Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Gold, Silver, Bronze... CDs?

Does anyone else think the Olympic medals look like CDs this year? For example, here is a shot of Canadian women's hockey players Hayley Wickenheiser and Cassie Campbell with their gold medals.
(And as an aside, isn't Hayley Wickenheiser's little boy a cutie?)

Now, for a comparison, here is a picture from the 2002 Salt Lake Games. We have Steve Yzerman, Chris Chelios, Brett Hull, and Brendan Shanahan with their gold and silver medals.


Now, THOSE look like proper Olympic medals! What was the IOC thinking? Some of the figure skaters and acrobatic skiers are probably too little to even stand up straight with those gigantic medal CDs around their necks!

The men's hockey quarterfinals are today. And I am stuck at work. And I forgot to get a blank tape to try to program my VCR. Crap. :-(

Here are the games I will be missing today due to the necessity of earning a living:

  1. 10:30, Sweden vs. Switzerland. There are whispers that the Swedes threw their game yesterday so that they'd draw Switzerland instead of the US. If it's true, perhaps karma will bite them. It's not like underdogs haven't accomplished strange things in the Olympics before....
  2. 11:30, US vs. Finland. Finland went undefeated in the round robin portion of the tournament. The US... did not. To put it mildly. They kind of squeaked in to the quarterfinals. Well, guys, you're playing elimination hockey now, so I suggest you listen to your captain (the second guy in the picture up there) and pull it together!
  3. 2:30, Canada vs. Russia. Legends on ice. Need I say more? This one should be a brilliant game. I hate to have them play so early in the tournament, though, because it means one of them is guaranteed to not medal.
  4. 3:30, Czech Republic vs. Slovakia. This should be an interesting game. Both teams are about half NHL players and half not, so they play a more European style than we're used to seeing. Plus, being as how these two countries were Czechoslovakia not so long ago, this ought to be a strong regional rivalry. The Czechs are without starting goalie Dominik Hasek (though Tomas Vokoun is a strong replacement), and the Slovaks are flying high with a 5-0 record in the first part of the tournament, so this should be a battle.

*Note to self: Buy a videotape and learn to program the VCR before the semifinals!

7 comments:

Michelle said...

LOL. I, too, thought these medals looked a little cd-ish and obnoxious.

Bainwen Gilrana said...

I think they're trying to go for the Olympic Bling look. I hope that in 2010 they don't hand out gold, silver, and bronze alarm clocks like Flava Flav would have them wear. :-p

clew said...

I havent watched a stitch of the olympics this year, but if I had, the same thought would have occurred to me. What's UP with those medals?

I LOL at the Flavor Flav crack.

Tirithien said...

Those are so garish and so huge as to look fake. A medal's supposed to be silver-dollar sized or so, not a CD!

The US went down 4-3 today. They just didn't have it this time. :-(

Bainwen Gilrana said...

Sweden beat Switzerland 6 to 2. Which is to be expected.

But then Finland beat the US 4 to 3.

Okay, USA Hockey was not in top form this time. Definitely not! But… Finland?

And now who am I supposed to root for?

Ordinarily I’d throw my support to Canada if the US were to be tossed, but this year I just can’t do it. They let the evil thug Todd Bertuzzi on their team, and they didn’t let Brendan Shanahan on their team, so it just can’t be. Sorry, neighbors!

Maybe I will root for Sweden. They have four Red Wings on their team, after all.

Martie said...

I agree with everyone regarding the medals this year....too big, too much like CD's and way too ugly!

Lizzy Leigh said...

Those are the dumbest looking things I've ever seen. I thought the medals were supposed to be something you showed off proudly. Not accidently stuck in your cd player. Sheesh. What where they thinking?