Least Favorite Winter Olympic Sport

[motely36]

I don't get biathlon. Ski, shoot, ski, shoot.

Also, while I enjoy the Figure Skating, I don't see the purpose of having both pairs skating and ice dancing. Aren't they the same thing? So I would eliminate the ice dancing.

[TZ]

1. No the pairs and ice dancing are not the same

The ice dancing is a much more artistic activity..It really is more like ballroom dancing on ice. Where as pairs involves throws and lifts....
Probably my least favorite...is curling. I don't get it.

[Arugula Latte]

3. Are you kidding?! Any sport that involves sweeping RULES!

:D

[tigereye]

19. there's a cool sort of zen like strategy to curling

I've found myself a bit fascinated by it. Plus it's fun to watch the curlers figure out what to do. Also I really like the way they release the stones...


yup. obviously we've been stuck in the house here waaaay too much! :D

[pokerfan]

2. What's not to get about Biathlon?

Your pulse is pounding and you're out of breath and now you have to hit a target the size of a silver dollar from fifty meters.

[Zavulon]

27. It simulates how some people actually hunted for food.

I love the sport.

[pokerfan]

29. I also like modern pentathlon

shooting, swimming, fencing, equestrian and cross country running.

[XemaSab]

4. Curling is for homosexuals and Canadians

Therefore, I am a fan of curling. :D

[NM_hemilover]

17. I'm neither, but

There is just enough pool and bowling in it.

[tigereye]

20. that's good Xema

:rofl: :thumbsup:

[DevonRex]

25. I can like it, too, can't I?

I guess I can be an honorary homosexual and Canadian. I like them, too. :)

[KamaAina]

5. Biathlon is meant to mimic North Woods survival skills

I think.

[bookworm65t]

6. commentaries by American networks

especially NBC. Having to listen to someone like Matt Lauer sound as though he was an expert on all the winter sports. Thank God I have the mute button on my remote!

[Alexander]

7. I just don't get curling.

[dugaresa]

8. makes me think of hot curlers and hair dressers

which is not really olympian unless you are dealing with unruly hair.

[lazarus]

9. there's a lot of strategy and skill

I'm just a sometime fan, since they only show it every four years, but here's what I like. First, the thrower has to figure out, with the help of the skip (guy at the other end of the ice) exactly the optimal placement for the stone. Keep in mind they throw 16 total stones in each of 10 ends, so you don't always just shoot for the center of the house, or target. You set up blocks and transfers and stuff. The throw isn't just straight, either. Curling ice is pebbled. The spin placed on the stone affects how much it curls towards the end of the throw.

Second, the sweepers. They can affect how straight the throw is, when it starts curling, and how much it travels after the curl starts. So they have a lot to do with where the stone ends up. Sweeping can affect the distance up to 6-8 feet in aggregate.

Try watching for a whole round, and pay attention to where they're placing the stones. There's a lot of strategy in this sport.

I don't like figure skating or any other "sport" that uses judges. I like my sports objective. Relatively speaking. I do admire their athleticism.

[surrealAmerican]

14. It's like bocce ...

... only on ice, and with brooms.

[SoxFan]

15. The only problem is that it gets confused with the even more awesome hurling

A cross between field hockey, a street riot, and 9th century warfare. Only the Irish are capable of such a thing.

[we can do it]

10. Figure Skating

[MiddleFingerMom]

11. Many years ago, I saw a GREAT documentary...

.
... about the training involved for the biathlon.
.
Always have been interested in that sport, as I have trouble employing
fine muscle control for a LONG time after using BRUTE muscle strength.
.
Went into a bank when discharged from the hospital on crutches after a
BAD motorcycle accident... and it was a good 20-30 minutes before I
could sign my name because my hands were shaking so much after the
strain of getting in there on the crutches.
.
Biathlon training involved meditation and bio-feedback and all sorts of
progressive training techniques that, at the time, were considered weirdo
hippie drug-addled theories.
.
Which they WERE... kinda.
.
But also very effective.
.

[DevonRex]

12. I absolutely HATE figure skating. I don't want to know if they're a couple, used to be a couple

or might be a couple in the future. I hate their outfits. I hate most of the music they skate to. I hate that female announcer's voice when she talks so earnestly about the performances. I hate it when the skaters cry at the end. I hate it when they have cute little teddy bears in their arms while waiting for their "scores" at the end, while crying, of course. I hate the globbed-on makeup.

I think that after the second fall, they should just sit down on their butts and scoot around the ice. To Led Zeppelin.

[tigereye]

21. ha ha!

I like the skating, but I agree the drama is a bit much at times. However, I really like your perspective- with the scooting around to Led Zep!

:rofl:

[DevonRex]

24. Thank you ma'am. It would certainly add some levity to the occasion.

Not to mention some relief from all the darned "Thumper scampering around in the forest" music.

:hi:

[old mark]

13. Biathlon is the only one I like...don't care for all that snowy/icy shit much.

Otherwise the winter Olympics is OK, but they should have it indoors, like in a dome.


mark

[Brickbat]

16. Biathalon is awesome. Any sport that is taken up to guard against the Russians is awesome.

I think it's like national service in Finland.

[tigereye]

18. yeah, I don't find the biathlon that interesting- but it's a big deal in Europe..

[Lydia Leftcoast]

22. Figure skating and ice dancing have different rules

In ice dancing, the couple cannot do any throws and they must be in physical contact for the entire (most of the?) time. I don't think they can do any overhead lifts, either.

Furthermore, the preliminaries for ice dancing require each couple to do the same series of dance steps, such as waltz, fox trot, etc.

Pairs looks really dangerous. Throw triple salchows? Toss the woman into the air so that she does horizontal barrel rolls before you catch her? One-handed overhead lifts? It's a wonder that pairs skaters live very long.

I'm sure a person can get injured while ice dancing (I'm such a klutz that I recently got injured just WALKING on ice), but you don't hear of ice dancers dropping their partners.

Personally, I am completely uninterested in ice hockey or any other team sport.

[FarLeftRage]

23. Winter Olympic Hockey used to be pretty good...

Now that the Pros have ruined it, I don't much care for it anymore.

I do like the biathlon... Saw the woman's today and it was quite good.

[Zavulon]

26. Figure skating.

I couldn't care less about any "sport" which is decided by judges, even if I trusted the judges to be fair - which I don't. That Russia-Canada farce in the 2002 Utah Olympics was all I needed to swear off the "sport" forever.

[Raffi Ella]

28. curling -

my GOD that is a BORE.

[JI7]

30. i like most of the ice skating but i hate the ice dancing

[Paper Roses]

31. I've been watching for so many years, I must say that Curling

is my least favorite sport.
As far as the athletes are concerned, all are fantastic but I've become a little bored with things like the figure skating. It is becoming a little same-old. The pairs Ice Dancing is still new enough for me to be interested.

I am a great fan of the half pipe. It is new, exciting and these kids are amazing. Now if we could tone down all the commentators, the whole thing would be better. I don't really need to be told that someone is out of the metals because he/she fell.

Geeze, I'm cranky this AM. Last night I turned the TV off, I had enough of the "We'll be back right after this". I was looking forward to some lazy TV time but I had a book that was better than the coverage.