• Hi Guest: Welcome to TRIBE, the online home of TRIBE MAGAZINE. If you'd like to post here, or reply to existing posts on TRIBE, you first have to register. Join us!

the olympics haven't even started and an athelete is dead

S

Snuffy

TRIBE Member
The sound of him hitting that metal post is terrible.

I don't see the logic in this sport and why people would do it. Then again, I don't see the logic behind race car driving, or downhill ski racing. All these sports combine technology that propels a body at inhuman speeds with racing. Accidents are a reality and it will happen again.

I am not trying to diminish the tragedy of the situation, but the guy died doing a sport he loved. I hope he enjoyed every possible moment of the adventure before the end.
 
NemIsis

NemIsis

TRIBE Member
agentRC4 said:
Its luge people. There are numerous crashes at every track and every event.

Its the risk you take.
Click to expand...

I agree there is a risk and a choice the competitors make, but it looks like this track has numerous issues (nicknamed 50/50 for your chances). Making a track competitive is fine. Making it dangerous is not so much imo.

They need to close it down or put up some safety precautions.
 
agentRC4

agentRC4

TRIBE Member
Close it down?

Silly. If you closed every track there would be no where to race.

Do you close down Daytona? Dale Earnheart Sr. died there. Do you close down Michigan? Thats where Greg Moore died. Do you see F1, NASCAR, Indy closing shop or people saying it should stop? Nope.

So why would Luge?

The personal risk involved with the winter olympics is what makes it superior to the summer IMO.

This is why the mens DH at Kitsbuhl is not an official FIS race but its the one every racer wants to win more than the Olympics. WHy? Because of the danger involved and the glory.

Ray Chapman died in baseball I guess we should outlaw that too?

Over 300! related boxing deaths I guess that should go as well.
 
Last edited:
NemIsis

NemIsis

TRIBE Member
agentRC4 said:
Do you see F1, NASCAR, Indy closing shop or people saying it should stop? Nope.
Click to expand...

Interesting question. See my last bolded bit for my answer.

Death raises questions about luge track, Canadian competitiveness - Vancouver 2010 - Macleans.ca

Even before the accident, questions about the “exceedingly dangerous,” 1,450-m-long course — the fastest on earth — were being raised. The top speed reached at the track at Fitzsimmon’s Creek, on Blackcomb Mountain is 153.93 kph. Kumaritashvili was believed to have been travelling at 143.3 kph.

In training runs Thursday, both Guntis Rekis of Latvia and Stefan Hoehner of Germany had high-speed crashes. “My goals are to stay alive, not break bones,” Rekis told reporters. “I was scared a bit.”

“I think they are pushing it a little too much,” Australia’s Hannah Campbell-Pegg said Thursday night after she nearly lost control in training. “To what extent are we just little lemmings that they just throw down a track and we’re crash-test dummies? I mean, this is our lives.”

“I’ve never slid that fast,” Maya Pedersen, a Swiss gold-medallist told Maclean’s last February.

Although both the international luge and bobsleigh federations declared the track safe and Games-ready a year ago, the International Luge Federation (FIL) president Josef Fendt of Germany told reporters that the sporting body wanted less-experienced, and less-talented lugers to have more training time at the WSC prior to the Vancouver Games. Fendt also said the protective devices near the track’s curb were too short, and needed to be lengthened so athletes were protected from flying from the track.

Questions will likely also be raised about Canada’s aggressive pursuit of the home ice advantage in Vancouver and Whistler.

Earlier this week, Andy Schmid, the performance director of British Skeleton called the Canadian decision to limit practice time for overseas competitors (compared to the more than 300 runs set aside for Canadian athletes) as irresponsible. “Please, let there be no accidents there because that could kill the sport,” he told Britain’s Telegraph.

“People have the argument that it’s just home advantage and that’s normal for an Olympic host country, but it’s different for sports involving high speed. Can you imagine in Formula One nobody being allowed on a track because somebody has home advantage?”
Click to expand...
 
agentRC4

agentRC4

TRIBE Member
The whole issue about practice time is garbage. Its standard for Olympic host nations both summer and winter. Its only being raised this year because its in Canada and we are supposed to be nice.
 
D

Dialog

TRIBE Member
OK so is this where we start critiquing the opening ceremonies?

If fully half the footage is going to be of flag waving dewy-eyed people in the stands I'm gonna puke
 
C

catilyst

TRIBE Member
Yeah I'm pretty sure you shouldn't perform publicly when you're on too much valium.

Oh and I never knew how much Canada respected and loved the first nations people. Heartwarming.
 
K

Karim

TRIBE Member
That Georgian Luger is more of a household name now than he would've been had he won the gold. If he's not the post-mortem spokesperson for Crab Juice after this, there is no justice in this world....
 
C

catilyst

TRIBE Member
agreed. Hairy as hell.

Interesting though that while slow and cumbersome, it worked out. Kind of like a reflection on Canada's mellow and safe vibe.
 
W

wayne kenoff

TRIBE Member
I thought it was ironic and a little bit amusing that Rick Hansen brought in the torch and no less than ten minutes later Gretzky was standing up in the back of a pick up truck.
 
S

Snuffy

TRIBE Member
OMFG... the opening was amazing.

But two cauldrons? They goofed the first one with technical difficulties. As for the second, that was the most awkward "live TV" moment I've experienced. The security, sirens, dark streets - it felt like something really bad was about to happen.

This was the best and worst opening ceremonies I've ever seen. I'm so getting this on Blu Ray.
 
T

TheLiquidFairy

TRIBE Member
Worst ceremonies ever. The projection and techie stuff was cool but the bad dancing and lack of organized look just made it unfinished and mediocre.

Brutal.

RIP Nodar. :(
 
praktik

praktik

TRIBE Member
These ceremonies are always shit. I watched the whole thing in 15 mins thanks to my FF abilities.

I can't recall any ceremonies I've ever liked.
 
O

octo

TRIBE Member
those opening ceremonies sucked

the whole time i kept saying, "they'll make up for it with the torch lighting." then they fuck up the torch lighting. THEN the whole awkward Gretzky on a pick up driving through the rain with sirens and random horn honking for WAY too long.

the whole show itself lacked energy. even the camera work sucked.

BRUTAL

i hope the money spent on "own the podium" gets us better value

the death of the Georgian is unfortunate but CTV news showed the crash! they showed the guy flying off the track into the pillar. :eek:

how is that necessary? so fucking tasteless.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top