Olympics haven't been very exciting since I was a wee lass.”

“What I want to know is, how does one get drawn into the sordid world of curling, much less be in the Olympics for it?


i bet it's one of those passed down cycle of abuse things like alcoholism or child molestation.”

“Oh ouch! I just laughed really hard and hiccuped at the same time.”

“I think it has to do with how fun the slippery shoe is to wear. Canadian and northern American kids get a pair of curling shoes, start sliding all over their homes and schools and neighborhoods and get hooked on slippery shoe sports. The main reason there's only one slippery shoe in curling is to prevent kids from going over to ice skating.


That Orygawn's post reminded me of some of the stuff Nigal used to post. =)
last edited: 2/21/06 7:50:37 AM”

“I once dated a Canadian for a while whose family was way into curling. Curling, golf, the lotto. Big time. Never actually made it to a live curling match. I'm sure it's a ruckus crowd though.

Hey how 'bout that Italian ice dancing team eh? Cold as Ice to each other until they skated and then they both broke down.”

“are curling shoes that much different than bowling shoes?

i bet the poor kids have to get by with only one pair of shoes for both sports. they probably get picked on alot by all the cool, rich curling kids.”

“Yep, one shoe is super slick. Birch and I had a friend in high school who had a pair.”

“curling was very big in Fairbanks. A way to play on the ice without having to be athletic.”

“I hear that curlers are experts with brooms and mops at home. :o)

Speaking of brooms.....they should have broomball as an olympic sport. It's alot more faster and physical than curling. And it hurts like heck if you get hit by the ball.”

“Sasha was fantastic last night. Just fantastic.”

“We were actually getting into watching curling this weekend, LOL...

My brother used to curl, I thought it was something from his heritage - ya know, scottish or welch or something...

geek sport!”

“It makes me think of bowling in slow motion, or slow motion shuffleboard on ice.

Geek sport. Ha!”

“I really enjoyed the spot on Vanetta Flowers last night. She won a gold in bobsledding in SLC and is from Birmingham, AL. Very cool of Kleenex to fly her kids to Italy as a suprise.”

“Cohen: Splat! Splat!
Slutskaya: Splat!
Arakawa: Gold!”

“Arakawa is hot!!!!

Felt bad for Sasha....still haven't been able to complete two perfect programs in any competition.

Nerves and pressure got to first and second spots....so third spot took the gold.”