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 Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 11:06 pm
In case you are interested: http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20080806/sc_livescience/lucyvneanderthalvuswhowinsalltimeolympics has a comparison of various homids as they would have performed in olympic sports. *I know she's a white woman, but still, how cool is it that Zimbabwe now has a swimming world record? * It was nice to see the Netherlands win a race they hadn't won since 1936. Go Netherlands! *Seeing just how injured Brandon O'Neil is, I'm surprised the Canadians didn't replace him with an alternate like the Americans did with their two injured. Yes, I get that he was a national medal hope, but with that leg, it's heartbreaking watching him try and fail over and over. *I get the Canadians are proud of their male gymnasts, but what idiot decided it was more interesting to watch their men get massages and wait around for scores than to watch the Chinese and Russians perform? How can they not show the Chinese and Russians at all? WTF?!? Yes, Canadian gymnasts are hot when they dress and undress, but what little the Americans showed of the Russian and Chinese routines was stunning. If showing the waiting around for scores was so important, couldn't they split screen as they did for the end of the bicycle race? * As someone old enough to remember Nadia's performances, it is utterly heartbreaking to watch the Romanian women's team implode. * I think it is interesting that the American commentators went after the Romanian couch for comforting a fallen gymnast, but not the Chinese couch for hugging her athlete who fell. I have never thought that the emotional abuse endemic in women's gymnastics is a good idea. People feel bad enough when they whiff apparatus, they don't need some adult barking at them on top of it. Women gymnasts are such young and underfed things, compared to the adult men in their 20's and 30's competing men's side. It seems to me, it's already enough pressure. in any case, the clearly dominant Chinese team goes in for comforting, why is it so wrong that the Romanians do the same? *Ugh. The Canadians were showing beach volleyball while the Americans interviewed Bush. I'm watched the volley ball. * Kudos to the 33 year old woman gymnast who made an event final. i suspect they are skating in hell tonight.
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Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 5:30 am
I've thought long and hard about the new swim suits. I think that ultimately, there is no point in trying to hold back clothing improvements as they will be standard by next time around anyway. I know this unfairly privileges rich teams, but I agree, I'd rather they look for the edge in clothing technology rather than doping. Clothing creep is inevitable, I think. Just look at the old Spitz footage they've been showing. Unless they start making everybody compete naked, I think athletic clothes will periodically evolve.
Re: gymnastic music. I'd rather do without myself, but to be honest, I'm just grateful they no longer choose a piece everyone has to use, as that used to drive me bats, listening to the same piece over and over.
I thought a friend's observation that the Americans are now using clicker training is interesting. Anything to end the abusive behavior the Karolyi's are known for is good, I'd say, though i am ambivalent about using dog training methods on humans for the obvious reasons.
* How cool is it that a fifty year old woman competed in fencing and won a bout against someone ranked 100 people better than her in the national standings? how cool is it she got to compete at all.
*What happened to all the equestrian events? Weren't they happening this week? Why weren't they covered on NBC or CBUT
Does anyone have an opinion on the age controversy in gymnastics?
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Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 6:14 am
Olympics Musings
Re: lip synching, how rotten is it to not let a girl sing live because she isn't cute enough/ not cool.
Re: Pool Speed. I know the Sydney pool was a very fast one, which is why they had a cluster of records broken there too. Again, I don't think its reasonable to expect the technology to stand still.
Re: Chinese women gymnasts. I'm not entirely sure one way or another on the two youngest looking. I do think the commentators claiming they are seven-ten are insane. I used to teach and there is a lot of variation. They look 13-14 to me, honestly, but given 1. that female gymnasts tend to be late bloomers and the ideal body type is boyish. 2. That a low protein without dairy tends to make people smaller in general 3. That Chinese meat and water likely aren't full of pseudo estrogens than Western meat, it is not inconceivable that they are older than they look. I am not saying they are, just that I do have a shadow of doubt. There are conditions that can even cause neotony of the features. I watched with a professional eye and I couldn't quite rule it out, though I share the doubts that they are really old enough. I think the others are likely old enough. I also worry about the intense emotional pressure and physical stress on the girls, but I don't think there's any way to intervene, alas.
Re: Male individual All Around: That was brutal and heartbreaking. I wished they wouldn't linger on their faces after things go wrong. I don't want to see a male gymnast struggle not to cry. Give them a little privacy, sheesh. there were some lovely performances, but I hate seeing people blow it when it means so much to them. I'd rather watch people perform at their top form. I guess it's the teacher in me.
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Posted: Sun Aug 24, 2008 1:44 am
I think that it's awesome that the Russian women's synchronized swimming team got a perfect score! heart
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Artemesia_of_Persia Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Aug 24, 2008 4:43 am
They were genuinely stunning.
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Posted: Sun Aug 24, 2008 5:26 am
Three Cheers for Out Diver Matt Mitcham. He did something unprecedented: He came out as a gay man at the beginning of his career in a judged sport. Oh there were other out athletes competing, but they were in objective sports, ones where how fast, how high, how long, how many points are what matter. Judged sports like diving, gymnastics, and ice skating have a subjective element and as a result are notorious for marking down scores for partisan reasons. Homophobia kept Louganis in the closet during his Olympic runs because it would have knocked down his chances to win and kill endorsement deals he needed to live on. Homophobia still keeps young gay skaters in the closet because they need wins and international exposure so they can make money at it later as pros. (Orser and Galindo were out as Pros. Galindo in particular tended to get hosed in the scoring for being flamboyantly out, but had a huge audience following and stayed popular in ice shows. Orser was towards the end of his pro career and took less of a hit for being outed and looking conservative.)
Matt Mitcham went to the Olympics as a relatively young competitor with a male partner and a tongue stud he shows off in publicity photos. He was competing for Australia in platform diving. By the time for the individual platform dives, the Chinese had gotten every single diving gold at the Olympics and were expected to win. No one was expecting much from the young man from Australia. He dove beautifully, challenging the Chinese at each round, but never quite beating them. He stayed in the medal hunt with the veteran diver from Russia and the gentleman from Cuba. In the final round, the lead Chinese diver messed up a dive, opening a chance that Mitcham seized in a dive of nigh superhuman skill and beauty. The Russian did a beautiful dive, but couldn't touch him, and the other Chinese, looking a little shaken, made errors too.
He one the Gold, not just for Australia, but for every closeted Athlete in every judged sport.
He is a sign that maybe, finally, the homophobic dinosaur judges are finally retiring or dieing off. He is a sign that maybe this coming generation of athletes can compete openly and honestly without the stress of the closet.
Yes, its just sports, but sports is one of the last bastions of homophobia and seeing that crumble piece by piece his a hopeful sign.
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Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 4:42 pm
Yay! the Olympics are over! Now to move on and keep track of College Football! twisted
Btw, did anyone watch the closing ceremony? (or at least watch Jimmy page rock).
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Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 12:09 am
I caught bits of it, but not that, alas.
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