2008 Beijing Summer Olympics Thread

[whitesoxfan99]

The US boxing team only has won one medal? What the f*** has happened to us? We used to dominate in Olympic boxing?

 

Nobody has won a medal in boxing yet. However, the US only has one guy who even made the medal rounds. I think boxing has dropped significantly in popularity in the US which hurts the medal count. But Olympic boxing just has no similarities with the type of boxing Americans are used to seeing and I don't think American fighters are trained to be successful in that atmosphere.

[Milkman delivers]

Nobody has won a medal in boxing yet. However, the US only has one guy who even made the medal rounds. I think boxing has dropped significantly in popularity in the US which hurts the medal count. But Olympic boxing just has no similarities with the type of boxing Americans are used to seeing and I don't think American fighters are trained to be successful in that atmosphere.

 

You mean Olympic boxing is entertaining?

[Rex Hudler]

I've been watching a good bit of boxing and hate the Olympic scoring system. I don't understand it nor can I get how guys can land solid punches and not score. The lone American left is from Tuscaloosa and he is very raw. i'd be surprised if he wins gold, but if I can, I will watch it.

 

 

[whitesoxfan99]

I've been watching a good bit of boxing and hate the Olympic scoring system. I don't understand it nor can I get how guys can land solid punches and not score. The lone American left is from Tuscaloosa and he is very raw. i'd be surprised if he wins gold, but if I can, I will watch it.

 

It is a stupid scoring system. I know jabs are not scored as points and I believe it has to be a straight bunch with your shoulder behind it to count as a score. And the scoring has been pretty random as well because a certain amount of the judges have to register the punch for it to count. It is a terrible system for scoring boxing.

[Soxbadger]

Just got to see the tie in uneven bars, pretty controversial scoring imo.

[whitesoxfan99]

Just got to see the tie in uneven bars, pretty controversial scoring imo.

 

Gymnastics judging is a joke. I know there are starting values to routines but how the hell did that Chinese girl win a medal on the vault yesterday when she landed on her knees. That should automatically eliminate you from medal contention.

 

Edit: And that is the dumbest tie breaker I have ever seen.

[IlliniKrush]

Yeah, the tiebreaker is stupid.

 

But you're right, medaling when falling all over the place is just flat out stupid. I couldn't believe that happened.

[Soxbadger]

The tie breaker made no sense...

 

Nastia had more scores over 9.0, but since the scoring system takes out the lowest score she lost because the other girl actually got a 8.9 compared to her 9.0??

 

Just peculiar.

 

(Edit)

 

If you look earlier in this thread youll find me complaining about how in qualifying a girl who fell got a better score than some one who landed.

Edited August 19, 2008 by Soxbadger

[whitesoxfan99]

The tie breaker made no sense...

 

Nastia had more scores over 9.0, but since the scoring system takes out the lowest score she lost because the other girl actually got a 8.9 compared to her 9.0??

 

Just peculiar.

 

(Edit)

 

If you look earlier in this thread youll find me complaining about how in qualifying a girl who fell got a better score than some one who landed.

 

Quite frankly, whoever came up with that tiebreaker is a f***ing idiot. Quite possibly the most ludicrous tiebreaker in the history of sports.

[Jimbo's Drinker]

and don't forget these girls are 13 years old, which is already unfair.

 

 

[Soxbadger]

The tie breaker would be like in the 100 meter dash if there was a tie they gave the gold medal based on who had the faster last 25 meters.

 

Is there any real reason why there cant be a tie?

[Reddy]

damn i was pissed after watching that. how must it feel to lose to a 12 year old due to faulty judging and a bad system when you CLEARLY did better... unbelievable.

[whitesoxfan101]

Not sure if anybody saw the 200 meter qualifier they showed tonight with Bolt, but it might have been even more scary than some of his 100's. He basically jogged the last 75 meters and still won easily. As for gymnastics, I actually find it entertaining to watch and any sport which is judged for all the scoring will have a flawed system. However, some of the scoring in this olympiad has been criminal, even somebody who knows little about gymnastics like me can see some of this stuff. The 400 meter hurdles sweep for the United States was nice though.

[LosMediasBlancas]

Not sure if anybody saw the 200 meter qualifier they showed tonight with Bolt, but it might have been even more scary than some of his 100's. He basically jogged the last 75 meters and still won easily. As for gymnastics, I actually find it entertaining to watch and any sport which is judged for all the scoring will have a flawed system. However, some of the scoring in this olympiad has been criminal, even somebody who knows little about gymnastics like me can see some of this stuff. The 400 meter hurdles sweep for the United States was nice though.

 

 

Time to have him and the Jamaican females take another 'wiz quiz'.

[danman31]

and don't forget these girls are 13 years old, which is already unfair.

I don't see why their age matters. It's stupid that they wouldn't allowed to compete because of age in the first place.

 

What I love about the tiebreaker is Nastia lost basically because she got judged more consistently. That's almost exactly how it played out.

[StrangeSox]

I don't see why their age matters. It's stupid that they wouldn't allowed to compete because of age in the first place.

 

They agreed to the rules set in place. Simple as that.

 

I think it'd be great if they waited until after the Olympics and then said "oh, wait, you're all 12 or 13. We'll be taking those gold medals back now."

 

What I love about the tiebreaker is Nastia lost basically because she got judged more consistently. That's almost exactly how it played out.

 

Yeah, that tie-breaker made zero sense. I'm guessing they'll be revisiting these new rules.

Edited August 19, 2008 by StrangeSox

[Kyyle23]

I dont know if any of you saw the highlights of the US vs China baseball game, but it was all kinds of dirty

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/summer08/bas...ecap?gameId=646

 

Matt Laporta was beaned in the head after a hard slide at home by Nate Shierholtz(who was beaned twice), the US team was beaned 4 times in the game. at the end of the game with US up 9-0, chinese player Yang Yang hit a meaningless homerun and ran around the base with his "number one" finger pointed up the entire time and pumping his fists like they just won. Chinese manager Jim lefebvre, Pitcher Chen Kun, and pitching coach Steve Ontiveros were all thrown out of the game.

[Steve9347]

I dont know if any of you saw the highlights of the US vs China baseball game, but it was all kinds of dirty

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/summer08/bas...ecap?gameId=646

 

Matt Laporta was beaned in the head after a hard slide at home by Nate Shierholtz(who was beaned twice), the US team was beaned 4 times in the game. at the end of the game with US up 9-0, chinese player Yang Yang hit a meaningless homerun and ran around the base with his "number one" finger pointed up the entire time and pumping his fists like they just won. Chinese manager Jim lefebvre, Pitcher Chen Kun, and pitching coach Steve Ontiveros were all thrown out of the game.

That's f***ing ridiculous. It's too bad it's impossible to see these games on tv.

[Kyyle23]

That's f***ing ridiculous. It's too bad it's impossible to see these games on tv.

 

ESPN ran the highlights today. I couldnt find any highlights on the webpage though

 

i do have to say, Schierholtz slide, while retaliatory, was way out of line. it wasnt a slide, it was Torii Hunter-Jamie Burke part 2, but the Chinese catcher didnt even have the ball. After it happened, things went crazy.

 

Matt LaPorta's beanball was really bad though, and it was after the slide/collision. He took it off the back of the head, and you could tell that the pitcher put it right where he wanted to

Edited August 19, 2008 by kyyle23

[whitesoxfan101]

Time to have him and the Jamaican females take another 'wiz quiz'.

 

If I recall correctly, Jamaica has about as few problems with positive drug tests as any nation with great sprinters. Plus, Bolt is just so tall and thin, he just seems like a freak of nature moreso than a cheater. I could be wrong though of course.

[Soxbadger]

I dont know Im pretty sure a snow boarder in 1998 lost his medal for smoking some marijuana.

 

So hopefully none of them were rocking out to Easy Skanking by Bob Marley and took it to far.

 

[LosMediasBlancas]

If I recall correctly, Jamaica has about as few problems with positive drug tests as any nation with great sprinters. Plus, Bolt is just so tall and thin, he just seems like a freak of nature moreso than a cheater. I could be wrong though of course.

 

 

I was kinda kidding. Unfortunately nowadays, no one is free from suspicion, especially after a performance like THAT. As far as his frame, he's built more for distance than speed.

[SleepyWhiteSox]

Nastia

 

Those two consecutive moves that the Chinese girl did looked much harder than anything Nastia did, though; where she did two consecutive flip things off the bar from either side (I have no idea what it was in gymnastics terminology).

 

 

 

You mean Olympic boxing is entertaining?

 

There has actually been some very entertaining and exciting boxing this year.

 

 

But yeah, as far as Olympic boxing, the scoring makes zero sense.

Edited August 19, 2008 by SleepyWhiteSox

[knightni]

 

Paraguay's Javelin thrower Laryn Franco

 

 

[juddling]

I guess this could be one way to get more people interested in Olympic table tennis....

 

BEIJING, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Table tennis is desperate to attract more viewers and some in the sport believe a simple enough solution exists: get the women to wear skirts and shirts with “curves”.

 

Half-empty stands for women’s games at the Olympics in China, the country most obsessed with table tennis, reinforce concerns that the sport needs a make-over to shed its fusty image.

 

Women players mostly wear baggy shorts and shirts unlike their tennis counterparts who dress for comfort as well as style.

 

“We are trying to push the players to use skirts and also nicer shirts, not the shirts that are made for men, but ones with more curves,” International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) vice president Claude Bergeret said.

 

One player, Japan’s Naomi Yotsumoto, has taken matters into her own hands. At the Japanese national championships last year, she played in a daring ensemble of her own design: knee socks, a pleated mini-skirt and a shirt that left one shoulder bare. (Editing by Nick Macfie)

 

 

Rock on you ping-pong hotties