More Olympic thoughts

1. What is up with those ridiculous hockey jerseys?!?! Honestly, who thought this was a good idea? Is this the hockey powers-that-be sucking up to Nike or what? For those unaware, the hockey jerseys being worn at the Olympics are tighter and "more aerodynamic" than the typical NHL jersey. Basically, the hockey players look like pansies with skinny arms. The Olympic ones don't look nearly as bad as the junior ones (ugh - I almost couldn't watch. It was like seeing your dad in ladies underwear), but they're still ugly as all hell. I can only imagine how uncomfortable they must be. The players wore the junior style ones before the beginning of the season and clearly were not impressed. Thank goodness the NHL has not adopted them. With any luck, Nike will go out of business before the NHL can suck up to them, too.

2. Watched the ladies boardercross finals before heading out to work this morning. The two Canadians wiped out spectacularly, so we only got a bronze - which was the worst possible outcome. The race was notable, however, for the fact that the American boarder, with a commanding lead, decided to hot dog it in the final couple of jumps and ended up wiping out herself. This allowed the Swiss boarder to pass her at the last minute for the gold medal. Served her right. I like boardercross (though I must say the half-pipe competition is stupid and, again, being a judged event, not a sport) but it's pretty clear that a lot of these riders are more concerned about looking good than competing. You'll see hot dogging pretty regularly. But what really gets me is when the rider sitting in third place (in a heat where only the top two go on) pulls up and essentially stops trying to catch the riders ahead of them (despite the fact that a rider can stumble at any moment). This may look nonchalant and cool, but demonstrates the self-conscious, egotistical nature of many of these "x-game" athletes. Not what I like to see at the Olympics. I like my athletes competitive and my homosexuals fllllaming! (D'oh!)

3. And what's with sportsmanship anyways? Canadian officials have embarrassed the country by appealing the result in the women's 500-metre short track speed skating finals. Basically, the silver medalist from Whereverstan (actually, Evgenia Radanova from Bulgaria - close enough) stretched out her leg at the last minute in a vain attempt to edge out the winner from China. In doing so, the front of her skate was raised as she crossed the line - a no-no in short track these days. So get this: the Canadian officials are trying to have her disqualified in the hopes that the fourth place skater, Kalyna Roberge, will be awarded bronze. WTF? Never mind that the Bulgarian finished second by a ton and that the foot-raising was a non-factor, Roberge will never be able to claim that she was the third-fastest skater on that day, medal or no. (To her credit, Roberge herself is criticizing the appeal) This shows a lack of class on the Canadian officials' part, especially considering that the only reason we won silver in the women's team sprint (another made up cross country event) was because a Norwegian official handed Sara Renner a replacement pole when she broke hers (and would have dropped out of contention). That's good sportsmanship, folks.

4. This just in: two-man luge is still the dumbest "sport" ever.

Phil's "Olympic diary" continues...