What, no Olympics thread?

[Mystery Man]

Bottom line...

There is football.

Everything else is just filler.

 

[Crothian]

my friends and i were discussing this the other day.
around here...
SPORTS fans dont watch the olympics.
the regular non-sports following people do.

sports fans despise the olympics.
it makes a big deal about things that are unimportant.
like 2nd and 3rd place.

and also, why do the change the rules to EVERY sport?
while flipping the channels the other day, we came across beach volleyball. the ONE rule of volleyball is that you only get points on your serve and THEY CHANGE IT. teams were getting points on either serve. GAH.

its unforgiveable the way the olympics massacres all that is right and good about sports.

Actually most of the rule changes are with innational play, not olympic specific. And lots of sports fans like the Olympics, 2nd and third place are not something to be uncelebrated. Pro teams take pride in being seciond, they might want to be first but they still better then the other thirty or whoever many teams.

 

[Frostmarrow]

One of the rules for women's beachvolley is that the bikinibottom-sideseam can't be more than 7 centimeters (2.75"). That's a big deal in Sweden (and Norway) right now. -Apparantly it's sexist.

 

[stevelabny]

the announcers seemed to indicate the beach volleyball rule change was NEW. one would assume its to save time so they could be out of the arena as quick as possible and use it for another sport.
im aware that international sports have altered rules but often the olympic rules vary even from the international ones.

also, sure, AFTER the season a team might say "hey we made the world series/superbowl/finals and lost but that was a good season" but you NEVER see them standing on the platform with the winning team getting a smaller trophy and smaller bottles of champagne. its WRONG to immediately celebrate losing.

and as for mystery man, in an olympic thread, you really have to specify WHICH football youre talking about. the fun american kind that isnt an olympic sport, or the boring international kind that would only be exciting if the cows were still grazing on the field during play.

 

[Desdichado]

and as for mystery man, in an olympic thread, you really have to specify WHICH football youre talking about. the fun american kind that isnt an olympic sport, or the boring international kind that would only be exciting if the cows were still grazing on the field during play.

That's why I learned to like hockey after moving to Detroit. It's like football (soccer) except it moves fast and has lots of violence; the lack of which sink soccer as a spectator sport, as far as I'm concerned.

Then again, I suppose I'm not much of a sports fan; I don't like watching (American) football, baseball or basketball very much unless a team I connect to regionally is doing very well.

 

[Crothian]

its WRONG to immediately celebrate losing.

Why?

The team would have come a long way and wona lot of games. They might not have won the whole thing, but they still did very well.

 

[drothgery]

the announcers seemed to indicate the beach volleyball rule change was NEW. one would assume its to save time so they could be out of the arena as quick as possible and use it for another sport.

They changed to 'rally scoring' in indoor volleyball for the 2000 games, and mentioned the change was coming in 1996, IIRC. I imagine the change on the beach was just to keep the indoor and outdoor games in sync.

 

[Crothian]

least they added cheerleaders to the volleyball.......

 

[Klaus]

least they added cheerleaders to the volleyball.......

Once again, the greatest sport known to man!



As for celebrating 2nd and 3rd places, I think that's great!

Most countries don't have athletes that are on par with powerhouses like China, Cuba, USA or Ukraine. For them, simply getting a better positioning than previously is something to be celebrated.

For instance, this year Brazil had its first female participant in the single skiff (rowing them boats, y'know). The simple fact that she made it to the Olympics is something to be celebrated. We also managed to send a complete gymnastics team for the first time, and for the first time (again) three of those girls managed to qualify for the finals. That by itself is a victory worth celebrating.

 

[diaglo]

its unforgiveable the way the olympics massacres all that is right and good about sports.

what is right and good about sports?

win or lose

it teaches in individual events: discipline, competition, self-reliance, confidence, achievement

in group events: teamwork, sacrifice, plus some of the above traits


win or lose to be able to compete in the Olympics is important.

you get to test yourself against the very best. you are no longer just a big fish in a small pond. you get to swim, fence, run, dance.... with all the other big fish. a true test of where you are in the World