Olympics Thread
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Lions tour of South Africa set for Olympics clash
The British and Irish Lions' tour of South Africa in July 2021 will not be shifted despite a direct overlap with the new dates for the Tokyo Olympic Games.
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The first casualty for NZ athletes.
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So this happened
Probably more fun to watch than the ribbon and hoola hoop shit
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@Machpants IMO anything that has to be voted on artistic interpretation does not deserve to be at the Olympics.
Faster - Higher - Stronger
Next we will have Simon fucking Cowell judging...
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@Stargazer not entirely sure how you can tolerate rhythmic gymnastics, but slam breakdancing. They've both got interpretation.
What about diving?
Anything with judges is going to have some degree of judgement to find a winner.
That said, rationally I can understand including it, but it doesn't feel 'right'.
Separately, the best suggestion I've seen for the commonwealth games is go back to traditional commonwealth sports rather than try to be an Olympics-Lite. Wood chopping, caber toss, log rolling, cheese rolling, whatever the hell they do in Australia, etc. I'd sure as shit watch that
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@dogmeat said in Olympics Thread:
@Machpants IMO anything that has to be voted on artistic interpretation does not deserve to be at the Olympics.
Faster - Higher - Stronger
Agreed. I say this every time the Olympics comes around.
I met a pentathlete at a party and I made a life-long friend by enquiring "did you take up pentathlon because you couldn't compete in actual events?"
If it requires a judge it shouldn't be included. If it is surpassed by another sport, it shouldn't be included. So walking and most swimming is gone.
"I'm the fastest walker over 50km". Whoppee fucking doo. Here's the fastest hop skipper and backwards walker too. Give them a medal.
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i saw this news this morning, laughed, and moved on.
I watch and care about so very little at the olympics already that it doesn't worry me. I watch the running (cross country would have been great) and the cycling, and very little else.
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@mariner4life said in Olympics Thread:
I watch and care about so very little at the olympics already that it doesn't worry me.
I'm with you on this. Drugs have completely farked it for me, I don't know who's clean and who's not, and testing sure as shit ain't picking up the cheats.
So I'm OK with not watching.
Also, in teh modern world you have regular meetings of teh world's best athletes. I far prefer a World Cup, where it builds over a few weeks to a final, and you get all the tension and spectacle of meaningful knockout matches.
Edit: except cricket ODI world cups. Those things hurt.
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@nzzp said in Olympics Thread:
@mariner4life said in Olympics Thread:
I watch and care about so very little at the olympics already that it doesn't worry me.
I'm with you on this. Drugs have completely farked it for me, I don't know who's clean and who's not, and testing sure as shit ain't picking up the cheats.
So I'm OK with not watching.
Also, in teh modern world you have regular meetings of teh world's best athletes. I far prefer a World Cup, where it builds over a few weeks to a final, and you get all the tension and spectacle of meaningful knockout matches.
actually teh drugs thing isn't even on my radar
my main gripe was the fact it became more and more of a nationalistic dick-waving contest, with more focus on medal tables than human achievement.
The Australian Free to Air coverage may have had a significant part to play in that. But little old NZ is not above it, especially when "per capita" and "per dollar spent" tables start coming out. Return on Investment is for my work, not my sport watching.
Piss off, i want to see someone run a record pace no matter where they are from. I want to watch Bolt win 12 straight golds in 12 events. fuck off swimming.
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Shit, I love the Olympics. I choose to ignore the drugs, just pretend it doesn't happen. Same as for the TdF. Ignorance is bliss.
I love seeing these young kids achieve their dreams.
I'll watch a final of just about anything, I only draw the line at anything synchronised or any of the walking events.
I get the stupidity of a million swimming events, but no point whining about that, they've been here forever. I also don't want to see anything added where the Olympics isn't the pinnacle achievement of the sport. So bye bye rugby, tennis, any soccer events. Even basketball could bugger off.
Cant remove all judging, that would remove boxing, wrestling, all gymnastics, and in any case is a judge that different from a ref?
Edit: just with swimming, if you've never been to a live meet, its actually really fun. The atmosphere you can generate in that sweaty little arena is pretty cool, and with races so short, its constant entertainment
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@voodoo said in Olympics Thread:
Shit, I love the Olympics. I choose to ignore the drugs, just pretend it doesn't happen. Same as for the TdF. Ignorance is bliss.
I love seeing these young kids achieve their dreams.
I'll watch a final of just about anything, I only draw the line at anything synchronised or any of the walking events.
I get the stupidity of a million swimming events, but no point whining about that, they've been here forever. I also don't want to see anything added where the Olympics isn't the pinnacle achievement of the sport. So bye bye rugby, tennis, any soccer events. Even basketball could bugger off.
Cant remove all judging, that would remove boxing, wrestling, all gymnastics, and in any case is a judge that different from a ref?
It's a team sport and the ref isn't handing out judgement on artistic flair as well as technical merit.
Edit: just with swimming, if you've never been to a live meet, its actually really fun. The atmosphere you can generate in that sweaty little arena is pretty cool, and with races so short, its constant entertainment
Like slow tennis?
I just don't understand why in the modern era we give a shit who doggy paddles the fastest.
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@voodoo said in Olympics Thread:
Shit, I love the Olympics. I choose to ignore the drugs, just pretend it doesn't happen. Same as for the TdF. Ignorance is bliss.
I love seeing these young kids achieve their dreams.
I'll watch a final of just about anything, I only draw the line at anything synchronised or any of the walking events.
I get the stupidity of a million swimming events, but no point whining about that, they've been here forever. I also don't want to see anything added where the Olympics isn't the pinnacle achievement of the sport. So bye bye rugby, tennis, any soccer events. Even basketball could bugger off.
Cant remove all judging, that would remove boxing, wrestling, all gymnastics, and in any case is a judge that different from a ref?
Edit: just with swimming, if you've never been to a live meet, its actually really fun. The atmosphere you can generate in that sweaty little arena is pretty cool, and with races so short, its constant entertainment
100%!
Was really disappointed the Olympics was canned this year. It used to be difficult with one channel and having to endure Australia vs China in the basketball ffs, but now you can pick and choose your events. Being in Japan too means friendly time zone.I’ve always loved the swimming, even when I never swam myself. Being heavily involved with it now makes me truly appreciate how much devotion and sacrifice are required to even get to the Olympics, let alone win a medal.
Hopefully no more unpleasant surprises in 2021.
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@antipodean said in Olympics Thread:
@voodoo said in Olympics Thread:
Shit, I love the Olympics. I choose to ignore the drugs, just pretend it doesn't happen. Same as for the TdF. Ignorance is bliss.
I love seeing these young kids achieve their dreams.
I'll watch a final of just about anything, I only draw the line at anything synchronised or any of the walking events.
I get the stupidity of a million swimming events, but no point whining about that, they've been here forever. I also don't want to see anything added where the Olympics isn't the pinnacle achievement of the sport. So bye bye rugby, tennis, any soccer events. Even basketball could bugger off.
Cant remove all judging, that would remove boxing, wrestling, all gymnastics, and in any case is a judge that different from a ref?
It's a team sport and the ref isn't handing out judgement on artistic flair as well as technical merit.
Edit: just with swimming, if you've never been to a live meet, its actually really fun. The atmosphere you can generate in that sweaty little arena is pretty cool, and with races so short, its constant entertainment
Like slow tennis?
I just don't understand why in the modern era we give a shit who doggy paddles the fastest.
So you'd also ban diving? Anything that awards points for style? That's all gymnastics. Figure skating at the Winter Games too?
I've never been to live tennis actually. The idea of watching 2 blokes slug it out for 5hrs never excited me, especially in Australian heat
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@voodoo said in Olympics Thread:
Edit: just with swimming, if you've never been to a live meet, its actually really fun. The atmosphere you can generate in that sweaty little arena is pretty cool, and with races so short, its constant entertainment
I get that.
Having lived in the Netherlands for years as a teenager, I've seen quite a bit of ice speedskating. The 500m sprint is fun, but the long races are quite exciting to watch, too - once you understand a bit how building up a good 5km/10km race works (not dissimilar to running). For some, it's just some guys or gals skating big circles, but it's still one of my favourite sports of the Winter Olympics, along with downhill skiing, (grand) slalom and combined.
You won't see it in the Olympics, because Winter Olympics will never be held in the Netherlands, but the atmosphere at Thialf Ice Arena in Heerenveen is the best in the world. It's one big party!
