Watching the Olympics

[Behan]

I almost missed it being stuck on the Japanese coverage and re-runs of wrestling, Kitajima and the careful coverage given to all the tears of the Japanese goal and bronze medal winners. There are other sports going on in the Olympics, but they don't seem to notice or care.

As happens every four years here, the screams of "Gold, Gold, Gold" are starting to get to me, somebody should mention that in this great medal splurge, the Japan team now has won as many golds as Phelps....

It's really frustrating watching the Olympics on Japanese TV. I am sure it's the same all over the world, focusing on your own athletes, but I wish they would at least show highlights from other sports. I wonder if even half the sports make it on TV at all.

My wife told me to hope that Japanese teams wouldn't get knocked out as that would be the end of coverage.

[Charles]

Well, at this point, he's only competing against himself.

And he lost.

[GuyJean]

It's really frustrating watching the Olympics on Japanese TV....

Softball and Ping Pong, please be gone.. Nah, the Japanese pitcher is getting hotter by the glass.



GJ

[GuyJean]

[Gilligan]

I finally saw the official (tape delayed) coverage in the US. I have one reaction:

Fucking showboat! If you're not going to give your best effort, don't come to the Olympics. After Bolt's record is broken and long forgotten, people will still remember that he didn't give his best performance, he was more interested in showboating.

Wow, I'm sure that Bolt would be very embarassed if he knew that he'd offended someone known to have such a sensitive nature.

I can only assume that you really don't know much about the 100 meter dash, Charles. In a race that is normally decided by hundredths of seconds, and where even the most minor of errors can cause a runner to lose a race, these guys are as high-strung as they come. As noted in this piece about Tyson Gay's struggles, confidence is key in the 100.

Gay admitted on Saturday night that the three-week training hiatus to heal his left leg damaged his confidence.

"I've been battling that a lot," he said. "Man, I just ran 9.7, 9.6, 9.8, I'm in the best shape of my life. Then I come back [after the injury] and I'm running 10.3s in workouts."

What makes these guys as good as they are is that cockiness. Think back to the great 100-meter guys in recent memory--Asafa Powell, Tyson Gay, Justin Gatlin, Donovan Bailey, Maurice Green, Carl Lewis--they're all a bunch of cocky bastards.

Would it have been nice to see him run the whole race as hard as he could? Yeah. But he's not running the race for you and me Charles (in fact, it's kind of arrogant of you to think that he should be). And actually, it's more interesting thinking about what he might be able to do, and, personally, I'm in total awe of a guy who can run 0.05 seconds faster than any human ever has (unaided) while not running as hard as he can; he earned the right to do what he did and without the kind of personality that would have him start celebrating before he crossed the line, he'd probably never be able to run close to that fast.

What's more, that little bit of showboating probably won him a few future races, as other guys will go the starting line knowing they can't dream of being as fast as he is.

In the end, Charles, if you're offended by what's on your TV, turn it off. The winner of the 100 meter dash always has been and always will be a loud-mouthed cocky SOB. If you don't like those kinds of people, don't watch the event.

[GuyJean]

.. She's competing for the bronze against a South Korean now on channel 12 (where I am). KimChee power!!

Yes! Little cunt fought back valiantly, but in the end, her punky stares were only as intimidating as the innocent face on which they were masking.. Poor little bitch girl.

That's the first time I've pulled for Korea in any sport, I think..

EDIT: Actually, it's the Team Bronze Medal competition.. Little cunt only lost her match. Little Ai is competing now..

GJ

[samuraiwig]

Hirano seems like a delightful person I'm hoping the Koreans win the current doubles match and wrap it up 3-0.

Where the hell did this "Sa!" BS start? It's only the table tennis women who do it, right. I'd thought it was something Ai-chan was coached to do, since she's the only player we usually get to see on TV, but it turns out they all do it. On one level it's just annoying as hell, but it also comes across as really disrespectful to the opponent.

While I'm on my high horse, what's the need for volleyball players (of all nationalities) to run around in circles and high five every teammate after every fucking point, regardless of the stage of the match or the score?

And why oh why oh why was the women's marathon repeated in its entirety? Even if a Japanese had won gold that would be stupid, but their best placed runner was something like 12th...

[Greji]

Hirano seems like a delightful person I'm hoping the Koreans win the current doubles match and wrap it up 3-0.

You got your wish. The K-gals knocked their tits in the turf and sent 'em packing.

[Buraku]

LeBron James takes U.S. past Spain at Beijing Olympics
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/oly/5948515.html




Clarissa Chun of the U.S. (in red) fights Chiharu Icho of Japan during women's semi-final wrestling match

Chun, was overpowered against Merleni, a 2004 Olympic gold medalist and three-time world champion, after a 2-1, 4-1 victory over Sweden's Sofia Mattsson, a 6-1, 2-1 win over France's Vanessa Boubryemm and a 1-0, 0-3, 1-1 loss to Japan's Chiharu Icho.

[AssKissinger]

Regarding Bolt:

It may seem to some that he was showboating but it's his relaxed attitude that makes it possible. If he 'tried' his muscles would tense. That's what it's all about: making it look easy.

And Phelps... whew, wow and damn. Something we'll never forget.

[Mulboyne]

If you're not going to give your best effort, don't come to the Olympics.

It's a race and the aim is to come first. There are plenty of athletes who have held world records but who could never translate that technical dominance to winning major championships. The excitement in a race is seeing athletes taking each other on. It was far more thrilling to see Bolt destroy the rest of the field than to watch him competing against the clock.

[Charles]

Would it have been nice to see him run the whole race as hard as he could? Yeah. But he's not running the race for you and me Charles (in fact, it's kind of arrogant of you to think that he should be). And actually, it's more interesting thinking about what he might be able to do, and, personally, I'm in total awe of a guy who can run 0.05 seconds faster than any human ever has (unaided) while not running as hard as he can]

I might be prepared to accept your argument, if I hadn't discovered this photo just after I wrote those remarks:



Note that Bolt is holding up his infamous gold-sequined Puma shoes. He's waving them around as a deliberate suckup to his sponsor, he knew the victory shots would not show his feet so he took off his shoes and waved them around. That is a blatant product placement, in violation of IOC rules.
Did you know that Mark Spitz was almost stripped of a gold medal for product placement? When he was called to the medals ceremony, he was barefoot and didn't have time to put on his shoes, so he carried them with him, and set them down at his feet while he received the medal. He was cleared of the charges as it was unintentional. What Bolt did was intentional.

Now as to your actual argument, if he really wanted to destroy his future competition, it would have been better if he had run full out, his opponents would be more afraid if they had to beat an even better time. Athletes who compete on the basis of their ego are easy to beat.

I've seen Olympic track & field for many years and I've never seen any of the people you cited showboat like Bolt. This is why I don't watch much sports, I hate fucking showboats. Maybe that's why I liked the events like swimming, you can't showboat until AFTER the race.

I will cite a comment I found on another blog, this is another reason why Bolt totally fucked up. If he had just run three hundredths faster (which it appears he was capable of) he would have the undisputed title of World's Fastest Man. But he didn't.

Bolt ran a 9.69. Michael Johnson's record in the 200 meters is 19.32, which averages to 9.66 per 100 meters. So I would give the title of fastest man ever to Michael Johnson.

[Behan]

Gawd, I hate this little cunt!


http://www.jackbook.com/sexy-news/sayaka-hirano
There's something to be said about sportsmanship.. I guess Japan perfected unique bitchmanship..

She's competing for the bronze against a South Korean now on channel 12 (where I am). KimChee power!!

GJ

It was weird how she kept glaring at her opponents. I hoped she losed.

[Mulboyne]

[Greji]

Note that Bolt is holding up his infamous gold-sequined Puma shoes. He's waving them around as a deliberate suckup to his sponsor, he knew the victory shots would not show his feet so he took off his shoes and waved them around. That is a blatant product placement, in violation of IOC rules.

Charles, you're right on the Money back at Spitz's time and before. Unfortunately, those rules are long gone, or those that remain are so loosely enforced as to be non-existant. My man Bolt was just working on a pay raise. Get them sequins up in the wind for Papa Puma.

Hell, Phelps was openly offered a one million dollar bonus if he won eight. Do you think that in the interest of pure amateur sports, he will now turn that amount of dust down?

Bolt ran a 9.69. Michael Johnson's record in the 200 meters is 19.32, which averages to 9.66 per 100 meters. So I would give the title of fastest man ever to Michael Johnson.

As for your fastest man theory, I agree that Johnson was the greatest of his time for the 200 and 400 (the 220 and 440 for Iowa farmers), but when you average his time it will include what can only be considered a running start. Granted the first 100 is out of the blocks, but the second is a running start.

Although, I think Gaye had peaked to early this year. I would have like to seen him in Beijing at the top of his game. I think he is the only one who can currently present a challenge to Bolt with both of them at their best.

Like Bolt or not, he's young enough that you're going to have to live with his antics for awhile.

[kamome]

Hey Gil, did you say you were from Baltimore? Phelps is a Baltimore native, and NBC showed footage of all the Baltimore Ravens fans at Ravens stadium who stayed after the preseason game to watch Phelps win his last gold medal. 70,000 fans rocking Ravens stadium for Phelps! That's fuckin' cool.

[Western All Stars]

Men's 4x100 Medley Relay results

1 USA - United States 3:29.34 WR
PEIRSOL Aaron 0.63 25.92 53.16 (1) 53.16
HANSEN Brendan 0.26 27.47 59.27 (3) 1:52.43
PHELPS Michael 0.25 23.52 50.15 (1) 2:42.58
LEZAK Jason 0.26 22.04 46.76 (1) 3:29.34

2 AUS - Australia 3:30.04 0.70 OC
STOECKEL Hayden 0.63 26.18 53.80 (3) 53.80
RICKARD Brenton 0.04 27.39 58.56 (2) 1:52.36
LAUTERSTEIN Andrew 0.19 23.50 51.03 (3) 2:43.39
SULLIVAN Eamon 0.30 21.91 46.65 (2) 3:30.04

3 JPN - Japan 3:31.18 1.84 AS
MIYASHITA Junichi 0.63 26.10 53.87 (4) 53.87
KITAJIMA Kosuke 0.23 27.24 58.07 (1) 1:51.94
FUJII Takuro 0.25 23.97 50.89 (2) 2:42.83
SATO Hisayoshi 0.05 22.87 48.35 (3) 3:31.18

It would have been nice to see Japan or Australia win this one. Phelps is an awesome swimmer for sure, but getting 8 metals in the same sport doesn't make him "the greatest athlete ever" as ABC news called him the other day. It's not like you see 8 different discus throw events.

[DrP]

Thats what the heptathalon is for ... Phelps is definitely an animal when it comes to swimming, but I wonder how he'd fair in a Triathalon .. hmmm.

[Greji]

Thats what the heptathalon is for ... Phelps is definitely an animal when it comes to swimming, but I wonder how he'd fair in a Triathalon .. hmmm.

I bet he can't even make two lengths in my pool.....

[AssKissinger]

[Buraku]

Michael Phelps eighth gold medal !!
Best athlete of all time?

shooting a mistake by, the USA, pushed Qiu Jian to a surprise gold

3 Jamacian women win first, second and third. Second place was tied so they will award silver-silver but no bronze for the USA, huge disappointment for the American team, who were failing to win a medal in the Women's 100m for only the seventh time in their history of competing in the Olympics

Freestyle wrestling (women's 72kg) - gold for China. Junior champ Wang Jiao, who replaced the injured Wang Xu on the Chinese roster for these Games on July 25, prevails over Stanka Zlateva of Bulgaria. Her gold-medal quest included an upset of five-time world champion Kyoko Hamaguchi of Japan.

China won 32 gold in Athens this year already have 35

[Mike Oxlong]

Women's pole vault - Russia - Yelena Isinbayeva

[IkemenTommy]

[Iraira]

A gayly advocating sports site, Outsports, has pointed out that there are 10 openly gay (including L/B/G/T) athletes in the Beijing Olympics.

Don't mess with Norwegian lesbian handballers named Katja.

[Charles]

A gayly advocating sports site, Outsports, has pointed out that there are 10 openly gay (including L/B/G/T) athletes in the Beijing Olympics.

Um.. maybe LBG, but not T. You have to compete under your birth gender. They test every athlete's chromosomes to determine their true gender.

[Greji]

Um.. maybe LBG, but not T. You have to compete under your birth gender. They test every athlete's chromosomes to determine their true gender.

Charles, they only used to do that with females when the testing was introduced and even that caused a huge flap at that time. Do they do it with males as well now? If that is so, why? What would be the sports advantage for a female to pass as a male in the games? There are not many who would even come close to being competitive. I guess it might be a mini-climax to be taken as a guy in an event that big....

[Charles]

Charles, they only used to do that with females when the testing was introduced and even that caused a huge flap at that time. Do they do it with males as well now? If that is so, why? What would be the sports advantage for a female to pass as a male in the games? There are not many who would even come close to being competitive. I guess it might be a mini-climax to be taken as a guy in an event that big....

Oops, sorry about that, a little more research indicates that the routine genetic testing of all athletes was discontinued at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Those damn ozzies screw up everything.

[IkemenTommy]

Those damn ozzies screw up everything.

Oh here we go again.

[Blah Pete]

US Women dump Japan 4-2 in soccer/Futbol. The J-announcer was choking back tears after about the 82nd minute.
Japan had a midget keeper and the last two US goals were lobs that took advantage of her shortness. The last 10 minutes were a contest to see who could get the best chip goal.

[kamome]

Women's pole vault - Russia - Yelena Isinbayeva

OK, I guess I'll be the one to say it - "She can vault my pole anytime!"

I hereby issue a YBF waiver for that hottie.