BlogHer - olympics - Comments

Yu-Na is just spellbinding.

Jozet at Halushki — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 23:22:52 -0600

She reallyputs the new judging system through its paces and proves that there's plenty of artistry to be found. I personally like the judging system because while big jumps score high, so do fabulous spins. Skaters are my daughter's age are watching the greats like Lucinda Ruh and spinning is becoming its own art form.

I saw Alexe Gilles for the first time, and I can't wait to see how she progresses.

But the skater who really knocked my socks off was Akiko Suziki. Her exhibition/gala program at NHK trophy was crazy amazing. First of all, who skates to wild, weird jazz like that? But Suzuki tore up the ice and has such passion and flare.

I love that skating has upped the ante so that it's not just 4 minutes of teeny-bopper jumping beans. Even triple axels don't guarantee a win. Speed, art, power, spinning, and jumping. And even footwork is exciting to watch!

I can't wait for the Olympics and I'm loving all the Grand Prix competitions leading up!

Halushki.com

So glad you are back!

Maria Niles — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:05:27 -0600

Glad you are back to guide us through skating season, Sarah. The recent skating I've seen leaves me not loving the new judging system - like gymnastics, it seems the emphasis is on elements that score difficulty points and the cohesion of the overall programs seems to have been lessened - so I look forward to your analysis guiding me as to what to look for.

BlogHer Contributing Editor PopConsumer Beyond Help

So excited!

beccalynn — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:45:45 -0600

Thanks so much Sarah for this detailed account of what to watch out for! Can't wait!!

That has to bu humiliating

AnnanAmos — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 18:22:05 -0500

That has to be absolutely humiliating for that poor woman. Imagine what that must feel like - competing at the highest level of sport and doing well, having put incredible amounts of time and effort into becoming a great competitor and then being punished, as it were, for your success - by having your gender questioned. It's absurd, and kind of sick.

Just as a couple of quick asides - I think Androgen Insensitivty Syndrome is also the disease from an episode of House MD (Oh, Lord help me, I'm addicted to that show! Thankfully not Vicodin, though...like the protagonist) where a supermodel has undescended testes, and one of them has cancer. (I think one of the quotes from the edpisode is something along the lines of.."The perfect woman..is a man," which he realizes after a MAN develops a sympathetic pregnancy alongside his wife.)Not a real big point here, but that episode immediately sprang to mind after seeing this drama unfold.

Also, one of my friends is hugely into a sport called rugby (it's a lot like football) and joked that "If she DOES turn out to be a dude, make her turn out for the Springboks." (That's South Africa's team, evidently - they're supposed to be really good.) "Habana (one of their players) doesn't do a thing when he gets the ball, and they aren't going to win the next World Cup playing like England!" I don't know entirely what he means, but I'm assuming it would be funny to someone who does.

That has to be a horrible thing, and I hope that some sort of vindication can come out of this. A top flight, elite, world class athlete like Caster Semenya deserves so much better than be punished for her success. That's just awful.

Women's Boxing is a sign of equality?

Flightkeeper — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 13:29:57 -0500

Really? I don't care either way because I'm not into boxing. And yet they left out baseball and softball. I just think the International Olympic committee got rid of those two sports because it has a European way of looking at things. I mean who really watches the rhythmic gymnastic competition except Eastern Europeans? Trying to twirl a ribbon or bounce a ball while you're trying to flip seems so pointless. Same thing with synchronized swimming - it's a water show not a sport. And I'm not going to leave out the Winter Olympics, curling is a silly activity (not a sport) played by very few people but you don't see anybody getting rid of that.

Frankly, the decision by the Olympic committee means that fewer Americans will watch the games than already do. But maybe that's how they want it. Then they can have a better chance of winning.

http://flightkeeper.blogspot.com

http://cutefuncool.blogspot.com

i just found this

pookielocks — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 13:58:42 -0500

i just found this info:

Normally, women have two X chromosones (XX) and men have an X or Y chromosone (XY) in their cells. The presence of XX chromosones confirms the person's female gender.

However, some people born with a Y chromosome develop all the physical characteristics of a woman except internal female sex organs, a result of a genetic defect that does not produce testosterone.

A person with this condition - called androgen insensitivity syndrome or AIS - might be XY but she is not a man because her body never responds to the testosterone she's producing.

Since testosterone helps in building muscle and strength, an AIS case would not give an XY female athlete any kind of competitive advantage.

Seven of the eight women who tested positive for Y chromosones during the 1996 Atlanta Olympics had AIS. They were allowed to compete.

www.shebecameabutterfly.net and www.msmodern.com and www.taking-back-control.com

I know of a hermaphroditic

pookielocks — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 13:55:40 -0500

I know of a hermaphroditic child who is not aware of his/her "condition." She is being brought up as a female and will soon have to undergo hormone treatment to continue. She has many "male-gender" qualities that present themselves.

I wonder if someone like this became an athlete, then discovered after testing, they were not who they thought they were. Perhaps that was the case with Santhi Soundarajan.

www.shebecameabutterfly.net and www.msmodern.com and www.taking-back-control.com

So sad

mashadutoit — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 13:01:18 -0500

Yes I agree it would have been better if a gender test had been performed quietly before all this hoopla started.

Now, its a sad story if she passes or fails. If she fails, it will cause a huge stink, and if she passes, it will be clear that this strong woman had to endure her gender being questioned.

I think she is beautiful. Stunning. Did you see how she recovered from nearly tripping ? Magnificent.

I can understand that it would be hugely problematic if she is not biologically female, as she is competing as a woman. But it seems so sad that this had to happen.

That's amazing!

Sarah Granger — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 14:04:00 -0500

Thanks for sharing.

So cool!

sylinthecity — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 10:39:34 -0500

I am an American who is actually visiting Seoul right now and watching the event in Korea was so special b/c we could just see the pride on the faces of all the other people in the place (a street market down the street from our hote). Even drunk young men were entranced by the figure skating program, something I don't recall ever seeing guys do in America. Everybody was glued to the flat screen TVs throughout the market, and when her final score was revealed, there was such a great feeling in the air :-)

http://www.somewherethesunisrising.com

Sasha Cohen and other stars

LadyM — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 02:21:13 -0600

I didn't get to see Nationals, but Stars on Ice was in town last week and there were some great performances. Some pix:

http://tinyurl.com/aft8pd

Lady M blogs at http://www.empress-m.com/

Thank you for these reports!

Maria Niles — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 16:47:46 -0600

I've been far too busy lately to keep up with skating even if it were shown on TV so thank you for these reports.

And your descriptions are wonderfully vivid - when you described a skater sticking her leg out at spiral height for her toe jumps - I could totally see it!

BlogHer Contributing Editor
PopConsumer
Beyond Help

Not Everything Has To Be Live

Megan Smith — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 00:52:41 -0500

But it's really much more exciting when it is live. And though ping pong and badminton are not my thing, I wouldn't have minded NBC switching out a couple of nights of beach volleyball for some table tennis or some tennis court tennis.

Megan Smith
BlogHer Contributing Editor, TV/YouTube
Megan's Minute: Quirky Commentary Around The Clock

Late as usual

JenInShanghai — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 23:36:18 -0500

But I couldn't help laughing about the differences in viewing experiences. I think that I have seen more ping pong table tennis in the past two weeks than in my entire lifetime. Here in China its around the clock coverage (and now replays) of ping pong, badminton and air rifles. There are 5 different channels that showed events live (all CCTV channels) and I never knew the variety of sports that were in the Olympics. While I don't find it necessary that all the sports be broadcast live, (badminton, ping pong) it would really be nice for the US to expand its coverage to include the rest of the worlds teams. If nothing else the kids watching would get a much needed geography lesson!

Off to watch re-runs of the tumbling toddlers team win!

A Three Year Contract?!

nannygoats — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 21:06:49 -0500

What, did you get the diamond encrusted super snazzy phone that dices and slices for free? I'm heading over to your blog, cuz I like your writing style....

Margaret

Nanny Goats In Panties (www.nannygoatsinpanties.com)