Wanna toss the winter Olympics around a bit?

I kinda wonder what might have hapened if wolfdog had started chasing biathlon skiers.....
 
ah, to be able to use iron sights...
 
rockyfatcat said:
I’ve been in Canada a bit. Last time @ Bombardier working at the factory for 6 months.

Everyone said the same thing: What is the highest priority item to get done when you set up a curling event?

Set up the bar. Apparently curling is more about drinking liquor than anything else. View attachment 150110
Click to expand...
Yup. That's why it's so popular in Wisconsin.

Ed Haywood said:
Curling is ice bowling.
Click to expand...
:rofl: Yeah, you nailed it!

Personally, I am a fan of ski jumping - I was a member of a ski club that did/does ski jumping training and at the time had 10, 20, 40, and 60 meter jumps under the old measuring system. The 60 is closed now, though its carcass still stands. https://maps.app.goo.gl/8K3tppgS5nLGjhaW8 Unfortunately, I missed it this time around. Probably happened while I was putting kids to bed.

I saw Ami Nakai in the Women's Short program, and she was fantastic. Missed Alysa Liu, but I went back and watched after the fact - Wow! It's like she decided to give zero ****s and just go out and have fun. When someone gets really good at something really hard, it's neat to watch - But someone who not just reaches that point, but gets to the point that it looks easy again is something special. That free skate was really fun to watch, because you could tell that she's not just an amazing skater, but she's having fun doing it now. And her success, after her father's dissident activities around Tiananmen Square was a nice cherry on top too.

If you missed it, it's well worth a watch:

 
flyingcheesehead said:
Missed Alysa Liu, but I went back and watched after the fact - Wow! It's like she decided to give zero ****s and just go out and have fun.
Click to expand...
Not sure if you've heard it in the news, but that's precisely what happened from what I gather. I haven't followed her story all that closely, but she apparently declared retirement after Beijing 2022 and then 2 years later decided that it was really just mental health break.
 
asicer said:
Not sure if you've heard it in the news, but that's precisely what happened from what I gather. I haven't followed her story all that closely, but she apparently declared retirement after Beijing 2022 and then 2 years later decided that it was really just mental health break.
Click to expand...
Yep. She went skiing, felt something she missed, and decided to get back into it for herself instead of for competition - And it showed in her performance, which is why she won anyway! Ilia Malinin needs to figure this out.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Yep. She went skiing, felt something she missed, and decided to get back into it for herself instead of for competition - And it showed in her performance, which is why she won anyway! Ilia Malinin needs to figure this out.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I watched her performance along with the others. She had the body language that made it look like what she was doing was easy, and she was having a whole lot of fun. The only thing missing at the end was a mic drop.
 
Matthew said:
Yeah, I watched her performance along with the others. She had the body language that made it look like what she was doing was easy, and she was having a whole lot of fun. The only thing missing at the end was a mic drop.
Click to expand...
I think she designed it that way - Macarthur Park is a very unconventional music choice, and the choreography was fun as well - Just a stellar program all the way around.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Yep. She went skiing, felt something she missed, and decided to get back into it for herself instead of for competition - And it showed in her performance, which is why she won anyway! Ilia Malinin needs to figure this out.
Click to expand...
Regardless of whether it is genuine or just a public facade, that's the kind of story that changes the sport.
 
Her father was a pretty overbearing control freak. She basically said F-it and gave up the sport. 2 years later started skating again for fun and then went on to compete with a coach she picked and no input from dad.
See that a lot with kids that have parents that project their own hopes onto their kids. Lots of really talented kids that play youth sports drop out right around the time they graduate high school.
 
Hang 4 said:
Her father was a pretty overbearing control freak. She basically said F-it and gave up the sport. 2 years later started skating again for fun and then went on to compete with a coach she picked and no input from dad.
See that a lot with kids that have parents that project their own hopes onto their kids. Lots of really talented kids that play youth sports drop out right around the time they graduate high school.
Click to expand...
And it's not always the parents' fault. Some kids will overdo the one thing they love until they simply burn out.
 
My daughter was a competitive gymnast at the Elite level. The hours, and stress, and work, and cost is quite amazing. After a full ride in college, I asked her if she wanted to do a 5th year of eligibility and she said 'hell no, I'm outa here'. The kids aiming for Olympics start at 4 or 5. By age 9 it's pretty much full time in the sport, with school a distant second. And, the injuries. Jeez, what they go through sometimes. Vonn's example hits close to home. My girl ruptured her Achilles at 13, and what a recovery. But - she still was in the gym every day, with the wrapped ankle and a ortho boot, she wouldn't give it up. Tibia green stick break, just wrap it up tight and keep training. I have to say, it all paid off with four years of engineering school fully paid for, including two summer internships. Was a nice payback. The Olympic selection is a minefield and I can tell you for sure, not all the best gymnasts are picked for the team every time. Parents and politics and where they train plays a definite role.
 
Hang 4 said:
Her father was a pretty overbearing control freak. She basically said F-it and gave up the sport. 2 years later started skating again for fun and then went on to compete with a coach she picked and no input from dad.
See that a lot with kids that have parents that project their own hopes onto their kids. Lots of really talented kids that play youth sports drop out right around the time they graduate high school.
Click to expand...
Around here there’s pretty good girls softball program. A lot of girls have gotten college scholarships because of that. But a lot decide not to play college ball. They’ve been on tournament and travel teams as long as they can remember, and decide they want a life outside of the sport.

I know parents will spend a whole lot of money to get their kids a sports scholarship. But if that money had been put into a college fund…
 
One of my best buddies wife is from China. She saw the women golf pros back in the day raking in the bucks on tour and maybe 75% of them were Asian, or mixed Asian western. She put both her kids in jr golf league real early. We chose gymnastics, and they went with golf. Her son won a few tourneys at age 11-14, but he began to hate it. The daughter was slight build and could hit straight but her drives were always short. Both of them gave up as teens after spending big money all over the US. The son went out for the college team and got a partial scholarship and some grant money. The girl never touched a club again after about 14. Anything approaching Olympic level requires years of commitment. I'm sure the figure skaters went back on her terms, with her goals, and her drive to succeed. I wouldn't change anything we did back then, but we didn't really shoot for the Olympic team, just Elite level and college.

BTW, I'm watching Big10 women's gymnastics right now, and an ex-Olympian plays for my UCLA Bruins. Jordan Childs has 16 career perfect 10 scores in college.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top