Watched the opening ceremonies, nice to see after all the talk and pomp considering world events that a bunch of athletes still wanted to play.
Just watch our girl Eva Lee get beat in a tight match against Anna Rice in Badminton. I'm thoroughly perplexed by watching Equestrian (HOW DO YOU SCORE IT AND WHY DON'T THE HORSES GET MEDALS???).
DirecTV has a fun little package that lets you watch everything, and everything is not basketball, boxing, wrestling, and swimming I guess.
"Laugh and the world laughs with you. Frown and the world laughs at you." -Me.
I really got into Women's Fencing, which is weird because it's fencing but whatever, it was pretty cool. Clean sweep for the US is a pretty good start.
I know you're a feminist and I think that's adorable, but this is grown-up time and I'm the man.
EDIT: Shouldn't this be in the STABFBoH folder? I wondered how we didn' have an Olympics thread in there yet.
(edited by JayJayDean on 11.8.08 1324) Holy fuck shit motherfucker shit. Read comics. Fuck shit shit fuck shit I sold out when I did my job. Fuck fuck fuck shit fuck. Sorry had to do it....
*snip*
Revenge of the Sith = one thumb up from me. Fuck shit. I want to tittie fuck your ass. -- The Guinness. to Cerebus
Yeah...I never thought that swimming would get me yelling at the TV like I was.
The US girls gymnasts have had some butterfingers this year. But that Shawn Johnson is as good as advertised.
I had just bent down to tighten my nuts, and there was a double yellow line, see? And next thing I knew, there was policeman behind me. He put a sticker on my helmet and tried to clamp me.
I wasn't really that excited for the Olympics in the beginning, but it has gotten real interesting in the last two days. That swim relay with the US coming from behind last night was one of the most exciting things I have seen in sports this year and that's saying something with events like S.B. 42, the Wimbledon final, and Tiger/Rocco at the US Open.
I'm watching men's team gymastics right now and the US was looking real good until the floor excerises. Go figure, I was only interested in this sport because of the Hamm brothers, who I have watched on "Ninja Warrior". Once they were out, I didn't think the US had a chance. But now they're surprising people by taking advantage of Japan's mistakes, I'm hooked on watching the rest of this final and hoping they can hang on to the silver.
EDIT: Well, so much for that. Apparently, the pummel horse is not the U.S.'s friend. It still was a very good showing for the American team to take bronze with all the changes they had to go through with the recent injuries.
Oddly enough, I've found myself getting more and more into Weightlifting here at the office. The women's competition, in particular, impressed the hell out of me, with the Chinese woman absolutely dwarfing everyone else. She made that Olympic Record look way too easy.
Archery is also fun to follow, as the men's competition went back-and-forth throughout yesterday. Found myself impressed with the Korea/Poland matchup, as both teams went neck-and-neck.
And of course, there's basketball. The men's team is great, especially with the old Dwayne Wade back, but the women's team is just a BEAST, as no one's come close to beating them yet.
Originally posted by The GoonCanadian Olympic slogan: Nowhere to go but up.
Ha! Yes, very true, but most people up here knew our showing was going to be somewhat underwhelming. Some pundits were questioning whether the Canadian squad would win any medals at all, let alone any golds.
It's all good, though. Maybe I'm in the very big minority, but I really don't care whether "my" country does well or not -- I cheer for the athletes that interest me, in the sports that interest me, and occasionally get sucked into sports I never knew I cared about (re: swimming), raving for juggernauts who should win (and do). Lezak has immortalized himself, especially if Phelps does indeed snag 8 medals.
I love Bob Costas. What was the line last night -- something like, "'Eat, sleep, swim'? More like, 'Eat, sleep, swim, stand on podium, get gold medal ribbon hung around neck.'"
Bela Karolyi is the fun kind of looney expert. Blithely talking about China's 14 & 15 year-olds. And he gets wound up, just like he would if he were coaching. With Costas over to the side trying to provide a smidge of moderation.
Originally posted by The GoonCanadian Olympic slogan: Nowhere to go but up.
Ha! Yes, very true, but most people up here knew our showing was going to be somewhat underwhelming. Some pundits were questioning whether the Canadian squad would win any medals at all, let alone any golds.
It's all good, though. Maybe I'm in the very big minority, but I really don't care whether "my" country does well or not -- I cheer for the athletes that interest me, in the sports that interest me, and occasionally get sucked into sports I never knew I cared about (re: swimming), raving for juggernauts who should win (and do). Lezak has immortalized himself, especially if Phelps does indeed snag 8 medals.
Frankly, I don't know what you guys are complaining about. You may not win a lot of medals, but at least you'll probably be competitive in a couple of events like in track and field. The highlight for my people will likely be getting only semi-whacked by Federer 6-2,6-4. Oh, and the one rowing heat I saw where our representative was so behind, USA stopped charting her progress halfway through.
I can't get enough of the team handball. I wish that was on every day. Not to mention the badminton.
Bob Costas is still a useless, humorless prick. He nearly single handedly ruined the opening ceremonies by talking non stop and telling us what we were seeing. As if the beautiful visuals weren't speaking for themselves.
I hope Phelps sweeps every medal in swimming this year. It's just stunning how much better he is then the rest of the field.
They need to clone Bela Karolyi and train the clones to be experts in every sport. His few minutes of commentary were the highlight of my Olympic experience so far. He's utterly insane and you can just feel him straining not to start slapping random people he's so excited and angry at all times.
I want to hang out with Bela Karolyi and just randomly point things out to him with the hope of pissing him off.
Originally posted by supersalvadoran Frankly, I don't know what you guys are complaining about. You may not win a lot of medals, but at least you'll probably be competitive in a couple of events like in track and field. The highlight for my people will likely be getting only semi-whacked by Federer 6-2,6-4. Oh, and the one rowing heat I saw where our representative was so behind, USA stopped charting her progress halfway through.
Hey, I'm not "you guys" -- no complaints, here!
You're right, though, as Canada is quite competitive in a great many events. Not in the top three most of the time, but lots of top tens. And hey, if you're #10 in the whole freakin' world... that ain't too shabby.
I wish I was the world's tenth best anything. I'd even take tenth best asshole. Maybe I'd get a show like Bill O'Reilly.
They were outscored by the Chinese by more points than she lost.
I think it was clear that the Chinese team performed better over all than the American team. I really wanted the American team to win, but it is kinda cool that China won both gymnastics all arounds.
Does anyone know the reasoning behind the 16 years old age requirement? I mean we're talking about a sport where training starts at 3 or 4 years old, and rigorous training starts at around 10. I remember being crushed at around 8 years old after being told that I would never be able to compete because my skills (and upper body strength) had not progressed enough by that age.
Originally posted by SobriquetYou're right, though, as Canada is quite competitive in a great many events. Not in the top three most of the time, but lots of top tens. And hey, if you're #10 in the whole freakin' world... that ain't too shabby.
We watch the CBC coverage because it is LIVE for us in the PT. The coverage isn't really that great - they missed gymnasts left and right last night, but then there weren't any Canadians on the Chinese or US teams, but we did see the post-race interview with the Canadian men's 4x200-meter swim team, who finished fifth. Those boys were AWFULLY defensive about the idea that Canadian swimming could be considered less than it should be.
Holy fuck shit motherfucker shit. Read comics. Fuck shit shit fuck shit I sold out when I did my job. Fuck fuck fuck shit fuck. Sorry had to do it....
*snip*
Revenge of the Sith = one thumb up from me. Fuck shit. I want to tittie fuck your ass. -- The Guinness. to Cerebus
Originally posted by LiseThey were outscored by the Chinese by more points than she lost.
I think it was clear that the Chinese team performed better over all than the American team. I really wanted the American team to win, but it is kinda cool that China won both gymnastics all arounds.
Does anyone know the reasoning behind the 16 years old age requirement? I mean we're talking about a sport where training starts at 3 or 4 years old, and rigorous training starts at around 10. I remember being crushed at around 8 years old after being told that I would never be able to compete because my skills (and upper body strength) had not progressed enough by that age.
This article I found from a google search seems to imply that Olga Korbut started the trend, and Bela Karolyi is the biggest source of blame. It also says that the age limit was instituted in 1996 after several instances of bad publicity with young gymnasts:
In 1991 15-year-old Olympic hopeful Julissa Gomez died after breaking her neck after a misstep on her vault. A fellow gymnast, 15-year-old Christy Henrich, developed anorexia as she struggled to qualify for the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. She retired at 18, without a medal, and died last year at 22 weighing less than 50 pounds.
Originally posted by hazIs it disappointing that we haven't won a medal in anything yet, YES, but I have watched many Canadians doing the best they can and I am still proud!!
I thought you Canadians only did the Winter Games.
Lloyd: When I met Mary, I got that old fashioned romantic feeling, where I'd do anything to bone her. Harry: That's a special feeling.
Abhinav Bindra has etched his name into his India's sporting history after he became his country's first individual Olympic gold medallist.
Bindra won gold in the 10 metre air rifle event and in doing so won India's first gold medal of any kind for 28 years after he shot a score of 700.5.
India had previously won eight gold medals in the Olympic hockey tournament, but never in an individual sport, and Bindra said he hoped his victory would have a profound affect on sport in the country.
"I sincerely hope this win will change the face of Olympic sport in India," Bindra said. "In our country, Olympic sports are not really a priority, I hope now they will get more attention."
Bindra's victory came just a day after India's cricketing superstars crashed to a series defeat in Sri Lanka. Kapil Dev, the former Test all-rounder, admitted Bindra's feat was arguably India's finest sporting achievement, even eclipsing the 1983 cricket World Cup victory.
"This is much, much bigger than the World Cup," Dev said. "I hope it will do as much for Olympic sports as ours in 1983 did for cricket.
"It is not easy for an Indian to win an Olympic medal, let alone a gold, because there is no sporting culture in our country. I hope this will make sports a way of life in India."
I only talk about BACK MARKERS! Why would I be sorry about the #34 appearing on your list? I have no loyalty to Ragan, all T-shirts and cans of boiled peanuts aside.