The Olympics

[Dolfan in NYC]

37 minutes ago, hammerva said:

If we are going to have NBA players in the normal basketball field, we need to have Big 3 guys in this 3x3 version that is on now.  

What we need is to find the best player on the West 4th Street Court in NYC, the Venice Beach courts, and the courts at 16th & Susquehanna in Philly.  

They'll literally be spinning the ball on their fingers in front of everyone else and then using their opponents as catapults to dunk on them.   

(Yes, I'm salty about the US Men not qualifying for 3-on-3.)

[Craig H]

I fully support turning the 3v3 competition into an And1 mixtape.

[Craig H]

22 hours ago, ReiseReise said:

Water Polo is also allegedly some dirty, rowdy sport. 

The US winning Gold in Basketball not being a foregone conclusion is quite interesting and rarely occurs since the NBA pros are in the mix. 

The problem is that basketball is a global sport now so those NBA pros are in the mix for so many more countries now. I think it's more or less that the mindset with the men's team can no longer be that you can just throw whoever you want together and just expect to win. "You don't have enough TALENT to win on talent alone!" and all that.

[supremebve]

On 7/25/2021 at 5:43 AM, ReiseReise said:

Handball is a very big sport in Northern and Central Europe aswell as Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean, Brazil and Northern African states. It's more a thing of some quite popular things getting more of an absolute mainstream spotlight. 

I do not understand why every PE class in the United States doesn't play handball 3 times a week. Seriously,  replace one kickball day will handball and no one will complain.  It really looks like it would be incredibly fun and catch on quickly with kids. Seriously,  I'd play in a recreational handball league, it just looks like a great time. 

[NikoBaltimore]

I only saw a few minutes of handball so far but I would love to see that as well.  Beats the piss out of dodgeball which was basically an excuse for bullies to try and kill dweebs like me with the ball.

[elizium]

3 hours ago, Pete said:

I lost my ever-loving shit for that. And the NBC announcers didn't even notice.

The CBC coverage did, though the announcers were British so I think they were picking up the feed from another station. Even identified it as Gundum too.

That's really the only event I've seen so far. I loved the Norwegian triathlete slapping his head in disbelief for the last 100 meters or so at the thought of winning

[J.T.]

The Japanese just won their first gold ever in Table Tennis beating the Chinese in mixed doubles.

I suspect that celebration will be jubilant and still respectful.  If it were the US, we'd be setting tire fires in the streets by now.  That's how we roll.

Edited July 26, 2021 by J.T.

[lostinube]

Not being respectful are bunches of sore loser Chinese SNS accounts (some are definitely bots) kicking up a fuss about illegal touching of the table and blowing on the ball by the Japanese team. The Olympics: always bringing the world together.

[odessasteps]

Ping pong diplomacy at work 

[Death From Above]

Most impressive performance I've seen so far was Flora Duffy absolutely demolishing the field in the women's triathlon. Just destroyed them.

[Dolfan in NYC]

Both the Philippines and Bermuda got their first gold medals ever today.  Weightlifting & Triathlon, respectively. 

[Jenalysis]

Phillipines was I think  first in 97 years, they did get one before they were even a country.

 

 

Edited July 27, 2021 by alstein

[odessasteps]

Naomi Osaka upset in the tennis. 

[hammerva]

Simone Biles pulled out of the team finals event.  Some are saying injury but according to live report she was claiming no injury 

[hammerva]

I know it is me being dumb but every time I see ROC I think it is an Olympic team created by Jay-Z and not a team of random Russians 

[Eoae]

1 hour ago, hammerva said:

Simone Biles pulled out of the team finals event.  Some are saying injury but according to live report she was claiming no injury 

NBC and a few other sites are reporting "mental issue".

[Craig H]

It sucks too. She was set to bust out something huge, but I get it. She kept messing up during practice when before this she kept hitting it over and over again. Flying through the air like that and twisting and turning that much through the air isn't something you want to mess with if your head isn't in it. 

[Dolfan in NYC]

Gymnastics spoilers (for those in the US who are waiting for tonight for the results):

Spoiler

"Russia's" women won the team gymnastics gold in an upset.  

I, for one, think they should turn into the skid of this ROC thing and play this as their national anthem:

 

 

[hammerva]

Shocker that people are shitting on Biles with so many Kerri Shrug comparisons.  Never mind the fact most of those people probably can't even attempt any of the tasks,   the reality is that while it was admirable that Shrug did the vault on a horrible ankle, it was also completely unnecessary since they actually had won the event.

 

[supremebve]

27 minutes ago, hammerva said:

Shocker that people are shitting on Biles with so many Kerri Shrug comparisons.  Never mind the fact most of those people probably can't even attempt any of the tasks,   the reality is that while it was admirable that Shrug did the vault on a horrible ankle, it was also completely unnecessary since they actually had won the event.

 

Shrug was put in a terrible position by terrible people who also enabled a child predator.  There is nothing to celebrate in that entire situation. It's inexcusable that she did that vault. She could have been hurt severely,  and the people who were responsible for looking out for her and her teammates well being didn't do their job to protect her. But I guess a good moment on television is more valuable than the health and well being of a child. 

[odessasteps]

1 hour ago, supremebve said:

But I guess a good moment on television is more valuable than the health and well being of a child. 

If you take away the child part of that, you have modern (and probably all) wrestling. 

[supremebve]

4 minutes ago, odessasteps said:

If you take away the child part of that, you have modern (and probably all) wrestling. 

Or all sports for that matter. The way we expect other people to do athletic things while dealing with debilitating injuries is pretty ridiculous. We mythologize it, but never really put any thought into what were watching.  God forbid someone chooses their own health over entertainment,  we'll collectively sit around calling them a bitch. It's why I support Naomi Osaka and Simone Biles stepping away when they feel overwhelmed. It's their life, it's their career, and it's their choice to draw the line for what they are willing to deal with for someone else's entertainment.  

[Serious Darius Bagfelt]

6 hours ago, Eoae said:

NBC and a few other sites are reporting "mental issue".

Yeah. She wasn't going to win and that wouldn't have been good for the brand. 

[BigKevFan]

Simone Biles doing her best Naomi Osaka tribute act I see. I'm sure she'll be fine when her individual events happen though 

[Spontaneous]

Yeah, we need the confused emoji back.