2008 Summer Olympics

[Roy Mustang]

Now the media will have to find someone else to hype up for the rest of the games.

I'm glad and all that he did break it, but the media has really drag it a little bit in the ground with this.


[color="Red"][font="Book Antiqua"]Col. Roy Mustang[/font][/color]

[Stephen]

I was happy he did it. Something like this really does not happen very often.

[Doe Johnson]

Okay, so now I know who played in the women's basketball session I was at on the 15th. It was New Zealand vs Czech and Australia vs Latvia. I quite enjoyed the Australia vs Latvia game. The dancers improved too! The Beijing Dream Dancers can be quite entertaining in a "I can't believe they actually did this in the Olympics" sort of way, but that day they did pretty well. Sadly, I didn't get on the big screen again.

I hadn't actually heard of Phelps doing well until my parents told me when I called home. Yay for there being way too many channels with the Olympics to flip through (my last hotel had 13 channels of the Olympics), not being able to understand Chinese, and China concentrating on, of all things, Chinese athletes who win the gold.


Oooo...and before we went to Beijing, we saw the Spanish synchronized swimming team at the Shanghai airport!! I got pictures with them! Now I just have to find the person who took the pictures to get a copy...

[ChristianKitsune]

Okay, so now I know who played in the women's basketball session I was at on the 15th. It was New Zealand vs Czech and Australia vs Latvia. I quite enjoyed the Australia vs Latvia game. The dancers improved too! The Beijing Dream Dancers can be quite entertaining in a "I can't believe they actually did this in the Olympics" sort of way, but that day they did pretty well. Sadly, I didn't get on the big screen again.

I hadn't actually heard of Phelps doing well until my parents told me when I called home. Yay for there being way too many channels with the Olympics to flip through (my last hotel had 13 channels of the Olympics), not being able to understand Chinese, and China concentrating on, of all things, Chinese athletes who win the gold.


Oooo...and before we went to Beijing, we saw the Spanish synchronized swimming team at the Shanghai airport!! I got pictures with them! Now I just have to find the person who took the pictures to get a copy...

O_O
YOU ARE THERE!? Wooow..lucky! ^_^ It's cool that you got to see all these events!

[Radical Dreamer]

I've been trying to keep up with them, but the best time for me to watch them is at 9PM and after, so I usually catch the beach or indoor volleyball, swimming (go Michael Phelps!), and gymnastics. I loooved watching the gymnastics, though--Nastia Lukin did a phenomenal job, and I'm really glad she and the other US girl (whose name escapes me right now) won the gold and silver (respectively). I also caught one of the track races last night, and those are always fun to watch--especially since the Jamaican that won broke the world record! That was pretty impressive!

And the opening ceremonies were absolutely phenomenal--I loved watching them! They were so creatively put together, and the technology involved was jaw-dropping. I'd love to be able to watch those again. XD

[termyt]

Okay, Canada, honestly, where are our medals?

They don't just hand them out, you have to earn them. It would help if your summer consisted of more the three weeks in August.

[LadyRushia]

Nastia Lukin did a phenomenal job, and I'm really glad she and the other US girl (whose name escapes me right now) won the gold and silver (respectively).

Shawn Johnson is the other girl's name. 8D


In addition to Phelps and our gymnastics ladies, I'm also rooting for Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh (beach volleyball). They are doing really well so far; hopefully they'll be able to defend the gold.

I also watched the end of the women's marathon and that Romanian (I think) woman was amazing! She was like a minute ahead of everyone else. Also, it was cool to see the Jamaican guy win that race in nine seconds.

[Stephen]

America just knocked Poland out of the womens volleyball thing. Looks like its gonna be USA vs Italy next.

[Ingemar]

[Raiden no Kishi]

Well, it would explain a lot . . .

.rai//

[CephasWhite]

That. Was. Gold Ingemar! HAHAHAHAHA!!!!

[LadyRushia]

No, no, no, you need to make a gif of him being like "IT'S OVER NINE THOUSAAAAAAND!!!! WRRRRYYYYYY!!!"

[GeneD]

Yay, we FINALLY got a medal!

[EricTheFred]

They don't just hand them out, you have to earn them. It would help if your summer consisted of more the three weeks in August.

Well, given they have a population only one and a half times my state, they don't do half-bad.

And consider this:

China: Current medal count, 67. Population: 1,322 million
Canada: Current medal count, 9. Population: 33 milllion

Not too shabby, Canucks...

[Warrior4Christ]

Well, given they have a population only one and a half times my state, they don't do half-bad.

And consider this:

China: Current medal count, 67. Population: 1,322 million
Canada: Current medal count, 9. Population: 33 milllion

Not too shabby, Canucks...

By that same logic...

Australia: Population = 20 million, total = 33.
China: Population = 1,322 million, total should be 2181.

(Assuming it's linear. XD)

[EricTheFred]

By that same logic...

Australia: Population = 20 million, total = 33.
China: Population = 1,322 million, total should be 2181.

(Assuming it's linear. XD)

That's kind of my point. Everyone's been so enthused over China's performance, and the US, but I think the high medal counts of some off these smaller populations is considerably more impressive.

[Danderson]

YES!!! I'm always thinking that everytime the media plays a slowmo clip of this.....

[guitargeekette]

Woot Aren't Jamaicans awesome!!!!! Usian,fastest man easily and Shelly fastest in 100m too and we came 1st 2nd and 2nd...not even any bronze...awesome....and all of our athletes just rock and for the swimmers yes, Phelps is awesome. Nadal is finally the best tennis player.

[Momo-P]

XD That gif is freaking awesome.

As for tonight...I have nothing personal against China, but that tie in gymnastics was total bull. The "tie breaking system" is completely unfair and is basing everything on one number that could be given by a bias or incompentent judge. The fact that Nastia had stronger points in everything else on the uneven bars just makes it even stupider.

Plus, again, nothing against the Chinese girls, they're extremely cute and worked hard, but...most of them are there illegally. Not only can you tell some have baby teeth (one is actually missing a tooth), but some Chinese guy even said many were underage...and he "mysteriously disappeared" upon doing so.

Another girl who I feel bad for was that Alicia Sacramone. The girl who beat her out for the bronze LANDED ON HER KNEES. How can you get a higher score when you land on your knees?! I mean if Alicia had messed up worse that'd be one thing, but she actually nailed her landing! Seriously, curious results are curious.

[EricTheFred]

XD That gif is freaking awesome.

As for tonight...I have nothing personal against China, but that tie in gymnastics was total bull. The "tie breaking system" is completely unfair and is basing everything on one number that could be given by a bias or incompentent judge. The fact that Nastia had stronger points in everything else on the uneven bars just makes it even stupider.

Plus, again, nothing against the Chinese girls, they're extremely cute and worked hard, but...most of them are there illegally. Not only can you tell some have baby teeth (one is actually missing a tooth), but some Chinese guy even said many were underage...and he "mysteriously disappeared" upon doing so.

Another girl who I feel bad for was that Alicia Sacramone. The girl who beat her out for the bronze LANDED ON HER KNEES. How can you get a higher score when you land on your knees?! I mean if Alicia had messed up worse that'd be one thing, but she actually nailed her landing! Seriously, curious results are curious.

Gymnastics and Figure Skating are the two Olympic sports with traditionally the greatest amount of allegations (and in some cases, proven cases) of fraud. I'm afraid it is just part of the sport.

The age limit was put in when they decided underage girls had a distinct advantage in Gymnastics (not only due their small bodies, which make certain events like the uneven bars, the beam, and the floor mat easier, but also because various joints and bones have not yet fully fused, leaving them with more flexibility than they will have as adults.) However, it is ultimately an honor system, since the countries have control over their documentation. Nothing we can do about it.

Ultimately, certain countries are going to view the Olympics as a kind of warfare, and over the years we've seen many cases of this, starting with a certain European dictator in the 1930s who is never named in responsible posts. Don't be upset at them. Be proud if you are from a country that does nothing to support its Olympic athletes, as you watch them go up against the trained-from-babyhood tax-subsidized elite from countries that still don't get it. Personally, I think it's great to watch a team like the aforementioned Jamaica, by no means affluent and having only a private national olympic comittee to support it, ring up gold medals when you think about what they're up against.

[termyt]

I agree. The shame is on China for putting so much emphasis on Olympic medal counts. As if we'd say, "You know, I was thinking China had a pretty crappy human rights record, but now that they've won over 40 gold medals, I can see I was wrong."

The nation's leaders should be ashamed, but not the athletes. They can and should be proud of their accomplisments.

Other food for thought along those lines: USA just won a gold medal in wrestling - the wrestler? 21 year old Henry Cejudo, a child of illegal immigrants. Way to live the American Dream, dude. Glad you are here.

[GeneD]

Random thought: I think they should make coughing an Olympic sport. My whole family is sick and I think we'd pwn the competition.

In related news; I watched some gymnastics (women's beam and men's high bar, I think it's called). I'm glad Shawn Johnson got the beam gold. She's so cute; she smiles so wide and really looks like she enjoys her events.

[EricTheFred]

Other food for thought along those lines: USA just won a gold medal in wrestling - the wrestler? 21 year old Henry Cejudo, a child of illegal immigrants. Way to live the American Dream, dude. Glad you are here.

Thumbs up to him from the great-grandchild of an illegal alien, (Norwegian sailor who jumped ship rather than go through Ellis Island.)

I fully expect some of my Hispanic acquaintances to explain to me how this is another example of the US stealing from Latin America, though.

Random thought: I think they should make coughing an Olympic sport. My whole family is sick and I think we'd pwn the competition.

My son thinks SSB:Brawl ought to be an Olympic sport. He notes that the scoring system for it is less random than Gymnastics.

[Etoh*the*Greato]

Lil WoW humor for the crowd.

[LadyRushia]

For what it's worth, I'd like to point out that I saw plenty of high school girls in China who looked a lot younger than they were. As for the baby teeth thing, some people still have baby teeth well into their teens. Also, the thing about "some Chinese guy said they're underage" doesn't prove anything. I'm not trying to start anything. It just bothers me that people seem to be attacking China for all sorts of things, some of it I agree with and some of it I don't.

Anyway, this thread is about the Olympics and Tae Kwon Do starts tomorrow! Yay! I really wish they would show some of the less conventional events more often. I saw maybe two seconds of archery and then it was over. D:

Also, my dad told me that while May and Walsh (beach volleyball) were practicing, the Brazil team came up to them and told them to leave the court even though May and Walsh had the right to be there because they were the first seed or something. Well, our girls left respectfully and let them have the court and then creamed them in their match later, XDD. I love how every time another country trash talks or provokes the U.S. team we come back and pw3n them in the face.

[termyt]

Check out nbcolympics.com, Rushia. They have alot of extra coverage and you can see footage from events that don't make it to primetime.

[EricTheFred]

Right. For all of the things China has done, is concealing the records of a few gymnasts really that bad? It seems like the whole thing is based on, "Hey, those girls look pretty young", and "Jee whiz, China, a communist, totalitarian state, doesn't want to share their internal records!"

Personally, I find it impossible to believe that the Chinese gymnasts are sixteen years of age. I have never in my life seen a healthy sixteen-year-old girl who looked like that.

It is a direct and purposeful insult to the intelligence of the rest of the world for them to trot these girls out and say "we declare these girls as sixteen years old (and when we claimed they were considerably younger at other events in other venues, we were just mistaken. So sorry.) There's nothing you can do about it. Go away."

Chinese state media has previously identified two of them at as much as two years younger than what is now claimed. The defense now is, essentially, "Well, they just printed that, but they never asked us."

[Kurama]

Its interesting. The baseball kinda angered me a bit. <_< I was suprised China did not have good pitchers. O_O it was weird. But it was an interesting game. *remembers bat break*

[Mave]

I recall being extremely hyper and excited over the Olympics Opening. There's something grand about ppl from all over the world come together in one place in peace and mutual respect.

Swimming - most notably the 4 x 100 where American won by a super duper split second against France. That was suspenseful.

I was pleasantly surprised to see Kitajima in action. Go Japan! Last I heard, he was denied retirement though...(0__0) Still, he was amazing.

Gymnastics - many folks fell from the bars quite a bit this round. Read about the Liukin situation and hope ppl can come up with an alternate judging system. I have my Asian 'pride' (wooo go China, Japan, Korea, SEAsia etc) but I personally thought Liukin did a better job overall.

About ages, the Chinese girls do look younger as compared to the American girls but that doesn't mean they are positively underage. Based on my personal observations, American girls tend to look older than they really are (What?? You're only 16??) while my Asian gal friends tend to look younger (What?? You're already 18??!). Or maybe I'm simply just a poor judge of age by appearances as a whole. To be fair, I won't be surprised if the Chinese girls are indeed underaged. Point: Don't be too quick to judge based on appearances.

Diving - not much to comment on....eh just nice to watch

Read that bit about the wrestling star but heh, I've just noticed that some countries have athletes that don't quite come from the nativeland. I sincerely hope the best for all these athletes that they keep a humble and sensible head on and not let success/failure get into their heads. Cheering them on but I sometimes wonder how they are spiritually.

[Momo-P]

Point: Don't be too quick to judge based on appearances.

Ya, but too many people are speaking out. You've got people who have worked in gymnastics for years (and who obviously know how this crap works) standing up and saying "Um...ya. They can say what they want, but those girls are underage."

Also Eric brought up health. My mom's a nurse and she said that herself when they first showed them. There is just no way in heck those girls can possibly be of age. Also the chances that three or so have "rare baby teeth at teenage age" are extremely low and grasping at straws. I ain't saying this because "GO USA!" I'm just saying this because it's unfair to take away medals from people who aren't cheating.

That said, it looks like they won't get away with it anyways. Yesterday they apparently found some papers that prove China's been lying. One girl has been listed as seventeen-years-old for like...three straight years. Now I ain't a doctor or anything, but last I knew, you can't be seventeen for more than a year...