Wilfrid Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 No thread? I just watched the last set of the Walsh/Ross beach volleyball tonight with the sound off. No matter how great Walsh is, listening to gushing anecdotes about her genius, without pause, on and on, is intolerable. For all sports, I wish there was an option to turn off commentary while retaining crowd noise. (What do volleyball commentators need to say, except to elucidate an unexpected ruling? It's not a mysterious sport.) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
prasantrin Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 my former student finished 17th in women's cycling road race. Time trial is next! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rich Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 The most useless sporting event ever created. At least when amateurs participated it was fun. Now it's all about politics and poker and drugs and ratings. Has been for the last 60 years with the last 35 being the worst. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hollywood Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 Opinions differ. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/10/opinion/the-olympics-make-a-grown-man-cry.html?ref=opinion&_r=0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wilfrid Posted August 10, 2016 Author Share Posted August 10, 2016 The most useless sporting event ever created. At least when amateurs participated it was fun. Now it's all about politics and poker and drugs and ratings. Has been for the last 60 years with the last 35 being the worst. All downhill since Tokyo '64 if you ask me. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rich Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 Opinions differ. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/10/opinion/the-olympics-make-a-grown-man-cry.html?ref=opinion&_r=0 But remember, that's the same author who at one time attempted to review restaurants. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Adrian Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 Scorchers. The old timey wealthy "amateurs" who didn't do drugs (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doping_in_sport), didn't get paid (https://books.google.ca/books?id=qmjLR5YyUhEC&pg=PA30&lpg=PA30&dq=soviet+athletes+paid&source=bl&ots=ZS-CvXiQan&sig=zSh2AEcuLrXL5_HzMgVk02xXf2U&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjWvLq5nrfOAhVPyGMKHcOHDCoQ6AEIKTAE#v=onepage&q=soviet%20athletes%20paid&f=false)* and kept politics out of it (https://www.ushmm.org/information/exhibitions/online-features/online-exhibitions/nazi-olympics-berlin-1936) truly were the keepers of the Olympic spirit. *note that official state payments stopped in 1947 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
taion Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 Rich speaks from the perspective of having been at the original Olympics in 776 BC, though. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Blondie Posted August 11, 2016 Share Posted August 11, 2016 Good thing I'll be back in West Cork soon, because just listening to Irish rowers the O'Donovan Brothers from Skibbereen is making me homesick. They're through to the Lightweight Double Sculls final, and their interviews are as Cork as you can get. There's a quick clip at the top of this article, but if you scroll to the bottom, there's a longer one where they credit their Nana for their success. A month from now will be real nailbiting time as my cousin's daughter competes in the Paralympics as part of the US Equestrian team. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
prasantrin Posted August 11, 2016 Share Posted August 11, 2016 My student finished 15th or maybe 13th in time trials. Afaik, she races clean, and I'm proud of what she had accomplished in such a short period of time. Good luck to your cousin's daughter, Blondie!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mongo_jones Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 my hero. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sneakeater Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 Whoever runs the Special Olympics should also run the Fat Olympics. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mongo_jones Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 personally, i think the olympics should only be open to regular people and i also think--some of you have heard this theory before--that it should only include sports whose skills will come in handy after a nuclear apocalypse when humans are returned to nomadic hunter-gatherer status. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
taion Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 Ah, the "not dying" event. That sounds like fun. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Blondie Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 Silver for the O'Donovan Brothers! Just .53 seconds behind France, and the first ever medal for Ireland in rowing. There'll be shteaks, shpuds and pints all around in Skib tonight. Edit: Post-race interview: "Mick Conlan said he'd box the head off us if we didn't get the gold" Edit: fixed link Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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