How silly are the Olympics...pretty darn silly.

[Tgace]

I always enjoy the olympics but I have to admit that some of the events; table tennis, badminton, synchronized diving, trampoline, handball and rythmic gymnastics? (but no baseball) Well they seem odd to me.

 

[Steve]

There have always been events like that. But they don't diminish the sports I enjoy one bit.

 

[elder999]

And, of course, :

 

[crushing]

I always enjoy the olympics but I have to admit that some of the events; table tennis, badminton, synchronized diving, trampoline, handball and rythmic gymnastics? (but no baseball) Well they seem odd to me.

I would rather watch any of the ones you mention more than any of the 34 different (yes 34!) swimming events.

 

[elder999]

I would rather watch any of the ones you mention more than any of the 34 different (yes 34!) swimming events.

On the other hand:

 

[Omar B]

Oh am I loveing the Olympics so far! Only a week till the Jamaica/USA domination starts.

 

[billc]

As I posted earlier, the object of the Olympics is international fellowship through sport

Well, I'm sure the taxpayers wouldn't mind if they spent their own money to participate in international fellowship, especially since everyone but the taxpayers seem to make money off of the games...

And here is a little international fellowship...complete with wire transfers of possible bribes to judges...yeah, this isn't silly at all...

http://deadspin.com/5931226/was-this-disgraceful-olympic-boxing-match-fixed

Knockdowns are exceedingly rare in Olympic boxing. Japan's Satoshi Shimizu knocked down Azerbaijan's Magomed Abdulhamidovfive times in the third and final round of their bantamweight bout yesterday. And yet, the judges scored the round in favor of the one who spent more time on the canvas than on his feet.

"I was shocked by the final scores. He fell down so many times," Shimizu said. "Why didn't I win? I don't understand."
​

After Abdulhamidov was awarded the 22-17 victory over Shimizu, the uproar began. Fans rained boos from the stands, and Japanese officials immediately lodged a protest. It was, by any account, the biggest competitive disgrace of the Olympics so far. And there's reason to ask if this was more than the usual Olympic boxing incompetence, but rather something more sinister.
Last September, BBC Newsnight presented evidence that Azerbaijan had paid millions of dollars in an international boxing organization, in return for a guarantee that two Azerbaijanis would win gold medals at these London Olympics. They found documents showing a $9 million bank transfer, funneled through Switzerland, to a boxing organization owned by AIBA, which oversees Olympic boxing. Whistleblowers reported that the money came from an Azerbaijan government minister, and were strictly a cash-for-medals exchange.

"Ivan boasted to a few of us that there was no need to worry about World Series Boxing having the coin to pay its bills. As long as the Azeris got their medals, WSB would have the cash."
Another said that Mr Khodabakhsh came in and said: "We are safe now - Azerbaijan came in - we have to give them medals for that."
"He was talking about gold medals in London in return for millions of dollars of secret payments," the insider added. "Medals are being sold so blatantly it's amazing."
​

Azerbaijan denied the allegations, and an AIBA committee found them groundless. (The $9M was deemed to be a "purely commercial investment.") But here we are! Azerbaijan's Abdulhamidov was awarded a win he didn't come close to earning.
This one has a happy ending, sort of. Late last night, AIBA officials upheld Japan's appeal, and awarded the bout to Shimizu. Their statement:

Shimizu moves on. Abdulhamidov goes home. The Turkmenistani ref may be punished for not stopping the fight. The judges? Nothing happens to them. Olympic boxing remains a joke.

But at least there was a whole bunch of "international fellowship," through sports...

 

[billc]

And the olympics just get sillier, the story of a child raised by the olympics...(relatively speaking)

http://deadspin.com/5931182/chinese...s-cancer-and-her-grandparents-died-a-year-ago

Wu Minxia took gold in the 3m synchronized springboard, and in doing so became the first woman in history to win three consecutive Olympic golds. Sustained success like that comes at a price—in Wu's case, a life entirely devoted to training, cut off from the outside world.
After her gold, Wu's father admitted to theShanghai Morning Post that he had been hiding some bad news from her: both her grandparents had died over a year ago, and her mother had battled breast cancer for eight years.

"Wu called us after her grandmother died, I gritted my teeth and told her: ‘everything's fine, there aren't any problems','' Wu's father Wu Jueming told the paper. Wu's parents found such lies were "essential'' to ensure their daughter could keep focused on her training, the Shanghai Daily said. "We never talk about family matters with our daughter,'' the father said.
​

Wu's life seems to reinforce all our worst stereotypes about the Chinese Olympic program. Now 26, Wu began attending daily diving camp at six years old. At 16, she left home to live in a government-sponsored training facility, where she rarely saw her family, didn't attend school—didn't do anything but dive, all day, over and over again for this last decade.
Her parents only kept up with her life by following her Weibo account, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter. Said her father,

"We've known for years that our daughter doesn't belong to us any more."
​

Her parents even traveled to London to watch her compete at the Olympics, but either chose not to or weren't allowed to meet her until after she competed. The extent of their correspondence: a text message to let her know they had arrived safely.

But the olympics do do some nice things for some people...

More details about the Olympic "orphans," of China (my term)...

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/olympi...m-chinese-diver-until-she-won-gold-medal.html

"We accepted a long time ago that she doesn't belong entirely to us," Wu Yuming told the Shanghai Morning Post. "I don't even dare to think about things like enjoying family happiness."

 

[elder999]

And the olympics just get sillier, the story of a child raised by the olympics...(relatively speaking)

So, that'd be the Chinese being silly, wouldn't it?

 

[billc]

Well, they are being silly to win in the olympics, but I get your point. I do like my term "Olympic Orphans of China." I think it captures the story pretty well.

 

[Tez3]

It's sad, undemocratic and plain spiteful to try to spoil people's enjoyment of sports and events just because you don't like these activities. The simplest thing is if someone doesn't like soemthing or thinks it 'silly' is to just ignore it, why would you want to deride people and to try to detract from the enjoyment and the satisfaction people get from taking part in events.
Contray to waht Mr Romney thinks the Games are going down well in London, local people are very much into the spirit of the games, tickters are sold over and could sell twice over. The empty seat problem where copanies and sports organisations has seat but didn't use them has been solved, shame on you the big corporations!. The volunteers (and there were nearly three times as many people volunteered to help as was needed), the spectators and the athletes in all the disciplines so far have been saying how great it is.
http://www.mckinneyonline.com/Augus...ying-London-and-the-Thrill-of-the-2012-Games/

Not everyone likes every sport, some don't like any sport, their perogative but how churlish is it to not enjoy your country's success and admire the dedication of the athletes who have made it possible?

 

[Master Dan]

It's sad, undemocratic and plain spiteful to try to spoil people's enjoyment of sports and events just because you don't like these activities. The simplest thing is if someone doesn't like soemthing or thinks it 'silly' is to just ignore it, why would you want to deride people and to try to detract from the enjoyment and the satisfaction people get from taking part in events.
Contray to waht Mr Romney thinks the Games are going down well in London, local people are very much into the spirit of the games, tickters are sold over and could sell twice over. The empty seat problem where copanies and sports organisations has seat but didn't use them has been solved, shame on you the big corporations!. The volunteers (and there were nearly three times as many people volunteered to help as was needed), the spectators and the athletes in all the disciplines so far have been saying how great it is.
http://www.mckinneyonline.com/Augus...ying-London-and-the-Thrill-of-the-2012-Games/

Not everyone likes every sport, some don't like any sport, their perogative but how churlish is it to not enjoy your country's success and admire the dedication of the athletes who have made it possible?

I think the games are agreat success and the weather for London has been awsome this thread started at total Bait Bait Bait just to get a rise Bill must have got to beat up over Obama bashing nothing else to do?

 

[elder999]

ANd here ya go-the U.S.'s first ever gold medal winner in Olympic Judo, Kayla Harrison



And interesting back story that makes this a real victory....

 

[Tez3]

ANd here ya go-the U.S.'s first ever gold medal winner in Olympic Judo, Kayla Harrison

View attachment 17076

And interesting back story that makes this a real victory....

It was an emotional final the British girl she beat not long ago lost her mother who was the one who introduced her to Judo. These aren't the only stories of the the Olympics that make you admire and respect the efforts they make to compete, to belittle them as being 'silly' is just plain spiteful.

 

[elder999]

And here's yer next Wheaties box, Olympic gymnastics all-around, Gabby Douglas:

View attachment $283687_10151083218068734_719666582_n.jpg

 

[Sukerkin]

I do think that some of the Olympic disciplines are a bit off the beaten track and some are a bit too familiar (football for example) but that uncommonness can make them fascinating. For example, thanks to the Olympics coverage, my missus is now fascinated by Fencing {or Knitting as I, as an elitist JSA practitioner, call it :lol:}.

 

[crushing]

And here's yer next Wheaties box, Olympic gymnastics all-around, Gabby Douglas:

Seriously? With hair like that?!?!?!

Of course I'm kidding and making fun of the media that had to go digging through twitter to find a few negative tweets in order to manufacture a story that would help generate click-through traffic on social networking sites.

 

[elder999]

Seriously? With hair like that?!?!?!

Of course I'm kidding and making fun of the media that had to go digging through twitter to find a few negative tweets in order to manufacture a story that would help generate click-through traffic on social networking sites.

Equally silly, but yeah, with hair just like that.

Only it's not Wheaties, apparently:

 

[pgsmith]

If people want to do them, fine, but whining and complaining on a martial arts forum for no other reason than to beat a certain dead horse is meaningless to me.

There ya go, I fixed it for you ... (just couldn't help myself!)



Thanks for that Tez!
McKinney is the nearest big town to where I live, and is where I work. Mary Killman is a pretty big deal here. Unfortunately, not as big a deal as Hollie Cavanagh was when she was on American Idol. http://www.mckinneyonline.com/Calen...e-Home-Parade-for-Hollie-Cavanagh/event/7689/ (No accounting for the U.S. TV viewing audience.

 

[jks9199]

ANd here ya go-the U.S.'s first ever gold medal winner in Olympic Judo, Kayla Harrison

View attachment 17076

And interesting back story that makes this a real victory....

And it sure seems that they couldn't bother to find time on prime-time to feature it, either... First US gold in Judo, female, with a moving story... Somebody there missed a big one.