February 22, 2006

AN OLYMPIAN VIEW -- by Steve Nadis

I was prepared to write my usual curmudgeonly bit about the decline of ice skating at the Olympics. The men's competition, from what I saw, was dismal. The heightened focus on jumping--which has been the trend over the last several Games--has hurt the sport, in my opinion. Skaters, both male and female, are under intense pressure to perform jumps that are somewhat beyond their abilities. The result is frequent falls which are no fun (and sometimes painful) to watch. The grace and artistry (of someone like Paul Wylie) is mostly gone.

I was all set to write that until last night when I was lucky enough to catch the last few female entries in the "short program." Sasha Cohen was marvelous--a revelation--and I'm now prepared to eat those words. We can only hope that Cohen and the other athletes will achieve similarly exalted levels during tomorrow's free skate competition.

Posted by Snake at 12:01:45 | Permanent Link | Comments (11) |
Comments
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1 - z says
could you relevate this word "curmudgeonly"
please..
=z= (Comment this)

Written by: Anonymous at 2006/02/22 - 12:31:28
2 - I'd like to oblige, but I simply do not know how to relevate. (Comment this)

Written by: Snake at 2006/02/22 - 12:34:43
3 - hmmm typeerror demon,

make that revelate the word "curmudgeonly"
please..

really i wasnt making fun ,

=zardoz= (Comment this)

Written by: Anonymous at 2006/02/22 - 17:29:20
4 - I'm just not into the Olympics anymore Snake, I haven't watched any of it this year. It seemed more exciting when I was a kid and all we had was ABC's Wide World of Sports that occasionally showed luge and that poor ski jumper in the "agony of defeat," I think it's because Olympic athletes are incredibly talented young people doing amazing things and I am old and jealous. (Comment this)

Written by: DrMax at 2006/02/22 - 18:18:15
5 - Last night redeemed the Olympics for me. All three USA ladies skated fantastically. The ice dancing (ok, I hear all the men groaning) was pretty awesome as well. I loved Paul Wylie - and even better that he went to Harvard (am I right?) signifying life after sports. Harvard, of course, in Cambridge. Did you ever see him at the 7-11? Whole Foods? Biking? (Comment this)

Written by: Windfall Woman at 2006/02/22 - 21:32:59
6 - I'll relevate in a second, Z. But first I need to ask Doc a medical question: How did it happen that they keep gettin' younger and we keep gettin' older? (Comment this)

Written by: Snake at 2006/02/23 - 00:49:52
7 - Hey WFW -- No I haven't seen Wylie sitting out in front of the 7-11 and that's a good sign (for both of us!). You're right, the skating last night finally redeemed the Olympics; well put. (Comment this)

Written by: Snake at 2006/02/23 - 00:52:51
8 - zardoz says:
yeah .. DOC how come were gettin older..?
i remember the agony of defeat and ABC wide world of sports,

DO BLOGS HELP FREEZE TIME,,?

AND "curmudgeonly" MEANS..?


== Z == (Comment this)

Written by: Anonymous at 2006/02/23 - 02:16:01
9 - But I like it when they fall down! In my house, figure skating is known as "splat-athons". It's kind of like car racing. It's boring until a car wreck. (Comment this)

Written by: Oldroses at 2006/02/23 - 04:17:35
10 - We keep getting older because of that damn arrow of time. You would think science could have come up with a work around by now, so we could see how the Supe rBowl turns out and then go back and make bets, but noooooooooo.

P.S. Z - a curmudgeon is "a bad-tempered or surly person." (Comment this)

Written by: DrMax at 2006/02/23 - 21:22:13
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