2/10/14 12:13 PM

Sage Kotsenburg

Eating chips and candy prepping for gold metal run...
Decides on new move that puts him over the top 3 minutes before the run.

"I had never done that trick before,'' Kotsenburg said live on TODAY Monday. "A couple people had done it, but I had never even thought about trying it. I just winged it, and I ended up landing it, so it was pretty cool. There’s no other place to do it."

"I unfortunately had to skip Opening Ceremonies because it’s a late night, Opening Ceremonies, and we had a really early day, so I just ate a bunch of candy and some chips and just got ready, got into the Olympic vibe,'' Kotsenburg said. "I fell asleep watching 'Fight Club,' too."

Kids, LOL

Snowboarding actually pretty interesting to watch with new slopestyle event for us. Less DVR skipping that other Winter Olympic viewings. ;)

2/10/14 12:18 PM

BTW, Anyone else think there is no way that little [awesome] Russian figure skater is 15 YO?


Also, can the curling stone hear them yelling at it? And if yes can it actually do anything about it? ;)

2/10/14 4:47 PM

"Also, can the curling stone hear them yelling at it? And if yes can it actually do anything about it?"

those yells are instructions for the sweepers.

2/10/14 6:49 PM

I hope you know I was joking. ;)

2/10/14 8:13 PM

Curling would only work if it was a drinking game. Booooorrrrriiiiinnnnngggg.....

Snowboarding rules and Sage as so funny. I enjoy the snowboarding because it is kids being kids.

Figure skating could be cool if they just had the guys as more masculine. Why do they have to be feminine? It is a strong athletic sport that has them prissing around, yuck.

I like sports that don't have judges, just times or the first across line please.

2/10/14 8:20 PM

See the Biathlon and Skiathalon? We dug them both, no judging either... Just time, and penalties in the Bi for missed shots. Being a penalty loop of 150 yard for each missed shot. I think it was 150 yards...

2/10/14 8:26 PM

The yelling is what makes that sport so exciting.

I believe the Russian girl could be 15. Her body positions in the spins are freakin' amazing.

2/10/14 8:37 PM

quote:

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Figure skating could be cool if they just had the guys as more masculine. Why do they have to be feminine? It is a strong athletic sport that has them prissing around, yuck.

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2/10/14 8:56 PM

"The male figure skaters are no more feminine than cyclists!"


I think a lot of skaters have ballet training, and exude gobs more grace than any cyclist I have seen.

my 2 cents, but I got the impression it was said grace being referenced pretty much.

2/11/14 4:12 AM

I was making no reference to their physical build.

I mean stuff like frilly clothes, female movements and how they carry themselves, the music choices etc. Grace can be masculine, looks at board sports as a whole.

I attend the ballet and most times the guys act like guys as they dance no matter their sexual preference, figure skating guys are all acting like girls in how they act and move. Prissy.

Uh, male pro cyclist are of slight build but are very masculine in how they act and move. I have never been told I was feminin acting, even with shaved legs. Cycling is a hard man's blue collar sport in much of the world, not the white collar game we treat it as here in the states.

2/11/14 8:06 AM

Figure skating, more than most sports, is dependent on what judges like. I don't know just what judges like, but I'm guessing that at least some skaters are basing their performances on what gets points, rather than what they might prefer to do.

2/11/14 9:11 AM

ok, I see your point. And I agree on the clothing part too. It is a bit unusual to see all the glitzering decorations on the men's clothing walking down the street!

But I disagree on the movement part. Skating is intrinsically a very fluid movement. So anyone "skating to impress" will focus on enhancing that aspect. More over, there's also the slant to "make difficult move look effortless", which is exactly the opposite of male ballet dancers who emphasize the effort of their jump to show "power".

What you considered "feminine movement" is to me perfectly neutral and in tune with the overall character of the sport.

That said, Matthew also has a point that the athlets skate to the judges. I do distinctly recall an incident when a (female) skater did a summersault, which the crowd loved it. But the judges decided they'll disallow it going forward. So there's definitely a bias to keep figure skating smooth and slick.

Still, I happen to like it the way it is.

2/11/14 9:31 AM

I enjoy just about everything in the Winter Olympics, to varying degrees. A little skating goes a long way, but it's been enjoyable so far. I even got into curling a bit watching the Vancouver games -- think of it more like a chess match than an athletic contest. It's about 80% strategy, only 20% physical execution. But, yeah, it's kind of goofy and laid-back.

Like Erik, I prefer sports with objective criteria. But I still appreciate the style-judged events like freestyle skiing. There's some objectivity, at least. You can tell what's a harder trick, and you can see when somebody flubs something.

But the heart of the winter games, for me, is Alpine racing. I did a little of it way back in my youth (early teens). It's a beautiful thing. And the clock tells the truth. It still amazes me to watch the downhill and see the results; after 2 minutes at 65 mph, barely one-sixth of a second separates first from third, and Bode Miller, a little over a half-second behind the winner, comes in 8th.

2/11/14 1:55 PM

Thread drift here.
But talking about Alpine skiing, I loved Julia Mancuso's run yesterday, coming out of nowhere (as far as her recent results go) to beat Maria Riech by a full second, which in skiing terms would be like 5 minutes in a TT.
She kinds of reminds me a bit of a female Bode miller.

Last edited by henoch on 2/11/14 2:35 PM; edited 1 time in total

2/11/14 2:26 PM

Mancuso was cool. I don't downhill ski, so I don't really understand what's going on with the runs, but I like her 'tude. And I didn't stay up to watch the slalom, but she must have done pretty well even though she hadn't skied one in a year or whatever.

I like the XC ski and speedskate events. The mass start XC races have some crazy finishes with everyone collapsing as soon as they cross the line. Not sure you can work much harder than sprinting on xc skis.

A cool story. There is a kid from Stockholm, Maine (way up north in Aroostook County) is on the biathlon team, Russell Currier. Maybe 15 years ago a foundation in Maine, started by a woman who was divorced from one of the Intel founders, started a xc ski/biathlon training facility up in the Presque Isle/ Fort Kent area. Currier was a local kid who got into the program, and now he's an Olympian. A number of the team members train up there. I've skied there (no guns for me).

2/11/14 5:28 PM

Another vote for objective sports. Any time a winner is decided by "judging" the results are both subjective and prone to favoritism and fraud. Timers and score boards don't care who you are.

2/11/14 5:55 PM

Alas, I don't have xskiing in my future, though with the current southern freak weather I may just need to start. Don't let the rifles scare you, that form of shooting is so far from any preconceived ideas you may have about firearms it would shock you.

I shot competively as a kid and those Annie rifles they shoot are like UCI/Tour bikes are to us. Wow!

2/11/14 6:25 PM

Mancuso is a sweet example to me. I get really miffed at the folks who think the bronze and silver made waste of all their effort and trip to the olyies.

But who am I to question what it takes to put yourself there I guess.

---
Costas is emailing Stanley Kubrick to see if still has the Clockwork Orange eye devices Malcolm used to keep his eyes open to viddy on the screen...

2/11/14 10:38 PM

Looks like Costas is out. I doubt he will be back either, damn his eyes looked bad yesterday.

2/12/14 8:13 AM

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304450904579365011902608806

2/13/14 6:26 AM

...is to strike oil. ;-)

2/13/14 6:34 AM

Yeah, the per capita income in The County is a bit less...

2/13/14 10:26 AM

I agree about Julia Mancuso, Sparky (I've followed her career for a while -- she's from my hometown, Reno). Her elation on winning bronze was wonderful to see. The New York Times covered a half-page with a color photo of her exulting -- best shot of these Olympics, to me.

And the contrast with some others was extreme. Hanna Kearney comes to mind, though, like you, I try not to be critical of people at that level -- I really don't know what they go through.

2/15/14 5:36 PM

Just saw the last 2 legs of the womans cross country relay, wow that was spectacular.
I don't really know much if anything about XC skiing, but just being a fan of endurance sports that was super awesome.

Last edited by henoch on 2/15/14 6:11 PM; edited 2 times in total

2/15/14 6:01 PM

That was awesome - gotta be one of the greatest anchor legs ever.