Arrrrrg, bite me (gold medal)

[Greji]

Typical Japanese media hype I guess.

You're learning! They were better this year, becaues a lot of the time, they'll cut away from the event right after the J-people have competed, or it becomes apparent there is no medal instore for Mighty Nippon in that event.

I rather enjoyed their coverage of the Nomal Hill with the emphasis on "Sekai no Harada", who they have been hyping as the multi-Olympic veteran who was going to be leading the way for mighty Nippon's bid to dominate the Olympics. They had him well on is way to doing it, as he was up among the early leaders in the prelims until he was disqualified for using skis that were beyond the allowable size limit in length. Wow, did that bring a chorus of Zannens. T'was music to me ears!

[canman]

I think he is going to be a force to be dealt with in Torino, especially with the larger ice surface. Hopefully he can be bottled up somewhat, but I doubt that. And to make matters worse one of Canada's best mobile defencemen Scott Neidermeyer is out of the games. He was one p[layer who could skate with Jagr. Yikes.

[kamome]

On another sad note, "Wayne please say it ain't so please Wayne". Dimwit do you relaly think that he had nothing to do with the betting scandal when his assistant coach and wife were involved in it? Damn I hate Janet Jones, the Yoko Ono of hockey. I know most of you don't know what the hell I'm talking about but a few will.

I understand what you mean about Janet Jones being the Yoko Ono of hockey. Although, having lived in LA for a while, I have to say I liked the fact that he came south of the border!

Unfortunately, I think Gretzky had to know that his wife was gambling. If you're married, and your wife has $75,000 riding on the Super Bowl, how can you NOT know about that? I don't care if you are a multimillionaire; that kind of bet would be really hard to conceal from your own spouse. The other question is whether he actually placed bets himself. I hope not.

If he did place bets through his wife, it would be another Pete Rose-type scandal, wouldn't it? That's really sad.

[Greji]

BTW, if Dimwit, Canman and Rob hadn't noticed, the Canadian womens' hockey term eaked out a win over the Italians in Pool B this morning! Close match as it was!

[canman]

That game wasn't worth mentioning. There is only one game for the Canadian women and that is the gold medal game against the US. I'm not trying to sound smug, but that is just the way things are right now in women's hockey.
On a side note, I hope that the Japanese ladies will improve, especially since my friend is now the national women't head coach. He is really aiming for the Vancouver Olympics. They lost out last year in the world championships to Germany. If they had won that game they would have qualified for Torino. As it is they are home watching at hoping to go to Vancouver.

[canman]

I too find it hard that your spouse could put that kind of money on a game without you knowing it. I guess I just hope that he didn't know. And yes this would be like Pete Rose but maybe even more of a blow for hockey. Pete Rose was a good player, but never really known for his talent more his raw determination, aka Charlie Hustle. But The Great One redefined hockey not only for Canada, but like you said for the whole southern US, especially when he moved to LA.

[Charles]

I rather enjoyed their coverage of the Nomal Hill with the emphasis on "Sekai no Harada", who they have been hyping as the multi-Olympic veteran who was going to be leading the way for mighty Nippon's bid to dominate the Olympics. They had him well on is way to doing it, as he was up among the early leaders in the prelims until he was disqualified for using skis that were beyond the allowable size limit in length. Wow, did that bring a chorus of Zannens. T'was music to me ears!

That's not even half the story. The disqualification came from the skis being too long for Harada's weight class. He was a mere 200 grams below the minimum weight for that length of skis.
Now think about that. 200cc of water weighs 200 grams. If Harada had just drunk a glass of water, he would have made his weight and avoided disqualification.

[dimwit]

That weight classification system was a nice little fraud brought in by the Europeans because they were pissed off about lossing to the Japanese at Nagano. The rules go something like this: Rule 23A 'Fuck you, we Europeans invented the sport and are expected to win the medals so we are going to restrict the size of the skis you can use to guarentee that you won't win'.

Winter Olympic politics have always been dominated by the Europeans. Most Canadian are well aware of the way in the Europeans screwed them in Hockey for years by saying that NHLers couldn't play while the European Teams managed to regularly send their best players on the pretext that they were 'amateur'

[Greji]

That's not even half the story. The disqualification came from the skis being too long for Harada's weight class. He was a mere 200 grams below the minimum weight for that length of skis.
Now think about that. 200cc of water weighs 200 grams. If Harada had just drunk a glass of water, he would have made his weight and avoided disqualification.

Which means he has to bite the bullet. Whether, it is a new rule or not, it is in place and an athelete has to live with it and it is his responsibility to insure he makes weight as the case may be. At least in skiing, he can change his equipment. Other sports do not have an alternative on making their final weight for competion.

No tears here!

[Charles]

Which means he has to bite the bullet. Whether, it is a new rule or not, it is in place and an athelete has to live with it and it is his responsibility to insure he makes weight as the case may be. At least in skiing, he can change his equipment. Other sports do not have an alternative on making their final weight for competion.

And indeed, he owned up to the problem, saying he made a mistake. But he does get to compete in 2 other events that had different weight/ski length requirements. I wonder if he'd be less gracious about it if he'd been disqualified from all the events.
I read that 2 other ski jumpers were disqualified for unspecified "problems with their clothing." WTF?

[Mulboyne]

I read that 2 other ski jumpers were disqualified for unspecified "problems with their clothing." WTF?

I think the authorities take a dim view of anyone who sews a hang glider into their ski outfit.

[American Oyaji]

Canada is spanking Russia (women's hockey)
3rd quarter 10-0

[Charles]

I think the authorities take a dim view of anyone who sews a hang glider into their ski outfit.

Well at least they didn't call it a "wardrobe malfunction."

[canman]

Talk about a funeral atmosphere on the Japanese wide shows. They were sure they were going to be celebrating gold in the men's half pipe and the women's moguls. Now all they can do is talk about Harada's weight problem(pun inteneded) and show the ice dancer who has become a US citizen and talk about how even though she is competing for the US, she is still a Japanese who is gambaru-ing.

[Greji]

Talk about a funeral atmosphere on the Japanese wide shows. They were sure they were going to be celebrating gold in the men's half pipe and the women's moguls.

Yup! Ain't it great.

Now all they can do is talk about Harada's weight problem(pun inteneded) and show the ice dancer who has become a US citizen and talk about how even though she is competing for the US, she is still a Japanese who is gambaru-ing.

It's interesting that one of the usual loud-mouthed "talento" clown was opining that she should still be considered a representative of Japan, because she only went to the US to seek treatment for her cancer. This from the same country which publically claims they have the best cancer treatment in the world.

Well, whatever winds your clock!

[AssKissinger]

Y'all, I'm sorry for pulling Michelle Kwan's groin.

[Greji]

Y'all, I'm sorry for pulling Michelle Kwan's groin.

Apology accepted, but you should feel too bad, because it was already strained when I sent her to your place.

[Taro Toporific]

So what's with Melo Imai, the J-crybaby on the half-pipe who faked an injury to avoid the shame of a bad score?
Kyodo--Feb 13

[dimwit]

The Canadian women won a another close game today. So much so that the Europeans are talking about getting rid of women's hockey. Personally, I think that cross country skiing, bialothon and nordic combined should be eliminated since no one outside of northern Europe ever wins these sports so they are not truely international.

[Greji]

The Canadian women won a another close game today. So much so that the Europeans are talking about getting rid of women's hockey. Personally, I think that cross country skiing, bialothon and nordic combined should be eliminated since no one outside of northern Europe ever wins these sports so they are not truely international.

hehe

[Greji]

I too find it hard that your spouse could put that kind of money on a game without you knowing it. -snip-

Gretzkys on list of highest rollers

Call them the Great Betskys.

Hockey icon Wayne Gretzky, under scrutiny after his wife, Janet Jones, was implicated in a sports betting ring, has lost more than $2 million in Las Vegas casinos, an insider said.
Gretzky, head coach of the Phoenix Coyotes, has a credit line that allows him to bet up to $25,000 per hand but plays well below that level, I'm told.

"Anyone who bets $25,000 a hand is a whale. Less than half of 1 percent bet at that level," a casino executive said. "At $25,000, you've got a credit line of $1 million. At that level, you can demand anything you want."

Sources say NBA great Michael Jordan has a $2 million credit line locally.

Gretzky's wife normally plays at the $1,000-a-hand level, a source said. Both usually play blackjack. The couple often plays in the MGM Grand Mansion, where guests must risk $250,000 over two or three days to stay in the high-roller suites.

She is under investigation, published reports say, for betting more than $500,000, including $75,000 on the Super Bowl. Gretzky's associate coach, former NHL player Rick Tocchet, now on a league-ordered leave of absence, is accused of operating the ring with a New Jersey state police trooper.

[Greji]

Then Wayne will divorce Janet and soon afterwards will get the yellow beaver fever and then get married to a Japanese Ice Hockey queen!

A thoroughbred he co-owned ran in the Japan Cup a couple of years ago, but he didn't make the trip, his pardner did. So he escaped the beaver fever, which as you know is quite contagious. Also, your plan is a good one because those queens really know how to move that puck around!

[Greji]

The J-media were seriously discussing the pending J-sweep in the 500m speed skating final.

The J-team on the other hand, neglected to listen to them and failed again to score in the top three, thus joining the moguls, boards and normal hill group for the gnashing and sucking of teeth, with some great "kuyashii's". Wonderful viewing!

[canman]

[Mike Oxlong]

Perhaps the J-team is missing the kind of judging that helps Musashi win all those K-1 bouts...

There's always ice dancing!

[Catoneinutica]

So what's with Melo Imai, the J-crybaby on the half-pipe who faked an injury to avoid the shame of a bad score?
Kyodo--Feb 13

They call her Melo Yelo...

[Blah Pete]

The 500 meter coverage last night was sad the way they were pimping the J-team. I would like to see one J-athlete once tell them to F-off for once.

[Mulboyne]

[GuyJean]

The J-team on the other hand, neglected to listen to them and failed again to score in the top three..

At no fault of their own; they're now blaming Kato's lame performance on the skater that fell in the race before him.. The ice needed repair and 'he had to wear his tight skates for over 20 minutes!'.. That's the sole reason he failed to win a medal..

Meanwhile, American Cheek loosened his skates during the wait, which is why he won gold.. It's so simple!

That excuse, to me, makes Kato look like a dumb-ass.. and a sore loser..

GJ

[Taro Toporific]

...we are going to hear a lot more about curlinng in the next couple of days, hoping the women's team, from yes wait for it, Aomori-ken(selfless plug for my adopted prefecture) will win something...

[floatl][/floatl]

Winter Olympics on Yahoo! News Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2006.
Toshimi Kasai of Japan watches as the Japan women's curling team face Russia during a preliminary round match at the Turin 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Pinerolo, Italy...