Yeah well, good luck with that.
How selfish of the USA to hog all those medals and not share with the other countries.
This is a very selfish post. Maybe the athletes wanted a security incident. And you are gloating that they didn’t get one. Just think about how bad they must feel right now.
Parting thoughts, no particular order:
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Good gravy, if I NEVER hear another yoo-ess-ay chant again, it’ll be several YEARS too soon. And why doesn’t anyone ever yell “I know where I’m from!” or “Bee-eff-dee!” or “Not okay!”… something, for crying out loud??
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Look, I find NBC’s fanatical jingoism as nauseating as anyone, but this is the 21st century; there are alternatives if you bother to look. It helped a lot that NBC has two other, somewhat less nationalistic channels on my cable provider, and I’m sure I could’ve dug up a very good app if I cared enough.
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The two things I liked the most about the opening ceremony (and they did a phenomenal job on a limited budget!) were 1. the celebration of diversity and 2. concern about the environment and the future of the planet. These bode well for Brazil’s future. Definitely still some serious problems, but now I think that they can solve them. Far more optimism than I’ll ever have for China, that’s for sure!
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We really need some kind of power rating system for judging the relative merit of the medals. I don’t care if it’s “unofficial”. I think 3-2-1 would work the best, but if you want to “put priority on winning” and make it 5-3-1 or 10-4-1, I have no beef. I mean, America pretty much owns the show now, so it’s going to be mostly for fun anyway, so why not put something out there?
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My opinion of women’s beach volleyball: I like it, there’s nothing at all wrong with the clothing, and strong, beautiful women who are comfortable with their bodies is a good thing. As far as I’m concerned, if you don’t like it, don’t watch. These athletes went in with their eyes open, and as long as they’re not grumbling about all the skin they have to show, I don’t think any of us should. In fact, that’s the most irritating aspect of all the arglebargle, how no one seems interested in what the PLAYERS think, whether THEY’RE upset by the sexist objectifying blah blah blah, and it really drives home how completely dishonest the outcry is. If you’re truly interested in fighting sexism, stick up for women who have to deal with exploitation and objectification and don’t have any choice in the matter. I mean, yeah, I can see how butt shots might get played out (what, the front not good enough for you no more?), but it’s not anything I can be bothered to work up any kind of stink about. (And for the umpty-jillionth time, why not one word about men’s diving?)
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Man, how did American gymnastics become this powerhouse? I remember, not very long ago, when our gymnasts were complete, absolute also-rans. They couldn’t match up to the western European powers, much less the almighty invincible impenetrable all-conquering all-destroying Soviet bloc. Ever. For DECADES. Yeah, the reds threw us one in '84, and yeah, we pulled off a Rocky in ‘96, but then Romania rediscovered its mojo and it was back to the sidelines. And now our men are legitimate contenders and our women are a flippin’ juggernaut. How? Why? Is this karma for losing our hold on the America’s Cup? Can’t think of any other explanation.
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It’s nice to see things like field hockey, handball, and water polo that normally don’t get any airtime, but it’s the variety of the Olympics that makes them watchable. I don’t think I could ever watch a full season of dressage or fencing, much less field hockey.
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Speaking of fencing, is it just me, or does epee not get the time of day? At least 95% of the time it’s foil, and they throw in a sabre highlight here and there, but I can’t remember one second of epee. Is it just too anarchic or whatever?
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I’m sorry…I tried, and I just do not get taekwondo. It looks like some goofy kung-fu game a couple of bored 10-year-olds came up with. I actually think judo is a better spectator sport. Sure it’s convoluted, but at least a perfectly-executed throw or a crushing pin looks nice.
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What do I think of Brazil beating Germany in the men’s gold medal soccer match? Eh…if it prevented suicides, yay, I guess, but if you honestly think this “erases” or “makes up for” their 7-1 drubbing in the World Cup, you don’t know much about the World Cup or Brazilians. I guarantee you that nobody in Germany with any sense is throwing a fit over the loss. And again, it was decided on penalty kicks. Other than a coin toss, is there anything more mindlessly fluky in sports? They loved the beautiful game before and they’ll love it after; a bit of 2nd-tier gold doesn’t make a difference.
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Remind me, what’s the damn point of Olympic golf again? And was anyone aware that there was an official PGA event both weeks of the Olympics? Y’know, with prize money and raking points and FedEx Cup points and all that?
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There is no way to criticize Usain Bolt without looking like a pathetic sour grapes sore loser snivelling whining crybaby. I’m sorry, it’s hopeless.
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The best part of Russia’s track and field squad being banned was that I didn’t have to spend one second listening to Vladimir Putin. I’m not the biggest fan of Jim Nantz, but ANYTHING is better than that bloviating egomaniac.
All in all, it was kinda fun! Glad I got to see it! (I know, wild, huh? 
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There’s still that limited budget problem, though. The economic interests that have stripped the rain forest haven’t gone away and aren’t about to. But you’re right that there’s reason for optimism.
Would there be a prize for the winning country? If it’s about the spirit of competition itself, there’s no need for that.
When asked, they’ll often reply that they *like *not being restricted any more than necessary.
Bela and Marta Karolyi moved from Romania to the US. That’s pretty much it.
I prefer 4-2-1 – because the “2-1” part basically says earning two bronze medals is roughly as good as earning one silver medal, so I figure the logical next step is to say that earning two silver medals is roughly as good as earning one gold medal.
Going 3-2-1 is effectively saying that getting two silvers is better than winning gold, and I don’t think that sounds right.
Team USA took home silver and bronze in foil.
Team USA took home silver and bronze in saber.
Bunch of folks from other countries did something called ‘epee’.
I can’t claim credit for this one: deciding a soccer match on penalty kicks would be like having Game 7 of the World Series tied after 9 innings, so they play Home Run Derby to decide it.
No it wouldn’t. Soccer is an infinitely harder sport physically than baseball. Playing longer than 120 minutes puts the health of the players at risk…especially in hot and humid conditions. PKs are the sane compromise.
I don’t buy this argument. Don’t teams have enough players to substitute in and out? Baseball teams are not allowed to use a player after he’s been pulled from the game, and they have to get creative with substitutions and pitching when games go to extra innings. In soccer, can’t players be put back into the game after a rest?
No, once a player is pulled from the game, they’re done. And they’re only allowed a limited number of substitutions anyway (3?).
NBC showed an excellent documentary one of the days during the Olympics: http://www.nbcolympics.com/news/watch-full-karolyi-documentary-martha-and-bela-karolyi
They completely transformed gymnastic training in the US. They built a training facility outside Houston and the top gymnasts and their coaches go there once a month for common training. This allows an exchange of training strategies and creates a more unified team. Although Bela is the front man we all know, most of the credit goes to Marta. She is one setting the standard for the training.
You can stream the documentary from NBC. If you’re at all interested in gymnastics, it’s well worth watching.
OK, thanks. I didn’t know that. But, like baseball, substitutions would become part of the strategy in overtime. And both teams have the same situation.
I really don’t care how soccer handles overtime, but penalty kicks seem to be so different from the normal game. In addition to the home run derby analogy, another analogy would be like having an overtime football game decided by the placekickers kicking field goals from 40 yards to decide the outcome.
Again, I have to admit I don’t know or care enough about soccer to really care how they decide the winner. So, perhaps I should bow out of this conversation.
And these rules are the most important, immutable elements of the game.
Which isn’t far from how NFL OT games used to end up … you win the toss, move into FG range, kick, game over. (Although I believe they’ve changed the rules recently).
[gratuitous cheap shot]Hey, if soccer players get tired they can always fake an injury and flop.[/gcs]
Yeah, the NFL has changed the rules to allow both teams equal chances at scoring - not sudden death anymore. Of course, they made it more complicated than it has to be. I think the college football overtime rules are the best.
Until the 2012 Games, I don’t think I ever saw any fencing coverage. And I did see some epee this time. I always figure it’s more a matter of scheduling than anything else; maybe you just weren’t watching as much on the day(s) of the epee competition. I caught a bit of coverage of the modern pentathlon, and I think the fencing component of that is done with epee.
I was trying to see a little bit of every event, or at least every category. Did pretty well. I didn’t see any of the target shooting, or flatwater canoe or kayak, but I think I saw everything else.
If the Games got rid of the BMX bicycling I wouldn’t mind. And all of the wrestling/martial-arts that I saw was pretty dull; seems like it’s such a risk to attack that everybody plays defense, and it was always one brief bit of action that would decide the match.
Definitively no. They have a limited number of substitutions they can make - just 3 per game - and no player can return to the field. So most players will be on the pitch for the entire game. After a full game plus 30 minutes of extra time, many players end up lying on the pitch being treated for cramp.
Yeah, the question has already been answered. I am positive that when I’ve watched high school soccer, players are substituted in and out. One of my sons played, and he and others would go in and out of the game. I assumed it was the same in higher levels, but I have been corrected.
In Olympics fallout news, Hope Solo has had her contract terminated and been given a six-month ban for her post-game comments after the US loss to Sweden.
Well, okay after the loss but more accurately after her outrageous comment:
Good riddance.
I said that she was suspended “for her post-game comments after the US loss to Sweden.” I assumed, given that we have discussed it in this thread and that it made all the news headlines, that people already knew what those comments were.