Beijing 2008, or: who else isn't watching?

[LittleGrizzly]

I managed to watch a few seconds, sue barker (i think thats her name) was talking and saying about a bunch of events on at that moment, cycling, judo, a few other crappy sports and football, BBC then switched over to the judo and i switched off in disgust!!

TBH up until that moment i turned the tv on i had forgotten the olympics where even on, i think i knew they where soon but i honestly hadn't realised it had started (or my memorys is getting really bad) i can't pertend that its anything to do with the hosts, i generally find the olympics very boring anyway, the mens 100m sprint is of slight interest and outside of that its probably only the football, and i have never actually seen football at the oylmpics so im kind of assuming it gets really crappy coverage.... seems to be more interest in throwing stick and stones (practice for ww4 maybe ?) or the hop skip and jump, to sum it up the olympics mostly bore the crap out of me...

[PanzerJaeger]

I don't watch because its boring, has tons of commercials, and putting lipstick on a disgustingly overpopulated and polluted communist hell hole doesn't make it any better looking (or less prone to slaughter dissidents). I'm forced to support CHINA enough every time I go to the mall, I don't need to be awwed at their ability to spend 40 billion child-labor earned dollars and build a stadium that doesn't fall to crap - like everything else they build.

I did check out the medal count though, and to my surprise we are currently beating the communists 25 to 21. I'm shocked, as I know they're pulling every dirty trick out of their book to demonstrate how superior CHINA is. Kudos to South Korea as well!

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

America has more medals than China, but as of August 13th, China is first in the medal count.

[Marshal Murat]

EMFM, could you amend yours by adding the word "Gold" somewhere in there?

[LittleGrizzly]

Can someone explain to me how theres been 58 gold medals won, 58 silver medals won... but somehow 69 bronze medals won.... im probably missing something obvious here...

Edit: moment of clarity reveals that bronze medal winners are sometimes figured out before gold and silver medalists are...

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

EMFM, could you amend yours by adding the word "Gold" somewhere in there?

Well, I suppose technically China is first in the medal count based on some points system. Don't ask me, I don't make the charts.

[DemonArchangel]

Can someone explain to me how theres been 58 gold medals won, 58 silver medals won... but somehow 69 bronze medals won.... im probably missing something obvious here...

Edit: moment of clarity reveals that bronze medal winners are sometimes figured out before gold and silver medalists are...

Certain events award 2 bronze medals instead of 1.

[LittleGrizzly]

Didn't know that, is it the equivelent of 2 world cup semi finalists both being given a bronze..

[Papewaio]

I did check out the medal count though, and to my surprise we are currently beating the communists 25 to 21. I'm shocked, as I know they're pulling every dirty trick out of their book to demonstrate how superior CHINA is. Kudos to South Korea as well!

Not even close. The ranking is gold, then silver then bronze. Bronze does not equal gold outside of childcare facilities . Mind you I have argued for a per capita ranking... slight reason for a bias... that way Australia's 4 Golds is equivalent to China having about 250 gold medals...

Yeap, watching the Olympics. A shame that when I see a record broken I think 'Wow, how long before those drugs are found?".

As a form of entertainment they can be great. As a way of 'measuring' the respective successes of different government system they are about as accurate as GDP or BMI. A rule of thumb at best, a casual hand wave more likely then a clinically accurate form of stat.

I prefer to see money being spent on sporting facilities, tourism and language development then for weapons facilities, political prisons and spooks. Then again I would prefer more money spent on science and arts and a Computer game Olympics.

I watch and sometimes I get to see what I really like behind the glitz and ego. Sportsmanship and some truly humble athletes breaking themselves apart and trying with all their might to just finish.

Eddie the Eagle and others of his ilk are the ones to watch for. The marathon's never fail to please in seeing someone push themselves to the wall. I like seeing people push past their physical limits, making a PB and all through hard work and willpower. The drug cheats diminish from this... that is why it is often good to see the amateurs at the back of the pack pushing on.

http://blogs.nzherald.co.nz/blog/bei...ries/?c_id=502

[ajaxfetish]

My primary reason for not watching is not having a TV at home--kind of makes it tricky. Saw some of the gymnastics and swimming on Sunday, but the 'human interest' stories seemed even more rampant than usual. It seems an awful waste when there are so many events they don't even spend time covering.

Ajax

[Tratorix]

Haven't really been watching. All they show on T.V. around here is swimming and diving anyway. The only thing about the Olympics I follow is Hockey during the winter games.

[Adrian II]

I'm Chinese, the Chinese are my people, and I strongly support them.

Do you also support the regime? China is certainly the record-holder for suppression during the Olympic Games. Today more protesters were arrested for unfolding a flag about Tibet, i.e. for simply expressing their opinions. Another journalist was roughed up. Tourists can't take a picture of Tienanman Square without being stopped, harassed or whisked away by some illiterate idiot in a uniform. How can a Chinese be proud of this zombie circus with drilled supporters, faked hymns and corrupt party bosses? In their place I would be deeply ashamed.

[Rhyfelwyr]

90% of Olympic sports would bore me to sleep. From all the fuss China's making, you would think they're hosting the World Cup. I don't hear of people rushing home from work to watch the javelin event. I don't see pubs filling up because everyone wants to see a 400m relay. I don't see huge screens being put up all over the place because everyone wants to see how far someone can throw a discuss. And I don't see many children playing Olympic sports all day because they want to be like their Olypmic heroes.

Haha, China's dicatators have got conned into spending billions because they think the whole western world is watching how great their nation is.

I heard they've got so desperate they're getting volunteers to fill up the empty stands.

[Meneldil]

Haha, China's dicatators have got conned into spending billions because they think the whole western world is watching how great their nation is.

That's the funny part yeah. They're doing all that crap to show the rest of the world how great China is, yet they look like pathetic monkeys.

[LittleGrizzly]

Haha, China's dicatators have got conned into spending billions because they think the whole western world is watching how great their nation is.

Its our way of slowing down chinese growth, were going to throw sporting events at them until the bankrupt themselves showing us how developed they are

[Adrian II]

They're doing all that crap to show the rest of the world how great China is, yet they look like pathetic monkeys.

If by 'pathetic monkeys' you mean the regime and its sports and business cronies, I totally agree. My take on Chinese people in general however is totally different. I hope my posts are clear as to the distinction.

[yesdachi]

I wonder…

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Will there be a recall on the medals due to lead based paint concerns?

[DemonArchangel]

Do you also support the regime? China is certainly the record-holder for suppression during the Olympic Games. Today more protesters were arrested for unfolding a flag about Tibet, i.e. for simply expressing their opinions. Another journalist was roughed up. Tourists can't take a picture of Tienanmen Square without being stopped, harassed or whisked away by some illiterate idiot in a uniform. How can a Chinese be proud of this zombie circus with drilled supporters, faked hymns and corrupt party bosses? In their place I would be deeply ashamed.

Let's take this one by one:

1.) Do I support the regime? My family is heavily involved in the regime and ranks quite highly in it. I fully support it. The regime has done a lot of good things for China too. :China:

2.) Please use the designated protest zones for unfurling flags about Tibet. Also, please shut up about Tibet. As a reference, try to imagine if Wyoming tried to secede from the United States, and kicked up a on the international media every time the US govt. tried to stop it. Another way to look at it is that you know the Dutch would have held onto Indonesia if they had the forces to do so.

3.) The police are hardly illiterate. Also, the Chinese aren't the only people to randomly arrest people for taking pictures of landmarks. I recall it is a prominent practice in the United States too.

4.) Congratulations, you've pretty much described *all* the Olympics. Zombie circus precisely describes why I'm not watching the Olympics either. Ever since I started Parkour, I realized just how meaningless most Olympic events are. Sports are meant to be played, not watched.

5.) Li Ning was picked as the guy to light the torch not because he was rich. That acrobatic wire stunt takes an enormous amount of strength to pull off, and in the intervening years between his Olympic performances and now, Mr. Li has kept himself in the best of shape, allowing himself to actually complete something as insane as doing a sideways lap across the stadium. Also, he himself is a 3 time gold medalist in gymnastics.

6.) Little Grizzly: Surprisingly, most of the Olympic budget was to build vital infrastructure that was badly needed. And speaking of bankruptcy, I wonder just how London will fund the 2012 Olympics.

[InsaneApache]

I heard that Albert Speer Junr. built the stadium. A triumph of the will indeed!*

An ITN journo was jumped by the Sturmabteilung and thrown into the back of a van, where they beat his hands. That'll teach the nosey bugger...

A view from the Times...

These people: they jump in a pool, they swim, sometimes they dive, or they do both. Good on 'em, if it's what they want to do: even I can see the achievement in being the fastest in the world, if that is your ambition. But must we all join in the pretence that the shenanigans in Beijing are important in any way for the rest of the country; that the Games tell us anything of any consequence about humanity, about ourselves, about our nation?

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/com...cle4517692.ece

*No thread is complete without a Godwin or two.

[Adrian II]

Also, please shut up about Tibet.

Thank heavens your trained monkeys have no say in this forum and I can bloody well speak as I want to. And thank heavens no one in the free world is impressed by the displays of suffocating obedience and mass kow-towing and drilling surrounding these games. Whenever such regimes try to convey an image of hospitality and national harmony to the world, they make utter fools of themselves and that of China is no exception.

[DemonArchangel]

Thank heavens your trained monkeys have no say in this forum and I can bloody well speak as I want to. And thank heavens no one in the free world is impressed by the displays of suffocating obedience and mass kow-towing and drilling surrounding these games. Whenever such regimes try to convey an image of hospitality and national harmony to the world, they make utter fools of themselves and that of China is no exception.

No, you can think what you want about Tibet. Just stop talking about it. That's the only thing that comes to the lips of every sinophobe ever. China has tons and tons and tons and tons and tons and tons of problems you can focus on. Tibet isn't one of them.

[LittleGrizzly]

6.) Little Grizzly: Surprisingly, most of the Olympic budget was to build vital infrastructure that was badly needed. And speaking of bankruptcy, I wonder just how London will fund the 2012 Olympics.

It was not a serious point, don't worry most of britian will be fine, its Londoners that have to fund the olympics

[Adrian II]

No, you can think what you want about Tibet. Just stop talking about it. That's the only thing that comes to the lips of every sinophobe ever. China has tons and tons and tons and tons and tons and tons of problems you can focus on. Tibet isn't one of them.

Oh sure, China has tons and tons of self-imposed problems, and Tibet is only one of them. I know it makes you and your family and every so-called loyal Chinese mad as hell to hear about Tibet day and night, at every street corner, in every newspaper, every internet discussion. Here you are organizing the Olympic Games, and Tibet demonstrators follow your torch all across the world, manhandle it, ridicule it, even snuff it. hahaha, I love it. And it's not going to stop, ever - until Tibet gets a decent deal, which is inevitably going to be part of wider reforms that put an end to the horrible official slavery in your country. No dumb light show in a stadium will ever efface the truth.

[DemonArchangel]

Oh sure, China has tons and tons of self-imposed problems, and Tibet is only one of them. I know it makes you and your family and every so-called loyal Chinese mad as hell to hear about Tibet day and night, at every street corner, in every newspaper, every internet discussion. Here you are organizing the Olympic Games, and Tibet demonstrators follow your torch all across the world, manhandle it, ridicule it, even snuff it. hahaha, I love it. And it's not going to stop, ever - until Tibet gets a decent deal, which is inevitably going to be part of wider reforms that put an end to the horrible official slavery in your country. No dumb light show in a stadium will ever efface the truth.

What truth? That the Tibetans are bunch of savage primitives tamed only with the lash? They're certainly not the peace loving hippies the west makes them out to be. China has every right to conquer Tibet, just like how the Netherlands has every right to conquer... oh wait, it's too weak to hold onto its own colonies. I know full well, and so do the Chinese people, what China is doing is imperialism, plain and simple. I still support it, because it's the right thing to do. I'm actually surprised at the level of mercy the Chinese government has show in Tibet, when we simply could have killed them all, sort of like what the Europeans did to the African natives. You only want Tibet to get a decent deal to weaken China so that maybe, your pathetic collection of reclaimed islands jutting out of the North Sea will have a chance at glory again. Very few people actually care about human rights, and most of those only do so out of their own national self interest. I seriously doubt you actually care about the Tibetans, so much as you are alarmed by China's power. And if you do care about the Tibetans, you are a deluded fool for thinking they are a good and peaceful people.

[naut]

I am glad to say, I haven't seen any of it. YEY! No boring drugged up uber-men/uber-women running/swimming/jumping in circles.

[Hosakawa Tito]

World politics aside, and on a more personal note...I am looking forward to the women's pole vault competition. The US Champion, Jenn Stuczynski, is a local gal, and I remember her playing highschool sports, basketball & track, against my oldest daughter's team.

[LittleGrizzly]

What truth? That the Tibetans are bunch of savage primitives tamed only with the lash? They're certainly not the peace loving hippies the west makes them out to be. China has every right to conquer Tibet, just like how the Netherlands has every right to conquer... oh wait, it's too weak to hold onto its own colonies.

The impression i am getting from your whole 'speech' is a pathetic teenager who is using his country as a penis measuring device..... on the topic of penis measuring remind me exactly who it was that stopped japan slaughtering and raping your citizens en masse....

[Marshal Murat]

How about we talk of Darfur and the Sudanese forces, backed and armed by the Chinese military?
Maybe Myanmar, where junta forces restricted food because they feared all those capitalistic ideas?
Taiwan, where they can't even carry their own flag into a stadium because it's a political statement?
The corruption of local governors and magistrates whose inadequate control ensures graft and crime?
Maybe the lax or nonexistent safety standards that China has concerning exports?

when we simply could have killed them (Tibetans) all, sort of like what the Europeans did to the African natives.

If Europeans killed all the Africans, why are there still Africans?

[DemonArchangel]

Little Grizzly: Certainly not the Dutch.

Murat: Hey, congratulations, you listed a bunch of things I disapprove of (instead of randomly jumping to Tibet). And why are there still Africans? Why are there still Native Americans? The Europeans certainly tried their best to exploit them, that's for certain.

[InsaneApache]

Don't forget about most enlightened of fellows Mr. Mugabe.