Usain Bolt, 9.69. Playing to the crowd in the last ten metres. Holy shit.
[ETA] Isn’t that exactly what Michael Johnson predicted on the BBC?
That was unbelievable!
Ah, shucks, I was hoping it involved elbowing, tripping and dropping little spikes on the ground behind you.
That was unfuckingbelievable! I wonder why he chose to coast in the end. He probably would have smashed 9.6 even.
Wait a second. The guy who’s gonna be the fastest man in the world is named Bolt?
What’s next, Jeffery Archer taking up the bow & arrow? David Paddle becomes the next kayaking champion? Tim Duncan becomes a renowned basketball player? Oh wait…
Michael Johnson, who is wonderfully curmudgeonly (don’t get him started on whether Phelps is the Greatest Olympian[sup]TM[/sup]), I think slipped in a little zinger about how to do so would not maximise the earning potential of breaking the 100m record. Break it in little steps, and earn $$$ every time.
As good as he is, surely he hasn’t got that much control over his finishing speed? Then again, watching that 100m final, I shouldn’t be so surprised. He looks as if though he could do a sub 9.5 time easily.
[QUOTE=DSYoungEsq]
Leonardo’s elbow against Tab Ramos crushed his skull, which was a main factor in shortening his career and also made it dangerous for Ramos to even consider heading the ball in future games. Orozco’s elbow wouldn’t have been enough to get a three count in the intercontinental title match in the WWE.
Then Law XII needs to change. Dangerous play should be outlawed and punished severely, regardless of when in the game it takes place. But the punishment should fit the crime. And there is a difference between an elbow that is meant for damage and one that couldn’t hurt a fly. Regardless of what Law XII says, there really is a difference. It shouldn’t be up to one person who has five hundred different things to see at once to make the solitary decision that will change the game instantly. And the only damage that could have happened to that Nigerian was landing awkwardly after his flop. I refuse to put his “injuries” in the same class as those of Tab Ramos. Why should the punishment be the same?
Should he have been red carded according to the rules? Yeah, okay. Are the rules correct? No way.
A red card in soccer has no equivalent in any other sport. If a pitcher gets thrown out because the umpire “believes” he was throwing at the batter’s head, that pitcher is replaced by another. If a basketball player gets a second technical, he’s replaced. If there was some intermediary punishment for a weakly thrown elbow, I’d accept it a little more. But in the world of soccer, there are only two punishments, with increasing color significance. In the land of FIFA, regardless of whether your crime is first degree murder or stealing someone’s ashtray, you either get life or death.
There should be more than just yellow and red. Less severe fouls should get a less severe “penalty.” Twenty minutes expulsion for example. Orozco’s foul could have earned such a thing.
ETA: Actually, Leonardo’s punishment was more severe than Orozco’s since he received a mult-game ban. But in the course of one game, I would argue that it had the same effect.
This might be one of the silliest statements ever made about track and field. The 200m is nothing like the 800m which is nothing like the 5000m which is nothing like a marathon; this is why noone has ever mastered all four distances. Similarly, 100m speed does not necessarily translate into greatness in the 110m hurdles; hurdling is a separate skill set, not “padding”.
Unfortunately, to get to that screen you have to wade through a forest of all sorts of dangers. For example, I wanted to watch the USA-Spain basketball game. And what is the very first image that greets me on the nbcolympics.com page? A picture of an American basketball with his arms raised in triumph over the words USA ROUTS SPAIN. :mad: Now granted, the game was probably over by the end of the first quarter, but still.
i have only seen 1 game of men’s indoor volleyball, and am in the midst of watching a game of women’s indoor volleyball, both involving the usa teams.
this thing with the hugging huddle after each play must stop!!! must stop NOW!!! when did this thing start?
geez, louise, what happened to a “nice play” nod? or a “way to go” thumbs up? huddle hugging??!! seriously, i can’t watch anymore. and i really enjoy watching volleyball.
My thoughts exactly. But in his post-race interview he said he didn’t care about the world record; it didn’t matter to him. All that mattered was that he won Olympic gold.
But check this video out. This is crazy. He actually predicted a 9.69. Kinda, not really, but it is freaky:
Look at around the 2.30min mark. He actually says “I think I can run 9.69”. And again at the end of the video. Note that this video was uploaded about 2 days before the finals. It’s part of a documentary they’re making on Bolt’s Olympic experience.
Ah, the hugging. Fortunately, swimming is over, so I had time to intensively investigate this phenomena. I have discovered several things.
First, Olympic athletes are freakishly pretty. Sheesh.
Second, yes: it started with beach volleyball
And, although it continues there , the hugging has spread far and wide.
Um, I don’t know what sport this is. Something mintony?
Tennis (get a room, boys!)
Swimming, and swimming, and – yikes! – swimming, again (geeze, look at how much those LZR suits bite into the skin. ouch.)
And, based on wrestling, I predict that this will be superceeding the congratulatory hug-and-grope, very soon.
(I’d like to thank all the very enjoyable websites that made this post possible, and I’ll be in my bunk.)
Apparently the powers-that-be decided to have the final race in the Skiff-49er class (a small-but-seriously-fast sailboat with a 2-man crew) in rather heavy weather.
Going into the final, Denmark was 11 points up and gold favorite, only needing to place 8th or better, so all was good - until their mast snapped minutes before start. Limping ashore with a boat beyond repair, their trainer apparently told them to just find a boat and get out there again. The Croatian team hadn’t qualified for the final race, and in a fine display of sportsmanship, they let the Danes borrow their boat. Score one for the Olympic ideal. So out the Danes go, in a hastily-rigged and unfamiliar skiff.
The start goes, and in a chaotic race with at least (by my count) 8 boats capsizing at one time or another, 3 of them badly enough that they leave the competition, with no less than 4 teams being in a position to take the gold at one time or another - the Danes manage to get their skiff through and finish 7th, partly due to the field being reduced (and after recovering from capsizing once, incidentally). Gold!
Not so fast. Turns out the rulebook doesn’t cover racing in a borrowed boat… So a protest (well, several) is filed, and the committee decides to sleep on it(!).
Long story short, the committee decides that it’s not really important whose boat it is, as long as it’s legal to race under the guidelines, and the Danes will be on top of the podium today. With a damn fine story to tell, as well…
Report of the race here
- and decision here
Who would have thunk it?
Great Britain in 3rd place in the medals table.
:dubious: I can think of one.
Hint: See user name for clue.
Not being a rugby fan I thought a red card in rugger just meant 15 minutes in the sin-bin
Spiney Norman, did they show any action replays? Didn’t think so.
the action replay would have been the croatian boat take over. arrrrrghhh matey! that’s a mighty fine boat you got there…
denmark did very well in rowing. mighty fine rowers, yes, indeed. and thankfully no hugging!!
lightray, they show the may-walsh ultimate hug at least once if not 10 times during each of their matches so far. they don’t, em, hug like that after each point. just after gold medal wins.
That post may have been just a bit tongue in cheek. As it were.
But the gymnasts seem to do the same thing: routine, hug teammate, hug coach, hug coach, hug other teammate, etc.