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OLYMPIC SPOILER-FREE THREAD (with 24-hour event result embargo)
- Thread starter Kepler
- Start date
US mixed doubles curling had a really good day on Friday, defeating Canada 7-5 and, later, Czechia 8-1 to go 4-0 in the competition. While everyone is having to learn the idiosyncrasies of the new stones Thiesse and Dropkin seemed to master the stones by their 4th game. They seem to be able to hit any shot they wanted/needed. Saturday's games are against 4-0 Great Britain and lowly 0-4 South Korea.
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Kepler
Si certus es dubita
Italian coverage continues to be incomprehensible and thus excellent. Plus they are running the English graphics so I know where we are in events. Best of both worlds.
Summary of Italian TV ads:
Summary of Italian TV ads:
- No military bullshit
- Very few guns
- Very little violence
- Lots of skin
- Really, really white
walrus
Wind up workin' in a gas station
I'm watching on CBC, good coverage of Womens Downhill, those ladies are crazy. Seen a few go off the mountain via helicopter
Kepler
Si certus es dubita
The M and W Parallel Giant Slalom snowboard semis, bronze, and gold were great. The drone coverage is spectacular.
How long have they posted the aggregate technical during the free skate? That's pretty interesting and it helps shut the announcers up. Was it CYA after the last bribery/cheating judging scandal.
How long have they posted the aggregate technical during the free skate? That's pretty interesting and it helps shut the announcers up. Was it CYA after the last bribery/cheating judging scandal.
FadeToBlack&Gold
Microlot Marxist
Was noting the drone angles in last weekend's final World Cup Super G event before the Olympics. Really makes us gapers feel like we're running the course.
Kepler
Si certus es dubita
What is remarkable is even with that the slope still appears flatter. I was watching a jerkwater competition in Killington sitting by course-side and the coverage slid right past the place we were sitting. Looking out on the course it was an insane slope -- on the screen it looked gentle.
The only people I have ever seen catch the true vertical drop angle are those teenage fuckwits who glue a GoPro on their head and ski down a 60-degree mogul ice sheet, and probably break their leg. For whatever reason, their footage looks exactly like what they actually see. It might be because they are often in woods and the tree shadows break up the runs and show a gazillion little edges and angles, while on the real slopes there's just very little way of judging depth because it's groomed and open.
I have seen this happen IRL too when mogul runs are very steep. Back when I would take a crack at those if you hit them right at dusk the profiles were reinforced by the lighting and they were great, but if you hit them at high noon all the contrast evaporated and you could bottom out and never see it coming. A very nice way to snap a tip, and that's if you're lucky.
The only people I have ever seen catch the true vertical drop angle are those teenage fuckwits who glue a GoPro on their head and ski down a 60-degree mogul ice sheet, and probably break their leg. For whatever reason, their footage looks exactly like what they actually see. It might be because they are often in woods and the tree shadows break up the runs and show a gazillion little edges and angles, while on the real slopes there's just very little way of judging depth because it's groomed and open.
I have seen this happen IRL too when mogul runs are very steep. Back when I would take a crack at those if you hit them right at dusk the profiles were reinforced by the lighting and they were great, but if you hit them at high noon all the contrast evaporated and you could bottom out and never see it coming. A very nice way to snap a tip, and that's if you're lucky.
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FadeToBlack&Gold
Microlot Marxist
Yes, but I also had a ski instructor many years ago who liked to joke that everyone's eyes automatically add an extra 10-15 degrees to every slope.
As does one's mouth when telling the story afterward.
As does one's mouth when telling the story afterward.
Russell Jaslow
Registered User
This happens with race tracks all the time. I have not seen a single piece of video that truly depicts how steep the end of the front straight into the first turn at the Circuit of the Americas (for those who don't know, that's where the U.S. Grand Prix F1 race is held in Austin, TX) is. Not one.
But when you see it in person, and especially when you drive the track, it's amazing how steep it actually is. But you'll never know from any video.
And that's just one example. Every race track with massive incline/decline changes is like that.
Kepler
Si certus es dubita
Interesting. Never occurred to me they are real hills. I thought they were all I dunno maybe 3-5%.
Holy fuck. To put that in perspective, the steepest legally permissible ruling gradient for the US Interstate Highway System -- that means the vwery steepest portion of any part of the highway, whether it's 600 feet or 6 inches -- is 6%.
Holy fuck. To put that in perspective, the steepest legally permissible ruling gradient for the US Interstate Highway System -- that means the vwery steepest portion of any part of the highway, whether it's 600 feet or 6 inches -- is 6%.
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Kepler
Si certus es dubita
Fun fact: there are apparently Olympic downhill courses with ruling gradient of 51 degrees, which converts to rise over run of... 125%.
The luge drone is freaky, like something out of Iain M. Banks.
The luge drone is freaky, like something out of Iain M. Banks.
Russell Jaslow
Registered User
The corkscrew at Laguna Seca drops 59 feet (five stories) over a short distance with the steepest drop reaching 18%. The turn sequence drops drivers over 10 stories from turns 8 to 9.
The first turn at the old Bridgehampton Race Course and Turn 2 at Mosport also have massive dropoffs. When you take those turns properly at the proper speed, there comes a point where you simply concede that your fate is in God's hands... Oh, and they are both blind turns. You have to actually start turning the steering wheel before you even see the turn, never mind spotting the apex.
unofan
Well-known member
Same happens with golf. Take Augusta National, for instance. It has some major hills. They do not show up at all on TV. Even 18, where you can tell there is a hill on TV, is way steeper than what it looks like.
aparch
Acetaminamerican
That corkscrew drop is my favorite part of driving that track in Forza Motorsports. The first few times it absolutely caught me off guard. The slow climb up with the two 90 degree bends (turns 5, 6), the chicane to the top of the corkscrew (turn 7), and then the sharp left-right down the corkscrew (8,8A)