Wednesday 24 February 2010

Winter Olympic's coverage, including a live on the spot report from Vancouver

I'm currently enjoying the Winter Olympics' coverage, in between bouts of wedding photo sorting - I have got the 500 shots down to about 80 and sickness - basically a persistent cold that has more than outstayed its welcome, I've been trying to get it to pack it's bags for the last two weeks but as soon as the taxi arrives to pick it up it gets scared off by a big sneeze and hacking cough.

As a skier I'm ashamed to admit that amongst my favourite events so far have been the boarder cross racing (no that is not trying to break into the US) and the half pipe star the Flying Tomato* (aka Shaun White). The short track speed skating has also been great fun to watch. It was really great to see Bode Miller finally get a gold medal - I love his do or die attitude and as a bonus he has a personality that he can take off the slope with him. My last sporting hero, who showed the same all or nothing spirit, was F1 driver Nigel Mansell who appeared to have traded a personality for a pair of fluffy eyebrows and a circa 1970's porn moustache.

* Who is a dead ringer for England's (since she has won a medal we can now hail her as English**) own Amy Williams, just without the bumps. If he ever develops Moobs it will be almost impossible to tell them apart....

** Works in reverse for Scottish athletes who miraculously become British if there is a hint of a victory but revert to being Scottish as soon as they lose. The same could be said of the Welsh but since they don't win Winter Olympic medals (synchronised sheep shagging has yet to make an appearance at the Olympics', summer or winter) they are hardly worth mentioning.....

It's strange, other than supporting British athletes I generally support the Americans and Canadians but that might just stop (Bode Miller being the exception) after the disgraceful behaviour of the US and Canadian teams over the Womens Skeleton event. (This appears to be nothing more than throwing yourself head first on a tray down a white track but is set to become the most talked about winter sport in the UK for at least the next four years. To be honest, I'm a bit bored of it already). God knows we needed that gold medal (although Amy would be wise not to let Gordon Brown anywhere near it, otherwise it will be winging its way in a pre-paid envelope to cash4Gold before you can say "UK Gold reserve, what gold reserve?" for about 1/16 of it's actual value....) Now I'm sorry America but how bad did you want to win? To lodge a complaint about the design of a helmet, that has already passed the sports governing bodie's rules, when you get to the halfway stage of the competition you are trailing is petty and bordering on gamesmanship. As for you Canada- wow. What have you done to your reputation for friendliness and sportsmanship - Once you had removed Amy from the podium you would still have had to get passed the two German and the American athletes before you could "Own that podium".....what would the next steps have been? Assassination, over- zealous tazering? Remember these are fit athletes not vulnerable pensioners. It would take quite a large hit to bring them down....
Mischief and  MgG do their version of the
 "Own the podium "called "Own the bed"
I can confirm they are both Olympic
Champions at the sport....

Mischief for the short snooze event
while McG won the Freestyle kipping,
just edging out a zzzzz'ing Mrs B

Let's face it, the "Own the podium" campaign was misguided at best. Yes, I applaud that you have built the worlds fastest and most technically challenging toboggan track but find it unacceptable that you should then restrict track time for anyone but Canadians. That smacks of a kid taking his ball back because he's not winning. Contrast this with the behaviour of the two German athletes who not only congratulated Amy on her victory but also hoisted her above their heads in celebration. At least, I hope they were celebrating with her and not attempting to chuck her off the podium. The footage I saw stopped short (a bit like Mrs B's efforts to watch the final run, 20 minutes before the conclusion of the competition Mrs B was out like a light .....). Yes, winning is important and should be worked for and celebrated when it happens but not at the cost of the spirit of competition...... Besides you are giving the organisers of the London 2012 games ideas, only they will probably get it horribly wrong and restrict access to the facilities for any UK competitors.

That's enough from the studio here in England. I have a real treat for you this week and with no expense spared (or even spent) we have a man on the spot in Vancouver. We sent him out about three years ago to report on the build up to the games only to find that he has gone native on us and married a Canadian (Joyce, who I'm sure still retains the spirit of friendliness and sportsmanship). He has recently taken up the Canadian past-time of falling off the roof and yes this is his first and only post in three year....For those of you mad enough to want to know anything further about Mitch he as appeared in a number of BlackLOG adventures...

Please note that these blogs were in the days before The Beast.....

So without further ado; over to Mitch live in Vancouver***

*** Please be patient there may be a little bit of a delay as we are using UK developed and built equipment (yeah like a couple of slits in the back of your helmet are suddenly going to give you super speed and strength). Don't forget this is the country that brought the world the Austin Allegro (the world's only car with a square steering wheel.  There is a rumour that they wanted to use the same technology for the tyres to stop it rolling backwards on hills) and the Austin Princess (Like a wedge of cake on a skateboard, only not quite as aerodynamic. Best used for keeping doors open in the summer).

This is Mitch's first Blog so be kind - I will be passing on any negative comments and steal any nice ones for myself.....

Only Mitch has missed his deadline, so maybe next week


Late breaking news

  • As British Airways cabin staff vote to strike, you have to ask, is it less of a case of the rats leaving the ailing airline so much as them chewing through the bottom of the craft?
  • I see that Marina and the Diamonds are playing the deaf institute in Manchester - is it just me that finds that concept of a musical combo playing an institute for the deaf  hilarious?
  • Watched the coverage of the ski-cross last night, 4 skiers 1 track no prisoners...even better than the snowboard racing.
  • To the woman at work who thought the guns in the Biathlon were in case of Bear attacks as competitors race through the forest. Don't be silly,  it's for enforcement purposes in case Canadian athletes are struggling to "own the podium"
Left over from last week, "The Cake Maker" meets The Beast.
Yes I did get a well deserved thwack from that red bag......

20 comments:

  1. 500 wedding photos, be careful if you throw any of them out, you'll get in trouble later...

    Secretia

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  2. I haven't watched loads of the Olympics but what I've seen has been good. Especially Ski-Cross and Snowboard-Cross, brilliant. A special mention also has to go the females in some of the Curling teams...Phwoar!! I may need to move to Scotland..

    A member of my family is throwing himself down that very ice track in the 4-man bobsleigh on Fri/Sat. Proud as punch even if they don't get a medal, but he's a bloody mentalist to be doing that!

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  3. Synchronized Sheep Shagging?

    Bahhh haa haa haa haa haa!!!

    I won't comment on the rest - I am Canadian ... I am nice and fair and sportsman-ly? (Is that right? I'm not 'manly' ...)

    Anyshoes ... I did not witness the incidents to which you refer, so for once in my life (and yes, somebody should take this down for posterity) I will keep my opinion to myself.

    DD

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  4. That is a darling red purse. Functional too. Thank you for your use of the word Moobs in this post. It made my day.

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  5. No figure skating coverage? *shakes head in wonderment* :)

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  6. Besides you are giving the organisers of the London 2012 games ideas, only they will probably get it horribly wrong and restrict access to the facilities for any UK competitors.

    Hmmm - with the British sense of fairplay this is bound to happen - or the UKer's will be only be allowed on the facilities 2 weeks beforehand along with the other 5620 countries taking part.


    Are you tuned into Eurosport then? It's been on a lot in the Imo household. I enjoyed the Canadian 2 man bobsleigh team crash and the Eurosport commentator saying "well they can't blame it on lack of practice" - or words to that effect.

    Although I have nothing against the Canadian's and was pleased they got the Gold in the Ice Dance the other day, after all one ice rink is the same as any other.

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  7. Sheep Shagging sounds like something that would be in a porn movie.

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  8. You silly Brits. By the way, how many medals have guys won exactly?

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  9. Secretia said...
    500 wedding photos, be careful if you throw any of them out, you'll get in trouble later...

    Secretia


    Lucky I'm a hoarder and so keep anything that looks vaguely in focus, digital does have the advantage of not taking up huge amounts of space. On saying that I do need to make a backup of the photos' ...

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  10. cynicalscribble said...

    I haven't watched loads of the Olympics but what I've seen has been good. Especially Ski-Cross and Snowboard-Cross, brilliant. A special mention also has to go the females in some of the Curling teams...Phwoar!! I may need to move to Scotland.. CS, I did not have you down for someone with a Passion for teenage Scottish lassies with permanent PMT. That girl needs to go on an anger management course

    A member of my family is throwing himself down that very ice track in the 4-man bobsleigh on Fri/Sat. Proud as punch even if they don't get a medal, but he's a bloody mentalist to be doing that!
    Will he be riding conventionally or the new UK style - i.e. Upside down for most of the course. Good luck hope they do well.

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  11. Danica-Dragonfly said...

    Synchronized Sheep Shagging?

    Bahhh haa haa haa haa haa!!!

    Glad "ewe" liked it....Sorry, could not resist


    I won't comment on the rest - I am Canadian ... I am nice and fair and sportsman-ly? (Is that right? I'm not 'manly' ...)
    In my defence I have probably insulted most nations somewhere along the line...I would not want you Canadians feeling left out.

    Anyshoes ... I did not witness the incidents to which you refer, so for once in my life (and yes, somebody should take this down for posterity) I will keep my opinion to myself. DD
    Do I get a medal for slaying the Dragonfly into silence....

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  12. Nikki said...

    That is a darling red purse. Functional too.Thought you might like it, espicaly with the bonus that it does not show my blood...(Damn I've just given away that I'm not blue blood royalty...) Thank you for your use of the word Moobs in this post. It made my day.Glad to be of service, I'll try and make your day with other great words in the future

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  13. Gingerella said...

    No figure skating coverage? *shakes head in wonderment* :)
    Isn't figure skating just slippy ballet?

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  14. Imo said...

    Besides you are giving the organisers of the London 2012 games ideas, only they will probably get it horribly wrong and restrict access to the facilities for any UK competitors.

    Hmmm - with the British sense of fairplay this is bound to happen - or the UKer's will be only be allowed on the facilities 2 weeks beforehand along with the other 5620 countries taking part.
    We will probably only allow UK competitors full access to the facilities 2 weeks after the games have finished

    Are you tuned into Eurosport then? It's been on a lot in the Imo household. I enjoyed the Canadian 2 man bobsleigh team crash and the Eurosport commentator saying "well they can't blame it on lack of practice" - or words to that effect. No it's been BBC catch up on demand, which quite frankly has been very poor. Only two hours and about 50% repeating itself. 25% is what's coming up on the show. 50% of sport then 25% of what was covered....Grrrr

    Although I have nothing against the Canadian's and was pleased they got the Gold in the Ice Dance the other day, after all one ice rink is the same as any other. That's why we need to do the winter games over here. We could melt the ice on the rink making it a level playing field, we might stand a chance then....

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  15. Coffeypot said...

    Sheep Shagging sounds like something that would be in a porn movie.
    Are you suggesting there should be a porn Olympics?

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  16. Ed said...

    You silly Brits. By the way, how many medals have guys won exactly?
    Suddenly I have come over all European, so lets see that's Germany,Norway, Switzerland, Austria, France etc.....I think that adds up to more than North America but I'm feeling generous and will let you have South and Central America as well....

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  17. Yikes, I missed that whole skeleton debacle. However, I'm cracking up at the "Flying Tomato". Such a good description. After spending way too much time watching these Olympics, I've decided that I really want to take part in them in 4 years. I'm thinking curling might be my best bet. I should start practicing now though...Off to sweep the house!

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  18. "That smacks of the kid taking his ball back because he's not winning"...

    Spot-on line.

    I couldn't have said it better!

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  19. Brooke said...
    Yikes, I missed that whole skeleton debacle. However, I'm cracking up at the "Flying Tomato". Such a good description. After spending way too much time watching these Olympics, I've decided that I really want to take part in them in 4 years. I'm thinking curling might be my best bet. I should start practicing now though...Off to sweep the house! Brooke you do realise that Curling has nothing to do with hair!!!!

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  20. Kathryn said...
    "That smacks of the kid taking his ball back because he's not winning"...

    Spot-on line.

    I couldn't have said it better!

    Praise indeed from the mighty writer of "From the inside....out"

    ReplyDelete

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