London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics - General discussion

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CAM
There were two Nigerians in double figures.

I just hope that our lack of true big men doesn't come back to hurt us when we start facing real competition.
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Big Men?? Double figures?..... are they 10 foot tall. :O
West African genes :bowdown:
 
PR1VATEJ0KER
Big Men?? Double figures?..... are they 10 foot tall. :O
West African genes :bowdown:
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Nah, 10 inches long.. ;)

That may be a little dirty, but all in good humour.
 
Well played. But no, two of them had at least 10 points. And Team USA only has one, maybe two true center(s) (Chandler, possibly Davis), so we're very vulnerable there. We won by 83, and only got 1 block.
 
F1GTR
One sided games are really boring, USA steadily lowered their quality of play to the point where it was almost casual towards the end.
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For someone who never watches basketball, it's not too bad, haven't watched enough to find a one-sided game boring.
 
PAWEL17
Disappointment after disappointment for the Australian swimmers. Everyone buckling under pressure. Depressing.
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I don't think they're buckling under pressure. I think expectations are simply too high. Australia has traditionally been very good in the pool, but the rest of the world is catching up to us and everyone is ignoring it.
 
prisonermonkeys
I don't think they're buckling under pressure. I think expectations are simply too high. Australia has traditionally been very good in the pool, but the rest of the world is catching up to us and everyone is ignoring it.
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The media here has been diabolical. Swimmer wins silver medal, first question from the pool deck is about the disappointment of not winning gold. How about congratulations for winning a medal? Or forcing athletes to re-watch races to get an emotion going.
 
Looks like the Boxing ref has been expelled.
 
I heard on the radio that an excuse a swimmer used cause she got silver, that she was put off by a fan yelling out to her or something? Wow either that's a complete cop out or wow that girl has some good ears to distinctly hear a single voice in a crowd of hundreds to make her upset it something lol
 
Congrats to Phelps on his 20th Gold & final appearance in the Olympics. I'm sure Lochte will carry on his success. :)👍
 
He only has 15 golds (I think, the one today may have been 16, can't remember), 20 medals overall, but yes I agree with the many congratulations :). I really think he has a chance to do it again in 100 fly, the rematch with Cavic from the epic race in Beijing will be must-see YouTube streaming video (TV if NBC handled the Olympics worth a crap).

Missy has another final tomorrow, and the women's soccer kicks off against New Zealand at 9:30 AM EST. So, my day will consist of soccer match then swim session :lol:.
 
Pressure cooker Semi Final match that the All England Club. Serbia vs GB! Djokovic vs Murray!
 
Famine
In racquet sports, "match" is a very specific term.

In their groups each pair had won two matches. In the third match they did not give their best effort to win, breaking the rules of their sport as I quoted above. This resulted in a disqualification.

Given that the results of that match determined the seeding for the next round, yes they did need to play it.
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Of course they did not want to give their best effort to win, because the reward for them winning in that situation was punishment.
So, as humans, it's perfectly make sense for them trying to lose there.

I say they're all just victims of a poorly designed tournament, it just doesn't make sense in the first place when losing is better than winning, and then you force them to win, and when they violate the rule (because they're human who want the better reward) they got DQ'ed. IMO, the scandal was not on the players I must say, it's the politics inside that decision to DQ the top (asian) players.
 
Dodzzz
Of course they did not want to give their best effort to win, because the reward for them winning in that situation was punishment.
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Except the rules of their sport require it - and there's a bigger punishment for breaking those rules.

Dodzzz
So, as humans, it's perfectly make sense for them trying to lose there.
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Except the rules of their sport require it.

Dodzzz
I say they're all just victims of a poorly designed tournament
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Which is exactly the same "design" of tournament that has been used in professional football for the last 40 years.

They're victims of selfishness and stupidity. They broke the rules of their sport and in doing so cheated the crowds that came to see them (putting people off the sport - at a time when it should be drawing people in).

Dodzzz
IMO, the scandal was not on the players I must say, it's the politics inside that decision to DQ the top (asian) players.
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You think this was some anti-Asian decision?

7 of the 8 quarter-finalists and all 4 semi-finalists in Men's Singles are Asian.
7 of the 8 quarter-finalists and 3 of the 4 semi-finalists in Men's Doubles are Asian.
7 of the 8 quarter-finalists and all 4 semi-finalists (and 13 of the 16 2nd round players) in Women's Singles are Asian.
3 of the 8 quarter-finalists, 2 of the 4 semi-finalists and both finalists in Women's Doubles are Asian.
4 of the 8 quarter-finalists, 3 of the 4 semi-finalists and both finalists in Mixed Doubles are Asian.

In all cases at least half of the world's top 4 players/teams are represented in the semi-finals, all Asian with the exception of a Danish double.


The two South Korean pairs, the Indonesian pair and the Chinese pair broke the rules of the sport - one match was even black-carded (indicating disqualification for both pairs) before they were given a second chance to continue by the umpire!
 
Why would these badminton teams intentionally losing their match ? They were afraid to face certain teams on the next stage ? They did not want to face their own national teams ? or simply cowardice for their next opponents ? I've heard news that they were ordered to do so by their coach ... wow, just wow.
 
I've read the link Famine, so it's a simple reason of choosing their next opponent by intentionally losing the match ... this is just bad sportsmanship.
 
Famine
No.

The structure is exactly what we've seen in football tournaments for 40 years. Four groups of four, top two teams from each group qualify and play-off in knockout rounds, like so:

Group A
A1 A2 A3 A4

Group B
B1 B2 B3 B4

Group C
C1 C2 C3 C4

Group D
D1 D2 D3 D4

Quarter-finals
QF1 - A1 vs C2
QF2 - B1 vs D2
QF3 - C1 vs A2
QF4 - D1 vs B2

Semi-finals
SF1 - QF1 winner vs QF2 winner
SF2 - QF3 winner vs QF4 winner

Bronze medal match
SF1 loser vs SF2 loser

Final
SF1 winner vs SF2 winner


The problem here was that the groups A & C had a Chinese top ranked pair (world #1) and a South Korean top ranked pair (world #3) along with another South Korean pair.

Knowing the other South Korean pair would be likely to lose the match and face the top ranked South Korean pair in the QF3 match (C1 vs A2) - limiting the number of possible medals for South Korea by eliminating a pair before the Semi-finals - the top ranked South Korean pair didn't want to win. Knowing that they didn't want to win, the Chinese pair didn't want to win because they'd end up facing them (A1 vs C2). The other South Korean pair would then end up winning and facing the top ranked pair (A1 vs C2) so didn't want to win and the fourth pair - the Indonesians - would end up winning and playing the world #1 Chinese team (C1 vs A2).
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Yeah we can say it's a bad sportmanship, but why in the first place they have to be in that position?
I mean, in football, the match are played simultaneusly (cmiiw) so eliminating the intention of losing to gain advantage..
That's why I always said, they're just victims. they throw the bait, then caught it.

I don't wanna be a hypocrite here.. For example, IF I enter a Gran Turismo 5 championship and faced with the same situation, where I must battle with the GT5 world champion early if I won this last match, I would just lose it to escape being beaten by the champion early. and got the chance to get at least bronze or silver. it's just pure human logic..
BUT, if I don't know where I am in the position I would just try to win every match.

That's why I always said they're just victims.
 
Australian Taylor worth in the quarter final of the Archery, has a great run, winning two sets, in the last, he is up, and needs an9 to qualify. He scores an 8. Then it goes into a shoot-off, and the chinese Archery gets a 9, Worth then shoots an 8, after doing so well, he gets knocked out. Aoowww!!

Barra333
The media here has been diabolical. Swimmer wins silver medal, first question from the pool deck is about the disappointment of not winning gold. How about congratulations for winning a medal? Or forcing athletes to re-watch races to get an emotion going.
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Yeah, that's true.
 
Dodzzz
That's why I always said they're just victims.
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They'd be victims if they actually played their best, won their match, got the tougher draw and lost.

But they didn't, they tried to manipulate the system against the rules of the sport. They're idiots, at best.
 
ExigeEvan
They'd be victims if they actually played their best, won their match, got the tougher draw and lost.

But they didn't, they tried to manipulate the system against the rules of the sport. They're idiots, at best.
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So, playing their best just to get to face the toughest opponent and lost early in the tournament is smarter than being idiots?

I don't think so.
 
Dodzzz
So, playing their best just to get to face the toughest opponent and lost early in the tournament is smarter than being idiots?

I don't think so.
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Well they got DQ'd for the alternative, so that pretty much answers your question.
 
Dodzzz
Yeah we can say it's a bad sportmanship, but why in the first place they have to be in that position?
I mean, in football, the match are played simultaneusly (cmiiw) so eliminating the intention of losing to gain advantage..
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Nup.

UEFA Euro 2012
Group A Matches
1 - 8th June
2 - 12th June
3 - 16th June

Group B Matches
1 - 9th June
2 - 13th June
3 - 17th June

Quarterfinals
QF1 - A1 vs B2 - 21st June
QF3 - B1 vs A2 - 23rd June
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The Group B teams went into their final group match knowing who they'd face in the quarter final depending on their final group position. Same as the badminton players.

Dodzzz
That's why I always said, they're just victims. they throw the bait, then caught it.
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It's the fifth rule in the player code of conduct. There's no excuse for it.
 
It's the AUP of badminton, guys. You break the rules you get the bancock.
 
The solution is to drop all this group rubbish, rank them and have straight knockout rounds.

Try not doing you best then.
 
Tired Tyres
The solution is to drop all this group rubbish, rank them and have straight knockout rounds.

Try not doing you best then.
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True, but I've always hated the idea of a straight knock-out tournament at the Olympics. 4 years, for 1 match, grim.
 
Rankings require seedings, which means the #1 traditionally has an easier route to the final - playing #32 in the first, #16 in the second, #8 in the QF and #4 in the SF, compared to #31 in the first, #15 in the second, #7 in the QF and #3 in the SF.

Groups means more TV which means... more money!
 
Speaking of money, at Wimbledon yesterday they had put stickers over the branding on the hand dryers in the toilets. It's so ridiculous this obsession with only displaying brands of the sponsors.
 
mattythedog
Speaking of money, at Wimbledon yesterday they had put stickers over the branding on the hand dryers in the toilets. It's so ridiculous this obsession with only displaying brands of the sponsors.
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Dysons?
 
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