2012 Olympics discussion thread

[VF21]

Just in case anyone wanted to talk about it.

I wasn't overly impressed with the opening ceremony. I think the idea of spectacle has gotten totally out of hand. I'd rather see more of a celebration of sport and less Mary Poppins vs. nightmare monsters.

I did like the pace of the parade of countries, however. Keep things moving briskly.

 

[Rockmeister]

There were only a few things I liked about the Opening Ceremony. I liked the lighting of the Olympic cauldron, the fireworks, James Bond / the Queen parachuting into the stadium and Paul McCartney. The rest was horrible.

 

[Uk kings fan]

I loved it all

on what you said though.... did the commentator not tell you what was going on?? there was a story behind everything which went on including the monstors and the bouncing on beds


I think to all basketball fans they need to check out handball... amazing sport

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

I get where you're coming from, and I appreciate the suggestion, but no thanks. Some of us basketball fans are still watching basketball. Maybe I'll catch it on replay?

Good performances by two former Monarchs thus far today (Miao Lijie with 12/5/8, leading China to a mild upset over Czech Republic, and Kim Smith with 20 pts for Canada in a near major upset over Russia).

 

[VF21]

I loved it all

on what you said though.... did the commentator not tell you what was going on?? there was a story behind everything which went on including the monstors and the bouncing on beds


I think to all basketball fans they need to check out handball... amazing sport

Yes, the commentator told the story. I just didn't find it very interesting. The opening ceremony is for the ahtletes and the people in the stands, however, so as long as they were happy, that's what matters most. I mean no offense at all. Just giving my two cents.

As far as watching the handball goes, I try to watch some of every sport that's televised. To me it's part of the whole Olympics experience.

 

[UK_King]

The opening ceremonies are always conceptual nonsense. And as far as conceptual nonsense goes i thought we did a great job. Particularly the industrial section which was terrific.

The worst part was the tacky ending with Paul "Cliche" Mccartney, spectacular only in how underwhelming it was to have something so drab close out the opener.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

Didn't watch it but a lot of friends were going crazy about it. Also a lot of whining about it being tape delayed in US (have to admit after spending the 2010 games in Vancouver where they Canadian TV shows stuff live it is annoying). But if there is one ONE thing that I don't care about tape delay, its opening ceremonies.

Haven't watched much else, just some volleyball. I love the olympics but things are super busy in life right now and my son is commanding most of my attention.

 

[Kingsfan23]

When China took home the most gold last olympics, the argument was that the tournament was being held in China, so they had home advantage... Now here they are again, leading in gold so far although it is early.. is there a new olympic powerhouse?

 

[Uk kings fan]

The opening ceremonies are always conceptual nonsense. And as far as conceptual nonsense goes i thought we did a great job. Particularly the industrial section which was terrific.

The worst part was the tacky ending with Paul "Cliche" Mccartney, spectacular only in how underwhelming it was to have something so drab close out the opener.

this


So far i have watched.... Tennis,handball,swimming,football,vollyball,rowing,cycling and badminton all good so far

Im also going to a few events which will be amazing.... football and athletics

and i know one of the competetors so will be making you all watch the diving

 

[PurpleHaze]

When China took home the most gold last olympics, the argument was that the tournament was being held in China, so they had home advantage... Now here they are again, leading in gold so far although it is early.. is there a new olympic powerhouse?

China has been olympic summer games powerhouse for quite some time. But as you say, it's early - very early. Normal power house Germany has yet to be heard from at all in London - a bit odd. India, second most populated nation on earth with almost as many people as China never wins any metals or very few. I suspect once Track & Field is well under way normal shape of the games will unfold. Germany finally moving up along with little countries with sprinters like Jamaica (along with couple other Caribbean nations) plus dominant distance runners from Kenya, Ethiopia, etc. USA will surely just role along and finish first or second in overall metals - like they most often do.

 

[kennadog]

They reported that host countries get an average 50% boost to their medal count. Of course, many of the host countries know about 10 or 12 years in advance they are going to host and they purposely put lots of money into programs to develop their athletes as well.

I say bravo to the Brits for putting on a great show in such economically troubled times. Not for the first time either. They re-started the Olympics in 1948 by hosting the first post-war Olympic Games, while they still had to be dealing with so much destruction to their homeland.

I liked a lot of the opening show, actually. I really enjoyed the children's' choirs singing anthems of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Loved the salute to labor protesters, suffragettes and honoring their national health care system. I like that the doctors and nurses were real doctors and nurses who volunteered to participate. I liked that construction workers who built the Olympic Park, lined the route into the stadium for the torch bearer.

I wasn't as fond of the section on the digital age, although I did like the different decades of British music. I liked the pace of the march of nations...move it along. I liked that each team marched in with one of the leaves of the eventual torch cauldron. I liked the tor where all the flags were placed.

I did like James Bond and the Queen. I also liked the torch up (down?) the Thames in the speedboat.

I always find it interesting to see how a country sees itself. GB certainly has showed well in the midst of severe economic times. Jolly good show, cousins!

As an aside, while China's opening ceremony was beautiful, it was also a little frightening to me. It was a fearsome display of the sheer power of numbers and discipline. I was a little horrified when they reported that the participants wore diapers during practices, because they weren't allowed to break for the bathroom. The beauty came at a cost, too. Acres of homes and shops were razed and people just cleared out, in order to build the venues for the China Olympics. I never heard where they were moved to or if they received compensation of any kind.

 

[Glenn]

The queen was caught in a candid moment talking with the director as they strolled around the palace (I presume). She said "I didn't get to see my bit. I hope people got a laugh." She is almost becoming cool. Can't they afford a DVR?

 

[Kingsfan23]

China widening the gold gap... I have to stop checking this day to day or it will drive me crazy

 

[kennadog]

China widening the gold gap... I have to stop checking this day to day or it will drive me crazy

This is only the first week. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think China has a lot of track and field athletes, for one thing. That comes next week.

But we do have to face the fact that China has a billion people to choose its athletes from, while we have less than a third of that. Also, their athletes are selected and trained from a very young age, usually including taking very young kids away from their parents for most of their lives. That's not going to happen in the USA. And here, families sacrifice a lot financially for their kids training, while the governement pays for all of the training over there. Finally, their athletes don't have to earn a living as adults. Many of our athletes have to support themselves while they pursue their Olympic dream.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

We love to put so much emphasis on how great it is to be there, so long as we "win" the medal count.

 

[Glenn]

Spoiler

Phelps just got a medal that made him the all time leader in medals. Here is the comment of the Russian woman whose medal count he beat:

Shortly before Tuesday night's swim meet, Latynina told Yahoo! Sports' Martin Rogers that the medals she also won as a coach still separate her from Phelps.

"Do I think I am still the greatest Olympian?" she said in an interview translated by a Russian gymnastics federation official. "Why yes, but that is my opinion.

"Why do I think this? Well, I did not only compete in three Olympic Games and won many medals, but the Soviet Union team had very great success when I was the coach."

Latynina won nine golds and 18 total medals in her career that spanned three Olympics from 1956-64. The Soviet Union also claimed another 10 golds when she was coach during the 1970s. She also said Phelps has her respect.

"It is special what he has done," Latynina said.​

This makes her look silly, doesn't it? One problem in comparing the number of medals won from her era to Phelps' era is that there are more opportunities to win medals in the present. I guess then Phelps needs to win several more to make the point more clear.

 

[uolj]

SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!

Spoiler

Do not read. I don't know if this was on TV yet but it has to do with Phelps and is predicatable as to what he achieved.













Phelps just got a medal that made him the all time leader in medals. Here is the comment of the Russian woman whose medal count he beat:

Shortly before Tuesday night's swim meet, Latynina told Yahoo! Sports' Martin Rogers that the medals she also won as a coach still separate her from Phelps.

"Do I think I am still the greatest Olympian?" she said in an interview translated by a Russian gymnastics federation official. "Why yes, but that is my opinion.

"Why do I think this? Well, I did not only compete in three Olympic Games and won many medals, but the Soviet Union team had very great success when I was the coach."

Latynina won nine golds and 18 total medals in her career that spanned three Olympics from 1956-64. The Soviet Union also claimed another 10 golds when she was coach during the 1970s. She also said Phelps has her respect.

"It is special what he has done," Latynina said.​

This makes her look silly, doesn't it? One problem in comparing the number of medals won from her era to Phelps' era is that there are more opportunities to win medals in the present. I guess then Phelps needs to win several more to make the point more clear.

She was pretty gracious in other interviews I've seen. This is kind of silly, but I don't think it's that big of a deal or necessarily reflective of her full position.

 

[Glenn]

I agree it's silly just as trying to compare any athlete from 50 years ago to one in the present. However, she is the one who had to throw in that as a coach the Soviet Union won 10 golds. Bob Bowman has been the coach of Phelps since he was 11 and just took over for Allison Schmitt. Allison has won three medals so far. So does that mean Bowman is better because he has coached athletes that have won 22 medals, 16 of which were gold? I think we should junk these comparisons along with the nightly breathless comparison of medals from country to country. What do country medal counts mean? Is there a prize for it? Of course not.

Anyone watching canoeing and kayaking? What a hoot. These guys are athletes.

And then there was the guy who took up single man sculls and came in 1 1/2 minutes after everyone else. That's what makes the Olympics exciting. There is always the person who is there just to take part like Eddie the Eagle and if I remember correctly some African took part in swimming and darn near drowned. He got as big a hand as anyone else when he finished. And of couse, the Jamaican bobsled team.

 

[uolj]

I agree it's silly just as trying to compare any athlete from 50 years ago to one in the present. However, she is the one who had to throw in that as a coach the Soviet Union won 10 golds. Bob Bowman has been the coach of Phelps since he was 11 and just took over for Allison Schmitt. Allison has won three medals so far. So does that mean Bowman is better because he has coached athletes that have won 22 medals, 16 of which were gold? I think we should junk these comparisons along with the nightly breathless comparison of medals from country to country. What do country medal counts mean? Is there a prize for it? Of course not.

I meant that what she was saying was silly. I was agreeing with you, but adding that it might have been just an offhand comment since I've seen her be more gracious other times.

 

[Glenn]

Does anyone have any theories as to why American boxing is so wimpy now? Seems like many years ago we won and won and won. Maybe men are trying out other sports. I don't know.

 

[PurpleHaze]

Does anyone have any theories as to why American boxing is so wimpy now? Seems like many years ago we won and won and won. Maybe men are trying out other sports. I don't know.

Maybe MMA dilutes talent pool. I hate MMA but like real martial arts.

 

[Glenn]

Maybe MMA dilutes talent pool. I hate MMA but like real martial arts.

Could be. I wonder if Americans are shying away from the sport because the rest of the world has great fighters. Cuba and Russia are still very good. It's an unanswerable puzzle I suppose and actually an unimportant puzzle. Maybe there are just too many options. I just watched our heavyweight and he was awful. He has only boxed a few years and if he's the best we've got, we're hurtin.' Also maybe people are turning pro early. MMA might be appealing because it's on TV a lot. Maybe that's a factor.

In any case 1976 was amazing. We won about 8 medals. This isn't counting the years of Foreman and Holyfield and the like.

 

[spudfan]

Does anyone have any theories as to why American boxing is so wimpy now? Seems like many years ago we won and won and won. Maybe men are trying out other sports. I don't know.

Probably entirely political. Much more sense to turn pro than wait years to be in the Olympics for most. I had a friend in high school who had a very real chance of making the olympics in boxing for his home country(not usa) but decided to turn pro instead. One controversial matchup can lead to years of wasted time.

 

[Glenn]

Probably entirely political. Much more sense to turn pro than wait years to be in the Olympics for most. I had a friend in high school who had a very real chance of making the olympics in boxing for his home country(not usa) but decided to turn pro instead. One controversial matchup can lead to years of wasted time.

This makes the most sense.

 

[spudfan]

How about the 8 people who got DQd for "match fixing." What a shame. Pretty ridiculous to me that they played in the way that would give them the best chance at winning and were kicked out of the games for it. If you haven't read about it, 8 badminton players were trying to lose on purpose so they would have a more favorable matchup in later rounds. The worst part to me is the #1 ranked team in the world got DQd. They would have been against the #2 team before the finals... who also happened to be Chinese. Why would they every want to play the second best team in the tournament, who is also from their home country. They need to make the rules of the tournament and setup better to avoid this from happening. Getting kicked out for "Violating the spirit of the games" is ridiculous. If they are going to DQ them I want to see all the swimmers who don't try their hardest in earlier heats get DQ'd. I want to see players not running their best squads in qualifier rounds DQd. Track athletes who cruise in earlier rounds to save energy should also lose.

 

[Capt. Factorial]

How about the 8 people who got DQd for "match fixing." What a shame. Pretty ridiculous to me that they played in the way that would give them the best chance at winning and were kicked out of the games for it. If you haven't read about it, 8 badminton players were trying to lose on purpose so they would have a more favorable matchup in later rounds. The worst part to me is the #1 ranked team in the world got DQd. They would have been against the #2 team before the finals... who also happened to be Chinese. Why would they every want to play the second best team in the tournament, who is also from their home country. They need to make the rules of the tournament and setup better to avoid this from happening. Getting kicked out for "Violating the spirit of the games" is ridiculous. If they are going to DQ them I want to see all the swimmers who don't try their hardest in earlier heats get DQ'd. I want to see players not running their best squads in qualifier rounds DQd. Track athletes who cruise in earlier rounds to save energy should also lose.

I would say there's a major difference between conserving energy and throwing a match. Note that the athletes who "cruise" in prelims still WIN the prelims. The badminton players were deliberately LOSING. Hey, when the crowd in the stadium that paid to come see Olympic-level badminton is booing the game because both teams are trying to lose so badly it's obvious, I think it's time to step in.

Also, consider that swimmers/athletes who cruise in the prelims are finishing their races in (say) 3:50-3:55 instead of the 3:47 they clock in the finals, where ordinary humans would take twice as long with full effort. Ask me to run in an Olympic 1500m prelim and a "coasting" Olympic athlete would certainly lap me once and I'd have to work hard to keep them from lapping me twice. I've only picked up a badminton racquet once or twice in my life, and I'm quite confident I could have beaten the #1 ranked women's doubles team by myself. Big difference there.

So, yeah, I'm 100% behind the DQs in badminton.

 

[Glenn]

Can somebody tell me how teams move up in badminton? Without knowing how they do it, it seems like scheduling or qualifying could help avoid this problem. I could read more about it but I'd rather make a KF poster go through the bother. I don't think the other examples are like deliberately losing a match. No swimmer that can coast loses. The one thing that bothers me about swimming relays is that 4 people can swim the prelims and 4 others swim the finals. It's a team event so I suppose I'm being a bit anal.

This sounds impossible but an announcer said that one badmointon player could slam the shuttle roster up to 260 mph. Yikes!! Maybe it's the speed measured as it comes off the head of the racquet 'cause the roster slows down pretty rapidly.

 

[spudfan]

Of course you could have beaten them. They were trying to lose. I guess you also feel NBA teams should be kicked out of the playoffs when they start losing a game here or there before post season starts so they have better match ups. Throwing games to get a better matchup has been happening for a very long time. Do you think the Spurs, Lakers and Heat should all have been disqualified from the NBA playoffs last year? They benched players going into the playoffs since they had the spot they wanted secured. This also happens in soccer.

Having a format where winning your group doesn't give you better odds at an easier matchup is stupid. Penalizing the athletes for doing what is in their best interest to win the ENTIRE tournament is illogical. Using some bogus "Spirit of the game" rule that the players didn't see coming to kick them out is equally silly. Sometimes the best strategy isn't to run your hardest, swim your fastest or play your best. In no way should they be penalized for playing smart.

 

[spudfan]

Can somebody tell me how teams move up in badminton? Without knowing how they do it, it seems like scheduling or qualifying could help avoid this problem. I could read more about it but I'd rather make a KF poster go through the bother. I don't think the other examples are like deliberately losing a match. No swimmer that can coast loses. The one thing that bothers me about swimming relays is that 4 people can swim the prelims and 4 others swim the finals. It's a team event so I suppose I'm being a bit anal.

This sounds impossible but an announcer said that one badmointon player could slam the shuttle roster up to 260 mph. Yikes!! Maybe it's the speed measured as it comes off the head of the racquet 'cause the roster slows down pretty rapidly.

"Badminton officials introduced a preliminary round at the Olympics this year so that each team could play at least three times and not risk traveling thousands of miles only to be eliminated in the first match." In the past it had been a knockout format (which is the proper setup, and used in the likes of ping pong I am told). So you play to win, because if you don't your out. With the pool play now you can predict who you will be playing against based on the wins/losses of each team.

The only reason I single out the China team is because they are ranked #1 in the world. The #2 ranked team? Another China team. If they did not throw their match they would have had to play each other in the next round only to try and eliminate the other. So not only are they playing against the second best team, but they are playing against members of their own country. It is completely counter intuitive to play the hardest matchup possible, and knock out a friendly team when you can avoid it.

 

[Glenn]

And then there is what happened in women's gymnastics. 24 people could qualify for the individual all around but each country was limited to 2 contestants. What happened is that the US had the world champion but in the prelims, she came in third in the US so could not go on to compete for the individual gold medal. How does that make sense? If one country had the three best gymnasts in the world, the third best could not compete. She works out for a lifetime but can't compete because just being one of the best in the world does not let you move on to the finals. She has to be in the top 2 in the US to continue. What's wrong if a country has 3 of the top 24?

I suppose it eliminates the possibility that one country could get all three medals but that's not consistent with one of the fencing events where last Olympics the same country took 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. In fact in most of the other events theoretically a country could get the three medals.