Olympic Medal Count or GO Canada GO!

[Colonel_here]

So it begins with everyone currently at 0

Any predictions?

[kandrathe]

So it begins with everyone currently at 0

Any predictions?

China wins!

[Mordekhuul]

China, I'd bet. They might not be the favorite to hedge out the US normally, but with home field advantage...well, the roar of the crowd has to have SOME impact on judges.

[kandrathe]

China, I'd bet. They might not be the favorite to hedge out the US normally, but with home field advantage...well, the roar of the crowd has to have SOME impact on judges.

Home field advantage is a number of things. Their athletes have less stressors, like travel, lodging, food differences, etc. The US tends to have the advantage in that we are bigger than many nations, we have leisure time and wealth to devote to non-productive activities, and we usually welcome emigration of reknowned talent, whether that be athletics, arts, or sciences. Many of our best athletes emigrated to the US. I have a good friend who defected from the East German boxing team. If fact, I find that many of the worlds best athletes spend much of their time training in the US because of the many cities with world class international sports facilities (e.g. Colorado Springs for skating, Chula Vista for track and field, etc.) and some of the best international coaches.

[Mordekhuul]

Home field advantage is a number of things. Their athletes have less stressors, like travel, lodging, food differences, etc. The US tends to have the advantage in that we are bigger than many nations, we have leisure time and wealth to devote to non-productive activities, and we usually welcome emigration of reknowned talent, whether that be athletics, arts, or sciences. Many of our best athletes emigrated to the US. I have a good friend who defected from the East German boxing team. If fact, I find that many of the worlds best athletes spend much of their time training in the US because of the many cities with world class international sports facilities (e.g. Colorado Springs for skating, Chula Vista for track and field, etc.) and some of the best international coaches.

Good point. Another example is our ping-pong team. I heard a nice segment on NPR discussing it. Entirely composed of Chinese ex-patriots, which is no shock considering Ping-pong is barely considered a sport by most of the USA, and mostly seen in rec centers or garages =)

[Occhidiangela]

Olympic Medal Count

That is a euphamism for international dick measuring.

Are you sure the Lounge is the place for this?

Occhi

[kandrathe]

Good point. Another example is our ping-pong team. I heard a nice segment on NPR discussing it. Entirely composed of Chinese ex-patriots, which is no shock considering Ping-pong is barely considered a sport by most of the USA, and mostly seen in rec centers or garages =)

Well, is ping pong a sport? I mean, is tennis a rip off of ping pong (played standing on the table), or vice versa(table tennis)? How about synchronized swimming? But, some of the sports are laughable. 2 man canoe, 2 women dingy, trampoline... On principle I won't complain about <strike>Nude</strike> Bikini Beach Volleyball, because whoever got that into the Olympics is a genius. Now they just need to work on getting German Beer Boot guzzling added. Why not dodge ball? Why not roller derby? Or, maybe those are better left for the X games. :)

I guess the Czech's Katerina Emmons just won a Gold medal for 10 meter competitive BB gun shooting.

What are some sports you think should be in the Olympics?

I would vote for... Paintball! That reminds me... I heard of a great team building exercise for companies. The workers get paintball guns, and the managers get deer costumes.

[kandrathe]

That is a euphamism for international dick measuring.

Are you sure the Lounge is the place for this?

Occhi

Right, and as I said for the US, it's easier to have the biggest when you're 100 feet tall and sew on bits from everyone else. Yuck!

Edit: Quick link to the "measurment".

[eppie]

Well, is ping pong a sport? I mean, is tennis a rip off of ping pong (played standing on the table), or vice versa(table tennis)? How about synchronized swimming? But, some of the sports are laughable. 2 man canoe, 2 women dingy, trampoline... On principle I won't complain about <strike>Nude</strike> Bikini Beach Volleyball, because whoever got that into the Olympics is a genius. Now they just need to work on getting German Beer Boot guzzling added. Why not dodge ball? Why not roller derby? Or, maybe those are better left for the X games. :)

I guess the Czech's Katerina Emmons just won a Gold medal for 10 meter competitive BB gun shooting.

What are some sports you think should be in the Olympics?

I would vote for... Paintball! That reminds me... I heard of a great team building exercise for companies. The workers get paintball guns, and the managers get deer costumes.

Indeed so true, for me the Olympics are far less important than say the European football championships.
I only watch athletics and swimming, and maybe football.
About table tennis I don't agree. It is a real sport and much different than other sports. So it is an original sport that exists for a long time, and really requires athleticism, coordination etc. Beach volleyball is just a cheap copy from real volleyball, even though it requires a lot of skills, strength and stamina.
Air gun shooting.....I guess this has to do with the original pentathlon in which there was bow and arrow shooting if I'm correct, same as all those weird horse riding events.

The Olympics are far more an entertainment event than a sports events in my opinion. And than to keep the nice amateurial atmosphere football has to be played with an under 23 team (with 3 dispensation players) because of course otherwise there would be competition between olympics and world championships.

To me it looks more and more like the eurovision song festival. (for you Americans that don't know what this is....lucky you and try to keep it that way)

[eppie]

Gold on the womens 4 times 100 meter freestyle swimming (a real sport at least)...go Holland!

[kandrathe]

Gold on the womens 4 times 100 meter freestyle swimming (a real sport at least)...go Holland!

I see the trampoline finals are Monday and Tuesday night. How is the Netherlands on the trampoline? link

[eppie]

I see the trampoline finals are Monday and Tuesday night. How is the Netherlands on the trampoline? link

You should get a life mate.:D


But actually, I believe we had some good trampolinists (?) but you know....then came the drugs...

[the Langolier]

The Olympics = fail.

It's seriously the greatest hodgepodge of stupid, useless, unrelated "events" I think will ever exist. First of all, there are WAY too many events. Take for swimming, for example. How many different races are there for different strokes, relay, or whatever? I don't even care enough to look it up (302 total events in 28 sports - that I bothered to look up). So some country/"olympian" wins a gold medal because he can swim around a pool with a specific type of stroke 0.02 seconds faster than another guy... wow... I care. *changes channel*

I say we go get back to the basics and do it old-school style. Forget sending 302 different competitors. I'm thinking every country gets two (one of each gender) Olympians. I'm talking the most bad ass, tricked out, skilled human specimen a country can put together to represent itself for all of the games. You want a swimming event? How about they start swimming and the one that goes the farthest before drowning wins. Track and field? How about a full on obstacle course that throws together elements of all the track and field events and the first one through the end wins? There should be a combat event too. Free for all where anything to physically overpower your opponent short of causing their death goes (or you get disqualified for said event). There won't be this BS about "oh such-and-such country took X number of medals, but this-n-that country won by taking Y number of medals". No. There is just going to be one victor, one Olympian, one country (per gender). End of story. The two Olympians standing at the end of the games will be considered the closest thing to the ancient Greek Gods on the face of the earth. They should then be forced to produce offspring, why not.

Unfortunately, the garbage we are stuck with now comes up for discussion as often as once every two years. I don't care how many medals the USA takes home, I'll be unimpressed.

[Occhidiangela]

The Olympics = fail.

It's seriously the greatest hodgepodge of stupid, useless, unrelated "events" I think will ever exist.


Unfortunately, the garbage we are stuck with now comes up for discussion as often as once every two years. I don't care how many medals the USA takes home, I'll be unimpressed.

Running.
Relays (Team running)
Swimming
Team swimming
Pentathalon
Decathalon
Triathalon
Biathalon
Hammer throw, Jav, Discus
High jump
Pole vault
Long jump
(WTF is the triple jump, anyway, and who made it up? )
Volleyball (No judging)
Tennis: no point in making it Olympic
Golf: no point in making it Olympic (A bunch of professional golfers agree with me.)
Baseball: no point in making it Olympic
Basketball: OK, I'll live with it as an olympic event, along with ice hockey
Soccer: Oh, God, please, stop the madness! We already have the world cup.

I am against judged events being in the Olympics, but I really want to keep gymnastics in the Olympics, even though it is judged. What the young men and ladies can do physicallly is insanely grand, in terms of developing human potential.

Rowing? Yes. It is a race.
Sailing? No.
Wrestling? Yes
Boxing? Yes
Synchro swimming and diving? No.
Archery? Yes
Marksmanship? Yes.
Fencing? Yes.

Contests where you keep score are fine.

Marathon? Hell yes.

OK, rant over, here is my favorite part of this year's Olympics. Fitness for a purpose.
Mom must be so proud.

Occhi

[--Pete]

Hi,

... wow... I care. *changes channel*

Really, that's all you needed to say. And even that was unnecessary. You don't like the Olympics? Fine. Don't watch them. AND DON'T BITCH ABOUT THEM!

--Pete

PS Except for this thread, I'm ignoring them, too. However, my gripe is with the crappy coverage, not the events.

[--Pete]

Hi,

(WTF is the triple jump, anyway, and who made it up? )

Also known as the 'hop, skip, and jump'. Probably invented by a golfer who just missed a six inch put. His final motion became the hammer throw.

Golf: no point in making it Olympic (A bunch of professional golfers agree with me.)

Marathon golf. You have to play 72 straight holes and your score is the time in minutes plus the number of strokes. Survivor, if any, gets carried to the podium for the gold. Then to the cardiac unit.:) Oh, and did I mention, no caddy. You've got to hoof your own bag.

Baseball: no point in making it Olympic
Basketball: OK, I'll live with it as an olympic event, along with ice hockey
Soccer: Oh, God, please, stop the madness! We already have the world cup.

Any team sport that has some kind of national or international championship is already over represented. Ditch them all.

I am against judged events being in the Olympics, but I really want to keep gymnastics in the Olympics, even though it is judged.

It's hard to come up with good criteria for what events should be included. By and large, I don't like judged events, either, but I do like diving and gymnastics.

Rowing? Yes. It is a race.
Sailing? No.

A little contradictory there? They are both races. Small boat races (one or two man) in the right conditions take a lot of physical and mental abilities. Planning your strategy while hiking your ass to windward and trying to catch a roll to plane on is harder than, for instance, a 5k run. Or, at least, that's my opinion, having done both.

Wrestling? Yes
Boxing? Yes

Yeah, but no judging and no points. Fight to a submission or a KO.;)

An event I'd like to see added is the "Media Massacree". The rules are taken from La Plaza del Toros. Anytime a media jerk interrupts an athlete or asks an inane question (e.g., "How does it feel to lose the Marathon by .001 seconds?"), the athlete is permitted to kill said media jerk. The observers to this event award ears and tails on the basis of the cleverness and style of the execution. The final tally determines the standing at the closing ceremonies.

As for me, I can no longer take all those interviews and background stories that pass for Olympic coverage. A few years ago, at the Winter Olympics, the media morons chose to show an interview with the (non-contender) US downhill racer. To do so, they cut away from what was the gold medal run. I turned the damned thing off, then, and have no stomach for turning it back on.

--Pete

[Quark]

Hi,
Really, that's all you needed to say. And even that was unnecessary. You don't like the Olympics? Fine. Don't watch them. AND DON'T BITCH ABOUT THEM!

--Pete

It'd be much easier if we weren't being bludgeoned by them, from both the media and everyone else around us.

[--Pete]

Hi,

It'd be much easier if we weren't being bludgeoned by them, from both the media and everyone else around us.

Yep. Had to shut off CNN a few times. In spite of the fact that they can't show anything of the Olympics because of some restrictions on broadcasting, they keep giving time to them in the form of interviews and other non-sense.

But my remote works, my thumb is still strong enough to hit the 'off' button, and there are always games to play.;)

--Pete

[Griselda]

It'd be much easier if we weren't being bludgeoned by them, from both the media and everyone else around us.

I kind of think it's interesting to get to know more about some random little sport that I can see being played at the world-class level. I don't really care about the medal counts or the "tough luck personal stories" that are being covered, but I can amuse myself trying to figure out the rules of whatever random sport happens to be on.

[kandrathe]

Soccer: Oh, God, please, stop the madness! We already have the world cup.

Yeah, I'd agree with this and Basketball (Ice Hockey in winter) being removed due to them being extra-olympic events where the "pros" go back and represent their country (or the highest bidder like the American girl playing for Russia). Just need to make leagues international, rather than continent focused.

Comment #2 on soccer; How many sports do we need where two sides field teams to move a ball up and down the "field" and try to score past a goalie? So far, I've seen on the olympics, field hockey, soccer, water polo, and handball.

On the other hand, this is the place where many sports get a "world cup" where they otherwise wouldn't get seen at all (which maybe is telling).

The Olympics needs to decide if it is an international sports championship, or a media circus. Both isn't working for me either.