And lo, the 2008 Olympic games begin

Lord Pounder · Post by **Lord Pounder** » 2008-08-17 08:03am

Darth Wong wrote:
Lord Pounder wrote:This will of course lead to more whiny bastards moaning that the LZR Racer is cheating.
Is that such an unreasonable argument? The Olympics are supposed to be about the pinnacle of human athletic ability, not the pinnacle of really expensive gear that gives you a significant advantage over competitors.

Obviously, if two guys both have the same suit and one guy wins, the loser can hardly complain about the suit. But I think it's a fair point to make when someone who doesn't have the super-suit loses to someone who does.

Which is why FINA made a unprecedented ruling that anyone who wanted to wear a LZR Racer could even if their country has a standing agreement with another brand. They way certain critics where talking, for example the Japanese Swimming Coaches, you would think that if you dropped the suit into the water it would swim off on it's own. All the major manufacturers released new racing suits for this Olympics, it's just that Speedo got in first.

mr friendly guy · Post by **mr friendly guy** » 2008-08-17 09:52am

ray245 wrote:Woot! Singapore finally get the chance to win our second medal!

Well you won silver. China predictably again dominated table tennis.

The gymnasium looked pretty packed. I have heard complaints about empty seats because they were taken up by corporate buyers who didn't attend. It does it ever occur to those people that perhaps Chinese people want to attend sports which are popular in China, like table tennis. But apparently its packed with people the CCP ordered to go attend (yep, China bashing just went up a notch).

ray245 · Post by **ray245** » 2008-08-17 10:45am

mr friendly guy wrote:
ray245 wrote:Woot! Singapore finally get the chance to win our second medal!
Well you won silver. China predictably again dominated table tennis.

The gymnasium looked pretty packed. I have heard complaints about empty seats because they were taken up by corporate buyers who didn't attend. It does it ever occur to those people that perhaps Chinese people want to attend sports which are popular in China, like table tennis. But apparently its packed with people the CCP ordered to go attend (yep, China bashing just went up a notch).

It is near impossible to defeat china at table tennis though....it will be very upsetting for china to lose that round.

Block · Post by **Block** » 2008-08-17 02:53pm

Why is ping pong an olympic event? And since it is, why aren't poker, pool, and dodgeball Olympic events too?

Adrian Laguna · Post by **Adrian Laguna** » 2008-08-17 03:29pm

Darth Wong wrote:The Olympics are supposed to be about the pinnacle of human athletic ability, not the pinnacle of really expensive gear that gives you a significant advantage over competitors.

The suit doesn't give what I would call a significant advantage under most circumstances. Only when the race is really tight would one guy having the suit and the other not make a difference. There was actually a South Korean guy who got gold, by a good distance, and was the only guy with no full suit on the pool.

Grog · Post by **Grog** » 2008-08-17 05:09pm

Block wrote:Why is ping pong an olympic event?

Why not?

Block wrote:And since it is, why aren't poker, pool, and dodgeball Olympic events too?

Poker isn't really about athletic ability and the other may not have enough people doing them on elite level or they simply don't have enough people interested in bringing them into the olympics.

Post by **Broomstick** » 2008-08-17 06:27pm

Block wrote:Why is ping pong an olympic event? And since it is, why aren't poker, pool, and dodgeball Olympic events too?

Poker is not a sport.

There has been a proposal to make dodgeball an Olympic event. I don't think it went anywhere, though.

Block · Post by **Block** » 2008-08-17 08:11pm

Broomstick wrote:
Block wrote:Why is ping pong an olympic event? And since it is, why aren't poker, pool, and dodgeball Olympic events too?
Poker is not a sport.

There has been a proposal to make dodgeball an Olympic event. I don't think it went anywhere, though.

Neither is ping pong. It's a game. It requires skill, but pretty much zero athleticism.

Hawkwings · Post by **Hawkwings** » 2008-08-17 08:19pm

Block wrote:
Broomstick wrote:
Block wrote:Why is ping pong an olympic event? And since it is, why aren't poker, pool, and dodgeball Olympic events too?
Poker is not a sport.

There has been a proposal to make dodgeball an Olympic event. I don't think it went anywhere, though.
Neither is ping pong. It's a game. It requires skill, but pretty much zero athleticism.

Really?

I suggest you watch some Olympic ping-pong matches then.

Gerald Tarrant · Post by **Gerald Tarrant** » 2008-08-17 08:32pm

Block wrote: Neither is ping pong. It's a game. It requires skill, but pretty much zero athleticism.

wrong

one of many, look on youtube for ITTF games.

Lusankya · Post by **Lusankya** » 2008-08-17 09:27pm

mr friendly guy wrote: The gymnasium looked pretty packed. I have heard complaints about empty seats because they were taken up by corporate buyers who didn't attend. It does it ever occur to those people that perhaps Chinese people want to attend sports which are popular in China, like table tennis. But apparently its packed with people the CCP ordered to go attend (yep, China bashing just went up a notch).

Yeah, I never quite bought that. But the way the media plays it up (OMG!!!! Nobody's watching Libby Trickett win at swimming!!!!! This event was packed in Australia!!!! Travesty!), you'd think that it was a disaster. And then they completely ignore the fact that the table tennis and the gymnastics are packed to the rafters.

mr friendly guy · Post by **mr friendly guy** » 2008-08-17 09:40pm

Spanish say sorry

Spanish say sorry over new 'slit-eyed' photo
Posted 37 minutes ago

Olympic tennis silver medallist Anabel Medina Garrigues has apologised after a new photo emerged of Spanish athletes holding the corners of their eyes in an unflattering imitation of the Chinese.

Medina said the photo, which shows nine people making the gesture including herself and fellow Olympians Carla Suarez Navarro and Nuria Llagostera Vives, was not "racist" and wasn't intended to cause offence.

It is the second such picture after Spain's basketball team was photographed making the "slit-eyed" pose in an advert for a courier company.

"We did it because we came to China. We don't want to do anything bad for Chinese people or Asian people," Medina said.

"We think maybe we took a bad picture but we never wanted to offend anybody. "We didn't see it as a racist gesture."

Asked if she wanted to apologise, Medina said: "Yes, sure. We never wanted to do anything bad."

The gesture is apparently not seen as offensive in Spain. Although some of the basketball players have apologised, Toronto Raptors guard Jose Calderon defended it as "affectionate."

Britain's Guardian newspaper said the latest picture was posted on the Spanish tennis federation's website with the caption, "We are prepared for Beijing" in Spanish. It is not currently on the site.

The photograph is thought to have been taken in April during Spain's Federation Cup semi-final with China in Beijing.

Spanish reaction to the basketball row has been angry, with some commentators suggesting a conspiracy to derail Madrid's bid for the 2016 Olympics.

There has been no comment from Chinese officials. An International Olympic Committee (IOC) spokeswoman said the basketball picture was "inappropriate" but added the matter was closed.

"Clearly it was inappropriate, we understand the team has apologised and absolutely meant no offence whatsoever," Giselle Davies told reporters.

Madrid is one of the four finalist cities to host the 2016 Games, facing off against Chicago, Tokyo and Rio De Janiero. The IOC will announce the host city in October.

Spanish sports have been tainted by race-related incidents in the past. World football governing body FIFA fined the Spanish federation after fans directed monkey chants at black England players during a 2004 friendly in Madrid.

Last year a handful of Formula One fans targeted British driver Lewis Hamilton in Barcelona while four years ago ex-national team coach Luis Aragones was caught making a racist remark about French star Thierry Henry.
Medina and partner Virginia Ruano Pascual claimed the women's doubles silver medal when they were beaten by China's Yan Zi and Zheng Jie in Sunday's final.

-AFP

Tags: sport, olympics-summer, china, spain

The bolded parts says it all really. When I was growing up using a slit eye look was used to racially abuse me, so a big FUCK YOU to Spain. And I thought Italy was a arse end of Western Europe.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2008-08-17 10:43pm

They're just nursing an inferiority complex because they haven't accomplished anything noteworthy since Admiral Nelson kicked their asses.

Falkenhayn · Post by **Falkenhayn** » 2008-08-18 01:02am

I just saw the German team get a red card in volleyball. Ya learn something new every day...

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2008-08-18 01:04am

Adrian Laguna wrote:
Darth Wong wrote:The Olympics are supposed to be about the pinnacle of human athletic ability, not the pinnacle of really expensive gear that gives you a significant advantage over competitors.
The suit doesn't give what I would call a significant advantage under most circumstances. Only when the race is really tight would one guy having the suit and the other not make a difference.

You're kidding, right? The difference between gold, silver, bronze, and being left of the podium is often measured in hundredths of a second.

There was actually a South Korean guy who got gold, by a good distance, and was the only guy with no full suit on the pool.

Precisely; he was obviously much stronger than the other competitors, since he won by a good distance. A suit doesn't give you Iron Man capabilities, any more than steroids automatically make you win any event you enter. That doesn't mean it's not a form of cheating.

Adrian Laguna · Post by **Adrian Laguna** » 2008-08-18 01:44am

Darth Wong wrote:They're just nursing an inferiority complex because they haven't accomplished anything noteworthy since Admiral Nelson kicked their asses.

Admiral Nelson kicked Napoleon's French ass. You are obviously referring to the defeat of the Spanish Armada at the hands of the English Royal Navy during the Anglo-Spanish war, which happened 170 years before Horatio Nelson was born. The name of the British commander in that engagement was Sir Francis Drake.

Also, the Spanish did accomplish quite a few things after that defeat. There was this thing called the 30 Year War that Spain was a major participant of. The Count-Duke of Olivares, Spain's Prime Minister during the conflict, wrote, "Either all is lost, or else Castille will be head of the world," as he planned a three-pronged invasion of France. Not quite the rethoric or actions of an impotent power. Things went down hill only after they lost that war (and the Netherlands, and Portugal).

Their last hurrah was giving Napoleon an ulcer.

Darth Wong wrote:You're kidding, right? The difference between gold, silver, bronze, and being left of the podium is often measured in hundredths of a second.

Point.

Edward Yee · Post by **Edward Yee** » 2008-08-18 02:07am

Poor Liu Xiang.

EDIT: He's out of the Olympics, not having even gotten to race, withdrawing from the 110 meter hurdles due to an existing right Achilles tendon injury.

AniThyng · Post by **AniThyng** » 2008-08-18 02:42am

Adrian Laguna wrote: Admiral Nelson kicked Napoleon's French ass. You are obviously referring to the defeat of the Spanish Armada at the hands of the English Royal Navy during the Anglo-Spanish war, which happened 170 years before Horatio Nelson was born. The name of the British commander in that engagement was Sir Francis Drake.

I'm pretty sure the Battle of Trafalgar pitted Nelson against a combined French-Spanish fleet...

Fingolfin_Noldor · Post by **Fingolfin_Noldor** » 2008-08-18 02:49am

AniThyng wrote:
Adrian Laguna wrote: Admiral Nelson kicked Napoleon's French ass. You are obviously referring to the defeat of the Spanish Armada at the hands of the English Royal Navy during the Anglo-Spanish war, which happened 170 years before Horatio Nelson was born. The name of the British commander in that engagement was Sir Francis Drake.
I'm pretty sure the Battle of Trafalgar pitted Nelson against a combined French-Spanish fleet...

Yes indeed. Half the fleet was Spanish, if I recall. And I believe the Spanish flagship was hauled back as a prize.

SpacedTeddyBear · Post by **SpacedTeddyBear** » 2008-08-18 03:46am

The U.S track team is really doing shitty. The Jamaican sprinters made it look too easy.

Post by **Beowulf** » 2008-08-18 07:53am

Darth Wong wrote:
Adrian Laguna wrote:
Darth Wong wrote:The Olympics are supposed to be about the pinnacle of human athletic ability, not the pinnacle of really expensive gear that gives you a significant advantage over competitors.
The suit doesn't give what I would call a significant advantage under most circumstances. Only when the race is really tight would one guy having the suit and the other not make a difference.
You're kidding, right? The difference between gold, silver, bronze, and being left of the podium is often measured in hundredths of a second.
There was actually a South Korean guy who got gold, by a good distance, and was the only guy with no full suit on the pool.
Precisely; he was obviously much stronger than the other competitors, since he won by a good distance. A suit doesn't give you Iron Man capabilities, any more than steroids automatically make you win any event you enter. That doesn't mean it's not a form of cheating.

Nearly every event requires equipment to compete. If I gave a world class runner something other than running cleats for a 100m dash, there's no way in the world he could win. Does that make cleats cheating? Bike events have specially designed bikes that cost thousands of dollars each. Does that make the super-expensive bikes cheating?

mr friendly guy · Post by **mr friendly guy** » 2008-08-18 08:22am

Lusankya wrote: Yeah, I never quite bought that. But the way the media plays it up (OMG!!!! Nobody's watching Libby Trickett win at swimming!!!!! This event was packed in Australia!!!! Travesty!), you'd think that it was a disaster. And then they completely ignore the fact that the table tennis and the gymnastics are packed to the rafters.

I think it was the other thread where someone pointed out that we are now becoming hypocritical when stereotyping the English as whinging Poms when we have now become bigger whiners. I think the ranting against China's opening ceremony have just convinced me they were right.

Which reminds me of the joke about how do you know when a bunch of English have arrived. When the plane lands down, the whinging starts.

Just substitute English for Aussies and post in on a SMH blog bitching about China and lets see what happens. Too bad I have to wait a few hours while they "approve" the content. The ironic thing is, they rant about the Chinese government needing to "approve" opinions.

Now if they could tell the difference between a private organisation allowing what it puts up versus a public one, I wouldn't have much of a point. However these people are clearly "free speech wankers" who can't tell the difference between attacking the content of their speech and attacking their right to say it, where a defense of their BS inevitably falls back to "I may not agree with what you say, but I defend your right to say it". Thus I think my above point in regards to irony would be a winner. But I think the joke is a whole lot funnier.

Lusankya · Post by **Lusankya** » 2008-08-18 09:16am

I'm somewhat convinced that a large part of it is people wanting the Sydney Olympics to be "better" than all of the other Olympics. Which means they have to find faults with the Beijing Olympics, which is retarded on so many levels, simply because you just know that the Chinese government is putting a lot more effort into the Beijing Olympics than we put into ours. Their only valid complaint is the air quality, and really it's not the CCP's fault that there's been a stupid temperature inversion trapping all the smog over Beijing.

Shroom Man 777 · Post by **Shroom Man 777** » 2008-08-18 09:34am

At least those Spaniard Olympians didn't go "Wang ching chong yong ping-pong!" and prattle on like Kim Jong-Il from Team America!

Question, though. Who would want to go to Beijing to watch a bunch of dudes run around in circles when everyone is there and when everything's so goddamn expensive, from the hotel to (probably) even the air they're breathing?

If I wanted to visit China, I'd go there when everything was totally cheap. Like, maybe during a bogus scare over some flu virus or something.

Post by **RogueIce** » 2008-08-18 04:19pm

Falkenhayn wrote:I just saw the German team get a red card in volleyball. Ya learn something new every day...

They have those in volleyball? What did they do?

Broomstick wrote:There has been a proposal to make dodgeball an Olympic event. I don't think it went anywhere, though.

A shame. I bet a lot of people would tune in to see that. I know I would (and no, not because of the stupid movie about dodgeball...in point of fact, I haven't seen it nor do I plan to).