Author Topic: Vancouver Winter Olympics - News and Views  (Read 112244 times)

Offline Sheriff Roland

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Re: Vancouver Winter Olympics - News and Views
« Reply #40 on: February 21, 2010, 02:28:16 pm »
And I always thought it (curling) was a Canadian sport.  ;D

Or at least we OWN the sport .... much like hockey












Well we have in the recent past ...

Last night, the two (supposedly) top (men's) curling teams in the world, Canada & Great Britain met in a nail biter. Canada (who has yet to register a loss 6-0) edged out Great Britain (who now can't afford a single more loss in order to make it to the semi-finals). They (the Brits 3-3) will be playing the U.S. this afternoon.

As for the Canadian women, they too have yet to register a single loss (4-0), and are currently routing out the U.S. team (2-3).

Of course all of this is happening in a round robin situation. Anything can happen in the semis & finals. As we saw last night where 2 Canadian men (brothers, actually) in a 5 man 1 000 m speed skating final ended up 4th and 5th.
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Offline delalluvia

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Re: Vancouver Winter Olympics - News and Views
« Reply #41 on: February 21, 2010, 04:05:47 pm »
I don´t see why curling wouldn´t be considered a sport

"A sport is commonly defined as an organized, competitive, and skillful physical activity requiring commitment and fair play. It is governed by a set of rules or customs. In a sport the key factors are the physical capabilities and skills of the competitor when determining the outcome (winning or losing). The physical activity involves the movement of people, animals and/or a variety of objects such as balls and machines. In contrast, games such as card games and board games, though these could be called mind sports, require only mental skills. Non-competitive activities such as jogging and rock-climbing, are usually classified as recreations."



I think curling indeed demands "skillful physical activity" and it´s easy to see why chess for example, isn´t considered a sport.

Yeah, but golf and bowling and fishing are considered sports, but don't meet the criteria.  What physical exertion is there in curling?

Offline Monika

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Re: Vancouver Winter Olympics - News and Views
« Reply #42 on: February 21, 2010, 04:20:11 pm »
Yeah, but golf and bowling and fishing are considered sports, but don't meet the criteria.  What physical exertion is there in curling?
I think it´s about doing anything physical that is a part of a competition. Golf is a very physical sport in that regard, cause it's all about how you move your body, how you hold the golf club etc. The same thing with bowling - and curling. They are very physical sports in the regard that the outcome of the competition to a large extent, or entirely, depends on what you do physically.
With chess, on the other hand, you have to lift your hand to make a move, but the physical aspect isn't a part of the competition itself. Nor does playing chess require any physical training or physical skills.



Offline David In Indy

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Re: Vancouver Winter Olympics - News and Views
« Reply #43 on: February 21, 2010, 06:35:45 pm »
Is it actually a sport and not really just a skill?

I would consider it a sport just as much as I would consider golf and bowling sports. :)

Clearly there is a lot of strategy involved as well as teamwork and good communication skills.
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Offline Sheriff Roland

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Re: Vancouver Winter Olympics - News and Views
« Reply #44 on: February 22, 2010, 06:28:48 am »
medal standing, early day 11              (bold indicates new victories in previous 24 hours)
         
                          gold  silver  bronze  total
United States    7      7      10         24
Germany            6      7       5         18
Norway              5      3       4         12
4  South Korea          4      4       1          9
Canada               4      4       1          9
Austria               2      3       3          8
Russia                 2      3       3          8
France                 2      2       4          8
Switzerland         5      0       2          7
10 Sweden                3      1       2          6
11 China                    3      1       1          5
11 Netherlands        3      1       1         5
13 Poland                  0       3       1         4
13 Italy                      0      1       3          4
15 Slovakia              1      1       1          3
15 Czech Republic   1      0       2          3
15 Japan                   0      1       2          3
18 Australia               1      1       0          2
18 Latvia                   0      2       0          2
18 Slovenia                0      1      1          2
18 Croatia                0      1      1          2
18 Belarus                 0      1       1          2
23 Great Britain          1      0      0           1
23 Estonia                  0      1      0          1
23 Finland                  0      1      0          1
23 Kazakhstan            0      1      0          1
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Offline Jeff Wrangler

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Re: Vancouver Winter Olympics - News and Views
« Reply #45 on: February 22, 2010, 09:51:45 am »
But both of those sports require physical exertion, extreme flexibility and physical endurance.  What about curling?

So that qualifies synchronized swimming and rhythmic gymnastics as good exercise, but as an Olympic Sport?

What the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes do also requires physical exertion, extreme flexibility, and physical endurance, but nobody considers it a sport.
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Offline Jeff Wrangler

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Re: Vancouver Winter Olympics - News and Views
« Reply #46 on: February 22, 2010, 09:54:01 am »
Last night, the two (supposedly) top (men's) curling teams in the world, Canada & Great Britain met in a nail biter.

OK, I'm sure this going to sound disrespectful to someone, but I have to confess that I find the combination of curling and nail biter amusing. ...
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Offline Sheriff Roland

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Re: Vancouver Winter Olympics - News and Views
« Reply #47 on: February 22, 2010, 11:32:17 am »
OK, I'm sure this going to sound disrespectful to someone, but I have to confess that I find the combination of curling and nail biter amusing. ...

You had to be there.

I'm not a big curling fan either, but ... the whole game was changing with each rock! Man, can those boys shoot!
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Offline Kelda

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Re: Vancouver Winter Olympics - News and Views
« Reply #48 on: February 22, 2010, 11:45:51 am »
 
OK, I'm sure this going to sound disrespectful to someone, but I have to confess that I find the combination of curling and nail biter amusing. ...

:laugh:

I found out yesterday that my student days flatmate's fiance is one of the GB curling team.

He's the very scottish sounding one called Ewan MacDonald: http://winterolympics.external.bbc.co.uk/athletes/athlete=32689708/index.html

She has lots of pics on her facebook page of her cheering the team on around Vancouver with the rest of the curling WAGS! So I'll need to try and tune in to see if i can spot her.

Curling can be quite physical though - the brushing in itself can make you quite sweaty. It's more physical than shooting for example.



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Offline delalluvia

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Re: Vancouver Winter Olympics - News and Views
« Reply #49 on: February 22, 2010, 08:28:09 pm »
I dunno.  How one moves in bowling and golfing can be seen more as a technique.  The physical exertion IMO has to still be there (BTW I disagree with calling either golfing or bowling or fishing a sport.)

e.g.  discus throwing.  There is a technique to how he moves, but then he has to power the disc using all of his body.  Synch swimming and rhythmic gymnastics all have techniques AND require bodily strength and endurance.

I'm still don't see how curling qualifies.  They use their arms to sweep...what's the rest of their body doing?