Winter Olympics!

[Calum]

Hey guys, first post here, you've been recommended as being an ace community by a good friend of mine! ;)

I'm currently writing a small dissertation for college on the representation of 'extreme' (aerials / moguls and snowboarding) in the Winter Olympics. I'm looking for opinions from as many people as possible concerning the contestants, their portrayal and performance and even the commentators (who seem confused at best with talking about anything freestyle related!) I've found this to be an interesting study as in between school I teach skiing here in the UK, on an artificial slope, and also because it's a pretty decent topic. I'd hugely appreciated any relevant links to news articles or features as well...

Thanks for the help!

[TAsunder]

I found the commentary to be quite good on the x-gamesy type things I have seen. I was very interested to see some snowboarding events this olympics, but I wasn't really sure what to look for. The commentators did a good job explaining what the judges look for and pointing out why the judges scored things the way they did (generally). They could maybe have gone into a bit more depth about how the tricks are done and what some of the terms mean, I suppose.

Skiing was more of a mixed bag. I remember watching the moguls and feeling a disconnect between what the commentators were saying and the scores of the judges. They also seemed a little less lively in their color commentary.

The snowboarders were some of the most enjoyable people I've seen on the olympics this year. They were personable and yet seemed to enjoy themselves a lot. In comparison, some of the skiiers and figure skaters seemed aloof at best. I was definitely impressed with the comeraderie and enjoyment the snowboarders displayed.

[TIVO_GUY_HERE]

You fed a troll

[Calum]

The snowboarders were some of the most enjoyable people I've seen on the olympics this year. They were personable and yet seemed to enjoy themselves a lot. In comparison, some of the skiiers and figure skaters seemed aloof at best. I was definitely impressed with the comeraderie and enjoyment the snowboarders displayed.

Definitely agree with that statement, such a great contrast between the serious lyrcra-suited skiers and the snowboarders wearing iPods cheering each other on...! Thanks for the reply, much appreciated.

TIVO_GUY: ??

[DianaMo]

Speaking of extreme skiing sports, my family watched The Man Who Skied Down Everest (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000777HU2/ref%3Dnosim/searchbyisbn/christianmu09-20/) on DVD last night.

Have you seen this movie?

My husband was also programming a new universal remote and managed to get (without really trying) a side by side "race" of an Olympic downhill skier on broadcast tv and similar skiing footage from the movie on Mt. Everest. That made for an interesting comparison. It looked pretty samey, even though they were recorded 31 years apart.