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Originally posted by I_Am_Vince Yes everybody....

lol. i am with you. i had no idea. i actually was pretty sure that it was the main newspaper. lol. little do i know.

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Originally posted by Jer Just some food for thought - where does it count? Try telling a moguls athlete that hockey is more important. Substitute any sport in and you would probably see the same reaction. I've watched a scant few events in the last week or so if only because I'm fucking mortified by all this Own The Podium bullshit. As if training for the last four (or more) years for a single event in some cases wasn't enough, this organization feels that with a little bit of financial aid they can turn what's supposed to be an Olympic Games based around sportsmanship and skill into a fucking propaganda circus. I had a good laugh at this farce going into the games, but to actually hear an athlete CRYING during an interview because she didn't medal - she had placed fourth - shows how absolutely ridiculous this has all become. I haven't seen this much propaganda since Berlin in '36. I'm proud as fuck of every man, woman and child that puts on the Canadian garb to represent our country be they soldier, athlete or otherwise. Own The Podium put an absolutely unfair amount of pressure on Canadian athletes and should be ashamed of themselves. By pulling this dog and pony show, we've become just LIKE the states and its overinflated ego. Just so happens we couldn't back up all the shit talking in the lead-in prior to the games. Let's just enjoy the demonstration of fantastic athleticism.

Like any other competition you're supposed to go compete and win, so I'm all for Canadians going in there with the intent to win. This "oh I'm just happy to be here" and "personal best" bullshit was getting pathetic. However, I'm blown away that they needed to set up a committee to motivate our athletes.

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Originally posted by infinity HiGH Like any other competition you're supposed to go compete and win, so I'm all for Canadians going in there with the intent to win. This "oh I'm just happy to be here" and "personal best" bullshit was getting pathetic. However, I'm blown away that they needed to set up a committee to motivate our athletes.

I thought the benefit of the "Own The Podium" committee had much more to do with providing additional funding to the athletes, which they needed. I don't think canadian athletes need a committee to motivate them. I personally don't think they should have named the committee that though. I think that in itself has added extra pressure on the athletes, making it sound like the only acceptable place for them to finish is first. It didn't seem very 'Canadian' of them to put so much pressure on their own. It is true, that we're known for just being happy to be there, compete, and do our best. I've always really respected that modest attitude. I don't think it's pathetic, I think it's admirable. But, maybe that's just me....

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Originally posted by TheDemon

Although I think most of that quote is complete bs, I must admit that I agree with the last part:

"So it is not exactly a huge surprise to have international skating experts from the four corners of the Earth criticizing the decision to award the Men’s figure skating Gold medal to the US athlete Evan [Lysacek] over the reigning Olympic Champion Evgeny Plushenko, whose superior performance was inexplicably ignored. "

I read an interesting article by Elvis Stojko where he justifies this point of view.

The night they killed figure skating

By Elvis Stojko, Yahoo! Sports
Feb 19, 2:00 am EST

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Sorry, Evan Lysacek.

You’re a great skater and all.

But that wasn’t Olympic champion material.

In Thursday night’s men’s free skate, Lysacek skated slow and his jumps weren’t close to the technical ability of defending Olympic champion Evgeni Plushenko.

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Evan Lysacek (R) of the US shakes hands with silver medalist Evgeni Plushenko of Russia.

(Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
How can you be Olympic champion when you don’t even try the quad? If you’re going to take the quad out, why not take out another triple axel and just have more of the other stuff so the International Skating Union can make it more into an “art” recital.

Plushenko had a great performance. His footwork was great and maybe his spins weren’t quite as good as Lysacek’s, but it wasn’t that big of a difference. He also had a quad toe triple toe that wasn’t even attempted by anyone else. He did both triple axels, so all the jumps were there.

But the judges’ scoring was ridiculous.

Because of it, the sport took a step backward. Brian Boitano did the same thing, technically, in 1988. There are junior skaters who can skate that same program.

And the judges’ scoring probably killed figure skating because kids now are going to see this and say, “Oh, I don’t need a quad. I can just do great footwork for presentation marks and do a couple of nice spins and make it to Olympic champion.” With that type of scoring, you don’t have to risk it. You can play it safe and win gold.

In what other sports do you have to hold back in order to win?

The International Skating Union has taken the risk out of figure skating and it makes me sick.

If Plushenko had made some mistakes, then sure, maybe Lysacek deserves gold. But when you take the risk out of skaters’ programs, it doesn’t compute to me.

And it’s not a personal thing. I like Evan. But when you compare performances and have an outcome like this, the sport is going backward. And it hurts me to say it because I love this sport. But the judges made a mockery of it by giving Lysacek the gold.

I don’t want to rain on anybody’s parade because it’s not the skaters’ fault. It’s the system. And the figure skating community wants to control who wins and who loses. And what it does is it makes the component score more valid than the jumps so it can control whatever it wants. And that’s exactly what happened Thursday night at Pacific Coliseum.

How can the sport be put back on the right path? I have no idea. I haven’t even thought about it. It’s not up to me. Because people at the ISU obviously seem to know what they’re doing. Well, they think they know what they’re doing.

For me, the outcome on Thursday night was disappointing.

A few more thoughts on the men’s free skate:

• I thought Daisuke Takahashi was awesome. He tried the quad and he had the guts to go for it, and he should’ve been ahead of Lysacek in that aspect.

• Johnny Weir was great. He should’ve been higher than sixth – above Patrick Chan, who was fifth. Weir outskated Chan. He might’ve skated a little bit slow but he went out there and did his stuff. I feel bad for him.

• People say I’m hammering certain skaters. I’m not. It’s the system I don’t like and if you say I am biased … I already said I am not a fan of Weir’s skating, but he skated well tonight and deserved to be ahead of Chan.

In addition, Takahiko Kozuka – my favorite skater – did not get the points he deserved. He skated great, had awesome spins, the best edges in the competition, was very close with the quad and did a ton of triples.

Figure skating gets no respect because of outcomes like this. More feathers, head-flinging and so-called step sequences done at walking speed – that’s what the system wants.

I am going to watch hockey, where athletes are allowed to push the envelope. A real sport.
SOURCE

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This has been the most drama filled Olypmics ever. What an embarrassing reflection of the society we live in.

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Originally posted by Jayx1 i do find it intreresting that the harshest critics are in england and russia, the two countries that coincidentally are next in line to hold the games.

guys can we stop for a second and realize that this work of "art" by some independent douche-writer does NOT reflect the attitude of the whole country?

___________________
Just surrender yourself to the rhythm,
With your hands up in the sky,
Feel the energy deep inside your system
And leave this world behind...

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Originally posted by ~C~ It is true, that we're known for just being happy to be there, compete, and do our best. I've always really respected that modest attitude. I don't think it's pathetic, I think it's admirable. But, maybe that's just me....

You are Canadian, after all

Ps. Just to add to the convo: being modest but also being passionate and competitive can go together. Canadians are modest about everything except hockey. We should expect to win in every sport, not just hockey.

Last edited by infinity HiGH on Feb-26-2010 at 17:38

That article is kind of right.

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quote:

Originally posted by SYSTEM-J Levels is...decent...damn better than a lot of the shite dominating the charts at the moment. It sounds absolutely nothing like...a billion and one similar tracks in this big-room style. I always had a soft spot.

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Originally posted by jennypie This has been the most drama filled Olypmics ever.

not really. there were much more drama filled olympics in history.

and it's funny but most of the press in russia are making fun of their hockey after that loss and are truly embarrased by the performance. nowhere they make fun on canada by any means. some retarded article written by a brit in an international (not really russian anymore) newspaper, and now all of the sudden people are trying to make a big thing out of it and bash at nations. whatever happened to the fact that when olympic games start, war should be paused, peace must take over.
as far as ice skating situation goes, yea they do write in press how plushenko deserved the gold. i think he did as well. his skating wasn't perfect like that korean girl last night but in order to dethrone the king, you must defeat the king clearly and lysicek wasn't able to do that.
anyway if you haven't read that article yet, dont bother, it's a waste of time...
c ya guys soon!
my 2 kopeika.

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Originally posted by Tiesto4Life and now all of the sudden people are trying to make a big thing out of it and bash at nations.

And that's not embarrassing?

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Originally posted by jennypie And that's not embarrassing?

ah now I get your previous point, lol

___________________
Just surrender yourself to the rhythm,
With your hands up in the sky,
Feel the energy deep inside your system
And leave this world behind...

quote:

Originally posted by Jayx1 If we were a confident country we wouldnt care about non-constructive crticism.

Oh please, it has nothing to do with confidence as a country.

When people make baseless, bizarre statements & analogies, especially in a forum (the news) that has a wide reach, there will be a reaction.

Equating the natural defencive reaction to being attacked as lacking confidence is also off-base.

If anything the majority see the negative comments for what they are, and instead of whining about it are standing up for their country.

That IMO is the opposite of lacking confidence.

(I used IMO twice, christ I need some sleep)

Last edited by crazedcanuck on Feb-26-2010 at 19:02