Summer Olympics: Beijing, China

[Lois Lane]

Originally Posted by myrosiedog

There's just been so many in so many different sports (and my heart belongs to Ali. I used to watch him when I was small with my dad and listen to my dad go on and on about him, so I have fond memories and tend to be a little biased I guess. )

Me, too, MRD. My dad enjoyed watching boxing (Olympics, not the pros so much). He'd turn the volume down so we wouldn't have to hear Howard Cossell. When Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson's, my dad was crestfallen. How ironic that my dad would succomb to the same disease himself.

I think Phelps is one of the greatest and most famous athletes...but is he on the same par internationally with Michael Jordan? I don't know... Is swimming as known a sport as basketball? This isn't a rhetorical question...I'm wondering...

The best champions in my book have always been the ones who were gracious not only in their wins, but also in their losses.

ETA: Well, there's not a lot of stuff I want to watch tonight, except the swimming which doesn't start until about 9 tonight. Maybe tonight's the night I'll get some chores done around the house!

Also, here's the Spanish basketball team's apology (I hate when the quasi apologize by saying, "If anyone was offended by it..."). I understand that the Chinese audience booed them when they played. Hmmm, wonder why? ...

Members of the Spanish men's and women's basketball teams are apologizing for a newspaper advertisement in which they make Asian-caricature faces for the camera.

International outrage erupted over the ad for Seur, a Spanish courier company, that showed the athletes pulling their skin to make their eyes narrow. The ad appeared in Spanish publications.

"If anyone feels offended by it, we totally apologize for it," Pau Gasol, a Spanish star who also plays for the Los Angeles Lakers, told the New York Times after practice Wednesday at the Beijing University of Language and Culture.

Other team members maintain the ad was taken out of context and say they took part only after Seur's representatives pressured them. And the team's coach, Aito García Reneses, declined to apologize for the photograph. He said he did not see it – and says it was meant as a joke.

"All of the Spanish people are close to the Chinese people mentally," he said. "We have a very good relationship."

Gasol said his team posed for several hundred pictures for various sponsors.

"Some of us didn't feel comfortable doing it," Gasol told reporters. "To me it was little clownish for our part to be doing that. The sponsor insisted and insisted. They pushed because they're the people that pay the money. It was just a bad idea to do that. It was never intended to be offensive or racist against anybody."

Emmanuelle Moreau, a spokeswoman for the International Olympic Committee, said the apology was accepted. She wrote in an e-mail message: "We understand that the Spanish team intended no offense and has apologized. The matter rests there as far as the I.O.C. is concerned."

Spanish Olympians Apologize for Controversial Ad - Olympics Summer 2008 : People.com

[Google]

 

[Newfherder]

MSNBC was also posing the question is Phelps the greatest athlete of all time. They put out names like Ali, Babe Ruth, Michael Jordan, Martina Navatalova, etc. and asked if Phelps with all his medals can be considered greater than them. The "professionals" they asked said it's comparing apples to oranges, you can't compare baseball or tennis to swimming. I think Phelps is probably ONE of the greatest athletes of all time, but not sure he is THE greatest. There's just been so many in so many different sports

If we narrow the discussion down to the best Olympics athlete, I'd probably go with Paavo Nurmi, with Jessie Owens as my sentimental favorite.

Trivia--General George Patton, then a lowly Lieutenant, competed in the Pentathlon in 1912.

[myrosiedog]

Newf, that's very interesting trivia. Got to go tell my husband. (I love it when I know something he doesn't! )

I think swimming is pretty well known Lois. I mean Mark Spitz did a lot for the sport back when he won and it's gotten a lot of press in the last 8 years or so, so I think it is fairly well known. But I've also lived in warmer climes, where swimming is something a LOT of kids do for competitive sport, so maybe that makes a difference in my perception.

Lois, it's weird you said that. My dad too was extremely upset when Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson's. My dad also had it and it had gotten pretty bad towards the end (he succumbed to a heart attack). My dad had also been a golden gloves boxer when he was younger, so he always loved boxing and he got me hooked when I was small. He watched whatever boxing he could watch, but he especially loved the pros and the Olympic boxers.

[Ellen]

Originally Posted by FireWoman

. . . Bela was banned from the floor of the Beijing games for undisclosed reasons, though Karolyi has been exceptionally critical of the Chinese team because of the controversy surrounding the age of their gymnasts.

That's probably why he was banned -- seems the Chinese are banning anyone who even hints at being critical of them. Either that, or they've determined that he's not cute enough.

[CCL]

Originally Posted by FireWoman

I loved Thorpe, I'd have been leeading that Marching Band if there was one lol.

I'd have been joining in! After Athens, Thorpe said he would compete in the Beijing Games but then he decided to retire in 2006 instead. Too bad - I would have liked to have seen him in the Olympics again.

Regarding Phelps' huge calorie intake - I wonder what it is going to be like for him when he retires for swimming. He's going to have cut down on those massive breakfasts! I do think Phelps is a pretty gracious winner (certainly not egotistical like Spitz!).

[Lois Lane]

Originally Posted by CCL

I'd have been joining in! After Athens, Thorpe said he would compete in the Beijing Games but then he decided to retire in 2006 instead. Too bad - I would have liked to have seen him in the Olympics again.

I can't remember exactly, but didn't Thorpe retire right around the time of some doping allegations against him? I apologize if I've gotten the facts wrong, but I seem to remember that because I, too, remember him saying he was going to compete in Beijing.

[FireWoman]

Originally Posted by CCL

I'd have been joining in! After Athens, Thorpe said he would compete in the Beijing Games but then he decided to retire in 2006 instead. Too bad - I would have liked to have seen him in the Olympics again.

Regarding Phelps' huge calorie intake - I wonder what it is going to be like for him when he retires for swimming. He's going to have cut down on those massive breakfasts! I do think Phelps is a pretty gracious winner (certainly not egotistical like Spitz!).

Id have saved ya a spot

Phelps is a gracious winner.. but I also think that the load he has taken on here in the games is getting to him. I can't think of how tired he has to be at the end of his day!

[mindy384]

Originally Posted by VeronicaBelle27

Re: USA vs. China Girl's Gymnastics

I think the score would have been really close had the oldest (20, yea sure) girl on the Chinese team been judged fairly, like USA was. She fell off the beam also, and received a .8 deduction, but she continued her routine and wobbled massively on EACH skill, but there was no additional deductions. Alicia received her .8 deduction, and I think another tenth, and finished with nary a wobble. Hmmmph! Whatever, I was a gymnast, and a very tiny girl, but the China team of today looks younger than any Chinese/Romanian/Bloc team I've EVER seen. The one girl, Deng, looked exactly 10.

I have noticed this throughout the gymnastics comp and it is really starting to tick me off... seems like the russians and americans get deductions for minor details while both the chinese and japanese athletes have wobbled, stepped, bent their elbows/kness...etc... and there scores still seemed higher.

seems a bit unfair to me and I wonder if there will be any controversy over the judging...they certainly seem a bit biased-even the commentators were shocked at many of the scores being so high for the chinese and japanese (specifically the chinese).

[mindy384]

oh-- could someone please tell me if and when they will re-air the opening ceremony (on nbc i guess)?

[sukee]

Is falling on your butt a minor detail?

Originally Posted by mindy384

I have noticed this throughout the gymnastics comp and it is really starting to tick me off... seems like the russians and americans get deductions for minor details while both the chinese and japanese athletes have wobbled, stepped, bent their elbows/kness...etc... and there scores still seemed higher.

seems a bit unfair to me and I wonder if there will be any controversy over the judging...they certainly seem a bit biased-even the commentators were shocked at many of the scores being so high for the chinese and japanese (specifically the chinese).