Joined: 25 Nov 2005 Posts: 37 Location: the desert Country:
Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 7:35 am Post subject:
Congrats to Canada! And to Team USA, hold your heads high! That was the most incredible hockey match I've seen. My cats abandoned me in the third period because I was screaming so much.
Congrats to Canada! And to Team USA, hold your heads high! That was the most incredible hockey match I've seen. My cats abandoned me in the third period because I was screaming so much.
Great game.
Yes, me as well! (minus the cats lol)
Both Canada and the USA did very well during these Olympics. _________________
Joined: 25 Nov 2005 Posts: 37 Location: the desert Country:
Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 4:17 pm Post subject:
Rev wrote:
The closing ceremonies were fun... until they brought out the musical acts.
Rush and Tragically Hip not available?
Actually, I enjoyed most of the groups that came out during the party phase of the night. If they could dig out Neil Young, they surely could've dragged in Rush.
Joined: 20 Jul 2004 Posts: 12782 Location: USA Country:
Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 11:53 am Post subject:
toyotaku wrote:
Actually, I enjoyed most of the groups that came out during the party phase of the night. If they could dig out Neil Young, they surely could've dragged in Rush.
BMW, USOC make 6-year sponsorship deal official
By RACHEL COHEN, AP Sports Writer
NEW YORK – A German automaker sponsoring American athletes? BMW and U.S. Olympic Committee officials see nothing contradictory about that in this global economy.
The two organizations made their six-year deal official Monday at a news conference at a BMW dealership in Manhattan. A person familiar with the contract told The Associated Press in May that it's worth about $24 million.
BMW will be the first foreign carmaker to sponsor the USOC and will fill a void left when General Motors decided not to renew its deal following the 2008 Olympics.
"All of our research shows that our fans really respect Olympic sponsors, because they know that's the way we bring the team to the games," USOC chief marketing officer Lisa Baird said.
BMW will also work with the American governing bodies for four sports: track and field, swimming, speedskating, and bobsled and skeleton. Speedskater Apolo Anton Ohno, who noted he's a BMW owner, was on hand for the announcement.
"Part of our company's ethos is to really become part of the culture" of countries where it sells cars, said Jack Pitney, vice president of marketing for BMW of North America.
BMW plans to use its engineers to help the USOC improve technology for its athletes, such as designing helmets that are more aerodynamic. It will also aid the USOC with fundraising.
BMW will be the USOC's "official mobility partner," a purposely broad term that ensures the company will be the sole sponsor for multiple forms of transportation, including those that haven't even been invented yet.
The German automaker has supported American athletes before as a sponsor of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. The new deal will run through the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro.
LAUSANNE, Switzerland – North Korean won't be allowed to send any gymnasts to the 2012 London Olympics as part of a two-year international suspension for age falsification.
The International Gymnastics Federation announced Friday it was effectively banning North Korea from any competition outside its borders until Oct. 5, 2012, as punishment for Hong Su Jong's violation of age rules. Hong listed three different birthdates in registering for international competitions from 2003 until this year.
Hong is also barred from national competitions. The North Korean federation also was fined $20,800.
Hong and the North Korean federation have 21 days to appeal.
"The FIG's decision is a clear signal to those who would willfully disregard the current rules surrounding gymnast age," the FIG said in a statement. "The health of its athletes and respect for the law are among the International Gymnastics Federation's highest priorities."
North Korea was already barred from sending full teams to the London Olympics after it was suspended from last month's world championships in Rotterdam, Netherlands, the first step in team qualification for 2012. But individual gymnasts still could have qualified for London if the FIG had not imposed further punishment.
The FIG's announcement Friday also means North Korean gymnasts can't compete at the Asian Games, which begin next week.
The FIG began investigating Hong after she entered last month's worlds using the third different birth date of her career. She listed her birth year as 1989, but the FIG said it found documents showing she had competed at the 2004 Athens Olympics and the 2006 worlds using a birth year of 1985. She won the silver medal on vault at the 2007 worlds listing 1986 as her birth year.
If Hong was born in 1989, she would have been ineligible to compete in Athens. Gymnasts must turn at least 16 in the calendar year of an Olympics to be eligible.
This is the second time North Korea has been punished for age falsification. The federation was banned from the 1993 world championships after the FIG discovered that Kim Gwang Suk, the 1991 gold medalist on uneven bars, was listed as 15 for three years in a row.
Age falsification has been a problem in gymnastics since the 1980s, when the minimum age was raised from 14 to 15 to help protect still-developing athletes from serious injuries. The minimum age has been 16 since 1997.
The FIG requires all gymnasts who represent their countries at most international meets to have a license that proves their age for their entire career.
OK, it's not the Olympics but I didn't want to start a new thread, and I promise to mention OLYMPICS enough times to pacify the mods.
The World Championships of Track and Field just ended. Held every two years (when it started in 1983 it was held every four years), this year's version took place in Daegu, South Korea. Unfortunately, because it's not the OLYMPICS, scant attention was paid and TV coverage was very limited. Too bad because there was some really good competition.
Track and field used to be a premier sport 40 years ago and not just when the OLYMPICS rolled around. Now sadly, it's become a niche sport, to be trotted out every four years when the OLYMPICS take center stage.
Over the years the World Championships of Track and Field have produced incredible competition and compelling stories which easily rival what happens at the OLYMPICS. But alas, much of the public and media don't seem interested, hence the paucity of TV exposure.
This is a shame because a track and field meet is one of the most entertaining sporting events to watch. Speed--both sprint and distance, power, and all-around athleticism at the highest levels are on display at elite competitions like these world championships, and you get to see both the best males and females from the entire world competing. By only paying attention to track and field during the OLYMPICS, I think people are missing out on very exciting, very competitive, very diverse athletic competition.
Joined: 20 Jul 2004 Posts: 12782 Location: USA Country:
Posted: Tue Sep 06, 2011 11:49 pm Post subject:
shin2 wrote:
By only paying attention to track and field during the OLYMPICS, I think people are missing out on very exciting, very competitive, very diverse athletic competition.
I must agree with you. I have always loved track and field events and hate that there is so little coverage. _________________
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