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Should they cancel the luge event at the Olympics? - Page 3

post #31 of 47
2/14/10 at 1:13am
Yep one more vote to go back to the original event.
Quote:: The first Games began as an annual foot race of young women in competition for the position of the priestess for the goddess, Hera and a second race was instituted for a consort for the priestess who would participate in the religious traditions at the temple.
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post #32 of 47
2/14/10 at 1:20am
Hell No!
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post #33 of 47
2/14/10 at 2:22am

AMEN

Quote:
Originally Posted by BIG POPPA View Post
Hell No!
HELL NO IS RIGHT! I watched the event tonight they slowed the speeds by making the run alot shorter and installed a wall on the last corner..The sad part is they should have had the track built right before the games/practice runs started....It sure as hell should not have taken a death to fix an "uncertain" course....... Every event has been stepped up a notch, for these fearless athletes it seems like with each New Games, Is this what these athletes want or is it the old "LETS SEE A CRASH" mentality, "it will be great" for TV??????
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post #34 of 47
2/14/10 at 3:10am
No, they should continue the luge, but only if the track can be made safe. If there are design defects that can't be resolved, they shouldn't use it.
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post #35 of 47
2/14/10 at 4:15am
Quote:
Originally Posted by frozenice View Post
Greece is getting bailed out "to save the Euro". Wouldn't that be something if the Euro got flushed down the toilet because Greece over borrowed to finance the Olympics. Sounds a bit more serious than a city/borrowing a few bucks to host the Olympics.
Greece is a sovereign nation and has a right to determine its own course. Who are we foreigners to say what they can and cannot be allowed to do? If they decide to gamble their national economy on a major sporting event, well, their choice. Not much except for regime change is going to do much about that.

Quote:
Originally Posted by DrBenway
I completely agree with the posters who suggest that there are too many sports in the Olympics. The original modern games (as in before the Winter Olympics even existed) focused on events that tested the most basic and pure athletic talent. How fast can you run? How high can you jump? How far can you throw? How well do you wrestle?
Well, the first modern Olympics also carried over a bit of the military flair of their ancient predecessor with a few shooting events.

Aside from that, quite a few of the sports that modern 'purists' deride were added quite early with gymnastics appearing at the first Olympics, diving and equestrian at the second, figure skating at the third, and so on. Even absurdities like water motorsports, croquet, and tug of war were Olympic events at the first few Games.

Really, the modern Games are best enjoyed as what they have always been, a nationalistic exhibition of a vast variety of sports that we couldn't be bothered to care about at any other time.
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post #36 of 47
2/14/10 at 5:05am
My vote is for luge to stay along with all the events, simply because I enjoy fast things and big air. I imagine the particular brand of athlete that has chosen to participate in such a sport, does too.
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post #37 of 47
2/14/10 at 5:10am
I watched the first round tonight and it was a lot safer with the lower starting points. With that said it also took some of the competitiveness out of it beacuse of the shorter track. A good starter can win it which doesnt allow the athletes that have good technique and better experience to really have the chance to make up the time. It got nerfed a little too much.
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post #38 of 47
2/16/10 at 1:58am

You can't please everyone.

Luge changes stir up complaints at Vancouver Olympics - Official Website of the Chinese Olympic Committee
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post #39 of 47
2/16/10 at 2:26am
This all could have been avoided if the track's design problems had been detected earler -- as in, before someone got killed. In baseball, when this kind of mess is created, the season, or player, or team involved is said to have an asterisk next to its name in the record book. This year's luge event will always have an asterisk next to its stats in the record book, at least in the minds of anyone who watched this mess unfold.

The fact that clueless officials blamed the deceased for his own death just completes the debacle.

One minor glimmer of joy, though; Argentina's luger Ruben Gonzalez, competing in his fourth (!!!) Winter games at the age of 47, personifies the Olympic spirit for me. I googled him after following the link from your post, and quickly learned that he ain't exactly in the running for a medal. He's there to compete, and to do his best. That's what the Olympics are supposed to be about, in my opinion. Bless him.
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post #40 of 47
2/16/10 at 2:26am
Quote:
Originally Posted by chadbang View Post
After the death of the Georgian athlete, news has come out of two other fairly serious accidents on the luge run (one athlete knocked out, another requiring rescue). Do you think they should cancel the event. Officials so far call it the fault of the athlete, although they are raising the wall on the fatal turn and resurfacing the ice in that area.
No, but I do think it's a tremendous opportunity for convicted murderers to serve a shorter sentence.
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post #41 of 47
2/16/10 at 2:52am
I haven't read all the post on here but I think if they canceled the luge, the Georgian dude died for no reason. I think they took most of the danger out with shortening (sp? like crisco?) the track and what not. Also, yeah, your not supposed to die playing sports but this guy is not the first to die playing his sport and probably wont be the last. Accidents happen, and yeah it sucks for his family and all but this is a rare occurrence that most likely would not have gotten much press except for the fact that it was the Olympics. Sad story nonetheless.
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post #42 of 47
2/16/10 at 3:32am
Quote:
Originally Posted by deadhead12 View Post
I haven't read all the post on here but I think if they canceled the luge, the Georgian dude died for no reason. I think they took most of the danger out with shortening (sp? like crisco?) the track and what not. Also, yeah, your not supposed to die playing sports but this guy is not the first to die playing his sport and probably wont be the last. Accidents happen, and yeah it sucks for his family and all but this is a rare occurrence that most likely would not have gotten much press except for the fact that it was the Olympics. Sad story nonetheless.
If an athlete dies while participating in his sport because of the inherent dangers of the sport, that's one thing. If he dies because of the ineptitude or negligence of officials or regulators, that is something quite different.

Car racing is very dangerous. Drivers are regularly killed because of the built-in hazards of travelling at hundreds of miles per hour, and of pushing complex machines to their breaking point. These are givens. If, however, an oil spill occurs on the track, and no yellow flag is raised, and then there is a horrific pileup that kills one or more drivers, that's the fault of the officials.

None of us can tell at a distance whether the death of this luger was due to the inherent danger of the sport, or due to incompetence on the part of the designers/officials/regulators. But there is a huge difference between those two scenarios.
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post #43 of 47
2/16/10 at 3:58am
^^^ I agree. That naked steel pole was standing right there, waiting to be hit. It might as well have been in the middle of the track. Let's see the lugers try and navigate around that.
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post #44 of 47
2/16/10 at 12:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DrBenway View Post
If an athlete dies while participating in his sport because of the inherent dangers of the sport, that's one thing. If he dies because of the ineptitude or negligence of officials or regulators, that is something quite different.

Car racing is very dangerous. Drivers are regularly killed because of the built-in hazards of travelling at hundreds of miles per hour, and of pushing complex machines to their breaking point. These are givens. If, however, an oil spill occurs on the track, and no yellow flag is raised, and then there is a horrific pileup that kills one or more drivers, that's the fault of the officials.

None of us can tell at a distance whether the death of this luger was due to the inherent danger of the sport, or due to incompetence on the part of the designers/officials/regulators. But there is a huge difference between those two scenarios.

yeah, but no one calls for an end to auto racing when there is a crash, they instead learn from the mistakes and move on. Yeah someone is to blame, but it not the sport as a whole.
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post #45 of 47
2/16/10 at 1:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by davidhunternyc View Post
^^^ I agree. That naked steel pole was standing right there, waiting to be hit. It might as well have been in the middle of the track. Let's see the lugers try and navigate around that.
That would make the game very interesting indeed! While we're at it why not have them compete at the same time. Imagine four lugers on the same course at the same time all going 90 mph! That would make snowboard cross look like a child's sport!

Seriously, didn't luge use to reach a max speed in the 70's? Some final runs were clocked over 90 mph on the shortened Vancouver course!

I think a more technical but slower course can still be challenging and entertaining to watch.
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