Olympics thoughts on ice
Evan Lysacek deserved his gold. I was beyond embarrassed when Elvis Stojko waded in to the debate to claim Plushenko should have won, just because he landed the one big trick. Yo Elvis! That is NOT the Canadian way. Do you happen to remember in Salt Lake City, when corrupt judging temporarily robbed our Jamie Sale and David Pelletier of the pairs crown? Do you remember how the Americans leapt to our defence? I was incredibly touched, they rushed in like our big brother defending us from the bullies, and within days the scandal was out, the gold medal around our kids' necks, and all was as well as it could be given it had happened in the first place. Don't go bad-mouthing the Yanks unless hockey is involved and we are the ones playing them, or they start it. Otherwise, Olympics = North American truce.
Besides which, he's just wrong. I don't even have to be an expert in figure-skating (which I'm not) to understand that if there are multiple technical elements that get you points, and if you get higher points when they're performed cleanly, then a shaky programme with the big trick can lose to a beautiful, clean programme with higher difficulty throughout. Just because you're still pissed you always got bad artistic impression marks, Elvis, does not mean you get to re-write the rules. And you know what? Maybe what Lysacek did, you know, with the higher difficulty spins and the beautiful transitions and step sequences -- maybe that's actually worth something, and worth doing, and carries its own difficulty. Because I would be willing to bet that in your time, you would have done anything in your power to get an Olympic gold medal. And I cheered along with the rest of Canada when you landed your quads and I hoped with the rest of them that you would get that gold. Yet you didn't, because you were marked down on the artistic side. Why? Too stubborn to be artistic? I suspect not, somehow. I suspect you simply couldn't improve in that. Which makes me suspect that in fact, beautiful transitions and step sequences and spins -- I suspect maybe these are hard too. Maybe that's why they get points.
But if you still disagree, Elvis, feel free, start your own sport. Call it ice-jumping. Like in the gymnastics, all the competitors can line up and land as many triples and quads as they can, all in a row. No transitions, no spins, no step sequences, no deductions for wobbles on the landing, only for a two-footed landing or a hand down. No mandatory deductions for falls, just no points for that jump, so no one is ever penalised for trying a jump they can't realistically land (except of course that in trying it they lose time they might devote to a jump they actually can land). Let's see how many people watch your sport as compared to the figure skating.
Very little to say about this. So thrilling to see Moir and Virtue take the gold -- the first Canadian ice dance medal ever, and it's the gold. I have to be honest, though, like (I suspect) the majority of ice dance watchers, I have no idea what I'm watching for. It's all beautiful. The Canadian commentators seem to think the gold was deserved, the one American blog I've seen has, as politely as the blogger could, intimated that she liked the American pair better. The BBC commentators seemed to think the result was correct. Maybe they're unbiased?
I have to register my disgust with the Russian team. I think they should have gotten zero marks in whatever the artistic impression score is called today, for their original dance.
OK, granted, any "folk dance" is going to be appropriative, and I have to admit I was a bit squicked by the very very white Americans doing an "Indian" dance. Robin Cousins commented as it began that they had got rave reviews on it world-wide including from the Indian subcontinent, but that kinda sounded like a "My black friend said it's OK to make racist jokes" sort of hedge. However, it at least looked (to my very very white eyes) like a respectful imitation of classical Indian dance. The costumes were not far off a proper sari and salwar kameez. The Russian programme was just in a completely different league. It wasn't even appropriative because it bore no resemblance to aboriginal culture. It looked like nothing more than a otherised and frankly racist caricature of aboriginals. My eyes bled. I'm still disgusted. They should NOT have been on the podium after that. The other American team should have been third.
ARGH just saw the American women's speed-skating pursuit team knock the Canadians out in the quarter-final by 5/100 of a second. Gutsy show by the 7th ranked American women's team, but ouch that hurt.
Oh, apparently there are classification races tomorrow determining whether we race for 5th or 6th or 7th or 8th. But that's not where they wanted to be.
There aren't too many words to say about this either. Joannie Rochette is my new heroine and I strongly believe and feel it will be only fitting that she carry the flag in the closing ceremonies. When I heard that she and her coach had sent a press release saying all the messages of support were helping her, I sent one, in French. Probably godawful French. First time I've ever done such a thing.
I do agree with those who said that she was a champion as soon as she stepped on the ice. It's beautiful that she won the bronze for her mother, but I got mad at comments I saw telling her to GO GO GO and win a medal and saying that it would have been a sign of life's cruelty if she fell. It wouldn't have mattered if she fell. She was pursuing her Olympic dream in her mum's memory, and to say that that was "enough" would be an insult to both of them. It was amazing, and beautiful, and admirable beyond belief. Vous etes l'heroine des jeux Joannie!
So what moron thought that we should predict or aim for the most overall medals rather than the most golds?!
I admit, the first time I saw the "Own the Podium" slogan I thought it was a bit bombastic. But I also thought it would be amazing for Canada to be at the top of the medals table for "our" games. But Own the Podium was about more than that single goal. It was about the fact that Canada had hosted two games in the past and not won a single gold in either of them. Well, we've won 8 so far in these ones, so, I'd say we've lanced that boil.
As for golds vs overalls medals. You know the funny, funny thing? When I first heard Canada was aiming for the most overall medals rather than the most golds, I thought "That's a cop-out. We should aim for the most number-one results. I guess they thought we couldn't win more golds than anyone else, and more overall medals was a more realistic goal." HAHAHA!
The entire world, with the exception of America, calculates Olympics medal tables on the basis of golds. In the case of a tie in the number of golds, the country with the most silvers is considered the leader. In the case that both golds and silvers are tied, bronzes come into account. On this count, I would not be at all surprised if Canada tops the table. We've got men's and women's curling still to go, and some more possible medals in speed-skating events (but like I say, OUCH on the women's team pursuit). And of course THE MEN'S HOCKEY.
There's not really any getting around it, though. The most medals was predicted, and we are nowhere close. We were third in Turin*, and as I remember, it was quite close, so I guess they did think it was realistic. But Cindy Klassen won five medals in those games, and she's coming back from injury in these ones and didn't win any. Better to aim high and fail than to aim too low, yes. I guess I've gotten over the fact that we didn't aim high and succeed. It's been obvious since last weekend that we wouldn't. So now I'm really rooting for us to top the medals table on the gold count.
*ETA, having checked, we were 3rd by total medal count, and unlike in these Olympics, the gap between 1st and 3rd was very small -- Germany only had 5 more medals than us. Also, we were 5th in gold medal count -- for example, Germany had four more golds and two more silvers than us, but we had one more bronze than them, which might go a fair way to explaining the "OTP" goal being total medals rather than total golds.
Canada has already won the gold medal in hockey. Our women took it 2-0.
Why the hell is this not considered as important as the men's game? The NHL connection, I suppose, but it still massively pisses me off. It pissed me off back in Salt Lake City, too.
Oh, and so what if they drank some champagne on the ice afterwards? I seriously don't get what the big deal is. THEY JUST WON A GOLD MEDAL. Let them celebrate. Loved the official Canadian apology. It contained the words "if we offended anyone" which makes it a superlative example of Canadian passive-aggression. I'd have said the exact same thing if it looked like I was being forced to give an apology. I don't think they have anything to feel sorry for.
I'll be catching the men's game with my friend Raheena at the Canadian bar near Covent Garden. It'll be on at 8.15 pm here. Should be a good time.
Besides which, he's just wrong. I don't even have to be an expert in figure-skating (which I'm not) to understand that if there are multiple technical elements that get you points, and if you get higher points when they're performed cleanly, then a shaky programme with the big trick can lose to a beautiful, clean programme with higher difficulty throughout. Just because you're still pissed you always got bad artistic impression marks, Elvis, does not mean you get to re-write the rules. And you know what? Maybe what Lysacek did, you know, with the higher difficulty spins and the beautiful transitions and step sequences -- maybe that's actually worth something, and worth doing, and carries its own difficulty. Because I would be willing to bet that in your time, you would have done anything in your power to get an Olympic gold medal. And I cheered along with the rest of Canada when you landed your quads and I hoped with the rest of them that you would get that gold. Yet you didn't, because you were marked down on the artistic side. Why? Too stubborn to be artistic? I suspect not, somehow. I suspect you simply couldn't improve in that. Which makes me suspect that in fact, beautiful transitions and step sequences and spins -- I suspect maybe these are hard too. Maybe that's why they get points.
But if you still disagree, Elvis, feel free, start your own sport. Call it ice-jumping. Like in the gymnastics, all the competitors can line up and land as many triples and quads as they can, all in a row. No transitions, no spins, no step sequences, no deductions for wobbles on the landing, only for a two-footed landing or a hand down. No mandatory deductions for falls, just no points for that jump, so no one is ever penalised for trying a jump they can't realistically land (except of course that in trying it they lose time they might devote to a jump they actually can land). Let's see how many people watch your sport as compared to the figure skating.
Very little to say about this. So thrilling to see Moir and Virtue take the gold -- the first Canadian ice dance medal ever, and it's the gold. I have to be honest, though, like (I suspect) the majority of ice dance watchers, I have no idea what I'm watching for. It's all beautiful. The Canadian commentators seem to think the gold was deserved, the one American blog I've seen has, as politely as the blogger could, intimated that she liked the American pair better. The BBC commentators seemed to think the result was correct. Maybe they're unbiased?
I have to register my disgust with the Russian team. I think they should have gotten zero marks in whatever the artistic impression score is called today, for their original dance.
OK, granted, any "folk dance" is going to be appropriative, and I have to admit I was a bit squicked by the very very white Americans doing an "Indian" dance. Robin Cousins commented as it began that they had got rave reviews on it world-wide including from the Indian subcontinent, but that kinda sounded like a "My black friend said it's OK to make racist jokes" sort of hedge. However, it at least looked (to my very very white eyes) like a respectful imitation of classical Indian dance. The costumes were not far off a proper sari and salwar kameez. The Russian programme was just in a completely different league. It wasn't even appropriative because it bore no resemblance to aboriginal culture. It looked like nothing more than a otherised and frankly racist caricature of aboriginals. My eyes bled. I'm still disgusted. They should NOT have been on the podium after that. The other American team should have been third.
ARGH just saw the American women's speed-skating pursuit team knock the Canadians out in the quarter-final by 5/100 of a second. Gutsy show by the 7th ranked American women's team, but ouch that hurt.
Oh, apparently there are classification races tomorrow determining whether we race for 5th or 6th or 7th or 8th. But that's not where they wanted to be.
There aren't too many words to say about this either. Joannie Rochette is my new heroine and I strongly believe and feel it will be only fitting that she carry the flag in the closing ceremonies. When I heard that she and her coach had sent a press release saying all the messages of support were helping her, I sent one, in French. Probably godawful French. First time I've ever done such a thing.
I do agree with those who said that she was a champion as soon as she stepped on the ice. It's beautiful that she won the bronze for her mother, but I got mad at comments I saw telling her to GO GO GO and win a medal and saying that it would have been a sign of life's cruelty if she fell. It wouldn't have mattered if she fell. She was pursuing her Olympic dream in her mum's memory, and to say that that was "enough" would be an insult to both of them. It was amazing, and beautiful, and admirable beyond belief. Vous etes l'heroine des jeux Joannie!
So what moron thought that we should predict or aim for the most overall medals rather than the most golds?!
I admit, the first time I saw the "Own the Podium" slogan I thought it was a bit bombastic. But I also thought it would be amazing for Canada to be at the top of the medals table for "our" games. But Own the Podium was about more than that single goal. It was about the fact that Canada had hosted two games in the past and not won a single gold in either of them. Well, we've won 8 so far in these ones, so, I'd say we've lanced that boil.
As for golds vs overalls medals. You know the funny, funny thing? When I first heard Canada was aiming for the most overall medals rather than the most golds, I thought "That's a cop-out. We should aim for the most number-one results. I guess they thought we couldn't win more golds than anyone else, and more overall medals was a more realistic goal." HAHAHA!
The entire world, with the exception of America, calculates Olympics medal tables on the basis of golds. In the case of a tie in the number of golds, the country with the most silvers is considered the leader. In the case that both golds and silvers are tied, bronzes come into account. On this count, I would not be at all surprised if Canada tops the table. We've got men's and women's curling still to go, and some more possible medals in speed-skating events (but like I say, OUCH on the women's team pursuit). And of course THE MEN'S HOCKEY.
There's not really any getting around it, though. The most medals was predicted, and we are nowhere close. We were third in Turin*, and as I remember, it was quite close, so I guess they did think it was realistic. But Cindy Klassen won five medals in those games, and she's coming back from injury in these ones and didn't win any. Better to aim high and fail than to aim too low, yes. I guess I've gotten over the fact that we didn't aim high and succeed. It's been obvious since last weekend that we wouldn't. So now I'm really rooting for us to top the medals table on the gold count.
*ETA, having checked, we were 3rd by total medal count, and unlike in these Olympics, the gap between 1st and 3rd was very small -- Germany only had 5 more medals than us. Also, we were 5th in gold medal count -- for example, Germany had four more golds and two more silvers than us, but we had one more bronze than them, which might go a fair way to explaining the "OTP" goal being total medals rather than total golds.
Canada has already won the gold medal in hockey. Our women took it 2-0.
Why the hell is this not considered as important as the men's game? The NHL connection, I suppose, but it still massively pisses me off. It pissed me off back in Salt Lake City, too.
Oh, and so what if they drank some champagne on the ice afterwards? I seriously don't get what the big deal is. THEY JUST WON A GOLD MEDAL. Let them celebrate. Loved the official Canadian apology. It contained the words "if we offended anyone" which makes it a superlative example of Canadian passive-aggression. I'd have said the exact same thing if it looked like I was being forced to give an apology. I don't think they have anything to feel sorry for.
I'll be catching the men's game with my friend Raheena at the Canadian bar near Covent Garden. It'll be on at 8.15 pm here. Should be a good time.