So we already dished on figure skating.  But judging by my random luck it appears that the only sport event in these Olympics is snowboarding. And I'm hating it even more than I used to.

I'm not saying it's easy, but compared to "real" athletes, the snowboarders just seem like a bunch of stoners each trying trying to be more hip than the others.

And the commentary is ridiculous.  One expert just pointed how one of the boarders was "a machine gun of awesomeness".

I'm starting to wonder why they don't just make an event for cute teenagers to wear trendy clothes, eat a big bag of Cheetos, and, like, talk about, you know, stuff.

When do the sports begin ?

I heard this talked about on the radio yesterday. ESPN started the X Games a while ago and it caters to a younger audience. This is an attempt to reel in a younger audience since shooting targets on skis isn't getting it done.

Do I like snowboarding? Hmm... Did Canada win a medal in this event? If yes, I love snowboarding! 

And look at that baby face. The face of a healthy and kind boy. His mama is proud of him. And so am I. 

I like it.  I like skiing and biathlon better but it's entertaining enough.

Yes.

I thought shooting targets on skis was pretty cool. I equated it to running 20 miles on a golf course and stopping every so often to shoot at a grapefruit sized target 60 meters away. Snowboarding belongs in the X Games and I don't care to watch sports that require judging. Even Shaun White's teammate said his 4th place finish "was a gift."

I just watched the halfpipe men's finals OnDemand (the past 2 nights I really didn't get to see much Olympics at all except during my hour on the elliptical and TM on Tuesday and it the Russian coverage because that's all they have at that gym....DirectTV Russian channels). It was enjoyable enough. But I definitely don't understand the scoring. Felt bad for Shaun White though.

I have mixed feelings about the judging thing.  On the one hand, part of me says that a sport that requires judging isn't a sport.  OTOH, an activity like curling that requires essentially zero athletic ability isn't judged and is an Olympic competition.  I recognize the skill that curling requires but darts requires skill as well and it's not an Olympic sport.  While I don't like sports that require judging, I admire the athletic ability of snowboarders, figure skaters, etc.  It just seems like there could be some way to eliminate a lot of the subjectivity.

 

For example, let's assume that trick  "x" is a fairly simple trick that could earn a possible 60 points on a 100 point scale while trick "y" is a more difficult trick that could earn a possible 80 points.  Each trick would have a standard you have to meet to receive the maximum possible points.  Anything short of that standard, such as maybe you didn't grab the board or maybe your hand brushed the ground on the landing, or whatever, would result in a deduction in points.  Competitors would then have to make a strategic decision about what level of difficulty they wanted to attempt.  Attempting trick "x" would yield a greater probability of receiving the full points value but even a less than perfectly executed trick "y" would yield more points than a perfectly executed trick "x."  Of course, since it's harder, it also carries with it a higher risk of muffing it badly and earning few points.

Yeah if they tweaked the judging it might help, though it doesn't seem to be hurting snowboarding or figure skating as Olympic spectator sports, those are the 2 biggest ratings wise, in the US at least.

Something like diving, even though it is judged and somewhat subjective, seems to do it pretty well. You have the degree of difficulty multiplier to reward the harder dives, and there seem to be some pretty objective metrics that they judge on. Amount of splash, whether they are vertical, legs together, etc. Usually the announcers can tell what the dive will score as soon as they hit the water.

I agree the snowboarders athletic ability is incredible. They make really really hard stuff look easy.  And when Shaun White was in his prime you didn't even have to see his name to know it was him on the pipe, he was going so much faster and higher than everyone else. He was doing tricks in Olympic runs that none of the other competitors would even try in practice. I can appreciate that level of excellence even in a sport I don't follow much.