|
Source: (consider it)
|
Thread: Olympics
|
shamwari
Shipmate
# 15556
|
Posted
This is the last Olympics I shall watch.
It has become a bit of a farce. Money versus the Rest and the competitors mere pawns in the game.
Listened to the radio interview with a Brit cyclist, The amount of Lottery Money poured into cyclists' preparation is mind-boggling. Few nations could compete with this. ( Russia might but they are excluded for doping reasons.)
This is NOT a level playing field. Amateurs against well-funded professionals. What hope has any African or any other 3rd World country have?
The Olympic Spirit has long since been dissolved in the Rush for Gold dominated by nations that have the Cash to fund an athletics system which extends beyond the athletes to include a professional back-up staff which only an elite few can command.
Pity. But thats the way it is, And I, for one, am opting out.
Posts: 1914 | From: from the abyss of misunderstanding | Registered: Mar 2010
| IP: Logged
|
|
Sandemaniac
Shipmate
# 12829
|
Posted
Well, the original spirit of amateurism was designed to keep the plebs out and ensure that only gentlemen took part, so I can't see that the exclusion has changed much over the last 120 years....
AG
--------------------
"It becomes soon pleasantly apparent that change-ringing is by no means merely an excuse for beer" Charles Dickens gets it wrong, 1869
Posts: 3574 | From: The wardrobe of my soul | Registered: Jul 2007
| IP: Logged
|
|
Sioni Sais
Shipmate
# 5713
|
Posted
I was wondering why men and women from places like Ethiopia, Kenya and sundry Caribbean islands can't win medals. Now I know.
--------------------
"He isn't Doctor Who, he's The Doctor"
(Paul Sinha, BBC)
Posts: 24276 | From: Newport, Wales | Registered: Apr 2004
| IP: Logged
|
|
Baptist Trainfan
Shipmate
# 15128
|
Posted
In certain events - Kenyan men have been strong in distance running for years.
Posts: 9750 | From: The other side of the Severn | Registered: Sep 2009
| IP: Logged
|
|
Piglet
Islander
# 11803
|
Posted
And there's the so-aptly-named Mr. Bolt from Jamaica ... ![[Overused]](graemlins/notworthy.gif)
As long as people can pour money into the sports they want to sponsor, they will, and that's just The Way Life Is. I haven't seen any of the Olympics this time either, but not from choice - we're living in temporary accommodation and haven't got a telly.
I'm rather sorry I've missed it, seeing as Britain seems to be doing so well.
--------------------
I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander.
alto n a soprano who can read music
Posts: 20272 | From: Fredericton, NB, on a rather larger piece of rock | Registered: Sep 2006
| IP: Logged
|
|
Schroedinger's cat
Ship's cool cat
# 64
|
Posted
So you want all money taken out of sport? That would be the end of most sports worldwide. I think it is better, overall, that someone who can run quickly can see a means where that can be acknowledged. Or someone who can cycle well and powerfully can - possibly - use that to make a career.
Otherwise the only people who can participate in sports are those with leisure time and no money worries. We would have Boris and Cameron in the Olympics for us.
Surely nobody wants that.
--------------------
Blog
Music for your enjoyment
Lord may all my hard times be healing times
take out this broken heart and renew my mind.
Posts: 18859 | From: At the bottom of a deep dark well. | Registered: May 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Alan Cresswell
Mad Scientist 先生
# 31
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by shamwari:
This is NOT a level playing field.
If you think it ever was a level playing field then you're deluded.
Amateur sport was, and is, always the preserve of those with the luxury of being able to do what they enjoy without pay. If you're working 50 hours a week, and barely able to keep food on the table you're not going to be buying your children a racing bike to practice on. If you're one of those children you're also likely to be helping around the home, doing what you can to help make ends meet. Spending several hours a day training is a luxury you can't afford. Sport is thus the preserve of the independently wealthy, unless there is some money from elsewhere injected into the system.
Add to that, natural talent is not sufficient. To develop that talent the first thing that's needed is for those talented children to be well fed. Under nourished children are never going to develop the muscles and bones needed to compete, even against less talented but well fed athletes. Yet another barrier the poor, whether within our own nations or in other nations, to overcome.
Sport is something that has always been a matter of community pride. Whether that's the local football team, or the national Olympic squad. Not that long ago it seemed that the Olympics were a contest between the USA and USSR, a part of the competition, the Cold War, between those nations (and, one much better than the parts of the war that actually involved firing bullets). Both nations put significant resources into training and equipping their athletes. In the US there is still an enormous resource put into sport through college scholarships, with successful athletes adding to the prestige of those colleges as well as proceeding to the international stage.
--------------------
Don't cling to a mistake just because you spent a lot of time making it.
Posts: 32413 | From: East Kilbride (Scotland) or 福島 | Registered: May 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Barnabas62
Shipmate
# 9110
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Sioni Sais:
I was wondering why men and women from places like Ethiopia, Kenya and sundry Caribbean islands can't win medals. Now I know.
Sarky Sioni!
--------------------
Who is it that you seek? How then shall we live? How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?
Posts: 21397 | From: Norfolk UK | Registered: Feb 2005
| IP: Logged
|
|
Imaginary Friend
Real to you
# 186
|
Posted
<HostingMode>
I'm afraid this conversation is a bit Purgatorial for the big tent, so I'm sending this thread over to that more learned place.
However, if you want to discuss the sporting achievements of those athletes who you feel are worthy, you are very welcome to do so on this thread
Imaginary Friend
Circus host
</HostingMode>
--------------------
"We had a good team on paper. Unfortunately, the game was played on grass."
Brian Clough
Posts: 9455 | From: Left a bit... Right a bit... | Registered: May 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
shamwari
Shipmate
# 15556
|
Posted
My beef is simply this. I have every admiration for the effort GB athletes put into their event.
But
I have a neighbour who has been waiting over 6 months for an op on his knees without which he is virtually immobile. The hospital has huge funding difficulties and is running a big deficit. His op is continually being postponed.
Meanwhile I see that the amount poured into the athletes' programme for the Olympics runs into the hundreds of thousands of ££.
What does that say about our priorities as a nation?
And what of those nations (African and others) who cannot afford this kind of money to prepare their athletes.? The Usain Bolts of this world are sponsored to the hilt and not by their national associations. Its no good using them as an example of achievement by "3rd World nations".
[ 17. August 2016, 17:49: Message edited by: shamwari ]
Posts: 1914 | From: from the abyss of misunderstanding | Registered: Mar 2010
| IP: Logged
|
|
Sioni Sais
Shipmate
# 5713
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by shamwari:
My beef is simply this. I have every admiration for the effort GB athletes put into their event.
But
I have a neighbour who has been waiting over 6 months for an op on his knees without which he is virtually immobile. The hospital has huge funding difficulties and is running a big deficit. His op is continually being postponed.
Meanwhile I see that the amount poured into the athletes' programme for the Olympics runs into the hundreds of thousands of ££.
What does that say about our priorities as a nation?
Ask George Osborne. Austerity was his first, last and only policy for six years. That's why hospitals, the NHS generally, welfare and public spending has been cut. Well, apart from HS2, Crossrail, Trident replacement, some nuclear power station that might well be foreign owned and operated all of which makes the £250million (funded by the National Lottery) every four years for our Olympic team look very small beer.
--------------------
"He isn't Doctor Who, he's The Doctor"
(Paul Sinha, BBC)
Posts: 24276 | From: Newport, Wales | Registered: Apr 2004
| IP: Logged
|
|
Beeswax Altar
Shipmate
# 11644
|
Posted
It's not the same since the end of the Cold War. I keep track of the the number of medals the former Soviet Union would have won. As of this post, the former Soviet Union and the United States are tied at 86 though the US has more gold medals. Still, those pinko commie bastards are making a comeback!
USA! USA! USA!
--------------------
Losing sleep is something you want to avoid, if possible.
-Og: King of Bashan
Posts: 8411 | From: By a large lake | Registered: Jul 2006
| IP: Logged
|
|
Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by shamwari:
What does that say about our priorities as a nation?
Personally I find it hard to get excited about someone diving off a plank or being given a medal for riding a bicycle, but, lilies for the soul and all that. If watching the Olympics inspires young people to get out there and get involved in physical exercise, to push themselves, discover what they're capable of, give them pride in themselves, help them develop team spirit, become role models, and inspire others, then it is worth the money.
It is worth giving people who haven't a cat in hell's chance of even running down their own road something to cheer for, be glad about, and something to lift their minds off their own worries, even if only for a short while. Let them be proud of how well their compatriots do, let them take a pride in that local boy or girl who is now on the telly and famous.
Of course it could all be scrapped or scaled down to a local, low-budget event at the local sports hall and the money ploughed into hospitals instead. But... lilies for the soul and all that. With no sports, arts, music, dance or other unnecessary frivolous stuff to waste money on, how worthy, how healthy, how knowledgeable and educated we would all be - and how dull.
Posts: 25445 | Registered: May 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
|
Posted
Replacing Trident will cost £205 billion.
UK sport funding for the current Olympic cycle is £543 million
Now, can we possibly think of anywhere else we could find the money for the NHS? (current budget is £116 billion btw).
What does it say about our national priorities that spend on sport is 0.3% of what we are spending on potential mass murder?
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
rolyn
Shipmate
# 16840
|
Posted
Our priority, and that of leading World Powers, is to fund a device that can a obliterate a very large number of people. The belief being that the possession of this device will prevent a very large number of people being obliterated.
Whether this turns out to be true or not none of us know.
In the meantime it does mean a proportion of this very large number of people have the privilege of competing, one with another. And a greater number of us have the privilege of partaking in the Spirit of this peaceful competition unhindered by the near continuous wars of our ancestors.
--------------------
Change is the only certainty of existence
Posts: 3206 | From: U.K. | Registered: Dec 2011
| IP: Logged
|
|
Schroedinger's cat
Ship's cool cat
# 64
|
Posted
I absolutely want to fund the NHS. But we will not do it by not funding sports. We won't do it by leaving the EU. We will do it by making the NHS a priority, and directing money to it rather than government vanity projects.
And we will raise it by collecting taxes and not selling off the family silver to friends of the government.
Not spending this money on sports would make no difference to the NHS - even if it were diverted there (which it wouldn't be). Please stop making spurious claims to stop something that many people enjoy, just because you don't.
--------------------
Blog
Music for your enjoyment
Lord may all my hard times be healing times
take out this broken heart and renew my mind.
Posts: 18859 | From: At the bottom of a deep dark well. | Registered: May 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Anglican't
Shipmate
# 15292
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by shamwari:
I have a neighbour who has been waiting over 6 months for an op on his knees without which he is virtually immobile. The hospital has huge funding difficulties and is running a big deficit. His op is continually being postponed.
Meanwhile I see that the amount poured into the athletes' programme for the Olympics runs into the hundreds of thousands of ££.
What does that say about our priorities as a nation?
If all that money being poured into athletes' programmes is coming from the Lottery (which one chooses to play and therefore pay for, unlike taxes) perhaps not a great deal? Sounds like you're trying to compare two different things.
Posts: 3613 | From: London, England | Registered: Nov 2009
| IP: Logged
|
|
Crœsos
Shipmate
# 238
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by shamwari:
My beef is simply this. I have every admiration for the effort GB athletes put into their event.
But
I have a neighbour who has been waiting over 6 months for an op on his knees without which he is virtually immobile. The hospital has huge funding difficulties and is running a big deficit. His op is continually being postponed.
Meanwhile I see that the amount poured into the athletes' programme for the Olympics runs into the hundreds of thousands of ££.
quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
UK sport funding for the current Olympic cycle is £543 million
Now, can we possibly think of anywhere else we could find the money for the NHS? (current budget is £116 billion btw).
Over the same 4-year Olympic period the U.K. spent £444.7 billion on the NHS, so the argument seems to be that completely eliminating British participation in the Olympics could be used to increase spending on medical care by 0.001%? This seems like the fiscal equivalent of rifling through the sofa cushions to see if there's enough loose change in there to buy a new house.
And that's a bit of a change up from the original argument shamwari put forward, that the ability of rich nations to fund their athletes has made the Olympic games a farce with an unlevel playing field.
--------------------
Humani nil a me alienum puto
Posts: 10706 | From: Sardis, Lydia | Registered: May 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Belle Ringer
Shipmate
# 13379
|
Posted
I'm surprised how little I'm watching Olympics this year in spite of massive opportunity. I think two things have reduced my enjoyment, maybe 3:
1. It has a different from when is was not so commercial. Apparently 1984 LA games brought in massive corporate commercialization. Also the committee take themselves too seriously. Remember the ski jumper who had never been on skis before, it was fun, but I read the committee changed the rules to make sure that sort of thing can never happen again because they felt the fun he added detracted from the serious athletes. The sense of playfulness seems gone.
2. The appalling costs of hosting the games, including the extraordinary cost overruns, and then the new facilities barely get used again, I heard Greece is still struggling with financial effects of hosting, Brazil doesn't have that kind of money to throw around, I applaud the cities that have the sense to say "no" to taking on the apparently significantly low-balled expense of hosting the games.
3. When someone wins a race by a 100th of a second that person is in fact no better than than ones he or she beat by so little. It's luck of starting position or of who slept better the night before, not difference in skill being awarded.
4. Seems to be a lot of corruption on multiple levels, from athletes doping to committee members rumored to accept bribes for naming a host city. But where there's money or even just competition for "glory" there's often corruption, so this complaint isn't specific to Olympics.
Posts: 5830 | From: Texas | Registered: Jan 2008
| IP: Logged
|
|
Anglican't
Shipmate
# 15292
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Belle Ringer:
1. It has a different from when is was not so commercial. Apparently 1984 LA games brought in massive corporate commercialization.
My understanding is that the IOC nearly went bust hosting the 1976 Games, which might explain why it took a radically different approach to funding subsequent Games.
Posts: 3613 | From: London, England | Registered: Nov 2009
| IP: Logged
|
|
Enoch
Shipmate
# 14322
|
Posted
I'm at a disadvantage commenting on this. I don't find the Olympics at all interesting. Mose of the events just aren't watchable. What's the fun in seeing some people running, or for that matter cycling, round a circular track, or throwing a lead weight at nothing in particular. So I don't really care that much who wins or loses. The hype, though, does annoy me, as does the blocking out of almost everything else from the television schedules while it has been going on.
I don't like the corruption. I don't like the obsession. I don't like the assumption sports enthusiasts have that their hobby is somehow more morally virtuous than anyone else's. Why should they get all this lottery money when nobody thinks of doing the same for coarse fishing, stamp-collecting, bell-ringing or collecting train numbers?
At least football is watchable - and it generates its own profits.
I also still think, and will go on thinking, that when the Olympics went to Athens, the opportunity should have been taken to say that it would stay there, just as Wimbledon is always at Wimbledon.
--------------------
Brexit wrexit - Sir Graham Watson
Posts: 7610 | From: Bristol UK(was European Green Capital 2015, now Ljubljana) | Registered: Nov 2008
| IP: Logged
|
|
Signaller
Shipmate
# 17495
|
Posted
Funding sport is a national health service. It reduces the demand for the services of the NHS.
Posts: 113 | From: Metroland | Registered: Jan 2013
| IP: Logged
|
|
Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Enoch:
At least football is watchable
I have tried - really tried - to watch football. And failed. Drying paint is rivetting by comparison. As the man said, it's 22 millionaires ruining a lawn.
[ 17. August 2016, 21:54: Message edited by: Firenze ]
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Beeswax Altar
Shipmate
# 11644
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Signaller:
Funding sport is a national health service. It reduces the demand for the services of the NHS.
Athletes are always getting injured.
--------------------
Losing sleep is something you want to avoid, if possible.
-Og: King of Bashan
Posts: 8411 | From: By a large lake | Registered: Jul 2006
| IP: Logged
|
|
Anglican't
Shipmate
# 15292
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Enoch:
I don't like the corruption. I don't like the obsession. I don't like the assumption sports enthusiasts have that their hobby is somehow more morally virtuous than anyone else's. Why should they get all this lottery money when nobody thinks of doing the same for coarse fishing, stamp-collecting, bell-ringing or collecting train numbers?
I once saw a dozen men at a railway station collecting numbers (though I think one might've been more interested in his packed lunch). I've never seen hundreds.
I'm not aware of massive stamp-collecting events where thousands come to cheer on the release of a First Day Cover, with millions more at home glued to the TV coverage of it.
These may or may not be noble pursuits, but surely hardly in the same league?
Posts: 3613 | From: London, England | Registered: Nov 2009
| IP: Logged
|
|
Baptist Trainfan
Shipmate
# 15128
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Enoch:
The hype, though, does annoy me, as does the blocking out of almost everything else from the television schedules while it has been going on.
Well, the Games have got us watching "Eggheads", out of sheer desperation!
Posts: 9750 | From: The other side of the Severn | Registered: Sep 2009
| IP: Logged
|
|
Crœsos
Shipmate
# 238
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Beeswax Altar:
quote:
Originally posted by Signaller:
Funding sport is a national health service. It reduces the demand for the services of the NHS.
Athletes are always getting injured.
So when medical professionals tell people to get more exercise they're just trying to drum up some business? That's pretty sneaky!
--------------------
Humani nil a me alienum puto
Posts: 10706 | From: Sardis, Lydia | Registered: May 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Galloping Granny
Shipmate
# 13814
|
Posted
Belonging to a small country, of course I get a kick out of hearing one of our athletes has won a medal.
But I don't watch events. Well, I can't because they're not free to air here, and I don't have Sky.
One of our local concerns, though, is that the government pours considerable funds into elite sports, ie anyone who might win olympic medals or world events (America's Cup, anyone?) But all the local sports clubs that have kids and adults competing against one another and having fun, have to make do with what they can raise with sausage sizzles or attract from sponsors.
Kids playing sports to keep healthy and keep them 'off the streets' are more important that many big name winners.
Incidentally, I love the story of how CNN objected to the placing of the US team part-way back in the opening parade instead of having them make a spectacular entry almost at the end. Because they were, correctly, in alphabetical order in the host nation's language, as Estados Unidos do America.
GG
--------------------
The Kingdom of Heaven is spread upon the earth, and men do not see it. Gospel of Thomas, 113
Posts: 2629 | From: Matarangi | Registered: Jun 2008
| IP: Logged
|
|
Ricardus
Shipmate
# 8757
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Signaller:
Funding sport is a national health service. It reduces the demand for the services of the NHS.
Although it appears that the supposed trickle-down effect of the London Olympics did not happen, rather like trickle-down economics.
--------------------
Then the dog ran before, and coming as if he had brought the news, shewed his joy by his fawning and wagging his tail. -- Tobit 11:9 (Douai-Rheims)
Posts: 7247 | From: Liverpool, UK | Registered: Nov 2004
| IP: Logged
|
|
bib
Shipmate
# 13074
|
Posted
I've found it exciting to watch little countries get their first ever medal - the joy flows down to all of us. But I find myself cringing when a big rich country wins yet another medal. Somehow this loses all meaning and and I rapidly lose interest. Another upsetting issue is the booing which is very evident this Olympics. This is very unpleasant and unsportsmanlike behaviour. I think that if there isn't a rethink and revamp of the Olympics I shall ignore it altogether in 2020.
--------------------
"My Lord, my Life, my Way, my End, accept the praise I bring"
Posts: 1307 | From: Australia | Registered: Oct 2007
| IP: Logged
|
|
Schroedinger's cat
Ship's cool cat
# 64
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Ricardus:
quote:
Originally posted by Signaller:
Funding sport is a national health service. It reduces the demand for the services of the NHS.
Although it appears that the supposed trickle-down effect of the London Olympics did not happen, rather like trickle-down economics.
The Olympics will not deliver that to a country. Investment in sport will. And yes, sportspeople get injured, but overall, being active is positive to health.
It is much cheaper to sew up a sliced leg or set a bone than manage a weak heart.
[I should point out that I am not at all active, but wish I could be. I would like to take up sport again, because it does make me healthier.]
--------------------
Blog
Music for your enjoyment
Lord may all my hard times be healing times
take out this broken heart and renew my mind.
Posts: 18859 | From: At the bottom of a deep dark well. | Registered: May 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Boogie
Boogie on down!
# 13538
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Baptist Trainfan:
[QUOTE]Well, the Games have got us watching "Eggheads", out of sheer desperation!
Same here!!
There seems to be a 'big money or no money' mentality in sport and many other areas of life today.
--------------------
Garden. Room. Walk
Posts: 13030 | From: Boogie Wonderland | Registered: Mar 2008
| IP: Logged
|
|
Baptist Trainfan
Shipmate
# 15128
|
Posted
quote:
I think that if there isn't a rethink and revamp of the Olympics I shall ignore it altogether in 2020.
That's what I've said every time since Beijing. But somehow they insidiously creep back into my consciousness each time.
[ 18. August 2016, 08:32: Message edited by: Baptist Trainfan ]
Posts: 9750 | From: The other side of the Severn | Registered: Sep 2009
| IP: Logged
|
|
Alan Cresswell
Mad Scientist 先生
# 31
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by bib:
Another upsetting issue is the booing which is very evident this Olympics. This is very unpleasant and unsportsmanlike behaviour.
The only booing I've noticed (but, I've not been glued to the telly watching everything going) has been a couple of occasions when someone who has previously tested positive for drugs has been announced. What's more unsporting, using drugs to enhance performance or expressing your views on doing that?
There has also been a lot of support from the crowd for those who have struggled against adversity. Athletes who tripped, but struggled across the line in last place. The Syrian swimmer who swimming for a team of refugees. Appreciation for those who were never going to challenge for medals, but who put in personal bests or broke national records.
--------------------
Don't cling to a mistake just because you spent a lot of time making it.
Posts: 32413 | From: East Kilbride (Scotland) or 福島 | Registered: May 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Curiosity killed ...
Ship's Mug
# 11770
|
Posted
The case of booing that hit the press was the French pole vaulter who won a silver. (No I didn't watch it, just saw the coverage).
The men's gymnastics floor final, which I did watch, Max Whitlock won gold and two Brazilians, Diego Hypolito and Arthur Mariano, won the silver and bronze medals respectively, the crowd definitely cheered the Brazilians, who were delighted with their medals. There was no booing for Max Whitlock - he was slightly out of the celebrations at the end, but nothing offensive. There were similar scenes for the rings where Arthur Zanetti won silver.
--------------------
Mugs - Keep the Ship afloat
Posts: 13794 | From: outiside the outer ring road | Registered: Aug 2006
| IP: Logged
|
|
Alan Cresswell
Mad Scientist 先生
# 31
|
Posted
I hadn't seen that particular example of booing. The one's I had seen reported were for Yulia Efimova (banned in 2013 for drug taking) who was booed at each of her swimming events, and the booing of the entire Russian team at the opening ceremony. The Brazilain football team were also booed when they failed to put in an outstanding game (but, that's probably a different phenomena).
Though attendence hasn't been massive, the Brazilian crowds do seem to be much more involved in, and passionate about, what is going on. I consider that to be a good thing, even if they don't show the same polite reserve of the British.
--------------------
Don't cling to a mistake just because you spent a lot of time making it.
Posts: 32413 | From: East Kilbride (Scotland) or 福島 | Registered: May 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Freddy
Shipmate
# 365
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by bib:
I've found it exciting to watch little countries get their first ever medal - the joy flows down to all of us. But I find myself cringing when a big rich country wins yet another medal.
Being from a big rich country that has won a lot of medals, I think it is interesting that the U.S. press makes us seem like underdogs too.
I guess that I feel guilty about this, but the whole experience makes me feel like the world is growing closer all the time. I get all choked up.
--------------------
"Consequently nothing is of greater importance to a person than knowing what the truth is." Swedenborg
Posts: 12845 | From: Bryn Athyn | Registered: Jun 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by shamwari:
I have a neighbour who has been waiting over 6 months for an op on his knees without which he is virtually immobile. The hospital has huge funding difficulties and is running a big deficit.
Not to worry. The NHS will get £350 million a week when we leave the EU. Those who promised it are now in government. And they are all, all honourable men.
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Sioni Sais
Shipmate
# 5713
|
Posted
There's usually some controversy at the Olympics but does this one take the Gold Medal?
- Weird boxing decisions, leading to dismissals of judges and the man in charge of boxing at the games
- Fake assault/robbery claims
- Solo re-run of a 4*100m relay heat
- A chaotic Men's keirin final, with no riders dismissed when at least half the field could have been
- An appallingly dangerous road-race course
Any more?
[ 18. August 2016, 22:44: Message edited by: Sioni Sais ]
--------------------
"He isn't Doctor Who, he's The Doctor"
(Paul Sinha, BBC)
Posts: 24276 | From: Newport, Wales | Registered: Apr 2004
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
Kelly Alves
Bunny with an axe
# 2522
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Freddy:
quote:
Originally posted by bib:
I've found it exciting to watch little countries get their first ever medal - the joy flows down to all of us. But I find myself cringing when a big rich country wins yet another medal.
Being from a big rich country that has won a lot of medals, I think it is interesting that the U.S. press makes us seem like underdogs too.
I guess that I feel guilty about this, but the whole experience makes me feel like the world is growing closer all the time. I get all choked up.
The women's sport news has me in a perpetual state of choked up.They done us proud.
--------------------
I cannot expect people to believe “
Jesus loves me, this I know” of they don’t believe “Kelly loves me, this I know.”
Kelly Alves, somewhere around 2003.
Posts: 35076 | From: Pura Californiana | Registered: Mar 2002
| IP: Logged
|
|
Leorning Cniht
Shipmate
# 17564
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Curiosity killed ...:
There is a story in Cycling News about those false starts in the keirin. Apparently there was some footage from the British technical team that cleared the riders.
Two in a row was quite special. The fact that the judges didn't have a camera positioned in the right place seems a bit poor, to be honest.
Posts: 5026 | From: USA | Registered: Feb 2013
| IP: Logged
|
|
Alan Cresswell
Mad Scientist 先生
# 31
|
Posted
Compared to, say track and field, the cycling events are relatively new. Though keirin has a 50 year history in Japan, there are differences in both the track and the rules compared to the international sport. The other day highlighted the ambiguity inherent in the simple "stay behind the pace bike until it leaves the track" rule, when a few milliseconds can be the difference between the top few slots there is considerable pressure to be as close to that bike as it leaves the track. With a moving point that is "behind the pace bike", and with no fixed point on the track where the pace bike leaves the track, that is always going to be a vague rule - and whenever the difference between riders very small and the stakes so high there will always be the pressure to be as close to that fuzzy line as possible. I assume it won't take long to improve definition of the rule (eg: maybe fit a laser on the back of the pace bike marking a line across the track to define what is, and isn't behind the bike, turned off as the bike leaves the track) and enforcement (including positioning of track side cameras, maybe a further camera on the pace bike). It's not the first sport where the pressures on competitors to gain the smallest of edges has pushed what had seemed simple rules and required further clarification and technology to aid judging, it won't be the last.
--------------------
Don't cling to a mistake just because you spent a lot of time making it.
Posts: 32413 | From: East Kilbride (Scotland) or 福島 | Registered: May 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Og: Thread Killer
Ship's token CN Mennonite
# 3200
|
Posted
One thing I have noticed is the utter joy a lot of people have on getting Bronze. Last night in women's javelin the two time defending Olympic gold medalist got bronze. And she was VERY happy and congratulated the gold medallist.
In particular, I was impressed with the US woman who got bronze in the 400m hurdles last night. The camera showed her when she found out and she was ecstatic...while lying on the ground recuperating.
Didn't used to see that, especially from US track and field. It used to be gold or don't care. Subtle change making the sport more fun to watch.
--------------------
I wish I was seeking justice loving mercy and walking humbly but... "Cease to lament for that thou canst not help, And study help for that which thou lament'st."
Posts: 5025 | From: Toronto | Registered: Aug 2002
| IP: Logged
|
|
Sioni Sais
Shipmate
# 5713
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Og: Thread Killer:
One thing I have noticed is the utter joy a lot of people have on getting Bronze. Last night in women's javelin the two time defending Olympic gold medalist got bronze. And she was VERY happy and congratulated the gold medallist.
In particular, I was impressed with the US woman who got bronze in the 400m hurdles last night. The camera showed her when she found out and she was ecstatic...while lying on the ground recuperating.
Didn't used to see that, especially from US track and field. It used to be gold or don't care. Subtle change making the sport more fun to watch.
It's such a contrast with coming fourth. GB has had a spate of fourth places, including Adam Gemili in the 200m last night when he was given the same time as the bronze medalist. He'll live with that "If only" for at least four years, maybe a lifetime.
Posts: 24276 | From: Newport, Wales | Registered: Apr 2004
| IP: Logged
|
|
betjemaniac
Shipmate
# 17618
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Sioni Sais:
quote:
Originally posted by Og: Thread Killer:
One thing I have noticed is the utter joy a lot of people have on getting Bronze. Last night in women's javelin the two time defending Olympic gold medalist got bronze. And she was VERY happy and congratulated the gold medallist.
In particular, I was impressed with the US woman who got bronze in the 400m hurdles last night. The camera showed her when she found out and she was ecstatic...while lying on the ground recuperating.
Didn't used to see that, especially from US track and field. It used to be gold or don't care. Subtle change making the sport more fun to watch.
It's such a contrast with coming fourth. GB has had a spate of fourth places, including Adam Gemili in the 200m last night when he was given the same time as the bronze medalist. He'll live with that "If only" for at least four years, maybe a lifetime.
I think that's one of the more heartening things about the Olympics, to be honest. Away from the coverage of people with chestfuls of medals there are competitors I can think of who've come something like seventh and still set a British record in the process. I'm sure they are quite happy to have done so. A gold would be nice, but if it was the be-all-and-end-all that would be pretty bad.
--------------------
And is it true? For if it is....
Posts: 1481 | From: behind the dreaming spires | Registered: Mar 2013
| IP: Logged
|
|
no prophet's flag is set so...
Proceed to see sea
# 15560
|
Posted
Re Olympic funding. In Canada, the gov't program is called Own the Podium. If you and your sport are considered by the committees and vested interests to have a medal possibility, you get funded. Some sports and individuals have gone from funding to needing to essentially funding themselves or stopping.
Which speaks to the crisis of the Olympics I think: reduced participation in sports, emphasis on winning at all costs, very stressed young people, probably other things. Is it a proxy war between nations? Is winning the only goal of Olympics now?
--------------------
Out of this nettle, danger, we pluck this flower, safety.
\_(ツ)_/
Posts: 11498 | From: Treaty 6 territory in the nonexistant Province of Buffalo, Canada ↄ⃝' | Registered: Mar 2010
| IP: Logged
|
|
cliffdweller
Shipmate
# 13338
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Og: Thread Killer:
One thing I have noticed is the utter joy a lot of people have on getting Bronze. Last night in women's javelin the two time defending Olympic gold medalist got bronze. And she was VERY happy and congratulated the gold medallist.
In particular, I was impressed with the US woman who got bronze in the 400m hurdles last night. The camera showed her when she found out and she was ecstatic...while lying on the ground recuperating.
Didn't used to see that, especially from US track and field. It used to be gold or don't care. Subtle change making the sport more fun to watch.
I read a study somewhere (yeah, I know-- can't be bothered to look for it, so take it with a grain of salt)-- that suggested that the happiest people on the platform are the gold and bronze winners. The gold: obvious. The bronze: usually had low expectations and was just thrilled to have placed. The silver: had gold within sight, but it slipped away usually by a slim margin, leaving them disappointed & discouraged.
--------------------
"Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid." -Frederick Buechner
Posts: 11242 | From: a small canyon overlooking the city | Registered: Jan 2008
| IP: Logged
|
|
Humble Servant
Shipmate
# 18391
|
Posted
Simon Jenkins wrote an interesting piece on this in the Grauniad last week.
I personally find spectator sports of no interest whatsoever, and see the Olympics as a massive school sports day at a school where I haven't got any children. But I usually find myself in a minority of one, so most of the time I just avoid Olympics conversations and let those who enjoy it get on with it.
Posts: 241 | Registered: Apr 2015
| IP: Logged
|
|
Humble Servant
Shipmate
# 18391
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Alan Cresswell:
[QUOTE]What's more unsporting, using drugs to enhance performance or expressing your views on doing that?
I don't really see the objection to using drugs. Elite athletes push their bodies to unhealthy extremes in training and diet regimes that most of us could not afford. Why not allow them to give their natural metabolism a boost and see what extremes the human body can be pushed to with modern technology? It's only cheating because the rule book says you can't do it. Change the rules.
Posts: 241 | Registered: Apr 2015
| IP: Logged
|
|
Printer-friendly view
