Olympics 2008

[Alex]

I don't find it all that interesting, because i think the number of gold medals given out in Olympic swimming is ridiculous and the fact that so many different events are so frequently dominated by just a couple people (even if never before quite so dominated) is evidence that they really aren't sufficiently unique to warrant separate competition.

To me the feat of winning gold in two separate gymnastics apparatuses is way more impressive than winning gold in 5 swimming events.

[Kevy Baby]

I always love the Olympics and this time 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.Wow: I could posted pretty much the exact same thing.

Is it hockey season yet?Anxious to root for the San Jose Sharks again? :evil:

[BarTopDancer]

Anxious to root for the San Jose Sharks again? :evil:

Only when it benefits the Ducks. So ask me again in April/May ;)

[Kevy Baby]

So ask me again in April/May ;)Oh, no. I am forever going to remind you of that post that I always take out of context.

[Snowflake]

There were things I loved and hated about the Olympics this time around. I really do not like NBC sometimes. Since we're getting so much of it delayed on the west coast, is there any real reason we can't at the very least see the entire rotation for the diving finals? Not just the US divers and/or the top divers (and in some cases not even that, much of the diving finals had a Cuban in 2nd place, never even saw him).

I must have totally mistimed it, I never saw even one single event for the Decathalon. In fact, I missed most of the track and field events, except for the Bolt races in repeats over several days. Those were thrilling, dayum he is one fast runner, lightening bolt, indeed. I don't think I could get my a$$ out of the blocks in 9.67 seconds, forget actually running the 100 meters!

I loved both the opening and closing ceremonies and agree, the Mayor of London really needed a suit that fit (button up dammit, this is the Olympics) and a haircut. All the beautiful scenary really made me want to visit China.

I enjoyed it, had trouble finding events I really wanted to see, kept finding the endless coverage of the gazillion rounds of boxing (feather, welter, heavyweight and everything in between).

Looking forward to London in 2012.

[Kevy Baby]

...except for the Bolt races in repeats over several days. Those were thrilling, dayum he is one fast runner, lightening bolt, indeed. I don't think I could get my a$$ out of the blocks in 9.67 seconds, forget actually running the 100 meters!I think I can do the 100 meters in about 9.67 minutes.

If I had a golf cart.

[BarTopDancer]

Oh, no. I am forever going to remind you of that post that I always take out of context.

You can remind me all you want. I don't deny saying it and I'll keep directing you back to the context. If it entertains you that much to keep bringing it up then keep on keeping on.

[JWBear]

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.

They were all out before the Olympics.

[Ghoulish Delight]

They were all out before the Olympics.And they were all at or near the top of their field before the Olympics (that's how you get to the Olympics).

[Kevy Baby]

They were all out before the Olympics.

And they were all at or near the top of their field before the Olympics (that's how you get to the Olympics).But were they all out before they arrived at the top of their sport?

I want to believe that someone doesn't have to worry about whether their sexual orientation will affect them; I just understand the reality of some people in our society :(

[Kevy Baby]

In reading today's LA Times (yes, I still read the physical newspaper - I'm a dinosaur), I saw an interesting article (http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-artgold25-2008aug25,0,5263667.story) talking about how art used to be an Olympic event. I was unaware of that!

[Alex]

But were they all out before they arrived at the top of their sport?

I want to believe that someone doesn't have to worry about whether their sexual orientation will affect them; I just understand the reality of some people in our society :(

They don't have been all out for my suspicion to be correct. But unless there is a serious suggestion on the table that homosexuality produces athletic skill, then either it is a statistical fluke or there is some underlying variable at play.

To me, having the population of gays in the game swing to the high end of achievement suggests that somehow the rest of the curve is being cut out. Either the less successful gay participants are pressured out of the sport more than equally successful straight participants or fearing such pressure the less successful ones just don't come out.

Just a theory. Kind of like how the early black MLB players were disproportionately Hall of Famers, not because being black made you a better player but simply because being black meant you had to be a better player to get on the field. It was quite a bit later that you could be a mediocre black player.

[Ghoulish Delight]

To me, having the population of gays in the game swing to the high end of achievement suggests that somehow the rest of the curve is being cut out. Either the less successful gay participants are pressured out of the sport more than equally successful straight participants or fearing such pressure the less successful ones just don't come out. Perhaps they are just happier to spend even more time than their competitors hanging around the gym surrounded by bulge-revealing onesies, thus they get far more training time.

[€uroMeinke]

In reading today's LA Times (yes, I still read the physical newspaper - I'm a dinosaur), I saw an interesting article (http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-artgold25-2008aug25,0,5263667.story) talking about how art used to be an Olympic event. I was unaware of that!

Awesome article love the connection to Mary Blair

[SzczerbiakManiac]

NBC apologizes for not mentioning Mitcham is gay (http://outsports.com/olympics2008/2008/08/27/nbc-apologizes-for-mitcham-gay-snub/)

[Moonliner]

NBC apologizes for not mentioning Mitcham is gay (http://outsports.com/olympics2008/2008/08/27/nbc-apologizes-for-mitcham-gay-snub/)

I don't remember them mentioning the sexual orientation of all the straight athletes and I don't feel snubed. Why would you expect sexual orientation to be mentioned as part of the Olympics coverage?

[Morrigoon]

Bravo for them not considering it relevant to an athletic event

[Strangler Lewis]

Kind of like how the early black MLB players were disproportionately Hall of Famers, not because being black made you a better player but simply because being black meant you had to be a better player to get on the field. It was quite a bit later that you could be a mediocre black player.

In that vein, I noted that Tuesday was the 51st anniversary of Dan Bankhead's debut as the first black major league pitcher.

[SzczerbiakManiac]

I don't remember them mentioning the sexual orientation of all the straight athletesThat's not true. Every time the camera shows an athlete's opposite-sex spouse or boy/girlfriend, that is exactly what they are saying.

Why would you expect sexual orientation to be mentioned as part of the Olympics coverage?Because, in this case, it is relevant. Mitcham is the only out gay male at the Olympics this year. He is the only diver to break the Chinese stranglehold on diving gold. His struggle to even get to the Olympics with his partner was big news in his native Australia.

But more importantly, gay men are associated with being physically weak, poor at sports, and the antitheses of athletic. When an open gay male succeeds in an athletic endeavor, it is a big deal. Should it be a big deal? No, of course not. But reality, at least for now, makes that answer a resounding yes.

Even on this board, with its high population of left-wing/liberals (not saying that as a pejorative, just a statement of fact) has had non-conservative posters make comments about how hard it was to believe a gay man could enjoy sport for sport sake and not for the sole purpose of ogling the athletes.

That is why I would expect NBC to mention it.

For further examples, please see the following articles on OutSports:
NBC, media ignore Mitcham’s sexuality (http://outsports.com/olympics2008/2008/08/24/nbc-media-ignore-mitchams-sexuality/)
NBC defends not saying Mitcham is gay (http://outsports.com/olympics2008/2008/08/25/nbc-defends-not-saying-mitcham-is-gay/)
What Mitcham’s win means to gays everywhere (http://outsports.com/olympics2008/2008/08/25/what-mitchams-win-means-to-gays-everywhere/)

[Strangler Lewis]

I sort of agree with both sides. There are two ways that sexual orientation merit mention at the Olympics: 1) a quick cutaway to the partner in the stands without comment; 2) as part of a human interest story about obstacles overcome if, indeed, there were obstacles. However, I don't think editorial comment along the lines of "And you thought gay guys weren't athletic" would be any more appropriate than praising our black swimmer with "And Al Campanis said blacks lack buoyancy."

[Morrigoon]

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.
Olympic philanthropy? Not exactly friendly to the instant replay, is it?

[Morrigoon]

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.
[FONT=Verdana]
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:


I'd be a little more interested in that list if I knew it was adjusted by representation at the games. Obviously countries with exponentially-larger populations are not going to be equally represented at the games, due to efforts by the IOC to be inclusive to nations with a population disadvantage. Sort of like Rhode Island being disproportionately represented in congress.

[JWBear]

I don't remember them mentioning the sexual orientation of all the straight athletes and I don't feel snubed. Why would you expect sexual orientation to be mentioned as part of the Olympics coverage?

Bravo for them not considering it relevant to an athletic event

As SzczerbiakManiac said, It's because the sexual orientation of straight celebrities is mention, examined, promoted, and obsessed about continuously. The sexual orientation of gay celebrities – and gay sports celebrities in particular – is ignored and covered up. NBC went to great lengths to mention various straight Olympians’ significant others, but ignored Mitcham’s

[JWBear]

I sort of agree with both sides. There are two ways that sexual orientation merit mention at the Olympics: 1) a quick cutaway to the partner in the stands without comment; 2) as part of a human interest story about obstacles overcome if, indeed, there were obstacles. However, I don't think editorial comment along the lines of "And you thought gay guys weren't athletic" would be any more appropriate than praising our black swimmer with "And Al Campanis said blacks lack buoyancy."

1) As long as it's the same level of coverage for both gay and straight athletes. No gushy human interest stories about straight romances if all the gay ones get is a quick cutaway.

2) no one is asking for that. Just visibilty.

[Morrigoon]

OHHHH... didn't realize that (didn't read the article)

[Stan4dSteph]

Considering he wasn't an American and wasn't expected to do much ahead of his upset, I'm not surprised there wasn't a big production piece on him.

[BarTopDancer]

Was there mention of his orientation during Australian coverage?

[Moonliner]

As SzczerbiakManiac said, It's because the sexual orientation of straight celebrities is mention, examined, promoted, and obsessed about continuously. The sexual orientation of gay celebrities – and gay sports celebrities in particular – is ignored and covered up. NBC went to great lengths to mention various straight Olympians’ significant others, but ignored Mitcham’s

I really don't remember it that way. In fact the only relative they focused on that I can recall was Mrs. Phelps and that was just because they covered everything about Michael. I don't know if Misty and what's her name are a couple or have boy toys, Bolt? The only thing I saw about him was his excessive celebrating and lay back methods. Etc....

Obsessed about it?

[Morrigoon]

Misty and ol' whats-her-name are both married. There was a whole thing about ol' whats-her-name losing her wedding ring mid-game and the Chinese combing through the sand to return it to her.

[Stan4dSteph]

Kerri Walsh lost her ring. She talked about it last night on Letterman.

[Morrigoon]

Oh sure, give her a name, why dontcha? ;)

[lashbear]

Was there mention of his orientation during Australian coverage?
http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/beijing_olympics/story/0,27313,24231335-5014106,00.html has a video at the bottom of the article (just one I remember seeing...)

[Moonliner]

I did not see that about the ring, but I can see why they covered it. If the ring had been from a wife (is that the correct term? Are there two wife's in a gay marriage?) I still think they would have covered it.

Also I will admit to the Tivo effect as a possibility here. All the coverage I watched as recorded. I skipped past all the bios and other fluff watching just the events. During the events there is not much mention made of significant others.

Still as a foreign athlete in a sport the US sucked in, he was lucky if he shown on US TV for any length of time.

[SzczerbiakManiac]

If the ring had been from a wife (is that the correct term? Are there two wife's in a gay marriage?)Yes, assuming it's a lesbian marriage.