miss akay

Olympics in Torino

Here I am, watching the Olympics with my Biology textbook open to the chapter on vertebrates, my browser on NBColympics.com for quick look-ups and the TV set tuned onto to NBC for watching the Games. It's interesting to actually follow the Olympics for once! Since the Salt Lake City games, the scoring for figure skating was completely re-done. No longer are they using the 6.0 scoring system, but instead they use a cumulative point system, where skaters accumulate points for each individual element according to difficulty and execution. This change is to remedy the subjective judging that was scandalized during the Salt Lake City games in '02. It's great that they've finally done this, because it helps skaters earn credit where it's due, rather than having the more popular skaters end up with medals for seemingly unexplainable reasons.

The NBC website is pretty well organized for checking things out and learning about stuff you were always curious about. If you've ever wondered what the difference is between a toe loop, lutz, flip, loop, or salchow, they've got mini clips that demonstrate what each jump looks like. For each event there is a glossary of terms and I swear that snowboarding terms are as complicated and random as my biology vocab for school. From "tranny", "stiffy air", "stalefish air", "slob air", "rolling down the windows", "pop tart", "McTwist", "mashed potatos", "lip", "Japan air", "Indy grab", "crippler air", "crail air", "cab", "bone", and "bevel" ...to name just a few!

posted by miss akay @ 9:22 PM