The Olympics random thoughts thread (may contain spoilers) (Read 1312 times)


Feeling the growl again

    NEWSFLASH:  Eight athletes kicked out of the Olympics for cheating in badminton.

     

    NEWSFLASH:  Most viewers are stunned to realize that badminton is in the Olympics.

    "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

     

    I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

     

      I'm waiting for Corn Hole to become an Olympic sport. 


      Feeling the growl again

        I'm waiting for Corn Hole to become an Olympic sport. 

         

        If they will let me play with a beer in hand, I'm so in.

        "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

         

        I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

         


        #artbydmcbride

          Diving in overalls!

           NO!!!!   Keep the tiny speedos!  Blush

           

          Runners run

          Kerry1976


          Master of the Side Eye

            NEWSFLASH:  Eight athletes kicked out of the Olympics for cheating in badminton.

             

            NEWSFLASH:  Most viewers are stunned to realize that badminton is in the Olympics.

             

            +1

            TRUST THE PROCESS

             

             

             

            LedLincoln


            not bad for mile 25

               NO!!!!   Keep the tiny speedos!  Blush

               

              Tsk tsk Ilene!  You're supposed to be watching the essentials of their diving. Smile

                And NBC sucks. 

                 

                 

                OK, is anyone else hating Savannah Guthrie?  WTF? She should have stuck to doing the analytical stuff.  She is trying to act way to upbeat and cheerful,and it comes across as odd.   I never really was in love with  Ann Curry, but this seems so forced and weird.  I really have begun to dislike Matt Lauer who was the instigator in the Curry replacement.

                 

                And why Ryan Seacrest?  He is the most uninteresting, vanilla person I think I've ever come across. 

                - Anya


                You'll ruin your knees!

                  Tsk tsk Ilene!  You're supposed to be watching the essentials of their diving. Smile

                   Oh, somehow I get the impression she is watching the essentials quite closely! 

                   

                  Sat down prime time last night to catch up on the 'Limpiks and found myself growing more uncomfortable at the realization that I was watching 6 guys in speedos in a hot tub... last night is the first night I didn't watch the entire program... NTTAWWT

                  ""...the truth that someday, you will go for your last run. But not today—today you got to run." - Matt Crownover (after Western States)

                  LedLincoln


                  not bad for mile 25

                     Oh, somehow I get the impression she is watching the essentials quite closely!

                     

                    Beach volleyball has been disappointing in that regard.

                    xor


                      White water rafting is pretty cool, although it is the disneyland kind.

                       

                      However, the announcers mentioned the canoeing competition.  For some reason, I am more surprised to hear that canoeing is an olympic sport than badminton.  I don't know why.

                       

                      Two notes about badminton:

                       

                      1. Who pays big money to watch badminton? (and if this is me, YES I'd be pissed if people intentionally tanked).  Are there THAT many fans of badminton... or is this really "I wanted to go see the olympics and this is all I could get/afford?"

                       

                      2. Yeah, the 4 teams tanked their matches (do we call them matches?) and that sucks.  They did this to be better positioned/seeded in the next round.  Hmmm.  WTF is the ladder organized such that losing, including intentional losing, offers up an advantage?  Don't most seeded tournaments pair the high seed with the low seed... or do random pairing... specifically to avoid this?  This is a sincere question; it's not like I have wide ranging expertise in tournaments across many sports.  I was really surprised to hear WHY they were tanking, and my first thought was "well, the tournament is organized by a dumbass."  But what do I know.

                       

                      xor


                        I have had the olympics on in the background while doing some work.  Not paying attention, really.  Apparently, men's beach volleyball came on.

                         

                        It took me awhile of tangential listening and back-of-the-brain processing to realize that the dude's name is probably not "Dollhouse-r".

                         


                        Feeling the growl again

                           

                           

                          2. Yeah, the 4 teams tanked their matches (do we call them matches?) and that sucks.  They did this to be better positioned/seeded in the next round.  Hmmm.  WTF is the ladder organized such that losing, including intentional losing, offers up an advantage?  Don't most seeded tournaments pair the high seed with the low seed... or do random pairing... specifically to avoid this?  This is a sincere question; it's not like I have wide ranging expertise in tournaments across many sports.  I was really surprised to hear WHY they were tanking, and my first thought was "well, the tournament is organized by a dumbass."  But what do I know.

                           

                          Two words:  Pool play.  They had already ranked highly enough in their pool to move on.  It is different than a seeded tournament.  However, someone with more intimate knowledge of how the pool system works will have to explain how losing matches can make things easier for you.  I am also interested in why this is, in a seeded tournament losing makes your next competitor a higher ranked one, not lower.

                          "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

                           

                          I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

                           

                          AmoresPerros


                          Options,Account, Forums

                            According to this article: http://www.wired.com/playbook/2012/08/badminton-round-robin/

                             

                            if they -- China (Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang) won, they got to play the loser from a different pool, instead of the winner -- as you might expect.

                             

                            *However*, it says in the other pool Denmark pulled a surprise win over China (Qing Tian and Yunlei Zhao).

                             

                            So if China (Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang) won their pool, they'd play the loser of the other pool, which was China (Qing Tian and Yunlei Zhao).

                             

                            The article also says the two China teams were ranked #1 and #2 going in.

                             

                            So it implies they didn't want to compete in a China/China game before the finals.

                             

                            If they deliberately lost, they could keep alive their hopes of a China/China final -- obviously a China gold AND silver outcome.

                             

                            That's a simplification, because I didn't fully understand. Apparently in China vs South Korea both tried to lose, and in South Korea #2 vs Indonesia (in some third pool) both tried to lose. But that's as much as I'm willing to figure out.

                            It's a 5k. It hurt like hell...then I tried to pick it up. The end.

                            EbonyN


                            MusicofEbony

                              In defense of synchronized diving it looks very difficult to do, and I think it is pretty cool to watch.

                              Formally known on the Runners World forums as Malletgirl02.

                              Wing


                              Joggaholic

                                1. Who pays big money to watch badminton? (and if this is me, YES I'd be pissed if people intentionally tanked).  Are there THAT many fans of badminton... or is this really "I wanted to go see the olympics and this is all I could get/afford?"

                                 

                                Badminton is very popular in Asia, not just during the Olympics. My reasoning is that because it is one of the more accessible recreational sports for kids growing up there. The equipments are fairly cheap, you don't really need a large place to play it, and it's not a difficult game to learn. Kids play whatever sports are available at school, and most Asian schools are crowded and not very well funded in the sports department. While it may not be representative, I'll take my school as an example. It had an area with several ping pong tables, 1 basketball court, and 2 badminton courts. Before and after school, and during recess, all the students swamp the area (grades 7-13). (If you're wondering how soccer fit in, well, we played that in the basketball court) Sports such as swimming, track, and tennis are less popular because they have to be done outside school hours at community or private facilities, and be supported by parents who are not already stuffing their kids with other after-school academic programmings or music lessons.