[Moogs]

Yah that's quite an accomplishment for a first try.

[BuonRotto]

I thought the games would be broadcast commerical-free? That's what they said in one of the NBC NHL broadcasts, anyway. Maybe it's only for the "main event" games on NBC itself. Their in-game NHL coverage is actually pretty good, certainly better than the previous FOX and ESPN coverage IMO.

[Moogs]

I have to say the best coverage I see (as far as the NHL) on Center Ice is Rogers. They're not as Leaf-biased and annoying as CBC (though I don't mind Ron Maclean), and not as ignorant as most Fox announcers.

The only Fox guys I know of who are consistently knowledgeable about the game and fair critics when the team they're announcing for does something stupid are:

The guys in Dallas (don't know what their names are but they're all right)

Mike Lange and Bob Errey in Pittsburgh (Errey gets on a lot of people's nerves for being too critical but I don't mind him).

The guys in San Jose

and

The guy who occasionally does NESN Bruin games is good too. I don't know if it's Emerick (think so, he's one of the more famous voices in American hockey) but he's got a lot of scoop and very entertaining to listen to. For whatever reason though he's not always the one to do Boston games so I can't be sure which guy. I think I've even heard him do Devils games once or twice too. Anyone at NESN that does broadcasts for multiple teams?

The rest of them are bad and sometimes awful, in particular the Avalanche announcers who are on the "Altitude" channel (rebranded Fox affiliate?). I don't think I have ever listened to two guys who prop their team up more, or who know less about the game in general. You'd think in Colorado, where hockey is fairly prevalent, that they'd hire good people out there but no. Might as well be listening to the Panthers or Predators guys. Terrible.

Fox's format in general sucks.

[Stone Of Love]

Hmmm, where do I start now??? LOL

NBC coverage hasn't been too bad, but remember. They only have a couple of camera's of their own. The feed they are taking is the "World" feed. That show is being Directed by the best hockey director ever. Jim Marshall. Jim used to be with HNIC, spent several years in Detroit, and then the last two before the lockout in Tampa. Nobody cuts a better game than Jim. Period.

One of the reasons I love being in Detroit, I can watch CBC when NBC is Fooking things up!!! If I couldn't cut over to CBC when NBC is in a comercial break, I'd be throwing things at the TV too!!

The NBC shows are comercial free, but you gotta watch them in HD. Another friend from my ESPN NHL days called, he said the HD feed has been spectacular!

And I gotta disagree with you Moogs on the passion issue. I think the games on the whole have been phenomenal! Lots of end to end play, great chances, great saves, great D. What am I seeing your not?

Gaboric has scored some great goals, Sundin had a great goal yesterday, that whole Slovakia/Russia game was unbelievable! Even the "old" Americans have played pretty good I think. Tho I'm sure they will get their butts handed to them soon!!

While the Amateur game your promoting has its place, I think this type of tournament is the greatest show on earth!

And I think one of the big reasons it is, is due to the larger ice surface! Look at the way they are calling the games. Pretty much the same rules as the NHL this year, only they work a thousand times better with the larger rink!

If the NHL wants to know how to "really" fix their game, they need look no further than that!!

[Stone Of Love]

Originally Posted by Moogs Fox's format in general sucks.

Reverend!

[Moogs]

What have you been seeing that I haven't? I think the answer to that is simple: Slovakia. They seem to be playing with a lot of determination this time around and FWIW that's refreshing. But watching Sweden and the Czechs was not a pretty sight. And I'm almost glad I missed the Team USA game yesterday. I'm sure that was ugly too. Canada... I dunno. They seem to be on cruise control a little bit though they did get fiesty against Germany which I liked.

But you know, I just don't sense the "this is the biggest game of my life" feeling I used to get from Olympic hockey. These guys are always so cool and collected. They already know what it's like to be on the big stage and win in the Stanley Cup playoffs, and make the big money. I dunno. It's kind of like watching an All-Star game. Maybe the solution is to let every nation have any 4 NHL players it chooses from the list of natives, and the rest have to come from the Minors or college. THAT might be interesting.

And you're right about the rinks but the NHL will never get the stadiums around the league to modify their seating plans or give up the revenue those seats produce. Shortsighted but what else would you expect from the NHL?

[InactionMan]

USAmerican women just lost to the Swedes in hockey. Quite the upset. I guess the Canuck girls will just beat up on a different team this year.

[Moogs]

Well one of the commentators a few days ago was saying Sweden and Finland could compete with the Canadians and US, that it was just a matter of overcoming their fear / the mental hurdle, not talent. Looks like they were right.

[kieran]

Yea, first time in women's hockey that a major championship doesn't come down to the U.S. and Canada. Quite an upset by Sweden

[Moogs]

Oh is this the elimination round we're talking about already? Shite. Well good for them. Nothing against Canada but I hope they win. Even with Foresberg back I don't think their men's team will do any real damage. Not unless they play 180 degrees of the way they did yesterday.

Something about Swedes. They're just so unemotional about everything. That's why if I were a GM I'd be careful about putting too many Swedes on one team. That's what Vancouver has done and the Sedins are thriving now but still. Naslund. I don't know. Huge talent but sometimes he just lacks fire. Foresberg and Norstrom (also out) are the only real exceptions to that rule IMO.

Even in other sports. Edberg in Tennis, Per Ulrik whatever in golf, even Jesper (though he dresses funny which is nice)... they're just so even keeled. Sometimes I think you need to get a little pissed off to play your best (in any sport). Socially I've read the same thing about Swedes, that they tend to be more reserved in many situations than say a Canadian or Brit or Russian would be.

[Windswept]

Oh, man! What a *waste*!

'Gold' medal down the drain, and for nothing. *sigh*

BARDONECCHIA, Italy - Alone in the clear, Lindsey Jacobellis could have practically crawled to the finish line and won. After an Olympic-sized flub, she probably wishes she had. Coasting to what should have been a runaway victory Friday, the 20-year-old American grabbed her board on the second-to-last jump before the finish line. Inexplicably — and some say inexcusably — she fell.

Can you imagine having to live with *that* for the rest of your life - when you were representing your country?

[curiousuburb]

Showboat = slow boat.

(I'll wait for Jon Stewart or similar to make the "tailgrab==make an ass of yourself" obvious joke)

[Elysium]

Yeah finally saw the *official* coverage of the Jacobellis crash. Way to go retard. Let's showboat, then crash and lose the gold medal. In the words of Carlos Mencia "de de de"... Way to f*** up...

[DMBand0026]

Yeah, that was colossally bad. If I were her, I might have just stayed down. I feel terrible for her, but at the same time I realize that it wash her choice to show off and therefore her fault that she fell and lost the gold.

She didn't win the silver, she lost the gold. Sucks for her.

[Moogs]

Bode Miller released an autobiography last year, "Bode: Go Fast, Be Good, Have Fun." It is catchier than "Fifth Place, Disqualified, Did Not Finish." Those are the results for Miller after three Olympic ski races at the Turin Games. Miller, the defending world champion, pre-Olympic media star and medal contender in five events, made it 0 for 3 Saturday when he slammed into a gate in the men's super-G, then teetered off the course like a weekend novice looking for somewhere soft to fall.

Attaboy, Bode! I love it when media phenoms with no substance lose. I predict an alcoholic binge upon his return to the states, and a story four years from now about Bode rising from the ashes just to compete, but of course not win anything. It's the US Ski Team Way. Bill Johnson, Tommy Moe... these guys are all cut from the same cloth. Big bad rebels with an attitude, who make great headlines but rarely the center podium. Bill Johnson had some kind of bad accident and now is mentally incapacitated to some degree, asking people who used to write him fan letters for money.

One day we'll look at the Scandinavians, Swiss and French skiers and figure out why they typically end up on the podium and we don't. Talk is cheap. Years of endless preparation is hard.

[Eugene]

Originally Posted by Moogs One day we'll look at the Scandinavians, Swiss and French skiers and figure out why they typically end up on the podium and we don't. Talk is cheap. Years of endless preparation is hard.

You seem to have it in for Bode. Reality check here, he was the #1 ranked skier in the World Cup standings for months, ahead of Hermann Maier. Bode himself admits that he usually either wins or DNFs.

BTW, Scandinavian countries traditionally stick to ski jumping and the various XC events. It's the *gasp* Alpine countries that dominate DH skiing. You know, Austria, Italy, Germany, etc. Americans hold their own. Ted Ligety was ranked 8th in the WC standings last year, and could be higher now after winning the Olympic combined event.

[Moogs]

You're right I do have it in for Bode, because I think he's a media personality first, skier second. Either by his own design or by letting it happen. The only time I've ever seen a skier from an alpine country get this kind of media frenzy about his looks, attitude, blah blah yawn... was Alberto Tomba. And as memory serves, he won and won big (even if he was an ass who drove ATVs all over his parents' landscaping, etc). That's the difference.

I don't think we hold our own on average. I think, given access to places like Big Sky, Whistler and Arapahoe basin, we could turn out truly great alpine skiers, every single Olympics. Maybe Bode and Co are less to blame than their coaches, I don't know...

I just know every time the media blows a lot of smoke about our rebellious skier guy but rarely does he ever win gold or silver. I can't remember exactly, but even Pikabo Street was kind of the same deal, right? She won some races but was never the star they pronounced her to be.

[Moogs]

What's worst of all, is Bode doesn't know how to lose. He skied straight off the course after almost having wiped out (nice recovery admittedly), and didn't let the cameras near him. What's that old adage about heat and kitchens?

When Rhalves had a bad run, he promptly congratulated the guys on the podium, then hung around for a couple minutes so NBC could interview him, and he was very cool about the whole thing (answering annoying questions, etc). That's another reason I don't like guys like Bode.

They're all about saying their peace in the ramp up to a big event but when they lose, they're nowhere to be found.

[gck]

Originally Posted by Moogs I just know every time the media blows a lot of smoke about our rebellious skier guy but rarely does he ever win gold or silver. I can't remember exactly, but even Pikabo Street was kind of the same deal, right? She won some races but was never the star they pronounced her to be.

Sorry, but "rarely does he ever win gold or silver" is probably not really fitting for Bode, he won quite a lot of World Cup races, in all disciplines (which only a handful of skiers has managed to because usually people specialize into certain disciplines). Additionally, he won the overall World Cup in 2005 which requires being constantly good over the whole skiing season (and has been dominated by the Austrians in the last years, and the current one), in 2003 he finished second in the overall World Cup, coming out of nowhere (I can remember him having a hand-written "for rent" note on his helmet to get a sponsor to put an ad on it), and in 2004, he won the World Cup in Giant Slalom and Combined (but was "only" 4th in overall). He once lost a ski mid-race and almost finished it with just one ski (which was hilarious, every other guy would just have stopped and whined).

I don't know how he appears in the US media, but on Austrian television he doesn't act childish or whatever, he doesn't complain about the snow or whatever if he fell etc... He just appears to be very relaxed, laid back and likeable. Maybe it just depends on how a journalist approaches him.

Bode Miller is extremely important to the international recognition of US skiing, I mean, before Miller came, Americans were just an also-ran in skiing events (maybe except for Rhalves). At least that's the idea I get here in Austria where all the races are shown live on TV and alpine skiing is really really huge.

[Moogs]

Well for my part I was referencing the Olympics mainly but it's good he's won some races outside of the Olympics at least. You could be right about the journalists too. American journalists are known to feed and spin things one way or another to make a story when there is none, so it's possible.

[gck]

Originally Posted by Moogs Well for my part I was referencing the Olympics mainly but it's good he's won some races outside of the Olympics at least.

Oh, I understand. Well, he made 2 silver medals in Salt Lake City in 2002. He also won 4 gold medals in the World Championships (I think 2 in 2003 and 2 in 2005) and 1 silver medal. So he's really not that bad at the big events after all, but this year doesn't seem to be his best, he fell in almost every slalom etc...

Originally Posted by Moogs American journalists are known to feed and spin things one way or another to make a story when there is none, so it's possible.

This reminds me of last year when he won the world cup: He was quite bad in the last race and later said that he was drunk. Well actually, the day before the last race, there was another race in which he scored enough points to win the World Cup, so he was simply partying one day earlier since that last race didn't matter at all. Journalists twisted this into a weird "he's almost always drunk during races" story.

[Crusader]

I think, by far, Curling has rocked my socks the most. I love watching Curling for some reason... it almost makes me wish that I a) Could do Curling and b) Was from a country that would allow me to compete on it's curling team. Quite frankly that's the only way I would ever get to the Olympics.

[Moogs]

I smell sarcasm.

[curiousuburb]

Holy lame hockey team, Batman!

Outhit, outshot, outplayed, outscored, and toomanypenalties... again. (scroll down and start from the bottom)

[Moogs]

Canada is beatable. Quinn seems unable to motivate them, which is fine with me. I never liked the gum smackin bastard anyway. I wonder if it will come down to Finland and Russia. Would be interesting because Finland is definitely the more balanced team. Sweden now seems on their game as well, and Lunqvuist is as good as any goalie in the tournament right now, which has traditionally been their weakness.

[Franz Josef]

More drugs > http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/othe...ts/4730842.stm . This times it's Austrian biatheletes. The Austrian chancellor sounds pretty disgusted.

No disrespect to Olympic fans but we'd be better off not having it.

[Moogs]

Not having what? The Olympics? Because some people wanted to cut corners? Look, people cut corners in all walks of life. Athletes (professional and Olympic), bankers, lawyers, farmers, doctors, everywhere you might consider working, there are people breaking the rules. Unless I'm not understanding you, why single out the Olympics on account of people breaking the rules?

Is a biathlete taking performance enhancing drugs somehow more damaging to society than a banker skimming money off of one of the funds he manages, or a journalist stretching the facts, or more to the point, NBA, MLB or NFL athletes taking the same drugs to enhance their performance? Let's cancel MLB because I wager going into last season a full 30 or 40% of them are on something, Sammy Sosa included (the lying, egomaniacal sack of shit... no big contract for you Sammy, bye bye!).

The solution is not to end the event, but to curb the abuse and perhaps a change in leadership when required.

[Franz Josef]

Originally Posted by Moogs The solution is not to end the event, but to curb the abuse and perhaps a change in leadership when required.

That might be true - maybe a new (stiff) broom is what 's needed. I can't help feeling we're pushing the boat out here a bit. Occasional individuals breaking the rules is one thing but when whole country teams in a given sport do it it starts to look institutional. I've no great attachment to a specific sport so perhaps it's an easier view for me to take, but the Olympic movement looks pretty tarnished here.

[InactionMan]

I'm hoping that after the Canadian men don't win a medal in hockey, people will finally realize that Pat Quinn is not a good coach. No matter how much talent you throw at him, he's just unable to coach them to victory. The 2002 team won the gold despite their coach, not because of him.

[Moogs]

Seriously... I've never liked Pat Quinn, partly for the reasons you cite and partly because some of his run-ins with the media and others give the distinct impression that he's an arrogant bastard to boot. Just something about the guy that makes me want to hit him.