2016 Summer Olympics

[whomario]

Pretty fun and intense Rugby final, those two went at it ! Australia wins the Gold, NZ silver and Canada the bronze.

Also, you guys that need a "different" sport to watch need to watch some handball. (which i understand is a niche sport at best in the US ?) Fast paced, high scoring ( ), very easy to understand and follow and usually plenty of drama with great atmosphere. Also has that "how did he/she do that ?" factor

One confusing rule is that the GK can be subbed out on offense for another Outfield player (and in general, some players only play offensive or defensive possessions)

[Groundhog]

Aussie men's basketball team beat a decent Serbia side last night 95-80 in what was a pretty close game until the 4th Q. It's the first time we've ever won our first 2 games. Delly was on fire, 23 points on 7/8 shooting, 13 assists and 0 turnovers.

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by whomario

Pretty fun and intense Rugby final, those two went at it ! Australia wins the Gold, NZ silver and Canada the bronze.

I sit next to two Kiwis at work and have had a lot of fun the last 15 mins while they show the medal ceremony.

[whomario]

Womens Volleyball Korea-Russia, fun game.

[RainMaker]

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.

I agree. The qualifying round is where everyone gets to compete from all the countries. But the Finals should be the best in the world regardless of country.

[whomario]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

I agree. The qualifying round is where everyone gets to compete from all the countries. But the Finals should be the best in the world regardless of country.

can someone explain this to me with some context ? All sports have a limit on participants but was unaware of a sport where there are regulations in the later rounds (after qualifying/preliminaries)

[whomario]

Wow at that South African starting like a crazy person over the 200m freestyle and being up like 1.25 seconds after 50 metres and then holding on to win silver at least.

[Butter]

OK, whomario, watched a whole field hockey game today, Australia vs USA women's game.

USA wins 2-1, and there was a lot of good action. But there were two things I really didn't like.

1. Constant fouls that went unexplained. No idea what was going on... I get it was probably grabbing, impeding, perhaps even kicking the ball. Maybe a result of the announcing team being similarly clueless.

2. The criteria for a penalty corner was basically contact with a defender's leg or foot in the circle. Often, it seemed the attacking team just ended up intentionally shooting at the other team's foot or leg, and were usually rewarded. To be fair, two of the three goals were from open play, but one was on a counter attack from a busted penalty corner.

The USA goalie made several very good saves. I guess I'm still not on board with it due to the rules and not the low scoring. But I wanted you to know I gave it a chance and would probably watch again if it was on.

[Fidatelo]

Why does swimming have different 'styles' of events? Shouldn't it just be 'whoever can swim X laps fastest wins'? Who cares how they got there? I mean, they don't have running events like "100m backwards" and "200m skipping". Though I guess hurdles is sort of like that. Why isn't there a hurdles version of swimming, where the swimmers have to dolphin-jump through hoops just above the water every 50 meters?

Sports are weird sometimes.

[tarcone]

King beats the cheatin' Russian!!!!!!~!



Woo Hoo

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by Fidatelo

Why does swimming have different 'styles' of events? Shouldn't it just be 'whoever can swim X laps fastest wins'? Who cares how they got there? I mean, they don't have running events like "100m backwards" and "200m skipping". Though I guess hurdles is sort of like that. Why isn't there a hurdles version of swimming, where the swimmers have to dolphin-jump through hoops just above the water every 50 meters?

Sports are weird sometimes.

Why isn't there just one ball sport?

[tarcone]

Rugby is 7s isnt it. I loved playing 7s.

That makes sense. Faster game. But 15s would have been a lot of fun also.

[whomario]

Originally Posted by Butter_of_69

OK, whomario, watched a whole field hockey game today, Australia vs USA women's game.

USA wins 2-1, and there was a lot of good action. But there were two things I really didn't like.

1. Constant fouls that went unexplained. No idea what was going on... I get it was probably grabbing, impeding, perhaps even kicking the ball. Maybe a result of the announcing team being similarly clueless.

2. The criteria for a penalty corner was basically contact with a defender's leg or foot in the circle. Often, it seemed the attacking team just ended up intentionally shooting at the other team's foot or leg, and were usually rewarded. To be fair, two of the three goals were from open play, but one was on a counter attack from a busted penalty corner.

The USA goalie made several very good saves. I guess I'm still not on board with it due to the rules and not the low scoring. But I wanted you to know I gave it a chance and would probably watch again if it was on.

Hope you don´t expect answers or a defense from me, i think field hockey blows as a sport, most boring team sport in the olympics by a mile I have the odd game with the german teams running in the background, don´t watch anything outside the olympics. My comment was more a dig on lots of americans reaction to soccer (how can a 0:0 be exciting ?) than anything else, but good on you for giving it a shot

So yeah, no argument from me. Good observation on the kick balls, in generally it often seems like players have to basically go out of their way not to get penalized. Just a very weird sport that seems pretty ill thought-out.


Try handball next ! As said, that´s genuinely interesting and goes by super fast. Also combines quite a few characteristics of both basketball and "real" hockey that should appeal to you (also some Volleyball), like a player generally playing with the back to the basket, good ball movement being key and having different sorts of "shooters". Also power play situations.

[cartman]

My old high school got their first medal winner. Katie Melli took bronze in the women's 100m breast stroke.

[tarcone]

And I will continue to back my statements about the USA womens BB team. Beat the 3rd best team in the world by 40.

Just an amazing team. Of course, I imagine the UConn team this year would win gold.

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by whomario

can someone explain this to me with some context ? All sports have a limit on participants but was unaware of a sport where there are regulations in the later rounds (after qualifying/preliminaries)

In Gymnastics the top 8 overall qualify for the All-Around individual championship. This qualifying is done during the team qualifying with the top 8 teams and top 8 scores in each individual event and top scores overall in numerous events for the All-Around competition. My issue is that the Americans finished 1-3 in the All Around qualifying but the limit is 2 in the finals from the same team. IMO is just seems silly to limit the finalists because of the team they are on. We were talking about Gabby Douglas, the American that won the gold in the all-around in 2012 at London but doesnt get a chance to repeat despite finishing 3rd overall in the qualifying events.

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by cartman

My old high school got their first medal winner. Katie Melli took bronze in the women's 100m breast stroke.

That was awesome. She was so excited. Wish the Russian could have gotten shutout.

[whomario]

Originally Posted by Fidatelo

Why does swimming have different 'styles' of events? Shouldn't it just be 'whoever can swim X laps fastest wins'? Who cares how they got there? I mean, they don't have running events like "100m backwards" and "200m skipping". Though I guess hurdles is sort of like that. Why isn't there a hurdles version of swimming, where the swimmers have to dolphin-jump through hoops just above the water every 50 meters?

Sports are weird sometimes.

Needs these Monty Python sketches:

Ministry of Silly Walks - Monty Python's The Flying Circus - YouTube

Monty Python - Silly Olympics - YouTube



I do think you have a point, but have generally accepted my faith here. The US winning a ton of money and NBC/US media paying a ton of attention all but assures there wont be a discussion (theres a reason it is hapoening at weird local times)

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by tarcone

And I will continue to back my statements about the USA womens BB team. Beat the 3rd best team in the world by 40.

Just an amazing team. Of course, I imagine the UConn team this year would win gold.

You really dont need to back your statement. They were huge favs(like 50-1) and they have won every major competition in the past 20 years. Even Geno thought this was probably the best American women's team in history. I dont think anyone really needs to be told the American basketball teams are very good or amazing at this point.

This Aussy mens hoops game today was spectacular. The way Delly carried the game was brilliant.

[whomario]

And to be fair the Rest of the world is really close to it being an amateur sport and the College System is lightyears ahead of youth programs for women. The tighter economics in lots if countries will make that gap bigger with the womens teams of clubs being first to suffer. The gap ought to be bigger than with the men, imo.

[larrymcg421]

Originally Posted by whomario

can someone explain this to me with some context ? All sports have a limit on participants but was unaware of a sport where there are regulations in the later rounds (after qualifying/preliminaries)

Because there are several different Gymnastics "events".

1) Team Competition
2) Individual All Around
3) Individual Finals for each apparatus.

For 2 and 3, the IOC limits it to 2 athletes per country. This is just like the limit of 3 for Track & Field or 2 for Swimming. The only difference is in Gymnastics, they do the qualifying at the Olympics instead of having the countries decide at their trials. And the qualifying for 1-3 is all done at the same time.

There have probably been many times where the 3rd best US swimmer in an event or 4th best Track & Field in an event was better than almost every other athlete.

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by larrymcg421

Because there are several different Gymnastics "events".

1) Team Competition
2) Individual All Around
3) Individual Finals for each apparatus.

For 2 and 3, the IOC limits it to 2 athletes per country. This is just like the limit of 3 for Track & Field or 2 for Swimming. The only difference is in Gymnastics, they do the qualifying at the Olympics instead of having the countries decide at their trials. And the qualifying for 1-3 is all done at the same time.

There have probably been many times where the 3rd best US swimmer in an event or 4th best Track & Field in an event was better than almost every other athlete.

Everything you say makes sense. There really needs to be a limit to make it a worldwide competition. I think what bothered me was in the team qualifying event Gabby had to have had a conflict of interest in her own teammate. I think that is an awkward position to put an athlete in on this big stage. She had to have been secretly wishing Raisman had botched it on the final event of the evening. Just think that process should be tweeked and either decided beforehand or in a separate competition apart from the team event.

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by Fidatelo

Why does swimming have different 'styles' of events? Shouldn't it just be 'whoever can swim X laps fastest wins'? Who cares how they got there? I mean, they don't have running events like "100m backwards" and "200m skipping". Though I guess hurdles is sort of like that. Why isn't there a hurdles version of swimming, where the swimmers have to dolphin-jump through hoops just above the water every 50 meters?

Sports are weird sometimes.

Because each stroke is completely different from the others. I'm going to hazard a guess that you've never swum competitively.

[Groundhog]

But, you know, running backwards is completely different from running forwards...

[larrymcg421]

Why are there multiple ways to jump?
Why are there multiple ways to shoot?
Why are there multiple ways to throw things?
Why are there multiple ways to put a ball in some kind of net?

[Groundhog]

One event to rule them all.

[bhlloy]

The US men's gymnastic team should have been Simone Biles standing on Laurie Hernandez's shoulders with a trench coat, sunglasses and a fake moustache

[stevew]

Originally Posted by larrymcg421

Because there are several different Gymnastics "events".

1) Team Competition
2) Individual All Around
3) Individual Finals for each apparatus.

For 2 and 3, the IOC limits it to 2 athletes per country. This is just like the limit of 3 for Track & Field or 2 for Swimming. The only difference is in Gymnastics, they do the qualifying at the Olympics instead of having the countries decide at their trials. And the qualifying for 1-3 is all done at the same time.

There have probably been many times where the 3rd best US swimmer in an event or 4th best Track & Field in an event was better than almost every other athlete.

Or table tennis. I'm sure the 4th best Chinese player is probably the 4th or 5th best player in the world.

[Butter]

Originally Posted by whomario

Try handball next ! As said, that´s genuinely interesting and goes by super fast. Also combines quite a few characteristics of both basketball and "real" hockey that should appeal to you (also some Volleyball), like a player generally playing with the back to the basket, good ball movement being key and having different sorts of "shooters". Also power play situations.

I'm on board with Handball. My problem is, I have no rooting interest. I think I solved that problem last night, watching the end of the women's Angola - Montenegro match. Yes, these are 2 countries that made the handball competition in the Olympics.

Angola finished 16th in each of the last 2 World Championships... but has opened with 2 straight wins over Romania and Montenegro.

And their keeper is probably 250 pounds, easily. Almost like she was put there because she physically takes up the most space, not due to ability.

[spleen1015]

Originally Posted by whomario

And to be fair the Rest of the world is really close to it being an amateur sport and the College System is lightyears ahead of youth programs for women. The tighter economics in lots if countries will make that gap bigger with the womens teams of clubs being first to suffer. The gap ought to be bigger than with the men, imo.

You're mostly right, but there are exceptions. Softball is a big deal in Japan. That's why baseball & softball have been added to the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. They have the best pitcher in the world. Their pro softball league is also better than ours. Lots of players play there in the Winter then play here in the Summer.

Australia is pretty competitive as well.

[tarcone]

Why is the power lifting competition totally dominated by the Asian community?

Thought that was interesting.

[tarcone]

Originally Posted by spleen1015

You're mostly right, but there are exceptions. Softball is a big deal in Japan. That's why baseball & softball have been added to the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. They have the best pitcher in the world. Their pro softball league is also better than ours. Lots of players play there in the Winter then play here in the Summer.

Australia is pretty competitive as well.

Rugby, soccer, volleyball.

The theory starts to unravel.

[nilodor]

Hell of a win by the canadian women's hoops team against Serbia. I think they were down 20 midway through the 3rd and came all the way back to win 71-67, with a cold blooded three to seal it at the end.

Kia Nurse powers comeback as Canada beats Serbia in women's basketball

[whomario]

Originally Posted by spleen1015

You're mostly right, but there are exceptions. Softball is a big deal in Japan. That's why baseball & softball have been added to the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. They have the best pitcher in the world. Their pro softball league is also better than ours. Lots of players play there in the Winter then play here in the Summer.

Australia is pretty competitive as well.

Originally Posted by tarcone

Rugby, soccer, volleyball.

The theory starts to unravel.

The topic was the US women Basketball team, was it not ?

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

The US men's gymnastic team should have been Simone Biles standing on Laurie Hernandez's shoulders with a trench coat, sunglasses and a fake moustache

wanted to comment on this. Just watched yesterday's prime time coverage, and thought they have been pretty dickish to the men's team in coverage. They only covered the first two events in prime-time, then moved the rest to late night when it became clear they were going to struggle to win a medal, which means I missed how they finished (5th). Compare that to the women, who have been treated like they are rock stars. Nice Olympic spirit NBC.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

wanted to comment on this. Just watched yesterday's prime time coverage, and thought they have been pretty dickish to the men's team in coverage. They only covered the first two events in prime-time, then moved the rest to late night when it became clear they were going to struggle to win a medal, which means I missed how they finished (5th). Compare that to the women, who have been treated like they are rock stars. Nice Olympic spirit NBC.

Isn't that all about the medals though? I don't follow this stuff real close (understatement of the month) but I gather that the women have both some medal history AND are considered legit contenders for medals this year.

Typically, nothing would draw for TV like U.S. winners, followed by compelling foreign winners, followed by tragic near-misses or otherwise human interest elements.

If the U.S. men are basically competent but middle of the pack, that's about the worst combination possible for TV. NBC has lost money on 3 of the last 5 Olympics,barely avoiding a 4th. At nearly $1.3B for the rights, I can't fault 'em for going with whatever they think gives them a chance for eyeballs ... and I don't know how anyone else could either.

[bhlloy]

Personally I'd have much rather watch the gymnastics or any other medal event than the women's volleyball in a meaningless game beat up on a team ranked 12 spots below them in the world, but I can understand that's not how NBC chooses to view it.

What I do think absolutely blows is the west coast delay. I basically have to stay off the internet completely from around noon when the good events start until 8pm and hope I just don't hear stuff - which I've completely failed at the last 2 days. I don't understand why they don't at least allow the option to view the east coast feed. I suppose everyone would just TiVo the earlier feed and fast forward through the commercials? It's still horrible for viewer experience as someone who is usually home from work at 5

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

Personally I'd have much rather watch the gymnastics or any other medal event than the women's volleyball in a meaningless game beat up on a team ranked 12 spots below them in the world, but I can understand that's not how NBC chooses to view it.

To give you an idea of how much attention I'm paying, I don't even know whether that's women's volleyball or men's volleyball but ... well, I'll share an anecdote.

I'm pretty FB active, with a surprisingly diverse collection of friends & follows. The only mention I saw of Olympic coverage last night at all was a couple of different discussions about the {cough} benefits of watching men in speedos. And the comments/ensuing discussion all involved people over 40. I wouldn't even have known what they were watching except that I saw the synchronized diving on while out to dinner. And that makes me figure that I might understand the decision to show volleyball (I'm guessing it was beach).

[bhlloy]

As a follow up to my earlier post, I do wonder how many west coast viewers NBC are losing who are turning the TV off halfway through because the coverage is too late for them, or even worse just choosing to follow during the day and skip the prime time altogether. 8-midnight just seems like an awfully late slot for something they dropped that much money on.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

Personally I'd have much rather watch the gymnastics or any other medal event than the women's volleyball in a meaningless game beat up on a team ranked 12 spots below them in the world, but I can understand that's not how NBC chooses to view it.

Yeah I was going to say that you can't fault them for going to all of that coverage of swimming/Phelps but forgot about the beach volleyball being on.

That Ross woman though was amazing at the net defensively.

[tarcone]

Brazil giving Spain a game in Mens BB. Brazil leads 53-45 going into the 4th.

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Isn't that all about the medals though? I don't follow this stuff real close (understatement of the month) but I gather that the women have both some medal history AND are considered legit contenders for medals this year.

Typically, nothing would draw for TV like U.S. winners, followed by compelling foreign winners, followed by tragic near-misses or otherwise human interest elements.

If the U.S. men are basically competent but middle of the pack, that's about the worst combination possible for TV. NBC has lost money on 3 of the last 5 Olympics,barely avoiding a 4th. At nearly $1.3B for the rights, I can't fault 'em for going with whatever they think gives them a chance for eyeballs ... and I don't know how anyone else could either.

If going with your argument Jon, why put them on prime-time at all then? They have 50 gazillion channels with Olympic coverage, why not put them on one of those say during the day? I (many?) appreciate the journey to the Olympics, and would have liked the whole event covered, winning or losing. Instead we got a beach volleyball game (women) where they pretty much dominated and then finally a half-hour of gymnastics where the announcers pretty much criticized them from the first performer. And I have zero interest in NBA stars dominating countries that can't hope to compete with us. Maybe I want to see more of the full story of a team or country whether its going to be great or not so great.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

As a follow up to my earlier post, I do wonder how many west coast viewers NBC are losing who are turning the TV off halfway through because the coverage is too late for them, or even worse just choosing to follow during the day and skip the prime time altogether. 8-midnight just seems like an awfully late slot for something they dropped that much money on.

That's really not entirely a loss to them, the alternate methods I mean.

They try to hype - for several olympics now - the total aggregate audience across all platforms. So you've got the casuals watching the primetime just as they would any other night (and likely with stickier viewing) & you've got the diehards seeking mostly NBC owned alternatives. The number of people who would be livid if they treated work/school hours as "primetime" almost certainly far exceed the number who don't adapt.

Here's their thinking on it, basically.
NBC once again delays West Coast coverage - SFGate

[chesapeake]

As near as I can tell, all gymnastics coverage is taped and then shown around other live events, concluding with heavy coverage in the 11-midnight window. All 4 apparatuses are in use at the same time by different countries. I think taping it is probably the most effective way that you can build a coherent narrative on TV. I suspect that they had planned to show the men's gymnastics that way last night. NBC had teased coverage earlier in the day. When the men laid another egg, they likely decided to downshift to coverage of beach volleyball.

[Easy Mac]

These Chinese gymnasts are smaller than my 7 year old daughter.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

If going with your argument Jon, why put them on prime-time at all then? They have 50 gazillion channels with Olympic coverage, why not put them on one of those say during the day? I (many?) appreciate the journey to the Olympics, and would have liked the whole event covered, winning or losing. Instead we got a beach volleyball game (women) where they pretty much dominated and then finally a half-hour of gymnastics where the announcers pretty much criticized them from the first performer. And I have zero interest in NBA stars dominating countries that can't hope to compete with us.

From today's WaPo

“With live swimming that included six medals, live beach volleyball featuring Americans Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross, and a Team USA medal in diving, it was difficult to find space in our primetime show for the men’s gymnastics, although we ultimately did,” an NBC spokesperson told The Washington Post in an email on Tuesday.

The network didn’t say it outright, but hinted things may have been different had the United States won a medal in men’s gymnastics, as Americans David Boudia and Steele Johnson did in men’s synchronized diving on Monday. Boudia and Johnson, who won silver in the event, received plenty of airtime early on in NBC’s primetime coverage. The men’s gymnastics team, meanwhile, faltered early in its competition and wound up in fifth place.

I didn't even think about the diving interrupting their intended schedule (I gathered from what I heard at dinner that a medal there wasn't considered a sure thing, tho not a huge shocker maybe).

Yeah, looking at that list, I don't see anything that doesn't trump a 5th place men's gymnastics outing.

Maybe I want to see more of the full story of a team or country whether its going to be great or not so great.

You're in the minority, especially when you're dealing with the other events that were held last night. You've got guys wearing nearly nothing (for a predominantly female audience), women in more than that but still (basically) bikinis. That's worth more eyeballs than watching a whole lot of olympic events, never mind one where we didn't fare particularly well. Plus, olympic viewing isn't really targeting the sports fan, it's the casual viewer all the way. (NBC execs have talked about that several times already).

I kinda hate to break it down that crudely, but if we're keeping it real, that's basically what I see from their choices.

[whomario]

I kinda think an age limit is needed for "Women" Gymnastics in some way, shape or form.

Originally Posted by Easy Mac

These Chinese gymnasts are smaller than my 7 year old daughter.

(4ft6 Ragan Smith )

[whomario]

Apparently you do need to be 16, my bad.

[Easy Mac]

My daughter is mad because she'll be 14 for the 2024 Olympics and not eligible until she is 18.

[whomario]

Originally Posted by Easy Mac

My daughter is mad because she'll be 14 for the 2024 Olympics and not eligible until she is 18.

Hope she realizes who is really to blame here ...