2012 Summer Olympics: The Thread

[Aris Khandr]

So, events. Who is watching what? I freely admit that my main interests are football and gymnastics.

In the women's foil event, Italy has taken home the gold, silver, and bronze medals. So that's an interesting bit of trivia for later. A man from Kazakhstan took home the gold in cycling. I hope they double checked that they had the national anthem right.

We've already had three world records set at these Olympics, including a world record in archery set by a South Korean man who is legally blind.

 

[DirtyJunkieScum]

They have the 2nd highest GDP in the world, the largest population in the world, by far the largest army in the world, they own a shitload of western debt and the whole of the west depends on their immense manufacturing sector.
They finished being "rising stars" years ago. They own us now.

They are an industrial power and economic power and they have a big army that lags behind technologically, but they don't have the global political or cultural influence.

 

[Treeinthewoods]

Anybody watching the events today? Just saw Italy sweep the podium in women's fencing, pretty exciting matches.

Hope the US can pull something out for the road race I am watching but the Brits seem like a solid bet.

For US coverage I have found Greco-Roman wrestling on MSNBC later on but I'm not seeing Judo, Taekwondo or Freestyle wrestling and just a little bit of boxing. Why do they get surprised when all they cover is gymnastics, track and swimming and then the ratings are low? Show me some fights!

I'm actively trying to watch a lot of the weird sports I know nothing about as well. I've never watched high level table tennis or badmitton before so those might be fun. Also I am fairly excited for the triathlon and some swimming finals to see if Phelps and Lochte can bring us back some more gold medals. Any events you people are eagerly awaiting?

And, just because I know you Europeans are big fans of soccer, who gets the gold in men's and women's this year? I put a solid bet on the US ladies but I don't know enough about the men's event to pick a winner. I guess I predict... North Korea for the gold, why not?

And the US damn well better get some wrestling gold even if I don't get to watch it. I love Olympic wrestling.

 

[AnarchistFish]

They have the 2nd highest GDP in the world, the largest population in the world, by far the largest army in the world, they own a shitload of western debt and the whole of the west depends on their immense manufacturing sector.
They finished being "rising stars" years ago. They own us now.

They are an industrial power and economic power and they have a big army that lags behind technologically, but they don't have the global political or cultural influence.

Huh? They have an immense political influence. You ever looked at Africa recently? And economics influences politics a hell of a lot.
And the US, an immense cultural influence? True, but I'd bet that a lot of that comes from the US's culture growing out of, or alongside, the rest of the west's culture. It probably benefits from its large population which is why it creates so much of the west's music, art, tech, film, but does that influence reach into the rest of the world as much? China probably has a strong regional influence too.

 

[Radelaide]

I watched the Australian swimmers beat the pants off everyone else. I'm currently in Holland and we beat the Dutch in some swimming thing.

God, I get so frustrated at my inner-Australian. She gets all worked up over sports I don't care about and demands I wear an Australian flag as a cape and cheer "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! Oi, oi, oi!"

 

[ChildishLegacy]

then they just skip the second world war completely

Do you really think the Olympics is a time to start talking war?

Pretty much Every country in the world is there and I don't think bringing up a war which a lot of the countries present were heavily involved in, and were on opposing sides would be that great of an idea. It would look like 'two world wars and one world cup' style gloating if anything.

Captcha: over the top
... I don't even.

 

[Aris Khandr]

For US coverage I have found Greco-Roman wrestling on MSNBC later on but I'm not seeing Judo, Taekwondo or Freestyle wrestling and just a little bit of boxing. Why do they get surprised when all they cover is gymnastics, track and swimming and then the ratings are low? Show me some fights!

I've got women's volleyball on NBC. I'd love to see equestrian on the telly, but I doubt that will happen.

Before their first match with Japan, I'd have said I expected Spain to take the gold. Brazil seems a favorite. I'll be cheering for the UAE, TGB, Egypt, and New Zealand. I doubt any of my teams will get out of the group stage, though Great Britain may surprise me.

 

[DirtyJunkieScum]

Huh? They have an immense political influence. You ever looked at Africa recently? And economics influences politics a hell of a lot.
And the US, an immense cultural influence? True, but I'd bet that a lot of that comes from the US's culture growing out of, or alongside, the rest of the west's culture. It probably benefits from its large population which is why it creates so much of the west's music, art, tech, film, but does that influence reach into the rest of the world as much? China probably has a strong regional influence too.

Yes it has influence, but not superpower influence. Africa? Big in Japan huh? Yes, economics does influence politics but that is really the only area it has a strong global influence in.

Last I saw SE asia was pretty much aligned to the US, not China.

I'm not saying China isn't powerful or influential, just that it doesn't have the global domination across multiple spheres like the US or cold war era Russia. It is definitely second place and rising towards 1st, but it hasn't crossed into the realms of superpower just yet.


PS: Apologies to OP for going OT.

 

[ChildishLegacy]

then they just skip the second world war completely

Do you really think the Olympics is a time to start talking war?

Pretty much Every country in the world is there and I don't think bringing up a war which a lot of the countries present were heavily involved in, and were on opposing sides would be that great of an idea. It would look like 'two world wars and one world cup' style gloating if anything.

Look, I get the whole thing was visually stunning, but did it put you in a trance? No? Then how the fuck did you miss the whole minute of silence they had honoring the victims of WW1? There goes the whole "Not bringing it up" thing.

I didn't see it in it's entirety, I saw most of it, when was the minute of silence? I might have missed it because I tuned in a little late. Please don't get so enraged about this. I was actually just addressing your point, not defending the opening ceremony, I liked it but I'm not here to just praise it constantly.

Also, honoring victims of a war is very different to celebrating your role and victory in a war as a country. There were victims on both sides, it is unifying to remember this, it isn't to celebrate your victory.

 

[suitepee7]

i've been at work all day so haven't really had a chance to watch it. i'll try to catch the badminton though, maybe the boxing and fencing too

 

[Sparrow]

It was pretty neat, I've got to say. I like the way it was kind of an exploration of the past of Britain, opposed to just "SHIT, CHECK OUT MY AWESOME FIREWORKS GUYS!"

Now that the British are done making a fool of themselves on the world stage, a question for our British escapees. Will you be ever able to live this down?

Well that doesn't seem like a very nice thing to s-- oh. You're very close to being permabanned. That explains a lot.

I swear to Christ, if I started a thread on oxygen, half the twats on this forum would be climbing over each other to post how much they hate it!

Jesus guys, lighten the fuck up!!

Hah, rarely do I get a chuckle out of forum posts but you did manage to make me laugh good sir.

 

[Nightmonger]

Well I watched most of the Mens Road race and it certainly highlighted a few of the flaws in the system so to speak so here we go....

1. To start with great racing all around from everyone although the main peloton did seem to just be content not to win as long as Great Britain didn't.

2. Frankly rude commentator talking to the gold medal winner at the end (from Kkazakhstan)opening the interview with "well its not what the British public wanted to see" i found that shockingly rude...

3. The commentators suffered from lack of information maybe its just that the Tour de france is so well covered but they literally had no information to use they were guessing who riders were as tey had no numbers presumably and they had no time info other than the leader so where guessing time gaps and doing it themselves(well done Chris Boardmen) oh and the classic moment at the end where one of the commentators seemingly forgot about 30 riders that had finished so was announcing the sprint for 4th when the guys where in about 40th

4. The British media have Hyped the heck out of this and have practically been awarding medals before the event has taken place so much so that they act betrayed when one of the Olympians dosent perform and instead of celebrating the success of the winner( which should be done) they complain and find excuses for why the Brit Olympian didnt deliver (e.g Cavendish today great ride by him but he didnt get gold so the media has turned on him and he more or less told them to F**k off so good on him)


Rant over

 

[ArcaneArchery]

I thought it was great. The only part I did not like much was the segment called "Frankie and June Say 'Thanks Tim'" (The digital age/music section), although the TARDIS sound effect and the reveal of Tim Berners-Lee at the end stopped this segment being a complete let down. My favourite part has to be Mr Bean?s cameo, as Chariots of Fire is one of my favourite pieces of music. I also liked the way that the cauldron was formed from hundreds of small flames at the end.

Regarding the events themselves, I watched quite a lot of the womens individual foil fencing today and a small amount of the the mens team archery. I am planning to watch the finals in the other foil fencing and archery events if I have time too.

 

[SenseOfTumour]

then they just skip the second world war completely

Do you really think the Olympics is a time to start talking war?

Pretty much Every country in the world is there and I don't think bringing up a war which a lot of the countries present were heavily involved in, and were on opposing sides would be that great of an idea. It would look like 'two world wars and one world cup' style gloating if anything.

Captcha: over the top
... I don't even.

To be fair, they had a time of quiet and remembrance, that was the 'war' bit, a far better way of dealing with it than some recreation of the last episode of Blackadder goes Forth's final scene.

As for Mr Bean, essentially, while he's not Rowan's greatest work, Mr Bean has been exported to so many countries, being essentially silent comedy and having no language barriers, that he's known worldwide for it, and therefore a great British export worthy of being celebrated.

Brass Eye is a more worthwhile British comedy creation, but I doubt a recreation of the Paedogeddon episode would have gone down very well

I was as cynical as anyone, but like most people I was totally sold on it, despite not giving a damn about the Olympics or sport in general.

Was also a nice touch to give Sir Tim Berners-Lee a moment in the spotlight, to remind the WORLD that he invented the world wide web, and not only that, gave it to the world for free.

HE could have sold it to someone and been a multi billionaire and we'd all be shackled to a single company to access the net by now, paying per page, but he knew that it was bigger than him, and bigger than personal profit, and for that we should all be grateful.

Danny Boyle is a damned genius and it just shows what happens when you give the budget to a single visionary and not some 'board' of marketing fuckpoles, who'd firstly demand more money, then demand anything that's remotely interesting be removed for fear of offending.

 

[IRBaboon]

I watched some of the Swimming, and Gymnastics and am now really excited for the finals.
Bit bummed that I missed the Archery, bullseye finish from what I hear.

As for the opening ceremony I was cynical as comes naturally to us brits, but I did really enjoy it. I was however shocked that NBC chose to cut what was essentially a tribute to the 7/7 bombings

 

[Aris Khandr]

I was however shocked that NBC chose to cut what was essentially a tribute to the 7/7 bombings

I still can't understand why they did that.

Moving on to today's events, I'm looking forward to Great Britain vs. UAE as well as Egypt vs. New Zealand. Hoping for two great football matches, as I'm supporting all four squads.

Women's gymnastics qualifiers are today, hopefully coverage will show a fair bit of the uneven bars, which is by far my favorite portion of the event.

The first diving events are today as well, or as the US calls it "the pool events not involving Michael Phelps, and thus don't matter".

I do love the Olympics, but I wish the coverage wasn't so nationally biased. I want to see all of the teams compete, not just the US and whoever they can squeeze in while the US isn't doing something.

 

[Treeinthewoods]

Lochte kicked some but in that 400 IM relay. I think Phelps might be in for a tough Olympics based on his performance.

Hope to see more of the beach volleyball, watching our ladies play Australia had us pretty excited.

 

[Magicite Spring]

Any hockey fans out there? i'm currently watching New Zealand take on Australia which I am very much enjoying because Australia are behind and I love it whenever a Kiwi team is beating Australia.

I'm also finding it very jarring watching hockey being played on a blue turf with a pink border and a yellow ball. Its just too different to the green I've always played on! I guess i'll get used to it.

 

[robot slipper]

Both last night and this morning, I have really enjoyed watching the swimming on the Red Button (for those of you in the UK). The commentators are really funny and enjoyable to listen to.

There was one heat this morning where a poor swimmer from Turkmenistan was literally a minute and a half behind the rest, so that when the others had finished she still had to swim two lengths of the pool. The crowd got really behind her though, cheering her on and gave a massive roar when she finally finished. I think that is a very British thing, cheering on the underdog.

I was watching handball yesterday too and I was transfixed! It's a lot faster and crazier than when I played it at school!

Did anyone watch the GB women play football? They were very good! 3-0!

 

[TheGuy(wantstobe)]

Been watching the fencing for the most part. Some absolutely astounding points in the foil yesterday and the men's sabre is as energetic and shouty as ever XD.