Thread: 2012 Olympics

...as long as the 'Marquess of Queensberry Rules' are obeyed.

The UK's organizational work conducting the parade of nations has been a total blunder for a few countries, specifically India and Japan. I don't believe I've ever witnessed either of those scenarios happening during the parade of nations march before. Weird stuff. Meanwhile the host country of the games is currently getting steam-rolled on their own turf.

I've been watching it randomly. The gymnastics really fascinate me, probably more then any of the other "normal" activities. People don't give gymnasts enough credit, people are just like "lol gymnastics is easy it shouldn't be a sport". Like bitch no do you see what they are doing.

Originally Posted by juroara

I just wanted to watch some buff guys swing around on silver hoops, why is that so hard?

I agree.
The swimmers bods are quite good.

Originally Posted by Erii

People don't give gymnasts enough credit, people are just like "lol gymnastics is easy it shouldn't be a sport". Like bitch no do you see what they are doing.

When has anyone ever said that? :O

Gymnastics is one of the hardest sports ever... Much more physically demanding than putting a ball into a hole.

What do you guys think of Chinese swimmer, Ye Shiwen's mind-boggling win?

Originally Posted by Ne-yo

What do you guys think of Chinese swimmer, Ye Shiwen's mind-boggling win?

I think people need to stop throwing around accusations about drugs. She passed all the tests, nothing suspicious was found. Is it really so hard to believe that she won it through hard work? I get the feeling that a lot of the hysteria comes from the fact that she's Chinese. If she was British or American, I bet everyone would be singing her praises.

Paul McCartney was absolutely awful, Lennon would be turning in his grave.

I live on the same road as Hampton Court Palace (where all the cycling's been held) which has been pretty sweet, and I've discovered a love of handball. Olympics are shaping up to be better than I expected.

G4S on the other hand... My interview was in November and they still haven't told me when or where I'm working.

China are immense! Take that democracy!

Originally Posted by Heavy Sleeper

I think people need to stop throwing around accusations about drugs. She passed all the tests, nothing suspicious was found. Is it really so hard to believe that she won it through hard work? I get the feeling that a lot of the hysteria comes from the fact that she's Chinese. If she was British or American, I bet everyone would be singing her praises.

You're right if she was British or American everyone would be praising her. In fact I believe if she was any other nationality it wouldn't hit as hard. China doesn't really have the best reputation for honesty based off some past events. So I think people automatically raise an eyebrow when something extraordinary in competition happens that spans from China. Nevertheless she's been groomed since she was a baby specifically for this event and had specialized scientific training in Australia. Kind makes you wonder why Australian swimmers not producing similar results.

Originally Posted by Ne-yo

The UK's organizational work conducting the parade of nations has been a total blunder for a few countries, specifically India and Japan. I don't believe I've ever witnessed either of those scenarios happening during the parade of nations march before. Weird stuff. Meanwhile the host country of the games is currently getting steam-rolled on their own turf.

What was the problem with Japan's parade? So by a few you just mean India and Japan... I thought it was an incredibly well executed ceremony considering how much could have gone wrong.

And why is it a negative thing that the host country isn't doing very well? The UK has never performed particularly well at the olympics; perhaps you just never noticed that until now. Anyway pundits are still saying that Team GB will do better than they did in Beijing.

Originally Posted by Patrick

What was the problem with Japan's parade?

Japan's entire delegation was lead out of the stadium and wasn't allowed back in.

Originally Posted by Patrick

And why is it a negative thing that the host country isn't doing very well? The UK has never performed particularly well at the olympics; perhaps you just never noticed that until now.

You're actually right, I think I'm focusing a lot more on the UK because they're the host country.

Originally Posted by Ne-yo

Japan's entire delegation was lead out of the stadium and wasn't allowed back in.

Woah, weird... Do you have a link for a news report or something? Just curious, didn't hear anything about it.

Originally Posted by Heavy Sleeper

I think people need to stop throwing around accusations about drugs. She passed all the tests, nothing suspicious was found. Is it really so hard to believe that she won it through hard work? I get the feeling that a lot of the hysteria comes from the fact that she's Chinese. If she was British or American, I bet everyone would be singing her praises.

Well new drugs which aren't tested for have been a common feature in the past. But beating your previous best by 5 seconds really isn't particularly unusual at that age. The UK are disappointed that their one of their strongest hopes for gold was dashed; the US are just generally extremely confused about being second in the world, apparently their media has been talking about how the Chinese are bred or genetically modified from the start.

Originally Posted by Ne-yo

Meanwhile the host country of the games is currently getting steam-rolled on their own turf.

Um... the UK is doing very well, we're 5th. The home advantage isn't so powerful that a country with a population of 70 million could come out top and beat an extremely organised and ambitious one with a population of a billion, don't be so silly. The fact that you made this comment just shows you adhering to the stereotype of Americans totally missing the point and thinking the Olympics is about belligerence.

Originally Posted by moSh

Paul McCartney was absolutely awful, Lennon would be turning in his grave.

He sang extremely well for a 70 year old, christ, what's wrong with you? His voice has been gone for years but he somehow was hitting the high notes again.

Originally Posted by Patrick

Woah, weird... Do you have a link for a news report or something? Just curious, didn't hear anything about it.

I know right? Weird. but, yea, I found out about it on the World Wide Web just check there you'll come across it.

Originally Posted by Xei

Um... the UK is doing very well, we're 5th. The home advantage isn't so powerful that a country with a population of 70 million could come out top and beat an extremely organised and ambitious one with a population of a billion, don't be so silly. The fact that you made this comment just shows you adhering to the stereotype of Americans totally missing the point and thinking the Olympics is about belligerence.

Same ole' Xei, still taking everything to heart. I'd have you know, that I actually liked when hobbits came out of those hills so I don't have any idea what "Stereotypes of Americans" has to do with that.

That doesn't seem to be a coherent sentence... I don't know what you're saying but I guess it's just another clumsy attempt at trolling.

It wasn't the sleight I took to heart (nor do I consider it one), I'm just always upset by ignorance and militance.

Originally Posted by Patrick

I'm just always upset by ignorance and militance.

Then I guess you stay pretty upset every-time you look in the mirror.

Originally Posted by Xei

He sang extremely well for a 70 year old, christ, what's wrong with you? His voice has been gone for years but he somehow was hitting the high notes again.

I appreciate the fact that he hit the notes and whatnot, but what was with the American accent when singing? I hate it when British artists do that. Arctic Monkeys held their own, but they didn't stick to their Sheffield accent either.

I just couldn't help but cringe during his performance.

I didn't notice it... Macca has always had a 'rounder' voice compared to Lennon's sharp one. There's no reason he'd want to do an accent or develop one... John was the one who crossed the Atlantic with no intention of coming back.

I didn't think that Arctic Monkeys were so good... the rendition of Come Together was okay but not great, and it pissed me off when they substituted a Beatles lyric to one about themselves, that was pretty arrogant.

I suppose you're right. I guess I just felt he was past his best, but I suppose you can't spell Britain without Beatles really.

And yes, the Beatles should not be tampered with.

Yeah he is, in fact he was pretty bad at the Jubilee celebrations and people were saying it was getting embarrassing... that's why I was surprised and happy that he pulled it out of the bag here for what will presumably be his last big public appearance. He's mainly there for emotional value, and it is basically the best stadium song ever written.

Edit: serious question here; why are swimmers so attractive? I'm not talking about bodies, that's obvious. But the female swimmers all seem to have very beautiful faces (and largely the same for the men). In an arena totally based on objective personal merit (rather than business or acting for instance) it seems very odd to me that those at the top should be pretty.

Olympic boxing is a joke but other then that so far i've enjoyed the rest of it.

What a fucking terrible closing ceremony

I don't really think it's intended to be much of a spectacle. Just lots of good songs to send the thing off... I think it's fine.