*****OFFICIAL 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics Discussion Thread*****

The men's hockey team was using the extra space and cycling really well. All four lines were looking extremely good on offense. Defense was sketchy here and there, but I expect that will improve as we go along (it'll have to if they want to contend for gold). Slovakia really had no answer for anything, there's just too much talent through all our lines.

Good to see the women's curling team pick up a win, but it's not like Japan is a great team, nor did they play all that well. But it's a start. Keep in mind this was the team that finished 4th in the 2013 World Championships. They're don't suck, which is why their overall horrible play is just so frustrating.

 
Been reading about Olympic History and a found a few things. I always kind of knew this but it really stuck out with this chart: The Winter Olympics might as well be called the White People games. Not trying to be racist but I mean, it's dominated by Norway of all countries...and I get it, they're Scandinavian and are good with snow and stuff but come on. Norway.

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Also never realized how dominant the Soviet Union was in Hockey. I was alive when the Ruskies were dominating and should have picked up on it with the whole "Miracle on Ice" thing but I just never realized how good they actually were:

- The Soviets won 20 out of 25 of the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships from 1963-1990. Throwing the Czechs in with them, the Warsaw Pact won 24/25 of those Championships

- The Soviets (and the combined CIS team in '92) won gold medals in 7 out of 8 Olympic Ice Hockey Competitions from 1964-1992.

To walks or whoever else knows...why was this? Were we sending college scrubs vs their pros or was Soviet/is Russian Hockey just insanely superior to American/Canadian/Swedish Hockey?

 
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There used to a rule on Pro Athlete participation in the Olympics. They have changed that rule for certain sports.

The Soviets never had Pro Athletes, or at least they weren't allowed to seek jobs outside the USSR. You should watch the IX for IX on Katarina Witt. It shows just how protective/secretive the Communist countries were about their athletes. They didn't want them to know how good life outside Communist rule really was.

 
Bucky said:
To walks or whoever else knows...why was this? Were we sending college scrubs vs their pros or was Soviet/is Russian Hockey just insanely superior to American/Canadian/Swedish Hockey?
Click to expand...

I don't know as much about the historical context, but I do know a very big part of it was that they just played a very distinct and different style of hockey than anyone else. As the world became more and more connected, other teams started adopting their style and they started adopting American/NHL styles and also coming over here to play in the league when the barriers went down.

The Soviets played a possession style of hockey, looking for the perfect pass and shot, so it wasn't uncommon for them to only have like 12 shots on goal in a game. Eventually, both sides of the planet cross-pollenated until there weren't really different styles of hockey anymore.

 
Landlord of Memorial Stadium said:
Bucky said:
To walks or whoever else knows...why was this? Were we sending college scrubs vs their pros or was Soviet/is Russian Hockey just insanely superior to American/Canadian/Swedish Hockey?
Click to expand...

I don't know as much about the historical context, but I do know a very big part of it was that they just played a very distinct and different style of hockey than anyone else. As the world became more and more connected, other teams started adopting their style and they started adopting American/NHL styles and also coming over here to play in the league when the barriers went down.

The Soviets played a possession style of hockey, looking for the perfect pass and shot, so it wasn't uncommon for them to only have like 12 shots on goal in a game. Eventually, both sides of the planet cross-pollenated until there weren't really different styles of hockey anymore.
Click to expand...
You forgot the "Steroid" issue as well.
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There are a lot of cultural and social factors that have made Norway so successful despite the small population. The country is really a perfect storm of factors for medaling in the Winter Games, especially when it comes to skiing and skating, even when compared to other Nordic countries. It doesn't seem to make sense on the surface, but when you dig into it some, it becomes readily apparent.

 
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Bode Miller

Another Bode moment...which for this Olympics, means a fail. For someone that claimed he liked this mountain, it sure isn't showing.
 
The entire US speed skating team is looking to change to an older version of their uniforms (pending approval from the IOC, I think). We know they were extremely pleased with them prior to the Olympics, so much so that they held them back from the World Championships as a type of "secret weapon" for these Winter Games.

So I find it doubtful that the uniform is the cause of the speed skating disappointments. The change is probably more psychological in nature, giving the team a feeling of some form of control. I think the more likely culprit is training at high altitudes on hard ice, which is the exact opposite conditions we have at Sochi. Still, I would call that excuse pretty thin as well.

But whatever works, assuming they can switch uniforms, hopefully it does the trick, even if it's just a placebo.

 
They claim some "vent" that was supposed to reduce drag may be adding it. I have not idea if that's true or not but that's the story.

 
Yeah, the current uniforms also have special moulding that is supposed to help them cut through the air better. They covered those vents (they're in the middle of the back, right between the shoulder blades, if memory serves) up for the women and it didn't seem to help, though I will admit that with such highly technical and cutting edge uniforms, covering a vent is not the same as not having it at all.

Supposedly what's going on is air is being let into the vent, which is only supposed to allow heat to escape. If air is truly being allowed into the vent, then yeah, it could be a real problem. That would create increased drag, and in that position, it would also fight to pull the skater upright, which is another speed killer. One skater has said they felt like they were fighting the suit to stay in optimal skating position.

So upon hearing air is supposedly getting into that vent, I'll revise my position and say that very well could be it, if that's what is actually going on. Still, the fact that they were so pleased with the uniforms prior to the Olympics (admittedly never having used them in competition...possibly a real mistake), makes me wonder. You know they tested them out extensively.

When I watched Shani, his strokes just had no real "pop" in them. They looked heavy and didn't seem to propel him forward like you'd expect. Vent drag could be a culprit, possibly paired with the heavy ice at Sochi, who knows. It does seem suspicious that, considering how good we are in these events, we have no medals at all yet. It is starting to look like a pattern and not just an athlete or two having bad days.

 
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