Yeah, but he was Canadian, and this time around it looks like everything the Canadians touch is turning to shit. That’s too bad, because I really like Canada, mostly because I like Canadians.
And RTH main man Lou Reed must be pocketing some nice coin for all the times I’ve seen the commercial using “Perfect Day”. Now that must be Lou as he’s always wanted to sound!
I just posted a link to NBC’s video of this spectacular event in the body of cdm’s post. That is some outfit!
I was pleasantly surprised by the German clowns – and I’ll have to say, I still have a soft spot for the song “Send in the Clowns.” It will be my closing number the day I find a Canadian mountie uniform and do karaoke as Robert Goulet. I’ll open with “To Dream the Impossible Dream,” go into “My Way,” and then send them home weeping with “Send in the Clowns.”
I need to get something off my chest from last night’s Olympics watching that’s still bugging me. I was watching the women’s snowboard half pipe competition. One of the American snowboarders they kept pumping up was seconds away from getting the go-ahead to make her run when she reached into her pocket, pulled out her cell phone and seemed to read a TEXT MESSAGE! The announcers didn’t say a word about it. Then she slipped the phone back into her faux ripped jeans ski pants and proceeded to blow her run. Can you imagine Ryan Howard or Derek Jeter on the on-deck series in the World Series, checking a text message before walking up to bat? OUTRAGE!
While I’m on the subject, a coworker was making the argument at lunch that a competition that depends on being judged should not be considered a sport. He also felt that any competition in which participants wear costumes should not be a sport. I definitely agreed with him on the last point, explaining to an other coworker who felt that costumes are allowable that the participants in a sport should wear uniforms or, at worst, outfits, which stop just short of being costumes.
Then I got to thinking about another beef I have on borderline sports: if the fans can’t make cheer during the competition it shouldn’t be a sport. Golf is the worst offender, but tennis and gymnastics suffer from these restrictions too. At least with gymnasts there are serious matters of life and limb, but golfers and tennis players should be able to fight through some bozos cheering for or against them as they approach the ball.
1. The dude who skated to “Whammer Jammer” (much to the amusement of me and my girlfriend) was Italian, not Canadian. We wondered aloud whether he — as a citizen of the nation obssessed with “la bella figura” — was mortified or not with his costume choice.
2. Evidently there was a Belgian skater — and a pretty good one, too, just shy of making the national TV feed cut — who skated in a skeleton suit to XTC’s “Poor Skeleton Steps Out.” Now THAT’s something I’d like to see!
3. All this got me thinking: if you were a professional skater, and a confirmed, won’t-be-budged-on-this rockist who insisted on skating to a song in the rock idiom, what would it be? The first one that pops into my head is “Gimme Shelter.” I can see some pretty cool choreography punctuated with manly leaps and bounds accompanying that one. How ’bout you?
I’d probably skate to something off that new Jason Falkner album:P Actually, good question, Hrrundi. I wish I had an answer, but I’m such a bad skater I can’t think of what music might represent my program. Maybe something by The Shaggs.
“a coworker was making the argument at lunch that a competition that depends on being judged should not be considered a sport.”
That’s funny, my sister in law has been saying that for a while now too. I think her approach has three categories but I’m drawing a blank on the third. I’ll see if I can get her to weigh in.
Divers are judged, and that’s a sport, no doubt. Gymnastics looks like a sport, too. What is the criteria for sport, then? If you’re not racing someone, you’re just showing off or playing a game?
Yeah, there’s always some referee, umpire, orjudgedeciding what’s fair, but they rarely are responsible for the outcome like the kind of subjectivity that’s necessary in many of these olympic sports. Even frigging ski jumping has it. WTF? Land further away than anyone else, isn’t that enough?
It would be like installing a judge to decide how well a runner stayed in his lane, or having someone taking points off a pole vault or high jump for making the bar move. Ooh, Bob Beamon had a really long jump, too bad all that sand went in the air when he landed, he loses.
Note, I DO consider these questionable sports competitions. It’s good that someone wins and someone loses, and I won’t take that away from the events. mockcarr does a great job at illustrating the interference of judges when the events do not have an objective goal. What’s the line between figure skating, which I do like watching, and ballroom dancing? Again, I’m all for competition in almost any form, so I’m not questioning the competitive value of these events, just the value of the competitive outcome. It’s much more satisfying when someone objectively defeats someone else, less so when it’s a judgment call. I mean, who watches a boxing match and doesn’t want to see one contestant knocked out?
Mod, I think I can give you a scenario in which a pre-at-bat text would be received positively: imagine Howard coming up to bat, pausing to send a text and then hitting a massive game-winning home run, only to have it revealed that his text had accurately predicted to which section he was about to hit that shot? A Text’d Shot Home Run would be legendary. I’m going to write in to the Phils and see if I can make this happen.
Re: judged events and whether they are sports, I’m of a mind that you need direct (head to head) athletic competition with an objective outcome to be considerd a capital-s Sport, so all of those judge-scoring events in the Olympics are something else. Whatever you want to call them – exhibitions, athletic competitions – they are no less impressive for what the athletes do, but as long as someone gets to pick which one they liked the best as winner, it’s not the same thing an actual race, distance event, or head-to-head/team sport.
I saw a bit of something called Ski Crossing last night that actually seemed interesting, with skiers all racing each other on a twisting course with jumps and all that, maybe like the winter version of the weirdly cool indoor biking event in the Summer Games. Too bad some guy who turned his back on America to join Canada won. Traitor!
Also, all skaters should have to perform to “The Soft Parade”.
I didn’t see it, but I’ll say!
Yeah, but he was Canadian, and this time around it looks like everything the Canadians touch is turning to shit. That’s too bad, because I really like Canada, mostly because I like Canadians.
And RTH main man Lou Reed must be pocketing some nice coin for all the times I’ve seen the commercial using “Perfect Day”. Now that must be Lou as he’s always wanted to sound!
I had just ragged on the skater for his ridiculous outfit when Whammer Jammer started playing.
Definitely a JG Olympic first
I imagined Magic Dick beeming with joy while sitting on his couch w/ Lil Magic Jr by his side
I noted that a Canadian pair were skating to music from the film “Requiem For A Dream,” a movie I loved but it made my wife feel sick.
Shortly thereafter, another pair (German) skated to “Send In The Clowns” and my wife thought that was even more upsetting – she f-ing hates clowns.
Didn’t a guy skate to Bold As Love too?
I just posted a link to NBC’s video of this spectacular event in the body of cdm’s post. That is some outfit!
I was pleasantly surprised by the German clowns – and I’ll have to say, I still have a soft spot for the song “Send in the Clowns.” It will be my closing number the day I find a Canadian mountie uniform and do karaoke as Robert Goulet. I’ll open with “To Dream the Impossible Dream,” go into “My Way,” and then send them home weeping with “Send in the Clowns.”
I need to get something off my chest from last night’s Olympics watching that’s still bugging me. I was watching the women’s snowboard half pipe competition. One of the American snowboarders they kept pumping up was seconds away from getting the go-ahead to make her run when she reached into her pocket, pulled out her cell phone and seemed to read a TEXT MESSAGE! The announcers didn’t say a word about it. Then she slipped the phone back into her faux ripped jeans ski pants and proceeded to blow her run. Can you imagine Ryan Howard or Derek Jeter on the on-deck series in the World Series, checking a text message before walking up to bat? OUTRAGE!
While I’m on the subject, a coworker was making the argument at lunch that a competition that depends on being judged should not be considered a sport. He also felt that any competition in which participants wear costumes should not be a sport. I definitely agreed with him on the last point, explaining to an other coworker who felt that costumes are allowable that the participants in a sport should wear uniforms or, at worst, outfits, which stop just short of being costumes.
Then I got to thinking about another beef I have on borderline sports: if the fans can’t make cheer during the competition it shouldn’t be a sport. Golf is the worst offender, but tennis and gymnastics suffer from these restrictions too. At least with gymnasts there are serious matters of life and limb, but golfers and tennis players should be able to fight through some bozos cheering for or against them as they approach the ball.
Couple of points:
1. The dude who skated to “Whammer Jammer” (much to the amusement of me and my girlfriend) was Italian, not Canadian. We wondered aloud whether he — as a citizen of the nation obssessed with “la bella figura” — was mortified or not with his costume choice.
2. Evidently there was a Belgian skater — and a pretty good one, too, just shy of making the national TV feed cut — who skated in a skeleton suit to XTC’s “Poor Skeleton Steps Out.” Now THAT’s something I’d like to see!
3. All this got me thinking: if you were a professional skater, and a confirmed, won’t-be-budged-on-this rockist who insisted on skating to a song in the rock idiom, what would it be? The first one that pops into my head is “Gimme Shelter.” I can see some pretty cool choreography punctuated with manly leaps and bounds accompanying that one. How ’bout you?
HVB
I’d probably skate to something off that new Jason Falkner album:P Actually, good question, Hrrundi. I wish I had an answer, but I’m such a bad skater I can’t think of what music might represent my program. Maybe something by The Shaggs.
“a coworker was making the argument at lunch that a competition that depends on being judged should not be considered a sport.”
That’s funny, my sister in law has been saying that for a while now too. I think her approach has three categories but I’m drawing a blank on the third. I’ll see if I can get her to weigh in.
Divers are judged, and that’s a sport, no doubt. Gymnastics looks like a sport, too. What is the criteria for sport, then? If you’re not racing someone, you’re just showing off or playing a game?
Yeah, there’s always some referee, umpire, orjudgedeciding what’s fair, but they rarely are responsible for the outcome like the kind of subjectivity that’s necessary in many of these olympic sports. Even frigging ski jumping has it. WTF? Land further away than anyone else, isn’t that enough?
It would be like installing a judge to decide how well a runner stayed in his lane, or having someone taking points off a pole vault or high jump for making the bar move. Ooh, Bob Beamon had a really long jump, too bad all that sand went in the air when he landed, he loses.
Note, I DO consider these questionable sports competitions. It’s good that someone wins and someone loses, and I won’t take that away from the events. mockcarr does a great job at illustrating the interference of judges when the events do not have an objective goal. What’s the line between figure skating, which I do like watching, and ballroom dancing? Again, I’m all for competition in almost any form, so I’m not questioning the competitive value of these events, just the value of the competitive outcome. It’s much more satisfying when someone objectively defeats someone else, less so when it’s a judgment call. I mean, who watches a boxing match and doesn’t want to see one contestant knocked out?
Mr. Mod – you know, I saw that half-pipe moment. I thought she had an iPod and was cranking her tunes. She seemed to be singing along with something.
I can tell you that those valentine’s candy hearts now include one with the message, “text me.”
Ah, maybe that’s what it was. A little pre-run musical psych up is more understandable. What do you think she was playing?
Your news of the candy hearts is funny.
Mod, I think I can give you a scenario in which a pre-at-bat text would be received positively: imagine Howard coming up to bat, pausing to send a text and then hitting a massive game-winning home run, only to have it revealed that his text had accurately predicted to which section he was about to hit that shot? A Text’d Shot Home Run would be legendary. I’m going to write in to the Phils and see if I can make this happen.
Re: judged events and whether they are sports, I’m of a mind that you need direct (head to head) athletic competition with an objective outcome to be considerd a capital-s Sport, so all of those judge-scoring events in the Olympics are something else. Whatever you want to call them – exhibitions, athletic competitions – they are no less impressive for what the athletes do, but as long as someone gets to pick which one they liked the best as winner, it’s not the same thing an actual race, distance event, or head-to-head/team sport.
I saw a bit of something called Ski Crossing last night that actually seemed interesting, with skiers all racing each other on a twisting course with jumps and all that, maybe like the winter version of the weirdly cool indoor biking event in the Summer Games. Too bad some guy who turned his back on America to join Canada won. Traitor!
Also, all skaters should have to perform to “The Soft Parade”.