BS: Olympics -favourite moment

Subject: RE: BS: Olympics -favourite moment
From: GUEST,Miner633
Date: 25 Aug 08 - 08:41 AM

Well Parsip, he is still a plank and comes home today with fuck all. The end result of a wasted trip. A pleasing outcome.

Subject: RE: BS: Olympics -favourite moment
From: GUEST,Tunesmith
Date: 25 Aug 08 - 09:18 AM

Of course, anyone who knows anything about sport, knows that young Tom has not returned empty-handed; indeed, he has returned with a wealth of experience which he will draw on in future competitions.

Subject: RE: BS: Olympics -favourite moment
From: GUEST,Miner633
Date: 25 Aug 08 - 10:12 AM

Home empty-handed, no medals, empty-handed.
A wealth of experience my ass.
Dunkirk was called a "Glorious Retreat" good word play, still the little rat is home empty-handed. I still a poll has him the most disliked 2008 Olympic personalty.

Subject: RE: BS: Olympics -favourite moment
From: GUEST,Tunesmith
Date: 25 Aug 08 - 10:25 AM

Miner633: You clearly don't anything about what it takes to compete at the top level in sport. For Tom to have success in the future he needed the experience of competing at the Olympics. This experienced can't be gained by praticing his dives in his local baths. Or, put another way, Tom's chances of winning gold in 2012 have been greatly enhanced by his Beijing experiences.

Subject: RE: BS: Olympics -favourite moment
From: Sandy Mc Lean
Date: 25 Aug 08 - 11:26 AM

I am more than willing to not buy Chinese goods. The problem is becomming harder to manage though as you can't find another damn thing on the store shelves. Even brand name items carry a sticker "Made in China". Meanwhile we turn a blind eye to their human rights violations as we pay higher and higher prices for their junk! We shouldn't have to kiss their arse at the olympics as well!

Subject: RE: BS: Olympics -favourite moment
From: PoppaGator
Date: 25 Aug 08 - 11:50 AM

I can't believe anyone is criticizing a 14-year-old boy who represented the UK by advancing to the finals in the diving competition. Shame on you!

There would be no Olympics without a full complement of competitors. Those who fall short of winning a medal are part of the show, too, and without their presence, a first-through-third finish in any event would be meaningless. Also, please keep in mind that simply by qualifying for the trip, each athlete has already demonstrated a world-class level of accomplishment in his/her discipline.

A few of the most memorable moments in every Olympiad have been provided by competitiors who showed courage and spirit while falling short of the medal stand. But all the participants deserve our respect, even those who qualify, arrive, and compete with neither success nor especially dramatic failure.

**********************

Geez, the eight minutes (or so) of the closing ceremony allocated to the London organizers for "previewing" their turn at hosting four years from now ~ how lame!

I was especially embarrassed for Jimmy Page, reduced to miming his guitar part on an unplugged Les Paul while some young pop diva lip-synched her attempt to duplicate Robert Plant's vocal on that old overdone Led Zep hit. The sound quality was noticably inferior to everything else that evening, too, which only emphasized that sequence's overall mediocrity.

No Olympic host-country has ever spent the money that China just did, and none is likely to ever do so in the future ~ not "adjusted for inflation," anyway. But as far as the opening and closing ceremonies are concerned, more than simple overspending was involved in creating some truly impresssive moments. The director and his associates certainly put all that money to excellent use, resulting in showcase festivities were every bit as tasteful as they were overwhelmingly spectacular.

Vancouver and London should not feel that their inability to match Beijing's astronomical spending level handicaps them. It certainly shouldn't be taken as an excuse for a lackluster showing, because good taste doesn't cost money, and operating on a modest scale is no excuse for the of corniness we had to endure while that doubledecker bus was on the stadium floor.

True, an artistic director with proven skills should not be expected to work for free, but given the availability of a reasonable paycheck, qualified candidates should be falling all over each other for the opportunity to create a great show for the world stage. If patriotic pride isn't enough incentive, the promise of worldwide exposure and acclaim ought to attract someone who really knows how to put on a show.

Subject: RE: BS: Olympics -favourite moment
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 25 Aug 08 - 12:22 PM

I thought the BMX bike racing looked very exciting. I never even knew that sport existed. I think I would go and watch that.

Subject: RE: BS: Olympics -favourite moment
From: Wolfgang
Date: 25 Aug 08 - 02:32 PM

Natalie du Toit's performance was really impressing, but much less impressing were the press comments on her achievement, for nearly each newspaper added some wrong information like "the first athlete with an amputation ever to qualify...". Do they never look up anything before printing?

Both the English and the German Wikipedia article about her get this bit wrong too.

There was an athlete also with an amputation (one leg below the knee) after a traffic accident before her and he even won gold at two successive Olympic games and a Silver at his first Olympic appearance. And he also did compete in a water sport though not in the open sea but in the pool.

Oliver Halassy

And then there was a deaf Hungarian fencer winning two Golds, three Silvers and two Bronze.

And a Hungarian shooter winning the world championship when he was able bodied. He lost his shooting hand by a grenade and came back 1948 to win Gold at the Olympics shooting with the other hand.

Wolfgang

Subject: RE: BS: Olympics -favourite moment
From: GUEST,Miner633
Date: 25 Aug 08 - 05:06 PM

The screening of the video last night compiled by British tourism bosses who used the face of Murderer Myra Hinley to promote 2012 Olympics at a VIP party !

A lot of red faces today. Ah well.

Subject: RE: BS: Olympics -favourite moment
From: Andy Jackson
Date: 25 Aug 08 - 05:53 PM

Re: Myra Hindley art.
Before we get too hot under our Muddy collars, look at the true story. The Myra Hindley picture, agreed despicable, unnecessary and tastless, was included as a snippet featuring the Tate Gallery. Now love it or hate it, and you can guess which side I'm on, The Tate is a London Landmark. I can understand that in the making of the clip for the promo, the significance of the subject matter was not noticed. Hindsight being the absolute art that it is, of course the Hindly image should not have been there. But it could be said that it should never have been displayed in public in the first place.

Subject: RE: BS: Olympics -favourite moment
From: PoppaGator
Date: 25 Aug 08 - 06:35 PM

Wolfgang, thanks for that bit of history ~ very interesting.

I can't help but ponder the curious fact that both the amputee swimmer Natalie du Toit AND the double-amputee runner who tried but (barely) failed to qualify for the Olympic 400 meter event both hail from the same nation, Republic of South Africa.

Both will be participants, and (I assume) overwhelming favorites in their events at the upcoming Paralympic Games in Beijing.