Olympics: A day for explanation
So curling… I’ve received a lot of confused feedback about how curling works and why it is so interesting. So let’s start with how it works. Curling is defined by Wikipedia as a sport in which players slide stones across a sheet of ice towards a target area which is segmented into four concentric rings. But we all knew that already. Curling is very similar to bocce ball- the idea is to push the stone across the ice and get it into the center of the target. If a team has four stones in the middle, then they close the round (actually called an end) with four points. If both teams have a stone in the center ring, then the team with the closest stone to the absolute center will get the point. This game is all about strategy and stone placement- so they will set up stones as guards in front of the target, thus forcing their opponent to ‘curl’ the stone around the guard. If you didn’t already know, they use the brooms to melt the ice, thus moving the stone in a curving motion. Another fun fact, the people with the brooms have two different soles on their shoes- one that is slippery and the other that is grippy. That way they can push down the ice smoothly. Finally, it’s interesting like bowling is interesting. You don’t have to pay that much attention, but if you trick yourself into cheering for it and getting exciting, then it can be a whole lot of fun.
More confusion has spurred from Men’s Moguls Freestyle Skiing– They have three different sections where their scores come from. It is based off of the time it takes them to make it down the half-mile track, the number of turns they take (really the number of moguls/bumps that they navigate), and style points for the two jumps that they take. It’s really confusing and that’s about the entirety of my understanding. If you have more info, feel free to email me (mloeb@live.unc.edu) so that I can share with everyone. Today’s mogul competition ended with Alex Bilodeau as a repeat gold medalist. He dedicated his win to his brother Frederic, who has cerebral palsy.
Men’s Speed Skating was today! Unfortunately the Americans didn’t do too hot, but apparently the 500m isn’t their strong suit. So three guys from the Netherlands won the race. And two of them were twins. So I guess there’s always a better sibling, and there’s no denying it.
Unfortunately Men’s downhill skiing favorite, Bode Miller (36), ended 8th in the competition two days ago. During the trial runs, he was in first place by more than a full second and was hoping to make olympic history by getting his 12th medal in his fourth Olympic Games. But he pushed himself too much in the first few turns of the race and started to lose control to the point where he had to stand up a bit on some of his turns. In doing so, he lost speed and ended up being .51 behind the winning downhill skier, an Austrian that really struggles with English (in the best kind of way).
USA women’s ice hockey won 9-0 against Switzerland. It was just pure dominance, and I had never watched a hockey game before today. It started a little shaky, but then we found our groove and they couldn’t find a way to stop us. According to the Swiss coach, there’s no way the Swiss will ever be able to stop a North American hockey team. Some pretty low confidence there. But Group play will continue the day after tomorrow as we will take on Canada. Should be a huge game, and i’m pumped.
An American, Julia Mancuso, also won bronze in the Super Combined which is the downhill course plus the slalom course. She is the most decorated female skier in alpine history (according to the reporter). How ’bout them apples.
Now on to the schedule… And I’ll bold the ones I think you’re interested in…
Watch on NBC’s Live Extra App or website
12:00am- Women’s Curling- Round Robin session 2- USA v. Russia
1:00am- Ladies’ Freestyle Skiing- Ski Slopestyle Qualification
4:00am- Ladies’ Freestyle Skiing- Ski Slopestyle Final
5:00am- Men’s Snowboard- Halfpipe Qualification
5:00am- Men’s Curling- Round Robin session 2- USA v. China
5:00am- Ladies’ Cross Country- Sprint Free Qualification
5:25am- Men’s Cross Country- Sprint Free Qualification
7:00am- Ladies Cross Country- Sprint Free Quarterfinals
7:25am- Men’s Cross Country- Sprint Free Quarterfinals
7:45am- Ladies’ Speed Skating- 500m Race 1 of 2
7:56am- Ladies’ Cross Country- Sprint Free Semifinals
8:06am- Men’s Cross Country- Sprint Free Semifinals
8:22am- Ladies’ Cross Country- Sprint Free Finals
8:30am- Men’s Cross Country- Sprint Free Finals
9:30am- Women’s Luge- Run 3
9:34am- Ladies’ Speed Skating- 500m Race 2 of 2
10:00am- Men’s Snowboard- Halfpipe Semifinals
10:00am- Women’s Biathlon 10km Pursuit
10:00am- Figure Skating- Pairs short program
11:20am- Women’s Luge- Run 4
12:30pm- Men’s Snowboard- Halfpipe Finals
12:30pm- Ladies’ Ski Jumping- Normal Hill Individual 1st Round
1:25pm- Ladies’ Ski Jumping- Normal Hill Individual Final Round
Now for when we will actually be watching:
Channel 1465
3:00pm- cross country skiing, luge, freestyle skiing
8:00pm- snowboarding, figure skating, freestyle skiing, ski jumping
Channel 1466
10:00am- figure skating
1:30pm- ski jumping, speed skating
Or- you can watch all of the footage on the live extra website- they keep the recording on there and you’ll be able to watch it even though it’s not live.