2016 Summer Olympics - Ready or not, here we come!!

[ticapnews]

What are the pieces of deformed, melted looking statues they're giving the medal winners in addition to their medals? I don't recall ever having seen extra trinkets being handed out aside from medals before now.

Display stand for your medal.

That question had a lot of people stumped but a swimmer solved that puzzle last night on the medal stand. He received his medal and then the decoration and promptly put the medal in his display stand and posed for pictures.

 

[joecct]

Re: 2016 Summer Olympics - Ready or not, here we come!!

Advanced plumbing 101

 

[Jimjamesak]

Re: 2016 Summer Olympics - Ready or not, here we come!!

Lily King may be my new favorite athlete. Throw all the shade you want young lady.

 

[The Rube]

Re: 2016 Summer Olympics - Ready or not, here we come!!

Lily King may be my new favorite athlete. Throw all the shade you want young lady.

Saw this on the Twitter, need a new screen now:

Just one thing left to do, Lilly King. Go for the handshake and then give Yulia Efimova a Stone Cold Stunner at the podium.

 

[JF_Gophers]

Lily King may be my new favorite athlete. Throw all the shade you want young lady.

Until she gets caught for doping in 6 years. I don't trust a single athlete anymore sadly.

 

[ScoobyDoo]

Re: 2016 Summer Olympics - Ready or not, here we come!!

Until she gets caught for doping in 6 years. I don't trust a single athlete anymore sadly.

Yeah, in this case I hope that never happens. Too many times we've heard that same declaration only to find out that they were doping all along. I'm going to give her the benefit of any doubt right now.

 

[Kepler]

Re: 2016 Summer Olympics - Ready or not, here we come!!

Until she gets caught for doping in 6 years. I don't trust a single athlete anymore sadly.

I assume the athletes from all the "factory" teams (US, Russia, China) are all cheating. Some countries just have way more sophisticated support systems than others.

 

[alfablue]

Re: 2016 Summer Olympics - Ready or not, here we come!!

Until she gets caught for doping in 6 years. I don't trust a single athlete anymore sadly.

Yeah, in this case I hope that never happens. Too many times we've heard that same declaration only to find out that they were doping all along. I'm going to give her the benefit of any doubt right now.

I assume the athletes from all the "factory" teams (US, Russia, China) are all cheating. Some countries just have way more sophisticated support systems than others.

Dumb question- if the base assumption is that the athletes are doping, why watch? To me, the idea that all are doping means that it's not a fair competition, which takes 100% of the enjoyment of the competition out of the equation.

 

[ScoobyDoo]

Re: 2016 Summer Olympics - Ready or not, here we come!!

Dumb question- if the base assumption is that the athletes are doping, why watch? To me, the idea that all are doping means that it's not a fair competition, which takes 100% of the enjoyment of the competition out of the equation.

If that were the case no one would watch any sports at all anymore. You never know. I watch because I hope the people I end up looking up to aren't the cheaters. If they are I end up despising them for life.

 

[Kepler]

Re: 2016 Summer Olympics - Ready or not, here we come!!

Dumb question- if the base assumption is that the athletes are doping, why watch? To me, the idea that all are doping means that it's not a fair competition, which takes 100% of the enjoyment of the competition out of the equation.

Because all the athletes in contention for the medals are cheating, so it is a fair competition.

The line between cheating and not is so fuzzy it's basically arbitrary in any case, so "cheating" has lost its moral dimension in bigtime sports.

 

[alfablue]

Re: 2016 Summer Olympics - Ready or not, here we come!!

Because all the athletes in contention for the medals are cheating, so it is a fair competition.

The line between cheating and not is so fuzzy it's basically arbitrary in any case, so "cheating" has lost its moral dimension in bigtime sports.

But as you pointed out, you suggest that the bigger players are doing it differently, so that says that doping isn't done equally, therefore it's not fair.

 

[alfablue]

Re: 2016 Summer Olympics - Ready or not, here we come!!

If that were the case no one would watch any sports at all anymore. You never know. I watch because I hope the people I end up looking up to aren't the cheaters. If they are I end up despising them for life.

Not everyone assumes they are doping. I assume they are not, until proven guilty. So it's fair until the tests come back.

I just find it interesting that presumption of guilt still leads to watching something. That's all.

 

[ScoobyDoo]

Re: 2016 Summer Olympics - Ready or not, here we come!!

Not everyone assumes they are doping. I assume they are not, until proven guilty. So it's fair until the tests come back.

I just find it interesting that presumption of guilt still leads to watching something. That's all.

The entire last winter Olympics every Russian was cheating. Did you know that before hand? I didn't. It's gotten to the point that you have to assume that someone is cheating all the time. You hope they don't win.

At least now there is exposure. Back in the seventies they were cheating and nobody knew.

 

[dxmnkd316]

Re: 2016 Summer Olympics - Ready or not, here we come!!

I assume the athletes from all the "factory" teams (US, Russia, China) are all cheating. Some countries just have way more sophisticated support systems than others.

I think this is a little unfair. I typically assume they aren't.

You also have to realize that the US also dumps an enormous amount of money into strength and conditioning programs specialized for each athlete and sport; nutritional programs designed for each athlete, performance clothing, massage therapists, world-class facilities, etc.

Plus there's the access to these programs from a very young age for those identified and tagged as candidates. If you show promise there's a great chance you will be quickly gobbled up by the USOC and placed into a program of sorts.

 

[alfablue]

Re: 2016 Summer Olympics - Ready or not, here we come!!

The entire last winter Olympics every Russian was cheating. Did you know that before hand? I didn't. It's gotten to the point that you have to assume that someone is cheating all the time. You hope they don't win.

At least now there is exposure. Back in the seventies they were cheating and nobody knew.

I get that. But that also means that some would choose not to watch because the whole thing is rigged.

I really don't like watching any of the judged sports for that reason- so I don't.


edit- BTW, I'm speaking more about the idea that everyone is cheating- not one team that you root against.

 

[Kepler]

Re: 2016 Summer Olympics - Ready or not, here we come!!

But as you pointed out, you suggest that the bigger players are doing it differently, so that says that doping isn't done equally, therefore it's not fair.

At that level, the difference between the contending athletes boils down to likelihood of detection.

Let's assume there are three tiers of countries: A, B and C.

+ A countries cheat and are good at hiding it. The archetype is the US. Others may include Germany, Sweden, the UK.

+ B countries cheat and are lousy at hiding it. The archetype is Russia (well, the whole former Soviet bloc). China is moving from B to A.

+ C countries don't cheat. Little countries outside the Nike/Network/McDonalds profit system. Sometimes specific sports/coaches graduate to B (e.g., Jamaica sprinters).

It's fun to watch any mix of these athletes. A and B are competing on an even playing field. B might get stripped of their medal afterwards but that doesn't affect the close competition at the time. Meanwhile, sometimes somebody from C beats the odds and actually wins on the merits. Watching C beat B or especially A is always gratifying.

 

[alfablue]

Re: 2016 Summer Olympics - Ready or not, here we come!!

At that level, the difference between the contending athletes boils down to likelihood of detection.

Let's assume there are three tiers of countries: A, B and C.

+ A countries cheat and are good at hiding it. The archetype is the US. Others may include Germany, Sweden, the UK.

+ B countries cheat and are lousy at hiding it. The archetype is Russia (well, the whole former Soviet bloc). China is moving from B to A.

+ C countries don't cheat. Little countries outside the Nike/Network/McDonalds profit system. Sometimes specific sports/coaches graduate to B (e.g., Jamaica sprinters).

It's fun to watch any mix of these athletes. A and B are competing on an even playing field. B might get stripped of their medal afterwards but that doesn't affect the close competition at the time. Meanwhile, sometimes somebody from C beats the odds and actually wins on the merits. Watching C beat B or especially A is always gratifying.

See, to me, going in with that assumption would take all of enjoyment out of watching. If they all cheated on the same level, fine. If they all didn't cheat, fine. But having the field be uneven in the degree of cheating would mean that there's not much suspense in the end- the better cheaters will win.

Which would imply that a tie between Iraq and Brazil would be meaningless.

Instead, I would rather be fascinated by the handful of athletes who can dominate a sport, and the really close battles to the end. Not just have to root against players.

I gave an example of judged sports being bad- but I also lied a little that I do watch. You can see that the Chinese are very good at some of these sports. How is a good question. But that does not take away the apparent skills.

Anyway- just a side question. It comes up for biking all the time. Just like people would assume that athletes like Bo Jackson would now be doping instead of in wonder of what they can do. Sad, to me.

 

[ticapnews]

Re: 2016 Summer Olympics - Ready or not, here we come!!

There is a manufactured outrage surrounding several people referring to female athletes as girls. In particular, the Australian swimming commentator Nicole Livingstone (who also apparently provides the official IOC feed) often calls the Aussie swimmers "our girls." Of course those outraged, highly offended folks don't seem to notice the reverse. Last night during one of the medal ceremonies as the top three posed for pictures she said "This is quite a moment for those boys." Twitter didn't explode and I haven't seen a wave of news stories about Livingstone insulting the male athletes.

 

[St. Clown]

Re: 2016 Summer Olympics - Ready or not, here we come!!

As I was turning off the TV last night, I heard the line, "And this young lady.... she's from Canadia..." It was pronounced more like the word Canadian, and less like Canada. NBC has been on the ball all games long so far.

 

[Kepler]

Re: 2016 Summer Olympics - Ready or not, here we come!!

See, to me, going in with that assumption would take all of enjoyment out of watching. If they all cheated on the same level, fine. If they all didn't cheat, fine. But having the field be uneven in the degree of cheating would mean that there's not much suspense in the end- the better cheaters will win.

Which would imply that a tie between Iraq and Brazil would be meaningless.

Instead, I would rather be fascinated by the handful of athletes who can dominate a sport, and the really close battles to the end. Not just have to root against players.

I gave an example of judged sports being bad- but I also lied a little that I do watch. You can see that the Chinese are very good at some of these sports. How is a good question. But that does not take away the apparent skills.

Anyway- just a side question. It comes up for biking all the time. Just like people would assume that athletes like Bo Jackson would now be doping instead of in wonder of what they can do. Sad, to me.

It doesn't affect me that way, because as I said "cheating" has lost its normative connotation in Big Sport. The line is fuzzy. We have somehow decided for MLB that PEDs in the 90s are cheating and bad, but greenies in the 70s are not.

IMO well beyond the pharmaceutical advantages of A countries are the financials. US athletes are raised and trained like purebred race horses. The money that rains down on them provides more of an unfair advantage than any blood doping or steroids. Yet somehow that's not "cheating."

The important thing to remember about anything that money has touched is that it is a morass of lies and hypocrisy. The feel good stories and narratives are just ways of selling more french fries to a morbidly obese viewing audience. None of it is real.