Okay, okay, how about instead of “while smoking” we say “while holding a beer”.
[John Copley](http:// John Copley (artist) - Wikipedia)
Britain’s John Copley, winner of a silver medal in the 1948 engravings and etchings competition, was 73 years of age, making him the oldest Olympic medallist in history.
I think tug-of-war should be brought back.
The only reason I approve of basketball is the hope the US team will be defeated by an amazing upset.
Reading that article, it looked like shooting at live deer was an Olympic event. But apparently not – just live pigeons.
You can’t do away with subjectively judged events without tossing the whole Olympics. Getting rid of them would mean dumping basketball, fencing, water polo, judo, and just about everything else.
Now getting rid of the equestrian events makes sense. It’s the horse doing all the work.
I used to like watching Water Polo but there are just too many whistles. The refs seem to be constantly calling out players who are supposedly fouling other players. I say, “let’em play” (short of drownings).
Speaking of drowning, my Hungarian friend told me that during the 1956 Water Polo match between the Soviets and Hungary, at one point the refs had to jump into the pool to break up a fight. Apparently two Soviets were attempting to drown one of the star players from Hungary,
That’s a pretty famous match–the Blood in the Water match after the Soviets brutally put down the Hungarian revolt.
And just think of how many whistles there would be if we gave a ref access to an underwater camera.
I agree completely.
People will point out that ice skaters are better athletes than curlers. That is absolutely true. Some superb curlers are in lousy shape and most are not in top shape. Skating is supremely athletic. But the results are known beforehand and the whole thing is a fake. Then you synchronized swimming and the like. I once heard an olympic synchronized swimmer explain that getting your smile is the most important thing. I now call it synchronized smiling.
Track and field are true sports, but the influx of drugs has made them less interesting. And I am less than fully engaged by sports whose outcome can be grossly affected by the referees. Basketball, anyone? Soccer? Baseball?
You see a referee even appear in maybe one curling match in ten and I have never seen a decision that the players (on both sides) didn’t agree on. There are occasional measurements but the measuring instrument is accurate to about .1 mm and is purely objective (twice I have seen, “unable to decide”, usually after three or four tries, but the rule in such cases is clear. You have to beat the other stone to score.
You have no soul. Curling is really interesting and there is a lot going on. And, above all, not judged, but a true compeition.
Up here in the frozen north, we get to see about 100 games a year and even more during the Olympic years. The finest curling of all are the playdowns to choose the Olympic team. Now weak teams in that event, since they had to win an important event to qualify.
Well said. As far as I’m aware, curling has managed to distance itself from the sorts of scandals that are so commonplace in other sports these days.
Drambuie is not a performance enhancer, is it?
For the spectators, it is.
d&r
When it comes to a. water sports or b. horse events, you do not wanna mess with the Magyars. I’d think in a sport combining water and horse events they would be damn near invincible.
If it involves officials, it’s subjective.
Football - I love it, but no one really cares about the result (except Brazil who’s never won it)
Tennis - It’s like a fake major
Basketball
A couple of the swimming events, especially anything 50m.
Horse events don’t fell very “olympicy” too me. They are real sports, though.
Equestrian - ok, maybe; but Muffy and Chip need something to do with their time.
Beach Volleyball - actually I am ok with BVB, but any “sport” that has a DJ as part of the event needs to dial that crap back for the Olympics. Too much woo-woo for me.
But my nominee is this POS that I saw the other night in late night…cyclists following a motorcycle and rules that say that they cannot go faster than the motorcycle is NOT sport, this is just made up crap to get people to wager.
Keirin
Wiki article: Keirin - Wikipedia
Agree that the Keirin really has no place at the Olympics, given the pressure being applied to track cycling events. The 4K pursuit was cut for London which is akin to ditching the 1500 m from the track schedule, unbelievable. The kilo went at Beijing, so that’s two absolutely classic cycling events replaced with silly bollox like the omnium and the Keirin.
I realized something today: I don’t give a crap who wins. I don’t give a crap about the scores. And although I appreciate the enjoyment these athletes are giving me, I don’t give a crap about their life stories, their struggles, their triumphs. I want to see people do entertaining flips is all.
So the subjectivity thing does nothing for me. Once I have my fill of people tumbling around, I can wander away from the games, with absolutely no sense of tension. Worry about whether judging is subjective? It wouldn’t even occur to me.
It sounds like this is totally different from how other folks watch the Olympics, though.
But the NBA is not a competition of national teams. Basketball is still too American, but eventually it should be more like ice hockey. The Stanley Cup is great, but the Olympic tournament offers a lot that the NHL can’t (and vice-versa). Look up the New York Times article that compares them. Basketball isn’t quite there, but it is moving that way.
Conversely, Olympic association football just has nothing on the World Cup.
Is there a sport without officials?
I’m pretty much the same way. I don’t really get off on the whole “peak human performance” thing. If you think hard enough, every competition is going to have aspects that are arbitrary. Even in a sprint, you may run slightly differently depending on who you are running next to. Nothing is “pure”, so it might as well be entertaining.