Which Tyler Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 I think the Aussie / Kiwi / Saffer commentators can probably give the Americans a run for their money in terms of cyclopia, sexism and irrelevance (some very good ones of course; just not when their country if involved) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyoshi Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 Just to add to my post: I meant a specifically American issue in that the available brodcasters might be more interested in the "human/personal" stories, which, in most cases, turn out to be ridiculously sexist. Like movie star interviews in which actresses get asked more about how they manage to have kids, have husbands and do "wifely" things, and act. I'm personally not a fan of "human" stories. I just saw a tweet about commentary on Hosszu and her record win. An NBC commentator had this to say about that: "There's the man responsible for turning his wife into an entirely new swimmer." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord of Oop North Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 On 8/7/2016 at 7:18 AM, Spockydog said: Looks like a lake to me. It is a lagoon. Connected to the Atlantic via a canal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Which Tyler Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 9 minutes ago, Kyoshi said: Just to add to my post: I meant a specifically American issue in that the available brodcasters might be more interested in the "human/personal" stories, which, in most cases, turn out to be ridiculously sexist. Like movie star interviews in which actresses get asked more about how they manage to have kids, have husbands and do "wifely" things, and act. I'm personally not a fan of "human" stories. I just saw a tweet about commentary on Hosszu and her record win. An NBC commentator had this to say about that: "There's the man responsible for turning his wife into an entirely new swimmer." Fair - I'd mis-interpreted. As for the latter; IRC the Beeb's expert was more along the lines of "I'm not saying he's been giving his wife PEDs or anything, it is just about possible that he's the best sports' coach the world has ever seen" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baxus Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 1 hour ago, Dr. Pepper said: But yeah, I think Michael Phelps is undoubtedly an amazing athlete but I get frustrated when he's called 'the greatest athlete ever' simply because his sport allows for so many medal events. I had always considered Sir Steve Redgrave to be the greatest athlete ever since he's the only one to have won gold medals in five different Olympic Games. Or at least he was the only one last time I checked. Being at the top of your game for over 16 years is a remarkable feat. That being said, with yesterday's gold in 4x100m freestyle Phelps did win gold medals in four Olympics now, so he's not that far behind Redgrave and he does have 23 medals total so the case for his "greatest athlete ever" is not weak at all. Still, sports are way too different from one another for there ever to be one greatest athlete ever. Greatest rower ever would have a hard time advancing from heats in swimming or in 100m dash or playing basketball etc. and the other way around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkash Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 Been thinking... they should restore the good ol' archery on a horse discipline, that would be fun... and at moving targets to make it even more rock'n'roll... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Walker Texas Ranger Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 2 hours ago, Which Tyler said: And what a travesty of a law that 2nd yellow card offence is! And yes; in the ladies' 7s only really Australia and New Zealand is made up of 7s players (or 15s players coached in 7s for more than 1 season). You can really tell by how they manipulate space on the pitch. Far and away the best 2 teams in the tourney; Aus my favourites; but a kiwi win would be no upset. I really wouldn't like to pick between GBR and Canada for the bronze though; mentally, GB won the previous encounter; but mentally, that beating by the kiwi's will be the more draining; especially that time down to 5. As for swimming; I've been feeling for a few Olympics (since Sydney and Thorpe IIRC) that there's just too much cross-over between the lengths and techniques; that 1 person can win 10 medals in one games is just insane, and miles ahead of the possibilities for any other sport. It almost reduces the prestige of the medals won - in my mind. Can you imagine putting a similar situation to a different event? Let's ask Usain to run the 100m and 200m; and the 100m relay and the 200m relay; and the 100, and 200m running sideways; and the 100m and 200m running backwards; and the 100m and 200m hopping; and the 100m and 200m medley of running forwards, sideways, backwards and hopping? My favorite Olympics hot take is that all events should be freestyle. Get from point a to point b (well point a to point b back to point a and then back to point b....)as fast as possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Chatywin et al. Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 16 hours ago, SkynJay said: How do I always end up watching Gymnastics? Well I am not upset with myself this time, watching greatness is always awesome and Simone Biles is the real deal. Same, it always sucks me in. I was a three sport varsity athlete in high school and what they do always makes my jaw drop. The U.S. Women's team is every bit as good as advertised. They finished a combined 10 points ahead of the second best team. And my god, Biles is the real deal. 16 hours ago, SkynJay said: Also Phelps second leg of the 400 relay was impossibly good; by my count he gave the team almost a second and a half (making up the deficit plus the second+ he gave them in the lead). Phelps was an animal for sure, but the real show in the pool was Katie Ledecky. She went full Aquawoman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sperry Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 Yeah, the sheer volume of swimming events is ridiculous. Why everything isn't freestyle is mindboggling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spockydog Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 1 hour ago, Lord of Oop North said: It is a lagoon. ...which is basically a salt-water lake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maltaran Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 2 hours ago, Which Tyler said: Thank you - I was discussing this with Ali earlier - we were both convinced he was an ex-pro, but couldn't find anything about it anywhere (unlike all his media work). According to Wiki he was forced to quit aged 14 for medical reasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkynJay Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 57 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said: Same, it always sucks me in. I was a three sport varsity athlete in high school and what they do always makes my jaw drop. The U.S. Women's team is every bit as good as advertised. They finished a combined 10 points ahead of the second best team. And my god, Biles is the real deal. Phelps was an animal for sure, but the real show in the pool was Katie Ledecky. She went full Aquawoman. Had to watch her on Tivo, that was pretty awesome. Knew the result and still cheered outloud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkash Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 Damn, tried to watch NBC to see how the Olympics were handled in the US but I forgot... US TV... Nope, wont do it, cant do it... cant stand 30 minutes of ads every 10 minutes of sport (exagerating but I really have the feeling I'm not that far from the truth). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The BlackBear Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 I am not sure of the legality of this so be warned: http://cricfree.tv/ Has BBC coverage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kairparavel Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 Canada's swimming future seems to be back on track. I'm so happy for our lady swimmers thus far. Exciting stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Pepper Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 The gifts they give the medalists are really cool. So much better than the typical flower bouquets. They can actually keep these for themselves, or give them to others if they have more than one. Just a little paperweight, but I already want one. Edit: Oh, it's a medal holder! Which makes it even cooler. Also, they really did a disservice by not banning all the Russians. I didn't have an opinion about it, but with the Paralympics having banned the Russians, every medal they get is really suspect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DireWolfSpirit Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 Earlier commentary over greatest athlete...As Baxus pointed out it's pretty difficult to compare between various disciplines. Take a Wilt Chamberlain, a Serena Williams and a Bruce Lee? How in the world do you realistically call one better than other, there all amazing in their own way? As for sports outside of Olympics, ive always wondered whether it's (who we should think of as "Greatest") one of these under heralded elite High Altitude Mountaineering Sherpas like Apa Sherpa or Ang Rita? These athletes can simply do what so few can do, they are rare yet their accomplishments gets so little publicity, comparatively anyways. Just amazing athletes to climb like the elite ones . Anyways I digress since Mountaineering isnt part of the Olympic Games Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo498 Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 From 1924 to 1936 they awarded medals for mountaineering, of course not as a games event but for expeditions done in the 4 preceding years. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prix_olympique_d'alpinisme https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prix_olympique_d’alpinisme With stuff like snowboarding being part of the Winter games I could see indoor climbing or bouldering in the future as an event. But that's not real high mountain alpinism, of course. EDIT: I just looked the link above with the new sports for Tokyo and climbing is already being included! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkynJay Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 On NBC's coverage: It amazes me that once one leaves the 'major' sports of the Olympics the commentary seems so much better. Women's handball towed the line between reminding people how the sport is played and treating the viewer like they are smart enough to get it. I was pretty impressed. Volleyball has a good (albeit all male) team; though I may revise that next time I hear about Walsh-Jennings being a mother of three. I also enjoyed the due for field hockey. Hate the Gymnastics team and the US centric coverage of it early on; the first night I only recall seeing two non-US athletes and both were special interest stories. I don't hate the team doing swimming but that may be complacency of recognizing the voices and style after so long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbunting Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 18 hours ago, Dr. Pepper said: What? None of my commentary about the American broadcast has to do with it being too "pro American". It's about their bad commentary, with a special focus on the horrible sexism. Yeah, I think I interpreted what I read, not what you wrote. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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