olympics deprecation thread

OK then. Best not mention "Queen Victoria" on the track, then. OK, we will. A silver doesn't seem a bad result but it is not what she was hoping for (expecting?) and she often seems a bit sour. She pretty much seems to hate the sport now, and appears very pleased to be retiring. I'm not sure that hating the sport is all that uncommon for professional athletes. If you've read Agassi's book you'll know what I mean.

Great career, though. Well done to her.

It's the Orbit - not only one the greatest works of art of this century, but also an incredibly practical and cost effective away of seeing the view from Olympic Park. Not only is beautiful and functional, but superb value for money - what more could we want: London 2012 never ceases to amaze it just gets better ... and I,m going to see it tomorrow 

Surely you must have some interesting landmarks where you are too. 

Guy, make sure you take some pictures from the top. How much does it cost to get in?

She was only an elbow away from the Gold and was extremely magnanimous to the lady with the elbows - a Gold and Silver and if the judges has been little less impartial then it would have been 3 Golds: still we are not greedy and don't begrudge the Aussies the odd medal or two.

And what about Laura and Sir Chris and weren't our horses wonderful (can anybody explain dressage to me?). 

The only downside so far has been I have had to buy a new calculator to keep track of the medals  and we are guaranteed at least another 5 for our boxing achievements - lets hope the Hockey team can turn up trumps too. 

BTW - why are they replacing Windsurfing (a great sport and well done Nick Dempsey) with Rounders in Rio - another attempt to do us out of medal - well it won't work 'cos our girls are a match for anybody when comes to hitting a ball with a truncheon. If St Trinian's played in that World Series (I think that is what the Rounders championship is called) then they'd romp it. 

All the best, Guy 

In the EuroVision Song Contest we refer to ourselves as the United Kingdom ie UK

On the BBC's Olyimpics website,we are refered to as Great Britain & Northern Ireland ie GBR

Is there a difference ?

Cheers

Don

Chris Boardman gave an interview which indicated that the UK had some key developments in the cycling world that appeared to give UK cyclists a slight edge over other competitors.

Is this the same sort of issue as having "good" horses in the Dressage and show jumping events?

Cheers

Don

Not really. Nothing man-made, anyway.

Sandy8 has a good shot of a typical BC landmark/landscape that I'll reproduce here...



And this is one I took of a neighbour....

And another....

It isn't much like London here, really. Sorry to disappoint.

Kind of. But competitive bikes are much cheaper than competitive horses buy, house and to feed. One of the nice things about cycling is that there is enough gadgetry to satisfy most, without all the feeding, $h!++ing and dying and stuff that you get with horses.

Pretty much describes any female track sprinter. It isn't a game for shrinking violets. But as I say, well done to Victoria. A truly fabulous career. But one she seems pleased to be finished with.

As I recall the US boycotted the 1980 Moscow Games because Russia was occupying Afghanistan or is my memory faulty? 

Yes Sniper, they did boycott the 1980 Games for that very reason - along with about 60 other countries. In retaliation, the old Soviet bloc (along with aligned nations such as Vietnam, Angola, Cuba and Mogolia) boycotted the 1984 LA Olympiad.

SKDriver, the body was Nikon D3. It does have a very good dynamic range, but a lot of the highlight/shadow detail has come from Photoshop processing whilst opening in raw. These have been done roughly (and fast) just to show on the internet. If I was to use these for any other purposes, I would have to start again on each one. The only one I spent time on was the panorama.

Thanks for the kind words everyone. 

I liked the pics Count, you captured the event just right.

I also like the fact that if the GB track cycling team was a nation they would still be ahead of Australia!

Meares should be ashamed of having to resort to bullying tactics to unsettle Pendleton.

Jono

You haven't watched much track sprinting, have you?

Plenty going back to the late '70s but I am biased in this case.

If Victoria had done the barging then it would have been a fair move.

I work with a track trainer and he felt Meares was lucky to get away with it. Meares also crossed the line in the second heat but no action was taken.

The whole track event was setup to limit Team GBs wins. Can you imagine the outcry if USA and Jamaica could only enter a single competitor in an athletics event?

I stand by my comment.

Jono

I initially thought that Meares had moved aggressively down on Pendleton, too. But you can't see the line at the time of the incident in the TV shot we had here. But immediately afterwards, the shot shows Meares well clear of the line, and she hasn't really changed her line. I really "think" (who "knows") the Pendleton moved up. But yes, Meares lucky to get the ruling. Could have gone either way IMO. A bit harsh to say she should be ashamed, though. Track sprinting is rough and tumble. Pendleton was gracious in defeat.

Should we disqualify every basketball team from every contest because theoretically, in basketball, every body contact is a foul? Don't even bother to hold water polo. Actually, that wouldn't upset me at all. I thoroughly dislike both those sports, for the reason that they aren't played within the rules at all. There is not even a pretense of enforcing the rules.

Yes, limiting the number of country representatives in cycling was a fix, designed to increase the spectator interest, not to foster the best competition (a consistent theme at the games, unfortunately). If countries could have entered more competitors, the national tallies would have been even more weighted towards GB. I don't care if GB riders had won every medal at the games, not just the cycling. I want to see the very best. If they all come from one country, well so be it. I have no interest whatsoever in what country someone comes from. Your point about USA and Jamaica in the athletics is well made.

I feel that Pendleton's sideways move was down to momentum after avoiding the Meares barge rather than a deliberate move to impede. You could tell that Pendleton lost the mental war rather than the physical one in that contest after the decision went against her.

I also played rugby at school  and thus enjoy contact sports but I know that it is a short step from contact to foul. The referee/s need to be very astute to differentiate between contact and foul. Like you I cannot tolerate sports where the rules are ignored or bent to suit a players/teams ends. Football in this country seems to be following that trend now that really stupid sums of money are involved.

Agreed, I just want to see competitors performing at the top of thier abilities and striving to win or at least place. That includes those without any chance of a medal but are at the games to compete and be part of the event.

Jono

I can see that interpretation. It is actually what Pendleton politely implied - That she veered towards Meares as a result Meares making contact.

I just love (hate - actually) the way that you can travel for 4 or 5 steps in basketball provided you are going for a slam.

Regarding money changing football....

In many sports, the money has made top-level sport a commercial undertaking, focussed on spectacle, marketing and profiteering, rather than a contest in which the benefits are physical and psychological and primarily for those partaking. The reason for this thread is that the olympics has become a particularly egregious example of this. That I enjoy watching it, doesn't make it any less so.

Did he mention the fact that pro British cyclists [and other pro olympic uberhumans] don’t have to work for a living, and when not cycle training can also go swimming around in tax payers ripped off money.

A tiny proportion of it is loto money which is also is a tax [on stupidity.]

Aparently, Jessica Ennis has now secured an income potential of 5 million pounds a year!

Well done Jess!

That will buy her a lot more gold medals : )

It’s a shame that so many of these uber-people don’t actually contribute anything to society, except more selfish greed for their own personal gains.

Debs

On your first point, as one who used to play basketball I am in total agreement.

On point two, well said.

Debs,

I think its all called "entertainment"

UK football is funded by the mugs who watch it, live or via Sky.

Diito motor racing in the UK.

The Royal Opera House is partially state funded. But that's fine by me. I actually don't mind contributing to it via taxation. And I've never been.

I choose to contribute £2 pw to the Lottery fund. I trust it's charitable choice of direction - generally. Not perfect, but ok.

Decent entertainers seem to attract relatively small amounts of money from large numbers of people. Some of it directly from the mugs, some of it indirectly. I personally don't like the stupidly large rewards these entertainers make, and that includes pop stars etc and I would introduce frequent windfall taxes for both companies and individuals to moderate it..

I might not agree with every use to which my hard -earned contributions are put, but without a referendum on each and every issue, i'm content to go with the flow of the politicians and managers and vote every 4 or 5 years if I feel a change is needed. Seems better than a riot every week.

Cheers

Don

And here's the thing about that that really pisses me off. She will make much of that money through endorsements/advertising/marketing/branding. Her association with whatever she is peddling will not make those products any better, nor will it make them any cheaper (quite the opposite - where do we think the 5 million pounds per year will come from?). It will simply be a part of the value-destroying race to the bottom that is the ever-escalating emphasis on marketing in consumer-facing businesses.

Give it a break Debs - go and live in North Korea.