The Olympics

[Madman]

So has anyone been watching the Olympics?

I know there was the thread earlier about where you get your Olympic news from, but nobody has talked about any of the Olympic stories. I think there have been a few really good stories in the past week.

First of all, the best story has to be about Paul Hamm. He is the first American male All-Around gymnastics gold medal winner. I personally think he showed true strength of character during the event. For those of you who don't know or haven't been paying attention Hamm fell on his vault landing and ended up in 12th place after the 4th rotation. With 2 rotations left to go he picked himself up and said 'Well I can go for the bronze.' His effort was rewarded with the gold when he got an 9.837 on both the parrell bars and the high bar. It was the closest medal race in the history of gymnastics.

The next has to be Carly Patterson, the so called next Mary Lou. She is the first American woman All-Around gymnastics gold medal winner since Mary Lou Retton and the first one in a non boycotted Olympics. She had to fight for her medal too, although it wasn't as tough a fight as Hamms. It did however come down to the last rotation and she was the last gymnast to perform. Patterson had to score over a 9.5 and she drilled a 9.725.

The third big story is the American swiming team, both the mens and womans. Obviously the star of the story is Michael Phelps who the media hyped up to be the next Mark Spitz. I personally think that the media way overhyped Phelps. I honestly don't think he had a chance to win eight gold medals, much less seven, but I think he will pull off 6 of them if he gets the spot in 4x100m medley relay team. He currently has 4 golds and 2 bronzes.  The mens team also upset Australia to win the 4x200m freestyle relay by the slimest of margins. Aaron Piersol picked up gold for the 100m and 200m backstroke.

On the womens side, you have Amanda Beard and Natalie Coughlin who although they haven't won as many gold medals as the men they have certain done their share. Coughlin has won 2 golds (one a relay gold), 1 relay silver and 1 bronze, Beard has 1 gold and 1 silver.  Kaitlin Sandano has a bronze, silver and a relay gold.

Another big story has obviously been the mens basketball team. I am rather torn about them, on one hand I almost want them to lose because they all seem so smug, arrogant and money grubbing, but on the other hand I don't want them to lose because they are the American team. It almost looks like they have pulled their heads out of their collective asses and started to play the game like a team instead of 5 guys playing the same game.

Other interesting stories include the passing of the guard in track and field; the scandal plagued older stars are finding themselves pressured by the young up and coming stars. America had their first ever womens gold medal winner in fencing (it may have been the first American gold fencing medal ever). Tyler Hamilton proved that there are other American cyclists besides Lance Armstrong by taking the mens time trial race. The Romanian women have come back to their gymnastic form and picked up the team gold, while the American women picked up the silver. The American men picked up the team silver which is the first time that has ever happened.

Those are the things I can think of off the top of my head, but I am quite sure there are some I am missing. I know there doesn't seem to be much interest in this years Olympics, but there really are some good stories coming out of it.

As for all of you who don't like NBC's coverage, what you have to remember is that we are in America and as such they are naturally going to concentrate on covering American athletes. I think that is only natural and I am quite sure that other athletes are getting preferential coverage in their home countries. Besides the fact that NBC is using tape delays to show the more popular events during primetime, I haven't had a problem with the coverage. I have seen them do little special segments on Americans of course, but I have also seen them do special segments on premier athletes from other countries as well.

For those of you asking why you should care, it is because this is the Olympics and it doesn't simply happen every year. The Olympics are about the pure spirit of sports, these athletes spend their entire lives preparing for these games. They don't do it for money, they don't do it to get popular, they do it for the love of the sport and that makes all the difference in the world.

[stray]

I've been trying to keep up with the Olympics when I can. I don't care if America wins this or that, I like watching all the competitors, but it's cool when they do. What I don't like is the whining and poor sportsmanship I've seen a couple of times. The latest is South Korea protesting the Gold medal for Paul Hamm.

Another big story has obviously been the mens basketball team. I am rather torn about them, on one hand I almost want them to lose because they all seem so smug, arrogant and money grubbing, but on the other hand I don't want them to lose because they are the American team.

I'm not sure what the hell happened with USA Basketball. They should be tearing right through these other teams. Duncan and Odom are a couple of the least ego-centric, more team oriented players around, so it isn't their fault. They have the perfect coach too, but it isn't helping. Who they could have used as the second captain instead of Iverson (though I'm not really blaming Iverson either) is Jason Kidd. Just having him on the court puts players in a team mentality. He would have racked up more assists than what the team as a whole has done so far.

Too late for that now, but maybe they'll pull through, who knows. If they don't make it, there's always Ginobli and Argentina.

Oh, and you forgot the girls. USA Softball. They haven't won yet, but they're 7-0 without giving up one run so far. 41-0 on runs, 52-17 on strikeouts, and a .346 to .080 batting average against their opponents. I don't watch a lot of baseball or softball, but it's probably the only sport that actually gets better (instead of boring) when it's total domination.

[Murgos]

I'm not sure what the hell happened with USA Basketball. They should be tearing right through these other teams.

Most of the players asked to go to Greece and represent thier country in the Olympics refused so we are left with an unbalanced team that wasn't designed to play the kind of ball expected in international competition.

In othernews, Shaq just added another wing to his 70,000 sq. ft. mansion in Orlando.

[Margalis]

That Hamm guy won due to a scoring error.

Now, this is what I really don't get. EVERYONE agrees there was a scoring error. Not some skewed subjectivity, but a technical error. They SHOULD strip Hamm of the gold and give it to the other guy.

Sometimes judges are flaky or make terrible subjective calls, but that's a slippery slope. This is not. This was a flat out mistake.

If I were Hamm I would give that other guy the gold medal. His coach says his medal doesn't deserve an asterisk. Why not? He came in second. There's no point keeping the gold medal knowing that you really weren't the best.
---

Gymnastics is one of the most popular Olympic sports, so it's hard to figure how they keep screwing up. 4 years ago they fucked up the Vault height and the favorite totally missed it in the women's comp. Not only was that an incredible fuck up, it was quite dangerous.

[Madman]

There are rules for protesting a score and the koreans didn't follow them. That is why they aren't stripping the gold away from Hamm. Korea had plenty of opportunity to challenge the score that night, but they didn't do it, so unfortunately the protest they filed was basically invalid.

[daveNYC]

Scoring error or not, the fact that the guy went from falling into the judges table to a gold medal is impressive.  The S.K. guy must have fucked up badly.

[LadyGuardian]

Reportedly, the Koreans did complain right after his routine, but were told they have to wait until after the event to protest. You'd think that everyone would know the procedure if they are good enough to get to that level of the games. They suspended the judge from future events, though the results still cannot be changed.

[Rasix]

Scoring error or not, the fact that the guy went from falling into the judges table to a gold medal is impressive.  The S.K. guy must have fucked up badly.

Actually the Chinese gymnast in the lead really fucked up badly.  He would have won hands down if he didn't fall on the high bar (I think that's where he blew it) and end up with around a 8.7.  The South Koreans were both really steady yet somewhat unspectacular.  Hamm just really nailed his last two events.  His high bar routine was flawless.  

The guy really went out there after that bad fall and put forth a gold medal effort.  Scoring fuck up or no, he performed like a champion.

[Teleku]

Boy, this is going to make Americans even more popular in South Korea than they already where.

[Margalis]

There are rules for protesting a score and the koreans didn't follow them. That is why they aren't stripping the gold away from Hamm.

Those rules are dumb. Hamm came in second, the end. It shouldn't be on the Koreans to follow the correct procedure to get the medal they earned.

[Rasix]

There are rules for protesting a score and the koreans didn't follow them. That is why they aren't stripping the gold away from Hamm.

Those rules are dumb. Hamm came in second, the end. It shouldn't be on the Koreans to follow the correct procedure to get the medal they earned.

Then what's to stop them from going home, sitting on it for a month or two, then all of the sudden having a moment of clarity and declaring, "HEY, we should have won that fucking thing".  Then they could go scour the tape, look over the reports, and file a protest!  Perhaps they could write in blood on a piece of paper and ship it inside a severred horse head.

There's rules, fucko.  You don't follow them, too bad, so sad, next.  Welcome to the modern world.

In other related, we can't lose gracefully: Mrs. I-Need-A-Sandwich feels she was hoodwinked! Quite honestly, her floor routine sucked. Yes, it was pretty, but it sucked.  

Hey, if that one judge in swimming had followed the disqualification procedure correctly, we would have screwed out of a swimming medal we won by 3 goddamn seconds for committing a phantom infraction.  But guess what? That would have sucked but it would have been the breaks, how the cookie crumbles, etc.  

People don't know how to lose with dignity and it makes me sick.

[Margalis]

Edit: I wrote a big thing, but this whole conversation is retarded, and it's men's gymnastics, a sport no normal person cares about more than 2 weeks every 4 years.

In general I think subjectively judged sports are barely sports and have no place in the Olympics. The margin of error is larger than the margin of victory. I prefer controversy of the "who was on what" variety.

[Arcadian Del Sol]

My favorite olympic moments:

1. After showing the world he was a huge braggart, Micheal Phelps surrendered his seat on a relay team that would assure him another gold medal - so that a team mate who was likely in his last Olympic games, could have his spot on the team, and a gold medal. The team won gold, and broke the world record.

2. one word would certainly be enough: Dimas. But worth noting is that its not a favorite moment of mine because he won - because he failed to be the first man to win four straight gold medals. It was his gesture of removing his shoes and leaving them behind as he walked off waving to his fans - Dimas was making his exit from the stage. In response, as he was announced the bronze medal winner, the packed house cheered his name for four solid minutes, and refused to let the ceremony proceed. The diminuative titan will be missed.

3. Controversies about how other gymnasts were scored, nothing can take away from Paul Hamm's recovery. After a stumble that had him collide into the judge's table, he put on the performance of his life - and whether someone else should have scored higher does not diminish Paul's score, in light of how far he had fallen. He's a life lesson in determination, and never giving up no matter how conclusive the future may seem.

4. After their gold medal ceremony, the US 8 crew rowing team scooped their coxswain, 5 foot tall Pete Cipollone into the water. Its nice to see that despite all the pressure and all the work and all the marketing, sports is still about getting together with friends and just having the time of your life.

[kidder]

My favorite olympic moments:

1. After showing the world he was a huge braggart, Micheal Phelps surrendered his seat on a relay team that would assure him another gold medal - so that a team mate who was likely in his last Olympic games, could have his spot on the team, and a gold medal. The team won gold, and broke the world record.

That was nice of him, but how many freaking times must the media bring it up?  In each interview they ask him the same damn question, just reworded, several times.

Womens softball is the best.  The US team hasn't even been SCORED on yet.  45-0 in the olympics so far?  That should be gold medal worthy right there.  Or womens beach volleyball.  Yikes!!!

[kaid]

Paul Hamm did a great job of not giving up. He flubbed badly but so did the other two guys. There were some serious mistakes made by all three of the medal winners at the end there.

Still I can see the bronze winners complaint he got screwed by a horrible stupid mistake of the judges. They left it simmer for to long and I don't think there is going to be any really clean way out of the mess they made. It likely will end with Hamm and the other guy both getting gold medals.

Kaid

[El Gallo]

Shaq not showing up is not the problem with the US basketball team.  They dominate inside.  The problem is that they don't have anyone that can reliably shoot from the 3 point line.  It isn't like a long line of great outside shooters turned the team down either (I can't even think of who the best shooter that turned the team down was.  Bibby?)  The real problem is that the US just doesn't produce great shooters anymore.

The Romanian gymnastics team was amazing to watch, the ranged from very solid to OMG on every performance during the team competition.  

The 100M is always my favorite thing to watch, so I don't much care who wins, but I do wish that the eventual winner and his buddy hadn't acted like jackmonkeys in the semifinal.  The race was amazing though, hard to imagine you can run under 9.9 now and finish out of the medals.

I feel bad about it, but I just want Phelps off my TV now.  Seems like a nice guy and an amazing talent, but overexposed.

Hamm's comeback was cool no matter what.  It would have been cool if he had placed anywhere in the top 3.  

While she is annoying personally, it would have been nice to see Khorkina win a gold in the individual just to cap off her stellar career.  She just was not her usual self this Olympics it seems.

As for NBC, I think they have sucked hard.  Half the time, the way they splice the coverage together for the recast gives away who won.  This was especially true in gymnastics.  Right before the US women were doing their floor exercise the announcer said "the question is whether the US can hold off Russia for the silver" or somesuch.  My wife and I were "uh, I kind of bet that they do since they have only showed one Russian (Khorkina) on the past 2 apparatuses and have only been showing the US and Romanians"  Same thing with the womens individual, you knew who the top 2 were going to be because those were the only 2 you saw in every event I think.

Their track coverage was f'ed because of sound balance.  Whenever the stadium PA was going, I couldn't hear the TV announcers at all.  Can't they do something about that in the 5 hours between the event and showing it?

Plus, a very little Bob Costas goes a very long way with me, but that's personal taste I guess.

[Arcadian Del Sol]

I like Costas. Strokes 'n Folks.

I heard that the 3point line for the olympics is significantly closer than the NBA 3 point line, and that might be the reason we can't hit from outside the key - they're just making the same shots they've been making since high school, and are throwing bricks against the boards.

[Paelos]

Their multi-million dollar athletic professionals. One would imagine the ability to adjust is what makes them great. Apparently its the ability to play street ball and dunk it IN YO FACE, UHHHH!

[WayAbvPar]

This column summarizes my feelings about the coverage almost exactly. It is so hard to watch the Olympics with any feel of continuity or structure- the American coverage hops around like a Ritalin-starved hummingbird.

[Rasix]

Their multi-million dollar athletic professionals. One would imagine the ability to adjust is what makes them great. Apparently its the ability to play street ball and dunk it IN YO FACE, UHHHH!

Kevin McHale has been quoted saying something to the effect that the NBA doesn't draft good basketball players anymore, they just look for a person with a huge athletic upside with basketball skills being a weak secondary.  I wonder if players like John Stockton, Mark Price, or a Reggie Miller would even get a second look by most of today's scouts.  We're getting killed because we draft and groom players to play NBA basketball; they just aren't good enough fundamentally to be able to adapt with any sort of quickness. Anyhow, sorry to continue derailing, I'm just happy to see them lose.  I really miss the days when basketball was something worth watching.

Another great story from this Olympics has to be the Chilean men's tennis.  How great were these guys?  Gold in singles, gold in doubles, and a bronze in singles.   They still managed to win all of their final matches despite playing close to 11 matches and more than 24 hours of tennis a piece in a span of 7 days.  Neither of these guys were top 10 players coming in but still managed to make their way through a pretty packed field.   The gold medal match while 5 sets, wasn't nearly as good as the bronze medal match that went to 16-14 in the third set.  The gold medal match, while a tightly contested 5 setter, was marred by sloppy performance by Mardy Fish (USA) and Nicolas Massau simply running out of gas at different points during the match.   These were the first Summer Olympic medals for their country.

Unfortunately we're getting to track and field.  I find this stuff somewhat less entertaining than the rest of the games, although the 200 and 400m are both fun races to watch.

[schild]

Stuff

Olympic Soup for the Soul.

[stray]

Kevin McHale has been quoted saying something to the effect that the NBA doesn't draft good basketball players anymore, they just look for a person with a huge athletic upside with basketball skills being a weak secondary.....I really miss the days when basketball was something worth watching.

C'mon, basketball isn't nearly as bad as it was in early/mid 90's. I couldn't even watch it back then, but it's starting to get interesting again. This list goes on and on of smart, well rounded players in the NBA. Some are on this team (Duncan, Marion, Lebron James, Lamar Odom, Dwayne Wade), some aren't (Kidd, Ray Allen, Bryant, McGrady, Paul Pierce and many more). Some are foreigners playing on opposing Olympic teams (Arroyo, Ginobli, Gasol, Ming, Nowitzski), but in the NBA nonetheless.

Kevin McCale would give his left nut for a Tim Duncan. Duncan practically is Kevin McCale x 2. He plays exactly like him. McCale's own find, Kevin Garnett, falls more under the category of "street baller" (and mind you, I like Garnett a lot).

EDIT: I guess after all is said and done, it doesn't matter. Foreign teams have stepped up their game in the last 10-15 years. Simple as that.

[Rasix]

Stuff.

Ugg.... I really don't want to detrail this further but you're making it hard to resist.  I think I'll leave at "I disagree with what you said and think you need to drop the crack pipe." I mean really, Kevin Garnett, street ball? DO YOU WATCH THE NBA AT ALL? (This is a jerkish rhetorical question, no need to answer)

We should start another thread for this.

To get somewhat back on topic.  I know I'm alone here, but I liked Phelps and will miss him for the games.  He was humble and unassuming unlike vainglorious cockmongers like Thorpe and Hall.  The overexposure is a bit much, but that's modern Olympic coverage for you.  If there's no legit hero they'll create one, and if there is he'll get more air play than that Maroon 5 song.  It'll be interesting to see if he comes back next year and doesn't burn out or hurt himself because he runs just a ton of races. Plus, with the strange nature of swimming, he may have peaked at age 19 and some kid will come along and kick his ass in 4 years.

[Elohite]

Michael Phelps may not have swum in the final of the relay but he still gets a medal for having swum in the heats.  Still very cool of him to step aside though.  He's getting plaudits here in the UK for being an all around good guy.

Having experienced the NBC coverage of the Atlanta games in 96 and the BBC coverage of the Games before and since I have to say I do prefer the BBC coverage.  It does take over TV for two weeks but the Beeb goes for analysis instead of schmaltz.  The BBC would rather show an Indonesian and a South Korean playing badminton for a gold medal than some lame 20 minutes of how a_british_athlete_00 overcame chicken pox at age 8 to become a halfway decent swimmer.  We don't go for that sort of stuff.  Sporting coverage is about sports.

[stray]

Stuff.

Ugg.... I really don't want to detrail this further but you're making it hard to resist.  I think I'll leave at "I disagree with what you said and think you need to drop the crack pipe." I mean really, Kevin Garnett, street ball? DO YOU WATCH THE NBA AT ALL? (This is a jerkish rhetorical question, no need to answer)

That's all cool if you disagree, but chill out, man. I said I liked Garnett, remember? He's one of my top 3 favorite players right now.

It's not like I said he was a street baller anyways, I just said he's closer to that category. And all I mean by that is that he's a finesse player, more offensively minded, and moves around more than he does play the post.

He's definitely well rounded, but he often cycles to small forward when other big (as in size) starters are in the game. He's said himself that guys like Duncan, Shaq, and Ben or Rasheed Wallace are the hardest for him to play against. He's a 7 ft tall Michael Jordan, because this is the type of player he looked up to when learning. Not a Kareem, a McHale, or Bill Russell. That's a whole other game that isn't used much outside of school, and which isn't his strong point, as a 7 footer. Doesn't mean he sucks or anything -- he's fucking awesome.

[Rasix]

Heh, to go even further off topic....

Garnett was just born too goddamn tall I think.  No one that tall should be playing as softly as he does.  Maybe we're not seeing eye to eye on the street ball concept, but in general I'm talking about the influx of high schoolers, swingmen, and raw athletic talent that's undermining my ability to enjoy watching the NBA.  

Take for instance, Andre Igudola (sp).  After watching this clown on our NBA combine team (UofA); I could safely say this guy needs more time in the college crockpot before coming out.  But, because of his ability to jump through the damn roof, and do other stuff moderately well, he's a lottery pick. It's no secret the guy can't hit a 15-20' foot jumper worth crap but goddamn he can cram the ball home on a break and he's got long arms!  And this is seeminly how all teams draft: upside.  "One day this kid will be good" or "damn he's athletic" in my opinion has turned the NBA into a game that's all about individual athletic ability and less about playing basketball well.

And the rhetorical is "do you watch" comment. It's obvious you do, it's just we have a completely different view of what's good basketball it seems.   Still, I don't know if a return to fundamental would make the current game more watchable.  Detroit v. Indiana, Lakers v. Minn, and the finals were just horrid.

[WayAbvPar]

FWIW, I am with Rasix on this. The current brand of NBA ball is just hideous, especially compared to 80s (when there were TEAMS, not 5 assholes standing around balancing their checkbooks in their heads). I am so beyond tired of watching these idiots stand around for 20 seconds, then either drive to the hoop and throw up a prayer with 3 defenders draped all over them, or lean back and clank a 25 footer off the back iron.

I am actively rooting against the USA in the Olympics just so it will give the NBA a big fat black eye. Not that it will do any good, but perhaps one day NBA owners will quit paying children millions of dollars in the hope that they will one day be competent. If these kids are the best available, it is time to retract the league by a few teams to deepen the talent pool.

[stray]

And this is seeminly how all teams draft: upside.

Yeah, I see what you're saying. Definitely didn't mean to put Garnett in that category, far from it. Andre Igoudola may be an exception too. He's kinda freakish. We'll see, I guess.

Some of the time though, when I see scouting reports for new players, they almost go something like this: "He jumps high. He even jumps high when he shoots! He's also tall. Giant Wingspan. An Amazing Talent." Oookay.

What's sad is that there are good players, but many aren't noticed. Manu Ginobli could have easily been one of those guys, but got lucky. Popovich knew how to use him.

Stanislav Medvedenko, on the Lakers, might not have impressive physical qualities, but the guy's smart and a great shooter. He was considered one of the best in the Slavic countries. Here, he's considered one of the worst. He's relegated to picking up scraps, warming the bench for Shaq, using plays that don't play to his strengths, and playing Center when he really isn't one. Shaq breaks his big toe, Slava gets a few games to pick up, and the guy proves he's top notch. Yet, no one gives a shit. Not even his own team. All they're concerned about is having a 7 footer to fill in for Shaq's benchtime.

[Madman]

This column summarizes my feelings about the coverage almost exactly. It is so hard to watch the Olympics with any feel of continuity or structure- the American coverage hops around like a Ritalin-starved hummingbird.

Unfortunately, by choosing that article you have invalidated your complaint. I have a lot less respect for the Couch Slouch (I read him in the Chicago Sun Times) now since reading that article. The reason is his very first question at the end of the article:

Q. Who is your favorite play-by-play/analyst duo? (Tom Strong; Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)

A. In baseball, ESPN's Jon Miller and Joe Morgan; in basketball, TNT's Marv Albert and Mike Fratello; in football, ABC's Al Michaels and John Madden; in poker, the Travel Channel's Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten or ESPN's Lon McEachern and Norman Chad (no relation).

See, the Couch Slouch just proved that he is the ultimate moron by choosing ESPN's Miller and Morgan as his favorite baseball commentators. Those two are easily the WORST commentators in baseball history. Miller does nothing but suck the cock of his favorite team at the moment even if they aren't playing and Morgan is basically lost for the entire game. I am firmly conviced that Morgan doesn't even know what the hell he is saying over 90% of the time.

As for the NBC coverage, again we are in America and we are supposed to be covering American athletes. I personally think that NBC has actually done a fairly good job of giving other athletes their due respect. As for the entire package, that is just the way the Olympics are run now and really don't see a problem with it. I have been watching the prime time replay and I honestly haven't minded the way it has been shown. I don't need them to stay at the pool for 5-10 minutes between races, so cut and send me to a gymnastics event or something else.

As I said before, I don't particularly care for the tape delay on the most popular events, but I can certainly understand it. Even though it is done partially for the ratings, it is also done because that is when the average American is going to be home and those are the events that the average American wants to see. I guess I just don't get your complaint about the Olympics hopping around because that is always what the Olympics has done. Would you rather watch the 5-10 minutes of prep time between gymnastics events or would you rather have NBC cut that and show a swimming race?

[Romp]

To get somewhat back on topic.  I know I'm alone here, but I liked Phelps and will miss him for the games.  He was humble and unassuming unlike vainglorious cockmongers like Thorpe and Hall.  

I'm sorry but what the fuck are you talking about here... Ian Thorpe is one of the nicest and most humble guys on the planet.  Phelps was the one that came across as arrogant to me, I've never seen someone so pissed off to receive a Bronze medal.  Stepping aside in the relay was a nice gesture but the Americans were always going to win after the Australians were eliminated in the heats so he knew he was going to get the gold anyway.  He's probably a great guy but I dont really know that much about him, unlike Thorpe who I have seen been interviewed hundreds of times and is basically reknowned for being an all round nice guy.

[Rasix]

Heh, must be different media coverage.  Thorpe in what we see here comes off as arrogant.  So he's a nice guy. I stand corrected. Sorry, you'd have more access to him as an Aussie (and I guess he's a big thing there, so sorry again).  And Gary Hall is a cockmunch.  1 for 2.

And I'm not sure what you're talking about being pissed for with the bronze.  If it's the relay, it's understandable, some of our best guys had shitty splits (I don't think we'd beat that South African team though, they're a bunch of rockets).  In his 200 he was just out there for fun and the opportunity to race against 2 guys Thorpe and van den Hoogewhatever because they're two of the best. It's not even remotely one of his best events. He seemed happy with the bronze when he won it.

[Romp]

He looked pissed after both his bronze medals to me but I dont want to start a debate about it.  From the Aussie coverage, Phelps came across as arrogant, to you it was Thorpe, just goes to show how much media coverage can affect your opinion.

[Arcadian Del Sol]

He looked pissed after both his bronze medals to me but I dont want to start a debate about it.  From the Aussie coverage, Phelps came across as arrogant, to you it was Thorpe, just goes to show how much media coverage can affect your opinion.

To properly root for the home town favorite, you have to hate to other guy just a little bit.

I suspect that both guys are pretty nice fellers. They seemed pretty genunie in slapping one another on the back after their event(s). I think that both of them are just puppets in the need for media to generate buzz and hype about an Olympic games that clearly, nobody cares to pay attention to. At the women's overall gymnastics, you could drop a paper napkin and hear it from across the auditorium. For the most popular event in the games, thats BAD.

When you have the American press promoting the whole "HES GONNA GET ELEVENTY HUNDRED GOLD MEDALS" thing for Phelps, I'm sure it broadcasts to other nations as arrogance. Phelps has been all over the Baltimore local media for the last 5 months and believe me, he's just like you and me only that he swims like greased lightning. Over here in America, the whole "Thorpedo" thing broadcasts as outright arrogance and smugness - and I'm willing to bet that Ian Thorpe doesn't even care for the nickname.

So lets all just agree to blame the teleprompt readers.

[El Gallo]

My new favorite moment has to be the crowd going absolutely nuts when the judges royally screwed Nemov last night.  10 solid minutes of humiliation for those worthless cockgoblin gymnastics judges.  Luckily that Italian guy put on a great show and won the gold.  If Hamm had been handed that gold I think the crowd would have burned the arena down.

As for Phelps/Thorpe, I think that is because the US media tries to portray him as an invincible Goliath to set up the sploogefest whenever an American comes ahead of him.  Phelps vs Thorpe is set up like Rocky vs that Russian dude.  The Aussies probably do it the other way around.

[Lanei]

I don't really object to the tape delays.  It makes sense to delay the popular events to when people can actually watch them.  If it were live only, there'd be nothing for people on the west coast of the US to watch after dinner, because by then its the middle of the freaking night in Greece.

What I want from Olympic coverage though...  The network can do its sappy little story featurettes on their channel, and flip around between events to their hearts content.  But give me an on-demand channel, or twenty, of dedicated coverage of ALL of the events.  So if I want to sit and watch womens rifle, or mens archery all the way through I can.  Instead of not even seeing them MENTIONED in the regular coverage.

Digital cable has 800 billion channels, fucking use them.