crackerjack
Well-known member
Exactly. It'll be scoff what you want and the last one to drop dead of an early heart attack is a sissy.
Olympics
- Thread starter crackerjack
- Start date
Exactly. It'll be scoff what you want and the last one to drop dead of an early heart attack is a sissy.
IdleRich
IdleRich
The perfect athlete will be like the perfect running shoe as envisaged by Adi Dassler - it (and I use the word advisedly) will have a meticulously planned life-span that will carry them precisely to the finish line in the Olympics, as they cross the line their heart will explode giving that crucial, final explosion of pace.
IdleRich
IdleRich
Hmmm, I wonder....
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/rugby_league/article4938523.ece
OK, not proven yet so I'm purely speculating but (unscientifically and purely based on stories I've seen in the news) it seems to me that the number of apparently fit and healthy sports people who have collapsed and died unexpectedly has increased over the last few years. Anyone seen any stats about that?
crackerjack
Well-known member
I've only noticed it with footballers, thought it more likely the greater physical demands on them. That bloke who played for City never looked outrageously beefy.
IdleRich
IdleRich
Yeah, my impression is that it's been on the increase with footballers (though I'd like to see some stats to confirm that). They could be taking anything though really, they're hardly tested at all. Just because he wasn't beefy I don't think that's ruled out, I mean he could have been taking something for his coordination or concentration or just too much chang of a weekend.
Mr. Tea
Let's Talk About Ceps
But they'd just methodically hunt down the guy who'd 'created' them, say "I want more life, Father!" and then kill him by poking their thumbs into his eyes, before giving a moving soliloquy and then dying on a rooftop in the rain and releasing a dove they'd conveniently grabbed a minute earlier.
Probably.
crackerjack
Well-known member
Thought the big O would swing it...
Gonna be Rio now, surely. They won't give it to Madrid so soon after Barca.
Gonna be Rio now, surely. They won't give it to Madrid so soon after Barca.
Sectionfive
bandwagon house
Anyone following Vancouver so far, it really got going yesterday
nomos
Administrator
Hard not to follow it here. Canadian media's been pretty awful - especially prior to the first gold - putting way too much pressure on the athletes and practically suggesting they apologize for winning anything less. It didn't help that we had this 'Own the Podium' campaign leading up to it. Ads for men's hockey depict it as a foregone conclusion, and there's been some tasteless gloating around the women's team which has won their last three by margins of 9, 12 and 18.
That said, it has been fun to watch the moguls, downhill, speed skating, etc. And both hockey finals will be exciting. Not into the novelty stuff like 'snowboard cross,' especially when they've dumped something like women's ski jump. And I had no idea how HUGE speed skating was in the Netherlands. A friend said 2/3 of the venue was decked out in Dutch orange.
Is it getting a lot of coverage elsewhere?
That said, it has been fun to watch the moguls, downhill, speed skating, etc. And both hockey finals will be exciting. Not into the novelty stuff like 'snowboard cross,' especially when they've dumped something like women's ski jump. And I had no idea how HUGE speed skating was in the Netherlands. A friend said 2/3 of the venue was decked out in Dutch orange.
Is it getting a lot of coverage elsewhere?
don_quixote
Trent End
i knew speed skating was holland's national sport, but i never seem to see any of their competitors in the races!
Sectionfive
bandwagon house
Coverage here is useless, the odd update on the tail end of the news, even though we have the biggest team ever this year.
So im stuck with the beeb. The Canadians are under pressure alright, Its going to be very hard for the brits in 2012.
Does anyone know why some sports have GB teams wheres other have national teams, Is it funding or whats the story ?
So im stuck with the beeb. The Canadians are under pressure alright, Its going to be very hard for the brits in 2012.
Does anyone know why some sports have GB teams wheres other have national teams, Is it funding or whats the story ?
matt b
Indexing all opinion
I've been off this week and all I've done is a) play demon's souls and b) watch olympics.
With regard to point b), the female downhill was awesome- so many crashes, especially the swede who did a ski-jump to lunk, the male moguls were good, esp as canada won, speed skating is always impressive.
Otherwise, red button on bbc is ace.
However, figure skating is shit, the 'sliding' events are just dull (esp. since the death- it seems that even some of the competitors feel a bit is missing now with regard to danger/excitement) , curling sucks you in.
Looking forward to second week as ice hockey kicks in.
Hype is muted in the UK for once- none of the whooping USA style bollocks we get during the normal Olympics. I can imagine how it's brought out the worst in the Canadian media.
With regard to point b), the female downhill was awesome- so many crashes, especially the swede who did a ski-jump to lunk, the male moguls were good, esp as canada won, speed skating is always impressive.
Otherwise, red button on bbc is ace.
However, figure skating is shit, the 'sliding' events are just dull (esp. since the death- it seems that even some of the competitors feel a bit is missing now with regard to danger/excitement) , curling sucks you in.
Looking forward to second week as ice hockey kicks in.
Hype is muted in the UK for once- none of the whooping USA style bollocks we get during the normal Olympics. I can imagine how it's brought out the worst in the Canadian media.
connect_icut
Well-known member
I live five minutes walking from the curling arena. I was really against bringing the Olympics to Vancouver, so I feel slightly vindicated that it seems to have been a complete disaster on the organizational front. Unfortunately, the fact that it's been a complete disaster financially for the city has already started to impact my neighbourhood, with amenities closing down and the like.
On the other hand, I feel like I should do something to soak up this momentous occasion. There are a bunch of free shows and so forth going on down-town but it all looks a bit depressing. From my perspective, the mood here seems oddly muted.
On the other hand, I feel like I should do something to soak up this momentous occasion. There are a bunch of free shows and so forth going on down-town but it all looks a bit depressing. From my perspective, the mood here seems oddly muted.
hans brinker, yo!
i have been working all week and haven't seen shit... the adult me knows the olympics are corny, but i loved em as a kid... tho, i admit, until monday, i did not know what "skeleton" was........
i went to the 96 games in atlanta and saw ray charles perform in the park... i was also in that park about an hour before the bomb exploded......
baboon2004
Darned cockwombles.
can't imagine how the 2012 olympics are going to affect london. from what i know of it, i can't imagine it'll be good.
padraig (u.s.)
a monkey that will go ape
have to disagree w/you there. snowboard cross (& ski cross) are serious business, not too distant cousins of the alpine stuff. it is unfortunate that women's ski jump got the axe. perhaps we can all agree it should have something completely pointless like ice dancing (which doesn't even pretend to be a sport) instead?
I dunno, the exaggeration of every remotely interesting story into a major emotional spectacle & (especially) the latent/overt nationalism are always a bit much but I think it's been a nice diversion so far. at least the big name events; I always enjoy athletes who live up to the hype, & Shaun White is definitely that. Plus I'm always happy to root for a Chicago guy like Shani Davis, esp. when he can crush the dreams of an entire nation of Dutch speed-skating fanatics*. oh, the story about the Chinese duo that won pairs skating was nice as well, one of the few that really does make you wanna root for them.
*I've never understood how they get so into it, speed-skating is numbingly boring to watch
Last edited:
connect_icut
Well-known member
This is how I feel. In fact, until Vancouver got the Olympics I honestly had no idea what a big scam the whole thing was. I actually wish I could have the blinkered view that most Vancouver residents maintain because it seems like it could be a lot of fun to throw ones self wholeheartedly into the spectacle of the thing. On the other hand, I wish I was a bit more informed about the dark side of it, rather than just having the general feeling that it's sleazy and gross.
don_quixote
Trent End
skicrossskicrossskicrossskicrossskicross
omg so good
omg so good