The Ultimate Olympic thread

[ZeroChalk]

Surprsingly no one is chatting about this.

[dentinger]

and i havent even watched or read anything abou the olympics.
summer games are boring. triathalon FTL!

[ZeroChalk]

Okay i'll start then.. i thought the openings was really great. The medal standings as off 1:30p'ish.

Gold Silver Bronze Total
1. http://www.google.ca/images/flags/CHN.gif China 17 (g) 5 (s) 5 (b) = 27
2. http://www.google.ca/images/flags/USA.gif United States 10 (g) 8 (s) 11 (b) = 29
3. http://www.google.ca/images/flags/KOR.gif South Korea 6 (g) 6 (s) 1 (b) = 13

[Xerox]

At least watch the opening ceremony!

[x_o_k_x]

and i havent even watched or read anything abou the olympics.
summer games are boring. triathalon FTL!

Yeah! one of the best winter sports for sure..

[cwp_sedan]

and Canada


0

[crazycanuck]

We only seem to notice that our team sucks balls DURING the Olympics. By the time they're over, we couldn't give a rats ass let alone provide funding to support our athletes.

It's a re-occurring trend that's been going on since Atlanta.

Just look at our school system and facilities. We stop mandatory gym in high school. There's just no money to provide world class athletes.


Being Chinese-Canadian, I'm gonna support China in this one.


and Canada


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[LockOut]

Yeah! one of the best winter sports for sure..

Triathlon is a summer sport. Are you thinking of the biathlon?

As for the actual Olympics: I've been watching as much as I can. I'm just concerned for the state of Canadian amateur sports. I mean, we've set how many Canadian records (in swimming, for example)? And how close have we come to having a chance? 5th. I think that we should be placing more funding in amateur sports, which will perpetuate into better athletes/teams, and then there will be more involvement. And that's not just facilities, but more so coaches and some funding to help pay for travel costs. I can't even begin to imagine how many promising young athletes are overlooked because they can't afford to go to the big games/meets/tournaments.

[RedRaptor]

You know what I'm sick of? I'm sick of NBC and even CBC constantly reporting on stories that are an obvious attempt to embarass China. I am Chinese Canadian but I'm not a huge fan or proud of China at all. In fact I really can't relate to the mainland Chinese people, after being brought up here. Canada is first in my heart.

However, it gets very tiring when all these stupid stories come out about China: fireworks were fake, girl singing was removed because she was "ugly", chinese women's gymnists being underaged and etc.

Total bullshit. Who cares? I think its ironic that the Western culture talking giving China a bed rep about putting "good looking" people on TV. When was the last time you saw an "ugly" female news anchor or on TSN and Sportsnet? Last time I remember, Jennifer Hedger on TSN is totally doable. I am sure there are MORE qualified people that can talk news but its no coincidence that they are good looking.

For all the westerns who don't understand make up of oriental women...they look A LOT younger than they really are. We can sit here and argue that, but asian women are known for their ability to look 1/2 their age. I am sure the non asians who are dating an asian girl can confirm that. So what is this BS about the gymnastics team being 13 and 14?

Americans just don't like being beat. Watching NBC's broadcast is absolute torture. All you know from watching that is Michael Phelps won gold...but what about the rest of the field in the pool?

[crazycanuck]

Oh RedRaptor, gossip, speculation on rumours attracts a lot more attention and ratings than facts.

Did high school not teach you anything? :chuckle

FYI for everybody else, the fireworks were real. They were digitally enhanced for TV viewers due to safety concerns for the helicopter flying too close to high explosive fireworks.

And if you saw those fireworks, I wouldn't want to be flying a helicopter anywhere close to them.


You know what I'm sick of? I'm sick of NBC and even CBC constantly reporting on stories that are an obvious attempt to embarass China. I am Chinese Canadian but I'm not a huge fan or proud of China at all. In fact I really can't relate to the mainland Chinese people, after being brought up here. Canada is first in my heart.

However, it gets very tiring when all these stupid stories come out about China: fireworks were fake, girl singing was removed because she was "ugly", chinese women's gymnists being underaged and etc.

Total bullshit. Who cares? I think its ironic that the Western culture talking giving China a bed rep about putting "good looking" people on TV. When was the last time you saw an "ugly" female news anchor or on TSN and Sportsnet? Last time I remember, Jennifer Hedger on TSN is totally doable. I am sure there are MORE qualified people that can talk news but its no coincidence that they are good looking.

For all the westerns who don't understand make up of oriental women...they look A LOT younger than they really are. We can sit here and argue that, but asian women are known for their ability to look 1/2 their age. I am sure the non asians who are dating an asian girl can confirm that. So what is this BS about the gymnastics team being 13 and 14?

Americans just don't like being beat. Watching NBC's broadcast is absolute torture. All you know from watching that is Michael Phelps won gold...but what about the rest of the field in the pool?

[Broli]

i must say that i totally agree with everything you said Rob.

Watching, particularly the NBC news is terrible, i even heard them commenting on the judging in the women's gymnasitics as biased. the only thing that is biased is thier reporting, i understand they are covering the american team, that is fine, they are an american station, but a little objectivity couldn't hurt!




You know what I'm sick of? I'm sick of NBC and even CBC constantly reporting on stories that are an obvious attempt to embarass China. I am Chinese Canadian but I'm not a huge fan or proud of China at all. In fact I really can't relate to the mainland Chinese people, after being brought up here. Canada is first in my heart.

However, it gets very tiring when all these stupid stories come out about China: fireworks were fake, girl singing was removed because she was "ugly", chinese women's gymnists being underaged and etc.

Total bullshit. Who cares? I think its ironic that the Western culture talking giving China a bed rep about putting "good looking" people on TV. When was the last time you saw an "ugly" female news anchor or on TSN and Sportsnet? Last time I remember, Jennifer Hedger on TSN is totally doable. I am sure there are MORE qualified people that can talk news but its no coincidence that they are good looking.

For all the westerns who don't understand make up of oriental women...they look A LOT younger than they really are. We can sit here and argue that, but asian women are known for their ability to look 1/2 their age. I am sure the non asians who are dating an asian girl can confirm that. So what is this BS about the gymnastics team being 13 and 14?

Americans just don't like being beat. Watching NBC's broadcast is absolute torture. All you know from watching that is Michael Phelps won gold...but what about the rest of the field in the pool?

[ds2chan]

I agree about NBC.. all they care about is how their country is doing.. it's Michael Phelps this and Michael Phelps that.. even when Phelps isn't swimming they find a way to mention his name when the women are swimming.. they even compared one of the US female swimmers' style to Phelps.. give us a break.. then they move onto gymnastics and everytime they show the 2 girls that are supposedly 14 they mention it.. every single time.. sure, I joke about it here and there but I don't bring it up all the time..

CBC seems much better.. probably cuz Canada isn't favored in any event.. but at least they interview athletes from other countries (once in a while).. whereas NBC only interviews athletes from the US.. more so Michael Phelps..

[Mafty]

no ones talking about it because canada came with cameras to do sight seeing not atheletes.

[RallyPlaya]

If the Chinese Gymnast are 14. 15 16 years old whats wrong with that..... that shows that they are amazing @ that age and will probably kick ass in their 20's....... Olympics is pretty boring for me except for a few events.... im keeping up with the basketball, track, and martial arts events primaraly

[Garu]

One of Korean swimmers actually won the Gold medal in Men 400m freestyle. He got destroyed by Michael Phelps in Men 200m freestyle but he won a silver.

He is actually 1st Asian swimmer to win some medals in swimming category let along a gold medal.

What happened to that discussion?

[crazycanuck]

The legal age to participate in gymnastics is 16.

Because they're younger, they're smaller. More precision, lower centre of gravity etc etc.


If the Chinese Gymnast are 14. 15 16 years old whats wrong with that..... that shows that they are amazing @ that age and will probably kick ass in their 20's....... Olympics is pretty boring for me except for a few events.... im keeping up with the basketball, track, and martial arts events primaraly

[crazycanuck]

Check out this article, pretty funny.

http://www.campussqueeze.com/post/We-Get-It-Already-14-Olympic-Stories-Were-Tired-Of-Hearing.aspx

[LockOut]

Hahaha, that's hilarious. All of them are SO true...

[MajesticBlueNTO]

You know what I'm sick of? I'm sick of NBC and even CBC constantly reporting on stories that are an obvious attempt to embarass China. I am Chinese Canadian but I'm not a huge fan or proud of China at all. In fact I really can't relate to the mainland Chinese people, after being brought up here. Canada is first in my heart.

However, it gets very tiring when all these stupid stories come out about China: fireworks were fake, girl singing was removed because she was "ugly", chinese women's gymnists being underaged and etc.

Total bullshit. Who cares? I think its ironic that the Western culture talking giving China a bed rep about putting "good looking" people on TV. When was the last time you saw an "ugly" female news anchor or on TSN and Sportsnet? Last time I remember, Jennifer Hedger on TSN is totally doable. I am sure there are MORE qualified people that can talk news but its no coincidence that they are good looking.

For all the westerns who don't understand make up of oriental women...they look A LOT younger than they really are. We can sit here and argue that, but asian women are known for their ability to look 1/2 their age. I am sure the non asians who are dating an asian girl can confirm that. So what is this BS about the gymnastics team being 13 and 14?

Americans just don't like being beat. Watching NBC's broadcast is absolute torture. All you know from watching that is Michael Phelps won gold...but what about the rest of the field in the pool?

while I agree with RR on the 'who cares?', i'm gonna play devil's advocate here:

the reason we're hearing it from the western media, especially NBC, is due to the irony of the situation. china is communist, everyone is supposed to be 'equal' -- looks and superficiality do not exist in a communist state (at least it shouldn't) -- and yet China is VERY concerned about how they appear to the world

* hordes of people whose specific role is to fill seats in an empty area at an event and make it appear full

* people banned from hoarking on the street and blowing their noses with no tissue

* homeless and vagrants swept away from beijing

...hence all the hoopla about the 'ugly' girl and the digitally enhanced fireworks.

these olympics are a politically charged event... GWB/NBC/USA bringing up China's human rights record, the USA olympic committee picking an athlete who ran away from Sudanese militia that tried to turn boys into soldiers, as a final FU to China (the claim is that china arms sudanese militia in Darfur to protect their interests in the areas oil)... and, also, the USA cannot stand the fact that there is a distinct possibility that China is the next world superpower (thanks to the capitalist western world and their insistance on the lowest price on goods to maximize profit).

the western media coverage of the Beijing olympics are just a microcosm of what is going on behind the curtains of the USA and China.

again, i'm playing devil's advocate to stir discussion :pop

[btown-mazda]

I have been watching the Olympics when I can and it is very sad and disheartening that on the 6th day of competition we still have 0 medals. I've always known that Canada has always fared better at the Winter games then Summer but I'm still hopeful that we can at least get a respectable medal count. We should get a few medals on the water in mens/womens rowing and possibly a few in athletics which begin next week. We also have an outside chance of getting a medal in softball/baseball which I'm also sad to hear will be dropped from the games after this one.

The IOC really should re-think their position on dropping these 2 as there is a huge contingent for this sport at the games and powerhouses like US, Japan, Cuba, even Canada should stand up and rally to have these games re-instated for London. Is baseball/softball not a summer game? I do see where they came up with the decision of dropping it i.e. MLB steriod scandals but even with that there are no MLB players at the games as their too busy playing for their own franchise teams, and what about the women? They work just as hard as the men and probably don't even come anywhere close to any banned substances and yet they are simply deemed unwelcomed anymore as their sport is akin to baseball. That really blows.

[Jeff-TheBiz]

and Canada


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Gold, Silver, Bronze...


Too bad they don't have a "Wooden Medal" or maybe a "Paper Medal"

[dsichewski]

You know its bad when there is the Canadian Boxing and landing punches all the time and the judges are NOT couting any of them and the tv commentators start to go WTF why are they not counting them???

My thinking is the olympic judges more often than not screw over canada....Take figure skating for a fine example( I know its the summer games and all but this proves my point clearly)....

[LockOut]

You know its bad when there is the Canadian Boxing and landing punches all the time and the judges are NOT couting any of them and the tv commentators start to go WTF why are they not counting them???

My thinking is the olympic judges more often than not screw over canada....Take figure skating for a fine example( I know its the summer games and all but this proves my point clearly)....

I think this might be taking it a bit too far. I really don't think that there is some big conspiracy against Canada. Anyways, most of the sports in the summer games aren't even judged. The Canadian athletes just can't keep up with the herd.

As for the figure skating example. That, in fact, is not a good example of a conspiracy to "screw over Canada." It was actually a conspiracy to help whoever (Russia) win. Big difference.

[RedRaptor]

Check out this article, pretty funny.

http://www.campussqueeze.com/post/We-Get-It-Already-14-Olympic-Stories-Were-Tired-Of-Hearing.aspx

Hahaha...thanks for the link.

Amanda Beard looks hot in those PB photos. But I saw her on TV and she looks nothing like she does in the photos. Just goes to show, package something nicely and presto...its HOT! :)

[crazycanuck]

+ 1. There is no conspiracy, we just don't have the infrastructure in this country.

Let's say you want to go for a jog... Where's the closest track you can actually jog on for free?

If you want to go swimming, where's the closest place where you can go for free with dedicated lanes? Full size pools.

If you wanna play soccer, can you think of a field where you can bring 22 guys on any given day to play?


We're more set up for winter sports. That's why we do better. Everyone knows how to skate, albeit poorly for some. Everyone watches hockey to some degree, everyone has been snowboarding/skiing or is wanting to.

I can't even think of a national track and field meet ever being playing on TV. Or gymnastics, or any other sport other than hockey.


I think this might be taking it a bit too far. I really don't think that there is some big conspiracy against Canada. Anyways, most of the sports in the summer games aren't even judged. The Canadian athletes just can't keep up with the herd.

As for the figure skating example. That, in fact, is not a good example of a conspiracy to "screw over Canada." It was actually a conspiracy to help whoever (Russia) win. Big difference.

[bluntman]

Did anyone see the indicident with the weightlifter?

[dmanrevived]

Canada finally on the board with a silver in men's pairs rowing and a gold in women's wrestling!

We have shots at 3-4 more rowing medals tomorrow!

[Mafty]

were finally on the board!!!!!!!!!!! were in place 24th too!! we have 1 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze. gold and bronze from womens wrestling, and the silver is mens rowing. finally

[Nick]

GO Michael Phelps! I know hes not Canadian but he's amazing, i hope he gets his 8th gold! =]

[btown-mazda]

Anyone watch the mens 100m final, that was craaazy. Bolt hot-dogging and still got a new WR at 9.69, he's "King of the Olympics" as Donovan Bailey says, I kinda believe him.

[Nick]

US just won the relay, Phelps 8th gold! =]

[ZeroChalk]

Anyone see the fight where the cuban kicks the referee? How's that for olympic sportsmanship!

http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2008/08/24/GALL_TAEK_SS1_wideweb__470x308,0.jpg

[iconicrocket]

Anyone see the fight where the cuban kicks the referee? How's that for olympic sportsmanship!

http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2008/08/24/GALL_TAEK_SS1_wideweb__470x308,0.jpg

The U.S. should use that as an excuse to attack Cuba. Could have the whole world's support for that. Nice boot to the head, wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of that.

[1flycdnM3]

I liked this quote the best! Still makes me laugh and it's sooooooooo true!

While it's interesting to see how athletes train for sports we're not familiar with, maybe cool it with the constant training videos for the more popular sports. "Oh really? To train for the 200m freestyle Michael Phelps swims laps? In a pool? Man, you've opened some eyes."

The first few days i watched like 4 channels of olympics pretty much all day and my biggest pet peeve (and the reason i haven't watched since) is you have NO IDEA what you already watched earlier. I couldn't keep track of what the hell i JUST watched like 4 hours earlier. Why do they keep repeating the same stories (as mentioned already), events and even commercials over and over and over and over again!!!

[cwp_sedan]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tQuUQVofhk

[m_a_t_r_i_x]

stayed late last night (230am) to watch the men's basketball finals, wow i must say Spain didnt backed down and put pressure to US team throughout the entire game. awesome game!!....Kobe rise to the ocassion and as usual he loves to play under pressure in the late quarter to bail out the US team.