CFB51 College Football Fan Community
The Power Five => Big Ten => Topic started by: OrangeAfroMan on February 03, 2022, 06:29:42 PM
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I have to admit, I had no clue the Olympics were coming up until someone mentioned it on a college football podcast.
I care about the olympics about as much as I care about basketball. But you guys will probably want to post about it somewheres.
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Im a bobsled guy
specially when they crash
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I like the Olympics. So many compelling stories and competitions
Today I read an article about the first non-binary athlete to compete.
I guess I should be embarrassed to admit this but I had to look that up to see what it meant and now that I’ve read the definition I’m not quite sure I still understand it.
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I like the Olympics. So many compelling stories and competitions
Today I read an article about the first non-binary athlete to compete.
I guess I should be embarrassed to admit this but I had to look that up to see what it meant and now that I’ve read the definition I’m not quite sure I still understand it.
I assume this person had to compete in the gender class they were born with
the Olympic committee is pretty strict on this
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I assume this person had to compete in the gender class they were born with
the Olympic committee is pretty strict on this
I think so. Figure skating pairs, and the other person appears to be a women?????
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My biggest issue with the Winter Olympics is that every event is a time trial. That's why speed skating is my favorite event, it's the one event where competitors are actually out there against each other. Every other event, everyone looks the same. The difference between gold and 13th is under a second. So all you are watching for is crashes.
But overall, I prefer stakes. So I'll watch a random biathlon final over a Motor City Bowl
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My biggest issue with the Winter Olympics is that every event is a time trial. That's why speed skating is my favorite event, it's the one event where competitors are actually out there against each other. Every other event, everyone looks the same. The difference between gold and 13th is under a second. So all you are watching for is crashes.
But overall, I prefer stakes. So I'll watch a random biathlon final over a Motor City Bowl
curling and hockey
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I was legitimately bummed that the NHL players rightfully pulled out. Olympic hockey with the best players in the world is amazing
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Cross country and biathlon are great events.
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I love bobsled, always have. I love watching those sleds go flying down the race course. I've always wanted to do that.
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My wife and kids like the figure skating so I'm sure we'll watch some of that.
I also like watching all of the downhill skiing events, trick skiing events, trick snowboard events.
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it's live sports, so it's better than reg TV
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I love bobsled, always have. I love watching those sleds go flying down the race course. I've always wanted to do that.
I'm going to do this in Park City later this month. Looking forward to it quite a bit.
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I love bobsled, always have. I love watching those sleds go flying down the race course. I've always wanted to do that.
C'mon up to Pittsburgh. We can find some bald tires to throw on your car on these hills
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I love bobsled, always have. I love watching those sleds go flying down the race course. I've always wanted to do that.
We use to bumper ski back in the day,it's for the Northern types.Cars don't have bumpers any more.At least not the chromed-steel ones that you can grab
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C'mon up to Pittsburgh. We can find some bald tires to throw on your car on these hills
'Bout 25 yrs back some friends PSU grads were from North Hills I think it was.Showing me what I guess amounted to a front lawn on a hill but it was literally straight up/down - a grass wall.Not sure if they used a hedge trimmer or weed Wacker
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We will not be watching.
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I imagine riding a bobsled at O speeds would be frightening.
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I imagine riding a bobsled at O speeds would be frightening.
Exhilarating!
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I never liked roll coasters. I've seen an Olympic bobsled run at Park City, UT, it appeared to be almost vertical.
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This is one event I do plan to watch, all of it:
Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/john.dyer.35/posts/10219279383725090?comment_id=10219279442326555¬if_id=1643982685218819¬if_t=feed_comment&ref=notif)
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I love roller coasters. Might be why I enjoy watching bobsled and dreaming of a day... :)
I think you can still ride the bobsled course at Lake Placid, with professional driver and brakeman. Perhaps in some of the other former Olympic sites as well.
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This is one event I do plan to watch, all of it:
Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/john.dyer.35/posts/10219279383725090?comment_id=10219279442326555¬if_id=1643982685218819¬if_t=feed_comment&ref=notif)
linky not worky
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I love roller coasters. Might be why I enjoy watching bobsled and dreaming of a day... :)
I think you can still ride the bobsled course at Lake Placid, with professional driver and brakeman. Perhaps in some of the other former Olympic sites as well.
Ever since I've skydived and ridden a motorcycle on a racetrack, roller coasters have become boring to me...
So I'd be down for a high-speed bobsled run.
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It has been decades since I was interested in the Olympics. Can't remember the last time I watched any of it
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Marmotta curling - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5ISMoHT0mA)
Coolest event in Olympics.
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Bobsled is badass. I've taken the civilian sled ride in Park City. Other friends (incidentally, both are civil engineers) were practitioners of the sliding sports for a while while they lived in Salt Lake City.
If your travels ever take you to Whistler, Lake Placid, or Park City, swing by the track and see this in person. It is impossible to translate to TV just how damn fast they're going.
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Marmotta curling - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5ISMoHT0mA)
Coolest event in Olympics.
Id Watch
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The other issue is that the Summer Olympics are usually in August. They are competing with nothing. I'll take a couple weeks off from midseason MLB to tune in. I'm not opposed to watching them, but it's the NFL playoffs, NCAA hoops is just about to hit March, typically pitchers and catchers are reporting, and hell, you even have NBA and NHL for good measure. I'm just not typically going to pick Olympics, and we've passed an age where NBA can show prime events in their 8:00 window. I don't care enough to watch already knowing the result
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The other issue is that the Summer Olympics are usually in August. They are competing with nothing. I'll take a couple weeks off from midseason MLB to tune in. I'm not opposed to watching them, but it's the NFL playoffs, NCAA hoops is just about to hit March, typically pitchers and catchers are reporting, and hell, you even have NBA and NHL for good measure. I'm just not typically going to pick Olympics, and we've passed an age where NBA can show prime events in their 8:00 window. I don't care enough to watch already knowing the result
For me this is a dead time in sports, same as August. The conflict with "NFL playoffs" is just one game, the Superbowl, which doesn't interfere with much. NCAA basketball is not yet in March so I don't give a rat's ass. MLB sucks so I don't give a rat's ass. NBA sucks so I don't give a rat's ass. Not even sure what the NHL is.
College baseball I care about, but our first series doesn't begin until 2/18 and the Olympics are just about done by then.
This period is just about as sports-dead to me as August, main difference being in August I'm spending a LOT more time outside at night and on weekends, than I do in February, so there are even fewer conflicts in Feb.
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For me this is a dead time in sports, same as August. The conflict with "NFL playoffs" is just one game, the Superbowl, which doesn't interfere with much. NCAA basketball is not yet in March so I don't give a rat's ass. MLB sucks so I don't give a rat's ass. NBA sucks so I don't give a rat's ass. Not even sure what the NHL is.
College baseball I care about, but our first series doesn't begin until 2/18 and the Olympics are just about done by then.
This period is just about as sports-dead to me as August, main difference being in August I'm spending a LOT more time outside at night and on weekends, than I do in February, so there are even fewer conflicts in Feb.
Somewhat similar for me.
The CFB/NFL overlap for me is football pretty much all the time. Thursday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. With Tues/Weds having a lot to do regarding managing a fantasy football team.
I obviously care about college basketball, but I don't make any games other than Purdue "appointment viewing", and I'll even time-shift a Purdue game if I've got something else going on. But that's maybe 4 hours a week, until we get into conference and NCAA tournament time.
So yeah, I don't have much else to watch right now. Usually throw on golf during the work day on Thur/Fri, but that's just background noise really.
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Somewhat similar for me.
The CFB/NFL overlap for me is football pretty much all the time. Thursday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. With Tues/Weds having a lot to do regarding managing a fantasy football team.
I obviously care about college basketball, but I don't make any games other than Purdue "appointment viewing", and I'll even time-shift a Purdue game if I've got something else going on. But that's maybe 4 hours a week, until we get into conference and NCAA tournament time.
So yeah, I don't have much else to watch right now. Usually throw on golf during the work day on Thur/Fri, but that's just background noise really.
Yeah exactly-- I like UT basketball, I'll watch if there's nothing else going on, but that's only a couple games per week and it doesn't become must-see for me until March. I don't bother watching anyone else's teams, until the tournament.
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Even college football is a Saturday only thing for me now. I don't know that I watched a minute of off Saturday college football the past few years. College basketball isn't appointment viewing, but I'll generally watch a few games per week, which is more per week than weeknight college football/NFL in a whole season
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MLB is the greatest sport in history, except for CFB.
I think UGA does have a men's BBall team. I am not really sure.
I still can't believe the Dawgs beat Bama, it doesn't seem real. Alternate reality stuff. Next thing you know Michigan will have beaten Ohio State too.
Maybe I can adopt the Bengals, I did live there for a long while. But then we have Stafford and Michel for LA.
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Can't disagree with a single word
https://sports.yahoo.com/beijing-2022-blind-eyes-come-cheap-at-the-ioc-213329162.html
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Can't disagree with a single word
https://sports.yahoo.com/beijing-2022-blind-eyes-come-cheap-at-the-ioc-213329162.html
wish the US grew a pair and boycotted the Olympics and refused to compete in any Olympics that is held in China, ever.
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https://news.yahoo.com/goons-drag-reporter-away-live-134855465.html
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https://news.yahoo.com/goons-drag-reporter-away-live-134855465.html
But… he was reporting disinformation 😂😂😂
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Yeah... this is great.
Winter Olympic athletes blast conditions of COVID quarantine hotels | Fox News (https://www.foxnews.com/sports/winter-olympic-athletes-conditions-covid-quarantine-hotels)
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Yeah... this is great.
Winter Olympic athletes blast conditions of COVID quarantine hotels | Fox News (https://www.foxnews.com/sports/winter-olympic-athletes-conditions-covid-quarantine-hotels)
I saw that
I find it interesting no American has complained course I dont know how many if any have tested positive
seems pretty easy to me for the Chinese to manipulate the games with false positives if they wanted to
Im a little surprised the Olympic folks dont retest with their own test kits maybe they do I dont really know
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I saw that
I find it interesting no American has complained course I dont know how many if any have tested positive
seems pretty easy to me for the Chinese to manipulate the games with false positives if they wanted to
Im a little surprised the Olympic folks dont retest with their own test kits maybe they do I dont really know
The wetzel article states exactly that. They control the tests. It's almost like nothing was learned from letting Russia connect the drug testing facility to the Russian athletes dorms when they hosted 8 years ago
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Nancy doesn't want athletes talking smack. Thou shall obey!
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Guys please leave the politics out, or I'll just delete the whole thread.
If you want to talk about Olympic sports, do it here. If you want to talk about conditions for the athletes competing, that's at least somewhat related. If you want to talk about COVID testing for the athletes, that's also somewhat related, but there's another thread that's probably more appropriate.
If you want to talk about politicians or politics, do it elsewhere.
If you can't manage that, I'll happily burn this thread to the ground.
Thank You For Your Support
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Who are the top snow boarders?
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US v Canada Tuesday in Women's hockey will be good. Canada just toyed w Finland and SUI thus far, it's such a mismatch.
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so Im assuming all Olympic athletes are tested daily
does anyone know
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answered my own question
https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/32470994/2022-winter-olympic-athletes-daily-tests-covid-19-remain-closed-loop-games-venues
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US v Canada Tuesday in Women's hockey will be good. Canada just toyed w Finland and SUI thus far, it's such a mismatch.
Yeah, I think Finland was in the running for 3rd best team, and considering how easily US and Canada both handled them, I'd say there's still a healthy gap there.
US captain had a nasty injury in the opener. With no fans (sound), it was cringe worthy to be able to hear her screaming in pain
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Women's sports as a whole suffers from a lack of parity. I don't know if it needs more time or more athletes.....but that's why there's so many blowouts. I'm thinking college basketball is a great example. Even into the 2nd round and Sweet 16, the women's tourney has utter mismatches because it still lacks parity/depth.
High school football is a great example, too, but that's kids. Meanwhile, UConn and South Carolina are trashing teams by 50 points still, in women's basketball.
I wonder if there's a timeline for when it will stop or if it's something that isn't going to be rectified over time.
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Maybe it's just depth, the number of elite female athletes is low and they tend to congregate on a handful of teams that dominate.
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because......most people really don't give a shit about women's sports. almost no men give a rats ass and very few women actually do.
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because......most people really don't give a shit about women's sports. almost no men give a rats ass and very few women actually do.
I like womens beach volleyball
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Women's sports as a whole suffers from a lack of parity. I don't know if it needs more time or more athletes.....but that's why there's so many blowouts. I'm thinking college basketball is a great example. Even into the 2nd round and Sweet 16, the women's tourney has utter mismatches because it still lacks parity/depth.
High school football is a great example, too, but that's kids. Meanwhile, UConn and South Carolina are trashing teams by 50 points still, in women's basketball.
I wonder if there's a timeline for when it will stop or if it's something that isn't going to be rectified over time.
Volleyball and soccer are pretty good. Problem is ESPN plugging the female versions of major men's sports. Softball is an awful game to watch, and women's basketball ain't great either. I have a BTN+ subscription, and I watch far more women's soccer and volleyball, which actually translates, and next to no basketball or softball.
On the Olympic level, I think it simply comes down to the fact that many countries didn't support their women's teams in those sports until the past 20 years. Look at how the US women are THE dominant nation in soccer, while the men failed to even qualify for the past World Cup. We were 60 years behind in giving a shit about the men, but out in front with the women
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One thing that you could tell that everyone at NBC was thinking at the cauldron lighting was "Is this it?" I realize that the CCP wasn't going for epic spectacle this time around but that was the least grandiose lighting of my lifetime.
Whole lotta tongue biting going on at that sequence.
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One thing that you could tell that everyone at NBC was thinking at the cauldron lighting was "Is this it?" I realize that the CCP wasn't going for epic spectacle this time around but that was the least grandiose lighting of my lifetime.
Whole lotta tongue biting going on at that sequence.
It was like the opening ceremonies of a county fair.
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Tennis, volleyball, soccer and high level women's hockey translate well. I find hoops to be hideous frankly. As much as I like baseball I cannot stand the rah rahing and enviros of a softball game.
In the pure winter Olympic sports, I think both disciplines of Skiing as well as skating are quite good.
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Tennis, volleyball, soccer and high level women's hockey translate well. I find hoops to be hideous frankly. As much as I like baseball I cannot stand the rah rahing and enviros of a softball game.
In the pure winter Olympic sports, I think both disciplines of Skiing as well as skating are quite good.
Agreed, except hockey, which also suffers from consolidation of talent at too few schools
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I also am fine with the take that all of the World Cup competitions are "better". But I enjoy having a manufactured rooting interst
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Yeah, women's tennis may have some depth to it....but does it really? I mean, sure, tens of millions of women play tennis and they bottleneck up to doing it as a career, but hasn't it been dominated by 1 woman the past 15 years? At least the men have a 3-headed competition at the top.
I'm not sure why, but I've always liked watching women's tennis more than men's. I think it's 50% the skirts and 50% all of the aces on the men's side that make it more boring.
Maybe it's 90/10, who knows.
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I'm guessing more girls stick with soccer than the % of boys that do.......they don't have football to take athletes out of soccer.....basketball is probably mostly viewed as "only for tall girls" and yeah, softball includes a different type of body type than baseball does on the boy's side.
Softball needs some major rules changes. Limit the ace's frequency with how often they can pitch. Softball today is what MLB is trending towards - strikeouts, walks, and homeruns ONLY. Ugh.
And they've got some big ole girls at the plate that make David Ortiz look like a spy shortstop.
Girls also have a lot more gymnasts drawing them in than on the boy's side, I assume. Sort of the opposite of the basketball girls, in terms of size. But I bet if you took some of those gymnasts and raised them playing hoops, they'd be great lil point guards. The 6'5" ladies aren't the most coordinated. A lot fewer Wilts and Shaqs in the women's game - a lot more Shawn Bradley types, imo.
A shorter, better athlete could run circles around them on the court.
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I used to watch some women's college bball because it more resembled a game I knew as a kid, the men are uber talented and dunk all the time.
The women would pass and run plays I could understand and appreciate.
Baseball has really changed over the past 30 years. Pitchers can't bunt today, most of them, it's amazing to me. Nobody bunts, hardly anyone steals a base, few batters try and hit the other way or spray the ball around. Even second basemen are hitting 25+ HR a year.
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Yup, a case of optimizing the chance of winning being in direct contrast with entertainment value.
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Yeah, women's tennis may have some depth to it....but does it really? I mean, sure, tens of millions of women play tennis and they bottleneck up to doing it as a career, but hasn't it been dominated by 1 woman the past 15 years? At least the men have a 3-headed competition at the top.
I'm not sure why, but I've always liked watching women's tennis more than men's. I think it's 50% the skirts and 50% all of the aces on the men's side that make it more boring.
Maybe it's 90/10, who knows.
Serena hasn't won a grand slam in 5 years. There have been 11 first time grand slam winners in the last 19 tournaments
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Serena hasn't won a grand slam in 5 years. There have been 11 first time grand slam winners in the last 19 tournaments
Oh wow, parity. Cool!
I had no idea.
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We asked Brian Snitker how much his decisions were based on analytics and he said he used them as a guide, but not slavishly.
The movie "Money Ball" is pretty good, I also like "Draft Day" with Costner.
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We asked Brian Snitker how much his decisions were based on analytics and he said he used them as a guide, but not slavishly.
The movie "Money Ball" is pretty good, I also like "Draft Day" with Costner.
I love both of those movies
Try "Trouble With The Curve" not a bad baseball movie
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Personally, I LOVE short track speed skating, especially the chaos of the team events. Also, snowboard cross, curling, hockey and downhill skiing. In general, I like the winter games much more than the summer games.
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I have not watched a second, I did see one commercial for it. It's not some matter of pride, I'm just personally disinterested.
I did watch a nice youtube highlights of the UGA 2021 season. I had forgotten how many games Daniels started, and how often Stetson threw some long bombs (and yes of course he missed some as well, somehow not in the highlights). I had forgotten a lot of stuff somehow.
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I'd watch the winter Olympics only if they had bare knuckle fighting on ice skates with no protective gear and they were allowed to use the ice skates as weapons. Probably the only way I'd ever watch that garbage.
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I did watch a nice youtube highlights of the UGA 2021 season. I had forgotten how many games Daniels started, and how often Stetson threw some long bombs (and yes of course he missed some as well, somehow not in the highlights). I had forgotten a lot of stuff somehow.
didn't he start the first 3-4 games of the season?
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JT Daniels: Starting QB in three of 15 games...played in six games overall... 2020: Georgia's starting QB in the last four games of the season...
He did pretty well when he played, he's a good QB I think.
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Some of the downhill skiing and slalom has been fun to watch. Intense.
Yes- it is weird and annoying that there are virtually no fans there except a handful of well placed- socially distanced, mask wearing Chinese citizens, waving their small Chinese flags.
But I try to not let that take away from these amazing athletes from all over the world, doing incredible things. It is not their fault. They worked their ass off to be among the best in the world, and that deserves my attention- at the very least- the exciting sports like Skiing, Ski Jumping, Hockey, luge, bobsled and so on. Sports I would like anyway.
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For the most part, I'm throwing the Olympics on as background. But I do enjoy some of the events.
Figure skating isn't usually my thing, but there was a Russian girl on last night who was the first female to ever land a quad in Olympic competition, and she landed two in her performance... She was pretty damn impressive.
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For the most part, I'm throwing the Olympics on as background. But I do enjoy some of the events.
Figure skating isn't usually my thing, but there was a Russian girl on last night who was the first female to ever land a quad in Olympic competition, and she landed two in her performance... She was pretty damn impressive.
Saw that. Incredible!
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Saw it too, it was impressive.
I really enjoy watching Alpine skiing. This downhill course is pretty crazy, just straight down the ridgeline of the mountain. Several crashes so far, which are not actually my thing, because so often really serious damage is done to the person that wrecked out.
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What is the "snow" made from?
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What is the "snow" made from?
Dihyrdogen Oxide
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What is the "snow" made from?
If I understood it correctly they were saying yesterday that this region of China gets snow once every 10 years. So the snow is pretty much all man-made and very hard and icy.
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Dihyrdogen Oxide
😂😂
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If I understood it correctly they were saying yesterday that this region of China gets snow once every 10 years. So the snow is pretty much all man-made and very hard and icy.
I don't believe that is quite accurate. The background for the cross country ski venue had some snow in the hills, but not nearly enough for any events. I did hear that all of the events were using manufactured snow, but that has been the case for most events in the winter games for the past 20 years.
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You'd think they'd pick winter olympic sites that actually... you know... have snow.
But, the IOC is gonna IOC.
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https://twitter.com/texasagsec/status/1490511022448209921?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1490511022448209921%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.surlyhorns.com%2Fboard%2Findex.php%3Fapp%3Dcoremodule%3Dsystemcontroller%3Dembedurl%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Ftexasagsec%2Fstatus%2F1490511022448209921%3Fs%3D21
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That may well be a coal plant, not a reactor, I think there is a smokestack there.
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That may well be a coal plant, not a reactor, I think there is a smokestack there.
Even better.
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Yeah I know. That dude is an aggie and they're not very smart. He obviously assumes any place with that style of cooling towers is automatically a nuclear power plant.
But either way it's pretty funny.
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aggies are funny
funny strange
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2:1 shot advantage for US womens team and still drop the game 4-2. Canada sure killed the penalties. Refs took a beating including a high stick to the face which drew blood.
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If you took a random person on-site at a nuclear plant and asked them to point out exactly where the reactor is, you'd be there all day.
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(https://i.imgur.com/LFLWYC4.jpg)
Seems fairly obvious to me, at least from the air.
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These two units are the only power units under construction in the US. The location of the power reactors to me looks pretty obvious.
(https://i.imgur.com/r0cm3Z9.jpg)
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how far down is the only question
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South Texas Nuclear Plant, one of Texas' two nuclear power plants and the closest to Austin, uses a large cooling reservoir instead of towers.
(https://i.imgur.com/ndvEFVR.jpg)
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I still think I could find the reactors
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Somewhat similar for me.
The CFB/NFL overlap for me is football pretty much all the time. Thursday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. With Tues/Weds having a lot to do regarding managing a fantasy football team.
I obviously care about college basketball, but I don't make any games other than Purdue "appointment viewing", and I'll even time-shift a Purdue game if I've got something else going on. But that's maybe 4 hours a week, until we get into conference and NCAA tournament time.
So yeah, I don't have much else to watch right now. Usually throw on golf during the work day on Thur/Fri, but that's just background noise really.
For as common as it is for a number of us to have our calendar year split between a Football Season Social life and an Offseason social life, there doesn’t seem to be a deserved general awareness of this.
Football completely takes care of my social life starting Labor Day through the Holidays. There are so many longtime but “too busy”-to-see-me friends from college or previous cities I’ve lived in that I can finally see again at tailgates. Organizing a college football weekend to, say, Ames or Tempe, always brings a lot of buddies together. And of course we end up being more connected through our fantasy leagues or betting strategies than by anything else we might have in common. Football season also gives us something to converse and vent about when simple conversing and venting is more of the point than the object we’re conversing and venting about. Kinda like hosting our own therapeutic sports talk radio show.
For many men I think football season IS their social life.
Heading into the offseason I end up piecemealing a new Social Life mostly without any of my football friends: local Arizona alumni events, card games at my coworker’s game store, monthly volunteer work through church, Saturday hiking, Book Clubs, more work trips where I can catch up with a number of my Portland coworkers, hosting other friend’s visits to Southern California and showing them around, not to mention picking up my time in the gym and expanding my ongoing journaling and writing projects.
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I must say that last evening I watched the men’s “big air ski jumping“
Either I didn’t remember seeing it before or just forgot how entertaining it is. And I will say this: those dudes are absolutely, positively, bat shit crazy! They’re going 90 miles an hour, backwards, doing all kinds of crazy shit in the air and about 50% of the time laying on their damn faces.
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Yeah Big Air is fun to watch.
I also like the craziness of Snowboard Cross. They were just doing preliminary solo runs when I watched last night, but when they get 4 -6 snowboarders all hitting that course at the same time, jumping around, slamming into each other, it's a lot of fun to watch.
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Yeah Big Air is fun to watch.
I also like the craziness of Snowboard Cross. They were just doing preliminary solo runs when I watched last night, but when they get 4 -6 snowboarders all hitting that course at the same time, jumping around, slamming into each other, it's a lot of fun to watch.
Same here they were showing highlights from the previous Olympics and now I’m really looking forward to it
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Speaking of snowboard cross, Lindsey Jacobellis finally shed that weight she'd been toting around for 16 years.
https://youtu.be/agDfxdpHY3M
https://youtu.be/58jY6CqIQ4E
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That's great for Lindsey. I did a lot of dumb things at a young age too, it's a good thing I was never on camera, on a global stage, when they happened.
I gotta say I prefer the 6-person version over the 4-person version. They mentioned that it's just too expensive to build those courses with all of their obstacle features, as wide as needed, for a 6-person competition. I'm guessing it would be considerably less expensive if it were built in an area that actually had, you know, appropriate mountains and snow.
Which brings us back to the fact that these winter Olympics never should have been in Shanghai to begin with.
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Which brings us back to the fact that these winter Olympics never should have been in Shanghai to begin with.
Uhh, they aren't.
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Uhh, they aren't.
Ha, indeed.
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I must say that last evening I watched the men’s “big air ski jumping“
Either I didn’t remember seeing it before or just forgot how entertaining it is. And I will say this: those dudes are absolutely, positively, bat shit crazy! They’re going 90 miles an hour, backwards, doing all kinds of crazy shit in the air and about 50% of the time laying on their damn faces.
They are insane, but they're not going 90 mph. Downhill skiers hit 90 mph and I believe bobsled can hit 75 to 80.
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Terminal velocity in sky diving is around 120 mph is you are spread out.
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https://twitter.com/insidethegames/status/1491425423808421892?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1491425423808421892%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.surlyhorns.com%2Fboard%2Findex.php%3Fapp%3Dcoremodule%3Dsystemcontroller%3Dembedurl%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Finsidethegames%2Fstatus%2F1491425423808421892%3Fs%3D21
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So they're telling me the 15-year-old girl doing unprecedented quads with ease might have been doping? NO WAI!!!!!!
And it's all just so weird and unexpected. Sure seems like banning Russia from the Olympics for doping scandals yet allowing their athletes to compete under the banner of "Russian Olympic Committee" would have put an end to all of this. The plan seemed foolproof, but I guess it's back to the drawing board, now. Maybe they'll use the tried and true pinky swear for 2026?
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So they're telling me the 15-year-old girl doing unprecedented quads with ease might have been doping? NO WAI!!!!!!
And it's all just so weird and unexpected. Sure seems like banning Russia from the Olympics for doping scandals yet allowing their athletes to compete under the banner of "Russian Olympic Committee" would have put an end to all of this. The plan seemed foolproof, but I guess it's back to the drawing board, now. Maybe they'll use the tried and true pinky swear for 2026?
They only got caught because they were brash enough to connect their athletes' dorm to the testing facility.
At least the Chinese government is surely on the up and up with the COVID testing. There is zero reason to doubt their transparency with this disease.
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They are insane, but they're not going 90 mph. Downhill skiers hit 90 mph and I believe bobsled can hit 75 to 80.
They've added a million snowboarding events. And freestyle skiing. But I still think the downhill skiing events are the most watchable part of the Olympics. I just wish they would always include an overlay of the leader. The technology is there, and not distracting IMO. That's another big downside to the winter games, is how few of the race sports are actually head to head
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Look at this winter wonderland, this just screams major international winter event, doesn't it?
(https://i.imgur.com/NKQWi1O.png)
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If you told me that was a Yugoslavian kid enjoying an abandoned Olympic facility, I'd buy it.
The host nation thing needs to end. They need to set on 3-4 permanent hosts on a rotating basis. USA, Western Europe, Asia, Australia for Summer; Canada, Europe, Asia for Winter, and be done with it
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Well it might happen now that the IOC has pretty much used up all of the grifting potential from extorting money and perks out of the host nations. They're basically having to beg countries to host them now, so all that extra income funneled directly to IOC officials is coming to an end.
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If you told me that was a Yugoslavian kid enjoying an abandoned Olympic facility, I'd buy it.
The host nation thing needs to end. They need to set on 3-4 permanent hosts on a rotating basis. USA, Western Europe, Asia, Australia for Summer; Canada, Europe, Asia for Winter, and be done with it
It's sort of stupid that they don't do this. The biggest issue with the Olympics is it's hard to watch for the rest of the world. Why wouldn't they have events happening all across the globe so that every region in the world gets live events in primetime? Seems like the TV execs would have forced this change already.
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It's sort of stupid that they don't do this. The biggest issue with the Olympics is it's hard to watch for the rest of the world. Why wouldn't they have events happening all across the globe so that every region in the world gets live events in primetime? Seems like the TV execs would have forced this change already.
Well in the past, the IOC has benefitted from multiple nations bidding. They've extorted and grifted and lined their pockets with the payments, gifts, and bribes from all the potential host nations.
But now the landscape is changing, nobody's bidding anymore and the IOC is just about begging countries to host it. So now, the power dynamic will shift, and maybe the results will make more sense.
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If you told me that was a Yugoslavian kid enjoying an abandoned Olympic facility, I'd buy it.
The host nation thing needs to end. They need to set on 3-4 permanent hosts on a rotating basis. USA, Western Europe, Asia, Australia for Summer; Canada, Europe, Asia for Winter, and be done with it
But how is there supposed to be massive corruption and mismanagement of money?!?!?!! FIFA can't do it alone!!!
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You know, if you want to make an argument that the US is the best nation in the world, you could look at the Olympics...
Don't you think the Chinese are looking at Nathan Chen and asking "why does that guy who looks like us skate for the Americans?" Or the South Koreans looking at Chloe Kim and wondering "why doesn't she ride snowboard for us?" Or, Africa (I don't know where her ancestors hail from; perhaps neither does she due to slavery) look at Simone Biles and ask "why is she doing gymnastics for the Americans when she looks like us?"
The Statue of Liberty says "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
Yet what it seems to me is that America had gathered the best of the best of every nation, every race, every nationality on earth... Or, perhaps more meaningfully, America gathered everyone from everywhere and nurtured their best of their best to perform.
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You know, if you want to make an argument that the US is the best nation in the world, you could look at the Olympics...
Don't you think the Chinese are looking at Nathan Chen and asking "why does that guy who looks like us skate for the Americans?" Or the South Koreans looking at Chloe Kim and wondering "why doesn't she ride snowboard for us?" Or, Africa (I don't know where her ancestors hail from; perhaps neither does she due to slavery) look at Simone Biles and ask "why is she doing gymnastics for the Americans when she looks like us?"
The Statue of Liberty says "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
Yet what it seems to me is that America had gathered the best of the best of every nation, every race, every nationality on earth... Or, perhaps more meaningfully, America gathered everyone from everywhere and nurtured their best of their best to perform.
Don't forget Ireland looking at Shaun White and saying, "that's OUR guy!" :)
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The Statue of Liberty says "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
Half the country forgets this.
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Don't forget Ireland looking at Shaun White and saying, "that's OUR guy!" :)
You can't include people of European ancestry when you are trying to virtue signal.
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They've added a million snowboarding events. And freestyle skiing. But I still think the downhill skiing events are the most watchable part of the Olympics. I just wish they would always include an overlay of the leader. The technology is there, and not distracting IMO. That's another big downside to the winter games, is how few of the race sports are actually head to head
The alpine skiing events are some of my favorite, along with short-track speed skating and snowboard cross. Which, now that you mention it are head to head racing.
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You know, if you want to make an argument that the US is the best nation in the world, you could look at the Olympics...
Don't you think the Chinese are looking at Nathan Chen and asking "why does that guy who looks like us skate for the Americans?" Or the South Koreans looking at Chloe Kim and wondering "why doesn't she ride snowboard for us?" Or, Africa (I don't know where her ancestors hail from; perhaps neither does she due to slavery) look at Simone Biles and ask "why is she doing gymnastics for the Americans when she looks like us?"
The Statue of Liberty says "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
Yet what it seems to me is that America had gathered the best of the best of every nation, every race, every nationality on earth... Or, perhaps more meaningfully, America gathered everyone from everywhere and nurtured their best of their best to perform.
There are a LOT of athletes from multiple countries that have Asian ancestry. The Hungarian brothers in short-track are half Chinese.
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From a point of genetics, we're better served when we interbreed with varied folks.
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I like the Olympics. So many compelling stories and competitions
Today I read an article about the first non-binary athlete to compete.
I guess I should be embarrassed to admit this but I had to look that up to see what it meant and now that I’ve read the definition I’m not quite sure I still understand it.
My turn off with the Olympics isn’t your point per se but, like your example, the headlines run headlong into the scandals rather than the competitions themselves, to the point that the scandals drown out the novelty of watching the sports, sometimes deservedly so.
Even in the build up to these Winter Games any scant mention of the brand name athletes such as Shaun White and Mikaela Shiffrin were drowned out by a focus on (or ignoring of) the Uyghurs, nations refusing to send diplomats, CCP censorship, and Putin hobnobbing Xi Jinping before potentially invading Ukraine.
So the escape factor is ruined by the content surrounding the games. And it continues now that the games have kicked off. Deadspin tallies the ongoing mess: Female Athletes kidnapped into isolation pods over Covid protocols, sickening meals served in the Olympic Village, and 100 percent manmade snow on the ski downhills (http://deadspin.com/don-t-look-at-us-china-you-asked-for-this-1848501401).
I quit watching the Olympics last summer as it became more about these headlines than the actual athletic competitions:
Olympian Mothers Forced to Choose Between Competing and Breastfeeding (The Mary Sue)
A transgender woman weightlifter's Olympic dream has sparked an existential debate about what it means to be female (CNN)
Team USA Sprint Sensation Sha’Carri Richardson Fails Drug Test and May Miss Olympics (Wall Street Journal)
Soul Cap, designed for swimmers with natural Black hair, banned from Tokyo Olympics (NPR)
Norway’s Women's Beach Handball Team Is Fined For Not Wanting To Wear Sexist Bikini Bottoms (NPR)
U.S. Olympic Trials: Hammer thrower Gwen Berry turns away from flag during anthem (The Athletic)
2021 Olympics Are Turning Into a $20 Billion Bust for Japan (Wall Street Journal)
Japanese cower from Olympics they don’t want and should not be happening (Guardian)
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I mean, it looks like you're actively seeking out these negative headlines, and that's really on you.
I've only seen a tiny fraction of those. I'm not seeking them.
If you watch the NBC coverage it's pretty much the opposite. All human interest stories, overcoming adversity, putting team and country before self, etc. The "usual."
It's pretty obvious that they're expressly forbidden from making any kind of commentary about China that could be construed as remotely political, which is fine with me, because I have no desire for that type of commentary whilst enjoying international sport.
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I mean, it looks like you're actively seeking out these negative headlines, and that's really on you.
I've only seen a tiny fraction of those. I'm not seeking them.
If you watch the NBC coverage it's pretty much the opposite. All human interest stories, overcoming adversity, putting team and country before self, etc. The "usual."
It's pretty obvious that they're expressly forbidden from making any kind of commentary about China that could be construed as remotely political, which is fine with me, because I have no desire for that type of commentary whilst enjoying international sport.
Ditto. I do get aggravated by those things/ but I just don’t let them bother me. Watching these athletes do these incredible things- and so many of their stories about how they got there- is enjoyable. Plus- why should I punish the athletes by not watching? They are not the problem and IMHO- deserve us watching.
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Am I punishing athletes by not watching?
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sad reality
negative news sells more then positive news
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sad reality
negative news sells more then positive news
Definitely.
But we still have choice in what news we consume.
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Am I punishing athletes by not watching?
ME- not watching them perform at the highest level for their discipline- even though it interests me-because I don’t agree with “stuff” they have nothing to do with- feels to me like I am spiting them.
that’s just me. I have no idea what it means to you.
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I doubt the athletes feel punished that I don't watch.
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I doubt the athletes feel punished that I don't watch.
The accountants at Comcast must feel punished. Somehow NBCUniversal managed to lose money on Vancouver, and with the rancid ratings their ad book isn't going to come around.
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I doubt the athletes feel punished that I don't watch.
I am sure that’s true.
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How are ratings thus far?
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How are ratings thus far?
I haven't paid much attention but there were some articles over the first few days that ratings were poor. Of course, they also didn't cover many sports where Americans were expected to excel in the first few days, so that could be part of it.
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I doubt the athletes feel punished that I don't watch.
Olympic athletes punished not by you but by the dreadful food:
https://twitter.com/JoePompliano/status/1490711904913870856
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How are ratings thus far?
Not sure about the athletic events. I did see in several places that the opening ceremony ratings were way down- 43%.
I didn’t watch those lol.
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https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nhl/nbc-e2-80-99s-winter-olympics-ratings-are-heading-toward-a-historic-low/ar-AATHFTl
Not so hot it appears. Down. But still dominating everything else on TV.
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Olympic athletes punished not by you but by the dreadful food:
You'd think that this might lead to future venue changes...
...but I'm sure the IOC ain't eating any of this crap, so they don't care.
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Olympic athletes punished not by you but by the dreadful food:
https://twitter.com/JoePompliano/status/1490711904913870856
🤮🤮
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Imagine the dietary needs of a heavy weight lifter or wrestler versus a female gymnast ...
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Im a little surprised China is doing this
This is their time to shine so it makes no sense
Its not a matter of cost so why open themselves up to world criticism
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I suspect the folks responsible for meals just didn't get the message and don't much care. Thinks of how many minor details are needed "to shine", everything has to be near perfect. They might have some son of some apparatchik doing this stuff and he doesn't care.
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Just gonna venture to guess that the home team is eating very well.
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I suspect the folks responsible for meals just didn't get the message and don't much care. Thinks of how many minor details are needed "to shine", everything has to be near perfect. They might have some son of some apparatchik doing this stuff and he doesn't care.
I think youre selling them short
Everything they do is calculated
They are not stupid
Maybe they think it gives them a competitive advantage
Wonder what their folks are eating
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I think youre selling them short
Everything they do is calculated
They are not stupid
Maybe they think it gives them a competitive advantage
Wonder what their folks are eating
Egg foo young
Fried Rice
General Tso's chicken
Kung Pau beef
Stuff like that.
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In any centrally planned operation, some parts of it will go awry. There is no check and balance, no competition, no alternative.
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In any centrally planned operation, some parts of it will go awry. There is no check and balance, no competition, no alternative.
what to feed the athletes is a pretty big deal
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what to feed the athletes is a pretty big deal
So is what not to feed them.
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To the Chinese officials, it could well have received little attention.
To us, it seems important.
Beijing Olympics Food: Athletes Share an Inside Look at Dining Hall (today.com) (https://www.today.com/food/trends/beijing-olympics-food-athletes-dining-hall-rcna15583)
Maybe some of it is pretty good. Hard to tell reality.
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To the Chinese officials, it could well have received little attention.
To us, it seems important.
Beijing Olympics Food: Athletes Share an Inside Look at Dining Hall (today.com) (https://www.today.com/food/trends/beijing-olympics-food-athletes-dining-hall-rcna15583)
Maybe some of it is pretty good. Hard to tell reality.
ok that shows a completely different picture
China isnt stupid after all
makes me hungry for Chinese food
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I notice a certain group of "media outlets" will run with some story because it's "good/bad" for a certain political party, and often as not, there is "another side to the story". Any "news" outlet that is constantly featuring bad news on a politician is unlikely to be providing much accuracy. Take the free crack pipe story, here is "another side".
Fox News' 'Biden crack pipe' freakout is going to kill people (msnbc.com) (https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/fox-news-biden-crack-pipe-freakout-going-kill-people-n1288950)
Now, like the Olympic food story, I don't know what is really true. One side whitewashes and the other side darkens it. Maybe truth often is in the middle.
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Egg foo young
Fried Rice
General Tso's chicken
Kung Pau beef
Stuff like that.
The Pu Pu Platter?
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Lack of food, information at Beijing's quarantine hotels: Olympic athletes | TheHill (https://thehill.com/policy/international/592964-lack-of-food-information-at-beijings-quarantine-hotels-olympic-athletes)
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From the youtube videos I've seen about this Olympics, it seems a lot like NASCAR to me. A boring money-grab with some sick crashes every so often.
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The Pu Pu Platter?
My favorite thing to order at King Wu in Jacksonville Beach, FL as a child.
It came on a small grill tower thing, so I could "cook" the contents further...just something fun for a kid to do. Loved the variety and most especially the fried crab pieces. Long, real crab meat lengths.
*imitation crab is sad and gross....the fact that it's become a thing and even gets its own spelling (krab) is a sign of the end times
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Congrats to Nick Baumgartner. I've met the guy a couple times- my wife knows him and his family well.. Iron River MI is her home town.
I recently sold a chalet up there at the foot of ski brule. A bunch of the stuff hanging on the walls there was signed by him. I dont know why- wasn't my idea- likely a drunken decision by my sister in law who is good friends with nicks sister and they often sit around campfires and load up on booze. The stuff went with the chalet...now, it may be I regret that! Heheheee- but seriously, it was good to see the guy finally win gold. He deserves it.
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Yup that was definitely one of the highlights of the Olympics so far. Snowboard cross is really fun to watch, too.
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Yup that was definitely one of the highlights of the Olympics so far. Snowboard cross is really fun to watch, too.
That has become my favorite winter aport
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LOL. Always nice to see an evil piece of shit monopolistic company like Comcast lose money.
https://frontofficesports.com/olympic-ratings-on-pace-for-all-time-lows/
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I don't really care whether or not they lose money.
Anyway, it was very cool seeing Erin Jackson win the 500M speed skating gold medal.
And watching the US women's hockey team handle Finland and secure their place in the gold medal match against Canada.
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Some folks like it when some company like walmart or disney etc. lose money. I'm not sure that leads to much good in the long run, but maybe.
I didn't cry when KMart folded. Walmart used to be better than KMart.
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Comcast Q4 Revenue and Earnings Top Estimates (tipranks.com) (https://www.tipranks.com/news/comcast-q4-revenue-and-earnings-top-estimates)
Not of interest to me as an investment.
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Some folks like it when some company like walmart or disney etc. lose money. I'm not sure that leads to much good in the long run, but maybe.
I didn't cry when KMart folded. Walmart used to be better than KMart.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/comcast-customer-still-more-hated-irs-214241365.html
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So anyway, about the Olympics...
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So anyway, about the Olympics...
yup...about the Olympics....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bXJGZgR1BU
https://www.theringer.com/2017/2/24/16037594/the-olympics-cant-exist-in-this-world-7c8e089747bd
https://www.usatoday.com/picture-gallery/sports/olympics/2021/07/22/abandoned-olympic-venues-around-world/8063114002/
massive waste of public money and the ruins left behind look like a mini-Detroit....
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We've already discussed at length that it would make the most sense to limit the Olympics to a handful of host cities and just rotate it among them. Stick to the ones that are large enough and with available infrastructure to limit the cost of building for them, and prevent the decay of later disuse. Los Angeles, for example, could immediately host a summer games without incurring much if any cost of building. A handful of other cities meet those criteria.
Previously the graft and corruption of the IOC prevented this-- they received a lot of money and perks from competing cities-- and so it was in their best interest to insist upon competition and constantly spread it around. But now they're having trouble finding cities to bid at all, and that particular gravy train is coming to an end.
I'm certain the IOC will find new ways to slime its way into some unearned cash, but if it means we can end this constant cycle of spend/build/decay then it's a net positive.
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but, construction jobs!
Seriously, about a dozen cities each for summer and winter games around the world would be a good number. And the infrstructure can be kept up with their use in off years by the world cup events.
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We've already discussed at length that it would make the most sense to limit the Olympics to a handful of host cities and just rotate it among them. Stick to the ones that are large enough and with available infrastructure to limit the cost of building for them, and prevent the decay of later disuse. Los Angeles, for example, could immediately host a summer games without incurring much if any cost of building. A handful of other cities meet those criteria.
Previously the graft and corruption of the IOC prevented this-- they received a lot of money and perks from competing cities-- and so it was in their best interest to insist upon competition and constantly spread it around. But now they're having trouble finding cities to bid at all, and that particular gravy train is coming to an end.
I'm certain the IOC will find new ways to slime its way into some unearned cash, but if it means we can end this constant cycle of spend/build/decay then it's a net positive.
With the Winter Games, there is already a limitation: those places with A) enough vertical relief for downhill skiing, B) a sliding track, and C) enough political chutzpah to pull it off. The IOC is finding out the hard way that C is sorely lacking nowadays. The 2030 and 34 Winter Olympics will be some combo of Vancouver and Salt Lake, most likely in that order.
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Atlanta seemed to pull it off as a break even, and many of the facilities are still getting good use. Of course that was ages ago.
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For summer I think there are several US cities that could probably do it as a regular thing. Los Angeles is obvious. If Atlanta has maintained all of the facilities from years past then they'd be a decent choice. Dallas-Fort Worth could do it with minimal additional build-out required.
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For summer I think there are several US cities that could probably do it as a regular thing. Los Angeles is obvious. If Atlanta has maintained all of the facilities from years past then they'd be a decent choice. Dallas-Fort Worth could do it with minimal additional build-out required.
Most of the facilities here were repurposed. The Olympic Village is now Tech dorm rooms. The swimming complex is now part of Tech (and beautiful). The Olympic Stadium was rebuilt for baseball, and now for football. Some of the minor facilities are still in use like rowing and biking and whatnot.
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they should host both the summer and winter Olympics only in Detroit until the end of time. they should have new events- like a dodging bullets gymnastic contest and sprinting races to see who can outrun the most gun shots. no need to build buildings and infrastructure that will decay in a few short years- those decaying buildings and infrastructure is already there! I'd be interested to see who could avoid the most gun shots. I think the US would sweep those events.
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I think it's much easier for the summer games. Many cities have stadiums and arenas that can be used for track, soccer, volleyball, etc. Winter games require more specialized facilities, the most complicated has to be the bobsled/ luge/ skeleton run and being close enough to a mountain for skiing.
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I think it's much easier for the summer games. Many cities have stadiums and arenas that can be used for track, soccer, volleyball, etc. Winter games require more specialized facilities, the most complicated has to be the bobsled/ luge/ skeleton run and being close enough to a mountain for skiing.
another reason why winter as well should only be in detroit all those ice skating or ice related events- we'll make them skate on a frozen over Lake St Clair - and if the lake isn't so solid and the ice cracks and they fall in and they die - oh well....at least it'll finally be interesting to watch on tv!
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I think it's much easier for the summer games. Many cities have stadiums and arenas that can be used for track, soccer, volleyball, etc. Winter games require more specialized facilities, the most complicated has to be the bobsled/ luge/ skeleton run and being close enough to a mountain for skiing.
You need a lot of specialized facilities in summer as well, boating, sailing, kayaking, biking, soccer, I've read there are 43 separate venues needed.
Transportation needs for the spectators is a major item of course.
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You need a lot of specialized facilities in summer as well, boating, sailing, kayaking, biking, soccer, I've read there are 43 separate venues needed.
Transportation needs for the spectators is a major item of course.
my god man...they have way too many events.
this is how i feel about the olympics....(aside from soccer and hockey)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=De7rbB2bteE
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5 beers in at a sports bar in downtown Chicago. Curling is on the TVs. My big revelation is that it’s OK to not give a shite about athletes in sports you also don’t give a shite about. Curling. See you in another 4 years
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I'm not a big fan of curling either. It was interesting as a novelty the first time it was aired in the Olympics, but since then, I can do without.
However, my 12yo son and 14yo daughter who just recently became acquainted with shuffleboard in a bar in Ruidoso, New Mexico, can't get enough of it.
It takes all kinds.
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Curling is a very big deal here in MSP.
The City of Chaska recently built a curling club and bar/restaurant/event center as part of a downtown parcel redevelopment. It has been a cash cow for the city, such that they're looking to retire 25-year bonds in less than 10.
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I'm not a big fan of curling either. It was interesting as a novelty the first time it was aired in the Olympics, but since then, I can do without.
However, my 12yo son and 14yo daughter who just recently became acquainted with shuffleboard in a bar in Ruidoso, New Mexico, can't get enough of it.
It takes all kinds.
I took a big interest in curling this Olympics. Not sure why but I’m certain it has nothing to do with my affliction for tall, dark haired Italian women. 🤤
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I watch curling all the time and am starting to learn various terms
one of them is each segment is called an end and this set me to wondering if our baseball term inning came from this or vice versa
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I'd be happy to go back to however many events we had in say 1968. I think it would encourage interest, instead of all these "minor" sports on TV. But that won't happen.
When this was a proxy for the Cold War, more were interested. Today they are largely pro athletes competing in stuff we rarely see on TV.
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You need a lot of specialized facilities in summer as well, boating, sailing, kayaking, biking, soccer, I've read there are 43 separate venues needed.
Transportation needs for the spectators is a major item of course.
There are definitely some specialized facilities, but kayaking should be moved back to actual rivers. Sailing doesn't take a facility, just a large body of water. Soccer? There are already plenty of large stadiums all over the world. Do they still do the stadium bike races? I hadn't seen that in years, just the road races, which wouldn't need any permanent facilities constructed.
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Weird that relying on a bunch of players/alums from a school that has won 2 NCAA tournament games in the past decade didn't pan out in a single elimination tournament.
Maybe we should pile as many Purdue players onto USA basketball as possible too? :57:
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Weird that relying on a bunch of players/alums from a school that has won 2 NCAA tournament games in the past decade didn't pan out in a single elimination tournament.
Maybe we should pile as many Purdue players onto USA basketball as possible too? :57:
😳😉😂
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Weird that relying on a bunch of players/alums from a school that has won 2 NCAA tournament games in the past decade didn't pan out in a single elimination tournament.
Maybe we should pile as many Purdue players onto USA basketball as possible too? :57:
You mean the team that's made the S16 thrice and the E8 once in the last decade... Last 5 years, actually? And hasn't failed to reach the R32 in the last 5 years.
I think IU are the droids you're looking for... No NCAAT appearances in even the last 5 years...
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You mean the team that's made the S16 thrice and the E8 once in the last decade... Last 5 years, actually? And hasn't failed to reach the R32 in the last 5 years.
I think IU are the droids you're looking for... No NCAAT appearances in even the last 5 years...
Well USA reached the Elite 8, that's not the issue
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B1G on B1G violence up in here.
It's a beautiful thing to watch.
Anyway I'll be rooting for the Swedes, and definitely not the cheater Russians.
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I was watching the cross country relay, and they were discussing that the US won gold in 2018, but it was freestyle, and this Olympics it's classical style, which no world championships have been since 2019.
That seems odd to me. Like instead of having different strokes for swimming, you just had "swimming" and then then event organizers were like "eh, let's do backstroke"
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B1G on B1G violence up in here.
It's a beautiful thing to watch.
Anyway I'll be rooting for the Swedes, and definitely not the cheater Russians.
I wonder if there would be any more interest if instead of having separate NCAA Championships, they did it Olympics style every year. You had one location host all of the championships for that season, and make it one big event.
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They tend to alternate CC techniques bt classical and freestyle. Definite method to madness, even if it means alternating each olympics
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Well it clearly mattered, because the US completely fell apart down the stretch, falling from bronze medal position into a distant 5th with the final skier
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Yep. Some French dude dominates Classic and is middle of pack on free. He was a non threat in 2018 in one of the distance runs. They aren't going to have two 15ks, two 30ks and the 50k in both techniques along w the relays and sprints. I understand there's often changing programs at world cup CC events as well.
They did run a relay this year of 2 legs classic and 2 free. US still finished outside
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The gold the US won in 2018 was 2x, not 4x.
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Yep. Some French dude dominates Classic and is middle of pack on free. He was a non threat in 2018 in one of the distance runs. They aren't going to have two 15ks, two 30ks and the 50k in both techniques along w the relays and sprints. I understand there's often changing programs at world cup CC events as well.
They did run a relay this year of 2 legs classic and 2 free. US still finished outside
I'd have a better shot of understanding the engineering talk
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Yeah I don't know anything at all about CC skiing. Might be hard to believe, but it's not all that popular down here in Texico.
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Yeah I don't know anything at all about CC skiing. Might be hard to believe, but it's not all that popular down here in Texico.
You get as much snow as greater Beijing does
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Ha. CC is weird and it really came to a head in the mid 80s when freestyle aka skating came onto the scene during late 70s and it proved impossible to regulate races when some were still doing classic style and new equipment and training demonstrated freestyle was clearly faster. Countries like Norway, USSR were appalled by freestyle 'that's not cc skiing' and there was years of fighting over races and equipment and courses.
Long story short, they've developed schedules to feature both distinct techniques which feature a good amount of variance and frankly I think makes for an interesting olympic sport. Freestyle clearly is a bigger challenge of fitness, is more suited for groomed courses and is quite fast relative to classic which is still really cool. The equipment and wax become a big difference too. Some of the events combine the techniques too which is fun.
I'd love to see tennis matches w wood rackets or golf played w different equipment .
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I don't really have an opinion, CC skiing is not my passion and if there are "classic enthusiasts" then I can understand why they would want to preserve its tradition and legacy.
But sports are changing and evolving all the time.
In ski jumping, even into my early adulthood, skiers were penalized for not using the "classic" style which is called parallel. Ultimately the new V-style took over as skiers realized that the distances they could attain by abandoning the parallel style far outweighed the penalties levied by judges for not "looking right." The new V-style is also safer which is an added benefit.
That's one major and fairly recent example, but obviously the technology (and mankind's ability to build more advanced structures and playing fields) has changed numerous other sports over the decades.
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That's an excellent comp. I remember noticing that for the first time and thinking, huh, that's not the way I remember ski jumping.
High jump technique is another good one too. Dolphin kicks and vaporflys. Always something changing or being regulated.
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So Deadspin really doesn't like Shaun White:
"I know Shaun White never had a chance with me, even if he wasn’t an obnoxious, harassing tool. 20 years ago, snowboarding was forced into the Olympics so Americans could win an event for once. They mostly did, White did most of that, and he’s been bothering us ever since."
"The thing about White was that he was forced upon us, and they kept telling us he had a personality, which he very much doesn’t. He has the appearance of one, because he was the face of this new sport when he was very young and it sprang into the mainstream. He was supposedly the face of a new generation of athletes, or Olympic athletes at least. What he was was a vehicle for the IOC and NBC and their sponsors to try and connect the Games to a generation they wanted to sell ads for. It didn’t matter that he was a vacuous turd, because in the eyes of NBC and the IOC, every one under the age of 30 who wasn’t already watching The Games was a vacuous turd. He was basically sports-Poochie."
"White says this is his last Games, and he’s certainly got enough money to do whatever he wants. Just as long as he does it where no one else has to watch. He had nothing to offer, was a grating presence, and was basically used to sell Pepsi. Enough people pretended to care every four years about his exploits, and he would get another series of endorsements off of that before the cycle began again. All the while looking like he should be hit with a toilet badly. The only loss was that he didn’t come off one of the jumps and land in one of the decommissioned nuclear plant smokestacks in Beijing. That would truly have been a crowning achievement."
https://twitter.com/Deadspin/status/1492173469538082819
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I don't have any feelings for Shaun White one way or the other, but I sure wish Deadspin would leave us all alone. Now THAT would be something.
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Most of the content on the internet is based on jealousy.
I'd say that's why you have Texas fans posting on a Big Ten board, but that would be uncalled for
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Wow.
That was mean-spirited and hurtful.
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Wow.
That was mean-spirited and hurtful.
was he telling us to take a hike?
where in hell did that come from
I wont be able to eat for days
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I mean, we could point out that a dude from Tennessee actually owns and operates this "Big Ten" board and then ask what he's doing hanging around on a Tennessee board, but that would seem uncalled for as well.
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ELA how long has this been building up man
You can open up to us
You just need a hug
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I always thought AAA liked me.
I guess you never REALLY know someone
(that you've never met)
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I mean, we could point out that a dude from Tennessee actually owns and operates this "Big Ten" board and then ask what he's doing hanging around on a Tennessee board, but that would seem uncalled for as well.
I assumed it was an apology for costing the Big Ten half an NC by laying an egg in the 1998 Orange Bowl
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Some of you are acting like vacuous turds with nothing to offer but a grating presence that should be hit with a toilet badly.
Anyways, watched my first bit of Winter Olympics last night. Was over at my Dad's and he had the figure skating pair competition on. Must say a very elegant, regal sport compared to what I'm used to watching along your typical LOS.
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Figure skating is great, aside from the judging aspect, which just invites tomfoolery.
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Figure skating is great, aside from the judging aspect, which just invites tomfoolery.
I guess thats my biggest gripe about the Olympics
Some sports diving, figure skating, gymnastics depend on judges opinions which sometimes are political
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I guess thats my biggest gripe about the Olympics
Some sports diving, figure skating, gymnastics depend on judges opinions which sometimes are political
That's why it's always been necessary to take those competitions' results with a grain of salt. I just try to enjoy the athletic and artistic aspects, and not worry too much about the judged outcomes.
It's also why I've really begin to enjoy sports like snowboard cross and ski cross, which are direct head-to-head competitions.
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Figure skating is great, aside from the judging aspect, which just invites tomfoolery.
Those skaters last night were insanely athletic and talented.
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Those skaters last night were insanely athletic and talented.
so is my cat but Im not sure it would win against the Russians
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so is my cat but Im not sure it would win against the Russians
Just give your cat some of grandpa's medicine.
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Style points are one thing I don't like about ski jumping. It should be just about distance, and nothing else.