Official 2008 Summer Olympic's Thread

[Terpripken]

Click Below to get your Michael Phelps: Greatest Olympic Champion DVD.

Beijing 2008 Olympic DVD

That didn't take long....Visa rolled out there ad right after the IM relay as well.

[Terpripken]

Originally Posted by Bobbuttons

I think they should combine some of these sports to make even better Olympic events. How about wrestling and kayaking? Throw two people into a 1 person kuyak and have them wrestle for control of it. How about trap shooting and equestrian? No, I don't mean to shoot the horses. The shooters ride the horses in full gallop and have to hit the targets, harkening back to the days of the Old West.

Finally, how about baseball and the shot put (since this is the last year for baseball in olympics)? Let's see these guys hit a 16 pound shot put being tossed by the pitcher!

Yes all good ideas.

I would also add:

Balance Beam Weightlifting---Each competitor would have to do a clean and jerk balanced precariously on the 4 inch wide beam.

Trampoline Badminton---Each competitor has to get the shuttlecock over the net while jumping on a trampoline.

Cowboys and Indians---Similiar to your suggestion of combining Equestrian with skeet Shooting. Last man alive wins.

Ultimate Fighting---Well...this one isn't really a strech. Throw the judoka, boxers, wrestlers, and Taekwando guys in a ring and let em' have it.

Triathlon Decathlon Marathon---You must complete all three events back to back to back.

Pirates and Buccaneers---Have a sword fight with your opponent while aboard your countries fastest yacht.

Pole Vault Diving---Run...stick your pole in the pool and then when you reach your peak height...bust out your best triple somersault.

Feild Hockey Cycling---Ride around on your bike and try to score goals.


and my sickest idea....

Javelin Freestyle---The swimmers and javelin throwers would combine on this one. If the swimmer can swim a lap without getting speared...he gets to drown the javelin thrower.

[MorseMoose]

Originally Posted by Terpripken

Click Below to get your Michael Phelps: Greatest Olympic Champion DVD.

Beijing 2008 Olympic DVD

That didn't take long....Visa rolled out there ad right after the IM relay as well.

I'm working on my DVD too, though mine won't be official and probably will be fewer bonus features than theirs .

[Raderick]

Originally Posted by Terpripken

Yes all good ideas.

I would also add:

Balance Beam Weightlifting---Each competitor would have to do a clean and jerk balanced precariously on the 4 inch wide beam.

Trampoline Badminton---Each competitor has to get the shuttlecock over the net while jumping on a trampoline.

Cowboys and Indians---Similiar to your suggestion of combining Equestrian with skeet Shooting. Last man alive wins.

Ultimate Fighting---Well...this one isn't really a strech. Throw the judoka, boxers, wrestlers, and Taekwando guys in a ring and let em' have it.

Triathlon Decathlon Marathon---You must complete all three events back to back to back.

Pirates and Buccaneers---Have a sword fight with your opponent while aboard your countries fastest yacht.

Pole Vault Diving---Run...stick your pole in the pool and then when you reach your peak height...bust out your best triple somersault.

Feild Hockey Cycling---Ride around on your bike and try to score goals.


and my sickest idea....

Javelin Freestyle---The swimmers and javelin throwers would combine on this one. If the swimmer can swim a lap without getting speared...he gets to drown the javelin thrower.

You win. You just win.

[mrskippy]

In terms of the touch pads, when they did show the frame by frame pics, it's clear that Phelps just got in there. I think the extra stroke makes it look off, but the extra stroke put him over the top. Cavic tried to glide, but really didn't have the power to get there as fast as Phelps.

I mean, same argument could be made for Torres tonight. Once again .01 difference. My guess is that in both cases they reviewed and reviewed to make sure, but unless you see something conclusive on the cams, it's hard to reverse the clock. Worst case scenario, you end up awarding double gold -- since it did not look like Cavic actually beat Phelps there or Torres over Steffen (who looks super hot BTW). Tie at best.

[mrskippy]

Originally Posted by Terpripken

Click Below to get your Michael Phelps: Greatest Olympic Champion DVD.

Beijing 2008 Olympic DVD

That didn't take long....Visa rolled out there ad right after the IM relay as well.

Not surprised at all about this. They also are putting the entire Opening Ceremony on DVD. Usually you're lucky to get just the Olympic highlight DVD, but now they seem to be putting out a few extra special ones. Given that the Opening Ceremonies was the third highest rated show on TV this year and one of the highest rated (maybe the highest) Opening Ceremony ever, I'm not surprised by that move. Heck, our local NBC affiliate (KCRA in Sacramento) was the third-most watch network affiliate that night (wouldn't be surprised if they were right up there with Baltimore tonight).

And, the Phelps thing is just too huge not to give the event its own DVD.

[mrskippy]

BTW ... I loved that FINA gave Phelps the award tonight. Wonder what it looks like. Anyone think the IOC gives him one at the Closing Ceremony or recognizes him in some way, even though they are in China?

[ChronX]

Compare and contrast:

Michael Phelps vs. Usain Bolt

Usain Bolt vs Paula Radcliffe (woman marathoner who finished with the tough-to-look-at limp and grimace)

Bolt won't be getting any great sportsman awards any time soon, thats for sure. He pulled up so he could start chest thumping before he even crossed the finish line, probably costing himself another 0.08-0.1 seconds worth of world record. Phelps got gold in the butterfly solely because he put in the last gasp effort. Radcliffe finished 23rd and should have turned left into the nearest hospital but instead staggered her way to the finish line.

I'd predict a promising careeer as an NFL corner back if Bolt weren't the size of Tinkerbell.

[Terpripken]

Originally Posted by ChronX

Compare and contrast:

Michael Phelps vs. Usain Bolt

Usain Bolt vs Paula Radcliffe (woman marathoner who finished with the tough-to-look-at limp and grimace)

Bolt won't be getting any great sportsman awards any time soon, thats for sure. He pulled up so he could start chest thumping before he even crossed the finish line, probably costing himself another 0.08-0.1 seconds worth of world record. Phelps got gold in the butterfly solely because he put in the last gasp effort. Radcliffe finished 23rd and should have turned left into the nearest hospital but instead staggered her way to the finish line.

I'd predict a promising careeer as an NFL corner back if Bolt weren't the size of Tinkerbell.

As impressive as Bolt's victory was...the fact that he pulled up and started chest thumping kind of ruined the whole thing for me.

[Prodigal Son]

Originally Posted by ChronX

Compare and contrast:

Michael Phelps vs. Usain Bolt

Usain Bolt vs Paula Radcliffe (woman marathoner who finished with the tough-to-look-at limp and grimace)

Bolt won't be getting any great sportsman awards any time soon, thats for sure. He pulled up so he could start chest thumping before he even crossed the finish line, probably costing himself another 0.08-0.1 seconds worth of world record. Phelps got gold in the butterfly solely because he put in the last gasp effort. Radcliffe finished 23rd and should have turned left into the nearest hospital but instead staggered her way to the finish line.

I'd predict a promising careeer as an NFL corner back if Bolt weren't the size of Tinkerbell.

The size of Tinkerbell? He's 6'5." He's built similar to Randy Moss, actually. I made a joke to my friend last night that Bill Belichick was leaving him a voicemail right then.

As for the showboating, it didn't bother me. The guy just destroyed the 7 other best sprinters in the world and set a friggen' world record in the 100m dash. That's kind of a big deal. And he didn't use any fire extinguishers, if you catch the reference.

[mlyons]

Yeah, if there's any time to have some sort of flashy and excessive celebration, it would be blowing away the competition to win a gold medal and set a world record in the 100m dash. It's not like it hurt his performance at all.

[His Own Bad Self]

Originally Posted by Prodigal Son

As for the showboating, it didn't bother me. The guy just destroyed the 7 other best sprinters in the world and set a friggen' world record in the 100m dash. That's kind of a big deal. And he didn't use any fire extinguishers, if you catch the reference.

I was stunned by the margin of victory. He deserved a little premature celebration - no one was gonna catch him.

9.69. It happened, I saw it, but I'm still not sure how it happened. I wanna be a freak of nature like that.

[Kekkonen]

Originally Posted by mlyons

Yeah, if there's any time to have some sort of flashy and excessive celebration, it would be blowing away the competition to win a gold medal and set a world record in the 100m dash. It's not like it hurt his performance at all.

Yup. And judging from the replays, the 2nd- and 3rd-place finishers didn't gain an inch on him after he started waving with his hand.

[Terpripken]

Some pretty good Track and Field today.

I was checking out syncro swimming yesterday...a really beautiful and difficult sport.

[Terpripken]

Originally Posted by His Own Bad Self

I was stunned by the margin of victory. He deserved a little premature celebration - no one was gonna catch him.

9.69. It happened, I saw it, but I'm still not sure how it happened. I wanna be a freak of nature like that.

Yeah...they are replaying the 200m Quarterfinals...he was pretty much jogging the last 50 meters.

Hammond, Costas and even Ato Bolden seem to dislike his showboating though.

[Terpripken]

First time watching trampoline. Pretty cool...kinda like a mixture of diving and gymnastics.

[Prodigal Son]

How about the rousing ovation by the Chinese crowd given to the U.S. men's gymnast after his high bar routine? And plenty of boos to accompany his score, which placed him 2nd...to a Chinese competitor. Either the Chinese are fed up with the judging also, or there are enough international fans to be heard loudly.

[Skipaway]

Originally Posted by Terpripken

First time watching trampoline. Pretty cool...kinda like a mixture of diving and gymnastics.

It IS a gymnastics event.

[mrskippy]

Originally Posted by Prodigal Son

How about the rousing ovation by the Chinese crowd given to the U.S. men's gymnast after his high bar routine? And plenty of boos to accompany his score, which placed him 2nd...to a Chinese competitor. Either the Chinese are fed up with the judging also, or there are enough international fans to be heard loudly.

I think there really was a mix there, but at least this time you could go either way, which was not necessarily the case with the other scoring nightmares. Horton did take a step, so he got a deduction that likely would have resulted in Gold otherwise. Still, I think he put in an amazing performance and should have snagged the gold. The Chinese gymnast also benefits from home gym advantage.

Overall, a much better night scoring wise. Shawn got her gold and aside from her step put in a killer performance on beam. Nastia did too, but I did see a few small balance checks, which probably made the difference (though Shawn also was supposed to have had a high start value, if I heard correctly).

Staying up to watch BMX, which should be on here after the midnight news.

[kenyan_cheena]

USAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!