Discussion 2008 Summer Olympics (Beijing)

[miyi]

wow, the olympics thus far has exceeded all my expectations. I missed almost the entire opening ceremony, but I was just in time for the lighting of the torch. It was phenomenal.

The little boy next to Yao Ming, and his story of how he saved his classmates in the earthquake, was just heartwarming.

And I can't believe Bob Costas when he interviewed President Bush, why he went into the politics. I don't think that was appropriate, but nevertheless Bush responded, and I don't think he anticipated being interrogated like that.

Other than that, so many amazing stories so far. Phelps is just killing it right now. I'm convinced he will grab all the gold medals, and the biggest competition he has, at this point, is himself.

And that 400 m relay was historic. I was just as pumped up as Phelps was, when Lezak made that historic come from behind win.

The men's Chinese gymnastic last night was superb. Too bad the US men's team squandered that silver opportunity, had they not screwed up that last event (the pommel horse). Oh well, I'm glad they at least got the Bronze, who would have thunk it, without the Hamm brothers.

I can't wait for the US Dream Team to redeem themselves after not winning the gold in the previous Olympics. I'll be disappointed if they don't win gold this time around, with Kobe and CP3 in the lineup. And even though China lost yesterday against Spain, I'm impressed at how much better they've gotten.

Overall, China and USA are leading the medals count. Anyway, I'm having a blast. The swimming is probably the most exciting event out of all the events, for the simple fact that there have been so many world-records being broken.

 

[predsfan]

Damn, Phelps is a machine. That is now 5 events, 5 gold medals, and I do believe that is also 5 world records. I don't possibly see how he won't get 8 golds this year.

And I can't believe Bob Costas when he interviewed President Bush, why he went into the politics. I don't think that was appropriate, but nevertheless Bush responded, and I don't think he anticipated being interrogated like that.

Hehe, I saw that. I couldn't believe Costas. First, he starts the interview by saying they only have a few minutes time (before they had to go to a commercial or something). I mean for god's sakes, it's the President you make time. I also loled at him trying to be an investigative reporter. Nothing like a sports guy trying to ask hard hitting questions .

And that 400 m relay was historic. I was just as pumped up as Phelps was, when Lezak made that historic come from behind win.

I know, that relay was f amazing. I was sitting there watching thinking damn, there is no way Lezak is catching that French guy(whom coincidently was the one who said something along the lines of "we are going to smash the Americans). I jumped out of my seat at that finish I was so excited.

I can't wait for the US Dream Team to redeem themselves after not winning the gold in the previous Olympics. I'll be disappointed if they don't win gold this time around, with Kobe and CP3 in the lineup.

I'll be disappointed if they don't win every game by 15-20 points. The team is that loaded.


Anyways, I can't wait to see if Phelps gets 8 golds. I also can't wait for track and field to start. To me, that is some of the most entertaining stuff to watch (minus the marathon type events). Anyway, lets go U.S.A. and Japan in soccer today. And as I say that a U.S. player gets sent off in the 4th minute .

 

[LB56]

Well, the US just got eliminated by Nigeria. We got a man ejected early on, and it's hard to beat a team when you're playing a man down the whole game. This just epitomizes US soccer in my opinion. We have lots of bad luck, and we can never seize an opportunity when it presents itself.

 

[kaliayev]

we've got a lot of crappy players too (relative to europe and certain south american teams). if you ask me, we were lucky to even do that well against the netherlands. does anyone really take olympic football seriously, though? i mean, it's mostly underage players with a limited sample of the best teams combined with some seriously bad teams from other regions. the world cup is much better in terms of the level of competition.

i think the way we gauge this medal race is a bit ridiculous (that's right, we measure it differently than the officials do). i mean, the only reason we think we're barely ahead of china is because we don't follow any weight system. if we wanna be consistent, then technically speaking, phelps is behind a couple of russians from ages past.

i think the french trash talking was blown out of proportion. both teams proved that they were way ahead of the class of the former wr. both of them should have been talking shit about everyone else. XD

 

[KnuckleheadedNinja]

Well, the US just got eliminated by Nigeria. We got a man ejected early on, and it's hard to beat a team when you're playing a man down the whole game. This just epitomizes US soccer in my opinion. We have lots of bad luck, and we can never seize an opportunity when it presents itself.

U.S. players don't have the mental strength needed, that why they always run into bad lucks. All there bad lucks came for a mental mistake. Take the guy that got ejecte for example, why the fuck will you elbow someone infront of the frecking refree and in the 4th minute too.

 

[LB56]

The mental toughness thing goes back to not seizing the opportunities they are presented. The USA choked under the pressure, and Nigeria more than deserved to win the game.

 

[predsfan]

Yeah, I knew we were screwed when they guy got carded early on. The funny thing is Nigeria almost gave us the game in the last 5 minutes. First the PK, then a free kick. GD cross bar. The U.S. was a couple inches away from going through. Argh!

 

[bigtymer32]

micheal phelps is the man.i love the olympics now is mens basketball takes the gold then i'll be happy

 

[LadyHatake]

YES. it's 1 am here and Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson have both taken Gold and Silver in the all-around for gymnastics. Despite some questionable scores, they pulled it off, and it's amazing! It's ridiculous how good they are.

 

[miyi]

YES. it's 1 am here and Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson have both taken Gold and Silver in the all-around for gymnastics. Despite some questionable scores, they pulled it off, and it's amazing! It's ridiculous how good they are.

lol, you beat me to it. Just finished watching it.

Nastia Liuken....I'm in love.


And boy! Michael Phelps won his 6th gold! in world record fashion, as usual.

the next two gold medals is dedicated to Ian Thorpe.

and Ryan Lochte edges fellow American Aaron Piersol for gold...He's "Mr. Runner-up" no more.

overall, it's been a good day for the Americans! Bring it on Beijing!


oh and also, I was watching a news segment talking about Michael Phelps diet...dang, he has a huge appetite, no wonder he has so much energy to begin with. It's all food being converted into muscles. Amazing.

 

[yoniekai]

michael phelps is an unfair phenom

btw what is your reaction to He being underage? personally i don't care what age she is, she was really good and she definitely deserved that gold. the Belas must still be fuming, but dunno its just me, 14 or whatever she was still the best in that event....

i'm religiously following on basketball. lithuania, spain, argentina and usa are the top four. it's smooth sailing for the US team again though

 

[~Lilium~]

Does anyone know what time on August 24 is the closing ceremony gonna be held?

 

[LB56]

michael phelps is an unfair phenom

btw what is your reaction to He being underage? personally i don't care what age she is, she was really good and she definitely deserved that gold. the Belas must still be fuming, but dunno its just me, 14 or whatever she was still the best in that event....

i'm religiously following on basketball. lithuania, spain, argentina and usa are the top four. it's smooth sailing for the US team again though

Well, it's not that surprising that He is underage. You can just look at half of the Chinese gymnastics team and tell they aren't over 16-years-old either. My problem with it is the same as Bela Karolyi's. The United States had two or three girls who were good enough to make our national team, but they were ineligible due to the fact that they are only 14 and 15.

I'm not trying to take away anything from the Chinese girls. They are obviously fantastic athletes, and they have worked very hard to get where they are. It's not their fault that their government, coaches, and parents feel the need to win so badly that they'll resort to falsifying documents and cheating. However, the Chinese have an unfair advantage in using those underage athletes, and they should be penalized for it in some way.

Sorry about the rant, we're really passionate about women's gymnastics where I go to school.

 

[kaliayev]

uh, i dunno if they still do this, but don't the chinese use a different system to calculate age? it typically adds about a year to the person's age based on western standards, but i don't think a person should be penalized for following their country's calendrical system.

 

[LB56]

No, I'm pretty sure it's all done the same to provide some sort of uniformity in international competition. Even if they do calculate age using their standards, which you say adds one year, 13 and 14 still don't equal 16 if you add one year. I don't want there medals stripped, because that would really seem like it was brought about from sour grapes on the part of the Americans. There's also the fact that Chinese did earn the gold. I'd be satisfied with a stern reprimand from the IOC, but it doesn't even seem like that's going to happen.

 

[predsfan]

Wow, I didn't think anything would top the 4 X 100m relay comeback, but damn if Phelps didn't top that. I thought for sure he lost the 100m fly, but he came back and won by 1/100 of a second . F' amazing. This is his first non world record, though. One race left for Phelps now.

 

[miyi]

Assuming it is true that some on the Chinese team are underage, then in my opinion, I think it would be best if the USA team accept the results, as is. I'd much prefer that the USA team are not perceived as sore losers because of all of this.

Technically, the USA team deserve the gold because the Chinese cheated. But at the same time, based on the competition itself, the Chinese won, fair and square. The latter should take precedence.

The only people who deserves to be penalized here are those who faked their passports, and the Olympic committee, for failing to verify their age. It sucks, but this shit happens.

 

[kaliayev]

anybody watching this belgium v italy game? i am laughing my ass off.

 

[predsfan]

Well, I think they can just hand the U.S. the golds in basketball. First they dominate Greece and now, they have absolutely destroyed Spain (37 point difference anyone). I suppose Argentina is the best team left they haven't played so I really don't see anyone giving them any competition (yay the old winking emoticon is back).

 

[Koen]

anybody watching this belgium v italy game? i am laughing my ass off.

As belgian I did and why?