15 replies to this topic

[Ironhand]

I would just like to solicit some commentary on the Olympics.

I saw an Irish kid in Men's Gymnastics, looked to be about 17. He was operated on for a leg tumor when he was 10, later had numerous broken bones and torn ligaments. Neurological damage. Was told by doctors twice (at two different times) that he would never walk again.

I watched him go through the routines, He didn't win any medals, but he had his victory.

Women's Weight Lifting: those little girls looked so grim.

[Fierro]

I always find ther Olympics inspiring, because it spotlights people who toil in the shadows of the "bigtime" sports to pursue a passion. Enjoyed wathcing the nailbiting gold medal archery match between Italy and the U.S., which Itlay won by a single point (that's after the U.S. team knocked out the South Koreans). Have a rooting interest in the decathalon: a friend of mine from here in my town was Ashton Eaton's HS coach. A bunch of folks helped him get to London to root Ashton on.

[Officer Aggro]

I was watching that Irish kid too. To overcome such odds is very impressive! I was hoping he'd score a medal, but just to perform in the Olympics is a victory in itself.

As for swimming, Michael Phelps isn't as hot as he was 4 years ago (I was surprised he didn't even medal in his first event), and it seems Brian Lochte is the one to beat now.

[Kortoso]

Enjoyed that archery match too, even though there was so little motion.
A side note: Apparently the news crew placed a set of microphones on the field in order to catch the various sounds of the bows and arrows.

[Officer Aggro]

Was watching the women's gymnastics last night, as that's always one of my favorites (my sister competed in highschool and college, so it's always been big in our family). The U.S. has some great talent this year, and I hope they can perform as well as the '08 team did.

[Officer Aggro]

Golden again, U.S. women's gymnastics wins first Olympic team title since '96:


http://www.nbcolympi...e-since-96.html

Most excellent! Can't wait to watch it later.

Also, Michael Phelps just won another Gold, making him the most decorated Olympian of all time.

[Konorg]

well I was watching it til I noted a ew things I think it wa swmens soccer USA versus Columbia,where columbian woman smacked an american lady from the USA in the head hard enough to black her eye...nothing was done about it!

In womens Judo a losing bit the womening opponet during the match..nothing was done it



as to the British TKD team a guy was dopped fom the team thatwas ranked #1all around in the world,and replaced by a person that one TKD group ranks 59th n the world as in ranked in the olympics as 101st in the world.
This OLYMPIC GAMES has pc writen all over it!

[Kortoso]

We were watching the qualifying heats for one of the women's track & field events, I think it was the 100 yard dash. What's neat about that is that many tiny countries will manage to send a handful of athletes. We don't normally see them unless we tune into these early stages of competition.
So here's a bunch of women from tiny, back-water countries, getting ready for the dash. My gal says: "Is that a man?"
We are treated to the sight of a dark woman with the letters "PNG" with her name. Not only was she from Papua New Guinea but she was frighteningly ripped!

This is not a great picture of her, but you can see what kind of shape she's in.

[Ironhand]

I saw a woman athlete (I will not say who) who reminded me of Michaelangelo's statue of David.

[MoeTheBarman]

as to the British TKD team a guy was dopped fom the team thatwas ranked #1all around in the world,and replaced by a person that one TKD group ranks 59th n the world as in ranked in the olympics as 101st in the world.
This OLYMPIC GAMES has pc writen all over it!

This is about spite. The world number one rejected the British TKD because the training wasn't good enough and went outside to progress and become number one. Because of this the TKD refused to consider him, harming their chances of a medal. Oh, and the guy brought in to replace him is related to one of the British TKD board. There's a lot of nepotism in minor sports in the UK.

[Konorg]

as to the British TKD team a guy was dopped fom the team thatwas ranked #1all around in the world,and replaced by a person that one TKD group ranks 59th n the world as in ranked in the olympics as 101st in the world.
This OLYMPIC GAMES has pc writen all over it!

This is about spite. The world number one rejected the British TKD because the training wasn't good enough and went outside to progress and become number one. Because of this the TKD refused to consider him, harming their chances of a medal. Oh, and the guy brought in to replace him is related to one of the British TKD board. There's a lot of nepotism in minor sports in the UK.

Yep and i have a feeling the way things are going the quality of the Olympics is going to get worse as time goes by!

[Konorg]

We were watching the qualifying heats for one of the women's track & field events, I think it was the 100 yard dash. What's neat about that is that many tiny countries will manage to send a handful of athletes. We don't normally see them unless we tune into these early stages of competition.
So here's a bunch of women from tiny, back-water countries, getting ready for the dash. My gal says: "Is that a man?"
We are treated to the sight of a dark woman with the letters "PNG" with her name. Not only was she from Papua New Guinea but she was frighteningly ripped!

This is not a great picture of her, but you can see what kind of shape she's in.

yep seem rather manish!

[guilalah]

I like entertaining the notion that Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser have reincarnated as Misty May-Treanor and Kerry Walsh Jennings.

Tangentially, this notion made me realize that REH, when he writes 'past lives' flash-backs, seems to preserve the characters gender; perhaps he regarded that as essential to their soul?


I think that, for the most part, REH would have been glad to see women competing athletically, taking their disciplines very seriously and showing a lot of composure and grit in performance. Does anyone know whether Howard comented upon the feminine athletics of his time?

[Ironhand]

I've seen some amazing six-packs on some of these women.

I watched some of the wrestling. Some amazing physiques! But I :got frustrated watching it, because it's just a lot of rules lawyering. A five minute wrestling match would be followed by 15 minutes of legalistic technical argumentation over who got how many points for whatever.

[Officer Aggro]

Just finished watching the Men's Basketball game for the gold - U.S. vs Spain. It was pretty damn tight for awhile there, and Spain actually pulled ahead at one point, but the U.S won 107 to 100.

[Kortoso]

Now, don't take this the wrong way, but I enjoyed women's rhythmic gymnastics. Beside the legions of shapely ladies from around the world, they got some mad skills. I imagined I was watching Cirque du Soleil or somesuch.