Summer Olympics: Beijing, China - Page 11

Bearcata · 08-11-2008, 11:55 AM

Yeah, are the opening ceremonies on anywhere?

Anyway I was watching the women's gymnastics yesterday. China, whoa...interesting ages on some on the women. The whole point of raising the age limit to 16 was so there would be women in the sport not girls. Some of the young girls at 12, 13 and 14 were totally fabulous but not artistic. Now I hear Bela Karoli saying with all the lying about age you might as well get rid of the age rule.

American women. I think for a long time, especially in the 80's the women's team was overrated, but now even I (a non expert in the field/just a fan) can see that they deserve to be at the top. I have never seen so many stuck landings in the beam, bars, vault and floor exercises. yeah, they had a lot of nerves the first night out and made mistakes. What did surprise me is that at even at this level a fall is not the disaster it had been previously. Watching Nastia Lutin fall on her landing of the uneven bar routine and yet still get a high enough score to qualify for the individual event is amazing. That would never have happened under the old scoring system.

It was a bit sad to watch the Romanians and see such lack of enthusiasm.

The best story so far was about the 33 yr old ex Russian team member now on the German team. After they did that little tidbit about her and her son I remember her from Greece. I hope she medals in the vault.

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Lois Lane · 08-11-2008, 12:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by myrosiedog

And I LOVE fencing and never even saw any of that even though the US women medaled in it.

I know! I wish they at least showed us the gold medal winner's meet. Maybe if she was fencing in her underpants...

AshleyPSU · 08-11-2008, 12:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lois Lane

I know! I wish they at least showed us the gold medal winner's meet. Maybe if she was fencing in her underpants...

Lois, they did show it. I watched it on Saturday morning on either USA or MSNBC. I don't think it was on NBC. It was the final match between the 2 American girls. Those 2 networks carry some Olympic coverage sometimes too.

femme fatale · 08-11-2008, 12:24 PM

One thing I really liked was the medal ceremony for air gun, women. A Russian woman came in second and a Georgian women in third and they congratulated each other with hugs and seemed genuinely happy for one another. A great message to send in these days.

Lois Lane · 08-11-2008, 12:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AshleyPSU

Lois, they did show it. I watched it on Saturday morning on either USA or MSNBC. I don't think it was on NBC. It was the final match between the 2 American girls. Those 2 networks carry some Olympic coverage sometimes too.

Crap! I was switching around between 3 channels and must've missed it. Thanks for letting me know!

Quote:

Originally Posted by femme fatale

One thing I really liked was the medal ceremony for air gun, women. A Russian woman came in second and a Georgian women in third and they congratulated each other with hugs and seemed genuinely happy for one another. A great message to send in these days.

That is nice.

On a lesser level, but still nice, I thought it was classy of Phelps to shake the hands of the French swimmers--even getting off his podium to make sure he shook the hands of all of them before the anthem was played. It would've been nice if the French had made that gesture first but...

You know, what the French said about the Americans wasn't unlike what the U.S. said about the Australians at the Sydney games. The Americans (maybe Gary Hall?) said something about how the U.S. was going to smash the Aussies like guitars...or something like that. Anyhow, after the Australians beat the Americans, Ian Thorpe and his teammates played air guitar to kind of thumb their noses at the Americans who had shot their mouthes off.

Sometimes I think the comments get blown out of proportion.

MamaC · 08-11-2008, 12:44 PM

MRD, I saw some of the equestrian stuff on USA on late Friday night/early Saturday morning.

They are doing the equestrian events in Hong Kong rather than Beijing.

Love the fact that the horses are being kept in air-conditioned stables!

Here's a schedule of when you can see some of the events on tv:

The schedule is as follows:

Date: Program--Time (EST) on Channel

Aug. 9: 3-Day: Dressage--2:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. on USA
Aug. 11: 3-Day: Cross- Country--6:00pm-8:00pm OXYGEN
Aug. 12: 3-Day: Stadium Team Gold Medal Final--6:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. on OXYGEN
Aug. 13: Dressage--6:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. on OXYGEN
Aug. 14: Dressage Team Gold Medal Final--6:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. on OXYGEN
Aug. 15: Show Jumping--6:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. on OXYGEN
Aug. 16: Dressage Individual--5:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. MSNBC
Aug. 17: Show Jumping Team Gold Medal Final 1st Round--10:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m on NBC
Aug. 18: Show Jumping Team Gold Medal Final Round--6:00pm-8:00 p.m. OXYGEN
Aug. 19: Dressage Individual Gold Medal Final--6:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. on OXYGEN
Aug. 21: Show Jumping Individual Gold Medal Final--10:00am-1:00 pm

ETA: Did you know that, like people, horses have to have their own passports? Now you know!

Florimel · 08-11-2008, 12:51 PM

They have shown the equestrian dressage and all the rowing events run so far, just not on NBC. Those events are on either USA or MSNBC. Both channels have many hours of coverage. I also saw the fencing event the first day. I know they have the equestrian jumping on the schedule and probably the cross country, too.

As for the sports that are included, we all have different ones we like. I do enjoy watching synchronized as well as regular swimming, all of the diving events, and other events many have complained about and I think they are just as much sport as any other. Boxing is not a sport to me, nor do I like wrestling. I love the track and field events. While I love tennis, I don't watch it in the games. I can see the pros play all year long. Same for basketball. I'm sorry women's softball is gone, if indeed it is. I think dance sport should be included and I love gymnastics despite all the judging and rules problems. There are events for everyone to watch according to their own preferences. And, while I enjoy watching an American win, I enjoy just much watching anyone, from any country, win a medal based on outstanding performance in his sport.

That 4x100 relay was so amazing. The anchor swimmer, in his third Olympics, has been criticized many times for his performances over the years. He'll go down in history now. And, perhaps the French swimmer will learn to race first, talk later.

While I adored Jim McKay and really miss his presence at the games, I also like Bob Costas. I like his voice and have found him to know what he's talking about when it comes to sports. I especially love his extraordinary knowledge of baseball and I own a few of the documentary DVD sets he's done.

psycobabe007 · 08-11-2008, 12:53 PM

Andrea Kramer is the swimming commentator on the floor of the "aqua cube." She is horrible but the guys up in the booth I do not mind so much. I like their commentary but if I don't I tend to drown it out or talk to someone else, lol!

Womens gymnastics are looking good. Bela's wife is the current coach for the US team and I like her style of training. Very inspirational story with Oksana Chusovitina, the 33 yr old gymnast from Germany.

Honestly, I am looking forward to the penthalon. It is really one of the toughest events in the Olympics.

lobeck · 08-11-2008, 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Florimel

That 4x100 relay was so amazing. The anchor swimmer, in his third Olympics, has been criticized many times for his performances over the years. He'll go down in history now. And, perhaps the French swimmer will learn to race first, talk later.

I agree, Florimel. That was probably the BEST.RELAY.RACE.EVER!

Seriously, though, it was incredible, and I look for it to be replayed on tonight's broadcast and probably several times during the Olympics.

psycobabe007 · 08-11-2008, 12:59 PM

Dude, China has the lead in the medal count with 9 GOLDS and 14 total! 9 GOLDS! The next closest is the USA with 12 total but only 3 gold. What a difference being in your own country makes, lol! Every event I am watching is full of people. I guess it also helps that they are in the most populous country in the world, lol!

08-11-2008, 11:55 AM	#101
Bearcata what a strong finger Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: the edge of the beltway Posts: 8,053	Re: Summer Olympics: Beijing, China Yeah, are the opening ceremonies on anywhere? Anyway I was watching the women's gymnastics yesterday. China, whoa...interesting ages on some on the women. The whole point of raising the age limit to 16 was so there would be women in the sport not girls. Some of the young girls at 12, 13 and 14 were totally fabulous but not artistic. Now I hear Bela Karoli saying with all the lying about age you might as well get rid of the age rule. American women. I think for a long time, especially in the 80's the women's team was overrated, but now even I (a non expert in the field/just a fan) can see that they deserve to be at the top. I have never seen so many stuck landings in the beam, bars, vault and floor exercises. yeah, they had a lot of nerves the first night out and made mistakes. What did surprise me is that at even at this level a fall is not the disaster it had been previously. Watching Nastia Lutin fall on her landing of the uneven bar routine and yet still get a high enough score to qualify for the individual event is amazing. That would never have happened under the old scoring system. It was a bit sad to watch the Romanians and see such lack of enthusiasm. The best story so far was about the 33 yr old ex Russian team member now on the German team. After they did that little tidbit about her and her son I remember her from Greece. I hope she medals in the vault. __________________ "When life gives you lemons, squirt lemon juice in your enemy's eyes."

08-11-2008, 12:24 PM	#104
femme fatale Thinking Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: In a world of my own Age: 27 Posts: 2,556	Re: Summer Olympics: Beijing, China One thing I really liked was the medal ceremony for air gun, women. A Russian woman came in second and a Georgian women in third and they congratulated each other with hugs and seemed genuinely happy for one another. A great message to send in these days.

08-11-2008, 12:44 PM	#106
MamaC addicted Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: NY Age: 54 Posts: 2,362	Re: Summer Olympics: Beijing, China MRD, I saw some of the equestrian stuff on USA on late Friday night/early Saturday morning. They are doing the equestrian events in Hong Kong rather than Beijing. Love the fact that the horses are being kept in air-conditioned stables! Here's a schedule of when you can see some of the events on tv: The schedule is as follows: Date: Program--Time (EST) on Channel Aug. 9: 3-Day: Dressage--2:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. on USA Aug. 11: 3-Day: Cross- Country--6:00pm-8:00pm OXYGEN Aug. 12: 3-Day: Stadium Team Gold Medal Final--6:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. on OXYGEN Aug. 13: Dressage--6:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. on OXYGEN Aug. 14: Dressage Team Gold Medal Final--6:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. on OXYGEN Aug. 15: Show Jumping--6:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. on OXYGEN Aug. 16: Dressage Individual--5:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. MSNBC Aug. 17: Show Jumping Team Gold Medal Final 1st Round--10:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m on NBC Aug. 18: Show Jumping Team Gold Medal Final Round--6:00pm-8:00 p.m. OXYGEN Aug. 19: Dressage Individual Gold Medal Final--6:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. on OXYGEN Aug. 21: Show Jumping Individual Gold Medal Final--10:00am-1:00 pm ETA: Did you know that, like people, horses have to have their own passports? Now you know! Last edited by MamaC; 08-11-2008 at 12:47 PM.

08-11-2008, 12:51 PM	#107
Florimel FORT Fogey Join Date: Nov 2003 Posts: 2,001	Re: Summer Olympics: Beijing, China They have shown the equestrian dressage and all the rowing events run so far, just not on NBC. Those events are on either USA or MSNBC. Both channels have many hours of coverage. I also saw the fencing event the first day. I know they have the equestrian jumping on the schedule and probably the cross country, too. As for the sports that are included, we all have different ones we like. I do enjoy watching synchronized as well as regular swimming, all of the diving events, and other events many have complained about and I think they are just as much sport as any other. Boxing is not a sport to me, nor do I like wrestling. I love the track and field events. While I love tennis, I don't watch it in the games. I can see the pros play all year long. Same for basketball. I'm sorry women's softball is gone, if indeed it is. I think dance sport should be included and I love gymnastics despite all the judging and rules problems. There are events for everyone to watch according to their own preferences. And, while I enjoy watching an American win, I enjoy just much watching anyone, from any country, win a medal based on outstanding performance in his sport. That 4x100 relay was so amazing. The anchor swimmer, in his third Olympics, has been criticized many times for his performances over the years. He'll go down in history now. And, perhaps the French swimmer will learn to race first, talk later. While I adored Jim McKay and really miss his presence at the games, I also like Bob Costas. I like his voice and have found him to know what he's talking about when it comes to sports. I especially love his extraordinary knowledge of baseball and I own a few of the documentary DVD sets he's done. __________________ Happy dance for being proven right about Jin being alive. Next request: Run Season 6 in September instead of waiting until winter.

08-11-2008, 12:53 PM	#108
psycobabe007 I'm not a witch at all! Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Good ol' Ohio Age: 27 Posts: 1,485	Re: Summer Olympics: Beijing, China Andrea Kramer is the swimming commentator on the floor of the "aqua cube." She is horrible but the guys up in the booth I do not mind so much. I like their commentary but if I don't I tend to drown it out or talk to someone else, lol! Womens gymnastics are looking good. Bela's wife is the current coach for the US team and I like her style of training. Very inspirational story with Oksana Chusovitina, the 33 yr old gymnast from Germany. Honestly, I am looking forward to the penthalon. It is really one of the toughest events in the Olympics.

08-11-2008, 12:59 PM	#110
psycobabe007 I'm not a witch at all! Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Good ol' Ohio Age: 27 Posts: 1,485	Re: Summer Olympics: Beijing, China Dude, China has the lead in the medal count with 9 GOLDS and 14 total! 9 GOLDS! The next closest is the USA with 12 total but only 3 gold. What a difference being in your own country makes, lol! Every event I am watching is full of people. I guess it also helps that they are in the most populous country in the world, lol!