Olympic chat

BornRuff

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Nov 17, 2013
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No one cheated, BornRuff. The puck did not go over the line. There should have been a penalty shot called but that was the fault of the ref at the net. Since he didn't make the call there was nothing the other refs or officials could do once the non-call was made.

I am quite sure the Latvian goalie got the attention of Steve Y - how he could not when every eye in the building was riveted on him as Canada continually peppered him with shots. Too bad there wasn't a medal for exceptional effort as Gudjevskis certainly deserves one.

I guess you are taking the "it's only cheating if you get caught" mantra to heart eh?

Putting you hand over the puck in the crease is against the rules. They broke the rules to gain an advantage in the game. That is what I mean by cheating.
 

Mowich

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Dec 25, 2005
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Eagle Creek


Ryan Harnden on the left and Ryan Fry on the right


Here’s a bit of trivia for curling fans. When the Brad Jacobs rink – Team Canada – was sitting at 1 and 2 early in the RR, they asked for a bit of advice. “We talked to the hockey guys when we were 1-2. We talked to (Canadian coach) Mike Babcock. He said ‘You’re 1-2. It doesn’t mean anything. It’s how you finish. Just go out and execute.’ That’s exactly what we’ve done.”

Thanks Mike, seems the guys took your advice – hope you get to see the Gold Medal game.
 

gopher

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Jun 26, 2005
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I agree but there's one other aspect. N.H.L. season is pretty long and intense with 82 games and a possibility of 110 games. For the players that go to the Olympics, it's pretty exhausting, for the ones that don't it has to be an interruption of their momentum. I don't know what the answer is other than I think the N.H.L. commitment has to take precedence.


Europeans and international soccer players often play world championship qualifiers for their countries during the course of the regular season (players as Eto'o of Cameroon, Messi of Argentina, Park of S Korea immediately come to mind). As with NHL players it can be exhausting. But they do so as that is part of being a professional. Thus, what the NHL has done in sending these players into the Games is not unprecedented.
 

BornRuff

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Nov 17, 2013
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Is it just my imagination or a dream or did I catch a fragment of Bettman on the news saying N.H.L. players may not be involved in any future Olympics? Would that be a good or bad thing?

They have been batting that around ever since the NHL allowed their players to participate in 98. They have never loved the idea since it breaks up their schedule, they risk losing players to injury, and they get no financial benefit from it. Hell, they actually lose money by foregoing events like the All Star Game. Bettman is sure to remind everyone of this every chance he gets.

But, I don't think they will ever pull out. The players want it too badly. He will never firmly commit to it though, since he would never want to lose this as a bargaining chip with the players.
 

talloola

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Nov 14, 2006
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I guess you are taking the "it's only cheating if you get caught" mantra to heart eh?

Putting you hand over the puck in the crease is against the rules. They broke the rules to gain an advantage in the game. That is what I mean by cheating.

yeah, guess one could say that about any breaking of the rules, BUT what do you call a ref who obviously
saw what the player did and chose to ignore it. it was clear that he was looking directly at the
play, and it was 'more' obvious after several replays, which zoned in on the ref ignoring the
cheating. its not 'just' a missed call, which in my opinion, is a non call that the ref didn't see so
didn't call, which is not the case here.
 

Blackleaf

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Oct 9, 2004
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Sochi 2014: Britain's women beat Swiss for curling bronze

Including the men's guaranteed gold or silver curling medal tomorrow against Canada, Great Britain have now equalled their best ever Winter Olympics medal haul, with four medals



Great Britain's women came from 4-0 down to beat Switzerland 6-5 with the last stone of the last end to win bronze in the curling.

Eve Muirhead led her rink to Britain's first women's Olympic curling medal since Rhona Martin's gold in 2002. (Rhona is now the the head coach of the British and Scottish women's curling performance squad).

Switzerland took an early 2-0 lead but Muirhead, on top after the fifth end, sealed victory with her last stone.

GB's men face Canada for gold at 13:30 GMT on Friday. Their guaranteed medal makes Britain's haul of four their best at a Winter Games in 90 years.

Lizzy Yarnold's gold in the skeleton and the bronze for Jenny Jones in the snowboard slopestyle are the other British medallists at Sochi 2014.

Britain last won four medals in Chamonix, France, at the inaugural Winter Olympics of 1924.

Though the scoreline in Thursday's bronze play-off remained tight throughout, Muirhead displayed an assurance and touch which at times deserted her in Britain's semi-final defeat by Canada.

After a tentative start, Vicki Adams' mistake gave Switzerland a 2-0 lead but Britain had levelled by the halfway point.

Swiss skip Mirjam Ott inadvertently scored one instead of blanking the sixth end, handing Britain the hammer and control of the game.

A succession of excellent Muirhead shots kept up the pressure in the ninth end, forcing the Swiss to take just one with the hammer, which tied the contest at 5-5.

The 23-year-old Scot then delivered two nerveless final stones to add Olympic bronze to her 2013 world title, as her team-mates broke into tears.




Great Britain's Anna Sloan will be taking a bronze medal back to her tragic hometown of Lockerbie



BBC Sport - Sochi 2014: Britain's women beat Swiss for curling bronze

Anna Sloan isn't the only female or male British curler to hail from Lockerbie, the scene of Britain's worst ever terrorist attack. Two others also do, and one of them is the skip of the men's team, who are taking on Canada for gold tomorrow. David Murdoch witnessed with his own eyes those tragic events of 25 years ago:

British curlers put Lockerbie back in headlines

The Washington Post


Britain’s skip David Murdoch celebrates after delivering the last rock to defeat Sweden during the men’s curling semifinal game at the 2014 Winter Olympics, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2014, in Sochi, Russia. Robert F. Bukaty/Associated Press

By Associated Press February 20, 2014

SOCHI, Russia — The small, rural Scottish town of Lockerbie forever will be remembered as the place where a plane exploded in the skies in 1988, killing all 243 passengers, 16 crew members and 11 people in their homes below.

David Murdoch was 10 years old at the time. He was sitting in the back of his father’s car not far from home when he witnessed a wrecked Pan Am 103, which was on its way from London to New York, coming down.

“I was about 300 yards away,” Murdoch recalled recently of what remains the deadliest terrorist attack on British soil.

Murdoch had just started to play curling but his hobby had to be put on hold. The ice rink where he used to throw stones was used as a temporary mortuary.

Twenty-five years later, Lockerbie is making the headlines for another, more joyous, reason. And Murdoch is the reason why.

The British team that Murdoch skips is in the men’s curling final at the Sochi Olympics, and will take on Canada for the gold medal Friday. Murdoch will get his pre-Olympic wish — returning to his home town with a medal around his neck.

“That’s my home,’ Murdoch said. “That’s where I grew up and that’s where I did all my practicing when I was young. It’s an incredible place. It’s just dished out champions year after year throughout all the different age groups.

“It was the anniversary recently and you can’t forget what happened . I’m sure we’re going to have them all cheering us on.”

Murdoch is one of the most popular guys on the curling circuit and has achieved plenty of success in his career, notably becoming world champion in 2006 and ‘09 and winning three European titles.

“He’s been a phenomenal curler for a long time,” Canada curler Ryan Fry said.

But the Olympics Games is where it really matters, where people who have never heard of curling can be lured to a TV screen and become engrossed in a sport sometimes harshly labeled as “Housework on Ice.”

And it is at the Olympics where Murdoch has failed to deliver, until now. He lost the bronze-medal game against the United States in 2006 and a tiebreaker for the semi-finals in 2010 when Britain was the world champion.

He thought his chances of an Olympic medal were gone, especially when he suffered a bad shoulder injury and underwent surgery in 2012.

“I thought that was probably it, to be honest,’ Murdoch said. “I didn’t think there would be any way back. You don’t get the chances very often to go to the Olympics and there was probably a bit of my head that wasn’t in it anymore.”

Murdoch, a farmer’s son, didn’t give up. He moved to Stirling in central Scotland, the main training headquarters of British curling, and revived his career under his coach, Soren Gran (now GB's coach).

“He brought me to Stirling to train, to throw every morning, to practice harder than I’ve ever done in my life and he’s pushed me right to the edge,” Murdoch said. “We’re now getting the rewards from that.”

In a sense, Murdoch already has played his Olympic final. The game-clinching deuce he made to beat Sweden in the semifinals guaranteed him and teammates Scott Andrews, Greg Drummond and Michael Goodfellow a medal.

Whereas Canada is under huge pressure from back home to win a third straight men’s gold for its curling-mad country, Murdoch can afford, to some extent, to just enjoy the experience.

“Twelve years of dedicating your life to a sport, to get your body up, to go through injuries, to train hard, to make a lot of sacrifices,” Murdoch said. “I still can’t believe, after all these years, we are in the final now.”

British curlers put Lockerbie back in headlines - The Washington Post
 
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Blackleaf

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Oct 9, 2004
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Some good lookin birds on the UK team.


Who's that girl? Our guide to the British female curling team | Herald Scotland
**********************


By the way, this is brilliant. This was shown on BBC2 just before the women's curling semi-final between Britain and Canada.

From The Telegraph:

BBC Radio 1 manage to convince Sir David Attenborough, the voice of BBC nature documentaries for six decades, to narrate the curling face off between Team GB and Team USA at the Winter Olympics - and this is the result.

As the women cast their stones towards the target, Attenborough explains the curlers' primal urge to thrust their nuts down the frozen river to mark their territory.

"The aim of this ritual is to land your walnut in the centre of the nest," he says in his characteristic soothing tone.

"The frisking is frantic and often futile, making no difference to the net thrust, but it is playful and what makes this game the sliding curlers play so magical," he adds, his voice full of wonder.

If only Attenborough could explain darts next.

Sir David Attenborough's Alternative CURLING Commentary - YouTube


Video: Sir David Attenborough's alternative curling commentary - Telegraph
 

BornRuff

Time Out
Nov 17, 2013
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yeah, guess one could say that about any breaking of the rules, BUT what do you call a ref who obviously
saw what the player did and chose to ignore it. it was clear that he was looking directly at the
play, and it was 'more' obvious after several replays, which zoned in on the ref ignoring the
cheating. its not 'just' a missed call, which in my opinion, is a non call that the ref didn't see so
didn't call, which is not the case here.

We know that he should have seen it, but it is very possible that he did miss it, or he wasn't sure what he saw.

The puck was out of sight until right before this. Just because the ref was there doesn't mean he was looking at the right thing.
 

Blackleaf

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Oct 9, 2004
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During London 2012, each time a British athlete won gold the Royal Mail (founded in 1516) painted a traditional red postbox gold in the athlete's home town. In total, 29 postboxes were painted gold.

This is not something the Royal Mail is doing for the Winter Olympics.

However, some vandals have...


Lizzie Yarnold: Vandals paint postbox gold for Sochi 2014 champion

BBC News
20 February 2014


The postbox has been painted a "very wishy-washy coat of gold"

Vandals have tried to paint a postbox gold in the home town of Winter Olympic champion Lizzy Yarnold.

The box in Hever Road, West Kingsdown, Kent, was crudely painted overnight, almost a week after Yarnold won Great Britain's first gold medal.

The 25-year-old triumphed in the women's skeleton on Friday.

Royal Mail said it would not create any gold post boxes for the Winter Games, as it did for London 2012.

More than 43,000 people have signed an online petition calling for Royal Mail to paint a postbox gold for Yarnold.

Hundreds of Twitter users, including double Olympic champion Dame Kelly Holmes, have used the hashtag #paintitgoldforlizzy.

Yarnold has retweeted messages supporting the campaign, which has been led by her local newspaper, the Sevenoaks Chronicle.

Her mother Judith said she hoped Royal Mail would bow to public demand, to inspire future generations of Britain's sportsmen and women.

Mrs Yarnold, a teacher, said: "This isn't about me or us, it's about recognising the achievements of the Olympians who have put in so much effort to gain their achievements.

"They put in an amazing amount of work to get where they are, and the public clearly want to recognise this by having gold postboxes."

The red paint is still visible on the painted postbox.


Lizzy Yarnold triumphed in the women's skeleton on Friday

Bob Wicker, who runs West Kingsdown Fruit and Veg, said: "The postbox has been painted, but it looks like someone has just put on an undercoat.

"It's a very wishy-washy coat of gold, and it looks like it has been done in the middle of the night. It doesn't look great.

"I'm wondering whether they'll come back at some point to put on a second coat."

A Royal Mail spokesman said: "London 2012 was a unique occasion. The UK hosted the Games and our athletes performed extraordinarily well.

"Because of our status as the host nation, Royal Mail chose to mark the achievement of our athletes through gold postboxes as well as stamps.

"For the Winter Olympics 2014 Royal Mail will not be creating gold postboxes but we are exploring other ways of marking the achievements of our athletes, including creating a special postmark."

A Kent Police spokeswoman said the repainted postbox had not been reported to the force.

BBC News - Lizzie Yarnold: Vandals paint postbox gold for Sochi 2014 champion
 

Mowich

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Dec 25, 2005
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GOLD FOR TEAM CANADA IN WOMEN'S CURLING

Jennifer Jones rink out of St Vital, MB is the first women's rink in the history of the Olympics to win the Gold after a PERFECT round robin and semi-finals.


YOU LADIES ROCK! :canada:
 
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BornRuff

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Nov 17, 2013
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Europeans and international soccer players often play world championship qualifiers for their countries during the course of the regular season (players as Eto'o of Cameroon, Messi of Argentina, Park of S Korea immediately come to mind). As with NHL players it can be exhausting. But they do so as that is part of being a professional. Thus, what the NHL has done in sending these players into the Games is not unprecedented.

This is exactly what the NHL is talking about when they complain about NHL involvement in the Olympics.

Islanders' Tavares out for rest of season with knee injury
 

talloola

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Nov 14, 2006
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We know that he should have seen it, but it is very possible that he did miss it, or he wasn't sure what he saw.

The puck was out of sight until right before this. Just because the ref was there doesn't mean he was looking at the right thing.

he is a trained professional referee, he has to be looking to make sure the puck either crosses the line
or not, so he 'was' looking exactly at that place, and could not have missed it, i don't think he was
checking to see the make of the goalie's glove.
that is the 'point' of looking down at the puck at that precise moment, and that is exactly when the
player put his hand over it and pulled it back, it was half over the line.
 

Kreskin

Doctor of Thinkology
Feb 23, 2006
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Who's to know who would've hurt right now if they were playing NHL games. Crosby could be out with a head injury. Someone might have been punched out by Tortorella by now. Might be safer at the Olympics.
 

talloola

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Who's to know who would've hurt right now if they were playing NHL games. Crosby could be out with a head injury. Someone might have been punched out by Tortorella by now. Might be safer at the Olympics.

yes, thats right, just part of the life of a hockey player, the only thing i wonder is, what is the
state of the insurance because they were haggling not long ago about 'that' particular insurance
while playing in the olympics.