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The Olympics

#24
Gaolee said:
No kidding! Even a whiff of going to the Olympics, let alone winning any medals ever is amazing. Two trips? I'm in awe!
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No doubt. I have a few fairly good friends who've gone, and one came really close to getting a Gold in snowboarding, but lost due to a freak equipment failure. My brother also rowed in the Olympic Trials back before they had a dedicated US select team, but didn't quite make it with his college crew. That was still a pretty big deal to friends and family though.
 
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#26
MJ5150 said:
I'm confused why mens basketball is a big deal, and people get excited when the USA blows someone out. Really?
Everyone and their momma knows the USA is going to win every game by a blowout.
The whole event is a joke in my mind.

-Mike
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Agreed. I have zero interest in watching professional athletes compete in the olympics (and that includes tennis players, golfers, baseball players, hockey players, soccer players, etc.) I understand the arguments in favor of including pros but that doesn't mean I have to be excited about watching it.
 
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#27
I love the Olympics! I watch as much as I can every time and have since I was a kid. So many great stories and accomplishments by athletes from all over the world. I am actually on vacation this week, which gives me the opportunity to watch more than I would normally be able to! Didn't plan it that way as we bid on vacation months in advance and it just worked out that way!
 
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#33
sissy kathy said:
US traditionally has a very strong swim team. People don't normally want to see "their" team lose.
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I get what you're saying, generally, but that cannot explain all of it. On two nights this week, they interrupted the women's gymnastics to show qualifying events for swimming, many of which there was nobody from USA participating. The two nights included the women's team gymnastics competition during which the USA won the gold medal and the individual all-around in which the USA women came in first and second (Gold and Silver). Yes, there were some gold medals by USA swimmers on those nights, too.
 
#35
INTP said:
I get what you're saying, generally, but that cannot explain all of it. On two nights this week, they interrupted the women's gymnastics to show qualifying events for swimming, many of which there was nobody from USA participating. The two nights included the women's team gymnastics competition during which the USA won the gold medal and the individual all-around in which the USA women came in first and second (Gold and Silver). Yes, there were some gold medals by USA swimmers on those nights, too.
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The gymnastic events happened early in the day and were being shown in prime time after the fact. The swimming events they cut to were being shown live.
 
#37
Awesome picture.:)

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#38
I just read a moronic take ( imo ) on Phelps and why he isn't the greatest Olympian. Their notion was because there was no "active defense" designed to foil him it was not as worthy as, Jordan, say and the basketball teams he was on. Excuse me? That would be a "team" sport where they actually get help and have specialist in a field, a coach etc etc.

The idea that it can be compared to a solo event where the competition is more with yourself than anything. It's having the will as well as the physical talent, to push yourself to those feats that eventually make you, and are deemed, great. The training is as much about your mind as it is your body.

I've played in team sports. I've also competed in distance running. The prep and the running of the races was far more intense, and ultimately rewarding, when I won my sole medal ( a bronze ) in varsity cross country. My gold in the mile relay was a close second and my district championship with the Highlands Scotts football team a very distant third, although the camaraderie of that event was amazing.

You can have an off day and another team member can pick up the slack and you can still get gold in a team sport. Do that in a solo event and you're not going to go anywhere. To my mind the solo event enhances what Phelps has done, not take away from it.

I'm guessing the person who wrote that article has never competed in anything sports related that was of a solo variety.

Sorry, I guess I ranted a bit.
 
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#39
Fiset said:
The gymnastic events happened early in the day and were being shown in prime time after the fact. The swimming events they cut to were being shown live.
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Notwithstanding that fact, they split the gymnastics into two different halves, separated by hours. What they showed during the in-between time included mini-biopics that seemed a lot like filler.

If one weren't careful, one might come to the impression that the summer Olympics were primarily a swim meet. With some midnight beach volleyball, of course...
 
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#40
the harp unstrung said:
An Archer!
Y'day on local Atlanta TV they did a great feature piece about a Para Olympian...an archer who started with it as a way to feed his family! He's won national and international competitions. and .......wait for it.......he was born without any arms!
He was visiting Atl. Children's Hospital (on the way to Rio) to talk to kids who have had limbs amputated...undergoing rehab.
I don't know any more than that...but I soon will.
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Different situation, but apparently Bo Jackson used foot archery (if that's the term) to rehab from his hip replacement, but he has arms and is an archer as is, so maybe not as impressive.
 
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