2016 Summer Olympics

[tarcone]

Dutch cyclist is "okay" according to Dutch TV.

Steve Schlanger is announcing the kayak. I knew him back in the mid 90s. And exes friend was dating him. Funny.

[whomario]

Dutch media saying Van Vleuten "ok under the circumstances and conscious but in shock" ...

[whomario]

As for nice, little stories. In the german National (well, U23) soccer team there´s 2 identical twins playing right next to each other in midfield with Sven and Lars Bender. Thankfully for announcers everywhere, one is playing with a taped hand

[bhlloy]

So we let most of the Russian athletes in but completely ban the Paralympic team? What the fuck kind of decision is that?

[Ajaxab]

I enjoy regular volleyball a whole lot more than beach volleyball. This Canada-US game is intense.

[tarcone]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

So we let most of the Russian athletes in but completely ban the Paralympic team? What the fuck kind of decision is that?

Sounds like the NCAA

[whomario]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

So we let most of the Russian athletes in but completely ban the Paralympic team? What the fuck kind of decision is that?

Different organizations coming to different decisions as there is a cooperation between the 2 but no co-dependency in regards to rulings and such, just in case you didn´t know. Gutsy call by the IPC here.

[whomario]

Originally Posted by Ajaxab

I enjoy regular volleyball a whole lot more than beach volleyball. This Canada-US game is intense.

beach volleyball is to actual Volleyball like a party trick compared to a stage show act.

[bhlloy]

Originally Posted by whomario

Different organizations coming to different decisions as there is a cooperation between the 2 but no co-dependency in regards to rulings and such, just in case you didn´t know. Gutsy call by the IPC here.

Sorry, given some of the dreams they are crushing here and the likelihood of some of these Paralympic athletes of doping I see absolutely nothing gutsy or noble about it. If they had made case by case decisions based on category or sport like the IOC did I wouldn't have had any problem with it

[MIJB#19]

Originally Posted by whomario

beach volleyball is to actual Volleyball like a party trick compared to a stage show act.

As a (the?) resident expert on volleyball and beach volleyball, I can tell you that beach volleyball requires much more stamina, technique and game insight. You can't have any flaws in your game to be successful. Indoor volleyball is more of a team sport, focusing on the specialties of the respective players.
My personal preference has switched in the past 5 years from indoors to beach.

[whomario]

@ bhlloy: Maybe caught in the 2nd language trap. "crass", maybe ? Basically meant to say that it goes to show that they are willing to piss of their big brother (letting them crash at his house every 4 years). And i would find it a bit odd to argue that similar hopes would not have been crashed for non-handicapped athletes and i recall quite a few on here arguing that anything less than a full ban would be wrong.

Originally Posted by MIJB#19

As a (the?) resident expert on volleyball and beach volleyball, I can tell you that beach volleyball requires much more stamina, technique and game insight. You can't have any flaws in your game to be successful. Indoor volleyball is more of a team sport, focusing on the specialties of the respective players.
My personal preference has switched in the past 5 years from indoors to beach.

Wasn´t a dig on the participants, more on the fact that to me Beach Volleyball seems an inherently flawed concept as far as field dimension/player ratio and stuff like that. Maybe a better analogy would be tennis on grass (c.a. 1998) vs Tennis anywhere else ?

I just like indoor volleyball more as a legitimate team sport

[tarcone]

Womens gymnastics tonight. Good stuff.

Womens rugby knocked out by New Zealand in the quarters. Just not good enough. Their winger got sucked in and the fast NZ girl ran around her for the score. Bad play there. Final was 5-0.

[BillyNYC]

Originally Posted by MIJB#19

As a (the?) resident expert on volleyball and beach volleyball, I can tell you that beach volleyball requires much more stamina, technique and game insight. You can't have any flaws in your game to be successful. Indoor volleyball is more of a team sport, focusing on the specialties of the respective players.
My personal preference has switched in the past 5 years from indoors to beach.

My first job out of college was working at the beach volleyball venue of the 1998 Goodwill Games in NYC. (A very strange job where my in-match role was doing off-air courtside play-by-play, partnered with someone inputting stats for Turner Sports. She used me as her eyes, and used my pbp to let her feed stats to a computer. So, when kill or dig counts showed up on a TV screen, was partially due to me. Odd in retrospect).

Anyway, didn't know much about the sport, other than Karch Kiraly and Sinjin Smith were both legends (and rivals) a few years past their prime. Yet, was interesting to see the strategy on each point as it occurred. There's nowhere to hide there. Yet, found it all kinda repetitive (maybe due to multiple matches each day, men's and women's). Only so many ways a point can play out. Still, much more complicated/strategic than might first look.

[cartman]

Just saw a video of the French gymnast breaking his leg. YIKES

[Butter]

Originally Posted by tarcone

Womens gymnastics tonight. Good stuff.

Womens rugby knocked out by New Zealand in the quarters. Just not good enough. Their winger got sucked in and the fast NZ girl ran around her for the score. Bad play there. Final was 5-0.

And they had the ball inside the 22 and even the 10 for a lengthy amount of time in the second half. Frustrating.

[bhlloy]

I'm probably referring to the same game people were watching live earlier, but this US - CAN men's volleyball game is the most exciting thing I've watched at the Olympics so far this year

[tarcone]

Originally Posted by Butter_of_69

And they had the ball inside the 22 and even the 10 for a lengthy amount of time in the second half. Frustrating.

Yes it was. They were right there. Just didnt do it.

[Critch]

Originally Posted by whomario

Dutch media saying Van Vleuten "ok under the circumstances and conscious but in shock" ...

Concussion and three small fractures of her spine. It's a sign of how bad the crash was that that's seen as her getting off lightly. It looked worse than that whenever anybody passed her and she was still lying totally unmoved at the side of the road.

[Butter]

You know what's not exciting? Field hockey. Trying to watch a little bit of everything, and I've watched the whole second half of Australia-Spain... And it is 1-0. Woo.

[tarcone]

Fast pool. Another WR falls. 100m butterfly.

[whomario]

Originally Posted by Butter_of_69

You know what's not exciting? Field hockey. Trying to watch a little bit of everything, and I've watched the whole second half of Australia-Spain... And it is 1-0. Woo.

oh noes, a low scoring sport ...

But yeah, Field Hockey is a weird one to get into. Just so many small things that seem counter-intuitive or players basically having to go out of their way to avoid (kicked balls, high balls f.e.). Penalty corners might be the weirdest sort of "penalty kick" in all of sports.

Also hated to play it myself in school, way too much risk of kids with subpar coordination to whack you in the head or the knee or sth

Watching some table tennis right now, that´s a sport i really like to watch when its on. Fast paced, easy to understand and follow visually (despite the rapid pace).

[tarcone]

The cheating Russian swimmer is getting called out by other swimmers, good deal.

[Butter]

Is field hockey usually at soccer level scoring?

[cartman]

Ledecky is a swimming beast. Just beat the 400m freestyle world record by over a second, five seconds ahead of second place.

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by cartman

Ledecky is a swimming beast. Just beat the 400m freestyle world record by over a second, five seconds ahead of second place.

And she didn't even look winded afterward.

[whomario]

Originally Posted by Butter_of_69

Is field hockey usually at soccer level scoring?

Between even matched teams, yeah. Maybe somewhere between soccer and NHL. 0:0 is super rare but so is more than 5 between both teams. Women a little less scoring the men i would say.

Only being allowed to shoot in the box makes packing it in relatively easy.

[tarcone]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

And she didn't even look winded afterward.

I said this exact thing to my daughter.

What an animal.

She wants 4 golds. I think that happens.

[Butter]

Brazil-Iraq men's soccer is scoreless late.

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by Butter_of_69

Brazil-Iraq men's soccer is scoreless late.

Brazil scoreless for the 2nd straight game while Colombia blows a 2 goal lead late. South America is going to have a fit.

[JPhillips]

Phelps was great in the relay.

[Groundhog]

I guess I shouldn't feel this way considering it's one of Australia's best events, but to me it just feels like there's about 300 too many swimming events at the Olympics. I barely tune in to anything outside of basketball in the first week over here because of our swim-heavy coverage.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

I guess I shouldn't feel this way considering it's one of Australia's best events, but to me it just feels like there's about 300 too many swimming events at the Olympics. I barely tune in to anything outside of basketball in the first week over here because of our swim-heavy coverage.

I think that happens in a lot (most?) countries, whatever you're good/better/best at gets to the point of overdone.

[larrymcg421]

There are definitely a ton of swimming events, but I wouldn't say too many because they often provide some of the most exciting moments. And I'm not sure which ones you'd get rid of if you wanted to cut it down.

[larrymcg421]

The US Women's Gymnastics team is incredible. The three gymnasts who competed in all four events finished 1-2-3. I see no chance of them losing Tuesday night.

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by larrymcg421

The US Women's Gymnastics team is incredible. The three gymnasts who competed in all four events finished 1-2-3. I see no chance of them losing Tuesday night.

Indeed! I think it is a travesty that the 3rd rated qualifier overall and defending gold medal champion doesnt get a chance in the finals. After all it is the INDIVIDUAL champion in which team she is a part of shouldnt hurt or eliminate her chances.

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

I guess I shouldn't feel this way considering it's one of Australia's best events, but to me it just feels like there's about 300 too many swimming events at the Olympics. I barely tune in to anything outside of basketball in the first week over here because of our swim-heavy coverage.

Swimming pretty much uses most of the prime time coverage here in America as well. Usually some very exciting events and nice storylines so it doesnt bother me. I see enough of the other sports the rest of the year/years. Being able to stream anything live off of NBC and having the times being in sync with USA has made this Olympics very enjoyable thus far. Having to watch taped prime time events really ruins the enjoyment when the schedules dont mesh.

[Izulde]

I've followed US women's gymnastics with varying degrees of intensity since '92, and this is IMO the strongest team ever. Absolutely amazing.

Personally, I love all the swimming events. Probably because I swam myself for a number of years, including competitively. OTOH, watching volleyball and rugby earlier today was boring, even if the USA/CAN game was intense and back and forth.

So yeah, different strokes for different folks.

[larrymcg421]

Originally Posted by jbergey22

Indeed! I think it is a travesty that the 3rd rated qualifier overall and defending gold medal champion doesnt get a chance in the finals. After all it is the INDIVIDUAL champion in which team she is a part of shouldnt hurt or eliminate her chances.

Yeah that sucks for her, but it's not really different than in many other events where countries are limited in the number of athletes they can submit. It's just decided at the Olympics rather than the trials.

[bhlloy]

So while Russian Paralympic athletes in events where it would make absolutely zero sense to dope in are banned, a Russian swimmer with two doping convictions already will likely win a gold or silver tomorrow thanks to CAS

[tarcone]

The Olympic coverage has been amazing, IMO.

I have directv and they have a channel (205) that show up to 8 channels of Olympic coverage. It is my go to channel to see what other events are being shown.
I can then decide what to watch. I watched a little womens basketball, and I stand by my statement that USA is going to win every game by 30 (paraphrasing). Or shooting or fencing or whatever. It is a great thing to have.

Womens Gymnastics is unbelievable. With the WRs falling and the domination by athletes, we are in the golden age of athleticism.

[Butter]

Gold Zone was pretty great this weekend too.

[Critch]

The NBC Sports streaming option is pretty good, a lot more options than the tv is giving. US v Myanmar in the Women's Archery right now, cant get that on proper tv.

edit - Myanmar won.

[SirFozzie]

The US basketball women play their second game of the tournament today against Spain, they are favored to win the game by a mere 23 and a half points (Spain beat Euro Champs Serbia 65-59 in their first game)

[whomario]

Re: Hockey: Just watched my first game of the tournament and Germany wins it on a brilliantely executed deflection-play off a hard pass from distance with 3 seconds left

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

The US basketball women play their second game of the tournament today against Spain, they are favored to win the game by a mere 23 and a half points (Spain beat Euro Champs Serbia 65-59 in their first game)

In the mens tournament Spain lost to Croatia yesterday btw with new 76er Saric first missing a big FT but then getting a pretty spectacular game-saving block on Pau Gasol.

[nilodor]

Originally Posted by tarcone

The Olympic coverage has been amazing, IMO.

I have directv and they have a channel (205) that show up to 8 channels of Olympic coverage. It is my go to channel to see what other events are being shown.
I can then decide what to watch. I watched a little womens basketball, and I stand by my statement that USA is going to win every game by 30 (paraphrasing). Or shooting or fencing or whatever. It is a great thing to have.

Womens Gymnastics is unbelievable. With the WRs falling and the domination by athletes, we are in the golden age of athleticism.

I'm glad to hear that it's better than in recent years. Coverage in Canada has been great, and they run this really useful graphic that tells you what's on now and coming up on the 5 channels.

[bob]

NBC allows viewers without cable to stream the Olympics for only 30 minutes without logging in via a cable subscription log in. Given that at least the main broadcast is being broadcast out for free over the air, I don't understand why the don't allow access to at least that for everyone.

I live too far out to pick up a signal... there are ways around it, but they are annoying.

[whomario]

Do you really need to have an actual human holding up the sign with the nation/´flag on it all competition long ? Does that enhance the experience in any way ? (mens team gymnastics)

"Hey, wanna volunteer at the Olympics ?"
"Sure !"
" Here, stand around for 3 hours and hold this sign"


Also, Aussies beat Serbia in Basketball. Delly with a flawless performance running the point (13 Assists, 0 TOs, 7/8 shooting, 23 points).

[Logan]

Originally Posted by whomario

Do you really need to have an actual human holding up the sign with the nation/´flag on it all competition long ? Does that enhance the experience in any way ? (mens team gymnastics)

"Hey, wanna volunteer at the Olympics ?"
"Sure !"
" Here, stand around for 3 hours and hold this sign"

What more useless...that guy holding the sign or the lifeguard at swimming events?



(actual article explaining it, which may be behind a paywall: Log In - The New York Times)

[MIJB#19]

Originally Posted by whomario

Wasn´t a dig on the participants, more on the fact that to me Beach Volleyball seems an inherently flawed concept as far as field dimension/player ratio and stuff like that. Maybe a better analogy would be tennis on grass (c.a. 1998) vs Tennis anywhere else ?

I just like indoor volleyball more as a legitimate team sport

Understood, didn't take it badly, just trying to give a bit more inside information.
Although I find indoor volleyball to be the equivalent of tennis on grass and beach volleyball like tennis on clay.

[Breeze]

Originally Posted by Logan

What more useless...that guy holding the sign or the lifeguard at swimming events?


(actual article explaining it, which may be behind a paywall: Log In - The New York Times)

Actually, shallow water blackout drownings are not uncommon in swimming. Because swimmers really push themselves to go farther underwater so they can go faster, it is possible that they will "blackout". And unlike a typical "drowning" where a person goes under and lifeguards have approximately 2 to 4 minutes to recover the person and get them breathing, with shallow water blackout the recovery time is about 40 seconds.

Also, during the our senior state meet one of the competitors had a seizure in middle of the pool and had to be retrieved and revived (including using the paddles).

However, I get the humor, and actually have made the same joke myself, until I heard a coach talk about losing a kid to shallow water blackout and seeing the kid have a seizure during our state meet.