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Sochi 2014: From Russia With Love

Re: Sochi 2014: From Russia With Love

MinnesotaNorthStar said:
The Haters Guide to Sochi.:D
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"America's morale does not hinge on whether or not some guy can do a daffy off of an aerial ramp."

I hope not, since I haven't seen a basic daffy in a high-end moguls comp in at least a decade.

It's all about the big air and fancy inverted aerials now, which some of us lament, but that's what casual observers want. Same for everyone going nuts over the DH and ignoring the slalom - all about the speed. No one cares about great technical skiing anymore.
 
Re: Sochi 2014: From Russia With Love

dxmnkd316 said:
http://gawker.com/russia-says-its-sochi-bathroom-spy-cameras-show-no-plum-1517448908/@tcraggs22

For f*k's sake... This is getting beyond absurd.

Edit: Some of the comments are brilliant:
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I like how he just casually mentions that there are cameras in the showers like it's not a big deal that there are cameras in the showers...

Also, best comment:
OMG!PONIES! said:
Is not camera in bathroom. Is part of very futuristic toilet. We Russians, we have very futuristic things. This toilet, it made by same people who make Sputnik. Toilet will provide footage for years, always flush, never break. Is good Russian craftsmanship. Not cheap made like from other places. Like making poop in a future laboratory. Very scientific. You like it.
Click to expand...
 
Re: Sochi 2014: From Russia With Love

RaceBoarder said:
So, you realize that things like this occur on a fairly regular basis on the World Cup, right? A few years ago there were problems with the jumps at Beaver Creek on the Birds of Prey course... And this has come up every couple of years at Kitzbuhl, Austria for the Hahnenkamm...

There is a reason that these people are forerunners and not competitors... In addition to the ability differences, I'm fairly certain that a forerunner doesn't have a team of wax techs prepping their gear for their runs...

Honestly, not a big deal...
Click to expand...

No, because along with 99.5% of the rest of America, I don't give a crap about ski racing for 1447 days and only pay attention for these two weeks during the Olympics. I don't recall this being a problem at Vancouver, Turin, Salt Lake City or Nagano. To me, it is yet another example of how unprepared for these events the 'organizers' were. When the people in charge issue a press release saying there is a shortage of pillows because the athletes "unexpectedly" showed up, there is a problem. When exactly were they expecting the athletes to arrive? Or were they hoping the athletes would bring their own blankets and pillows (and water, and manhole covers, and snow, etc etc etc) from home?

What are the odds these accommodations are ready by 2018 when the World Cup is set to be played there? And how much hope are we supposed to have that Russia will have the other venues ready?
 
Re: Sochi 2014: From Russia With Love

Checked out #SochiProblems on Twitter earlier today... saw people were starting to spread old photos of bad construction/engineering flaws that have been posted for almost a decade as "Sochi photos" just to make things look worse.

Sure there are problems, but let's not go throwing fake photos on top of it (as hilarious as they are!).
 
Re: Sochi 2014: From Russia With Love

Meanwhile...

The athletes and journalists arrived this week, and there have been a bevy of reports of alleged dirty, unfinished accommodations, roaming packs of wild dogs and workers sleeping in the guest beds. A friend told me she came back to her room in the Media Village and found her laptop on, with Russian music videos on the screen. The next day, it was a different music video, and her brand new MacBook Air had crumbs and coffee stains all over the keyboard.
Click to expand...
 
Re: Sochi 2014: From Russia With Love

Outside of hockey I just don't care about the Winter Olympics. None of the other sports are compelling to me.

I guess I can tolerate women's curling, but that has nothing to do with the event itself. ;)
 
Re: Sochi 2014: From Russia With Love

Priceless said:
No, because along with 99.5% of the rest of America, I don't give a crap about ski racing for 1447 days and only pay attention for these two weeks during the Olympics. I don't recall this being a problem at Vancouver, Turin, Salt Lake City or Nagano. To me, it is yet another example of how unprepared for these events the 'organizers' were. When the people in charge issue a press release saying there is a shortage of pillows because the athletes "unexpectedly" showed up, there is a problem. When exactly were they expecting the athletes to arrive? Or were they hoping the athletes would bring their own blankets and pillows (and water, and manhole covers, and snow, etc etc etc) from home?

What are the odds these accommodations are ready by 2018 when the World Cup is set to be played there? And how much hope are we supposed to have that Russia will have the other venues ready?
Click to expand...

I'm not denying that there are massive problems with the events going on... I just think that people need to take a step back and think about what they are seeing before they start bashing everything they see... The competition venues seem to be very solid... The mentioned downhill run has had several test events over the past couple of years... The venue is fine... This isn't the result of blatant procrastination... It's not the same as having the issues with the hotels/transportation/etc...
 
Re: Sochi 2014: From Russia With Love

Priceless said:
No, because along with 99.5% of the rest of America, I don't give a crap about ski racing for 1447 days and only pay attention for these two weeks during the Olympics. I don't recall this being a problem at Vancouver, Turin, Salt Lake City or Nagano. To me, it is yet another example of how unprepared for these events the 'organizers' were. When the people in charge issue a press release saying there is a shortage of pillows because the athletes "unexpectedly" showed up, there is a problem. When exactly were they expecting the athletes to arrive? Or were they hoping the athletes would bring their own blankets and pillows (and water, and manhole covers, and snow, etc etc etc) from home?

What are the odds these accommodations are ready by 2018 when the World Cup is set to be played there? And how much hope are we supposed to have that Russia will have the other venues ready?
Click to expand...

My only first hand experience with a Winter Games came in Sapporo. The Japanese were sufficiently prepared for the games in '72, they had a full scale dress rehearsal (The Sapporo International Winter Sports Week) the year before! Opening/closing ceremonies, competitions at all the venues, the whole nine yards. The athletes involved weren't first tier (Dorothy Hamill won the ladies figure skating, she was 14 but wouldn't win an Olympic medal 'til '76) but in terms of the competitions, timing, judging, moving athletes and spectators into and out of the venues, etc., that didn't make any difference. They had also built a new subway (on rubber wheels, no less), new highways, and installed heated sidewalks in downtown. Plus other infrastructure improvements. All completed a full year before the games were to begin. That sets a very high standard. But then, the Japanese have a habit of meeting or exceeding very high standards.

The downhill courses were located on Mt. Eniwa (an active volcano) overlooking Lake Shikotsu. Stunningly beautiful (you haven't lived 'til you've been nearly a mile high, at the top of an Olympic downhill course, looking down. TV doesn't quite capture it). But in the design phase there were reportedly some cultural misunderstandings. The Japanese apparently weren't as enthusiastic about safety features as the FIS wanted. Their thinking? If they die, they die. That was all cleared up, of course.
 
Last edited:
RaceBoarder said:
So, you realize that things like this occur on a fairly regular basis on the World Cup, right? A few years ago there were problems with the jumps at Beaver Creek on the Birds of Prey course... And this has come up every couple of years at Kitzbuhl, Austria for the Hahnenkamm...

There is a reason that these people are forerunners and not competitors... In addition to the ability differences, I'm fairly certain that a forerunner doesn't have a team of wax techs prepping their gear for their runs...

Honestly, not a big deal...
Click to expand...

It will be a big deal for about all of the lower seeds that learned to ski on the Bunny slope.
 
Re: Sochi 2014: From Russia With Love

RaceBoarder said:
MinnesotaNorthStar said:
And now for something completely different!!
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Radiation from Chernobyl is getting to everyone over there....

In all seriousness, I am calling BS on that one... Any player would be smart enough to take off their skates before walking across a brick walkway... I think people are starting to just pile on since it's the trendy thing to do...
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While I agree that people are just piling on, sometimes it just needs to happen. There's an update on the article, and it says that only one of the two arenas actually has locker rooms. If that's true, and the Swiss goalie is pulling a stunt to make a point of it, the Russians should be exceptionally ashamed of themselves. Who builds a rink without locker rooms?
 
Re: Sochi 2014: From Russia With Love

Watching this women's snowboarding event, I can only guess Jaime Anderson smokes ALOT of weed after seeing that interview.
 
St. Clown said:
While I agree that people are just piling on, sometimes it just needs to happen. There's an update on the article, and it says that only one of the two arenas actually has locker rooms. If that's true, and the Swiss goalie is pulling a stunt to make a point of it, the Russians should be exceptionally ashamed of themselves. Who builds a rink without locker rooms?
Click to expand...
Before these Olympics the City of Anchorage announced they going to pursue a bid for 2026 and I was kind of skeptical of it. Now, seeing this mess in Sochi, I absolutely want Anchorage to bid to show what an actual properly run Olympics looks like.
 
Re: Sochi 2014: From Russia With Love

Jimjamesak said:
Before these Olympics the City of Anchorage announced they going to pursue a bid for 2026 and I was kind of skeptical of it. Now, seeing this mess in Sochi, I absolutely want Anchorage to bid to show what an actual properly run Olympics looks like.
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How would they handle the number of needed hotel rooms?
 
JF_Gophers said:
How would they handle the number of needed hotel rooms?
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In the winter time? Rather easily, Anchorage has hotels. Extra housing can be easily converted into dorms for UAA and private housing. Anchorage could use some new rental places, rent is pretty high for a place the size of Anchorage.

The real worries are 1) Traffic, 2) A place to hold the opening ceremonies, and 3) What to do with ski jumps, a skating oval, and luge/skeleton/bobsled course after the Games.
 
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