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Luge runner dead in Vancouver

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sandorski said:
whatever
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I'm sorry I don't share with you the attitude that it's the divine right of the hosting country to hold a territorial advantage over the competition and that when that advantage is nullified it doesn't make for better sport.

Must really suck for countries that don't get to hold the Olympics often/ever due to inadequate venue or finances. Oh well, maybe in 20 years Canada can hold it again and get their super-duper practice time in. You have to wonder, though, how substandard these Canadian sliders really are. They've been practicing at this track for God knows how long and still can't turn out any medals. It would be like practicing on the same golf course day in and day out and then somebody else comes along and beats you on it and they've barely played there. No denying at that point you're an inferior golfer.
 
Skoorb said:
I'm sorry I don't share with you the attitude that it's the divine right of the hosting country to hold a territorial advantage over the competition and that when that advantage is nullified it doesn't make for better sport.

Must really suck for countries that don't get to hold the Olympics often/ever due to inadequate venue or finances. Oh well, maybe in 20 years Canada can hold it again and get their super-duper practice time in. You have to wonder, though, how substandard these Canadian sliders really are. They've been practicing at this track for God knows how long and still can't turn out any medals. It would be like practicing on the same golf course day in and day out and then somebody else comes along and beats you on it and they've barely played there. No denying at that point you're an inferior golfer.
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Your criticism is misplaced. I suppose next time the Olympics are held in the US I should whine about the same thing?
 
Skoorb said:
I'm sorry I don't share with you the attitude that it's the divine right of the hosting country to hold a territorial advantage over the competition and that when that advantage is nullified it doesn't make for better sport.
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It's impossible to remove all advantages the host country has. Being used to the time zone, altitude, pollution, etc. are all things that the host country has as advantages which would be hard to remove. It's probably acceptable to train at the same facilities.

However, creating an inherently dangerous track, knowing that it's dangerous, and then restricting access to it so you could win a few medals just goes beyond what any reasonable host country should do.
 
sandorski said:
Your criticism is misplaced. I suppose next time the Olympics are held in the US I should whine about the same thing?
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If the US lined the half pipe with hidden tiger pits and gave themselves months of practice and foreign boarders the bare legal minimum you would have every right to whine.

Of course we wouldn't need to because we're actually good at it.
 
sandorski said:
Your criticism is misplaced. I suppose next time the Olympics are held in the US I should whine about the same thing?
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If it's held here and Americans complain that the advantage they had by practicing on their home turf is somehow taken away of course you should. You should be complaining now but it seems you're more interested in medals for their count than medals earned. The Canadians should be praising the fact their advantage was taken away because then they know anything they win was through ability in their sport and nothing else.
 
dainthomas said:
If the US lined the half pipe with hidden tiger pits and gave themselves months of practice and foreign boarders the bare legal minimum you would have every right to whine.

Of course we wouldn't need to because we're actually good at it.
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Ridiculous. The track wasn't designed to kill. WTF is wrong with you?
 
CanOWorms said:
help me help me the world is trying to kill me
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I gotta ask COW, how far does your lunacy go. I know it includes everything European and Canadian, does it include the entire Commonwealth? India and Pakistan and Austrialia?

I can't believe with the lengths you go to, to affirm in your head your genicidal etc beliefs that you don't include the US.
But you must not ever bring it up,since you live there you no doubt fear your neighbors and fellow posters

The whole Olympics must just drive you nuts eh

I just heard a blurb on the TV about a secret snowboard technology the Canadians are going to using in the Olympics. Best bunker down for a couple weeks
 
Orignal Earl said:
I gotta ask COW, how far does your lunacy go. I know it includes everything European and Canadian, does it include the entire Commonwealth? India and Pakistan and Austrialia?

I can't believe with the lengths you go to, to affirm in your head your genicidal etc beliefs that you don't include the US.
But you must not ever bring it up,since you live there you no doubt fear your neighbors and fellow posters

The whole Olympics must just drive you nuts eh

I just heard a blurb on the TV about a secret snowboard technology the Canadians are going to using in the Olympics. Best bunker down for a couple weeks
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lol
 
CanOWorms said:
It's impossible to remove all advantages the host country has. Being used to the time zone, altitude, pollution, etc. are all things that the host country has as advantages which would be hard to remove. It's probably acceptable to train at the same facilities.

However, creating an inherently dangerous track, knowing that it's dangerous, and then restricting access to it so you could win a few medals just goes beyond what any reasonable host country should do.
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http://www.ctvolympics.ca/news-centre/newsid=8935.html#canada+wrong+limit+venue+access

Each sports federation sets rules for international competition and practice time in Olympic venues prior to the Games, said Priestner Allinger.
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It seems you have a problem with the sports federation for luge for not requiring more practice runs?

The new track at the Whistler Sliding Centre - home to bobsled, luge and skeleton - is so fast and technical, extra training weeks have been added, said Priestner Allinger.

That didn't happen prior to the 2006 Olympics in Turin, Italy, said Jeff Christie, a luge athlete from Vancouver.

"At the Olympics in Italy we had zero extra,'' said Christie. "They actually gave us less than exactly what we were supposed to get. They didn't have any qualms about it because they gave their home team the advantage.
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Seems that they DID give more access due to the fact that the course was more dangerous.

Peter Judge, chief executive officer for the Canadian Freestyle Ski Association, remembers the World Cup events hosted by the U.S. team prior to the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.

"Their mogul course builder built the course differently for all the World Cups that led up to the Games, but for their home-field advantage training camp, built it the way it was going to be for the Olympic Games,'' said Judge.
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I guess it's not a Canadian complex, but rather a North American one. Then again, this is the Canadian media, so they probably just made this up to make the Monarch happy.
 
actuarial said:
http://www.ctvolympics.ca/news-centre/newsid=8935.html#canada+wrong+limit+venue+access



It seems you have a problem with the sports federation for luge for not requiring more practice runs?



Seems that they DID give more access due to the fact that the course was more dangerous.



I guess it's not a Canadian complex, but rather a North American one. Then again, this is the Canadian media, so they probably just made this up to make the Monarch happy.
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Yup, this has been going on long before the XXI Winter Olympic Games. Nobody's claiming it's right, just that it is what it is. If you think it's wrong, talk to the IOC. Canada is just playing by the rules the IOC and others laid out for them. And if anything, it sounds like they've been more generous than other hosting nations have in the past.
 
If it's THAT dangerous, shouldn't Canada have a big disadvantage in that all their best would have been killed off by now?

And why is it even possible to strike a steel support beam when everyone knows that in this insane sport people sometimes fly off the track? If it can't be isolated from all objects that a flying person could strike, then the damned course should be built inside a big plastic tube so that you can't fly out of it.

They should take a lesson from motocross and add some whoop-te-doos before Turn 13. THAT would slow their asses down.
 
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Skoorb said:
I'm sorry I don't share with you the attitude that it's the divine right of the hosting country to hold a territorial advantage over the competition and that when that advantage is nullified it doesn't make for better sport.

Must really suck for countries that don't get to hold the Olympics often/ever due to inadequate venue or finances. Oh well, maybe in 20 years Canada can hold it again and get their super-duper practice time in. You have to wonder, though, how substandard these Canadian sliders really are. They've been practicing at this track for God knows how long and still can't turn out any medals. It would be like practicing on the same golf course day in and day out and then somebody else comes along and beats you on it and they've barely played there. No denying at that point you're an inferior golfer.
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Russians get to practice as many times as they want on their own tracks. Why should Canada be forced to give up fully 1/2 of its luge facilities to foreigners leading up to the olympics?

Canadian lugers were supposed to get 45 runs in at Torino. They got 15. At least in Vancouver the other countries got their full share of the runs instead of 1/3 of their assigned allotment.
 
CanOWorms said:
It's impossible to remove all advantages the host country has. Being used to the time zone, altitude, pollution, etc. are all things that the host country has as advantages which would be hard to remove. It's probably acceptable to train at the same facilities.

However, creating an inherently dangerous track, knowing that it's dangerous, and then restricting access to it so you could win a few medals just goes beyond what any reasonable host country should do.
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The women racing on the track now call it the kinder-track because they've made it too safe and too easy. There were over 5000 completed safe runs on this track. It's not inherently dangerous any more than any other track.
 
This has easily been the worst Winter Olympics in history. Canadians ruined it all because of their massive insecurities. They have blood on their hands, all because of their fragile psyche.

I wonder how the "Own the Podium" is going. Doesn't sound like it's going too well, even after they just literally murdered some of the competition.
 
RabidMongoose said:
This has easily been the worst Winter Olympics in history. Canadians ruined it all because of their massive insecurities. They have blood on their hands, all because of their fragile psyche.

I wonder how the "Own the Podium" is going. Doesn't sound like it's going too well, even after they just literally murdered some of the competition.
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Idiot #2 has joined the thread
 
silverpig said:
Canadian lugers were supposed to get 45 runs in at Torino. They got 15. At least in Vancouver the other countries got their full share of the runs instead of 1/3 of their assigned allotment.
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To be fair, they wouldn't have won anything at Torino anyway. I think they've shown the full extent of their skill at these Olympics. 😛
 
dainthomas said:
To be fair, they wouldn't have won anything at Torino anyway. I think they've shown the full extent of their skill at these Olympics. 😛
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And that is also the reason why Luge's ability to encourage me to hack my wrists apart is second only to the nordic jumping. Look at the difference between, say, #1 and #10. Without a stop watch--and probably even with one pressed by your finger--you'd not know who won or lost.
 
More details on the Murder in Vancouver:

Speed and Commerce Skewed Track's Design
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100....html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsSecond

Years before a young luge racer from the Republic of Georgia flew to his death at the Olympics last week, officials made a series of decisions designed to make the icy track a commercial success after the Games but that left it faster, and ultimately more dangerous, than any competitive track before.
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The result was a track whose speeds marked a quantum leap in a sport where even small increases require big adjustments.
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It's looking worse and worse for the Canadians. The cover-up isn't working.
 
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