Olympics 2008

[BarTopDancer]

Are we related?! My Mom is driving me crazy by telling me stuff. The first words out of her mouth every night is " Did you see.... win?". Followed by her saying " Oh, you probably don't want to hear the results do you.?", umm I think you already did thanks!

Is your mom in Nova Scotia right now?

I managed to cut her off "MOM! You're 4 hours ahead! I DON'T WANT TO KNOW".

Thankfully she comes home tomorrow.

[swanie]

When did they add instant replay to the judging arsenal for gymnastics?

First, judges on the floor give initial scores. Then the head judge can authorize a second look in which a gymnast's scores can be devalued or increased based on slow motion or regular speed replays. :eek:

Even after that, I'm guessing it still isn't going to "fix" the judging problems. :rolleyes:

[Kevy Baby]

Dear Michael Phelps

When on the medal stand and the National Anthem is playing, the protocol is to put your hand over your heart; NOT to grab your left breast.

Sincerely,
Me

[Not Afraid]

why is the nail biting stuff on after 11?

[swanie]

I hate to tell you but your final event won't be finished until nearly 12:30am your time. :(

[lashbear]

I can't speak for your example since we're an hour ahead here, but the 1st 4 scores (2 and 2) rate the divers individually. The remaining scores rate the pair's synchronization.

I found this on the grading system...
bring back plain onw at a time diving... mt brian hurtsd

[lashbear]

YAY !! Silver for Australia for the womans synchronised diving W00T

[lizziebith]

bring back plain onw at a time diving... mt brian hurtsd

lashy is the only person who has made drugs appealing to me. Mind you, I have no desire to seek them out or anything, but I'm getting a vicarious, free, happy-feeling from lashy's posts. Go lashy!:D

[lashbear]

lashy is the only person who has made drugs appealing to me. Mind you, I have no desire to seek them out or anything, but I'm getting a vicarious, free, happy-feeling from lashy's posts. Go lashy!:D
you shoul talk, Mrs Gleeb. Blairn. Lort! :D

i'm going to sway to ther windoiw and talk tol the little buirdies now...

ETA - Stoat sayds he cvan jusdt hear Grace Jons singing: 'sway.. to the window, daance, tio the window'

[Not Afraid]

I hate to tell you but your final event won't be finished until nearly 12:30am your time. :(

I cheated. I looked at the final results on line - then went to bed. I can't stay up to 1:00 am then get up at 6. My body will scream.

[cirquelover]

Is your mom in Nova Scotia right now?

I managed to cut her off "MOM! You're 4 hours ahead! I DON'T WANT TO KNOW".

Thankfully she comes home tomorrow.

Nope, she's was in the midwest yesterday and did it again last night! The good news is she's flying to Laughlin today so she'll only be an hour ahead on tv. Of course I'm guessing she'll be too busy playing bingo to notice the Olympics for the next week but when she gets home it will start all over again!

[Kevy Baby]

you shoul talk, Mrs Gleeb. Blairn. Lort! :D

i'm going to sway to ther windoiw and talk tol the little buirdies now...

ETA - Stoat sayds he cvan jusdt hear Grace Jons singing: 'sway.. to the window, daance, tio the window'I wonder how many times that Lashie is getting quoted lately?

I cheated. I looked at the final results on line - then went to bed.Susan stayed up and watched the results and left me a note for this morning.

[Snowflake]

I looked online before I went to bed. I did get to see some of the equestrian (and two bad falls, poor horses)

[SzczerbiakManiac]

Pffft. I'll let you know when I see one.

(and since my tastes run to, shall we say, "softer" men, this may take a while)Hmm, not sure what you mean by "softer", but check out US gymnast Sasha Artemev:
http://outsports.com/olympics2008/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/artemevblog.jpg

If the image crapps out, you can see him on this page (http://outsports.com/olympics2008/2008/08/12/us-men-win-surprise-gymnastics-bronze/).

[innerSpaceman]

I'm confused. :confused:


Was that supposed to make me softer???






it had the opposite effect.

[swanie]

I thought I've seen just about everything, but thanks to NBC, I've now been subjected to Panda Porn. Complete.with.sound.

:eek:

[alphabassettgrrl]

Hey, NA, I see van den Hoogenband made it onto the podium!

[BarTopDancer]

I get a little chill whenever I hear the bars for "land of the free".

[alphabassettgrrl]

Yeah. Me, too.

[Morrigoon]

Okay, I grant that there have been some very nice bodies. Still too skinny for my personal taste, but admirable in form none the less.

[swanie]

BTD - Is that you in the Phelps Phan commercial?

:D

[BarTopDancer]

BTD - Is that you in the Phelps Phan commercial?

:D

Haha. :p

I know better than to move to a podunk town ;)

[Ghoulish Delight]

Gymnastics on both sides has been a lot of fun to watch this year.

Michale Phelps is inhuman.

Synchro diving is neat but gets really boring to watch after a while. And frustrating because clearly the judges are looking at different details than I look at.

[BarTopDancer]

I've been watching the races, and the announcers are calm, cool and collected just knowing he's going to win. Meanwhile I'm a ball of nerves. Overconfidence leads to mistakes. Thus far it seems the overconfidence is contained to the media, and not the athlete.

[Not Afraid]

I've enjoyed Gymnastics and swimming as well this year. I'm not so excited for Track and Field to start. The pool has been a place for many shattered records. I hope there is not doping scandel in our future.

[Gemini Cricket]

Besides the bodies, the best thing I like about the synchronized diving is the camera that follows the diver into the water. That's so cool.
:)

[Alex]

I've enjoyed Gymnastics and swimming as well this year. I'm not so excited for Track and Field to start. The pool has been a place for many shattered records. I hope there is not doping scandel in our future.

There may be but the chatter I'm seeing seems to credit technology and pool design. The pool has several new features designed to reduce water resistance and improve performance, even the lane dividers are designed to help the swimmers go faster.

[BarTopDancer]

There may be but the chatter I'm seeing seems to credit technology and pool design. The pool has several new features designed to reduce water resistance and improve performance, even the lane dividers are designed to help the swimmers go faster.

That's what I'm seeing too. The enhancements come with the design.

Now, if that's fair to previous records or not (along with the enhanced suits) is up for debate. Sure, the record was technically broken, but it's not a level playing field. If the previous record holders had these advantages, would their records still be able to be broken? Or would they merely be tied.

[Kevy Baby]

The pool has been a place for many shattered records. I hope there is not doping scandel in our future.
There may be but the chatter I'm seeing seems to credit technology and pool design. The pool has several new features designed to reduce water resistance and improve performance, even the lane dividers are designed to help the swimmers go faster.There has been a lot of attention on the new swim suit from Speedo (Fastskin LZR Racer (http://swimming.about.com/od/swimsuits/qt/speedo_lzr_race.htm)). It was supposedly designed with help from NASA.

Besides the bodies, the best thing I like about the synchronized diving is the camera that follows the diver into the water. That's so cool.
:)I think it is as simple as gravity "driving" the camera. There is a guy off to the right of the podium (as you look at it from afar) that I keep seeing. I've seen him A) pulling up on a rope, and B) possible just "dropping" said rope as the divers make their leap. I think the camera is housed in the black-faced square tube.

Just my $0.02 on the subject.


ETA: Garrett Brown is the guy who invented the Dive-Cam as well as the Steadi-Cam and many other camera innovations. Story about him on Wired (http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/08/garrett-smith.html).

[Alex]

Here's a quick rundown (http://www.slate.com/blogs/blogs/humannature/archive/2008/08/13/olympic-inflation.aspx) of some of the medical, and technical improvements feeding into the new world records.

I agree that there is no reason for it to be a camera in freefall doing the diving coverage. Still a nice way to see it though. Synchronized diving, however, is still firmly in the lame camp. I look forward to synchronized discus just so we can get some more medals into the Track & Field area.

[scaeagles]

I call it synchronized boredom.

And uh....Olympic injury video. Weightlifting. Not for the squeemish.

Ick. (http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=33a_1218642189&p=1)

[Kevy Baby]

And uh....Olympic injury video. Weightlifting. Not for the squeamish.Oh, that is brutal. But I do admire how they have the "screen people" rush out to block the view. That's a smart touch.

[BarTopDancer]

Here's a quick rundown (http://www.slate.com/blogs/blogs/humannature/archive/2008/08/13/olympic-inflation.aspx) of some of the medical, and technical improvements feeding into the new world records.

Michael Phelps' coach says the LZR suit is fair. "Everybody is in the suit so it's across the board," he argues. That may be true of today's top swimmers. But it's not true of yesterday's. So comparing today's performances to the performances of 20, eight, or even four years ago—which is what "new Olympic record" means—is generally unfair.

That goes back to what I was saying. Who knows what those records would have been if this technology was available then.

Breaking the record by a small amount is feasible, but by several seconds? That's technology.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Eh, old news. Every few years they've come up with some amazing new suit. The records that are currently being broken due to technology were set due to technology, so I have a hard time feeling it's unfair. Technological advancement is part of the sport.

[Alex]

I agree, I was just responding to the question of whether there's a drug influence.

However, it does raise the question of whether we should be racing people against each other or instead just have Phelps swim each distance five times, each in a different suit and then award gold to the manufacturer that wins.

[Moonliner]

I agree, I was just responding to the question of whether there's a drug influence.

However, it does raise the question of whether we should be racing people against each other or instead just have Phelps swim each distance five times, each in a different suit and then award gold to the manufacturer that wins.

Phelps does not wear the new techno-nifty suit, or at least not the top half.


Phelps has also volunteered for the "super tester" program where he has been baseline tested leading up to the games and is tested daily.

[Alex]

I know Phelps only wears part of the suit. Which is completely irrelevant to the point. But let me rephrase, Phelps can swim the race five times in five different pool configurations and we'll award the gold to the contractor that built the fastest.

And the great thing about our modern drug environment is that I view passing drug tests as essentially meaningless. Several of the recent drug scandals are not from people failing tests but being forced to admit they were taking the drugs while passing the tests.

I have no particular thought that Phelps (or any other swimmer) is doping, I just assume every athlete is -- especially since modern nutrition and medical treatment is essentially doping anyway, we just like some forms more than others -- accept it, and move on.

[alphabassettgrrl]

I liked the uneven bars and the vaults in gymnastics. I don't like the balance beam and the floor routines. I like the gymnastic skill part, I just hate the extra dance/flippity things they do.

Watching time-trial cycling right now. Gods bless TiVo!

I've been liking the swimming, surprisingly. I've never followed it at all.

[SzczerbiakManiac]

Okay, I grant that there have been some very nice bodies. Still too skinny for my personal taste, but admirable in form none the less.Does this (http://www.stern.de/olympia2008/fotostrecken/:Alexander-Grimm-Husarenritt-Eiskanal/634488.html?cp=4) work for ya?
Here's (http://www.stern.de/olympia2008/fotostrecken/:Alexander-Grimm-Husarenritt-Eiskanal/634488.html?cp=6) a close-up of his face--he's a cutie!

[innerSpaceman]

Tech advances resulting in broken records is kinda like the new box office champ. The money and time are true, but comparison to past "accomplishments" is practically meaningless.

I wish they would just tout what the result was, and not feel the need to rank it. The rankings are misleading. You can't turn back time.

[Kevy Baby]

You can't turn back time.If I could turn back time
If I could find a way
I'd take back those words that hurt you
And you'd stay
If I could reach the stars
I'd give them all to you
Then you'd love me, love me
Like you used to do







(Why is Cher popping into my head?!?

[alphabassettgrrl]

The Cuban women's volleyball team is hot. Yum.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Does anyone else think that Chris Collinsworth bares an odd resemblance to Will Arnett? Especially if you're fast forwarding?

http://www.nopactalent.com/speakerphotos/photos/4248Cris_Collinsworth.jpg

http://images.askmen.com/galleries/celeb-profiles-men/will-arnett/pictures/will-arnett-picture-1.jpg

[Alex]

Why must you insult Will Arnett like that?

And no, I don't think I'd be likely to confuse them. But I haven't tried fast forwarding through Collinsworth to see. Maybe I'll put in an Arrested Development DVD, fast forward and see if it makes me want to talk about football.

[swanie]

My BIL is over in China working the Olympics for his company for 2 weeks. He sent photos of the Great Wall and the Summer Palace. Here he is outside the stadium...

http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff17/swan0805/Miscellaneous/China011.jpg

Talk about the chance of a lifetime! He's on a 4 days on/2 days off schedule, so he has plenty of time to see the country on his company's dime. He hasn't made it to an actual event yet, but he's hoping to soon.

[€uroMeinke]

I'm enjoying seeing the diversity of "athletic" bodies of the Olympics - the giant upper bodies of the swimmers, the tiny girl gymnast, it makes me think of how much biology dictates the potential for doing well in a given sport - Michael Phelps' size 14 feet/flippers for example. Peter Greenaway needs to direct a nude parade of nations a la Prospero's Books.

[Kevy Baby]

I just my heard my new favorite line: "World's Best Breast Stroker"

[alphabassettgrrl]

I'd like to compete for that title.

[Alex]

Good badminton match and nice to see it on TV even if it was only because the U.S. softball game had a rain delay.

[Ghoulish Delight]

I just found the channel that's been broadcasting boxing, badminton, judo, etc. It's on the odd Time Warner "special events" channel which is where they show local baseball in HD (some half-ass deal with FSN or something I gather).

It also seems to be showing just about every soccer match, which seems excessive.

[alphabassettgrrl]

Thought you liked soccer.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Well, I love playing soccer. I'm not a soccer watcher. I'll watch Olympic soccer and World Cup soccer, but only if I happen to catch a game, I don't seek it out.

But even if I did watch it, the number of games that station shows would be a lot to watch. But then, I imagine there aren't really people wanting to watch them all, it's probably more about just having all the games available so people can pick the ones they want to watch.

[Tenigma]

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/08/13/sports/24472053.JPG

Technically they are all supposed to have be 16 this year but one of the gymnasts apparently just lost her baby tooth and still has a gap where her adult tooth hasn't grown in yet.

Chinese women gymnasts take gold, Americans hint of cheating (http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/08/13/sports/OLYGYMNAST.php):

"Half of the team - He Kexin, Yang Yilin, Jiang Yuyuan - is under age if online sports registration lists in China are correct. The international gymnastics federation, however, said those gymnasts were eligible and that the ages on their passports were correct."

OK see, I think the girls did a fantastic job, and I really liked the show they put on in the floor routines. But if the government is (once again) pushing for these little girls before their time, "for the sake of the country" well then it's just one more proof to me that the the government is EEEEVIL I TELL YOU. RAGE!!!! :mad:

[scaeagles]

The IOC is as impotent as the UN and nothing will ever be done to investigate it.

The Chinese gymnastics coach has dimissed criticism by likening it to looking at a very muscular American and assuming they are doping. No a bad argument, really. i don't buy it, but not bad.

Couple of funny things....Some doctor is saying that the music Michael Phelps listens to before he races can have the same effect as doping, giving him an unfair advantage.

[Alex]

Other than the fact that it is against the rules I don't really have a problem with them being 12 instead of 15 (they don't have to be 16 right now, just 16 by December 31).

It isn't like their exploitation is going to stop just because they're not performing this year. If they weren't it would just go on for another 4 years until the next Olympics. I don't approve of what women's Olympic-level gymnastics has become but I don't think the age limit does anything to improve that situation and I'd get rid of it. If an 8-year-old and compete at the highest levels, let her. The problem will lie with us for getting excited about 8-year-olds.

[cirquelover]

I don't think an 8 year old should compete in the Olympics. That would be too much strain on their little bodies before they are ready. Let alone they wouldn't be able to reach half the bars!

I agree that some of Chinas gymnasts look 12 and I'm pretty sure they are too young from the stuff I've seen online. It just seems like cheating to me!

[NickO'Time]

Armstrong wins Gold! (http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2008/olympics08/?id=results/3) ;)

Levi Leipheimer of Santa Rosa, Ca captured bronze in the Men's Time Trial.

I knew Cancellara (http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2008/olympics08/?id=results/4) would win Gold. He's a rocket on a bike!

[Moonliner]

NBC had an interview with Mark Spitz today. He seemed genuinely happy for Phelps and USA Swimming. Plus the man has aged surprisingly well.

[Alex]

I don't think an 8 year old should compete in the Olympics. That would be too much strain on their little bodies before they are ready. Let alone they wouldn't be able to reach half the bars!

What they do already is more strain than their bodies generally can or should handle.

[Moonliner]

What they do already is more strain than their bodies generally can or should handle.

The same can be said of NFL players, truck drivers, factory workers, etc...

I don't think you can paint with so broad of a brush here. If you have a child who loves the sport, wants to compete at the highest level and is willing to put in the time then I say bravo to that. Support them as much as you can.

On the other hand if you take a 3 Year old away from their family to live at the gymnastics camp for the next 20 years or so, that is a problem. As is the overbearing parent who is pushing their kid to accomplish something they themselves never could.

[Ghoulish Delight]

On the other hand if you take a 3 Year old away from their family to live at the gymnastics camp for the next 20 years or so, that is a problem. As is the overbearing parent who is pushing their kid to accomplish something they themselves never could.
What about the parent that lives in utter poverty and who sees that their child's only possible path out of that poverty is to send them away at 3? It's not a good thing that that's their only option, but it is the reality.

[Moonliner]

What about the parent that lives in utter poverty and who sees that their child's only possible path out of that poverty is to send them away at 3? It's not a good thing that that's their only option, but it is the reality.

They are doing what they see as right for their child. Is it what's best for the child? Maybe, maybe not.

But the question is, do you think it is wrong for any child to train as hard as the elite level athletes do?

[BarTopDancer]

As much as I enjoy watching gymnastics I think the entire culture surrounding it is unhealthy.

[Alex]

But the question is, do you think it is wrong for any child to train as hard as the elite level athletes do?

When that elite training will have lifelong repercussions for their physical well being, comfort, education, and general health. Yes, I'd say so.

When being allowed to train for a goal where you'll then be told that the expectations and hopes of national glory ride on your shoulders? Yes, I'd say so.

Yes, there is a risk of serious injury in pretty much any athletic endeavor. But in women's gymnastics (more than male where the emphasis is more on upper body strength that doesn't fully develop into adulthood) it is endemic for them to essentially be walking stress fractures, engaging in a level of physical activity that delays maturation (stunting growth), and generally being removed from anything resembling a normal life. Sure, it may not be as overt as the factory system of the Chinese but it is nearly just as bad here.

All so that every four years millions can look on and say "ooh, pretty." Yes, it is pretty. It is also, in my opinion, wrong.

[Kevy Baby]

People should be willing to sacrifice themselves in some way for my personal amusement. I see no problem with that.

[swanie]

NBC had an interview with Mark Spitz today. He seemed genuinely happy for Phelps and USA Swimming...

Then Spitz has been taking acting lessons. ;)

My Mom used to work for Arena swimwear back in the day when they did the suits for the Olympics. Unless he has found a change of heart (which based on other recent interviews..I'm sure he hasn't), the man was as pompous and arrogant as they come. He was a horrible person to deal with, so much so that the entire staff would cringe when he'd walk in. I'm guessing he's making nice now because someone has finally talked to him. No one likes seeing a poor loser, and that's what he's been doing in the lead up to his record hopefully being broken.

For example, I love this commentary written in the Baltimore Sun...
Dear Mark Spitz, Get Over It. Move on with your life. (http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/sports/specialevents/blog/2008/08/dear_mark_spitz_get_over_it_mo.html)

Bottom line...he was a great athlete, just not a good man.

[~MS~]

Add another "not a fan of the man" here....he attended the Special Olympics summer games 3 different times when I was involved as both coach and director of our area and he was a pompous arse to the kids but they didn't realize it. The volunteers all did and none of us made much of an effort to stroke his ego after the first time 'meet and greet' with the guy.

[katiesue]

My boss's daughter is way into gymnastics. She's had two knee surgeries and now has a very serious back injury. She's 15.

Maddys cousins were way into it as well. Driving two hours each way from their home for training. When I asked why I got the well they could get college scholarships. Um not if they're injured. Wouldn't it be more prudent to put all the cash you're spending on meets and gas and lessons into a college fund? You'd probably have more at the end of the day.

[Tenigma]

The same can be said of NFL players, truck drivers, factory workers, etc...

I don't think you can paint with so broad of a brush here. If you have a child who loves the sport, wants to compete at the highest level and is willing to put in the time then I say bravo to that. Support them as much as you can.

Hrmmm... then I am going to assume you have never read the 1995 nonfiction book "Little Girls in Pretty Boxes: The Making and Breaking of Elite Gymnasts and Figure Skaters (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Girls_in_Pretty_Boxes)" by SF Chronicle sports writer Joan Ryan.

You will never, ever look at Olympic-level female gymnasts the same way again. Ever. Trust me.

[Ghoulish Delight]

They are doing what they see as right for their child. Is it what's best for the child? Maybe, maybe not.

But the question is, do you think it is wrong for any child to train as hard as the elite level athletes do?
On the whole, absolutely. But on the scale of individual choice, I find it hard to fault the parents who are stuck within a scenario that leaves them little other choice.

[scaeagles]

In China, that could mean do what the government says or be shot.

[Not Afraid]

As much as I enjoy watching gymnastics I think the entire culture surrounding it is unhealthy.

I'm not sure it is any more unhealthy than the figure skating, ballet or beauty pagent culture. Why is it that cultures dominated by girls are the "unhealthiest"?

[Alex]

I definitely include figure skating in my gymnastics stance. I was just saving it for 2010. Ballet, at least, can lead to a lengthy adult career and beauty pageants may increase emotional problems that lead to physical problems but they don't (so far as I know) directly cause physical damage.

[innerSpaceman]

I'm not sure it is any more unhealthy than the figure skating, ballet or beauty pagent culture. Why is it that cultures dominated by girls are the "unhealthiest"?
Maybe because they generally don't recruit boys when they are tiny children for any of those things.

[BarTopDancer]

I'm not sure it is any more unhealthy than the figure skating, ballet or beauty pagent culture. Why is it that cultures dominated by girls are the "unhealthiest"?

I never said those cultures were healthy, just referencing gymnastics since that's what prompted the discussion. Those are all cultures that promote super skinny bodies on top of being athletic which in turn promotes and can coddle eating disorders to maintain the perfect body.

With boys, emphasis is put on being muscular and toned. Girls is you have to be skinny, even when you have muscles.

[Stan4dSteph]

It was fun to watch Olympics coverage in two other languages in France. (Euro Sport coverage was in German).

I even got to see some coverage of fencing, which was great.

[Not Afraid]

For gymnastics, more than skinny you have to be tiny in stature - same with ballet. At least with contemporary dance, that has changed quite a bit. The main body type requirement is muscular.

[Tenigma]

I'm not sure it is any more unhealthy than the figure skating, ballet or beauty pagent culture. Why is it that cultures dominated by girls are the "unhealthiest"?
OK keep in mind my views are very heavily influenced by having read that book ("Pretty Girls in Little Boxes"--see my previous post).

At least figure skating and ballet will garner a profession in a performance industry. Female gymnastics has NO performance career outside of a handful of Cirque jobs and the like (they have 9 Olympians on their payroll but I don't know if they are all gymnasts). Once you give up your Olympic/world competition regiment you are DONE. You start eating more than 900 calories a day (that's all the gymnasts are allowed to eat, even though they work out 6 hours a day), and you start having your period. Once you develop some semblance of hips and breasts, your career is OVER. And the gym and your coach? They will be busy working with prepubescent (artificial or otherwise) girls to mold them into the next Olympian.

Each of the tracks you mentioned have their faults. Interestingly, all of them are very stringent about food intake and a strong effort to stave off reproductive development (although that may not be quite so bad in figure skating or the beauty pageant circuit), but I believe all of them are exceptionally strict about dieting.

The thing is, when you take a 4-year-old child who has some flexibility or shows a bit of talent, and begin to mold them into these candidates, they aren't exposed to anything else--so OF COURSE they most happy when they are working out and they do well and their coach praises them. They are starved for affection and attention, and they know that if they don't perform well, they are ignored.

You know the irony of women's gymnastics? There is a single person on this planet solely credited with its current state of using little girls: Bela Karolyi. He was Nadia Comaneci's coach back when he worked with her in Romania, and he is credited with helping her perform the perfect 10s in the 1976 Olympics. It changed the entire landscape of female gymnastics. Up until then, most female gymnasts were oh, in their early 20s. There was a bit of controversy that Nadia was so young, but that all flew out the window when she did so well.

After that, there was a big movement to start them younger, to mold them earlier, and get them prepped to be Olympic-ready as soon as they were age-eligible.

And for all the harm that Karolyi did to women's gymnastics, the hunger for such success was so great that we embraced him with open arms when he immigrated to the U.S. to open his own gym here.

How is he so successful? A lot of people accuse him of abusing the girls. He berates them, insults them, is verbally and psychologically abusive to them publically. If you mess up, he won't even look at you. How's that for wanting your father-figure's love and acceptance?

[BarTopDancer]

You know the irony of women's gymnastics? There is a single person on this planet solely credited with its current state of using little girls: Bela Karolyi. He was Nadia Comaneci's coach back when he worked with her in Romania, and he is credited with helping her perform the perfect 10s in the 1976 Olympics. It changed the entire landscape of female gymnastics. Up until then, most female gymnasts were oh, in their early 20s. There was a bit of controversy that Nadia was so young, but that all flew out the window when she did so well.

After that, there was a big movement to start them younger, to mold them earlier, and get them prepped to be Olympic-ready as soon as they were age-eligible.

And for all the harm that Karolyi did to women's gymnastics, the hunger for such success was so great that we embraced him with open arms when he immigrated to the U.S. to open his own gym here.

How is he so successful? A lot of people accuse him of abusing the girls. He berates them, insults them, is verbally and psychologically abusive to them publically. If you mess up, he won't even look at you. How's that for wanting your father-figure's love and acceptance?

I have no doubt that if the Karolyi's could get away with cheating and using younger girls, they would. Damn the US government and their record keeping.

[Not Afraid]

Although, Karolyi has been VERY outspoken about the obviously younger than 15 girls on the China team.

I know a lot more about skating, ballet and beauty pageants (I hung out with Olympic skaters, danced myself for 13 years and was 1st runner up Little Miss America 1968) but I've never had much contact with gymnasts, so I can't speak for the sport knowledgeably enough to argue a point.

[Stan4dSteph]

Did someone already mention this article in Time magazine (http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1813961,00.html)?

[scaeagles]

Pretty sick.

[Alex]

Although, Karolyi has been VERY outspoken about the obviously younger than 15 girls on the China team.

True, but only because the U.S. team observed the limit. His solution is to get rid of minimum age requirements. His complaint isn't so much that China used 14 year olds but that we didn't get to.

Then he offered a solution: (http://www.nj.com/sports/ledger/index.ssf?/base/sports-3/1218171984304130.xml&coll=1) "The only way to stop this is to take off the age limit," he said. "Take it away. We would have some amazing young athletes on our team, too, but they missed it by a few months. To force honest countries to hold back and allow other countries, not so honest, to push them forward, it's not fair."

I agree that if Olympic gymnastics is going to emphasize skills best done by 12 year olds then they should allow 12 year olds to do it. The real answer, though, is to change the sport to once again emphasize skills best done by adults. In my view, if a 13 year old can compete globally in your sport then you haven't so much created a sport as a playground game.

[Ghoulish Delight]

And for all the harm that Karolyi did to women's gymnastics, the hunger for such success was so great that we embraced him with open arms when he immigrated to the U.S. to open his own gym here.
Ugh, I remember that. I was pretty young, but even I was creeped out by that whole series of events. I don't know if I became aware of that paradox in '84 when he was just coaching MLR or '88 when he was the head coach, but I just remember being pretty distressed that there was this lurking possiblity that his reformation was an elaborate facade and that he really was practically torturing the team.

[BarTopDancer]

I "trained" (aka took gymnastics classes) at SCATS back in the early 80s, around the time of the 84 Olympics (I think I was 6 or 7). Even the supposedly beginners fun classes there was tremendous pressure to maintain a certain look and punishment if you failed to complete a routine or exercise the way it was expected.

My mom pulled me from the program because of the "culture". I took classes elsewhere for awhile but the culture was the same.

I remember coming home upset because I wasn't as flexible, or as skinny as the other girls and had to do punishment exercises because I wasn't as good.

[scaeagles]

Good coaches rarely, if ever, should give out punishment exercises for lack of skill. I only do for one thing - missing open layups in practice. If you can't make an open layup in practice 99.9% of the time you shouldn't be playing HS basketball. Those types of punishments typically just instill fear, and not many athletes are motivated well by fear.

Now for not doing what they're told....yeah. Run 'em till they drop.

[blueerica]

Once you develop some semblance of hips and breasts, your career is OVER.

Hey now, hey now... I don't know about anyone else but I kinda thought Alicia Sacramone was a little on the 'stacked' side of things... And that Shawn Johnson... anyone looked at that ass. Might be the best one I've seen all games long. ;)

And as much as I said that tongue-in-cheek, I am actually rather serious.


You know the irony of women's gymnastics? There is a single person on this planet solely credited with its current state of using little girls: Bela Karolyi. He was Nadia Comaneci's coach back when he worked with her in Romania, and he is credited with helping her perform the perfect 10s in the 1976 Olympics. It changed the entire landscape of female gymnastics. Up until then, most female gymnasts were oh, in their early 20s. There was a bit of controversy that Nadia was so young, but that all flew out the window when she did so well.

After that, there was a big movement to start them younger, to mold them earlier, and get them prepped to be Olympic-ready as soon as they were age-eligible.


Though I mostly agree, the pressures of 'communism' cannot be ignored for its treatment of not only gymnastics, but of other Olympic events, perhaps most notably swimming and diving. Watching the diving competition, you hear nothing but tales from athletes and correspondents of the age they are taken from their families to be (somewhat) isolated and begin training - much more rigidly than in the US.

In fact, they are crediting a recent change within the American system that has encouraged increased isolation (i.e. when they are starting their teens many world-class-potential divers move to Indianapolis where they can begin intense training at the HQ), a la China, with improving scores.

I'm not saying it's right, wrong, or anything - it is what it is, IMO.

[innerSpaceman]

Well Nastia Liukin won the gold medal and she looks to be somewhat older than 13. Can we all breathe a big sigh of relief?

[Alex]

Not really, it is great that she won at 18 but she is very much a product of all that I despise about the Olympics gymnastics system. The only reason she wasn't on the Olympic team at 14 in 2004 is that it would have been against the rules.

I do give her story a bit of a pass since she literally grew up in the sport since both of her parents were Olympic gymnasts and so at least she got to have their significant involvement beyond driving her to boot camp at 5 in the morning.

[Kevy Baby]

Great. Our cable just went out last night and TWC can't be here to fix it until Saturday afternoon - just in time to have missed Michael Phelps eight gold medal swim.

[innerSpaceman]

Uch, another gold medal, how boring.

[Not Afraid]

I'm very happy for Nastia. She has been my favorite member of the US team. I'm sorry I missed the live coverage, but the bit of replays I saw looked like she did great.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Her first 2 rotations were so-so, but the last two were really great. She earned it.

Incidentally, "Nastia" needs to be a female villain name in the next Bond movie.

[Kevy Baby]

Uch, another gold medal, how boring.If you are referring to Phelps, I think of it as history in the making. And you never know what exciting moments there might be: I am still buzzing from the finish of the relay that earned Phelps his first gold.

[Ghoulish Delight]

I'm thinking iSm was being sarcastic.

[Alex]

Yes, history in the making. But boring history. I'm pretty actively rooting against him just so people will shut up (nothing against him personally). If they'd waited until race five or six to start the endless hype I'd have been fine but now I just want him to lose so all the hype monkeys look foolish.

[BarTopDancer]

They are rerunning the coverage this evening.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Yes, history in the making. But boring history. I'm pretty actively rooting against him just so people will shut up (nothing against him personally). If they'd waited until race five or six to start the endless hype I'd have been fine but now I just want him to lose so all the hype monkeys look foolish.If it weren't for that relay, I don't think it would have been as bad as it is. But that image of him cheering happened so early, and is the kind of image a producer of hype segments has wet dreams about, so they've jumped all over it. It was also the race he stood the biggest chance of losing, so once that was sealed, they could pretty safely just go ahead and talk as if it were a guarantee from there on out.

[Kevy Baby]

I'm thinking iSm was being sarcastic.Oh :blush:

[Alex]

I had heard endlessly about his march to history before the Olympics began. So yeah, that may have been a key hurdle and launched to another level but it was hardly the start of annoying-level hype.

[Tenigma]

Hey now, hey now... I don't know about anyone else but I kinda thought Alicia Sacramone was a little on the 'stacked' side of things... And that Shawn Johnson... anyone looked at that ass. Might be the best one I've seen all games long. ;)
Well, let's set aside the fact that Sacramone failed miserably in the team competition, falling on her butt and whatnot. Ouch.

Shawn Johnson is a little packed powerhouse. She kind of reminded me a little of Mary Lou Retton.... just that huge burst of strength in such a tiny package.

If you look though, she had developed BUTTOCKS. NONE of the women had wide HIPS. Once your body starts to mature and your pelvic bones start to widen, and you get a noticeable waist and wider hips like an adult woman, it's physically more difficult to do some of those movements.

I agree with Alex. We should be judging adults on what adults can do, even if it means they might not be able to do quite the same limber stuff as a 14-year-old can do.

Steph -- that Time article is the ick. All the more reason for me to increase my hatred towards the Chinese government. Patooey!

[Gemini Cricket]

One of the (Bulgaria? Russia? not sure) volleyball players playing against the US last night had the last name "Gaydarski".
I found that funny in a juvenille, silly way.

I imagined him going around to all the athletes in a thick accent:

"You, American diving of synchronicity, you are a gay."

"You, rolling in sand with other female volleyball player. You are gay female like Etheridge, Melissa."

"You, Phelps. You are not a gay. But many queens across your country have crush on you..."

"You male gymnast, you are gay like male hanging out in Build-A-Bear Store without girlfriend."

:D

[BarTopDancer]

That's frelling hilarious!

[Alex]

"You male gymnast, you are gay like male hanging out in Build-A-Bear Store without girlfriend."

I think this one would trip a different -dar than gaydar.

[Ghoulish Delight]

So I know all the men swimming at the Olympics are physical freaks, but I've decided that France's Alain Bernard takes the cake as the most freakily proportioned:

http://www.gambling911.com/files/publisher/Alain-Bernard.jpg

I mean, look at his shoulders, they're absurd!

He looks a little less freakish when he hasn't just exerted himself and is celebrating a medal, but still....

http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2008/03/24/alain_bernard_narrowweb__300x469,0.jpg

And I've just realized what he reminds me of. I feel bad as I think this is kinda insulting, but none the less, it's the image that I get when I see him:

Alice the Goon

http://images.darkhorse.com/covers/300/12/12696.jpg

[Gemini Cricket]

Sounds like someone wishes he was a disproportional French goon.
:D

And big shoulders are inevitable if you swim. My shoulders got wider when I swam.

[BarTopDancer]

And big shoulders are inevitable if you swim. My shoulders got wider when I swam.

Yup.

There was member of the women's team on What Not to Wear who was having a heck of a time finding tops that fit correctly because of her shoulders.

[Ghoulish Delight]

And big shoulders are inevitable if you swim. My shoulders got wider when I swam.
Like I said, I know they're all freaks. But if you'd seen the wider shot of the first one I posted, he's stands out even among that crowd as an uber freak.

[Gemini Cricket]

Like I said, I know they're all freaks. But if you'd seen the wider shot of the first one I posted, he's stands out even among that crowd as an uber freak.
Yeah, I know. I'm not arguing. I do think he's kinda hot, too.

It was funny, as a kid I was on two swim teams and practiced everyday. Then one day my friend said, 'Hey, your shoulders are big!' And I looked in the mirror and saw that she was right. Didn't even notice or think about it.

Watching the swimming made me want to get back to swimming.
:)

[Ghoulish Delight]

When I was swimming regularly what freaked me out was the muscle at the front of my armpit that got really big really fast. I felt like I was sprouting wings or something.

[Gemini Cricket]

I hated the butterfly stroke. Couldn't do it to save my life. But I was really good doing the backstroke and freestyle. The breast stroke bored me. It felt like I wasn't moving fast enough for all the effort put into it...
:)

[Alex]

The breast stroke bored me. It felt like I wasn't moving fast enough for all the effort put into it...


And that is when you knew you were gay.

[Gemini Cricket]

And that is when you knew you were gay.
I also figured it out when I was not able to get out of the water when the buff guy swimmers were using the outside showers in their Speedos.
:D

[Alex]

I can imagine. Also, without perfect alignment of your "rudder" you'd end up swimming in circles.

[Gemini Cricket]

I can imagine. Also, without perfect alignment of your "rudder" you'd end up swimming in circles.
Exactly. Good thing for the lane lines.

[innerSpaceman]

I'm thinking iSm was being sarcastic.
Yes.

Sorry to be so late in responding, it's been a busy day at work.

But my remark needs some 'splaining.



We were once chatting with some German exchange students about our respective grade school field trips. Whereas we would go to things like The Post Office ... they were always going to Castles. Without exception.

After a while, their actual reaction was, "Uch, another Castle?! How boring!"


So I have adopted that as my reaction to anything that's spectacular, but perhaps in danger of losting luster by being too repetitive.





ETA: and if swimming gives you shoulders, where do I sign up??

[lashbear]

Yay - Bronze for Australia in what I call "The Wobbly-Walk" :D

[Ghoulish Delight]

Universal HD is showing an AWESOME boxing match right now. An Uzbeki (Tulashboy Donyorov) vs. an Indian (Jitender Kumar), and Donyorov is fighting dirty.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Wow, that was crazy. When exactly did Olympic boxing devolve into anarchy?

[Alex]

What happened? So far all of the boxing I've seen (and that seems to be 80% of what they show on Universal HD) has suffered from excessive boringness.

[Ghoulish Delight]

OMG, dude came in grappling. No bones about it, he was wrapping Kumar up and taking him down to the matt. Continuously. And the only official warning, costing 2 points, was issued to Kumar because he got frustrated and pushed Donyrov off with a forum.

Kumar won the fight, by a big margian, and did a remarkable job of keeping his cool.

[scaeagles]

I admit that my skepticism about the US Men's basketball team is waning.

The main reason I don't like the NBA is lack of team play and lack of defense. After watching a lot fo the USA - Greece and USA- Spain (that game is currently at half time), I am impressed with how the US is doing both of these (I won't bore anyone with my analysis as to why). As GD said earlier in this thread, these guys have come to play.

And on another note.... .01 seconds. Wow. The Serbs protested, but the slow mo replay clearly showed the win (or so I read - I haven't examined the slo mo). I suppose this will give the freakishly small amount of time margin haters fodder.

[scaeagles]

The women's singles badminton finals were on. A shot hit the net and trickled over. The annoucer said "That landed like a butterfly with sore feet".

What??????

[innerSpaceman]

That Jamaican runner dude is freaking incredible. Looks like he's just jogging along, and is miles ahead of eveyone else. Bizarro.

[scaeagles]

Chinese iron grip on games slipping (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/china/article4547323.ece)

A sad and somewhat revealing article on China and the games.

[swanie]

A non-competitive marathon doesn't not make good TV.

Even so, I am in AWE of the women running. The leader is consistently running a 5:25 mile. I can't run one 5:25 mile, let alone one at mile 25.

:eek:

[Morrigoon]

Ohhhh, man! They rolled that tape out within her view! Can you imagine what was going through her head watching them roll "her" tape out?

[Morrigoon]

Marathon finish... that is a HARD moment to enjoy! Look at her face!

[Kevy Baby]

We have skipped most of the women's marathon, but started watching as they were outside the Bird's Nest. We got a hearty laugh out of the lens being wiped down on live TV.

[Morrigoon]

Okay, just have to say that the "escort" dresses are beautiful!

[swanie]

Seems to me the US should get partial credit for training half of the world's athletes. ;)

[Not Afraid]

One more race then sleep. Fingers crossed.

[Kevy Baby]

He did it.

[Kevy Baby]

That Bolt dude from Jamaica is freakin' FAST!!! I think he could have run the 100M even faster

[Ghoulish Delight]

That 100m was unreal.

BTW, that marathon winner is 39!

[lizziebith]

Another board spoiled me on the Phelps win. Stupid internet. Anyway, I love the 41 yo gal who got her silver!! Go Dara!

[lashbear]

phelps who?

[Alex]

BTW, that marathon winner is 39!

That doesn't surprise me much, elite marathoning is an (relatively) old person's sport. The winner isn't always old but it isn't uncommon either (I think the mens 1984 winner was 38 or something like that).

All three of the women's medal winners are 30+. Yay old people sports.

[Gemini Cricket]

Phelps - wow. That was awesome to watch. Good for him.
Torres - amazing.
Bolt - fast, great athlete... too cocky.
:)

[Stan4dSteph]

I really dislike the sprinters. Their egos are way too huge. That guy was showboating before he even finished. I wish he had tripped and lost.

Hooray for the US women's foil team who won a silver medal yesterday! First ever US medal for team fencing. They look so excited in the photos and a local woman was on the team. Great coverage in this morning's paper.

[Motorboat Cruiser]

I really dislike the sprinters. Their egos are way too huge. That guy was showboating before he even finished. I wish he had tripped and lost.


I would agree. He is obviously an amazing runner, but a little sportsmanship wouldn't have hurt any.

[scaeagles]

I had a coach once tell me that when you're great or have accomplished something great, everyone knows it. When you act like you're great or have done something great, everyone knows it but thinks you're an a$$.

[Ghoulish Delight]

99.9% of the time I agree, but for some reason I'll never understand I forgive it in 100M sprinters.

[Ghoulish Delight]

So, yesterday we were watching the trampoline event and during a slow-mo replay, it was impossible not to notice that one of the Chinese participants was pitching a tent during his routine. So we were already giggling like 12 year olds at that, so you can imagine our juvenile glee when his score came up, revealing his name..."Dong Dong".

[scaeagles]

Dong Dong? Bwahahahaha!!!!!!!

[blueerica]

I really dislike the sprinters. Their egos are way too huge. That guy was showboating before he even finished. I wish he had tripped and lost.


Hmm, I guess it's all a matter of perception, then. From the look on his face, I believed it was elation and some surprise that he was alone up front. Prior to the run, they'd talked about his biggest competition, and to not see them in his periphery must have been a thing of shock and joy.


I'm still enjoying the Olympics immensely. Unfortunately, I'll be missing the last week of it being in Cali. (Worse yet, I'll be so busy, I won't have time to hang out with anyone :( )

[Alex]

If you can run 30 miles per hour and it isn't straight down the side of a building, you get to do whatever you want.

Plus that is good practice for his future NFL career where slowing down and holding the ball out in premature celebration has a history of bad results.

[scaeagles]

I hate that attitude in all athletes, really.

There's a difference between the elation of a moment (perhaps spiking the ball after a big touchdown in a big game) and moonwalking into the end zone.

That's why I always liked Barry Sanders so much. Never any of that. He was great, just did his job, another day at the office.

[Alex]

I like it when elite athletes demonstrate that they are still aware that the only reason they exist is to act as dancing monkeys for the general populace. And that means throwing poop.

[Strangler Lewis]

99.9% of the time I agree, but for some reason I'll never understand I forgive it in 100M sprinters.

Maurice Greene's tongue?

[scaeagles]

I like it when elite athletes demonstrate that they are still aware that the only reason they exist is to act as dancing monkeys for the general populace. And that means throwing poop.


Hmmm....best beware or you'll be called a racist.

[BarTopDancer]

Lego Olympics! (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1046255/On-marks-set-Lego-Welcome-Olympics-everyones-quick-blocks.html)

[Alex]

Hmmm....best beware or you'll be called a racist.

I've been called worse. Besides, I was thinking of Shawn Johnson when I said it. She's a little pygmy dancing monkey.

Dance monkey dance! Shake your booty! Shake it!





Is statutory lechery an improvement?

[Snowflake]

phelps who?

Thorpedo! Loved him and missed him this time around!

[Kevy Baby]

Thorpedo!That sounds like a marital aid.

[Chernabog]

That sounds like a marital aid.

My bottom hurts just thinking about it.

[Morrigoon]

Did anyone post this yet?
Lego Olympics (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1046255/On-marks-set-Lego-Welcome-Olympics-everyones-quick-blocks.html)

[Chernabog]

The cutie Matthew Mitcham made it into the semifinals today! Wooooot! (Yes, he is the only out gay man in the entire olympics, can you believe it)

[Alex]

Did anyone post this yet?
Lego Olympics (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1046255/On-marks-set-Lego-Welcome-Olympics-everyones-quick-blocks.html)

Five posts above yours.

[BarTopDancer]

Would-be protesters detained for filing request to protest (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/19/sports/olympics/19protest.html?em)

The government’s recent announcement that preapproved protests would be allowed at three sites during the Olympic Games gave him a wisp of hope. Two weeks ago he mailed in his application, and last week he came to Beijing to follow up. During a visit to the Public Security Bureau on Wednesday, the police interviewed him for an hour and then told him to return in five days for his answer. “They’ll probably arrest me when I go back,” he said afterward.

Mr. Gao did not have to wait very long. A few hours later, he was picked up by the authorities and escorted back to Heilongjiang. On Monday, his son, Gao Jiaqing, in the family’s village, Xingyi, said he had not heard from him.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Look at this awesome cyclist tattoo! (http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/gallery/2008/aug/18/olympics2008.fashion?picture=336632064)

http://static.guim.co.uk/Guardian/sport/gallery/2008/aug/18/olympics2008/GD8271211@Track-cyclist-James-S-4463.jpg

[Morrigoon]

Five posts above yours.
Aw jeez... *smacks forehead*

[CoasterMatt]

I've figured out why Michael Phelps is doing so well...

He's the Mariner!

[BarTopDancer]

Is trampoline the gymnastics for those who couldn't make the gymnastics teams?

[Kevy Baby]

Olympic Gymnastic scoring sucks












ETA: and why is it a bad thing when girl's legs some apart?

[Kevy Baby]

I love Bela Karolyi, if for no other reason than his candor on scoring.

[alphabassettgrrl]

I like the tattoo!

[Stan4dSteph]

Is trampoline the gymnastics for those who couldn't make the gymnastics teams?It's the tryout for Cirque du Soleil.

[Alex]

I love Bela Karolyi, if for no other reason than his candor on scoring.

But I haven't seen much sign of candor except when his team is on the wrong side of it (not that I've seen even half of the gymnastics coverage so maybe he has said someone else was screwed while the U.S. team benefited).

[blueerica]

Well, I really haven't seen anyone truly benefit from this horrific scoring... even the Chinese. And, he did congratulate the judges for pulling their collective heads out of their asses for the individual floor exercise, which actually seemed rather fair (the Russian girl truly deserved 1st, and I felt as though 2nd and 3rd were screwy, but otherwise not .

While I was a little sad he didn't talk about (what I thought were) the injustices against a number of athletes, most notably Oksana Chusovitina on the vault (total BS that she got silver to Little Missed Landing), I can't say he was wrong about a bit of it.

I don't know what's up with the Olympics this year, boxing events are being scored for crap, gymnastics scoring is inconsistent at best. At least I've got swimming and track and field... and I guess diving wasn't all that off-base.

*sigh*

I did like the little bit on people losing sleep over the Olympics... I'm one of them.

[Morrigoon]

Saw the sports scheduling for tonight, doesn't look too thrilling, except maybe the table tennis, which you know the Chinese take seriously

[lashbear]

Look at this awesome cyclist tattoo! (http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/gallery/2008/aug/18/olympics2008.fashion?picture=336632064)

http://static.guim.co.uk/Guardian/sport/gallery/2008/aug/18/olympics2008/GD8271211@Track-cyclist-James-S-4463.jpg

That'll look terrific when he's 50+ !! :rolleyes:

[Chernabog]

I just like the headline in USA Today which read: "Can Phelps Ever Be Topped?" ... I was like... mmmmhmmmm..... :evil:

[Ghoulish Delight]

Is Michael Phelps a douche? You make the call (http://www.bestweekever.tv/2008/08/19/just-asking-is-michael-phelps-a-douche/).

Exhibit H pretty much condemns him, but I resent exhibit D being included in that.

[alphabassettgrrl]

Meh. I don't have anything against Phelps. Well, I'm not fond of the baseball caps, but the track clothes? Kind of usual for a competitive athlete. We don't know when the pictures were taken, so it could very well be at or near a meet when he would be dressed that way.

I'm guessing the page is tongue-in-cheek.

[Chernabog]

Exhibit H pretty much condemns him, but I resent exhibit D being included in that.

HAHah that was funny!!!! And yeah that Sports Illustrated cover is the douchiest. Though I like the picture of him wearing cargo shorts next to Anna "Nuclear" Wintour.... she's just like.. WTF.

[Stan4dSteph]

Well the SI cover was a given based on the original with Spitz.

[CoasterMatt]

The results are in on the "Windsurfing" competition-
http://members.dslextreme.com/users/coastermatt/images/kiteflyingaz8.jpg
He was ROBBED by that Russian judge.

I mean, yeah, he didn't really stick the landing...

[Morrigoon]

Pretty amusing article about neglected Olympic sports:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26254875/

[Kevy Baby]

Pretty amusing article about neglected Olympic sports:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26254875/Very amusing read: thanks for sharing

[Alex]

I've decided we are going to go to the Vancouver Olympics after all. I must see Olympic curling in person.

[Morrigoon]

Vancouver? When is that? I could actually do that (and, interestingly, my bf Alex and I would both like to see Curling... we were fascinated at the last winter games)

[alphabassettgrrl]

I enjoyed watching curling in the winter Olympics. My grandpa used to do curling (though obviously not at the Olympic level) when he was younger.

[Alex]

Vancouver hosts the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Curling will be held February 16-27.

[SzczerbiakManiac]

One of the (Bulgaria? Russia? not sure) volleyball players playing against the US last night had the last name "Gaydarski".Bulgaria (http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/beijing/BUL/Krasimir+Gaydarski/205838), you were correct.

So, yesterday we were watching the trampoline event and during a slow-mo replay, it was impossible not to notice that one of the Chinese participants was pitching a tent during his routine. So we were already giggling like 12 year olds at that, so you can imagine our juvenile glee when his score came up, revealing his name..."Dong Dong".Oh my gawd, that's is too frelling funny!

Please join me on the kiddy couch and giggle.

[innerSpaceman]

I'd like to go to Vancouver ... but I remember not being able to afford any decent events at Salt Lake. I might, however, be able to afford curling. But would I want to?

[Not Afraid]

Every time I see the end of the John McCain commercial where he says "I'm John McCain and I approve this message" I can only think of disapproving rabbits. (http://www.disapprovingrabbits.com/)

[BarTopDancer]

OOOO. Vancouver. That's totally doable for me.

Gotta love having family in the area.

[CoasterMatt]

Could the Chinese Gymnasts be too young? The Interweb says yes (http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10021343-83.html?hhTest=1)

[scaeagles]

Should reaction time come into how fast you run a race?

I saw a false start and started to wonder. So much is determined by how fast you get off the blocks. If you have a reaction time that's slower than the guy next to you but you actaully cover the distance more quickly, you're faster, right? I guess that's part of it, but I wonder if there was something like the start of a drag race with lights moving down to the green to start if it would make a difference.

[Kevy Baby]

I don't believe that the race is truly about who is the fastest from point A to point B but rather, who gets to point B in the shortest amount of time from when the race starts.

[scaeagles]

Hmmm....OK. Makes sense.

[Kevy Baby]

That post was not intended as authority on the subject. It is just my interpretation of the race.

Sorry that I wasn't more clear on that.

[scaeagles]

Well, that is a valid interpretation indeed. I suppose if it was fastest from point A to point B they would give them a running start and start the clock when any portion of them went over the line.

[Stan4dSteph]

Wooooo!

Walsh/May repeat for the gold! Point, Stanford!

[Morrigoon]

Vancouver hosts the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Curling will be held February 16-27.

Heh. Noted.

[Alex]

Well, that is a valid interpretation indeed. I suppose if it was fastest from point A to point B they would give them a running start and start the clock when any portion of them went over the line.

This is what they do in some of the track cycling events. Two cyclists may be racing at the same time but they aren't actually racing head to head in a "first to cross a line way." Results are based on the time to cover a given distance after they've already come up to speed.

Then there's the auto racing method where technically not every covers the same distance (though the distance is minuscule in proportion to the hundreds of miles traveled) and it is first to cross a line after the race starts.

But simultaneous start from rest over a short distance is much more exciting from a spectator perspective because you can see who wins rather than relying on tallied results.

[Not Afraid]

Wooooo!

Walsh/May repeat for the gold! Point, Stanford!
I think I've watched every match and this was was by far the most gut wrenching.

[BarTopDancer]

More on the "of age" gymnasts (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,407803,00.html)

[Alex]

What a horrible misuse of the word "hacker." Using a search engine is not hacking.

[BarTopDancer]

The article is from Fox. They're a wee bit paranoid ;)

[Alex]

The article is from the Times of London and is just being run off the wire by Fox. I'd already read on it on Ars Technica, I think.

[BarTopDancer]

Oh, well then disregard my statement. I agree with you.

[innerSpaceman]

I'm glad a full weekend of fun interrupted my brief flirt with the Olympics. I haven't watched any since, and I'm sorry I watched 2 nights of it. It makes me feel dirty, and I should have stuck with my original personal boycott.

I know the Chinese government is beyond evil, but the stuff they are doing in concert with the Olympics first chills my blood, then makes it boil.

They set up 3 official protest zones and allowed citizens to apply for permits to protest there. They have not granted a single permit, and instead have arrested nearly everyone who applied for a permit and sentenced them to years in re-education camps.


It makes me sick that nations will support such a regime with participation in Olympic games in their capital city. I can influence neither my government nor NBC and its corporate masters ... the only thing I can do is refuse to give it my attention.


I don't care if atheletes work for years or lifetimes for the chance to participate, I hold each of them equally responsible for moral failure. I hope Michael Phelps drowns under the weight of his eight gold medals. No amount of gold will save his soul.

The same goes for every other athlete, every member of the IOC, everyone working for NBC, and everyone involved with supporting the evil Chinese regime and their propaganda tool of terror.

[Morrigoon]

This'll make ya feel better, iSm:
http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/08/19/1272286.aspx

[katiesue]

I'm glad a full weekend of fun interrupted my brief flirt with the Olympics. I haven't watched any since, and I'm sorry I watched 2 nights of it. It makes me feel dirty, and I should have stuck with my original personal boycott.

Now I'm the only one who hasn't watched any of it. Other than about 20 minutes of the teams coming in for the opening ceremonies when I was on the phone with Swanie and forgot to turn the channel.

[Strangler Lewis]

There must be something wrong with my set. Every time I turn on the Olympics in the evening, I get a beach volleyball tournament.

[alphabassettgrrl]

Every time I see the end of the John McCain commercial where he says "I'm John McCain and I approve this message" I can only think of disapproving rabbits. (http://www.disapprovingrabbits.com/)

The author is a friend of one of my friends. Cinnamon is the rabbit. :)

I might, however, be able to afford curling. But would I want to?

Of course you would want to! Curling is a very dramatic sport!

There must be something wrong with my set. Every time I turn on the Olympics in the evening, I get a beach volleyball tournament.

Good thing beach volleyball rocks!

[€uroMeinke]

I for one welcome the totalitarian pageantry of the Chinese - it looks great on HDTV even if it is all Hollywood Smoke and mirrors

[Stan4dSteph]

I'm excited for the marathon tomorrow. I'm rooting for Ryan Hall. There was a great article in Runner's World about him.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

We were just sitting there watching the Olympics, when all of a sudden.... (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v254/codexjen/?action=view&current=IMGP7408.flv)

[lashbear]

WOO HOO !!!!!!!!!!!!

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!! !!!!

GOLD!! GOLD!! GOLD!! 10M mens platform.

You Go, Matthew Mitcham !! *drool*

[SzczerbiakManiac]

Lash, I had two hopes for these games: that Phelps would get all eight golds and that. I am thrilled to hear that news! :D :snap:

And on a side note, wrestling is still very, very gay.
http://img.stern.de/_content/63/41/634192/BesteBilder221_750.jpg (http://img.stern.de/_content/63/41/634192/BesteBilder221_750.jpg)

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

[Strangler Lewis]

In diving, of course, men and women alike can enjoy the skimpier suits on competitors of both sexes plus the slow motion anus-cam.

[LSPoorEeyorick]

I have entered the Olympic thread for the first time since it was started, to post this article about sex (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/olympics/article4582421.ece). It's hot in Beijing tonight!

Also, CP's video is hilarious.

[Kevy Baby]

When did the hula hoop become an Olympic event?

[Alex]

Blame those stupid Americans. It made its Olympic debut in 1984.

However, I find it no less silly a sport than normal gymnastics and much more fun to watch.

[Stan4dSteph]

Run Ryan run!

[cirquelover]

Has anyone else noticed that there is always one short girl on every volleyball team and she's in a different color uniform?

I just want to know why her colors are different than the rest of her team. It makes no sense to me, unless they just want to accent the short girl! I'm sure it's some special position but then why the color change?!

[Alex]

It's some kind of designated hitter but on defense. Here's information on that position (http://au.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080811053201AANQwqH).

[Kevy Baby]

It's some kind of designated hitter but on defense. Here's information on that position (http://au.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080811053201AANQwqH).A link to a site that references another site.

[Alex]

Yes, but it answers the question without having to wade through a bunch of other volleyball stuff.

I apologize for not running it through for your approval first.

[Kevy Baby]

I apologize for not running it through for your approval first.Get it right next time damnit

[cirquelover]

Thank you for the answer. I had no idea how to look that one up!

[Gemini Cricket]

The basketball game was fun to watch. It turned out to be much closer than I thought it was going to be. I thought both sides played well. It was cool to see that 17 year old kid from Spain hold his own against Kobe and LeBron.
:)

[Ghoulish Delight]

The Olympic Village.

2+ weeks of the most perfect bodies in the entire world living together in close quarters and at their physical peaks.

Oh yeah, they're tooootally doing it (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/olympics/article4582421.ece). A lot.

[Not Afraid]

Deja vous.

Or maybe they're just having multiple orgasms.

[Kevy Baby]

Dear Mayor of London:

Dude: you're going to be in a grand pageant on worldwide television

Get a suit that fits
Get a hair cut
Get some product in your hair so it isn't flying everywhere
Learn what you are going to be doing so you aren't surprised when they go to hand you the flag.

[Kevy Baby]

I'm liking the Jimmy Page thing in the closing. Especially considering Jimmy's lifelong stage fright. He looked very comfortable up there. Also, I liked the London performers.

[€uroMeinke]

Indeed I love the contrast of Beijing and the thousand performers in uniform precision, versus the messy diversity of London - one can only think of the fright the Chinese felt to that display of wanton decadence and Rock n Roll.

[Strangler Lewis]

Didn't see it all, but as Olympic closing ceremony hooey goes, that was quite beautiful. However, it was also a little frightening, in a "we will bury you" sense. Lots of war drums, and all those little people scampering up and coming off that tower reminded me of Cloverfield.

[Moonliner]

The Olympic Village.

2+ weeks of the most perfect bodies in the entire world living together in close quarters and at their physical peaks.

Oh yeah, they're tooootally doing it (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/olympics/article4582421.ece). A lot.

I wonder who got the most gold medals.

Would Phelps count as one or eight?

[Ghoulish Delight]

Indeed I love the contrast of Beijing and the thousand performers in uniform precision, versus the messy diversity of London - one can only think of the fright the Chinese felt to that display of wanton decadence and Rock n Roll.That bit made me want to see the Beijing part of the Athens closing ceremonies, so we found it on YouTube. While not quite as...garish (and I mean that with love) as the London stuff we just saw, it gave absolutely no hint of the opening ceremony to come.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Heehee, the mayor of London was an overgrown UK schoolboy. :D He was cracking me up. Nice finale, though the part they called the " athletes party" featured opera singing? Hell of a party...

[Kevy Baby]

Heehee, the mayor of London was an overgrown UK schoolboy. :D He was cracking me up."Who, me? I'm supposed to take the flag? Cool!"

[BarTopDancer]

Watching the closing ceremonies, and the montages reinforced that we are one world. Yes, we think China is fvcked up government wise but their people are still people. Our government isn't anything to write home about these days either. Some people want change, some don't. But like Middle East, it's not really our place to impose our thoughts of an ideal country on them. We can express our disagreement but we aren't their mother.

It wasn't that long ago that Los Angeles was living in a constant state of smog. We cleaned it up, but it wasn't overnight.

We are one world, it's all we have and in the end all it's people bleed the same color.

[mousepod]

Wow. I had such a different impression of the closing ceremony. I thought that the beauty and precision of the opening ceremony was trashed in favor of a garish CdS-style spectacle. Maybe it was the crappy out-of-sync audio... maybe it was the giant phallic monument being f***ed by suspended gymnasts in bike helmets, maybe it was the "Logan's Run meets Tron" floating people... maybe it was the slo-mo British "dancers" running for the bus... probably it was all of the above. Yuck.

[Ghoulish Delight]

It was pretty standard fare for closing ceremonies I thought. They never match the opening. Among other things, as mentioned during the broadcast, the stadium is in use until a few hours before the closing ceremony starts, so they simply don't have time to put on a show that's even a fraction of the scale of the opening. So they tend to revert back to standard marching band and half time show theatrics. I thought there were some cool elements, but overall it dragged and was pretty unspectacular.

What's really of note is the fact that during the London segment, when the little girl came out of the bus and took the soccer ball from the other little girl, there were actually 2 other girls who had won a contest but they were deemed too ugly so the real winners were actually back stage exchanging a real soccer ball while the more acceptable looking girls exchanged a fake one for cameras.

[innerSpaceman]

I'm not sure if that was a joke or not, but it's why the snowball rolled downhill from me staying up too late to watch the Olympics to reverting to my original personal boycott plans.

I decided to be cool and not base my opinion of the Olympics on China's government as a whole. But things related to the Olympics were fair game. So it all started with the contest winning singer being too ugly for prime time. Why bother to have a contest then? Cover-up, scandalous. Then the 24 ethnic kids during the same ceremony were also fakes. Ugh.

Gets worse. The Chinese female gymnast gold medalist is an underage cheat with China's complicity.

Last straw for me: There are 3 official protest zones. They're probably in the hinterlands (so far, no different than current America, to our shame) ... but you can apply for a permit to protest the Olympics. Except, in the immortal words of Admiral Akbar ... It's A Trap! No permits are ever granted and almost every applicant is sentenced to years in a re-education camp.


Sorry, my disgust overflows. I already ranted about the moral complicity of everyone involved, from the IOC officials down to the Athletes themselves. But as for me, I'm not even a Neilson family of one ... but I had to look away.




So I'm relieved the closing ceremonies sucked. But I'm sad I didn't get to see any diving. Oh well, there's always London.

[Ghoulish Delight]

As someone who was in some part in favor of some level of boycott before the Olympics, I came away with a hopeful feeling after watching them. The hope being that what the world saw was a country with over a billion people who are being controlled by a few very paranoid and very corrupt people. That the vast majority of Chinese are just people who want to live happy lives just as you and I do but can't because their dominating government remains assbackwards and closed minded. I hope that the revelation of the government's sloppy and pathetic deceptions show them to be not a country to be feared, but a ruling class out of touch with reality to be ridiculed. I saw faces of average Chinese citizens that want to be part of the world community but have no idea how to do so and need a lot of help to get there.




Changing gears: Tae Kwon Do competitor from Cuba kicks referee in the face for disqualifying him (http://highbridnation.com/2008/08/25/cuban-tae-kwon-do-fighter-hits-referee-with-roundhouse-kick/). Nice.

CP and I watched the gold medal boxing match between a Chinese and Irish boxer. The announcers showed complete disdain for the result (the Chinese boxer won), flat out accusing the judges of favoritism at best, perhaps even corruption. It ocurred to me how often I've seen that in boxing. Then it ocurred to me why. We're talking about a sport and sporting community populated by people who spend their lives punching each other in the face. No matter how many rules you create, how tightly you try to control things, that's not going to change. You're not going to get reason, sportsmanship, and fairness. You're going to get punched in the face.

[innerSpaceman]

And to me, frankly, all sport is but one stepped removed from punching your opponent in the face. The competitive nature encouraged in males by the indoctrination into the world of sport makes me ill.


Perhaps that's why I like gymnastics and diving best, where the competition comes from doing one's best just happening to be better than someone's else's best performed at a separate time or place, decided by another human being via imperfect means. I find this kind of stuff comfortably TWO steps away from punching each other in the face.



But it's still less admirable to me than the fella who hands a dollar to the homeless dude.



Sports. Feh.

[Strangler Lewis]

I'm a boxing fan of long standing, which I will from time to time feel bad about. However, Olympic thievery occurs in all sports, e.g., the 1972 men's basketball final. If Roy Jones, Jr. had been a gymnast, he still would have gotten screwed in Seoul.

At the pro level, I think the biggest problem is that boxing has no natural season. Hence, there is the temptation to create controversy to justify rematches.

[SzczerbiakManiac]

Nearly two thirds of Out gay athletes medaled (http://outsports.com/olympics2008/2008/08/23/gay-medal-count/)

In other words, go gay and win a medal! ;)

[Alex]

Congratulations to Iceland, Bahamas, and Australia for taking the gold, silver, and bronze in total medal count, adjusted for national population. Sadly, the good old USA came in 29th but the evil Chinese came in a horrible 57th.

I've decided that to the degree I care about medal counts it is the number of physical medals (gross number of medals adorning necks from each country; e.g., winning the a basketball medal counts as 12 since 12 people get a medal) as a proportion of national population.

And thanks to a four hour conference call I have to be on but don't have to participate in, a table of the results:



TOTAL MEDALS (Events) /MM Pop

Iceland 14 (1) 44.30
The Bahamas 5 (2) 15.11
Australia 150 (46) 7.01
Jamaica 17 (11) 6.26
Norway 26 (10) 5.44
Cuba 47 (24) 4.17
Netherlands 64 (16) 3.89
Trinidad & Tobago 5 (2) 3.75
Denmark 18 (7) 3.28
New Zealand 14 (9) 3.27
Belarus 30 (19) 3.10
Hungary 27 (10) 2.69
Slovenia 5 (5) 2.46
Estonia 3 (2) 2.24
Armenia 6 (6) 2.00
Slovakia 10 (6) 1.85
Spain 73 (18) 1.58
Serbia 15 (3) 1.52
Mongolia 4 (4) 1.52
Lithuania 5 (5) 1.49
South Korea 68 (31) 1.41
Georgia 6 (6) 1.37
Germany 111 (41) 1.35
Argentina 53 (6) 1.32
Latvia 3 (3) 1.32
Bahrain 1 (1) 1.32
UK 80 (47) 1.31
France 74 (40) 1.15
Croatia 5 (5) 1.10
USA 320 (110) 1.05
Romania 22 (8) 1.03
Canada 34 (18) 1.02
Russia 143 (72) 1.01
Finland 5 (4) 0.94
Switzerland 7 (6) 0.92
Kazakhstan 13 (13) 0.90
Azerbaijan 7 (7) 0.83
Mauritius 1 (1) 0.79

===================MEDIAN===================

Sweden 7 (5) 0.76
Italy 43 (28) 0.72
Ireland 3 (3) 0.68
Ukraine 31 (27) 0.67
Bulgaria 5 (5) 0.65
Singapore 3 (1) 0.65
Greece 7 (4) 0.63
Czech Republic 6 (6) 0.58
Poland 20 (10) 0.52
Belgium 5 (2) 0.47
Brazil 75 (15) 0.40
Japan 51 (25) 0.40
Kyrgystan 2 (2) 0.38
Kenya 14 (14) 0.37
Austria 3 (3)0.36
Zimbabwe 4 (4)0.30
Tajikistan 2 (2)0.30
Panama 1 (1)0.30
Moldova 1 (1)0.26
North Korea 6 (6)0.25
Uzbekistan 6 (6)0.22
Dominican Republic 2 (2)0.20
Portugal 2 (2)0.19
Republic of China 4 (4)0.17
Nigeria 24 (4) 0.16
Togo 1 (1)0.15
China 188 (100) 0.14
Israel 1 (1)0.14
Turkey 8 (8)0.11
Tunisia 1 (1)0.10
Ethiopia 7 (7)0.09
Ecuador 1 (1)0.07
Thailand 4 (4)0.06
Algeria 2 (2)0.06
Morocco 2 (2)0.06
Chile 1 (1)0.06
Cameroon 1 (1)0.05
Mexico 4 (3)0.04
Colombia 2 (2)0.04
Malaysia 1 (1)0.04
South Africa 1 (1)0.04
Afghanistan 1 (1)0.04
Venezuela 1 (1)0.04
Indonesia 7 (5)0.03
Iran 2 (2)0.03
Sudan 1 (1) 0.03
Egypt 1 (1)0.01
Vietnam 1 (1)0.01
India 3 (3)0.003

[Not Afraid]

I always love the Olympics and this thime around was no different. There were some spectacular moments that I will remember always and I'm glad I got to experience them. Some of my favorites include: Women's Beach Volleyball, Bolt's 100 meters, Men's indoor Volleyball final, Men's 4x 100 swimming relay, Men's close call butterfly, Opening Ceremonies and the taste of London (I LOVED the look of it and am hoping that Matthew Bourne will have something to do with it).

I'm actually rather sad it is over, but I'll be happy to have my nights back. I have a list a mile long to catch up on.

[BarTopDancer]

Is it hockey season yet?

[Gemini Cricket]

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b268/braddoc310/bobandmattmitcham2blog.jpg

Aww, isn't he cute?!
:)

[Gemini Cricket]

I'm hoping the London Olympics will have quidditch.

[Alex]

Nearly two thirds of Out gay athletes medaled (http://outsports.com/olympics2008/2008/08/23/gay-medal-count/)

In other words, go gay and win a medal! ;)

It may be a natural tendency towards pessimism on my part but the way I'd interpret that is that in athletics you don't come out unless your position at the top of the sport is very secure and can't be easily challenged.

In other words, the strong performance is, perversely, an indicator of discrimination in sports.

[Moonliner]

Congratulations to Iceland, Bahamas, and Australia for taking the gold, silver, and bronze in total medal count, adjusted for national population. Sadly, the good old USA came in 29th but the evil Chinese came in a horrible 57th.


I find it fascinating that if Michael Phelps was a country he would have tied Italy for 9th place in the gold medal count. Finishing ahead of France, Japan, Spain and a host of other countries.