olympics Page 101 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Always The Bridesmaid, Never The Bronze
You know how athletes' repetitive actions eventually become muscle memory? It's like that for Daniela Anschütz-Thoms and that dejected, hunched-over pose. You see, Daniela has a nasty habit of coming in fourth....

US Hockey Team Denied Inspiration From '80s Beer Slogan
Because the Olympics just can't handle the in-your-face raditude of America, fuck yeah, they're forcing Ryan Miller and Jonathan Quick to cover up parts of their masks, before the blow the minds of the staid people of Vancouver....

Lindsey Jacobellis DQ'd, And Other Things You Already Know But NBC Will Pretend You Didn't: Open Thread
People without access to the internet or cable television or the outside world in general don't know it yet, but snowboarder Lindsey Jacobellis drifted off course today and lost her chance at what Tom Brokaw couldn't wait to call "redemption."...

Thankfully, The Vomiting Biathlete Was Totally Live
NBC finally captures the glory of live sports as Norwegian biathlete Ole Einar Bjoerndalen fails to medal, but leaves it all on the course. Including his lunch. (Incident completely unacknowledged by the announcers, of course.) [Video via NBC]...

Winter Olympics Still Overcome With Triumph, Cancer, And Dreams
Just like they did in 2008, Slate is highlighting those sticky sweet story lines Olympic broadcasters unconsciously toss out there to give even the dullest of events that special heart-tugging sheen.[Slate]...

Everyone Agrees: NBC's Olympic Coverage Sucks
I was only half-serious when I lamented how the lame non-live coverage by NBC was ruining Winter Olympics. (I'm in curling heaven now!) But apparently there are others out there boiling over with tape-delayed rage....

Rick Reilly® Escalates Personal War With Canada
The Rickster apologies for his lame anti-Canuck jokes by crafting even more lame anti-Canuck jokes and sneaking in a brag about the vindaloo-like qualities of his smoking hot wife. Wait until he hears about the electric Zambonis. [ESPN]...

Longhorn Girl Meets Her Sad, Disturbing Match
Because no one reads the newspaper, and SportsCenter's anchors are too perky for this early in the morning, Deadspin combs the best of the broadsheets and the blogosphere to bring you everything you need to know to start your day....

Your Olympics Tape-Delayapalooza Open Thread
Topics for discussion: figure skating, Rick Reilly's Canada jokes, Bruce Arthur's response, snowboarding, speedskating, Lindsey Vonn's shin (and the Jarlsberg she wraps it in), and the men's downhill finals, in which latter event I like Bode Miller's shot at bronze....

Afternoon Olympic Update: Worst Olympics Ever
It's Day 4 and I'm ready to call it. This Olympics sucks....

Nodar Kumaritashvili Was "Scared" Of Olympic Luge Course
The Georgian luger told his father before he died that he was "scared of one of the turns," but the luge federation says it's not the track's fault that he failed to "compensate properly" after a bad curve. Awesome. [WSJ/ESPN/DMN]...

Bill Plaschke, Master Of Finding Controversy Where None Exists
Plaschke's manufactured outrage of the day: "there was no makeshift memorial of flowers or cards, there was no visible memory" of Nodar Kumaritashvili. The photo that runs with the story? A makeshift memorial of flowers and cards. [MSTI]...

With The Cracking Of The Olympic Hippie Skull, The Games Begin In Earnest
Because no one reads the newspaper, and SportsCenter's anchors are too perky for this early in the morning, Deadspin combs the best of the broadsheets and the blogosphere to bring you everything you need to know to start your day....

In Wayne Gretzky's Nightmares, He Still Waits For The Goddamn Robot Cauldron To Goddamn Open
Because no one reads the newspaper, and SportsCenter's anchors are too perky for this early in the morning, Deadspin combs the best of the broadsheets and the blogosphere to bring you everything you need to know to start your day....

Canada Limited Luger's Training Time In Olympic Runup
We are reminded that Whistler Sliding Centre was among the venues that Canada refused to let other nations' athletes practice on before February, in an attempt to gain a home-country advantage. [NY Times]...

Track's Safety Was Already In Question Before Fatal Crash
When Nodar Kumaritashvili died in a training run this morning, it came after years of hype of the fastest, most dangerous downhill run in the world. No one wants death, but we all want the athletes to risk it....

Fatal Luge Crash Mars Opening Day
Nodar Kumaritashvili, a 21-year-old Georgian luger, died from head injuries suffered in a brutal crash in training today....

In Praise Of Team Spicoli
I have a new favorite Olympian, and he is the guy who, when asked yesterday how it feels to be a member of the U.S. snowboarding team, responded with the following bit of bongwater poetry:...

Lindsey Vonn Has A Lot Of Nerve Getting Hurt After Being So Sexy
Lindsey Vonn sure is purty, but who does she think she is? Getting everyone all hot and bothered over our Yankee Doodle Dandy and then having the audacity to break her shin before winning any gold medals! What a tease....

Today In Euphemizing Flat-Out Calling Johnny Weir Gay: Frank Deford
An occasional series in which we document — and evaluate — the sports media's pained efforts to call the sexually undeclared figure skater gay without quite calling him gay....