London 2012 Summer Olympics

[bono_man2002]

Originally Posted by cobl04

Maybe they can get Ian Chappell to commentate the ice hockey.

"The American er hits er the puck and... er well what a er... and the Canadian er gets it... er goal for the Americans"

"NiceShotThereByCrosby...He'sBeenPlayingABitLike....GretzkyTheseOlympics" - Mark Taylor

[cobl04]

Or Richie to do the 100m.

"Jussshhhht--"

[bono_man2002]

"Bolt wins with a th-ime of Nh-aine point theww theww"

[Hewson]

Originally Posted by cobl04

813 posts is a pretty piss-poor effort, you guys.

cobl04 88
Axver 74
DRay9911 54
Irvine511 54
trojanchick99 40
deep 32
Purplereign 31
Pearl 30
MrsSpringsteen 26
anitram 26
GirlsAloudFan 24
No spoken words 24
kramwest1 19
bono_man2002 18
intedomine 17
U2DMfan 17
speedracer 17
Vlad n U 2 15
Hewson 15
bono_212 15
PennyLanePHINS 13
Liesje 12
financeguy 12
Popmartijn 12
LemonMelon 11
Zootomic 10
yolland 9
BoMac 8
corianderstem 8
ntalwar 8
Jive Turkey 8
mama cass 7
The Sad Punk 5
AchtungBono 5
elevated_u2_fan 5
nielsgov 4
Thora 4
CrashedCarDriver 4
ryancoke71 3
Danny Boy 3
Saracene 2
MissVelvetDress_75 2
Canadiens1131 2
Headache in a Suitcase 2
gump 2
namkcuR 2
indra 2
UberBeaver 1
U2girl 1
vjacqb 1
U2360 1
one4u2 1
LUNEDEMINUIT 1
Earnie Shavers 1
Salome 1
arw 1
Just_Boy 1
maycocksean 1
PhilsFan 1

Only 1,453 days until Rio...

I've actually made a lot more posts, but they are tape delayed and should be displayed soon.

[Vlaco]

I really enjoyed yesterday's marathon. I run marathons myself (at least 5 workouts a week) and it's tough you know

[Thora]

I could only watch the highlight shows at night and by then everything had been said, so there wasn't any point in me posting very much.

[cobl04]

Yeah the timezones sucked. I too am bitterly disappointed I couldn't immerse myself as much as I'd have liked (I say, having had by far the most posts in the thread )

I hope New South Wales sticks around.

[Pearl]

McKayla has an impressive sense of humor!

McKayla Maroney: Gymnast makes fun of herself after her scowling silver medal face sweeps the internet | Mail Online

[nielsgov]

Why can't they get good acts to cover Pink Floyd and The Who? The real Who at the end was cool though.

[DRay9911]

Originally Posted by nielsgov

Why can't they get good acts to cover Pink Floyd and The Who? The real Who at the end was cool though.

I'm wondering where the hell Elton John was.

[Headache in a Suitcase]

I never thought I would ever hear "and now that we're about to rock, what better time to bring in Ryan Seacrest" said in seriousness.

Thanks NBC

[Liesje]

I really like McKayla. Aside from the fact that her talent on vault is unmatched, I found her to be very valuable to the US women's team even sitting out 3 of 4 events. Throughout the entire competition I could hear her voice. She was basically coaching and cheerleading every routine, hell every skill, for every other girl on the team. I'm betting she was also very valuable in this role for Kyla Ross, who has trained with her since age six or something like that. I believe Kyla was the youngest member and at times leading up to the Olympics showed some nerves. To have your best friend on the sideline cheering you through every skill is amazing. That sort of support is just as valuable as a high start value.

[BoMac]

Originally Posted by DRay9911

I'm wondering where the hell Elton John was.

Or the Rolling Stones. And no mention of other big U.K. artists, like Led Zeppelin.

[yolland]

Originally Posted by intedomine

But I think Jamaica's current excellence over short distances should be celebrated, not just Bolt's.

I don't disagree with this, but what's so special about Jamaican sprinters in particular? Why don't we "celebrate" the current excellence of the Kenyans and Ethiopians in the middle and long distances, for example? It's not because it's less recent--all three countries have been steadily building their Olympic and World Championships medal counts (and WR counts) for decades now, with the Ethiopians having the most recent and meteoric rise of the three. (Yes, it's a rhetorical question, but really, why is it any more "fair"?) For that matter, Bolt's compatriot Asafa Powell held (and repeatedly re-set) the men's 100m WR for several years before Bolt came along, but not by nearly so impressive a margin, and how many people even remember who he is? People like to see the hit-you-over-the-head phenomenon in an event they find "accessible" (which is itself a pretty arbitrary perception that varies dramatically across the world, but that's a whole other tangent...). Not much point railing against that, any more than there is against the entertainment value of a larger-than-life prima donna or showboater.

[intedomine]

Originally Posted by yolland

I don't disagree with this, but what's so special about Jamaican sprinters in particular? Why don't we "celebrate" the current excellence of the Kenyans and Ethiopians in the middle and long distances, for example? It's not because it's less recent--all three countries have been steadily building their Olympic and World Championships medal counts (and WR counts) for decades now, with the Ethiopians having the most recent and meteoric rise of the three. (Yes, it's a rhetorical question, but really, why is it any more "fair"?) For that matter, Bolt's compatriot Asafa Powell held (and repeatedly re-set) the men's 100m WR for several years before Bolt came along, but not by nearly so impressive a margin, and how many people even remember who he is? People like to see the hit-you-over-the-head phenomenon in an event they find "accessible" (which is itself a pretty arbitrary perception that varies dramatically across the world, but that's a whole other tangent...). Not much point railing against that, any more than there is against the entertainment value of a larger-than-life prima donna or showboater.

Jamaica went 1-2 in the men's 100 and 1-2-3 in the men's 200. In the women's, Fraser defended her 100m and another Jamaican bronzed, and Fraser came second in the 200m. I just think it's a great shame that the media has pretty much ignored Fraser. Surely her feat is at least worth acknowledging (which it certainly hasn't been in Australia, with news services opting to report on results in the men's heats ahead of the women's final).

The media pushes nationality as the only reason to support an athlete. At least if they were consistent here, by acknowledging Jamaica's general excellence in the 100m and 200m across both genders, it would allow Fraser to receive the acclaim she deserves (even if she isn't breaking records - heaven forbid, she's only the best sprinter in the world!)

As I said, it's a just a shame.

[Jive Turkey]

Originally Posted by yolland

I don't disagree with this, but what's so special about Jamaican sprinters in particular? Why don't we "celebrate" the current excellence of the Kenyans and Ethiopians in the middle and long distances, for example?

Because the middle and long distances aren't even close to being as popular. This is like saying 'why don't we celebrate the greatness of the Chinese badminton prowess instead of making such a big deal about tennis?'. Well because very few people care about it. Like it or not, some events are vastly more popular than others and the athletes in the former will be getting most of the attention. The reason few people know who Asafa Powell is is because he's never won an Olympic medal in an event whose popularity sees a huge spike every 4 years (And I think he only reset the record once). The Ben Johnson/Carl Lewis rivalry was hugely popular. Everyone knows who Donovan Bailey is; A special event was even created when Michael Johnson arbitrarily declared himself the fastest man when he ran the 200m. That 150m race between Bailey and Johnson was a huge deal. The 100 metre event is ALWAYS the most popular event at the Olympics. Referring to it as 'accessible' is silly. It's exciting, visceral, and about as pure a sport as you can get. That's why people watch

[Axver]

Oh dear, the Belarussian who beat Valerie Adams in the shotput has tested positive for drugs. So Val gets her gold after all and New Zealand goes to six golds. Love it.

And as for the Australian Bolt-centric coverage, well, I think as far as the Aussie media has been concerned this year, the only people at the Games are Bolt, Phelps, a bunch of under-performing Aussies, some shadowy Kiwis who've been doing OK, and some shadowy Brits who initially sucked but then dominated, especially at the velodrome. Anybody else? Naaahhh. I think it's a disgrace that I didn't see the Aussie media report at all on Mahé Drysdale's gold, surely one of the most inspirational of the Games.

Originally Posted by Pearl

McKayla has an impressive sense of humor!

McKayla Maroney: Gymnast makes fun of herself after her scowling silver medal face sweeps the internet | Mail Online

Hahah, that's great.

[No spoken words]

Using "shadowy" in this context kills me, Axver, that's awesome. I'm wholly used to only seeing it preceding the word "operatives" in a John Le Carre novel.

[cobl04]

I think our coverage of Mo Farah and Rudisha has been exemplary.

[bono_man2002]

Dunno what you're talking about with the under performing Aussies. I thought Bolt had a sensational games!