Showing posts with label Winter Olympics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Winter Olympics. Show all posts
Well that was fun, huh? A small, not-so-patriotic admission: I love the Canadian national anthem. But, in the end, we're still America and they're still Canada. I call that a win.
Also, congrats to my little brother, who will be attending Garfield High School next season. Really don't know what happened to the middle child. Ballard? Yeah, guess everyone can't be great.
Anyway, back to the Winter Olympics. Those same Winter Olympics I all but left for dead just a couple of weeks ago, after the death of a luger threatened to mar the games.
Well, it didn't. The IOC took much criticism. It look immediately as if they paid a day of respects before simply putting it out of site, out of mind. Which they did. But there wasn't much choice. The games had to go on. The Americans paid tribute a few days ago, about as well as one could expect.
Instead of that awful tragedy being the story of these games, as well as lacking snow and NBC, these games were the story. From the U.S. standpoint, these were some of the most successful Olympics ever. The U.S. men won the four man bobsled for the first time in six decades. Both hockey teams played in the gold medal game.
Despite some frustrations in places, the star athletes like Lindsey Vonn and Bode Miller were great stories and medalists (as well as Sports Illustrated centerfolds).
The U.S. amassed 37 medals in nine different sports, far outstripping their then-record 25 at Tourin.
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Also, congrats to my little brother, who will be attending Garfield High School next season. Really don't know what happened to the middle child. Ballard? Yeah, guess everyone can't be great.
Anyway, back to the Winter Olympics. Those same Winter Olympics I all but left for dead just a couple of weeks ago, after the death of a luger threatened to mar the games.
Well, it didn't. The IOC took much criticism. It look immediately as if they paid a day of respects before simply putting it out of site, out of mind. Which they did. But there wasn't much choice. The games had to go on. The Americans paid tribute a few days ago, about as well as one could expect.
Instead of that awful tragedy being the story of these games, as well as lacking snow and NBC, these games were the story. From the U.S. standpoint, these were some of the most successful Olympics ever. The U.S. men won the four man bobsled for the first time in six decades. Both hockey teams played in the gold medal game.
Despite some frustrations in places, the star athletes like Lindsey Vonn and Bode Miller were great stories and medalists (as well as Sports Illustrated centerfolds).
The U.S. amassed 37 medals in nine different sports, far outstripping their then-record 25 at Tourin.
Hey it's Friday. How about that. The New York City school district is closed, generally an apocalyptic sign given that this is only the fourth time in six years that has happened. The weather in the Big Apple is apocalyptic, however, as they are comparing the storm sitting over it right now to the "great storm of 1888." So, you know, it's big.
We, thankfully, are getting only the edge of that storm, which has led to wind gusts in the 60 mph range. If I turn up missing, just check down wind.
Oh yeah, and there was some event up near the White House yesterday too.
A summit on health care.
The Paul Krugman, New York Times take, noting that this whole reconciliation thing was used pretty recently - to pass two Bush tax cuts. That's also being called the "nuclear option." Somehow, I don't think people will care what it was if the bill gets done.
My own note to the reconciliation part: I am watching Fox News as I write this and they have a former Senate Majority Leader (Bill Frist) talking. He is saying it has only been used for things like the Bush tax cuts and welfare reform in the 1990's. In other words, bills that help rich people. I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'.
I think it is safe to call this an opposing look at the summit (also, why is everything a summit now? Just like anything bad that happens is a "-gate". Can't we come up with a title?) Anyway, read the whole thing as it has some good political analysis near the end.
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We, thankfully, are getting only the edge of that storm, which has led to wind gusts in the 60 mph range. If I turn up missing, just check down wind.
Oh yeah, and there was some event up near the White House yesterday too.
A summit on health care.
The Paul Krugman, New York Times take, noting that this whole reconciliation thing was used pretty recently - to pass two Bush tax cuts. That's also being called the "nuclear option." Somehow, I don't think people will care what it was if the bill gets done.
My own note to the reconciliation part: I am watching Fox News as I write this and they have a former Senate Majority Leader (Bill Frist) talking. He is saying it has only been used for things like the Bush tax cuts and welfare reform in the 1990's. In other words, bills that help rich people. I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'.
I think it is safe to call this an opposing look at the summit (also, why is everything a summit now? Just like anything bad that happens is a "-gate". Can't we come up with a title?) Anyway, read the whole thing as it has some good political analysis near the end.
"I have no words to say what we feel."
Those were the words of IOC president Jacques Rogge, after hearing the news that Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili had died after crashing and flying into a support beam with no padding adjacent to the track.
It is the first death in the history of the Winter Olympic games.
At a speed near 90 mph, Kumaritashvili lost control just seconds from the finish line, becoming just one of many that have crashed on the the $100 million track considered the fastest in the world. He was the only one even seriously injured.
Paramedics were on the scene immediately, administering CPR while blood poured off of the face of the 21-year old.
The images are truly painful to look at.
As the Seattle Times notes, there had been controversy around the track coming into these Olympics:
One competitor, from Austria, wondered allowed whether the athletes were just lemmings, crash test dummies on the world's fastest, and possibly most dangerous track.
[More]
Those were the words of IOC president Jacques Rogge, after hearing the news that Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili had died after crashing and flying into a support beam with no padding adjacent to the track.
It is the first death in the history of the Winter Olympic games.
At a speed near 90 mph, Kumaritashvili lost control just seconds from the finish line, becoming just one of many that have crashed on the the $100 million track considered the fastest in the world. He was the only one even seriously injured.
Paramedics were on the scene immediately, administering CPR while blood poured off of the face of the 21-year old.
The images are truly painful to look at.
As the Seattle Times notes, there had been controversy around the track coming into these Olympics:
"The danger of the Whistler track has been talked about for months - particularly after several countries, including the U.S., were upset with restrictions over access to the facility by nations other than Canada, some noting it could lead to a safety issue. Some sliders, especially those from small luge federations, saw the world's fastest track this week for the first time."
One competitor, from Austria, wondered allowed whether the athletes were just lemmings, crash test dummies on the world's fastest, and possibly most dangerous track.