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RE: Olympics 2008 - 8/20/2008 5:16:13 PM
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garsyt
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Quite frankly I'm thrilled for the German gymnast Oksana Chusovitina! I mean WOW! At 33, after having a child of her own, and old enough to practically be the parent of some of the other gymnasts! Then taking silver in the vault! And Dara Torres! Same thing! These women are inspiring! And I could care less about their country of origin!
Blessings,
Garsy
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RE: Olympics 2008 - 8/20/2008 6:15:47 PM
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agapetos
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I agree Garsy. I think Tasha Danvers who took bronze in the 400m hurdles today is a mother too ~ and she was criticised for taking a break to have a baby!
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RE: Olympics 2008 - 8/20/2008 8:06:52 PM
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Zhi
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I've been watching the gymnastics competitions, and it really seemed like the womens' competition was being judged horribly unfairly. My husband got disgusted with the whole thing and stopped watching when the chinese girl fell off the balance beam, wobbled all over when she was on it, and STILL got a higher score than the rock-solid American girl. The bars tiebreaker thing was just dumb. At the end there, even the NBC commentators sounded pretty disgusted with the whole thing.
Maybe I should give it up and become a fan of things that are races... it's difficult to cheat and play favorites on the scoring when the score card says "Did they cross the line first? Yes? Gold medal!"
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RE: Olympics 2008 - 8/20/2008 10:18:33 PM
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agapetos
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I've been watching the Olympics, especially the Bird's Nest and can't get over the seemingly sheer size of it. I've also seen documentaries recently about previous Olympics and seen how they've grown and changed.
I've wondered how London in 2012 can top Beijing ~ if it can. I caught the news today and Lord Coe has said that we're not going to be as big (as the Bird's Nest). Just wondering what people think of this.
I think it's a brilliant idea. What do others think? Should we scale back on the size of venues or build bigger and better to outdo previous host countries regardless of cost and whether the venues can be used in the community afterwards?
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RE: Olympics 2008 - 8/21/2008 12:07:12 AM
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garsyt
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Personally, I would hope London wouldn't evict people from their homes just to make room for a stadium or a road, like was done in China.
I DO believe that London can and should do just as fabulous program, just on a smaller, more intimate scale.
I think we knew from the moment that China got the olympics that they were going to go all out and huge!
Blessings,
Garsy
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RE: Olympics 2008 - 8/21/2008 2:24:14 AM
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aslouie
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Zhi
I've been watching the gymnastics competitions, and it really seemed like the womens' competition was being judged horribly unfairly. My husband got disgusted with the whole thing and stopped watching when the chinese girl fell off the balance beam, wobbled all over when she was on it, and STILL got a higher score than the rock-solid American girl. The bars tiebreaker thing was just dumb. At the end there, even the NBC commentators sounded pretty disgusted with the whole thing.
Maybe I should give it up and become a fan of things that are races... it's difficult to cheat and play favorites on the scoring when the score card says "Did they cross the line first? Yes? Gold medal!"
Funny you mention it, 'cause I got a news link/op-ed for your/our reading consideration...
http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/45129,features,there-is-growing-concern-about-partisan-judges-at-the-olympics
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RE: Olympics 2008 - 8/21/2008 1:19:00 PM
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ta_mosquito
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I think that the temptation is there to make each Olympics bigger and better than the last, but this can only go so far. I don't think that each country should try to "top" the one before, whether it be in the stadiums, the ceremonies, etc. It's stupid to waste money on facilities that can't be used again, or that create hardship on the host country.
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RE: Olympics 2008 - 8/21/2008 6:17:53 PM
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garsyt
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The Bird's Nest was built on waste land, but there was more then just that stadium built! There were stories aired here in the states about other things that were built that did find people evict from their homes.
Blessings,
garsy
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RE: Olympics 2008 - 8/21/2008 6:53:10 PM
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agapetos
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I stand corrected. I went to Wikipedia and looked at both Beijing and London. There were some compulsary purchases at the London site mostly businesses but also a special housing estate of 450 people ~ which was a pretty unique estate and it's horrific that they've had to be evicted. Interestingly it didn't even mention anything about evictions at Beijing!
There are multiple sites for London ~ some new but many old sites. There has been some criticism that some of the events (sailing and such) are so far away, but then the Eventing was in Hong Kong this time round ~ and that's a 4-hour flight!
I did comment to a couple of neighbours today that noone would be able to complain if it rained here, given it had done the exact same thing today (and other days) in Beijing! The British woman in the walking race (odd event that) said she loved the weather! Must have felt like home.
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RE: Olympics 2008 - 8/21/2008 7:07:38 PM
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garsyt
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quote:
The British woman in the walking race (odd event that) said she loved the weather! Must have felt like home.
And if it's raining it's not nearly as hot and humid!
Blessings,
Garsy
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RE: Olympics 2008 - 8/21/2008 7:41:26 PM
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agapetos
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Yep. A lot have said the conditions have been much better than expected in Beijing.
We may have rain in 2012, but is that really any worse than having smog or altitude or searing heat? Everyone has good and bad aspects to their weather when it comes to the Olympics.
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RE: Olympics 2008 - 8/21/2008 9:52:39 PM
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Miss Giggles
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No wonder Americans have such a bad reputation. I forgot the one usa guy's name (cause I was barely awake) who got the bronze and said he wanted a gold or something. Now Lauryn Williams says that someone must have used a voodoo doll on their team because they dropped the baton when the announcers said they weren't organized and didn't practice together that much.
Race walking is odd but they're still just as fast or faster as many runners.
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RE: Olympics 2008 - 8/21/2008 9:59:36 PM
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agapetos
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quote:
No wonder Americans have such a bad reputation. LOL! I have to chuckle at that because so many Americans say that Christianity is dead in Britain and Europe. I can't say that I've heard any Brits claim to have used a voodoo doll in the team!
quote:
Race walking is odd but they're still just as fast or faster as many runners. The commentators were saying that (at the moment) one foot must always be in contact with the ground and they were showing clips where that simply wasn't happening ~ and said that it should be changed.
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RE: Olympics 2008 - 8/22/2008 7:28:16 AM
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ta_mosquito
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quote:
What were the other issues that caused some to boycott the games?
Government structures. During the Cold War, the US didn't go to the Moscow games. In 1984, the USSR didn't go to the Los Angeles games.
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"There's a fine line between being open-minded and empty-headed." ~Michael Coren
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RE: Olympics 2008 - 8/22/2008 7:40:46 AM
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mapachito13
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Dubya
quote:
ORIGINAL: ta_mosquito
I think that the temptation is there to make each Olympics bigger and better than the last, but this can only go so far. I don't think that each country should try to "top" the one before, whether it be in the stadiums, the ceremonies, etc. It's stupid to waste money on facilities that can't be used again, or that create hardship on the host country.
The Olympic Coliseum in Los Angeles was built for the 1932 Olympics and was used again in the 1984 Olympics.
How's that for recycling? 
I don't think it'll last another 48 years though. Even USC (the last team to use the Colloseum) is thinking of moving their games to the Pasadena Rose Bowl (where rival UCLA plays).
As for recycling, Californians are known for that! Besides, for the gov't to purchase land from people would be too expensive when LA has lots of top-notch facilities already in use.
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RE: Olympics 2008 - 8/22/2008 8:43:16 AM
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stamper_ben
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quote:
What were the other issues that caused some to boycott the games? The fact that the sponsoring country is a ruthless communist dictatorship.
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RE: Olympics 2008 - 8/22/2008 9:02:32 AM
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Miss Giggles
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They use eminent domain here to expand the freeways and stuff. So it isn't just China.
I am not sure if I like BMX cycling. Glad beach volleyball is over!
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I think it's cool watching that Usay (?) guy. Man, you could see the flames on the track when he ran... 
