2008 Olympics thread - use SPOILER tags!
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there was a while at the begining where i thought this game was gonna be alot tougher. greece was crowding the paint and none of our outside shots were falling until dwyane wade came in and it just seemed like usa just got a killer instinct. bodying thier way through the greeks. also the greeks started falling apart in the second half. good games by spanoulis and papaloukis tho
Surprisingly enough, I've found that womens gymnastics is one of the events I've enjoyed the most so far. I'll certainly be watching the individuals, hopefully I get to see them. I'll be cheering on team USA, especially Alicia Sacramone (for obvious reaons 
) and Shawn Johnson (for the fact that she's just great and seems to have a great personality).
Also, what can you say about the amazing Phelps? He's unbelievable, and I feel happy that I'll be able to say I watched him growing up. The scray thing is that while he's already the most decorated Olympian ever, he could still swim in another two Olympics after this! He's only 23 (I think), and if he does half as well in the next two Olympics as he's done at this one, he's going to make anyone catching up to him in the future next to impossible.
) and Shawn Johnson (for the fact that she's just great and seems to have a great personality).Also, what can you say about the amazing Phelps? He's unbelievable, and I feel happy that I'll be able to say I watched him growing up. The scray thing is that while he's already the most decorated Olympian ever, he could still swim in another two Olympics after this! He's only 23 (I think), and if he does half as well in the next two Olympics as he's done at this one, he's going to make anyone catching up to him in the future next to impossible.
Not to discount the excitement of the swimming events and all of the world records getting smashed, but I almost feel as if I'm watching the "juiced" era of baseball when you had multiple guys every year blasting 50 plus home runs. I mean, seriously, every damn race a world record is getting broken. IMO, alot of it has to do with these new speedo suits that were supposedly developed by NASA and resemble dolphin skin. If these suits give the swimmers that much of an advantage then it is a shame for the swimmers of the past (Spitz) who sit back and watch this happen. Whats next? Gloves and booties that resemble webbed hands and feet. Maybe I'm going a little overboard, but just wondering if anyone else was thinking the same.
great job girls
Looking at some scores I couldn't help but wonder whether Dick Bavetta got himself a summer gig. Let's face it - he knows as much about BB as he knows about gymnastic. All You can ever ask is for the best athlete to win and it happened tonight.
Still a mystery - how You can have 2 such a dominant athletes and not win the team competition in 3 of 3 format
Looking at some scores I couldn't help but wonder whether Dick Bavetta got himself a summer gig. Let's face it - he knows as much about BB as he knows about gymnastic. All You can ever ask is for the best athlete to win and it happened tonight.
Still a mystery - how You can have 2 such a dominant athletes and not win the team competition in 3 of 3 format
You know, when I think about it, this is a pretty ****ty way to organize an event, in my opinion. I mean, unless you have a dog in the race, what could possibly be the incentive to watch ninety-five percent of the weightlifting event when you know that only the last five percent (or perhaps even less) is at all relevant.
Case in point:
Case in point:
Mi-ran Jang of South Korea absolutely crushed all opponents in the 75+ kg women's weightlifting competition today. How dominant was she? Well, as mentioned above, you don't lift until everybody else is either done, or until they work their way up to the weight you want to lift. So, if you want to lift two hundred pounds, you have to wait until either everybody else is lifting two hundred pounds as well, or, if no-one else is going to lift that much, you have to wait until everybody else is finished.
Olha Korobka, the silver medalist from the Ukrain,e completed the Clean and Jerk portion of the event with a successful lift of 153kg (336.6 lbs). They get three chances to lift, and she didn't even attempt a third lift, knowing that a) her second lift was good enough to clinch the silver and b) she had no chance of sniffing gold.
And why was so sure? Because, whereas her max lift was 153 kg, Jang's starting weight was 170 kg (374 lbs), almost forty pounds better. Jang was already so far out in front by virtue of a World Record-breaking 140 kg snatch, that she could have clinched the gold medal with a C&J of 137 kg.
Instead, she lifted over seventy pounds more than she had to, and blew away the competition on her very first attempt... but, at least she went on to give the fans a show at that point, going out on her next attempt (despite not needing to) and lifting 183 kg (402.6 lbs) to break the World Record... and then went out and lifted 186 (409.2) to break it again! She finished with a combined lift in the snatch and clean and jerk of 326 kg (717 lbs) to win the gold in dominant fashion, outdoing the silver medalist by over a hundred pounds!
But, the point is that everybody else had long since been finished before she even started. When the rules state that whatever weight you lift, everybody after you has to be able to lift that much as well, and all the other competitors have completed their three lifts before she's attempted her first, then it takes all the drama out of the event, because you know that all she has to do is complete one lift, and it's over.
Olha Korobka, the silver medalist from the Ukrain,e completed the Clean and Jerk portion of the event with a successful lift of 153kg (336.6 lbs). They get three chances to lift, and she didn't even attempt a third lift, knowing that a) her second lift was good enough to clinch the silver and b) she had no chance of sniffing gold.
And why was so sure? Because, whereas her max lift was 153 kg, Jang's starting weight was 170 kg (374 lbs), almost forty pounds better. Jang was already so far out in front by virtue of a World Record-breaking 140 kg snatch, that she could have clinched the gold medal with a C&J of 137 kg.
Instead, she lifted over seventy pounds more than she had to, and blew away the competition on her very first attempt... but, at least she went on to give the fans a show at that point, going out on her next attempt (despite not needing to) and lifting 183 kg (402.6 lbs) to break the World Record... and then went out and lifted 186 (409.2) to break it again! She finished with a combined lift in the snatch and clean and jerk of 326 kg (717 lbs) to win the gold in dominant fashion, outdoing the silver medalist by over a hundred pounds!
But, the point is that everybody else had long since been finished before she even started. When the rules state that whatever weight you lift, everybody after you has to be able to lift that much as well, and all the other competitors have completed their three lifts before she's attempted her first, then it takes all the drama out of the event, because you know that all she has to do is complete one lift, and it's over.
I agree. Pretty much all the swimmers had the same technology available to them, so it's not like there was any advantage given to any one person.
There are always technological advances in sports. Swimmers wearing goggles and skintight swim caps are technological advances. Spitz swam against guys with the same technology as him and so did Phelps.
On the other hand, sometimes great athletes come along, who take a sport to a new level. Usain Bolt was incredible in the 100m! Hardly looked like he worked up a sweat.
There are always technological advances in sports. Swimmers wearing goggles and skintight swim caps are technological advances. Spitz swam against guys with the same technology as him and so did Phelps.
On the other hand, sometimes great athletes come along, who take a sport to a new level. Usain Bolt was incredible in the 100m! Hardly looked like he worked up a sweat.
In other news, I love Bela Karolyi as a commentator. The man is such an unbearable homer for USA Women's Gymnastics that he's made a full revolution around annoying and come all the way back to funny!
I also loved the underhanded snark by Costas: "With me is Bela Karolyi, whom you may be surprised to learn has an opinion..."
I also loved the underhanded snark by Costas: "With me is Bela Karolyi, whom you may be surprised to learn has an opinion..."
