# 2024 Summer Olympics Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** olympic-sports-track\ **Created:** [July 10, 2024, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2024-summer-olympics-thread/1004019 "2024-07-10T20:21:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2024, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2024-summer-olympics-thread/1004019/241 "2024-07-28T23:31:13Z")
Except The Last Supper painting is in Italy. I’ve heard that the segment was a refers to a Bacchanal painting and the Greek reference. Brian ---
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2024, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2024-summer-olympics-thread/1004019/242 "2024-07-28T23:34:09Z")
And seriously, it was men dressed up as women. It was not people having debauched sex in the street right in front of god and everyone. 🙄 ---
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2024, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2024-summer-olympics-thread/1004019/243 "2024-07-28T23:40:54Z")
Oh, you know I saw the big woman eating or whatever and wondered what was up with all that. It didn’t even dawn on me that’s what it was. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2024, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2024-summer-olympics-thread/1004019/244 "2024-07-29T00:49:05Z")
USA convincingly 3-1 over Germany in women’s soccer… first few minutes looked shaky, I thought we were heading for a repeat of the last WWC. But quite solid after that (despite goal #3 being a fluky deflection). In the other group match, Australia was down 5-2 to Zambia and came back to win 6-5, highest scoring match in Olympic history. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2024, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2024-summer-olympics-thread/1004019/245 "2024-07-29T00:51:02Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > USA up at the half vs Serbia in men’s basketball… but it’s a good game. The days of the dream team and constant blowouts are long in the past. True, but they did ultimately destroy Serbia pretty handidly. But, yeah, better competition than the '92 team faced by a mile. I think the USA, if it stays aggressive, should win every single game this year. They looked pretty unbeatable today. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2024, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2024-summer-olympics-thread/1004019/246 "2024-07-29T00:51:31Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > USA convincingly 3-1 over Germany in women’s soccer… first few minutes looked shaky, I thought we were heading for a repeat of the last WWC. But quite solid after that (despite goal #3 being a fluky deflection). Wait, was it not 4-1? :checks: Yep, they scored again in minute 89. 4-1 USA ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2024, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2024-summer-olympics-thread/1004019/247 "2024-07-29T00:51:38Z")
> [@borschevsky](#): > > As much as I enjoy watching the Canadian women’s team play, I’m coming around to the idea that they should’ve just been taken out of the tournament, rather than this 6-point penalty. If this is considered a large enough infraction, then just kick them out. This just screws up the tournament. It’s totally different than points deductions in leagues. Might have caused scheduling problems to cancel Canada’s games. You’d have a lot of unhappy ticket holders. And the teams Canada was supposed to play would be getting a rest day while other teams were playing. In a tightly scheduled tournament like this, that could give those teams an advantage in later games. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2024, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2024-summer-olympics-thread/1004019/248 "2024-07-29T00:57:48Z")
Can someone please send Michael Phelps a memo? The man-bun is so over. So, so over. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2024, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2024-summer-olympics-thread/1004019/249 "2024-07-29T01:00:05Z")
I’m watching the equestrian cross-country, which is being held on the grounds of Versailles. I can’t decide if that’s the most elitist thing ever, or actually pretty cool. ---
**Author:** ![DKW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dkw/32/3118_2.png) [@DKW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DKW)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2024, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2024-summer-olympics-thread/1004019/250 "2024-07-29T01:05:02Z")
Don’t have Peacock, and given how fragmented NBC & CNBC’s programming is, plus the sheer number of events, I’m only ever going to see snippets at a time (yeah, I miss the days where I could watch a whole event front to back on free TV). So for now, brief notes on what I’ve seen, and I’ll most likely move on to specific stories when I get to them. Air rifle: I’ve only seen a few minutes, but this is already mounting a _serious_ challenge to racewalking for “most unwatchable Olympic sport”. Basically nothing happens for a really long time, then you see a little dot on a graphic, rinse and repeat. At least archery lets you see the arrow leave the bow and enter the target. Handball: I appreciate sports where 1. smart, creative, active offensive play puts points on the board and 2. defense has to earn its keep. I hate soccer because the most electrifying offense can take on the shakiest defense and win 1-0 (and occasionally _lose_ 1-0). I’m not a fan of the NBA either because defense has become so artificially neutered that any bottom feeder can put up 100 points. Handball is fast paced with plenty of ball movement, a variety of shots, and teamwork absolutely vital to success. Slack off on defense or expect the ref to do the job for you and you’re giving up a goal; fail to move the ball around or take the right shot and you won’t find the net. Scores are high but not runaway. Great sport! 👍 Skateboarding: Haven’t seen anything spectacular so far. A rail slide here, a kickflip there. I know the Olympics doesn’t get the elite of this sport, so I’m not going to set my expectations too high, but I’m hoping that _someone_ can wow me. Fencing: Ehh, still don’t dig this. Seems to be a mixture of lots of shuffling, some tentative poking, clumsily running into or even past each other, and one laaaawwwwnnnnnggggg judges’ conference after another. I get that one tiny moment of carelessness can end a point so they have to be defensive, it’s just not my idea of a good time. Beach volleyball: The women are no longer required to wear bikinis, which I think is simply fantastic. Because now when a team _does_ wear bikinis, we can dispense with all the annoying mansplaining bullcrap and accept the fact that some women actually _like_ wearing very little clothing, and it’s none of your damn business why. (And if one of them wins the gold, which looks highly probable, so much the better. 😁) Rugby: It’s a fun, fast-paced spectator sport, and, as someone who lost interest in football, provides a nice contrast. (In football it’s difficult to prevent the opponent from advancing but easy to gain possession; the opposite is true for rugby.) This is one of the few sports where the women’s game isn’t noticably inferior to the men’s, and it shows how field sense, quick reactions, and team coordination matter more than brute strength. Once the initial blowouts are done with, should be a must-watch! Anyone notice that NBC is _really_ pushing the women’s sports? I guess they learned that appealing to women via lots of super boring stories wasn’t working and have switched to what they should’ve done in the first place. Approve. 🙂 Beckdawrek - I saw three colorfully-dressed young people read (presumably) romantic literature, get all playful and giggly, and run into a room before one of them closed the door on us, remaining fully clothed from start to finish. I’m sticking with “cute”. PatrickLondon - Oh, cool, thanks. 🙂 silenus - “Children’s drag performance?” _What_ children’s drag performance? Wait, were they talking about the pole acrobats? For crying out loud, those are period costumes, who **gives** a rip?? What next, whining about choirboy robes? Friggin’ dungheap of a website… Dinsdale - I hear ya. It’s been a long time since I could watch a network show live. _So_ much dead air, and I can attest to 5-minute commercial breaks not being an exaggeration. “DVR is your friend!” (Are we still saying that? Because it’s true.) RickJay - I’m pretty sure the main obstacle to parkour is liability, both the potential for serious injury and damage to property. But yeah, it could work. I actually think it would be a perfect demonstration sport, but the IOC got rid of those a long time ago. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2024, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2024-summer-olympics-thread/1004019/251 "2024-07-29T01:05:55Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > USA up at the half vs Serbia in men’s basketball… but it’s a good game. The days of the dream team and constant blowouts are long in the past. You appear to be more right than me. Look at this stat: 31 minutes of having Jokic on the court: USA 81 Serbia 81 9 minutes when Jokic was sitting down: USA 29 Serbia 3 ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2024, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2024-summer-olympics-thread/1004019/252 "2024-07-29T01:17:04Z")
If the US men’s team continues to shoot 62% from the field, and 52% 3-pointers, they will waltz through the tournament. But this probably won’t happen. LeBron James was 9-13 (1-3 3 ptr), and Kevin Durant came off the bench to shoot 8-9 (5-5 3 ptr). Doubtful that those two, or anybody else, will shoot like that again. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2024, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2024-summer-olympics-thread/1004019/253 "2024-07-29T01:17:32Z")
> [@DKW](#): > > Air rifle: I’ve only seen a few minutes, but this is already mounting a _serious_ challenge to racewalking for “most unwatchable Olympic sport”. Basically nothing happens for a really long time, then you see a little dot on a graphic, rinse and repeat. At least archery lets you see the arrow leave the bow and enter the target. With the exception of biathlon, _all_ rifle/pistol events are _less_ exciting than watching paint dry or watching grass grow. They’re not spectator sports, and whoever thought they might be, should give their head a shake. I was a competitive shooter (never made the Olympics, but I came close), and believe me, rifle/pistol is just plain boring if you’re not competing. They’re great when you’re on the line shooting, but they’re dull as anything when you’re not. I sat around a lot of ranges being bored, until I figured out that once my scores were in, I could leave and go play tourist in the city where I was competing. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2024, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2024-summer-olympics-thread/1004019/254 "2024-07-29T01:28:08Z")
Thank you. And lose the Silver shoes, too. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2024, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2024-summer-olympics-thread/1004019/255 "2024-07-29T01:52:13Z")
If that is your take. “Cute” is fine. The “childrens drag queens”, someone, other than me noticed was supposed to mean the parody of the Last Supper or whatever that was. It was shown, kinda briefly, in snippets, during the fashion cat walk. Supposedly there’s a child in there. I can see a small person. I can’t tell if it’s a child by the pictures I’ve found. To me, (IMO) the library threesome was much more prominently shown. And while well done. I found it cringey. Not asking anyone else to think this. My take only. ---
**Author:** ![borschevsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/97f17d/32.png) [@borschevsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/borschevsky)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2024, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2024-summer-olympics-thread/1004019/256 "2024-07-29T01:58:50Z")
Yeah, there are really no great solutions to punish the Canadian team here. Kicking them out messes up the tournament too, particularly because they’re using the “best third place” rule in the group stage. It’s kind of a mess any way you go. As it stands, Canada may very well get out of the group, and then the penalty doesn’t amount to much. They’d probably go through as the 2nd place team, so I guess that gives them a tougher QF match. But that just means their opponent is drawing a 2nd place team that’s playing like a 1st place team. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2024, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2024-summer-olympics-thread/1004019/257 "2024-07-29T02:10:44Z")
Goddam that women’s 100M butterfly was electric. Torri Huske overtook her own teammate and world record holder Gretchen Walsh in the last 10 or so meters and took gold by .04 seconds. After she missed making the podium in Tokyo by .01 seconds. She looked genuinely shocked and overwhelmed. For all the bullshit, it’s moments like that that make the Olympics still some of the most compelling viewing on the planet. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2024, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2024-summer-olympics-thread/1004019/258 "2024-07-29T02:17:39Z")
Get this. Apparently, Olympic tennis has a really bad tennis alternate situation. If a singles player can not play, they allow you to…take one of your doubles guys/girls and they can replace them. You can’t bring a backup player even. This happened to Australia. They had to have one of their doubles guys, who is not strong in singles at all, play. Who did he play? Just Novak Djokovic. Novak won: 6-0 6-1 When the Australian guy got his 1 game in the second set, the changed sides and the Australian guy patted Novak on the back and said, “Thanks for that!” and they laughed. Hey, he didn’t get double-bageled. Andy Roddick is tweeting about it. They need to allow backup players to go or have some kind of system in place to replace people better than, “Hey, you played doubles! Get in the singles tournament now!” ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2024, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2024-summer-olympics-thread/1004019/259 "2024-07-29T02:18:43Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > women’s 100M butterfly Men’s 100M butterfly was the same. It was so tight between the top 3 that nobody had any idea who won until it was shown on the scoreboard. Martinenghi from Italy finished at 59.03 seconds, and Peaty from Great Britain and Fink from USA both finished at 59.05. Peaty won the last two gold medals in this event. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2024, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2024-summer-olympics-thread/1004019/260 "2024-07-29T02:19:02Z")
> [@DKW](#): > > Handball: I appreciate sports where 1. smart, creative, active offensive play puts points on the board and 2. defense has to earn its keep. I hate soccer because the most electrifying offense can take on the shakiest defense and win 1-0 (and occasionally _lose_ 1-0). I’m not a fan of the NBA either because defense has become so artificially neutered that any bottom feeder can put up 100 points. Handball is fast paced with plenty of ball movement, a variety of shots, and teamwork absolutely vital to success. Slack off on defense or expect the ref to do the job for you and you’re giving up a goal; fail to move the ball around or take the right shot and you won’t find the net. Scores are high but not runaway. Great sport! 👍 Handball is _very, very_ fun to watch. Men’s basketball: Damn it Steve Kerr, your team is up by 20, put Tyrese Haliburton in the game! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2024-summer-olympics-thread/1004019.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2024-summer-olympics-thread/1004019.md?page=14)