The Olympics/Paralympics 2012

[Soontir C'boath]

Having watched and RE-watched the openning I have to ask...
Was there NO nod to Dr. Who at ALL?

I mean, you give nods to Harry Potter, Mr.Bean, James Bond and various other pop culture icons, but NOT Dr. Who?

Shoot I would have been happy just seeing an image or two in that section when they were showing countless images during the "digital dance' skit thing.

Pretty sure people would be in uproar if it was anything other than David Tennant lighting it up.

[Dartzap]

The TARDIS engines were heard, and the vortex was shown on the inflatable house screen.

[Dartzap]

Please ignore, double post.

[DaveJB]

Some posters on Gallifrey Base who actually attended the ceremony have claimed that there was a clip of the Fourth Doctor and Sarah-Jane on the house screen at one point, though it looks as if that happened when the TV cameras were focused elsewhere.

[Soontir C'boath]

Ahahaha, Honduras men's soccer national team knocked Spain out of the Olympics with a goal created by MLS players.

[thejester]

Soccer in the olympics is, was and always will be a total joke.

[Col. Crackpot]

A North Korean Gold Medal?

I'd imagine that our friends in Pyonyang will allocate a not so insignificant percentage of the North Korean GDP into telling everyone how this fellow Won the Olympics and single handedly defeated the Western Capitalist Running Dogs in the name of the Dear Leader.

[mr friendly guy]

Speaking of soccer, since some sports have a lot of exposure outside the Olympic games, why not simply not have them in the Olympics and introduce some other sports which not many people have seen?

[mr friendly guy]

Having watched and RE-watched the openning I have to ask...
Was there NO nod to Dr. Who at ALL?

I mean, you give nods to Harry Potter, Mr.Bean, James Bond and various other pop culture icons, but NOT Dr. Who?

Shoot I would have been happy just seeing an image or two in that section when they were showing countless images during the "digital dance' skit thing.

http://www.hypable.com/2012/07/28/docto ... save-time/

‘Doctor Who’ cut from Olympic Opening Ceremony to save time

If you were confused at the omission of Doctor Who from last night’s otherwise spectacular Opening Ceremony, you’ll be pleased/frustrated to know that the long-running TV series was originally billed to show up.

Following the athlete parade (that’s right, the lengthy section in which you probably took a toilet break), a fourth musical act was scheduled to take place before Paul McCartney’s finale. The Doctor Who theme was due to be played alongside musical motifs from Coronation Street, Fawlty Towers and songs from musicians such as Adele and Oasis. However, due to the over-running of earlier sections this whole act was omitted from the show.

Doctor Who wasn’t ENTIRELY absent from the night’s proceedings though, as the TARDIS materialisation sound was played over the top of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” during the digital era segment (something we imagine Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill were thrilled about given their previous rendition of the classic).

We’re not sure if The Doctor will show up in the closing ceremony as a sort of penance for the initial absence, or if we’ll have to wait until August 25 to hear the iconic theme song again.

Are you disappointed that the section was cut, or do you think Danny Boyle’s show had enough going for it already?

[Hillary]

I loved the opening ceremony. I switched on in order to laugh at the ineptness of it all and was blown away. The old rural Britain, with its cricket and rolling hills and farms (and rain clouds) pre-ceremony was a great touch. This giving way to the industrial revolution (with hammy old Branagh reciting Shakespeare) was absolutely awesome.

Getting real nurses and patients from the NHS to be involved was inspired - it must have been wonderful for them to be involved and rightly recognised one of the great things in this country's history*. A great run through of the great characters from children's literature as well.

We then moved on to a celebration of our popular culture with a nice little love story thrown in and a nod to the role of family in our society. The music was largely spot on - Jam, Who, Rolling Stones, Queen, Sex Pistols, Underworld and a great live show from Dizzee Rascal, who grew up just round the corner from the venue.

Then we revealed the man who invented the WWW - again, rightly celebrated. We fired into one of the best young rock bands of recent years, Arctic Monkeys before presenting the Athletes who created a beautiful mound of flags. Finally we had the greatest cauldron lighting ever seen, using young athletes nominated by some of our greatest Olympians.

The whole thing was a triumph. If you didn't get it - tough.

*Note to the Republicans on this board - a) we are rightly proud of our universal health care system, and b) not everything is done with the US elections in mind - it was a simple celebration of OUR healthcare in OUR opening ceremony. It's nothing to do with the US.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

We almost had a silver medal for the men's artistic gymnastics, but for a protest from the Japanese that saw them leapfrog us and knocked the Ukranians out of Bronze. And yet another event was won by the Chinese!

[mr friendly guy]

We almost had a silver medal for the men's artistic gymnastics, but for a protest from the Japanese that saw them leapfrog us and knocked the Ukranians out of Bronze. And yet another event was won by the Chinese!

Well apparently North Korea has upset the Chinese in some of their traditional strong sports, weight lifting. In fact North Korea currently has more golds than South Korea.

[Simon_Jester]

Speaking of soccer, since some sports have a lot of exposure outside the Olympic games, why not simply not have them in the Olympics and introduce some other sports which not many people have seen?

One reason- the Olympics need events that everyone knows and appreciates, to keep the draw. For the big attractions, they'll be trying to keep it simple and popular.

A zillion people will be watching the Olympic soccer games even if they're not that impressive, because soccer! And Olympics!

Not so many people will watch the event where the contestants do target shooting while hanging upside down from a wire or whatever.

*Note to the Republicans on this board - a) we are rightly proud of our universal health care system, and b) not everything is done with the US elections in mind - it was a simple celebration of OUR healthcare in OUR opening ceremony. It's nothing to do with the US.

...I'm pretty sure N&P chased off all the Republicans. Or almost all of them.

[Hillary]

Speaking of soccer, since some sports have a lot of exposure outside the Olympic games, why not simply not have them in the Olympics and introduce some other sports which not many people have seen?

One reason- the Olympics need events that everyone knows and appreciates, to keep the draw. For the big attractions, they'll be trying to keep it simple and popular.

A zillion people will be watching the Olympic soccer games even if they're not that impressive, because soccer! And Olympics!

Not so many people will watch the event where the contestants do target shooting while hanging upside down from a wire or whatever.

I'm not too sure about that - they've been the events that haven't sold here. It's the only Olympic event that doesn't have the best participants competing. As a football fan, I'm not the least interested in Olympic football.

[mr friendly guy]

The talk regarding swimming appears to be Chinese sensation Ye Shiwen who in one lap swam faster than Michael Phelps in winning the women's 400 individual medley.

http://www.smh.com.au/olympics/swimming ... 23a6w.html

NOT too many people can boast beating Ryan Lochte.
Michael Phelps certainly hasn't done it this week. Yannick Agnel did in the 4x100 metres freestyle relay, but while that swim was astounding, the performance of China's Ye Shiwen in going faster than Lochte is the one that has tongues flapping, and, not surprisingly, accusations again being whispered around the pool deck.
The 16-year-old Chinese swimmer produced the first world record of the London Olympics - and the first one for a woman since the sport reverted to textile-only suits in 2009 - when she blew past her rivals over the final two laps of the 400m individual medley on the Games' opening night.

The teenager clocked four minutes 28.43 seconds to slice a stunning 1.02 off Stephanie Rice's old world mark and swim more than five seconds faster than she had before arriving in London. And while that in itself had everyone talking - most naturally suspicious after China's tainted drug past - a closer look at the statistics was even more mind boggling.
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Her penultimate lap, the first 50m of the 100m freestyle, Ye swam 29.75. In the men's equivalent event that night, Phelps swam 29.88 for his second-last lap. Ye's final lap was 28.93. Pretty good at the end of eight laps of what is considered the most gruelling event in swimming, and even better when you consider Lochte swam 29.10 for his final 50m. Ye's last 100m was 58.68 compared to Lochte's 58.65.
Any time the Chinese have success at swimming it evokes memories of the 1994 world championships, when their drug-driven women's team won 13 of the 16 gold medals on offer. Not helping the matter is that only last month the Chinese Anti-Doping Agency announced that, Li Zhesi, a member of China's gold-medal-winning 4x100m medley relay team at the 2009 world championships, tested positive in March for the performance enhancing drug erythropoietin, or EPO.
When asked about having swum faster than Phelps and Lochte, Ye replied: ''I got very good training recently, that's why I had a good result.''
Lochte admitted the swimmers were talking about it. ''It's pretty impressive,'' he said. ''She's fast. If she was there with me, maybe she would have beaten me.''
Ye has not sprung from nowhere. She won the world title last year in the shorter individual medley, the 200m event, and is favourite to beat Rice and Alicia Coutts in that race in London.
The International Olympic Committee's chief medico, Arne Ljungqvist, said he saw nothing in the pool that concerned him.
''A sudden raise of performance … It's tragic if that should be the primary reason for doing a [drug] test,'' he said.

She is of course defended by Australian coaches since China pays them lots of money to train their athletes and the coach of Michael Phelps
linky and second link

And yes, presumption of innocence goes out the window. Oh sorry, we are just saying its suspicious and disturbing and impossible. We won't outright say she took drugs.

Why don't they just come out and say it. If she is guilty then they win. If she isn't, they still win because they didn't actually outright say she took drugs, they just insinuate it (see links above). Utter fucking cowardice.

Just for the record my view always is to wait for the drug tests, but its quite clear some people have a habit of bitching when they lose.

[mr friendly guy]

Just when you can't get any lower. Someone is suggesting that the Chinese may be using genetic manipulating on Ye Shiwen.

linky

Questions ranging from doping to genetic manipulation are emerging in the wake of Chinese swimmer Ye Shiwen’s record-breaking performances.

“If there is something unusual going on in terms of genetic manipulation or something else, I would suspect over eight years' science will move fast enough to catch it,” Leonard said. “I have every faith that eventually if there is something there to be caught it will be caught. Right now all we can say is Olympic champion, world record holder, and watch out for history."

Seriously. Stick to the steroid story, its more plausible. I could explain that its harder to manipulate someone in this manner WHEN THEY HAVE ALREADY BEEN BORN due to immunological mechanisms, but I think such words would be too big for these guys.

Wait, I got it. The Chinese have reversed engineered Captain America's super soldier serum. Thats the only explanation.

[mr friendly guy]

I must say, this Olympics is getting interesting for me, but for arguably the wrong reasons. I am finding humorous things to comment on.

Like the Swiss player who took a pathetic dive against South Korea, got rightfully booed, then went on twitter making racist comments against South Koreans. The Swiss team promptly expelled the worthless twat.

Watch the video of his dive, its hilarious

Or you can catch it at the end here.

Michel Morganella has had a miserable Monday.

The Swiss right back was on the losing end of a 2-1 defeat to South Korea at the Olympics on Sunday, and following the loss the Palermo defender had a meltdown on Twitter.

The 23-year-old felt provoked after receiving a torrent of abuse throughout the match against the Asians.

Morganella was booed throughout the match after he picked up an “injury” in a phantom challenge with Arsenal forward Park Chu Young.

After getting riled on the pitch, Morganella let rip on Twitter:

I want to beat up all South Koreans! Bunch of mentally handicapped retards! (“Je les tous Defonce Coréens, allez vous tous Bruler, bande de trisos!”)

Unsurprisingly there was a big backlash to Morganella’s comments on the micro-blogging site, with many accusing the footballer of xenophobia and racism.

After publicly apologising on Twitter for his original comment, the defender has since had his Twitter account suspended. Moreover, calls are growing for the footballer to be kicked out of London 2012.

And he has since been kicked off the team.

linky

[Tsyroc]

And yes, presumption of innocence goes out the window. Oh sorry, we are just saying its suspicious and disturbing and impossible. We won't outright say she took drugs.

Why don't they just come out and say it. If she is guilty then they win. If she isn't, they still win because they didn't actually outright say she took drugs, they just insinuate it (see links above). Utter fucking cowardice.

Just for the record my view always is to wait for the drug tests, but its quite clear some people have a habit of bitching when they lose.

This is why I generally can't watch the Olympics anymore, especially on American television. I was gung-ho for the Atlanta Olympics because I had been recently discharged from the Navy and finally had the free time to watch pretty much everything. Then NBC reporters started ruining things by asking people questions about PED rumors right after they won the race of their lives at the Olympics. In a few cases the rumors ended up being true a few years later, but couldn't they shows some class and allow the people the benefit of the doubt long enough for them to enjoy their win. Just in case they actually won things fair and square. It seems like that would be in keeping with the spirit of the Olympics. Instead we had to have "hard hitting journalism" at the Olympics hosted by the USA. It just seems like being a bad host to get in people's faces and ask them if they cheated.

The crass commercialization of the Atlanta Olympics didn't help. Neither did the shoddy journalism that smeared Richard Jewel's name all over the place before actual evidence of wrong doing.

[fgalkin]

It always amuses me how the US's default reaction to losing is to scream "WTF HAX." Ye Shiwen beat Americans, but not one can beat Americans, because America is the Greatest Country In The World. So, she must have cheated!

Anyways, for those interested, here is a pretty good summary.

It's not like Ye Shiwen is some kind of total unknown who came out of nowhere- she won the 2011 World Championships, and came second in 2010. That was at age 14. Was she cheating there as well?

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[Broomstick]

While I am very much a supporter of reasonable doubt, I think here there is reasonable suspicion. While I have no doubt any woman on an Olympic swimming team can beat the average man without need of artificial aids, even the most elite woman swimmer bettering the times of two of the top ranked men in that sport is, indeed, suspicious. Perhaps it can be approached from a standpoint of "this is such an extraordinary achievement - let's make sure it can stand unblemished, please fill this sample container so we can run some tests". Or maybe we can just go for "That's a fucking unlikely result - we're going to have to do some drug testing here." Maybe she really is just some sort of (naturally occurring) genetic freak. Or maybe not.

[fgalkin]

While I am very much a supporter of reasonable doubt, I think here there is reasonable suspicion. While I have no doubt any woman on an Olympic swimming team can beat the average man without need of artificial aids, even the most elite woman swimmer bettering the times of two of the top ranked men in that sport is, indeed, suspicious. Perhaps it can be approached from a standpoint of "this is such an extraordinary achievement - let's make sure it can stand unblemished, please fill this sample container so we can run some tests". Or maybe we can just go for "That's a fucking unlikely result - we're going to have to do some drug testing here." Maybe she really is just some sort of (naturally occurring) genetic freak. Or maybe not.

I can see you haven't bothered reading the article I posted- it explains things quite nicely. She didn't beat Ryan Lochte- her overall time is 23 seconds slower! She swam faster than him on the last leg because he was in the lead and so slowed down, while she was behind and sped up. His best time for a single leg at the Olympics is still a lot better than hers.

But hey, let's listen to the baseless accusations of a known racist Sinophobe and protest against the Encroaching Yellow Peril.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[Broomstick]

You're right, I didn't read the link. I saw the link and read it after I posted, so sue me.

Even if that explanation is correct, she'll still be under suspicion for how fast her times have improved over the past few years. That may or may not be fair, but such is sport these days that those who suddenly improve or come from behind can face accusation. The top contenders are going to face this sort of suspicion over and over again. It's no different than the years of accusations against Lance Armstrong for winning the Tour de France multiple times. It's no different than Oscar Pistorius being accused of having an unfair advantage over competitors with natural feet instead of prosthetics. It's not about her being specifically Chinese but rather someone didn't win and feels cheated whether or not they actually have been. They'll find an excuse and point to it. It was my impression that any time there is an accusation of doping made against a winner the winner has to be tested no matter how insane the accusation.

And please - Americans have been bested plenty of times for gold medals. Some are spoiled, whiny brats just like there are athletes in other countries who are spoiled, whiny brats. Some of them just suck it up and deal that they weren't first (or second, or third) that particular day. But hey, tar them all with the same brush, that's not biased at all...

[fgalkin]

You're right, I didn't read the link. I saw the link and read it after I posted, so sue me.

So, you were basically knee-jerking? Gotcha.

Even if that explanation is correct, she'll still be under suspicion for how fast her times have improved over the past few years. That may or may not be fair, but such is sport these days that those who suddenly improve or come from behind can face accusation. The top contenders are going to face this sort of suspicion over and over again. It's no different than the years of accusations against Lance Armstrong for winning the Tour de France multiple times. It's no different than Oscar Pistorius being accused of having an unfair advantage over competitors with natural feet instead of prosthetics. It's not about her being specifically Chinese but rather someone didn't win and feels cheated whether or not they actually have been. They'll find an excuse and point to it. It was my impression that any time there is an accusation of doping made against a winner the winner has to be tested no matter how insane the accusation.

In 2008, Stephanie Rice beat her own record by over 6 seconds, an unbelievably fast result. No one accused her of doping then. Yet, somehow when a Chinese athlete does it, it must be doping or, as John Leonard stated, genetic manipulation (yes, really, China is making genetic supermen for the Olympics). Never mind the fact that Ye is only 16 and grew 12 cm in the last 2 years, that couldn't be a reason for improvement, not at all!

And please - Americans have been bested plenty of times for gold medals. Some are spoiled, whiny brats just like there are athletes in other countries who are spoiled, whiny brats. Some of them just suck it up and deal that they weren't first (or second, or third) that particular day. But hey, tar them all with the same brush, that's not biased at all...

Do you dispute that most people here think that America is the Greatest Country in the World? Do you dispute that athletes from America and the First World in general receive far less doping accusations than athletes from China and the former Soviet bloc, despite some pretty prominent doping scandals? (Marion Jones and Lance Armstrong come to mind. )

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[Dartzap]

Everyone will have much more pleasant games if they just accept that China is going to win vast amounts of medals. Hope for bronze and silver! Its more likely!

[weemadando]

If only the idiots would just accept that the dirty yellow people are going to take home lots of medals now that they can't just subjugate them with opium anymore. And especially so considering they've got the world's largest population to draw talent from.

The fact that other, much, much smaller countries (like Australia) turn out such a disproportionate level of competitor means we should be the ones being hauled over the flames to check for doping and the like.