phelps

we also have in this team wrestling in Ukraine another Cuban, Abraham Conyedo (who's been living here for a while and won the 97kg class at the recent Italian champs)... but both Kudiamagomedov and Conyedo do not have the Italian passport yet...and it could take a very long time before they get it, so probably this season they will only be able to wrestle in the international "minor" tournaments under a provisional authorization (like it happened for Frank Chamizo in 2014), but they won't represent Italy in any major event like Europeans and/or Worlds... still, I hope they'll get the Italian passport before the 2019 European Games...it would be a nice improvement for our starving team (it looks here it's impossibe to raise any good Italian born wrestler anymore )...

[hide] Men's Tournament Knockout Round February 20th - February 25th, 2018 Round of 16, Quarterfinals, Semifinals, Bronze Medal Match and Gold Medal Match Bronze Medal Match Date & Time (GMT +9) Nation 1 T1 T2 Nation 2 February 24th 2018, h. 21:10 Canada 2 Czech Republic Gold Medal Match Date & Time (GMT +9) Nation 1 T1 T2 Nation 2 February 25th 2018, h. 13:10 Germany 6 Olympic Athletes from Russia [/hide]

meanwhile I don't like tomorrow's schedule at all...almost all the action is in the middle of the night (and then there's just a couple of events all day long)... I'm old and tired......I need to sleep at that time of the night!!!!

yeah! with the Olympics almost over, it was time to re-start with the B-Ball season... p.s. nice to see another Baseball fan here on this forum (actually, there are very few)... p.p.s. I'm a Dodgers fan, just in case... and today there are already 11 games out of 15 available on MLB.tv (btw, I think this new graphics of their mediacenter on PC are a lot less usefu than last years'...it was all better organized on their page)... but who cares? I do have my faithful Apple TV 4K and I don't need my PC to watch baseball...

yes, as it is for the other leagues in any team sport that requires it... the NHL was the only league that was able to negotiate that privilege of having their insurance cost paid by the IOC, but, as @hckosice wrote, it was a mid-term agreement, which expired after the Sochi Olympics... and, not to be forced to follow the same policy with other sports/leagues, the IOC and the IIHF had to refuse going on with that...otherwise it would have become not sustainable for them... hopefully, next NHL CBA would include the Olympic stoppage as mandatory for the NHL, even if the NHL teams owners have already said that they are ready to face another lockout, but they would not give up such things so easily... we'll see in the next years, when the next CBA wil be negotiated...

I can only say that I'm shocked... to name one of the most famous sports citations (even if it's about baseball and not hockey): "In a tournament (year, in the original) that has been so improbable, the impossible has happened"...

too strong the Russians, today... what impressed me the most is how solid defensively they've been...they controlled the game quite easily leaving the Czechs basically no chance...

I like tomorrow's schedule... I can sleep all night and start with some Hockey early in the morning, followed by Speedskating, then Biathlon, finally some Curling...and that's it for the live session... in the afternoon, time for the delayed events like Ski Cross and the second semifinal of the men's Hockey tournament...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernando_Rodney and he started well before Bolt...

[hide] Men's Tournament Knockout Round February 20th - February 25th, 2018 Round of 16, Quarterfinals, Semifinals, Bronze Medal Match and Gold Medal Match Semifinals Date & Time (GMT +9) Nation 1 T1 T2 Nation 2 February 23rd 2018, h. 16:40/21:10 Czech Republic 1 Olympic Athletes from Russia February 23rd 2018, h. 21:10/16:40 Germany 1 Canada [/hide]

I'm still shocked by the German win over Sweden... however, it's clear that Swedish players and staff underestimated GER and did play like they were sure to win the game in any moment, even when they were down 3-1 with 10 minutes or so yet to play... moreover, their goaltending once again has been really questionable... but I still think that their loss to Belarus in 2002 was definitely a bigger surprise than yesterday's... about the other quarterfinals... RUS, as expected, destroyed Norway, who clearly were already mentally gone before the start and after they got their best result in many years... CAN vs FIN...meh..I expected a lot more from this game, but it was a really boring one, with CAN playing solid defense and FIN unable to create any significant scoring chance, not even late in the 3rd period when they were already down 1-0... poor show, but with the most deserved winners, imho... CZE vs USA...another quite disappointing game if we only look at the level of play... the US guys scored first, but they couldn't mantain the lead for very long, despite the Czechs didn't put so much pressure and speed in their game... and after the Europeans took the lead in the second period, the American answer was quite immediate... after that, the pace slowed down even more and it became a very tactical game, played as much as the Czechs like the most...their tactical defence slowly forced the OT, where nothing exciting happened... then it was the Czech goalie to steal the show in the penalty shootout, saving all the 5 US shots and sending his team to the last 4... now I hope that at least the classic rivalry between the Czechs and the Russians in their semfinal clash would finally put some salt and pepper on this tournament, so far very disappointing by the side of neutral fans...

the last tv show I completed is the first season of Snowfall... http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6439752/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1 now I'm currently watching the 3 NCIS series (NCIS #15, NCIS LA #9, NCIS NOLA #4) and also How To Get Away With Murder (season 4), Criminal Minds (season 13) and The Blacklist (season 5), but these last 3 are pausing for a while right now on the Italian TV... and just as the Winter Olympic Games are over, I'm going to watch also the 2 most recent movies of "Il Commissario Montalbano", which I recorded in the last couple of weeks...

big mess in Snowboard (and Freestyle) sport... because of the expected bad weather, many events have been rescheduled... the women's snowboard Big Air final has been anticipated to tonight (the start list is just above), meanwhile the PGS qualifications (M+W) have been postponed to saturday at 1 a.m. CET, with the final ladders taking place the same day at 5.30 a.m. CET...

I didn't take Fontana's world cup performance too much in consideration because I know how the Italian team did set up the entire season... our main goal was to qualify the relays, so we put all of our efforts into that, leaving the individual races a bit apart (the short track world cup requires the athletes to skate all the races -all the rounds- in just 3 days...so, you have to make some choices...especially when you're looking at specific targets and/or you know that you go to those races not in your best possible shape)... in particular, this season she was asked to carry the load to achieve our main goal (since she was almost sure to get at least her individual qualifying spots, meanwhile the relay quali wasn't as safe before the start of the season -there were also many doubts about Valcepina's shape and we can't afford to rely on average skaters as Peretti, Maffei and Mascitto only)... and despite that, she still managed to be competititive in "her" special distance (the 500m)...but of course the prize to pay was that she had just average results in the most demanding 1000m (a distance she has never liked that much through her entire career) and 1500m (where she is good but inconsistent, sometimes she can stay with the Koreans, Chinese and Canadian girls, sometimes she just can't)... moreover, I know her history...I know how she can focus and peak at the "big events", meanwhile she isn't always interested in going full speed early in the season (and the world cup races are normally scheduled all in the first part of the season..in December it's all over)...and as a demonstration of that, let's remember that she was 3rd in Vancouver, 2nd in Sochi and more than once 1st at the world champs in the 500m race... for what concerns Boutin, instead, I always considered her the classic skater with regular strong performances, but unable to peak when it really matters...and the Koreans, as good as they are, can't never be considered the favourite over the 500m distance since they always have problems at the start (and Choi is no different, though she's a bit better than her compatriots)... the Koreans, moreover, are always in the same situation as the US swimmers and athletics specialists (or, if you want to stay with Winter sports, the Norwegians in CC skiing)...they have to start the season very well to earn your spot at the main events of that given season, since there are many contenders for the few places available...and this sometimes (often) leaves some room for the others to beat them later in the season, when people from other teams can peak, meanwhile they are a bit too tired (mentally more than physically, I guess)... on the other hand, the Chinese staff has always been good at protecting their best skaters...that's why I consider Fan Kexin always the most dangerous threat for Arianna in the big events among the group of athletes (in which Boutin and Choi...and not only them are included, of course) who are good enough to be real medal contenders (other than her characteristics, strenght and personal history, of course)...

frankly, winning almost all the expected medals is not overperforming to me... overperforming means going well beyonds your limits, doing something you never did before... so, Ceccarelli (who had never won a WC race before) winning the Gold medal in Salt Lake City 2002 was clearly "overperforming"... being among the 4/5 best teams in a competition and then winning a medal is not overperforming, it's just taking advantage of an expected chance, which could have gone either way but luckily went the right way... being 1 of the 2 clear favourites and winning the gold is definitely not overperforming...it's just 1 of the 2 options for "filling the contract" (and the entire world -at least those who carefully follow the sports in which they are involved through the entire 4-year span, if not for longer- knew that Goggia and Fontana were in this situation)... but this is just my opinion...so, I guess it's not necesarily the revealed truth...we can even disagree and still live well with that... and about Moioli...if someone who's just won 4 of the 6 regular races of the season (not counting the summer warm-ups in South America nor the farce named "sprint race" in Bansko) included the last 2 not later than 2 weeks before the Games (and who's been 3rd in the other 2 events she didn't win) and has a more than 1000 points lead in the World Cup standings can't be considered the clear and only real favourite of a competition, I don't know who can be called in that way... p.s. those are facts...not just simple opinions of a biased sports fan...and there's nothing comical about numbers... p.p.s. Gracenote and USA Today never follow the sport...they just read the WC standings and adjust them to their taste, without any technical consideration... the only results they get are those the favourite (if there's one) or their darlings win...otherwise they are basically useless...

don't forget Goggia in the women's super-G...without her big mistake, she would have won by a huge margin (as we expected)... tomorrow's combined gives no chance to the Italian girls, unless Goggia gives 3 seconds to all the good slalom skiers and then the slalom track is set almost straight...

I don't think we're overperforming at all... our gold medals came from 3 pre-race favourites (Moioli was actually more than favourite, she could only lose gold given her superiority...and not only from this season; Fontana was the co-favourite with Fan, who failed...so, also her gold is more than logical; and the same goes for Goggia...if she doesn't do any mistake -and today she didn't- she's by far the best among nowadays downhill specialists, with Vonn being the only one who can beat her, but only on certain conditions that today weren't there)... and among the "minor" medals, only Tumulero's and Windisch's bronze medals are really "surprising" (even the short track relay was expected to be in the final..a 4-team final which obviously always gives chances to all the starters, especially in a sport where it's so easy to fall down and/or getting DQed)... but, as a compensation, we really miss at least another 4/5 medals according to our preview (and 2 of them, Visintin in men's SBX and Goggia's Super-G, were not just "medals" in our expectations)... so, we're not overperforming at all...and actually we're still under the par, so to say...

no chance... they actually impeded the Koreans on the takeover... they should stop complaining and shouting about conspiracies when they are guilty (and they know they are)...

so, Canada was DQed for exactly the same kind of infraction that Korea did not 1, not 2 but good 3 times... but they still can...the others, not...

on today's eightfinals...my commentary is just "meh!"... the game I had most expectations on, it turned out to be a total disappointment...Slovakia started too slow in the first period, but still managed to avoid any further trouble and raised their game a little in the second part...then, when it looked that they were gaining some confidence, the US scored just at the beginning of the central period after a bad defensive mistake by the Slovak defenders (there was also a missed changed, I tink) and immediately after that, 2 stupid penalties (especially the senseless check-to-the head-and-neck-area from Caikovsky, which cost him a lethal 5-min+game misconduct) came at the same time to kill all the Slovak hopes...the following 2-man advantage situation gave the US a quick 2-0 lead and then it was all downhill for them... Slovakia had some chances on counters but their forwards (mainly Marek Daloga) missed them by going to weak one-on-one against the US goalie Zapolski...and there's no way you can score against him in that way... finally, after another goal by the US just before the end of the second period, the game soon became just "garbage time"... SLO vs NOR wasn't also the most entertaining game of the Olympic tournament, but at least it was close, very close...so close that it went down to the OT... finaly, Norway won it, but I still have more than a doubt about the game winner...imho, there was a goalie interference as big as the Oslo Fjord, but the refs did see it in a different way and up north can start the party for their best result since many, many years... GER vs SUI...twice "meh!" as expected it was a game played well below the capability of both teams, with the German plan executed with perfect effectivness as they normally do against their arch-rival from Switzerland... the early goal by GER (thanks once again to the stupid head check and consequential 5min+game pen against the Swiss Cody Almond) was levelled by the team with the Red Cross at the beginning of the second period...then it was all tactics, clinches, holds and no good play...to high the prize money for a win to take any risk and give the neutral audience some satisfaction... the logical end of a game like this was a tie...and a tie we had...then, in the first minute of the OT it was GER to take advantage of a defensive impasse by the Swiss and sadness came down in the streets of Bern, Zurich and the rest of Switzerland... FIN vs KOR...I didn't watch the game...so, I have no idea of how it really went, but I can say for sure that I'm quite surprised by the not-so-large win by the Finns...but fortunately for the hosts, I guess that they didn't play at their best pace to save some energy for tomorrow's quarterfinal match... tomorrow I can't wait for USA vs CZE and CAN vs FIN among the men's quarters... meanwhile OAR vs NOR I think it's gonna be a massacre in favor of the mighty Russians and SWE vs GER doesn't get me inspired as the other 2 games named above... so, I guess that 2 games would be enough to fill my daily schedule for tomorrow (the remaining 2 will be relegated to the highlights only)...

I don't think there are many chances for Germany... the group stage game doesn't count for anything...it was played at a turtle's speed by both teams, with Germany being very well organized on D (as usual) and Sweden just waiting for the clock to run down to 0... we can say it was the classical matinèè, with most players not even well woken up (that leading to some big defensive mistakes, which unfortunately both teams' forwards didn't take any advantage from)...

[hide] Men's Tournament Knockout Round February 20th - February 25th, 2018 Round of 16, Quarterfinals, Semifinals, Bronze Medal Match and Gold Medal Match Quarterfinals Date & Time (GMT +9) Nation 1 T1 T2 Nation 2 February 21st 2018, h. 12:10 Czech Republic 1 United States February 21st 2018, h. 16:40 Olympic Athletes from Russia 4 Norway February 21st 2018, h. 21:10 Canada 1 Finland February 21st 2018, h. 21:10 Sweden 3 Germany [/hide]

with just 2 good (actually, 1 very good) skaters and 2 just average girls, we didn't have any other choice...we've been already lucky to get passed the Netherlands in the last lap of the semis...that was our masterpiece (and our best chance of getting a medal, knowing well what you just wrote above...no chance that a race with those 3 would run quiet and clean until the end)...

however, I watched carefully the final for the second (and third) time... and I guess that China was DQed because of an impeding with 2 laps to go (when there was the definitive Korean move)... but also the final push just on the line was somehow subject to a possible penalty (it wasn't that fair, "innocent" so to say)...

all of them... in any session there's one panel for the men's events and one for the women's...