Olympics Thread

Anime Dad wrote:No, she's not the most famous Aussie basketball player, although she's probably the best-known of the women. Probably the best-known current player would be Andrew Bogut, who plays in the NBA. The best-known of all time would probably be Luc Longley, who played with the Chicago Bulls when Michael Jordan was king.

Yup, Lucky Luc played in the NBA for many years, but it's weird .... he was always a mediocre player in the States. Bogut has been average so far in the NBA.

On the other hand, Lauren Jackson has been a great WNBA player with MVPs, so I figured she was real famous Down Under.

I say "probably" to all those because basketball has a very low profile in Australia compared to other team sports - much less than in the USA. And women's basketball is much lower profile than mens. You rarely ever hear womens basketball scores on TV sports (Unless they televise them on pay TV, which I don't have). The only real coverage that basketball gets is when the Olympics are on, moreso now because our mens team are competitive and our women are definite gold medal chances.

All of the above is true in the USA, not much coverage of women's bball here either ... but that's also cause the NBA is so much better. I'd figure the "popularity gap" between men and women would be smaller in Australia.

And is Lauren Jackson regarded as a goddess? Not as much as the likes of Stephanie Rice (swimmer), although being tall, blonde, attractive and having a nude photo shoot done definitely doesn't hurt

Yup, Lauren is TALL ... but kinda pretty as well. ;)

Tu_triky wrote:See what happens when you don't take performance enhancing drugs...you go through withdrawal symptoms, your hands shake, and you drop the baton.

DTs, huh? :beaten:

I thought that was an alcohol thang. :beaten:

bmwracer wrote:U.S. women's softball team is upset by Japan in the gold medal match, 3-1.

Sugoi...! :applaud: :applaud: :applaud:

Yup, big upset. :bow:

Ironically, softball has been booted from the Olympics cause the USA have won all the golds .... I guess the IOC decided too soon. :sweat:

The winning Japanese pitcher, Yukiko Ueno, started 3 straight games and pitched 20+ innings .....

If this were the MLB, the pitcher would've had a career-ending injury. :beaten:

adub2adub wrote:If this were the MLB, the pitcher would've had a career-ending injury. :beaten:

Not the way most of those women softball players are built. :sweat:

There's one woman on the U.S. team, Crystl Bustos, who looks like a guy... When I first saw her on the news, I thought it was a guy... She even sounds like one. :sweat:

Time for a saliva test. :beaten:

bmwracer wrote:Not the way most of those women softball players are built. :sweat:

There's one woman on the U.S. team, Crystl Bustos, who looks like a guy... When I first saw her on the news, I thought it was a guy... She even sounds like one. :sweat:

Time for a saliva test. :beaten:

with who do do the mouth-to-mouth? :sweat:

bmwracer wrote:
DTs, huh? :beaten:

I thought that was an alcohol thang. :beaten:

Must be contagious too...seems like the US women's softball team has been afflicted as well.

Apparently even horses are not immune.....

Four horses banned from jumping Olympic final for doping - FEI

Thu Aug 21, 6:41 AM ET

HONG KONG, Aug 21, 2008 (AFP) - Four horses have been banned from competing in Thursday's Olympic Games jumping competition for doping, the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) announced here Thursday.

The horses - representing Brazil, Germany, Ireland and Norway - had been suspended after testing positive for a prohibited substance, the FEI, which controls the sport, said in a statement.

The FEI had no comment on the non-appearance on the list of riders set to compete in the final of US rider Will Simpson.

The announcement throws into doubt the medal order of the team jumping competition earlier in the week, in which Norway won a bronze medal, its first ever placing in an Olympics equestrian event.

The United States won the gold and Canada the silver.

In its statement, the FEI said the four horses had been "provisionally suspended by the FEI further to doping/medication control tests that indicated the present of capsaicin in each horse".

"Capsaicin is classified as a 'doping' prohibited substance given its hypersensitising properties, and as a 'medication class A' prohibited substance for its pain relieving properties," the statement said.

The stunning development casts yet another shadow over equestrian events generally as it follows a medal re-allocation in Athens, also for doping.

It also casts doubt on the future of equestrianism as part of the Olympics.

The doping scandal, which broke just hours before the final of the individual jumping contest, also puts show jumping under the microscope once more.

A doping scandal cost Germany the team jumping gold in Athens after the horse ridden by Ludger Beerbaum, who is a lynchpin of his country's team here, was disqualified after testing positive for doping.

World number one, Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum, was left off the German team for Athens after her horse tested positive, though she was later cleared.

must check the pommel horses, too. :hehe:

bmwracer wrote:
Not the way most of those women softball players are built. :sweat:

There's one woman on the U.S. team, Crystl Bustos, who looks like a guy... When I first saw her on the news, I thought it was a guy... She even sounds like one. :sweat:

Time for a saliva test. :beaten:

I just saw the picture profile.... don't want to say it, but she reminds me of Fernando Valenzuela. :sweat:

dochira wrote:
I just saw the picture profile.... don't want to say it, but she reminds me of Fernando Valenzuela. :sweat:

THAT good looking :shocked:

dochira wrote:I just saw the picture profile.... don't want to say it, but she reminds me of Fernando Valenzuela. :sweat:

But with a deeper voice. :beaten: :hehe: :rofl:

kenjilina wrote:must check the pommel horses, too. :hehe:

Especially those. :rofl: :hehe:

Tu_triky wrote:Must be contagious too...seems like the US women's softball team has been afflicted as well.

man, after going thru the yahoo pictures of the women's softball game, it looks as if the US squad is at a funeral at the medal stand. i mean, they won the silver, that's pretty awesome right? i know they are HEAVY favorites, but still, i think silver is no chopped liver.

niko2x wrote:man, after going thru the yahoo pictures of the women's softball game, it looks as if the US squad is at a funeral at the medal stand. i mean, they won the silver, that's pretty awesome right? i know they are HEAVY favorites, but still, i think silver is no chopped liver.

That's what happens when you're spoiled.

niko2x wrote:man, after going thru the yahoo pictures of the women's softball game, it looks as if the US squad is at a funeral at the medal stand. i mean, they won the silver, that's pretty awesome right? i know they are HEAVY favorites, but still, i think silver is no chopped liver.

Yeah but we Americans often have a sense of entitlement and expectation when it comes to certain things so for them to lose is probably like a slap in the face. We'll you know what ~ SH*T happens.

dochira wrote:Apparently even horses are not immune.....

Four horses banned from jumping Olympic final for doping - FEI

"Capsaicin is classified as a 'doping' prohibited substance given its hypersensitising properties, and as a 'medication class A' prohibited substance for its pain relieving properties," the statement said.

Translation = No rayu for horses allowed.

Tu_triky wrote:Yeah but we Americans often have a sense of entitlement and expectation when it comes to certain things so for them to lose is probably like a slap in the face. We'll you know what ~ SH*T happens.

Someone made a similar reply when one of the Yahoo! Sports bloggers was whining about the medal count...

bmwracer wrote:
Someone made a similar reply when one of the Yahoo! Sports bloggers was whining about the medal count...

Not surprised...some people actually realize there are lots of countries in the world competing in the Beijing games. A shocking thought, I know....

niko2x wrote:man, after going thru the yahoo pictures of the women's softball game, it looks as if the US squad is at a funeral at the medal stand.

Well, this is the last year of softball in the Olympics .... so, it kind of was a funeral. :doh:

Tu_triky wrote:Yeah but we Americans often have a sense of entitlement and expectation when it comes to certain things so for them to lose is probably like a slap in the face. We'll you know what ~ SH*T happens.

All of the above is sometimes true when it comes to American athletes, most notably USA Basketball for the past 2 decades. :shakehead:

But, I'm not sure if it applies as much with the softball team .... it seems they were gracious in defeat and understandably upset right after losing a heartbreaker. Plus, expectations should've been high since their record was like 50-1 or so against the rest of the world ....