tratorello wrote:


Yes.

Kayak = paddle has a blade on both ends. Paddler is sitting on their butt with their legs forward. A whitewater kayak or one like the Eskimos use in cold water is closed for obvious reasons, but there are open, "sit on top," kayaks for touring and fishing. I want to get one of those.


Canoe = paddle has one blade so the paddler has to switch sides. Paddler is kneeling, but it can be open or closed. In a whitewater canoe like they use in the olympic slalom, it's closed, so you can't see their legs. In a flatwater racing canoe, the paddler is up on one knee. It's very unstable, from what I can tell, but tracks forward well.

They are a different shape but I couldn't tell you exactly how, and there is a lot of variation within each category. For example, a whitewater kayak used to do fun and dangerous stuff in rapids can be very short, just enough to fit the paddler, while a sea touring kayak can be very long - almost like a racing shell - and even have a rudder to help balance the tracking vs turning trade-off. But they're both kayaks because of the paddle and the seating.


In a touring canoe - that most of us use to do the Boundary Waters or Scout camp or whatever - the paddlers sit up on seats athwart the canoe with their gear in between. It's bad to be up so high when going through rapids because you might fall out (I have). But when you're crossing lake after lake, sitting up is more ergonomic and comfortable.

Janik wrote:


Or not, as the flicking between channels is happening in our house.

1-1 with 4 minutes of game to go.

Hotly disputed penalty corner to Spain with 19 seconds to go, rightly chalked off because the Spanish attacker hit it against his own foot.....

And it's over - Great Britain have made it. Spanish players surrounding the ref.

Don't touch that dial ... we're counting down to the BLUE RIBAND event! The one we've ALL been waiting for!

Sorry, 1980's flashback there. Men's 1500m, previously The Big One, now Team GeeBee-free, so back to the studio.

(I hope NZ's Nick Willis wins, but only if he doesn't thank the Lord afterwards. Which he will).

I should mention that whilst the Brits are mincing around in the Stadium, Iran are absolutely tearing up the wrestling and weightlifting, with a gold in the former and a gold/silver double whammy in the latter within the last five minutes.

Sorry, I have to ask. What the hell is a "blue riband?" Sounds painful. Is that like a "blue ribbon?"

We would call these "Marquee Events," I think.

Reed John wrote:

Like a Banjo but without the nuts.

"Riband" means the same thing as "ribbon". One is old, the other is popular. I know my place.

I hope I never have to hear about Lolo Jones again.

Incandenza wrote:


I haven't been keeping up. What did she do or say that has everybody complaining about her?

I never thought I'd be typing these words but can someone tell me why Charlotte Dujardin hasn't won gold in the Individual Dressage yet (she got the best score in the Team Dressage)?

Is it a separate competition?

Aah, just found it on the schedule on the BBC Sport website, it is indeed a separate event, we can all rest easily now.

Renart wrote:


It's nothing that she's done, it's the media and promotions that have featured her that have gotten annoying.

Jere Longman of the NY Times was rightly called out for his pretty nasty article about her which criticized the hype around her and said that the attention that she received was not in line with her accomplishments, but had more to do with her looks and her revelation that she's a virgin. But instead of blaming the media and the companies that have promoted her because of her looks and her story, he solely blamed her.

Bugger. The reinstated guy wins 1500m (shouldn't have been thrown out in the first place, but never mind).

New "Blue Riband" event: BMX bikes. Or something with boats.

Bloody hell this France Montenegro game is tense

Won by Montenegro with a penalty awarded with a second left on the clock.

Janik wrote:


Now he's won the gold, more of the same from Cram (and Foster), do they know something or is it just that he's emerged from nowhere?

Kettle wrote:



They are called umpires in hockey.

Two short corners awarded against Britain and then rescinded in the last 60 seconds after the on-field Umpires confered. And whilst the correct decision was eventually reached on both occasions, it wasn't on the basis of the video evidence (or hopefully not), as Britain had lost their right to a video referal earlier in the piece. However, Umpires have always had the right to consult their colleague if they are not sure, or if they passive umpire believes the active one has made a clear mistake to attempt to draw their colleague's attention to the error. So what happen, whilst obviously annoying for the Spanish, isn't some twisting of the rules.

The problem really lay in that one of the Umpries had a very bad last minute, getting two big decisions wrong. It's fortunate for Britain that his colleague had kept his head and was succesfully communicating with him.
The FIH needs to deal with the comments of the Spanish coach very harshly and come out in robust support of the Umpires. There was nothing wrong with what the on-field Umps did by consulting with each other, and that needs to be made plain. However, the sight of the British team surrounding an Umpire to try and get him to change his decision, even though he had made a mistake, was not exactly edifying.

tratorello wrote:


I think the team-event rounds served as a qualifying competitions for the individual event, with cuts coming after each of the stages.
That the ranking order and point scores are so similar for the opening two rounds suggests that, despite no scores carrying, Dujardin is at least a warm favourite for gold. It's often the way in these judged competitions. The judges have already decided who they think the best performers are, and unless the messy up mightily will put them in the expected order regardless of any slight mistakes.

Bryaniek wrote:


Did she win Silver?

[quote="Reed John" post=699468]tratorello wrote:



My eldest son and my good lady wife are into kayak, the son does slalom, white water and kayak polo (not an olympic sport; but could be one day I suppose).
The shapes of all the different kayaks are so many, from fun/hot dog, through descent, slalom, sprint, it is hard to keep up. Favourite looking one is the descent, which I am not sure is translatable in English, it looks like a retro fifties racing car, not quite as unstable as a sprint, and is usually fibre glass, officially it is for white water, but steers like a cow, so I have only seen people go in straight lines; but not in flat conditions.
My wife likes to tour, and usually, does (though not this year) a 200 km jaunt down the Rhône to the med and mess around there in a sea kayak.
I bloody am terrified of it all, being sealed in in a jupette/spraydeck,. I did it once as the crew memeber of a double, going down the Ardeche in full flood, and I never relaxed the whole journey.
I wish I wasn't , it looks brilliant, and i am jealous of my son who can do continuous eskimo rolls for about 5 mins.