Sole Signal Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 I have a hard time watching and cheering for "judged" sports in general. There's just too much frustration involved when your score is based on judges who are easily swayed. I like how the new gymnastics scoring system seems to help to curb that a bit, but it's still not perfect by any means. I also saw rhythmic gymnastics for the first time today...wow, if there's anything that should not be a sport... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abadoss Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 I've seen it before, but what surprised me the most is how long it's been a sport in the olympics... 1984! (It's a long time for a fluffy sport... fun to watch, though. Kind of like ice skating...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I-n-j-i-n Posted August 23, 2008 Share Posted August 23, 2008 I dunno about the case of the fields and tracks, but in the case of the pool, one of the reason records have been broken so much in that pool is because of it's design apparently. Basically it's a "faster" pool. It has two extra lanes and is deeper than normal pools, so waves and currents and stuff created in the pool from swimming are less of a hindrance on the swimmers, allowing them to go faster when they swim. Or at least that's what I've heard. My physics master boyfriend says it makes sense but he's not sure how much of an effect it truly had on the swimmers times. That, and the the cheat-code called the shark-skin emulating body suits. What happened to the skimpy boxers for men and even skimpier one piece for women? That was actually like what real people wear on real swimming pools. Now it's all space aged and it feels like they're cheating physics. I was wondering about the way the USA arranges the medal standings. For as long as I can remember (been really watching Olympic games since 1996, so that'd be 12 years), the medal standing has always been sorted according to number of gold medals (at least here in Europe). Now, all of a sudden (it seems), it's sorted according to total number of medals. The TV station Eurosport even had a smill bit about this, interviewing some US sports journalist who claimed that it always has been this way in the US. Is this true? Confirm? Deny? Try again?Because all this "nu-uh, we're first" you see on the internet and in the US news has left Europeans (and even Australians, apparently) pretty bewildered. I'm fairly certain the American system was medal counts first. The US has been second to many host nations before (mostly in the winter Olympics) and they were always ahead because they had the glut of the rest of the medals. I almost don't even consider American medals as simply "American" because it's like we're basically having all these medal-contenders from other nations come here or have a ton of foreign talent come together for it. Most of the runners have emigrated to the States or it usually is from of the African origin, the ping-pong team actually has a lot of former Chinese nationals and obviously the Gymnastics team (especially female) has that former Russian gold history behind it. Well, that's actually what being American means really. I have a hard time watching and cheering for "judged" sports in general. There's just too much frustration involved when your score is based on judges who are easily swayed. I like how the new gymnastics scoring system seems to help to curb that a bit, but it's still not perfect by any means. I also saw rhythmic gymnastics for the first time today...wow, if there's anything that should not be a sport... Even weirder is the synchronized swimming whether it be by two people or five people. Just strange watching people dance in water.. Also, Boxing and TaeKwonDo being awarded by clean-blows is a bit silly to me. Because glancing blows don't count, it just looks almost arbitrary in how they score it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malaki-LEGEND.sys Posted August 23, 2008 Author Share Posted August 23, 2008 Trust me, it's even more annoying when you're competing in a tournament. And Olympic Taekwondo is still easier than a regular tournament that's done by belt level range as opposed to weight class. Being 150 lbs. and 5'10 and having to fight a big dude who's at least 250 lbs. and is about 6'5? Yeah that's no fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deathtank Posted August 23, 2008 Share Posted August 23, 2008 Gold in male soccer. http://en.beijing2008.cn/news/sports/headlines/football/n214580315.shtml we are the dream team of soccer!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Coop Posted August 24, 2008 Share Posted August 24, 2008 Seems Matos, a Cuban fighter in the Taekwondo Bronze medal match, was not fond of being disqualified for apparently taking too long to get back after a one minute break to have a foot injury looked at. So how does he respond? By pushing a ref, and kicking the judge right in the face. How did the officials respond? By banning Matos from the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF... heh) for life... and his coach as well. Guess he should've learned there's a right and wrong way to dispute decisions. Of course, now he certainly knows the wrong way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abadoss Posted August 24, 2008 Share Posted August 24, 2008 Now there's a video that will be sought after... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Coop Posted August 24, 2008 Share Posted August 24, 2008 It's not in English, but... LBmorldApSs&hl=en&fs=1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maco70 Posted August 24, 2008 Share Posted August 24, 2008 You never let me down coop. =) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I-n-j-i-n Posted August 24, 2008 Share Posted August 24, 2008 There was that wrestler who protested by leaving his bronze of the podium after believing that he should've won gold. Sorry for the horrible music video. That's the best they can come up with. The actual segment isn't edited... too much. Also, did anyone catch the boxing commentators including Teddy Atlas just LASHING away at the Olympics/Amateur boxing programs and saying the points system, for the lack of a better word, is worth ignoring as a whole? (that's what they said on air. I only could mutter "ouch" when they did). Really, either make the points system a mechanical process of simple judging like normal boxing or just don't bother. Maybe the same for a lot of other judged sports out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
q-pa Posted August 24, 2008 Share Posted August 24, 2008 Well the Closing Ceremonies have come and gone (in real-time, at least; us Americans won't get to see it for another 9 hours or so...): http://olympics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/24/live-blogging-the-closing-ceremony/ I for one look forward to seeing the festivities since I missed the Opening ones on my way to Otakon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abadoss Posted August 24, 2008 Share Posted August 24, 2008 I was able to catch the Opening Ceremonies, but I'll be at work for the Closing (at least both of the broadcasts). I'm going to see if I can't record them, but, if it's anything like the Opening, the tape won't be long enough. The only way I could completely record the Opening was by pausing the tape during all the commercials. That was a long night... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I-n-j-i-n Posted August 25, 2008 Share Posted August 25, 2008 The British stuff at the end was a bit strange. Felt almost ghetto compared to the Cirque du Soleil stuff the Chinese were pulling out. Oh, and parade around David Beckham like a king! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abadoss Posted August 25, 2008 Share Posted August 25, 2008 Thankfully, I was able to tape the whole thing. I had to go out and buy a new tape, though, in order to get enough footage. I think the main problem I had with the closing was that the audio was poorly mixed for the video. I think they should have direct wired the sound, instead of relying so heavily on area mics. Otherwise, it was pretty cool. I didn't care for the Chinese pop stars, though. They were a little off-key. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MkVaff Posted August 25, 2008 Share Posted August 25, 2008 I gotta say in all it was quite the show, but as they extinguished the flame I really got a sense for how much I was going to actually miss the games. I've never really been into the olympics much and for some reason this year I was absolutely glued to the screen watching even the most trivial events. I don't know if it was that was in such an interesting place, or the stories of the athletes, or whatever the case, but waking up today, turning on channel 4 and NOT seeing people competing was kind of a big downer. Really sucks that the next one is a whole 4 years away but hey, maybe the winter olympics might prove to be interesting as well... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Penwald Posted August 25, 2008 Share Posted August 25, 2008 I gotta say in all it was quite the show, but as they extinguished the flame I really got a sense for how much I was going to actually miss the games. I've never really been into the olympics much and for some reason this year I was absolutely glued to the screen watching even the most trivial events. I don't know if it was that was in such an interesting place, or the stories of the athletes, or whatever the case, but waking up today, turning on channel 4 and NOT seeing people competing was kind of a big downer. Really sucks that the next one is a whole 4 years away but hey, maybe the winter olympics might prove to be interesting as well... Heh, the same happened to me in 1996. Been watching both summer and winter olympics ever since, spending hours in front of the TV every day. Seems the olympic games have found yet another victim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MkVaff Posted August 25, 2008 Share Posted August 25, 2008 Heh, the same happened to me in 1996. Been watching both summer and winter olympics ever since, spending hours in front of the TV every day. Seems the olympic games have found yet another victim. Haha definitely! All I know is I need HD tivo before the next games. I've missed quite a few events because of work which ended up a pain to find online... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blake Posted August 25, 2008 Share Posted August 25, 2008 Haha definitely! All I know is I need HD tivo before the next games. I've missed quite a few events because of work which ended up a pain to find online... Yeah, any form of HDR is great. Not only did I stay up all night watching events, but as soon as I woke up I would watch HD recordings of the men's USA bball team pwning noobs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
q-pa Posted August 25, 2008 Share Posted August 25, 2008 Heh, the same happened to me in 1996. Been watching both summer and winter olympics ever since, spending hours in front of the TV every day. Seems the olympic games have found yet another victim. Yeah, I remember 1996 as being the first year I really watched the Games. I still remember the closing ceremonies with Gloria Estefan and BB King and that tribute to then-future host Australia with those bicycle-riding kids dressed as kangaroos. And Coca-Cola was running this ad jingle--or something similar to it : For some reason too, these games have been the most to resonate with me since. I can't explain it... Edit: Was it because I visited Beijing and China back in 2002? No, something more than that... I had to go out and buy a new tape, though, in order to get enough footage.They still sell those?? I didn't care for the Chinese pop stars, though. They were a little off-key. At least they don't pitch-shift to perfection like ours do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abadoss Posted August 26, 2008 Share Posted August 26, 2008 I'd hardly call it perfection... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I-n-j-i-n Posted August 26, 2008 Share Posted August 26, 2008 I liked the Chinese pop stars. They were only off key because they had to share the stage with a dozen others including Jackie Chan. That said, they needed more Jackie Chan.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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