Althouse: Olympics open thread.

August 18, 2008

Olympics open thread.

Because MadisonMan asked for it.

34 comments:

Fen said...: Whats up with the judging on the women's floor vault? Horrible.; 8/18/08, 12:51 PM
Cedarford said...: Sunday, Rafa Nadal destroyed Gonzalez to win the Gold Medal for Olympics tennis. Today, independent of his Olympics success (he also got the silver medal in Athens) - Rafa takes over as the #1 tennis player in the world, finally winning his 2-year battle for the position with Roger Federer.

Roger, who was on top for 436 weeks, 4 1/2 years said Nadal absolutely earned his #1 spot. While Federer, to almost every fan in tennis's cheers - won his own Beijing gold in doubles - where he showed a dazzling ability in a new line of tennis play for him.

Life is damn good this week for Nadal.; 8/18/08, 1:00 PM
MadisonMan said...: Thank you!

Nastia -- best name! -- was robbed by the Aussie judges. I don't understand why you can't have a tied Gold Medal. It's not like you've been beaten. What would have happened in the 100-fly if Phelps had been 0.01 second slower?

I don't like the TV people picking up the voices of the parents in the stands. I noticed with Mrs. Phelps, and then again yesterday with the American 100-m sprinter's mother.; 8/18/08, 1:10 PM
Anonymous said...: Although I love to watch the females gymnasts, for their skill, determinations and often great cuteness, I typically hate judged events to include figure skating and diving.

I have enjoyed watching and have watched more than I anticipated. Hopefully I'll get as much out of Track and Field as I did swimming and Mr. Bolt got me off to a great start. Another great name.; 8/18/08, 1:31 PM
Original Mike said...: What would have happened in the 100-fly if Phelps had been 0.01 second slower?

Rock, paper, scissors?

Yeah, I don't have much respect for scored competition.; 8/18/08, 1:37 PM
kjbe said...: team handball looks like quite a boring game, from a participants point view. There seems to be very little room to maneuver. And does anyone know the rules?; 8/18/08, 1:45 PM
Original Mike said...: Nastia -- best name! -- was robbed by the Aussie judges. I don't understand why you can't have a tied Gold Medal.

MM, I'm not sure what you're implying. Was a score adjusted to make sure there wasn't a tie.; 8/18/08, 1:55 PM
Trooper York said...: She lost points because she didn't stay in the cone of silence.; 8/18/08, 2:10 PM
MadisonMan said...: nastia and the Chinese "woman" tied, and the tiebreaker included looking at the the deductions that weren't used in the actual score -- I think high and low are thrown out for that, and that included an incredibly large deduction from the Aussie judge for the American.

I think that's how the tiebreakers work in gymnastics. Maybe it also includes lunar cycle information and air quality indices.; 8/18/08, 2:12 PM
titushwhat said...: I wonder if the girls gymanstics team has an official beav waxer or if the girls shave each other

That would be an important topic to get to the bottom of.; 8/18/08, 2:13 PM
titushwhat said...: Nadal's hot.

James Blake is really hot.

Roger is hot too.

I like hot.; 8/18/08, 2:14 PM
Original Mike said...: Chinese "woman"

LOL; 8/18/08, 2:20 PM
MadisonMan said...: titus, do you think the male gymnasts shave each other, or are they just naturally smooth?

I have to say the shaved pit look on the men is extremely weird. And that Spaniard's (pommel horse Gold) ear studs? Yuck.; 8/18/08, 2:27 PM
J. Cole said...: The "Olympic Spirit" seems to be heavily contaminated with collectivist, fascist, and socialist sentiments. While the Olympics are interesting in some respects whenever I ponder them for very long I am disturbed by what they symbolize.; 8/18/08, 2:31 PM
titushwhat said...: Men's gymasts shaving each other-instant hard on.

I would pay big money for pictures or a video of that happening.

I love Raj so much.; 8/18/08, 2:32 PM
MadisonMan said...: I'm looking forward to the 200-m men's sprints. Can Lightning Bolt win twice?

I like how in the running prelims the winners all coast in. Does it really make a difference after hours of rest if you run hard-out for 17 vs. 20 seconds or 65 vs. 70?

I think beach volleyball is a much more challenging game than "regular" volleyball. Has anyone ever played both in the Olympics? Why hasn't NBC told me this!?; 8/18/08, 2:45 PM
Methadras said...: Original Mike said...

What would have happened in the 100-fly if Phelps had been 0.01 second slower?

Rock, paper, scissors?

Yeah, I don't have much respect for scored competition.

Is it possible to have a tie in a swimming event? And if so, would the best possible way to resolve it is in having only the two swimmers that tied to have a swim-off?; 8/18/08, 3:25 PM
Anonymous said...: Karch Kiraly won Gold in 84 and 88in regular team VB for the US and Beach Volleyball in 96. He was a dominant force in the legitimizing of beach volleyball. He's an NBC analyst for the sport.

Beach Volleyball is easier to watch on TV, indoor VB (six on six) is better in person, not unlike hockey.; 8/18/08, 3:28 PM
Original Mike said...: Just give them both medals. What's wrong with that?; 8/18/08, 4:07 PM
Larry J said...: I don't understand why you can't have a tied Gold Medal. It's not like you've been beaten. What would have happened in the 100-fly if Phelps had been 0.01 second slower?

You can have a tie for the Gold. It happened in a swimming event back in the 1984 Los Angles games when two American women had exactly the same time in the 100 meter freestyle event. They were both awarded with gold metals. That's the only reasonable thing to do.; 8/18/08, 4:11 PM
MadisonMan said...: The problem is that the Gymnastics Overlords Decreed No Ties at the Olympics. So the silly tiebreak ensued.

I liked listening to Bela Karolyi.; 8/18/08, 4:19 PM
Original Mike said...: I thought there was a tie for second in this Olympics (womens swimming, I think). If you give out 2 silvers, do you also give out the bronze?; 8/18/08, 4:24 PM
blake said...: Bela's a hoot.

I liked that he called out the judges on the vaulting.

I want to know why the silence about the pre-pubescent gymnasts?; 8/18/08, 5:10 PM
Original Mike said...: Because MadisonMan asked for it.

I'd be worried, MM. When my Dad said I had "asked for it", it was a bad sign.; 8/18/08, 5:29 PM
rhhardin said...: Armstrong and Getty on the cockswain's duties, to sit there and yell

``You people suck! You call that rowing?!''

podcast see 29m50s ff (file is 38m19s); 8/18/08, 6:47 PM
vbspurs said...: I haven't clicked on the thread all day, in case of spoilers, but just to congratulate the first US Gold Medalist in the discus since 1932!! YAY!

Not to be catty, but the ladies discus throwers out fugly even the Ladies German soccer team.

And that's saying something...; 8/18/08, 7:54 PM
Sprezzatura said...: 1) Maybe Natasia was cheated. But, she got the big prize. And, her public (and presumably private) attitude about the issue is 100% perfect. Very wise.

2) I hope folks have CBC, there are times when they have better coverage than the GE offerings, especially for the "big events" that run evenings on NBC, with a delay for us in the West. CBC seems to run without a delay across time zones.

3) Are women getting more coverage? It seems so from my unscientific perspective. Not that I'm complaining; the more woman's beach volleyball, the better.; 8/18/08, 8:24 PM
TitusThatsEntertainment said...: Nastia is pissed tonight.

I love that name. I wish my name was Nastia. Can you all call me Nastia now?; 8/18/08, 10:19 PM
TitusThatsEntertainment said...: I haven't seen one pube tonight. Great job by the beave waxer.; 8/18/08, 10:20 PM
vbspurs said...: 3) Are women getting more coverage? It seems so from my unscientific perspective. Not that I'm complaining; the more woman's beach volleyball, the better.

Good point. And I'd say, "By far".

Is it because they're racking up more medals and getting to more Finals, though? It would then be normal, rather than contrived (due to sexiness, etc.).

The US WNT have made it to a record 4th Olympic Final in a row, versus Brazil.

The 1-2-3 in fencing.

The stronger US female gymnasts.

The female swimmers.

Kerri and Misty.

The first sculls since 1988 and the 8 Lady rowers who won gold.

Even the female discus thrower who won US gold for the first time since 1932.

I mean, except for Phelps and Bolt who is Jamaican, there really haven't been too many guys standing out so far, for US-centric coverage.

Cheers,
Victoria; 8/18/08, 11:16 PM
vbspurs said...: I want to know why the silence about the pre-pubescent gymnasts?

Quite.

Those are the perils of dealing with kids born in questionable bureaucratic countries. There's even Freddy Adu, who is probably 30 years older than they say he is. ;)

You know, I feel sorry for Nastia. Why the heck can't they have double golds, like they do in all the other sports?

Bela is a blow-hard (love him), but he's totally right about this.; 8/18/08, 11:18 PM
Sprezzatura said...: vbspurs,

I'd add the marathon, soccer, softball, triathlon, handball, ping pong, velodrome, road bike race, tennis, indoor volleyball, wrestling, weightlifting, and possibly others that don't come to mind just now.

I've seen the women in these more than the men (by the way, CBC was pushing a Canadian woman wrestler, so I did mean to include wrestling.) And, the US hasn't dominated many of these, so that's not the reason. Of course my viewing is random, I may be missing all of the men competing. And, a further complication is that I see a fair amount of the Canadian coverage.

And, other than boxing and the track stuff, I do find the women more interesting. Though I don't care for the gymnastics or diving; man or woman (girl for gymnastics.) So, maybe I'm self-selecting the women.

All I know for sure is that I really like the Olympics this year, so my observation isn't a complaint.

And, I know that there is a big difference between summer and winter. Sorry Mitt fans, but the summer games are a lot more complicated, diverse, and interesting.

China is off the charts, but compare their $43 billion investment or the disparaged Athens mess that cost $15 billion with the $2 or $3 billion spent on the last two winter Olympics.

Looking forward; Canada expects to spend less than a couple billion for the winter games, but London is expected to be close to twenty billion.; 8/19/08, 1:35 AM
Sprezzatura said...: I remembered more; add field hockey, diving, and badminton for woman domination of the coverage.; 8/19/08, 1:59 AM
al said...: Here's a couple of U.S. Gold Medal winners that you probably havn't heard of:

Skeet - U.S. Army Pfc. Vincent Hancock

Double Trap - Spc. Walton Glenn Eller III, of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit. Images of Eller; 8/19/08, 7:11 AM