You won't. They have the tv schedule on nbc.com and they have 15 minutes of luge scheduled in their 4-5 pm block and 15 minutes in primetime.

Tonight, NBC becomes FSN. No not Fox Sports Net - the Figure Skating Network.

Damn, was hoping for a little more luge myself. And I'm not that big of a fan. They said they would show some curling too. Guess that means 5 minutes, though that's five minutes more than I've seen over the last 3 olympics combined.

I'll never understand the draw of figure skating. I mean, yes the US is usually pretty good at it. But I can't believe people want to watch that over other stuff. And it's freaking pairs to top it off. I think it was Rick Reilly who wrote an article in SI about how pairs figure skating had become too sexual and they had to make rule changes, lol.

At least I have hockey on CNBC

I think there is curling on MSNBC this afternoon - check their website.

I can totally believe that women love figure skating. NBC knows this all too well. They know women will watch and they know that those women will force their men to watch.

It's an artform. It's like watching ballet or dance or some other pansy-ass stuff I won't admit I enjoy.

das

Everyone's complain that they don't get live coverage on NBC....did we expect it? Thats what CNBC and MSNBC are for!

Live coverage of the women's biathalon right now...some of the women are pretty cute, but thats beside the point. Unlike some other countries were TV stations are government run properties, the US has a commercial based TV system, so its always going to come down to what the masses want to see....at least NBC is giving us the CNBC and MSNBC coverage, right.

Do we not remember the horror that was CBS Nagano 98?

That was expected given the large time difference.

You would think with the games being in the US, we could get some live coverage besides figure skating and ice hockey (and a few other things).

I'm not really upset about the lack of live coverage on weekdays. That makes some sense. However, nothing...absolutely nothing was broadcast live yesterday on NBC, which makes no sense to me whatsoever.

Yesterday did suck, but I understood, they had their previous commitment to the NBA which was probably a bigger draw for them than any Olympic event could have been, but they should have at least shown something on NBC before 7PM CST.

When I made the Nagano comment I was refering more the amount of coverage available, NBC is providing two seperate outlets for coverage. MSNBC is offering 5 hours a day, CNBC is offering 6 hours a day and NBC is offering 4 1/2 a day, that's quite a bit of coverage!

I am pretty sure that TNT had weekday afternoon coverage in Nagano. Of course, it was like 24 hours behind.

Yeah but they had coverage from 3 to 5. Surely, there were events going on in SLC btwn 1 & 3 Mountain time. Looking at the actual schedule, the women's halfpipe finals (2 final runs) took place btwn 1 and 2 MT. The ladies speed skating 3000 meters were from 1-3 MT. Those 2 events shown live could have easily been placed in that 2 hour block.

Then the 2nd luge run took place during primetime. The 2nd run was scheduled from 6:10 - 7:45 MT. They could have shown the best of the first runs on tape (which would take all of 5 minutes). Then they certainly could have spent about a half-hour on live coverage of the 2nd run.

So I'm watching Curling on MSNBC right now (ummm..I'm an Olympic whore, I've admitted it) and I'm still trying to figure it out, in terms of strategy and how its scored. I see that annoying ad for the website, but its says it'll tell you the basic, so I go looking for some info.

What do I find on the page?
The result of the match I'm watching. Well, what's the point in watching now??

Damn, I'm missing Curling? Damn work. I think the point is like bocce, if you've played that. Or horseshoes. You want your "stone" closest to the scoring circle. And you can knock out the other team's stones. I've never actually seen or played curling though, so don't take my word.

I never played bocce, but I did finally figure it out.

8 stones per "frame" (if forgot what it was called) - 4 per team and they alternate throwing.

You have to get closest the stone in the "home" area. Other teams can, and in fact, actively try to knock your stones out of the "home" area.

At the end of the "frame" points are awarded, but only to one team, which is were I was initially lost. One point for every stone that is closer to the center of the "home" area than the closest opponent stone.

Ten "frames" whoever has more points at the end, wins!

And apparently we (Americans) upset a very good Swede team today.

Alright, what the F*** happened with the judges for pairs figure skating?

Those judges must be absolutely insane. No one deserved that medal more than Jaime and David.... not only was their performance almost technically perfect, but they gave the routine personality. OUTRAGE!

I'm watch some curling right now (yes!), it is very similar to bocce, though you can play different rules with bocce. But it's a similar thing, except you throw bocce balls at a pea (which can move) and curling you slide it to a specific mark. Might be similar to shuffleboard, which I'm not familiar with

It seems to me that when Team A does there routine with a few minor noticeable errors and very little personality and life and Team B performs a virtually error proof routine that is infectious in its personality, Team B should win.

It was rather heartbreaking to have to watch Jamie and David after they found out they didn't win.

The worst part are these god damed sob story soap operas we have to suffer through! Ugh!!

I hate to throw the term "outrage" around lightly with such a complicated sport as pairs figure skating, but tonight's nonsense was a complete load of horsesh|t.

I stood up and supported the judges when they awarded Bayul the Gold for a less technical but more beautiful performance than the cold and stoic "Cow on Ice" Kerrigan. That year, I thought any "controversy" was just American fans wanting an American to win.

But this year? This is crap. ****in crap. Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze are clearly the best pairs team in the sport. Their routine is the only Russian performance with real style and grace and heart, and they are worthy of being the favorites in this competition. But they didn't earn it tonight! Reviewing my TiVo, I count 4 clear errors, and EVERY single landing was forced. Berezhnaya had to fight a quarter turn on each throw. It wasn't there.

Sale and Pelletier hit everything. EVERYTHING! It was fluid. It was glorious. It was perfect. And the crowd's chants of SIX SIX SIX were not jingoistic sentiments (come on ... we don't like Canadians any more than Russians ). They freakin' earned it!

Scott Hamilton's claim that this will be a controversy long after these Olympics have passed is fair. I guess he's not allowed to call it horsesh|t, so I will.

Forgotten in all of this was the incredible showing from Ina and Zimmerman. My God, they were awesome. They never had a chance for a medal, unless better skaters simply fell, but they gave the performance of their lives. While not technically advanced, it was flawless, and it was great to see an American team have such a great showing in the pairs event. They should have been 4th, edged out by a decidedly mediocre Russian performance, but we'll stick with the one controversy for now.

And, oh man ... I thought Xue and Hongbo were going to land that quad. If she had stuck that landing, who knows what could have happened. I don't understand why people badmouth figure skating, but I was thoroughly entertained this evening, even if those damn_judges were completey full of crap.

das

Thanks NBC for the 10 minutes of luge coverage. If you are not going to show it on NBC, throw it on MSNBC or CNBC.

Kind of glad I didn't watch the figure skating, as I hate bull like this. It always seems like the favorites will win, unless they screw up. They don't have to be the best, just don't majorly screw-up like fall down or something. You really have to wonmder about these judged sports sometimes, though admittedly any sport can be swayed by a judge's call. But at least with speed skating I'm fairly certain I know who the best was.

This is why I say any event whose outcome is determined by a judge is not a sport. Who needs to put up with Communist favortism (or any other subjective call). I'll watch a sport like downhill skiing. Fastest mutherfu*ker to the bottom wins, no judges, no controversy, no questions asked.

Not trying to rain on this "outrage" parade, as I would've had the canadians win as well if it was my call, but you have to realize that their exercise was nowhere near as difficult as the russians'!! They only had a triple-double combination rather than triple-triple and then they had one major lift-up compared to at least a couple from the russians. And for some reason they were behind with their coreography half-way through the show (they caught up later).

True, all in all, if I were a judge I would have gone for the fluidity in the canadian performance, but I can fluidly skate around the rink and I shouldn't deserve the gold medal for doing that.

Figure skating is known to be subjective as any other judge-decided competition. But... well, tough.

Equally, not trying to start an argument, but that's highly inaccurate. Their technical difficulty was very much on par with the Russians. And where the Russians excel has nothing to do with lifts and throws.

Break it down as it really happened. Both did the triple twist, yet the Canadians hit it smoothly, whereas the Russians crashed chests. Both did side-by-side triple toes well. Both did side-by-side double toes well. Both did two throws. Jaime struggled on just the throw triple-sal, but Elena struggled to stick both. Both did two lifts. The Canadian lifts are more technically difficult with more elevated changes in position. This is not up for debate. Both did two death spirals. Again, the Canadians do better death spirals. Both did nice spins. I don't recall this triple-triple of which you speak, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt on that one. And Anton completed whacked the double axel for at least a tenth of a point.

That takes nothing away from the Russians, who like I said, don't excel in throws and lifts. They excel in between the "elements." Their leg strength is better which affects their speed. They cover more ice, and the do more intricate weaves. Their edges are stronger, their posture is better, and their footwork is closer and better. Where the Canadians have more stop and start manuevers, the Russians have a better grasp of fluid choreography and transition better between the elements. This is why they're one of the best Russian pairs ever. Not because of the Joe Sixpack manuevers that make the evening news, but the rest of their program.

On any given day, with all things being equal, Jamie and David have the better technical elements, and Elena and Anton have the better in-between manuevers. The margin of the Russian advantage in their best skill is slightly larger than the margin of Canadian advantage in their skill. But last night, they did not excel in their strengths. They were at the same level as the Canadians at their strengths and lower at their weaknesses.

These items really aren't up for debate, as EVERY judge either ranked the Canadians #1 or tied for #1 in technical merit. Claims that the Canadian program was vastly inferior to the Russian program are highly suspect. There are countless aspects to technical merit, and yes, the Russians excel in more than the Canadians, but the margin is very VERY small. Considering the Russians skated slower than usual, seemed still during their normally fluid weaves, struggled to land both throws, aborted a double axle, and crashed chests on their triple twist, I see absolutely no evidence to claim that they did a better technical performance.

Like I said, I hesitate to cry "outrage" in such a subjective sport, but even considering all the subjective content, there still is no explanation for what occurred last night.

das

I'd kind of agree, but every sport has biases. I mean in the downhill, like the women's downhill today, the conditions really favored the earlier skiiers. And any sports has referees. how many football games have hinged on one particular call?

But in sense you're preaching to the coverted. My favor events are the purer ones like speed skating, bobsled, or such where the clock determines the winner

das,
You make an excellent post and basically the lack of such an analysis made me post above. Everyone seems to think that the biggest injustice in sport (or at least figure skating) history happened the other night. And this is simply not the case, although it was a highly controversed (even dubious if you want) decision.

Yes, the technical marks at least the same for the canadians, but not much higher as most people expected. The reason for that being the different baselines. For the combination: they showed it side by side last night and it was amusing that they all focused on how Anton barely managed to do the first jump (probably a deduction there) but they didn't notice how the russians went directly into the second jump while the canadians put a couple of extra turns in before finishing it. That's a deduction for them as well...

Also, in the full program, when a judge has the same total for two pairs, it is the artistic impression mark that decides who will be first and who is second. Also, the marks are only for the judge reference. The only thing that really matters is the relative classification that each judge makes.

Of course, it all boils to 5 judges seeing the russians as better than the canadians in the free program. While, obviously politics were involved as well, each of these judges can fully justify the order that they gave...

Unfortunately, it's all subjective in the end, and I remember tons of competitions where the most fluid dancer and public's favourite did not get the marks the public (and me) felt they deserved.