2012 Olympics

[Dudebro]

Does anyone here care? I've watched some of it but I'm not too interested in it overall. It's more interesting to read about the controversies and conspiracies associated with this international event.

I couldn't find the whole opening ceremony so here's the fireworks-
Huge fireworks display marks London 2012 Olympic opening ceremony - YouTube

Here's about 50 Mary Poppinses battling Voldemort. I didn't get to see this amazing piece of theater sadly-
http://www.retrouprising.com/img/2012_08/1137.jpg


The controversies range from junk food sponsers like McDonalds and Cadbury to 8 Badminton players being kicked out for throwing matches to get a better seeding. Here's the list so far, some weird stuff for sure-
Controversies at the 2012 Summer Olympics - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Slime Slayer]

I've been watching it every night, heck I even made a homemade antennae so I could get the station, I love the Olympics.

[Dudebro]

Did you see the ridiculous close ups of the russian gymnastics girls crying after messing up and losing to the US? Even after the US was shown performing and winning they cut back to a couple of the girls to show more tears. I found that to be in very poor taste.

[Slime Slayer]

Did you see the ridiculous close ups of the russian gymnastics girls crying after messing up and losing to the US? Even after the US was shown performing and winning they cut back to a couple of the girls to show more tears. I found that to be in very poor taste.
No I didn't see that, Canadians have class.

[Dudebro]

I don't get that jab. The world watched that event because it was a big deal I guess. I watched it towards the end because my wife told me that the russians were messing up big time and it was pretty interesting. I got disgusted when I saw the extreme close ups of the poor girls weeping after being humiliated in front of the world. So maybe the rest of my country has no class but I do, I was appropriately outraged.

[Slime Slayer]

I'm watching a Canadian broadcast is what I meant by the jab. I have yet to see that event, I'll watch it tonight, I'll let you know if they cut to the crying Russians.
Go China!

[CrispyChicken]

I've been checking in whenever I remember to put it on. I mostly pay attention to Soccer and Basketball and sometimes Swimming.

Basketball is the main sport I watch it for.

[Barra]

Yeah they showed that here too DB. I thought it was very rude
Ive been watching every night, was interested in the football and canoe slalom last night. Cant wait for T&F!

[CatalystiCam]

Honestly, the T.V. here at the lake has been on for all of 10 seconds over the past week. By that I specifically mean cable. It was shocking to me when I saw a bunch of olympic events on. I didn't even know they started.

Let me know if Canada wins anything, I care more about the winter olympics. :P

[Slime Slayer]

Canada had 4 medals as of yesterday, that's pretty darn good for us.

[ZedIsDead]

canoe slalom

I never realized this was a thing until yesterday. It's actually not a bad Olympic sport to watch.

[Slime Slayer]

What the heck is up with "shuttlegate"?, they keep teasing it on the coverage but not telling us what it is.

[bearhawk72]

What the heck is up with "shuttlegate"?, they keep teasing it on the coverage but not telling us what it is.
I assume it's about the badminton scandal

8 competitors were DQ'd and kicked out of the games for intentionally tanking their final match in group play to avoid playing a specific team.

2 South Korean pairs, along with a Chinese and Indonesian team threw their matches to try and get an easier opponent in the knockout round.

Apparently it was really bad an obvious. Purposefully serving into the net and not going after shots all the time.

[Slime Slayer]

Haha, yeah man, they finally showed it. Some of those serves were so bad, the crowd was booing like crazy. Anyway I don't see it as a stain on badminton or anything, just strategy that happened to be against the rules, I can see why it is in place though.

[D.B. Cooper]

But it wasn't against the rules. To me this falls in the category of "don't hate the player, hate the game". IMO the 8 players aren't at fault for taking advantage of the current system but whoever thought it would be a good idea to create a system where tanking games would be a good strategy is the one who should be kicked out of the games. Usually the highest seeded teams play the lowest seeded ones so you always want to win. I have to admit I'm still really confused on why in badminton it was an advantage to lose but maybe they should consider changing.

[Slime Slayer]

But it wasn't against the rules.
Why did they send them home then?

[D.B. Cooper]

Officials from the Badminton World Federation, the sport's governing body, determined that the four sets of women violated the Players' Code of Conduct, Sections 4.5 and 4.6, for “not using one's best efforts to win a match” and “conducting oneself in a manner that is clearly abusive or detrimental to the sport.”

I did some more research and this is what I found. I consider breaking a Code of Conduct to be different than being against the rules but the end result is the same. I still say it's the system's fault as it sounds like teams have been throwing games for years. They just weren't as obvious about it.

How about this boxing fiasco?

Investigations underway after apparent crooked boxing match [UPDATE] - CBSSports (http://www.cbssports.com/olympics/blog/eye-on-olympics/19711737/investigations-underway-after-apparent-crooked-boxing-match)

[CrispyChicken]

USA Basketball absolutely destroyed Nigeria today. They scored 156 and won by more than 80 points!

Carmelo Anthony scored 37 points (Olympic record). Hopefully he can bring the same game when he plays with the Knicks :p

[Dudebro]

I consider breaking a Code of Conduct to be different than being against the rules but the end result is the same.


It depends on if the code of conduct is strictly enforced and in this situation it seems like it is. So in the end CoC is just another rule, even though it's open to interpretation. I happen to agree with it. If you're intentionally throwing a match you should be penalized. It's like throwing the football way out of bounds on purpose to avoid being tackled, it's lame so it's not allowed. I agree they should rethink the structure of the game though if it encourages this kind of thing.


Wow that boxing match was disgraceful, totally fixed. They didn't even try to hide it very well. The guy who "won" was down five times and wasn't given a count for any of them. At one point he was even on his knees grabbing the other guys legs. In boxing. Just pathetic. Thankfully the ref has been kicked out. I don't know why the judges aren't being fired/kicked out though, they obviously had a big hand in this deceit.

[Slime Slayer]

They did overturn it at least:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/olympics/19088420

[bearhawk72]

It depends on if the code of conduct is strictly enforced and in this situation it seems like it is. So in the end CoC is just another rule, even though it's open to interpretation. I happen to agree with it. If you're intentionally throwing a match you should be penalized. It's like throwing the football way out of bounds on purpose to avoid being tackled, it's lame so it's not allowed. I agree they should rethink the structure of the game though if it encourages this kind of thing.


Wow that boxing match was disgraceful, totally fixed. They didn't even try to hide it very well. The guy who "won" was down five times and wasn't given a count for any of them. At one point he was even on his knees grabbing the other guys legs. In boxing. Just pathetic. Thankfully the ref has been kicked out. I don't know why the judges aren't being fired/kicked out though, they obviously had a big hand in this deceit.
Well it's legal and illegal depending on the situation, but that's a discussion for another time.

[Dudebro]

Obviously I'm not a die hard sports fan, I just remember hearing that intentional grounding is against the rules. Feel free to correct me though I like to learn new stuff even if it's trivial.

[bearhawk72]

Obviously I'm not a die hard sports fan, I just remember hearing that intentional grounding is against the rules. Feel free to correct me though I like to learn new stuff even if it's trivial.

It's legal under these circumstances:

-QB is out of the tackle box(an imaginary line from the outside shoulder of the LT to the outside shoulder of the RT in the pre-snap formation)
-Ball must go past the line of scrimmage

-Also, under 2 minutes of the half or 4th quarter, a QB may take the snap and immediately spike the ball. Any other time in the game this is illegal.

There is a slight exception which is a judgement call.

-A QB can throw a ball away while in the pocket if there is a receiver "in the area". This can be into the ground or out of bounds.

You see this a lot on screen passes(they'll throw at the receivers feet) or on sideline passes(throw it out of bounds) where trying to force the pass would result in an interception or loss of yardage

[Dudebro]

So doesn't that make it seem like the rule is only in place because sometimes it would be very annoying and lame to take a dive, so to speak?

[D.B. Cooper]

Local athlete does us proud.

Former Oregon state prep sprint champion Ryan Bailey, of Salem's McKay High School, equaled his personal best in the quarterfinal heats of the 100 meters at Olympic Stadium on Saturday.
Running in the third of seven heats, the 6-foot-4 Bailey clocked 9.88 seconds, which is the fastest quarterfinal time in Olympic history, bettering the 9.89 set by Shawn Crawford in 2004.
"Wow," said the 23-year-old Bailey. "There's no pressure on me whatsoever. Nobody expects me to medal. I'm just having fun."

[joz]

I'm not following it too much since I don't have cable and I only get religious channels with an antenna in my area... I am keeping up with the football games through online streaming websites. I'm rooting for Mexico to take a first ever Gold against Brazil this Saturday. SHould be good.

[Slime Slayer]

USA paid off the ref in the womens Can/USA match yesterday.

[Dudebro]

Nah don't jump to that conclusion steven. Your team just has a harder time training with all that snow and ice everywhere. When they go to a more tropical location to play, like London, they are at a disadvantage. They gave it their all though!

[CrispyChicken]

Canada versus Japan would have been a real odd match to watch. It's just better with USA vs Japan :p World Cup repeat.

[kiwinavega]

I live in London and the Olympics has been fantastic. The ticketing system was a shambles though and I haven't been to any events. I am going to the Paralympics though, very excited about that.

It's wall to wall coverage here, everything available on free digital TV, online, on demand... awesome! I've seen about 30 sports or so, plus lots of various disciplines within them. As I type I'm watching the basketball semi-final between Russia and Spain. Russia had a huge lead, lost it, and Spain are 53-49 up with 6:42 to play in the 4th.

Also seen today taekwondo, handball, BMX, boxing, volleyball... but did turn the synchronised swimming off. And that's in the last 90 minutes or so.

[Dudebro]

I finally got to see taekwondo but right as it started I got a visitor and had to go entertain them. Came back and it was some other boring event. Boo.

[Slime Slayer]

Time zones are screwing me over, I'm only getting to see coverage rather than the full events. For example I will get to see the championship match in wrestling and that's it.

---------- Post added 08-11-2012 at 06:30 AM ---------- Previous post was 08-10-2012 at 11:24 PM ----------

I'm actually rooting for the US in the relay, that's how much I hate Usain Bolt.

[warghoul]

Why are you anti Bolt?

---------- Post added at 04:29 AM ---------- Previous post was at 04:14 AM ----------

I found this story quite amusing. I can't say I blame them. If I lived in Cameroon I'd probably want out as well.
7 Cameroon athletes missing from Olympic village | The Journal Gazette (http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20120807/SPORTS13/120809658/-1/sports12)

[SMASH]

I like bolt myself, but I never like seeing someone win all the time. Bolt is a good sportsman though.

[joz]

I read that Bolt wants to tryout for a big football team in England. He would definetly bring a ton of speed to the squad, that's for sure.

[Slime Slayer]

I don't like his show boating, he runs for 10 seconds the celebrates for an hour.

[SMASH]

^less than 10 seconds, and I agree. He runs less than 1 mile and is considered a hero to the world.

[bearhawk72]

I am starting to question whether or not Bolt is using some sort of performance enhancer. Why would I have doubts?

It's rumored that Bolt was working with a trainer who just happens to have worked for BALCO and himself admitted to providing steroids and other performance enhancers to US track athletes(Marion Jones, Tim Montgomery, etc) and showed them how to mask use to pass tests.

I can't find a real source to confirm this, though it would not surprise me at all.

[SMASH]

I always laugh at the "sports enhaning" drug thing. I think once athletes get caught just a single time doping, they should never be allowed to compete ever again. The ones that have taken drugs in the past and may be clean for the olympics or any other event, but have already benefited from the drugs.

It's like they can take drugs up to a certain point until they get tested, by that time they have already gained from the drug even though they are clean. I don't know about bolt taking drugs. I just hate how it always comes up in all sports. The only way doping accusations won't come up in the tour de France, is if the French win. Otherwise, the winner is taking drugs.

[Slime Slayer]

I wouldn't be suprised either, but I think he's just a genetic freak, he's super tall.

[kiwinavega]

I hope for the sake of sport that Bolt is clean. If it turns out he's been juicing the level of upset would be enormous. He's an idol to many, let's hope he doesn't fall from grace. Like him or not, would be devastating for many.

@Jozman - there was a clip of him recently asking Manchester United for a trial. He put a kit on, took a ball to a ground... and was absolutely woeful! He'd be better off having a go at playing wide receiver in the NFL. At 6'5", with that speed... he'd be deadly! Eagles, give him a try out!

[SMASH]

ahah no doubt. He would burn everyone off the line. Having a wr that fast would completely change defensive styles.

[Seahawk]

Epic comeback by Russia on the men's volleyball final, came back from 2-0 sets, and won three sets in a row to take the gold.

[warghoul]

@Jozman - there was a clip of him recently asking Manchester United for a trial. He put a kit on, took a ball to a ground... and was absolutely woeful! He'd be better off having a go at playing wide receiver in the NFL. At 6'5", with that speed... he'd be deadly! Eagles, give him a try out!

I'm pretty sure some NFL teams expressed interest in him, but the NFL said he couldn't play for some reason.

[Rocky Rose]

Im a big fan of UFOS and ufo disclosure,I was hopeing that the 2012 olympics wouldve been a stage for some staged invasion that would bring DISCLOSURE about alien life to the world,Killing these myth like religons for good LOL.Im a BIGGER fan of THE TRUTH whatever that is I can handle it.Im from like a really countryfied town in NC where everyone beileves the bible word for word LOL even noahs ark.Its looking like dec 21 2012 will be a NON EVENT lets hope not but its looking that way now.

[kiwinavega]

Where's Jozman? I bet he is stoked by the football / soccer result yesterday! Congrats man! Didn't see that one coming :)

[Slime Slayer]

Im a big fan of UFOS and ufo disclosure,I was hopeing that the 2012 olympics wouldve been a stage for some staged invasion that would bring DISCLOSURE about alien life to the world,Killing these myth like religons for good LOL.Im a BIGGER fan of THE TRUTH whatever that is I can handle it.Im from like a really countryfied town in NC where everyone beileves the bible word for word LOL even noahs ark.Its looking like dec 21 2012 will be a NON EVENT lets hope not but its looking that way now.
I was waiting for project blue beam myself, ah well, maybe in 4 years.

[joz]

That I was Kiwi! I woke up at 6:30 AM to make myself some breakfast and watch the game. I spit out my coffee due to the uncontrolable reaction of yelling "GOOOOOL!!" everytime my team scores. Really caught me off guard. Brazil was really close to making a huge comeback at the end. It would have been sweet to get an epic final going into overtime like that, but I was really glad they missed that tying goal.

[Dudebro]

Brazil lost in soccer? No wonder there's no big celebrations and this
Blow that Vuvuzela - YouTube
in my neighborhood.

[joz]

You have a high amount of Brazilians in your neighborhood, DB?

[Slime Slayer]

OMG, I forgot about the vevuzela... that was a real stain on mankind.

[Dudebro]

@Joz- Not just my neighborhood, the town and surrounding areas. From what I've heard a lot of Brazilians came to the Framingham MA area for some reason. We also have a lot of Guatemalans, Ecuadorians. Whenever a major soccer event happens I have to hear people celebrating into the wee hours and people driving around blowing their vuvazelas. It makes me wanna rage, at soccer.

[Slime Slayer]

@Joz- Not just my neighborhood, the town and surrounding areas. From what I've heard a lot of Brazilians came to the Framingham MA area for some reason. We also have a lot of Guatemalans, Ecuadorians. Whenever a major soccer event happens I have to hear people celebrating into the wee hours and people driving around blowing their vuvazelas. It makes me wanna rage, at the Brazilians.
Fixed.

[Seahawk]

Vuvuzela Hero (http://gamevideos.1up.com/video/id/30269)

[Dudebro]

Fixed.
Nah I don't rage at the people just the event causing them to be annoying. It'd be just as annoying if it was a bunch of americans flipping out over the superbowl. Talking about this reminds me of this guy who used to light of a firecracker everytime the redsox hit a homerrun. That got annoying after a while.

[joz]

I hated those vuvuzelas. Very annoying.

[RU Joe]

For DB, and all of us who think this is what should be done with those stupid little horns:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KHFA6ZuFTE

ON TOPIC:

... is it over? , I mean, is it safe to come out now?
Personally, I dislike the Olympics because of how they hijack the Athletes, but then I saw this:

Five Ring Circus (Part 1 of 8) - YouTube

'... it's a disaster for any city on the planet to host the Olympics ..' = I totally agree.

[kiwinavega]

Rihanna fans look away now...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQhWBsivmK8

The UK's vuvuzela song from World Cup 2010:

Between every game and goal
I realised my life has a gaping hole
Which I'll fill as soon as I can find a seller...
All I really want's a Vuvuzela... ella... ella...