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2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China - Page 3

post #61 of 440
8/11/08 at 4:53pm

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

By the way, not knowing anything about her, am I the only one who did a double take when Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry was interviewed?
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post #62 of 440
8/11/08 at 7:57pm

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

She sounds like a southern girl. But that's her college. Lots of these swimmers went to school in the States.

Good night for the Americans in the Cube tonight. 7 medals in total, 3 of the 4 Golds, plus two each of Silver and Bronze. Lots of new World Records these games...it's a very fast pool.
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post #63 of 440
8/11/08 at 8:17pm

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

questions:

1) has there been any official reaction from the french relay team (interview, etc) on their loss?

2) is there a sensor at the end of the pool that swimmers touch to stop the clock?
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post #64 of 440
8/11/08 at 8:20pm

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

Quote:
Originally Posted by EricW
questions:

1) has there been any official reaction from the french relay team (interview, etc) on their loss?

2) is there a sensor at the end of the pool that swimmers touch to stop the clock?

I don't know about an official reaction, but based on the end of the race and the medal ceremony they seemed to be good sports about it.

Yes.
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post #65 of 440
8/11/08 at 8:24pm

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

Quote:
Originally Posted by Chuck Mayer
Good night for the Americans in the Cube tonight. 7 medals in total, 3 of the 4 Golds, plus two each of Silver and Bronze. Lots of new World Records these games...it's a very fast pool.

I'd say that is a great night. Yes, it is a fast pool, but the WR have been falling fast all year including the US trials. It is amazing the progress that has been made in swimming and the new suits have been a part of that.
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post #66 of 440
8/11/08 at 8:36pm

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

I just happened to flip to NBC and saw 2 sick dismounts by the US on the bar. Considering the US lost the Hamms right before the games, this team performance is just mind-boggling.
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post #67 of 440
8/11/08 at 8:38pm

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

Jonathan Horton and Justin Spring on high bar.

Mind. Blown.



GO TEAM USA!!!!!!!!!!
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post #68 of 440
8/11/08 at 8:56pm

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

Quote:
Originally Posted by EricW
questions:

1) has there been any official reaction from the french relay team (interview, etc) on their loss?

2) is there a sensor at the end of the pool that swimmers touch to stop the clock?

To answer 2), yes there is a sensor on the finish wall that senses the touch.
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post #69 of 440
8/11/08 at 9:02pm

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

Gymnastics drives me nuts because of the judging and scoring system. The new system just seems to make it worse.
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post #70 of 440
8/11/08 at 9:29pm

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

I think I would enjoy beach volleyball more if not for the song clips they play between serves. It gets on my nerves fast.
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post #71 of 440
8/11/08 at 9:42pm

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

Dang, I didn't think I would find the men's gymnastics this compelling. Great job by the Chinese-- that place should be rocking. Outstanding job by the Americans. The last kid on the pommel horse really stepped up for the US. Talk about pressure.
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post #72 of 440
8/11/08 at 9:49pm

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

About the men's 4 x 100 relay last night:

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post #73 of 440
8/11/08 at 9:57pm

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

Quote:
Originally Posted by DavidJ
The last kid on the pommel horse really stepped up for the US. Talk about pressure.
That pommel horse performance was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. I swear the laws of gravity were repealed during his routine.

And I also dislike the new scoring system.
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post #74 of 440
8/12/08 at 5:41am
Thread Starter 

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick Sun
it's a pain to try to keep up with the events as they spring up during primetime.

Tell me about. I think the coverage going all the way to midnight is a bit of overkill.

Quote:
Originally Posted by DavidJ
The new system just seems to make it worse.

I know, it takes so freaking long.

When did the men's final end? I set the VCR to record til 12:30 AM, but the competition was still not finished.

But congrats to the US Men for getting a medal, a huge surprise! And the Chinese, for winning gold at home.
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post #75 of 440
8/12/08 at 5:55am

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

Quote:
Gee, Andrew comes in with yet another in his long running series of "You Yanks are too high on your horses, let me knock you down a few" posts.

Oh dear. Read my post again, this time carefully, or I'll keep you in after school. I was lumping the UK in with the USA and pointing out that we BOTH have insular perspectives.

I've never ONCE in my posts adopted an anti-American stance, except tongue in cheek (yes, I know Brit sarcasm is at times hard to grasp, but trust me, it's worth the effort). I'm just trying to restore a little bit of balance to the picture. The fact that I've done this on several occasions should actually tell you something ...

For what it's worth, I was cheering along Michael Phelps earlier - he is a superb swimmer and I'd love to see him get his full clutch of medals. And yes, the 4x100 was an exciting race. To be honest, objectively I think the women's 400m was more exciting, but heck, let's just be grateful we're getting some good swimming in these games.

As a matter of interest, are any of you guys gripped by the rowing? It's a biggish sport in the UK, so it's getting heavy coverage over here.
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post #76 of 440
8/12/08 at 6:21am

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

Quote:
I've never ONCE in my posts adopted an anti-American stance, except tongue in cheek (yes, I know Brit sarcasm is at times hard to grasp, but trust me, it's worth the effort).

Don't get your little post-empire panties in a bunch Andrew, I was pointing out your utter predictability, not any anti-US stance. I guess American sarcasm is also a little hard to grasp (not to mention the liberal use of emoticons). That you've become predictable is something I wouldn't expect from someone as observant as you, even on a subject so dear to your heart as pointing out the "differences" (*cough* superiority *cough*) in the Brit point of view.
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post #77 of 440
8/12/08 at 7:01am

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

what the.......?

is it 1775?
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post #78 of 440
8/12/08 at 7:06am

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

Quote:
When did the men's final end? I set the VCR to record til 12:30 AM, but the competition was still not finished.
Around 1:30am.
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post #79 of 440
8/12/08 at 7:16am

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

Quote:
Originally Posted by andrew markworthy
Oh dear. Read my post again, this time carefully, or I'll keep you in after school. I was lumping the UK in with the USA and pointing out that we BOTH have insular perspectives.

I've never ONCE in my posts adopted an anti-American stance, except tongue in cheek (yes, I know Brit sarcasm is at times hard to grasp, but trust me, it's worth the effort). I'm just trying to restore a little bit of balance to the picture. The fact that I've done this on several occasions should actually tell you something ...

For what it's worth, I was cheering along Michael Phelps earlier - he is a superb swimmer and I'd love to see him get his full clutch of medals. And yes, the 4x100 was an exciting race. To be honest, objectively I think the women's 400m was more exciting, but heck, let's just be grateful we're getting some good swimming in these games.

As a matter of interest, are any of you guys gripped by the rowing? It's a biggish sport in the UK, so it's getting heavy coverage over here.

I saw some rowing on the first day. All of our "prime time" stuff has been swimming and gymastics so far.
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post #80 of 440
8/12/08 at 7:29am

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

Which is the correct way to add up the medals - total number of medals (so a country with tons of bronzes could be at the top) or country with most golds (followed by silvers, bronzes)?

On NBC they do it the total medals way:

US - 21 total medals
China - 20 total medals
S. Korea - 12 total medals

2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games | Medal - Women's Air Rifle Standings 2008 | NBC Olympics

I don't know why the link looks wrong - it does take you to the medals table.

On the BBC they do it the total golds way:

China - 13
USA - 7
S. Korea - 5

BBC SPORT | Olympics | Medals table | Olympics

Just wondering - not trying to start an international incident!
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post #81 of 440
8/12/08 at 7:39am

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

Quote:
Originally Posted by andrew markworthy
As a matter of interest, are any of you guys gripped by the rowing? It's a biggish sport in the UK, so it's getting heavy coverage over here.
I think of rowing as a UK bulwark, and we did see some 2 man scull semis on Saturday, where the Brits crushed the field (though Greece did real well). US coverage is focused on BBall, gymnastics, and swimming (as to be expected). I'd like to see some more rowing.

In swimming, I was really impressed with Park Tae-Hwan (South Korea) as well. He's only 18, so he is probably going to be a monster in 2012 London. South Korea is always a very strong Olympic competitor, in both seasons.

Missed the men's gymnastics on the east coast Can't stay up until 1:30 AM on work nights.
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post #82 of 440
8/12/08 at 8:16am

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cameron Yee
Around 1:30am.


It ended at around 12:30am EST, I'm sure of it. I have heard a report of an affiliate that delayed its feed by exactly an hour on the eastern time zone for some reason.

What's your affiliate, Cameron?
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post #83 of 440
8/12/08 at 8:51am

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

Quote:
Originally Posted by Marianne
Which is the correct way to add up the medals - total number of medals (so a country with tons of bronzes could be at the top) or country with most golds (followed by silvers, bronzes)?

On NBC they do it the total medals way:

US - 21 total medals
China - 20 total medals
S. Korea - 12 total medals

2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games | Medal - Women's Air Rifle Standings 2008 | NBC Olympics

I don't know why the link looks wrong - it does take you to the medals table.

On the BBC they do it the total golds way:

China - 13
USA - 7
S. Korea - 5

BBC SPORT | Olympics | Medals table | Olympics

Just wondering - not trying to start an international incident!

Personally I assign a value:

Gold = 3
Silver = 2
Bronze = 1

Then toss it all out the window because if those "women's" gymnastics competitors on the China team are 16 years old, then I'm ready to collect Social Security. Apparently puberty in China sets in around the time they graduate from High School.

I've not seen a more blatant flaunting of the rules since the female East German swimmers of the 80's who were shot full of so much testosterone and steroids, they were sprouting chest hair.
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post #84 of 440
8/12/08 at 8:55am

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

You know the Chinese government made the male gymastics coaches sign contracts that the athletes would not get injured.......Strange stuff.
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post #85 of 440
8/12/08 at 8:59am

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

I remember the old days when "professional" athletes were not able to compete. The first Olympics to officially accept professional athletes was 1988 in selected sports and 1992 in the remainder.

Of course, before that there were athletes who were not "paid" but who had endorsement deals and then there were certain countries whose top athletes were in the military and were able to do full time training without having to worry about having a job!

An example of this would be men's basketball where you would have a US team made up of amateurs playing a team from the USSR made up of soldiers who did nothing but play basketball.
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post #86 of 440
8/12/08 at 9:01am

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

And in the scratching one's head area: China used a pretty child to lip-sync a great singing performance by a not-so-pretty child in the opening ceremony, that's just a bit tacky. Also the "helicopter" footage of the fireworks from the sky were CGI'd and piped in to produce the illusion of a spectacular footprint fireworks display.
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post #87 of 440
8/12/08 at 9:10am

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick Sun
And in the scratching one's head area: China used a pretty child to lip-sync a great singing performance by a not-so-pretty child in the opening ceremony, that's just a bit tacky. Also the "helicopter" footage of the fireworks from the sky were CGI'd and piped in to produce the illusion of a spectacular footprint fireworks display.

I've also heard they built elaborate facades on some of the downtown buildings to hide the decrepit conditions of some areas. False and misleading images being projected to the rest of the world is nothing new in a totalitarian country. Then again, most of the Super Bowl halftime performances are lip synced, so who are we in the US to talk.
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post #88 of 440
8/12/08 at 9:15am

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff Gatie
Personally I assign a value:

Gold = 3
Silver = 2
Bronze = 1


So your tally would be:

China - 49 points
USA - 43 points
S. Korea - 15 points
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post #89 of 440
8/12/08 at 9:47am

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

How's Cyprus doing?

This is headline news in the UK, the pretty little girl becomes famous while the girl with the voice (and crooked teeth) is hidden away, how terrible.


Quote:
China picked a 'cute' nine-year-old girl to mime at its Olympic opening ceremony after deciding a seven-year-old with a 'flawless' voice was not pretty enough to perform.
Lin Miaoke, in her angelic red dress and pigtails, captivated the world last Friday as she 'sang' the national anthem during its £20million opening for the Games.
But it has now been revealed the voice heard by billions both in Beijing and around the globe was in fact seven-year-old Yang Peiyi, who was banned for her crooked teeth.



In yet another example of fakery at the Games, China pre-recorded Yang singing Paean to the Motherland but chose her rival to lip-synch before the public.

Lin's appearance in the ceremony has made her the hottest child star in China and her picture was even printed on the front page of the New York Times.

'Cute' girl forced to mime at Olympic ceremony after China banned girl with crooked teeth | Mail Online
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post #90 of 440
8/12/08 at 9:56am

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Christou
How's Cyprus doing?

This is headline news in the UK, the pretty little girl becomes famous while the girl with the voice (and crooked teeth) is hidden away, how terrible.
Nothing really new. It was common practice in the US music industry in the 90's to put thin, attractive models on-stage and in videos to lip sync the vocals of the overweight/unattractive vocalists that could actually sing.

Sounds like a lot of what's gone on in China, and the Opening Ceremonies, was just so much smoke & mirrors. I'm defininitely less impressed than I was a couple days ago.
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