[HoosierDaddy]

So... anybody else wondering what the hell is going on in the gymnastics scoring? If I spot obvious discrepancies (which the announcers echo), shouldn't there be more of a fuss going on?

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

That china/USA baseball game got ugly. I'm surprised there weren't fisticuffs.

[caladanbrood]

People complain that Bolt could have gone quicker, without seeming to realise there's a very good reason to do what he did. Everytime they break a world record, they get payed some ridiculous amount of money for doing it. So if he breaks it twice instead of once, he gets twice the amount of money!

Same thing Isinbayeva does... each time, she beats her own world record by 1cm... and she gets more money each time.

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

That doesn't make him look any better to me.

[caladanbrood]

Yeah he's clearly shit, being only the fastest man in the world and all that

[HoosierDaddy]

Evidently I am the only person in the world watching the Gymnastics!

On Bolt, was he bragging? Yeah, probably. Was that probably earned? Yeah, probably. Do I think less of him? Let's see if he does it again.

[caladanbrood]

I saw a bit of the gymnastics, when the US were being sore losers, accusing the Chinese of being ineligable, and then the officials of distracting the US athletes... I got bored at rolling my eyes in the end and watched other stuff instead.

[HoosierDaddy]

Didn't that stuff happen before the gymnastics? AND, what do you expect from 13 to 19 year olds? Maturity?

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

I'm not disputing his abilities, clearly they are top notch.

Remember the last winter Olympics, in the women's snowboardcross, where they race down a track? in the women's event, a girl from the USA was cruising for the gold, so far ahead she couldn't get caught. So, she decided to show off and do a trick off the last jump instead of just winning the damn race. She fell down, got passed, cost herself a gold medal. This was the same thing, except it didn't cost him. There is NO reason to celebrate and taunt your opponents in the middle of the race.

[caladanbrood]

It was happening during the Women's Team Final... I suspect it was the self-important team supervisors that were doing it, too.

I mean, these 8-year-old kids need good role models supervising them, surely?



I suppose, RLY, that if you were in event that wasn't even your best, and you're at the point in the race where you're guarenteed Olympic Gold and a new World Record, you'd be really fuckin miserable about it?

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

There is no way that gymnast from China is 16. I would doubt 13. Legit to bitch about, I think.

[HoosierDaddy]

caladanbrood;371275 said:

I suppose, RLY, that if you were in event that wasn't even your best, and you're at the point in the race where you're guarenteed Olympic Gold and a new World Record, you'd be really fuckin miserable about it?

RLY isn't English.

[caladanbrood]

HoosierDaddy;371277 said:

RLY isn't English.

The evidence seems to suggest otherwise :eek:

[HoosierDaddy]

Lol. The poor, melancholy English.

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

caladanbrood;371275 said:

I suppose, RLY, that if you were in event that wasn't even your best, and you're at the point in the race where you're guarenteed Olympic Gold and a new World Record, you'd be really fuckin miserable about it?

I didn't say I expected him to be miserable. It's just that, especially at the Olympics, sportsmanship is important to me. Every other athlete I've seen at these games has managed to at least wait until the end of the event to celebrate, and have mostly done it with class. Like the announcers were saying today, it's the Olympics, to do anything other than turn in the best performance you possibly can is disrespectful to your opponents, the games, the spectators, and the sport. I would be more lenient about the bad sportsmanship if it hadn't affected his performance, and hypothetically could have cost him a gold medal had he been unlucky.

And by the way, I am in no way English! I'm American. What evidence points to me being English?:confused:

[caladanbrood]

It was nowhere near costing him a gold medal :confused:

[Sir Thursday]

I was at the Bird's Nest stadium last night, and I have to say, it's a damn impressive building. Obviously the outside is unique and interesting, but inside the way it is set up means there's not a bad seat in the house. They got the tiering right so that while it doesn't feel especially steep, you still feel right on top of the action no matter how far away you are. Got to see Esinbaeva set a new World Record at the Womens' Pole Vault - the reaction of the crowd was incredible, especially seeing as I was sitting fairly close to a group of very vocal Russians .

Today I saw some Womens' Basketball. Not my first choice of things to see, but I had the tickets so I figured why not? China was playing, so the atmosphere was amazing, and the standard wasn't actually that bad (for the first game at least - Australia v Czech Republic was just dire as the Czechs couldn't get a shot in to save their life - they finished with a FG% of around 20%). Would like to get a ticket for tomorrow - it's the Men's semis - but the tickets were going for extortionate amounts, even if you were to bargain with the hawkers.

But yeah, loving the Olympic atmosphere here - Beijing really has gone sports crazy - I suspect there will be a lot of people wondering what to do when they're done! I could have done without the Olympic song they've got for it though - http://www.youtube.c...h?v=0XbIZqg4v7w.


Sir Thursday

[HoosierDaddy]

Raymond Luxury Yacht;371373 said:

And by the way, I am in no way English! I'm American. What evidence points to me being English?:confused:

I was poking fun at the view that the English are just miserable souls, such that you would have been miserable if you were winning the 100 because you were English.

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

caladanbrood;371513 said:

It was nowhere near costing him a gold medal :confused:

But it could have. Turning around, breaking stride, slapping the chest, it could have caused him to stumble, or trip, or if there was someone closer than he realized he could have gotten passes. Bottom line, it was bad sportsmanship and disrespectful. If there is anywhere for an athlete to show good sportsmanship and put in the best performance they possibly can, it's at the freaking Olympics.

And with that, I'm done with this conversation.

[Dancer+]

I agree with Mez that the showboating made the event special, it was welcome because of the performance. It's easy to forget the guy is 21 years old and its his first Olympics. He showboated in a dignifed manner and remains down to earth, stepping away from the usual pointed arrogance shown by many other 100 metres runners (mainly because it's difficult for him to be arrogant considering his speed).

There was absolutely no way that it was going to cost him a medal, he knows how to stay on his feet and look sideways to determine where his opponents are. He's been doing this for his entire life. It was just a fantastic performance but I don't believe he'll break the 200 metre record, it's just too good for him until he improves his first 100 metres (the bend) and his speed endurance. We'll see!

HoosierDaddy;371685 said:

I was poking fun at the view that the English are just miserable souls, such that you would have been miserable if you were winning the 100 because you were English.

Us English aren't that miserable, I have a pet theory that most of us are as happy as some of our Olympians winning golds. We just expect to win which makes us sound and feel the disappointment of letting ourselves down more than the average human being. We're also notoriously bad at celebrating and dwelling on our victories whereas we'll dwell on our losses for years, generally.

Suprisingly I found the Aussies amusing; they can't believe we are beating them. Unfortunately, it seems to be some type of inferiority complex...I'm glad some Australians are removed from this bitterness unlike some of the press channels I've been watching. One guy suggested using America's medal system just to beat us. I still want the Australians to do well, despite their feelings.

EDIT: Oh, Sir_Thursday have a wonderful time, I'm ever so slightly envious (which doesn't happen very often)