THE OLYMPICS: Official Thread of All-Things Games! (Sportsmanship Required)- Page 16

[DayDreamer]

Posted: 8/14/08 at 6:20pm

China has a rich history of age falsification in Olympics competition, especially in gymnastics. At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, three years after the minimum age was raised to 16 in gymnastics, Chinese gymnast Yang Yun competed and won a bronze medal in the uneven bars (coincidentally this event is also He's specialty). Yang's passport said she was born on December 24, 1984 and turning 16 in the year of the Games, making her eligible. She later confessed in a television interview that she was only 14 at the time of the competition and that she and her coaches had lied about her age.

I wonder if they'll make them return the medals like they have done with the cheaters on track and field?

[Popular]

Posted: 8/14/08 at 6:28pm

BEIJING (AP)—The International Olympic Committee urged China Thursday to allow foreign reporters at the Beijing Games to report freely after a British journalist trying to cover a protest was allegedly roughed up by police.


FULL ARTICLE - OY!

[EugLoven]

Posted: 8/14/08 at 6:33pm

For those of us who still have the wear-withall and patience to tune-in and watch the toddlers compete against USA...

AUGUST 14, 2008 PRIMETIME BROADCAST SCHEDULE

8:00p - 9:00p
The U.S. men's volleyball team plays undefeated Bulgaria. The Americans, also undefeated, can secure a quarterfinal berth with a win, and they may have back their coach, Hugh McCutcheon, just days following the murder of his father-in-law in Beijing.

9:00p - 10:00p
More beach volleyball competition from the sand at Chaoyang Park Ground (LIVE ET/CT). Defending Olympic champions Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh of the U.S. look to extend their undefeated streak to 105 games in their opening match of elimination-round play. They face Belgium's Liesbeth Von Breedam and Liesbeth Mouha.

10:00p - 11:00p
Coverage of more gold-medal swimming (LIVE ET/CT). In the men’s 200m IM, world-record holder Michael Phelps seeks his sixth Beijing gold medal - 12th of his career - equaling his Athens victory total. In the men’s 200m back, Americans Aaron Peirsol and Ryan Lochte could add another chapter to their back-and-forth rivalry. Also, the women's 200m breaststroke.

11:00p - 1:00a (8/15)
In 1984, 16-year-old gymnast Mary Lou Retton won gold in the women's individual all-around competition. In 2004, 16-year-old Carley Patterson did it. Now, at the Beijing Games, two more U.S. teens - Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin - each have a chance to win what is perhaps the most prominent event at the Olympics (LIVE ET/CT). Also, more swimming, including the women's 100m free and the men's 100m fly semifinals (LIVE ET/CT).

[gettinhep]

Posted: 8/14/08 at 6:43pm

Okay, NBC paid for the swimming finals to be contested in Beijing mornings, disrupting the normal training and competition rhythms of swimmers, so the finals could be shown live during US primetime. Hmm.

[Popular]

Posted: 8/14/08 at 6:48pm

11pm - 1am?? Oh dear. Sucks to be me tomorrow morning. lol
I know I sound like a broken record but I just don't get it. The women's individual all-around competition has always been one of the most viewed events. No offense to volleyball fans but I'd really like to hear the logic behind this schedule. Little girls who may become the next gymnastics superstar because of what they see tonight (and big girls who have to get up early for work) should be able to watch this at a decent hour. I'm not fooled into thinking I'm watching it LIVE on the west coast.

[ShbrtAlley44]

Posted: 8/14/08 at 6:55pm

Yeah, they should take away their medals. Ridiculous. I'm not saying the US deserved it last night but it's blatant cheating.

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 8/14/08 at 6:55pm

source hep?

[gettinhep]

Posted: 8/14/08 at 7:06pm

Papa, swimming competitions are usually, if not exclusively, composed of morning heats and evening finals. Swimmers train from the time they are little on the basis of evening finals. In Beijing, the finals are in the morning. As the US audience(and Canadian, I suppose)audience is really the only one to benefit, it doesn't take much to see that the Peacock Network has forked out, no matter what it does to the rhythms of athletes.

So glad for you guys that it hasn't stopped Phelps from doing some great things in the pool.

Oops. Sorry, the link didn't work.

Updated On: 8/14/08 at 07:06 PM

[DayDreamer]

Posted: 8/14/08 at 7:08pm

Here's one from AOL:

Those billions of dollars that NBC pays to televise the Olympic Games have paid off: NBC has convinced the International Olympic Committee to schedule several marquee events for early morning in Beijing so they can be shown live in prime time on American TV.
Olympic Swimming, Gymnastics Will Start Early in China

[gettinhep]

Posted: 8/14/08 at 7:23pm

I'll try the link again.
NBC

[EugLoven]

Posted: 8/14/08 at 7:31pm

Popular: Simple answer to your question about late air-times has to do with timezones. NBC feels like its the best option to show these events live (since midnight in NY is noon in Beijing).

It's either see the events live or wait to air the popular events (gymnastics) the NEXT night, which is almost 24 hours since they occurred (old news), and by then (with the internet) the results would be known online before transported via TV-waves to our living-rooms.

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 8/14/08 at 7:40pm

sounds like whining from the koala eaters because their team blows this year. want it catered to your time zone? pay the billions that nbc did.

[gettinhep]

Posted: 8/14/08 at 7:51pm

Sweetheart, our girls are kicking your girls to bits and leaving them to rot on the side of the pool.

Papa, our two swimming teams should be getting together about the medals snatched from our grasp by Chinese swimmers. Most of whom have never been seen in top swim finals before. What's the betting they won't be seen after the games. Oh, and you guys missed out on a medal in the shooting, too. In one of the trap competitions, the Chinese shooter was awarded hits by Chinese judges. Um, he missed. He got the medal. Your guy finished fourth. Sorry.

Updated On: 8/14/08 at 07:51 PM

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 8/14/08 at 7:55pm

If they were showing it live on the West Coast I might watch, but the delay makes no real sense.

I have not watched much of these games on TV, preferring to use the live feeds on the computer.

[Popular]

Posted: 8/14/08 at 7:57pm

Papa- LOL. Ok, I hear ya! Trust me, I'm just as tired of whining as you are of listening to it. I blame it on lack of sleep... I'm not usually this crabby

Eug - Thanks for explaining... it just seems like there should be a better solution. Perhaps there isn't.

Updated On: 8/14/08 at 07:57 PM

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 8/14/08 at 8:01pm

eh, them china girls are so whacked up on hgh and ando they will probably explode right after the finals.

[gettinhep]

Posted: 8/14/08 at 8:03pm

Yep. They've done it before, they'll do it again.

[EugLoven]

Posted: 8/14/08 at 8:28pm

Things to note while watching USA vs BUL Indoor Volley Ball game:

USA Teammate #4 (Lee) is HOT!!! Ditto for USA Team Captain #12 (Hoff) The others are lookers too.


They're photos don't do them justice

Watch as they dive'n'slide (like dolphins) onto the slick tile whenever there's a fly ball (kinda looks like fun)

How absolutely bored-outta-his-mind the Bulgarian coach looks (sitting and yawning from the sidelines)

The Swiffer Broom pusher/cleaners hitting the floor at each commercial break

And finally a new commercial! The Tale of Despereaux looks cute

GREAT GAME ALL AROUND!!! (Especially those nerve-wracking 3 match-points)


Updated On: 8/14/08 at 08:28 PM

[gettinhep]

Posted: 8/14/08 at 8:34pm

Eug, is that indoor volleyball or beach volleyball?

[DayDreamer]

Posted: 8/14/08 at 8:49pm

"Live" does not count for the West Coast, but it's only three hours, and I'm a night-owl, so I stay away from internet sites until I see it. Alas, it's too hot to be inside today so heading out - hopefully back on time for swimming.

Side note: they're running an ad here for the Kia Lamb - erm, Borrego. Yep - I chuckle every time I see the ads for this car. Who wants a lamb for a car? (Borrego is lamb in Spanish.)

[heathurrr]

Posted: 8/14/08 at 9:06pm

I haven't watched any of the Olympics, yet.
I did want to see swimmer Dara Torres, but I think I missed her.
My country (Canada) has yet to win one medal. Sad! Oh well, we'll make up in the winter Olympics, that's for damn sure!

[EugLoven]

Posted: 8/14/08 at 9:24pm

HOLY CRAP THAT WAS INCREDIBLE!!!

The 1st set between Women's Beach Volleyball USA vs BEL was the most intense/nerve-wracking I've ever seen!!!

Happy Birthday, Kerry Walsh.


Updated On: 8/15/08 at 09:24 PM

[clever name]

Posted: 8/14/08 at 9:50pm

Does anyone know what Michael Phelps is listening to on his ipod before his race?

[supportivemom]

Posted: 8/14/08 at 9:51pm

Yeah Eug- I was a little scared watching that Beach Volleyball. Those Belgium women were AMAZONS! Glad to see USA demolish them in 15 minutes on the next set! Just waiting til the women's all-around gymnastics!

[obsessedjb]

Posted: 8/14/08 at 10:05pm

clever name--apparently he listens to hip-hop

I love Kerri Walsh & Misty May-Treanor