Serioiusly, could the opening ceremonies be any stupider, more stupid, stupidest? I'd rather go on a bike ride in a glass shard lined sandpaper thong than suffer through 5 hours of that silliness.
Hey, watch it. Some of us enjoy the sandpaper thong of the Olympics. ;)
I will admit that it is long, but I love the spectacle. At the Torino games, did anyone NOT get goosebumps when Pavarotti sang at the closing ceremonies?
KeithM - I think you are the only disgrace here. That's where I stopped reading.
I disagree with the IOC for allowing what I think is a detrimental sideshow. That's my strong opinion. Nothing I posted warranted a personal attack.
Eric the Eeel went on to cut his time in half in time for the 2004 Olympics (but didn't make it because of a Visa bungle.)
Had he the sufficient training to swim the times he later went then I'd have no issue with him participating with a wild card entry. However, in Sydney he'd only just begun swimming and had only just completed a SC swim just prior to the games. The result was seen as an embarrassment by many his native land and that remains the moment that people remember of him.
You got that right. Having seen the 8 piece costume that US Olympians are forced to wear tonight, I'd happily trade that in for the traditional mumu of East Bungaloria.
Serioiusly, could the opening ceremonies be any stupider, more stupid, stupidest? I'd rather go on a bike ride in a glass shard lined sandpaper thong than suffer through 5 hours of that silliness.
Geek,
I'm wearing my sandpaper thong right now (translation: watching the opening ceremonies). While I generally agree with you about the ceremonies, I must admit that the parade of athletes has been fun to watch. The Ralph Lauren uniforms looked very nice on the athletes.
Observations:
--The French president sweats a lot.
--I got the HDTV just in time (last week). Awesome.
--There are a lot of countries that I've never heard of.
I will admit Ali lighting the torch in Atlanta was a Hallmark moment. My wife woke me up at 3 am to see the lighting.
As to advice you give kids, I tell my daughters to win their event or they don't eat the next day. That is much better advice than "have fun."
Throw em in with the sharks....they learn to swim real quick!!!! Good way to weed out the losers too!!!!!!!:rofl::rofl:
IMHO, the only disgrace about that swim was the laughing in the background. The fans in the stands weren't laughing. It was disgraceful that the TV commentators mocked him.
-Rick
I agree. I thought it was bad taste to mock someone who was trying so hard. I believe that Eric the Eel only was able to practice in a hotel pool or something like that - and I'm sure that he didn't have access to the worlds top coaches, either. The fans in the stands said it all, he got a standing O. He swims a lot faster than some other pool piddlers I know. That was awesome to hear that he swims it in a 57 now... good for him.
I get more joy watching 10 real amateurs giving it their all against each other than the crop of pseudo-professionals with every trick, gimmick and article of technology at their disposal to win medals and inflate their egos further.
I'd can the whole commercial farce, which are the Olympics, and just have 2 or 3 entries from each country do the Decathlon...and bring back proper wrestling too!
Leave Eddie the Eagle out of it. He did his best, and there was no official backing for him. He had to raise his own finances with a record to get there. There are characters at every games--they make it more fun to watch as they usually truly doing it for the love of the game/event.
Like Matt said, it didn't hurt anyone, and if that was his best effort, good for him--he got a PB at the Olympic gaes!
I agree 100% Stud. I get more from the "little guys" than from any promoted, over hyped big wig at the games. And for the record, I didn't laugh, either. I thought it was an awesome swim.
I am trying to figure out how letting him swim was a "detrimental sideshow"? How is that exactly?Underlying the media froth about the genuine heartfelt "this is what the spirit of the Olympics is all about" there has also been an element of mockery and lampooning of these "lovable losers." Australian tv placing a moving record line ... (which was not actually a record) was done to carry the gag rather than as any indication of achievement. Those sorts of reactions are bound to be provoked when the criteria is lowered to silly extremes. The result is often embarrassment back home and really does a disservice to promoting the sport. After Eddie the Eagle "soared" in Calgary British funding for Winter Sports was severely cut. When today's British athletes talk about Eddie in Calgary they feel his legacy was a negative step backwards for the image of winter sports in Britain.
I actually think the comment Rainman said would probably be shared by quite a few on here.....not many came to defend you did they?
He's the only person here that posted a personal attack. I'll leave it at that.
After Eddie the Eagle "soared" in Calgary British funding for Winter Sports was severely cut. When today's British athletes talk about Eddie in Calgary they feel his legacy was a negative step backwards for the image of winter sports in Britain.
They can say that Keith, but as a Brit born, I feel it put us more on the map and made folks aware of the lack of winter athletics in the UK. We're not a snow sport country.
Look where our (GB) medals, or rare golds have typically come from over the years:
Athletics
Swimming
Rowing/Sailing
Shooting
OK Ice Dance (Torvill and Dean) is a winter sport but all you need is an ice rink, skates and the nerve to wear a ridiculous jumpsuit (kidding folks).
Typically we manage to grab a few from the type of activites a small Island Nation should be competetive in.
Funding for sports in the UK is not as great as in other places anyhow, add in the lack of a NCAA type college league (yeah the unis play but the scope is not as big). When you add in the lager lout culture, the general culture of it being about a good effort (jolly good show old chap) rather than winning is everything mentality, you can see why we don't rake up tons of medals, under achieving is a very British way of life in sports. I just don't see the infrastructure and gearing of sports there to drive talent on--unlike here where perhaps it is the other extreme at times.
As I have said before, elite athletes are pretty self centred and it's all about them (in general). That's not a dig, that's how they have to be to stay focused and get to the top. So when some start crying about the image of their sports, I think they need to get over it.
I don't consider myself to be a football hooligan, a monty pythonesque persona, a benny hil characterl, or any other silly British stereotype of folks from my ancestral home--if others want to think we're all like that, then that's ther issue, and we can all be inane about racial stereotypes.. These athletes are scapegoating Eddie for the general malaise of British Olympic Funding (that's an oxymoron) IMHO.
While I agree with your sentiment (was it you?) that the Aussies were a bit wrong to mock the guy, it wasn't the big finale, and 1 or 2 media goons are always on hand to get cheap laughs. If he got a few kids swimming, or even 1 pool built then it is an overall positive.
After Eddie the Eagle "soared" in Calgary British funding for Winter Sports was severely cut.
This sort of behavior is pretty standard anywhere; the Brits have probably got their fair share of bureaucratic twerps. e.g. Look what they did to Mark Foster for the last Olympics.
It has been my experience that many sporting bureaucrats have big egos too and like to throw their weight around, making their presence felt.
