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misty
Joined: 26 Mar 2007
Posts: 230
Location: Texas
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 Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2008 5:46 pm Post subject: |
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I'm in favor of them both receiving a gold medal. I don't think the tie breaker makes much sense at all.
That said, I think the scores were a little unfair. IMO, Nastia had less mistakes than He, and should have placed above her, but I thought Yang did better than both, and should have placed first. So, Nastia got the medal she deserved.
Last edited by misty on Wed Aug 20, 2008 4:17 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Gail K.
Joined: 19 May 2007
Posts: 1292
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| Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2008 11:24 pm Post subject: |
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I always enjoy the men's diving competition.
He Chong and Alex Despatie
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xina
Joined: 22 Mar 2007
Posts: 6628
Location: minneapolis
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| Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 9:40 am Post subject: |
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| misty wrote: | | I'm in favor of them both receiving a gold medal. I don't think the tie breaker makes much sense at all |
I concur ,  , but I bet there's a laundry list of reasons as to why this isn't a good idea.....
On another note, it was so much fun watching Shawn Johnson get her gold medal. Yay, for her! She's talented and a cutie too. My daughter and I just love to watch her. |
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jebe
Joined: 24 Mar 2007
Posts: 820
Location: Jersey
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| Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 11:52 am Post subject: |
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Did anyone see the footage of Shawn's parents breaking down in the stands? What a nice end for them. And I can't get over how much Liukin is the picture of grace and elegance. What a nice end for them.
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xina
Joined: 22 Mar 2007
Posts: 6628
Location: minneapolis
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| Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 2:20 pm Post subject: |
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| jebe wrote: | | Did anyone see the footage of Shawn's parents breaking down in the stands? What a nice end for them. And I can't get over how much Liukin is the picture of grace and elegance. What a nice end for them. |
Yes, I did! I was happy to see them and thought their reaction was sweet. They haven't focused so much on her parents. In fact, at one point last week, I thought they weren't there. Well, that was during the swimming where every other shot when Phelps was swimming was of his Mom and sisters...which I thought sweet too. What these parents must go through as they watch. I'd probably be having a heart attack under all the stress.  |
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jebe
Joined: 24 Mar 2007
Posts: 820
Location: Jersey
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| Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 3:16 pm Post subject: |
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| xina wrote: | | What these parents must go through as they watch. I'd probably be having a heart attack under all the stress. |
I know, I can't imagine what they must go through either. Think about it, years of sacrifice and financial hardships to pay for training, traveling to competitions, etc. and sometimes it all comes down to a performance or race that lasts only minutes or seconds.
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xina
Joined: 22 Mar 2007
Posts: 6628
Location: minneapolis
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| Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2008 9:38 am Post subject: |
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Question. Why do the divers shower right after they dive?? I used to know the answer to that, but can't remember!
And what is with the US track stars that can't grab hold of the baton??? Puzzling. |
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Sandlynn
Joined: 23 Mar 2007
Posts: 1603
Location: Washington, D.C.
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| Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2008 10:04 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | And what is with the US track stars that can't grab hold of the baton??? Puzzling. |
Our track and field team has been a real mixed bag this Olympics, that's for sure. I'm wondering if their inability to work together on the relays has anything to do with the fact that they might have developed a bit of an "every man for himself" mentality ... sort of like our basketball players from the previous Olympics. They didn't learn how to work together well enough because they're too busy being stars in their own worlds.
Plus, I think they've been over thinking their individual performances. That is, I don't need to give 100% in the quarter finals or the semis because I have to save myself for the final race. Then, as a result, they end up coming up short in the first couple of races, never making it to the finals.
Who I feel sorry for is our women's softball team that was so heartbroken after losing the gold medal game. They were such a power house, not winning that medal was a big defeat for them. What's ironic is that the IOC voted -- by one vote -- to take softball and baseball out of the Olympics, and one of the issues brought up was that the U.S. softball team was, basically, steamrolling the competition. Although the IOC's action against baseball was presumably punishment for steriods and performance enhancing drugs, no such charge was made against the women. So, in terms of softball, I think the decision was more political. |
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Yulie
Joined: 22 Mar 2007
Posts: 1045
Location: Elsewhere
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| Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2008 11:10 am Post subject: |
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| xina wrote: | | Question. Why do the divers shower right after they dive?? I used to know the answer to that, but can't remember! |
Slate has the answer: Why do the Olympic divers shower after every plunge?
To keep warm. Diving venues are air conditioned and can feel especially cold after a dip in the pool. Competitors shower in warm water to keep their muscles loose and then often retire to a hot tub. They towel off shortly before the next dive so that their hands don't slip during tucks or other maneuvers. |
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jebe
Joined: 24 Mar 2007
Posts: 820
Location: Jersey
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| Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2008 11:13 am Post subject: |
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| xina wrote: | | Question. Why do the divers shower right after they dive?? |
We were just trying to figure that out the other day, too. The only thing I could think of was that the water was warm and was good for their muscles, b/c sometimes they don't shower they jump into that whirlpool/hot tub thingy. Watch it turn out to be something simple like they just don't want chlorine to buildup in their hair, etc. 
| Sandlynn wrote: | | Who I feel sorry for is our women's softball team that was so heartbroken after losing the gold medal game. |
Oh, man, so do I! The irony of it is too much to bear, they're one of the reasons the sport is being eliminated and they didn't manage to finish off w/that final gold. So heartbreaking.
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xina
Joined: 22 Mar 2007
Posts: 6628
Location: minneapolis
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| Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2008 11:42 am Post subject: |
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| Yulie wrote: | | xina wrote: | | Question. Why do the divers shower right after they dive?? I used to know the answer to that, but can't remember! |
Slate has the answer: Why do the Olympic divers shower after every plunge?
To keep warm. Diving venues are air conditioned and can feel especially cold after a dip in the pool. Competitors shower in warm water to keep their muscles loose and then often retire to a hot tub. They towel off shortly before the next dive so that their hands don't slip during tucks or other maneuvers. |
Thanks Yulie! I'll have to tell my daughter that she was right. She thought the warm water might be the reason.
Jebe and Sandlynn...I didn't watch the softball game. It seems I'm glued to the TV when I'm home watching The Olympics and I guess I can't watch it all! I did see part of the mens volleyball. Wow...the height of the players is amazing. The guy on the Brazil side was 6'7", but the guy on our side a whopping 6'9"!! |
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xina
Joined: 22 Mar 2007
Posts: 6628
Location: minneapolis
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| Posted: Sun Aug 24, 2008 2:14 pm Post subject: |
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| Am I the only one who found the Rythmic Gymnastics a little silly? I know...I could never do it, and I'm sure it takes hours of practice, but still. That ribbon thingy is something I used to play with my kitty with when she was just a baby. She'd drag that thing around the house all day. Maybe in another life she was a rythmic gymnast! |
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Yulie
Joined: 22 Mar 2007
Posts: 1045
Location: Elsewhere
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| Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 12:51 am Post subject: |
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| xina wrote: | | Am I the only one who found the Rythmic Gymnastics a little silly? I know...I could never do it, and I'm sure it takes hours of practice, but still. That ribbon thingy is something I used to play with my kitty with when she was just a baby. She'd drag that thing around the house all day. Maybe in another life she was a rythmic gymnast! |
But Xina, any gymast who dragged her ribbon would never have qualified. That's not the point of it. 
Anyway, I liked it better than the women's artistic gymnastics. The competitors didn't look like children - in fact, I understand many of them are relatively tall and certainly older than the female artistic gymnasts (the youngest competitors were 17). They seemed to be occasionally enjoying themsleves rather than fiercely concentrating all the time, it was pretty, they did not stop several times mid-routine to get themselves together for the next big element (as happens in floor exercises and on the balance beam). I have no idea what would be considered difficult in rythimic gymnsatics but I think the hoops and clubs (or whatever they're called) exercises were fun. Also, the Israeli team did well  . Yes, it was occasionally silly, and the judging was sometimes incomprehensible, but hey, I'm used to that from figure skating. If I wanted to watch "real sports" there was always track and field, not to mention basketball.
The men's artistic gymanstics I did like. I think it's because the emphasis is more on upper-body strength and less on balance and acrobatic feats; it seems cooler. |
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xina
Joined: 22 Mar 2007
Posts: 6628
Location: minneapolis
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| Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 1:24 pm Post subject: |
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| Yulie wrote: | | xina wrote: | | Am I the only one who found the Rythmic Gymnastics a little silly? I know...I could never do it, and I'm sure it takes hours of practice, but still. That ribbon thingy is something I used to play with my kitty with when she was just a baby. She'd drag that thing around the house all day. Maybe in another life she was a rythmic gymnast! |
But Xina, any gymast who dragged her ribbon would never have qualified. That's not the point of it.
Anyway, I liked it better than the women's artistic gymnastics. The competitors didn't look like children - in fact, I understand many of them are relatively tall and certainly older than the female artistic gymnasts (the youngest competitors were 17). They seemed to be occasionally enjoying themsleves rather than fiercely concentrating all the time, it was pretty, they did not stop several times mid-routine to get themselves together for the next big element (as happens in floor exercises and on the balance beam). I have no idea what would be considered difficult in rythimic gymnsatics but I think the hoops and clubs (or whatever they're called) exercises were fun. Also, the Israeli team did well . Yes, it was occasionally silly, and the judging was sometimes incomprehensible, but hey, I'm used to that from figure skating. If I wanted to watch "real sports" there was always track and field, not to mention basketball.
The men's artistic gymanstics I did like. I think it's because the emphasis is more on upper-body strength and less on balance and acrobatic feats; it seems cooler. |
Good points all around Yulie! Agree that kitty wouldn't have made a good gymnast dragging her ribbon around like that. Funny story, I'd find it by my head almost every morning. I guess she'd drop it off during the night as a present.
Anyway...I didn't get to watch everything to do with the Olympics. I missed the mens artistic group. Darn it...I'll miss the Olympics. It's good TV. |
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Yulie
Joined: 22 Mar 2007
Posts: 1045
Location: Elsewhere
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| Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 3:31 pm Post subject: |
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| xina wrote: | Funny story, I'd find it by my head almost every morning. I guess she'd drop it off during the night as a present.
Anyway...I didn't get to watch everything to do with the Olympics. I missed the mens artistic group. Darn it...I'll miss the Olympics. It's good TV. |
1. Better a ribbon than a dead bird, which my parents' cats sometimes bring as thoughtful gifts. Though it must be said that they are considerate enough to drop them off outside the door rather than by their bed.
2. Men's gymnastics got some air time here because our lone representative made it into the floor finals (first time ever for an Israeli gymnast). When you only have 43 athletes and one medal - a bronze in sailing - the broadcast team can't be choosy which is why we got way too much judo.
3. 1433 days until London 2012 (or something like that), but only 18 months to go until the 2010 Winter Olympics, which of course will include the beloved figure skating. I'm so jealous of those of you in North America - with the games being in Vancouver (=10 hour time difference), I suspect I won't be able to watch much.  |
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