Figure Skating

[sparks19]

Hockey is a kill get killed game, maybe that is why they are padded from head to toe.

not a kill or get killed game... it's a CONTACT sport

I was glad to see the married chinese couple win it (I'm sorry I don't know how to spell their names lol)

[Puckstop31]

they had the Olympics hockey game on. He said he saw a player slam another one into the wall & into the penalty box the player went. The puck had already been passed onto another player so the slam was after the fact. Hockey is a kill get killed game, maybe that is why they are padded from head to toe.

What you describe sounds like a interference penalty. Bodychecking ("slamming") is part of the game. You use your body to take an opponent who has the puck, off the puck. As long as you keep the hit low and from the front or side, its all good. Part of the game, its just how its played.

You cannot hit a player who does not have the puck, thus the interference penalty you describe.

Hockey, especially modern hockey has a very undeserved sterotype as a 'violent' sport. Its physical, yes, but violent? We could have a discussion about the role of fighitng in the NHL, but I don't want to hijack any further. LOL Plus, fighting is VERY taboo in the Olympics.

[Bonny]

I fell asleep & would wake up to watch the skaters & fall back to sleep that was my evening of watching the men skate. I am fighting a cold to so that didn't help matters either. Tonight I probably will be wide awake. Ugh!!! With no figure skating to watch. I hope Lysacek gets the gold. Johnny put on a dramatic skate but doesn't include those jumps for points. He is a crazy guy & fun to watch he puts on a good show. I did get to watch the abandonded Brazilian who was adopted by a French family & has been training with his coach since he was four years old. He was a powerhouse on the ice. As far as Plushenko goes he wants two golds like Uncle (Gramps) Dick Button has. Plushenko had lots of upper body hand arms,movement & seemed strung out. Maybe it is his lanky build? Hubby went to get his hair cut so missed the whole thing.

When I was in high school, hockey was a big deal in Minnesota. We attended all the games & they were rough & tough. Fights would break out on the ice & sometimes even with the fans watching the games. There were times the penalty box was full of players from both sides with only 2-3 players out on the ice per team playing. It was wild!

I plan to have two TV's on Thursday night one in the sunroom which will reflect Survivor up on the windows & the other TV is in the livingroom room to watch the Olympics. I can sit on the couch & watch both the Olympics & Survivor. LOL!

[Momto4FemaleFelines]

Bonny, I stayed up for all but one skater for the mens short program...I was in bed and asleep by 11:45 but woke up 1/2 an hour later and was kept awake for the next 2 hours by my Molly. An 11 lb. cat running in the quiet of the night on hardwood floors sounds like a horse! She decided it was party time and went on for 2 hours! And I HAD to be up and out the door no later than 9:30 this morning, so when I got back from errands I took a 2 hour nap.
Thursday I will switch back & forth to Survivor & the Oly's, but also have a tape in for Survivor. On Monday, we managed to see almost every minute of Bachelor and did not have to resort to watching the tape we had in just incase skating was on long enough for us to miss something. The majority of Monday's skating took place from 10:30 til midnight!
Not sure I mentioned it, but Plushenko looks like he's running from and swatting bees. Those flailing movements mean nothing. He's all about the jumps and unfortunately that can win it.
I'm mean, I'm hoping he'll fall at least once in his long program(free skate). I hope Evan skates beautifully and can pull off a win.
Johnny is....well, Johnny! He definitely marches to the beat of a different drummer!

[K9karen]

Wow! The photo of Sasha is gorgeous! It's astounding!

I LOVE ice skating. I've turned around a view times to talk to my mom, but of course she's watching from above. Sure wish heaven had a phone.

Anyway, Evan's mom retorted to a comment that the Russian said (can't spell his name and I can't stand him physically...tsk tsk to me) that "you don't deserve a gold if you can't do quadruple jumps". Mom replies "you don't deserve a gold if all you can do is quadruple jumps". Something to that extent, but it was a proud mom defending her son.

Tonight's venue is going to be awesome. Poo Poo on the nightly news who already told the winner of the women's downhill, even if they did warn people that the results are in. I hate when they do that. The whole idea is to sqeal and be energized at midnight..at least for me. I stay up til all hours watching the Olympics. My girlfriend always takes 2 weks off from work to watch the entire Olympics.

[Momto4FemaleFelines]

Wow! The photo of Sasha is gorgeous! It's astounding!

I LOVE ice skating. I've turned around a view times to talk to my mom, but of course she's watching from above. Sure wish heaven had a phone.

Anyway, Evan's mom retorted to a comment that the Russian said (can't spell his name and I can't stand him physically...tsk tsk to me) that "you don't deserve a gold if you can't do quadruple jumps". Mom replies "you don't deserve a gold if all you can do is quadruple jumps". Something to that extent, but it was a proud mom defending her son.

Tonight's venue is going to be awesome. Poo Poo on the nightly news who already told the winner of the women's downhill, even if they did warn people that the results are in. I hate when they do that. The whole idea is to sqeal and be energized at midnight..at least for me. I stay up til all hours watching the Olympics. My girlfriend always takes 2 weks off from work to watch the entire Olympics.

Evgeni Plushenko would be the Russian with an ego the size of Russia and then some!
I always say "it's called figure SKATING, not figure JUMPING"!
I loved Plushenko's fluff piece they did last night. He said "many people don't like me....many people"...I sat on my couch waving my hand and saying "me, me!"

I don't like being spoiled. At least with these Olympics being in a similar time zone and being on tv live, as long as I watch when it's aired, I won't be spoiled. I was spoiled in '98 when I heard a news report before I had a chance to watch the mens televised event, that Ilia Kulik had won Gold in mens skating.

Thank you for the compliment on my picture of Sasha. That is definitely the best photo I've ever taken at an ice show...it helped she was holding relatively still! I have 3 albums of skating pics on my Face Book account.

[cassiesmom]

had the Olympics hockey game on. He said he saw a player slam another one into the wall & into the penalty box the player went. The puck had already been passed onto another player so the slam was after the fact.

Is that the game where they had a 5-on-3 power play? And the player who got shoved into the boards plays for the Boston Bruins. I started following the Blackhawks when the Bulls couldn't win a game no matter how they tried. Now the Bulls are starting to win more consistently (finally!) and I am trying to learn more about hockey.

I loved Johnny Weir's short program, because it was more than a bunch of jumps sort of strung together in the first two minutes of the program. Sandra Bezic said that as a skater, he has a lot of respect for the purity of it, which is starting to really show in his programs.

[cassiesmom]

Once again I loved Johnny Weir's program. I thought his score was too low. The commentators said that the problem seemed to be how it was choreographed before and after the jumps. Looked good to me...

But Naperville's own Evan Lysacek got the win! YEAAAAAH! He deserved to win. I liked where they showed him watching the scores and figuring out that he was the winner.

[Grace]

At the age of 71, Frank Carroll has coached his first Olympic Gold winner!!!

And Laurie Nichols, choreographer, had 2 Golds this year - Evan and the Chinese pair

[K9karen]

At the age of 71, Frank Carroll has coached his first Olympic Gold winner!!!

And Laurie Nichols, choreographer, had 2 Golds this year - Evan and the Chinese pair

I was ecstatic for Frank Carroll! Woo! Woo! for Evan!
As the camera was on Evan before he was announced to go to the podium, the announcer (was it Costas?) said that Plushenko stood on the top/gold podium for a second. The camera didn't show that, but I rest my case. Retire for good, ya conceited jerk. Ick, Ick, Ick.

I think Jonny Weir's performance was underscored too.

[Momto4FemaleFelines]

Once again I loved Johnny Weir's program. I thought his score was too low. The commentators said that the problem seemed to be how it was choreographed before and after the jumps. Looked good to me...

But Naperville's own Evan Lysacek got the win! YEAAAAAH! He deserved to win. I liked where they showed him watching the scores and figuring out that he was the winner.

Elyse, I couldn't have been more thrilled to see that Evan won! I kept a mantra going in my head all day long "fall, Plushy, fall"...Well, he didn't fall but his landings were shakey and his artistry stinks, so the judges scored things right! I can just imagine what Plushenko is saying now. All that talk about a skater can't win without a quad and he has the quad so he will win. PUHLEEZE!

From what Scott and Sandra were saying, sounds like Johnny Weir needs a new choreographer. They said his program did not have enough transitions and difficult steps going into the jumps. I thought he should've got at least a slightly higher score.

[smokey the elder]

"No quad? No problem!" congrats to Evan Lysacek. I'm glad he didn't get rattled by Plushenko's big mouth.

[Momto4FemaleFelines]

"No quad? No problem!" congrats to Evan Lysacek. I'm glad he didn't get rattled by Plushenko's big mouth.

Evan = class
Plushenko = ego

I wonder if the way Plushy flaunted himself, almost mocking at, the judges helped them score him less in the artistry and over-all performance scores.

[Bonny]

I stayed awake & was crumbling about the skating coming up so late in the evening. GRRRR! Anyhow I am so glad Evan got the gold he deserved it. Then there is the Arrogant Russian with his wobbles & bobbles? Johnny Wuir skated great but like they said needed to up his program to more challenges. The crowd did boo when Johnny's scores came up & were not happy about the lower scores he received. The skater that broke his skate string & fixed it himself was exciting. He got back out there & finished. I was looking at his skates, they were worn on the sides from all their use. It is like having an old pair of shoes or boots that fit & work for you. All in all I enjoyed the whole thing. Frank Carole finally got his gold.

[Momto4FemaleFelines]

Hi Bonny,
I was having a little trouble staying awake until it got down to the last few skaters. And then the excitement made it hard for me to get to sleep when it was over...plus our water softener ran and kept me awake(that thing is noisy, I usually sleep through it if I'm already asleep when it runs).
Plushenko is just a big mouth.
Someone told me he is going around saying things like mens figure skating is now just dance because Evan won without a quad. Ummmm, dear Plushy, didn't anyone tell you it's called skating and under the old scoring system, which he skated under, artistry was one of the things judged strongly! And it's still judged.
Like Scott kept saying "GOE" "grade of execution"...were his jumps executed exquitely, well, fair? Fair at best! Wobbly and insecure in some spots, no beautiful run-outs on the ends of any of them. Somebody said he lands like a jack-hammer, so true!
I knew he wouldn't be a gracious loser and would have things to say!
In general, all the men did fairly well. There are some dynomo's in the future if they keep up their work ethic and growth spurts don't throw them off too much.
Lori Nicholl's(SP?) choregraphed both Shen/Zhao and Evan...I saw Shen/Zhao congratulating Evan. That was nice.