2008 Beijing Summer Olympics Thread

[knightni]

Mariotti would rip the American teams.

 

 

Actually, he's been covering the Olympics and has not been ripping them.

 

"Spanish Basketball Team Photo: The Olympics' Blow-Up Doll Incident"

 

"Bela Karolyi's wife: the Ozzie Guillen of the Beijing Olympics"

[danman31]

I just think it's funny she's trying to find an excuse for her gymnasts choking.

And she should. Even if it's bulls*** Sacramone is gonna have a tough time living with that. Did you hear her interview afterwards? 'It's pretty much my fault we lost.' Granted, she's right, that's an incredibly harsh realization to live with. I think Marta was just trying to defend her girl.

 

Nope, no "attack on America" there. I just thought it was incredibly stupid. Both of the Karolyi's are morons. Just funny to me that we hear so much b****ing about the age of the Chinese competitors first, then the officials making the American's f*** up.

What makes the Karolyis morons? In the studio he mentioned it, but gave credit where credit was due.

[whitesoxbrian]

And Phelps wins the 400m whatever heat.

[SoxFan1]

And she should. Even if it's bulls*** Sacramone is gonna have a tough time living with that. Did you hear her interview afterwards? 'It's pretty much my fault we lost.' Granted, she's right, that's an incredibly harsh realization to live with. I think Marta was just trying to defend her girl.

 

 

What makes the Karolyis morons? In the studio he mentioned it, but gave credit where credit was due.

She's 20 years old and has been competing at the top tier for years. I don't think her coach causing a stir is going to make her feel better. Excuses are a pile of bulls***. And the Karolyi's are morons for b****ing about everything. You lost. Go away.

[whitesoxfan101]

The Olympics have been weird to watch. You hear american music in the background during the volleyball matches (in fact you do during a lot of sports), you hear all the sounds of an American baseball game in the background of the basetball games, the english language is the primary language for public address it seems like besides obvioiusly chinese, a lot of big events are done in the morning over there so that they'll be in primetime here. I know a lot of this is because America is where the money is in large part even with our bad economy, but still to see that much American influence during an olympics in China is weird for me. I guess I don't fully realize how powerful our nation is sometimes. I hope that rant made sense.

Edited August 14, 2008 by whitesoxfan101

[SoxFan1]

The Olympics have been weird to watch. You hear american music in the background during the volleyball matches, you hear all the sounds of an American baseball game in the background of the basetball games, the english language is the primary language for public address it seems like besides obvioiusly chinese, a lot of big events are done in the morning over there so that they'll be in primetime here. I know a lot of this is because America is where the money is in large part even with our bad economy, but still to see that much American influence during an olympics in China is weird for me. I guess I don't fully realize how powerful our nation is or something. I hope that rant made sense.

English is pretty much the universal language, that's the most likely reason why. A Chinese athlete and a Ukrainian athlete probably aren't going to know each others language when interacting. English is something most people are taught for that reason. It's most evident in soccer world wide.

[whitesoxfan101]

English is pretty much the universal language, that's the most likely reason why. A Chinese athlete and a Ukrainian athlete probably aren't going to know each others language when interacting. English is something most people are taught for that reason. It's most evident in soccer world wide.

 

Is there a reason english is so prominent worldwide? I have to plead ignorance on this one and ask somebody who might know better than I would. That does explain most of what I was wondering though, except for the fact you hear the American music and sounds of the game in so many events during these olympics. That's still kind of weird to me too.

[YASNY]

Is there a reason english is so prominent worldwide? I have to plead ignorance on this one and ask somebody who might know better than I would. That does explain most of what I was wondering though, except for the fact you hear the American music and sounds of the game in so many events during these olympics. That's still kind of weird to me too.

 

There was a period of time where 'the sun never set on the British empire'. In other words, English was being spoken all over the world because England had colonies all over the world.

[SoxFan1]

Is there a reason english is so prominent worldwide? I have to plead ignorance on this one and ask somebody who might know better than I would. That does explain most of what I was wondering though, except for the fact you hear the American music and sounds of the game in so many events during these olympics. That's still kind of weird to me too.

It's prominent because it's one of the most widely spoken languages in the world. I guess thats kind of a paradox or an oxymoron or something along those lines, but it's as simple as that. It's a relatively easy language to learn when speaking-wise, grammatically and written, it's a whole different story. It resonates, because of American movies and music being shown world wide. Overall, its just easier to learn than Chinese or Russian or Spanish, making it more universal.

[whitesoxfan101]

There was a period of time where 'the sun never set on the British empire'. In other words, English was being spoken all over the world because England had colonies all over the world.

 

Well thanks, now I feel stupid. I obviously knew that, but apparently was too stupid to put that together the last few days. I guess part of my problem is I've never left the North American continent.

 

I appreciate you and Soxfan's help though, I guess I never put all of this together when thinking about it.

Edited August 14, 2008 by whitesoxfan101

[SoxFan1]

Serbia with a huge win vs the USA in water polo. Pretty low scoring, but a foot in the right direction and they have easier matches coming up vs China and Italy.

 

LOL, this Horton guy is ridiculously corny. What an attention whore.

[whitesoxfan101]

The United States has a 6-0 lead over the Netherlands at the 7th inning stretch. They should beat on the Netherlands, but good to see they are apparently going to get on the board with a win after last night's crushing loss. Watching the feed of this on the nbc olympics website is funny, you can hear fans cheering/heckling because there is no broadcaster.

[fathom]

Serbia with a huge win vs the USA in water polo. Pretty low scoring, but a foot in the right direction and they have easier matches coming up vs China and Italy.

 

LOL, this Horton guy is ridiculously corny. What an attention whore.

 

I hate Horton....besides for the USA softball team, he's the only American I won't cheer for.

[fathom]

The United States has a 6-0 lead over the Netherlands at the 7th inning stretch. They should beat on the Netherlands, but good to see they are apparently going to get on the board with a win after last night's crushing loss. Watching the feed of this on the nbc olympics website is funny, you can hear fans cheering/heckling because there is no broadcaster.

 

I heard Strasburg looks phenomenal.

[whitesoxfan101]

I heard Strasburg looks phenomenal.

 

So far:

 

7 IP, 1 hit, 1 walk, 11 k's

 

He's been untouchable, but Netherlands was shut out in their first game too so I have no idea if they have any offense to speak of. He has very good stuff though, regardless of who the opponent is. He had a no hitter going until a single with 2 outs in the 7th. Matt Brown had a solo home run earlier, but the big blow was a 3 run home run by Matt LaPorta. The game is in a rain delay now in the top of the 8th. Not sure of olympic protocol or the Beijing forecast, but they might just give the U.S. a win and call it a day if it's anything like it is here.

Edited August 14, 2008 by whitesoxfan101

[SoxFan1]

So far:

 

7 IP, 1 hit, 1 walk, 11 k's

 

He's been untouchable, but Netherlands was shut out in their first game too so I have no idea if they have any offense to speak of. He has very good stuff though, regardless of who the opponent is. He had a no hitter going until a single with 2 outs in the 7th.

This may be an unpopular opinion here (and in this country), but baseball and softball don't deserve to be Olympic sports. To me, simply not enough countries play it for it to be as competitive as it should be.

[fathom]

This may be an unpopular opinion here (and in this country), but baseball and softball don't deserve to be Olympic sports. To me, simply not enough countries play it for it to be as competitive as it should be.

 

Considering how unimportant the baseball results are in the Olympics, I totally agree with this. Thanks to the WBC, I could care less about watching Ernie Young represent America.

[whitesoxfan101]

This may be an unpopular opinion here (and in this country), but baseball and softball don't deserve to be Olympic sports. To me, simply not enough countries play it for it to be as competitive as it should be.

 

Well you are getting your wish. Softball for sure should not be an olympic sport, I know that much. Baseball has a better case because you do have a lot of it played in parts of Central and South America, as well as the Carribean, Australia, Korea, Japan, but a small percentage of nations play it so I could see why it is being discontinued as an olympic sport too. The WBC is the big event now anyways since major leaguers actually play in it.

Edited August 14, 2008 by whitesoxfan101

[SoxFan1]

Well you are getting your wish. Softball for sure should not be an olympic sport, I know that much. Baseball has a better case because you do have a lot of it played in parts of Central and South America, as well as the Carribean, Australia, Korea, Japan, but a small percentage of nations play it so I could see why it is being discontinued as an olympic sport too. The WBC is the big event now anyways since major leaguers actually play in it.

Just to kind of get an idea, 8 of the 202 countries in the Olympics are fielding a baseball team...

[whitesoxfan101]

Just to kind of get an idea, 8 of the 202 countries in the Olympics are fielding a baseball team...

 

Yeah see I figured it was like that, no surprise. I am biased since I am such a baseball fan, but realistically, it shouldn't be an olympic sport and won't be in London. The WBC is where it's at anyways.

[SoxFan1]

Yeah see I figured it was like that, no surprise. I am biased since I am such a baseball fan, but realistically, it shouldn't be an olympic sport and won't be in London. The WBC is where it's at anyways.

I think the WBC is part of the reason it has no spot in the Olympics. In pretty much every other sport, the Olympics is the whole shebang. Thats what its all about, thats the ultimate challenge.

 

Haha, this Japanese guy was forced to wait to do his pommel horse routine. If he loses, the Karolyi's should blame the officials.

[Jimbo's Drinker]

I want to take this Gymnastic announcer back and beat him. What a little annoyance.

[SoxFan1]

I want to take this Gymnastic announcer back and beat him. What a little annoyance.

The fencing and swimming announcers are much MUCH worse.

[whitesoxfan101]

I want to take this Gymnastic announcer back and beat him. What a little annoyance.

 

I assume you mean the main broadcaster, Al Trautwig. Yeah, he's been a bit of a b**** and generally very mean (which is saying something, I never think announcers are mean enough) by what I've seen.

[Jimbo's Drinker]

I assume you mean the main broadcaster, Al Trautwig. Yeah, he's been a bit of a b**** and generally very mean (which is saying something, I never think announcers are mean enough) by what I've seen.

 

 

Yes, he is a bitter bitter man