Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Sometimes the world just tells you your cat is here.

Compromise? There is no middle ground between a firefighter and an arsonist.

All hail the time of the bunny!

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

The current Supreme Court is a dangerous, rogue court.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

You cannot shame the shameless.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

People really shouldn’t expect the government to help after they watched the GOP drown it in a bathtub.

He wakes up lying, and he lies all day.

We’re watching the self-immolation of the leading world power on a level unprecedented in human history.

It’s all just conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership.

GOP baffled that ‘we don’t care if you die’ is not a winning slogan.

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

That meeting sounds like a shotgun wedding between a shitshow and a clusterfuck.

Beware of advice from anyone for whom Democrats are “they” and not “we.”

They spent the last eight months firing professionals and replacing them with ideologues.

How any woman could possibly vote for this smug smarmy piece of misogynistic crap is beyond understanding.

We will not go back.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

Well, whatever it is, it’s better than being a Republican.

“They all knew.”

You are either for trump or for democracy. Pick one.

’Where will you hide, Roberts, the laws all being flat?’

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Sunday Evening Sports Open Thread

Sunday Evening Sports Open Thread

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NYMag reports on the closing ceremonies at Sochi:

Just when we were starting to think that the Sochi Olympics would never end, they did. Vladimir Putin and the gang bid farewell to their many international guests on Sunday with a closing ceremony that picked up where the opening ceremony left off a mere sixteen days ago. And, somewhat surprisingly, given Putin’s infamous self-seriousness, there was a little joke about how one Olympic ring failed to open during the first Sochi spectacle…

Many pics at the link.

Of course, just not having the most dire pre-Sochi predictions come true could be considered the biggest triumph:

… The Olympics’ Closing Ceremonies on Feb. 23 coincide with the 70th anniversary of Stalin’s brutal deportation of the Chechen and Ingush populations from the Caucasus. Almost 500,000 men, women and children were rounded up in freight trains and sent to Central Asia. Up to half of them perished along the way. Terrorists might try to exploit the symbolism of the day and of the Olympics for nefarious ends…

***********
So, now that we are being returned to our regularly scheduled sports program(s), what’s on the agenda for the evening?

Reader Interactions

107Comments

  1. 1.

    cathyx

    I think it’s ridiculous that there is a medal count with the olympics. Who cares how many each country got?

  2. 2.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    So, now that we are being returned to our regularly scheduled sports program(s), what’s on the agenda for the evening?
    Wishing I believed in God, so that I could believe in hell:

    Former President George W. Bush teared up during an interview about veterans and post-traumatic stress disorder.
    “I have a duty. I obviously get slightly emotional talking about our vets because I have an emotional — I’m in there with them,” he told ABC’s Martha Raddatz in a segment that aired Sunday on “This Week”. “But my spirit is always uplifted when I visit with vets.”
    Bush, who is promoting his initiative to help returning war veterans adjust to civilian life, commended American veterans.
    “They don’t say, ‘Woe is me,'” Bush said. “They say, ‘What can I do to continue to serve.'”

  3. 3.

    GHayduke (formerly lojasmo)

    Don’t give a shit about sports, but season two of House of Cards was fucking amazing.

    Second or third best thing about being sober is that I get to watch Lost and Fringe again, and I’ll be able to follow the fucking plots and remember everything.

  8. 8.

    NotMax

    @GHayduke (formerly lojasmo)

    I get to watch Lost and Fringe again, and I’ll be able to follow the fucking plots and remember everything.

    Have never seen the latter show, but in the case of the former that is not necessarily a plus.

    As season followed season, the writers were more and more evidently less and less encumbered by memory.

  13. 13.

    Corner Stone

    Big fan, but just don’t think the upcoming feature film “Draft Day” with Kevin Costner, Jennifer Garner, et al is going to actually have an audience.

  15. 15.

    NotMax

    Just a little moderately interesting coincidental tidbit.

    These objects are startlingly reminiscent of Star Trek’s Federation insignia — but they’re geological features inside a large crater on Mars.…  Source

  16. 16.

    srv

    Sheesh, no Americans blown up by Chechens like liberal and conservative talking heads pined for, so here’s an obligatory “Thanks For Nothing” and slap about something 70 years ago.

    What does poor Vlad have to do?

  17. 17.

    Elizabelle

    Not releasing my breath until all athletes have safely flown home to their countries. But relieved the talking heads were wrong.

    A. gain.

    Should have bad pundit medals. Bill Kristol would not be able to walk into a TV studio.

  19. 19.

    gene108

    Trying to cook enough food to not have to eat out next week, i.e. trying to eat healthier. I have a couple of dishes down. Need to a make few more.

  22. 22.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I think it’s funny that Canada is showing medal results sorted by number of gold medals. Everyone else is showing by total medal count.

    I love my Canadians, but LOL at them.

  24. 24.

    MTmofo

    Daytona 500 about to start after 5.5 hour WX delay…on the FOX TV channel. They only need to run 62 laps to get to halfway and make the race official. There’s more precip coming. Could be quite the race.

  28. 28.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @karen marie: I rather thought it was because the Games were supposed to be a celebration of athletic achievement by the individuals and teams who took part.

  32. 32.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @JPL:

    The original British “House of Cards” was my introduction to the wonderful actor Susannah Harker, who played Mattie Storin in the first series. A few years later, she was in the A&E version of “Pride and Prejudice.”

    Haven’t heard much about her recently. Fine performer.

  33. 33.

    Elmo

    I’ve discovered Boardwalk Empire on HBOGO. nothing else even signifies until its done.

    Lovin me some Steve Buscemi, even though I take personal offense at the idea that he could possibly look Irish.

  37. 37.

    Amir Khalid

    @Omnes Omnibus:
    The thing is, you can’t stop people from making a competition out of the medal counts by country. The Olympic games are not supposed to be a dick-measuring contest for nations, which if I’m not mistaken is the official IOC position, but some people have an irresistible urge to turn every international sporting event into one.

  38. 38.

    MikeJ

    @Amir Khalid:

    The Olympic games are not supposed to be a dick-measuring contest

    And boy was my face red when I got kicked out of the Olympic qualifying tourney.

  39. 39.

    Baud

    @Amir Khalid:

    The Olympic games are not supposed to be a dick-measuring contest for nations,

    Then why divide the best athletes up by country?

    P.S. Dick measuring is a summer Olympic event.

  40. 40.

    Keith P

    @Elmo: Good show, but HBOGo has waayyyyyyy better shows in its archives (I always point to Deadwood as the to-watch show there)

  45. 45.

    NotMax

    @Baud

    P.S. Dick measuring is a summer Olympic event.

    The schlong jump?

    @MikeJ

    was my face red when I got kicked out of the Olympic qualifying tourney.

    Otherwise known as the pole fault?

  46. 46.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @NotMax: Thanks for the Peas Potage a la NotMax recipe. It’s copied and in my recipe folder.

    My evening is tending to the patient pup Layla who’s recovering well after her Tuesday rabbitectomy. I need to make next week’s med chart for refrigerator posting (initials required when meds given) so it’s clear she’s getting them.

    Also awaiting pre-submission review of my (requested!) CV by a doc at the College o Medicine. I’m sure I can get a recommendation from the precious vice chair of the department, and the current chair knows me, as do a few docs there. Cautiously hopeful.

    But enough about me. Hey raven, will your bride rent you out for garden construction work up north? M. Q has neither interest nor building chops. So he’ll hire it out.

  47. 47.

    raven

    @a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): Ha, she’d probably love to!

    eta However, I must say, she works WAY harder than I do out there. Today I said “I’m worried you are going to hard and you are going to complaining about your back”. She said “It’s going to hurt anyway so I may as well work.”

  48. 48.

    Anoniminous

    If I was the IOC I’d:

    1. Have the athletes parade in by sport
    2. Stop the stupid flag waving
    3. Stop the playing of the national anthems during the award ceremonies

    4. Give everyone involved a pony

    Note: #4 is more likely to happen than #1 through #3

  52. 52.

    Amir Khalid

    @SiubhanDuinne:
    The section of Piers Morgan’s Wikipedia entry that describes his editorship of the Daily Mirror is a breathtaking catalogue of unethical conduct. It culminates in his getting fired: The Mirror had run crudely faked photos purporting to show British troops committing atrocities in Iraq, and he refused to apologise for authorising it.

    Also check him out in Susan Boyle’s Britain’s Got Talent audition clip. He’s on the jury with Simon Cowell, and he’s the very definition of a smug, preening git.

  53. 53.

    Steeplejack

    Okay, getting ready to descend into the spoiler-proof bunker and watch True Detective in real time.

  54. 54.

    NotMax

    @a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    You’re most welcome, and thanks again for asking*.

    Should footnote that dividing the butter up is a judgment call rather than an absolute, but holding back no less than 1 tbl. for the later swirling in is a good minimum to reserve.

    For leftovers, I like to swirl in a mere dash of Worcestershire while it reheats to modify the taste pattern, but have found that not everyone cares for it that way.

    *Typing it out after 1½ bottles of zinfandel over the course of the evening’s gathering was … interesting.

  57. 57.

    Mike E

    Gotta hand it to the Rooskies, they delivered a noteworthy Olympics despite algore.

    And, yeah, wave yer flags & flash those medals. You’ve earned it (‘cept figure skating…sob!).

  59. 59.

    RSA

    @Amir Khalid: Pierre de Coubertin:

    May joy and good fellowship reign, and in this manner, may the Olympic torch pursue its way through ages, increasing friendly understanding among nations, for the good of a humanity always more enthusiastic, more courageous and more pure.

    Yeah, friendly understanding would be nice.

  60. 60.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @NotMax: I’m all about dividing butter and probably would even without that spec! I think Worcestshire on reheating will be amazing. But I’m kind of tamarind slut, and use Worcestshire way more than most.

    @Amir Khalid: I agree, but it’s Kansas, so I doubt the state medical board will much care, and I don’t know if he is licensed anywhere else. It’s way creepy, and in the Carpenter taped interview, Wolf is all about “the burden of dealing with life and death as a doctor.” (That he wouldn’t wish on anybody – he actually says that). I wanted to bitch slap him and tell him “Dude, get over yourself. You’re a radiologist – you save very few, if any lives.” I add of course, “and you mock people whose lives didn’t ge saved.”

  61. 61.

    TS

    @Keith P:

    If this leads to Bill Kristol Live, I’m jumping off a bridge.

    Couple of other RWNJs looking for their hour of glory – would have the same impact on me.

  62. 62.

    Jewish Steel

    Maybe I should save this for a recipe thread but folks should know: You cannot simultaneously listen to Throbbing Gristle and keep your ear peeled for the beeping alarm that tells you your pizza is ready. Not possible.

  63. 63.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Amir Khalid:

    I’ve seen him fewer than, probably, half a dozen times. Smug, preening git works for me as well as smug pommy bastard. And that is without knowing much about his involvement in Daily Mirror shenanigans.

    Can’t stand him. Go away.

    (I love Brits. It is really harsh for me to be attacking someone from the UK, but there you are.)

  64. 64.

    NotMax

    @Jewish Steel

    As a general rule, think that one should exercise both caution and vigilance if engaged in any activity which includes the words ‘throbbing gristle.’

    But that may just be me.

  67. 67.

    NotMax

    @Mike E

    Triggered memory that way, way, way back when, there was an episode of the semi-factual, semi-inferred paranormality series One Step Beyond wherein the host traveled to visit a native shaman (in Mexico?), ingested psilocybin and then had his reactions filmed.

    IIRC, that episode was excised from the later syndication package but was not destroyed, so probably up on the interwebs somewhere or other.

  68. 68.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Princess #44:

    Um, actually most of the world, including the IOC, uses number of golds, not total medal count.

    It’s a perfectly valid way of chalking up wins. It’s just not the ONLY way.

  71. 71.

    Mike G

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    “But my spirit is always uplifted when I visit with vets.”

    I’m so gratified that that the proudly-ignorant asshole who launched a murderous war based on lies for political gain, who pumped his fist and bragged, “Feels good!” as he ordered the opening attacks on Baghdad, is uplifted by the noble endurance of human suffering directly attributable to his moral cowardice.

    Bush could spend the rest of his life as a volunteer nurse’s aide and toilet cleaner in veterans’ hospitals and it wouldn’t erase the stain on his evil soul.

  73. 73.

    mai naem

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Fuck Dubbya. Everytime i want to not hate his guts, something comes up that reminds me what a colossal asshole and incompetent pig he was and all the incompetent pricks he surrounded himself with. I cannot believe there is even talk of Jeb! running. And that there’s a third George Bush running for a public office in Texas.

  78. 78.

    magurakurin

    @Mike E:

    note worthy as in there was no snow? That was the shittiest Winter Games I have ever seen. The cross country events were a total joke and the alpine events were only a thin hair away from being a total joke. And why did the world need”team figure skating” just to give the Russian’s a chance at another medal? And snowboarding events are crap no matter where they are. Racing events are stupid, a snowboard will never beat a ski, so why don’t they just have lunch tray slalom races instead if they want to have handicap events? And the free style skiers are jumping higher in the halfpipe and the X-game inspired skicross and snowboard cross is clearly more edge on skis than on a snowboard…skiing backwards over jumps…yikes…but neither is an Olympic sport. And the opening closing ceremonies… like Soviet propaganda mixed with a bad credit card ad.

    worst.olympics.ever.

    but I mean that in a nice way

  79. 79.

    Cliff in NH

    @cathyx:

    Get a crock pot and have a hot meal waiting for you when you get home.

    if your oven goes low enough, you don’t need a crockpot, just a timer to switch from high to low.

  81. 81.

    NotMax

    Historical footnote;

    The ancient Olympics, after existing for more than one thousand years, were squelched as part of imperial policies to impose Christianity as a state religion.

  86. 86.

    PsiFighter37

    @Jackie: I’m watching it on YES. Collins hasn’t done much, but frankly – he’s not expected to be a huge ‘impact’ player, so I take this as a positive. ZOMGERS, a gay man is playing basketball and Staples Center hasn’t crumbled to the ground from God’s wrath.

  88. 88.

    Gex

    @Yatsuno: I love his “Yes, it was wrong of me to do it, but the greater wrong is for my opponent to let people know that I did it” argument.

    Let me guess. He’s a Republican.

  90. 90.

    ruemara

    I spent all day out in the sun with melting frosting. I think my baking extravaganzas are too much for this little town. Chipotle chocolate brownies with Sriracha Raspberry frosting would have sold out in LA, or SF. Instead, I wound up givin away half and I still have enough left over to give some more away. Had to give away half my candied bacon too. These pretend hippies are BOOOooring. Goodbye, Olympics. I never even got to watch curling. I was asleep.

  92. 92.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Omnes Omnibus: Anyone who doesn’t like it can fuck right off. Christ. I can’t blame FYWP or booze. I guess it’s down to poor typing skills as my excuse. How sad.

  93. 93.

    magurakurin

    @Mike E: lol. just complaining really. You can take the American out of America, but you can’t take the Olympic Complaining out of the American

  96. 96.

    Mnemosyne

    @ruemara:

    Your talents are wasted in Davis. I bet they would have been lining up in K-Town.

    I bet if you came up with something that was organic, vegan and gluten-free, you’d sell out. Having it taste good would be optional for that crowd. ;-)

  97. 97.

    pseudonymous in nc

    Given that I watched precisely fuck all of the Olympics on NBC and saw it through a variety of other countries’ broadcasters, I enjoyed it. The IOC is dodgy, Putin’s New Russia is fucking scary, but there remains something magical about the events while they’re happening, like the appearance of Brigadoon, and I don’t feel particularly enthused by regular sporting stuff afterward.

  103. 103.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @ruemara: It does sound like an improvement – the bacon, I mean. I am not buying into Cole’s new food puritanism. Exercise moderation and exercise moderately, says I. Of course, it’s more what I say than what I do. Eat whatever I want and work like a pig to burn it off is more like it.

  104. 104.

    Mnemosyne

    @ruemara:

    Pricing advice from Robert Irvine on “Restaurant Impossible”: cost of ingredients times 3 (and, for you, presumably divided by number of servings).

  107. 107.

    mdblanche

    @fidelio: HIPAA was passed in 1996, so I doubt that would be an issue. Incidentally, this jackhole is running for the same Senate seat one of HIPAA’s lead sponsors once held.

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