imsirius
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Jul 12, 2014 19:59:28 GMT
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Post by imsirius on Jul 24, 2016 13:55:40 GMT
I love the Olympics. I love what it (Supposed)stand for. I Love watching the graceful athletes and the joy when they succeed. I love the camaraderie of the countries and the teams. I love watching both Winter and Summer games.
However, the last few Olympics have been tainted and ruined by a corrupt bunch of yahoos who now believe it's only a money maker. Back when pros weren't allowed to compete and all athletes had to be of amateur status, was the glory days. I know the IOC has always been corrupt to a point, but it's just gotten worse over the years.
It's a shame for the athletes who work so hard to be recognized in their sport. It's a shame for the countries who without the Olympics would never be given a second look and it's a shame for the athletes from those countries who have their 15 minutes of fame for all their hard work.
Rio is a joke and it's hard for me to watch it all unfold.
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Post by gar on Jul 24, 2016 13:57:24 GMT
Rio is a joke and it's hard for me to watch it all unfold. On so many levels - security, doping, health/Zika, safety of facilities...the list goes on.
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sueg
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Post by sueg on Jul 24, 2016 14:04:32 GMT
Oh, it is sounding a bit more complex than just 'no blanket ban'. They are saying that no Russian athlete can complete 'unless they can show evidence they have not been doping', but are leaving it up to the individual sport federations to determine this status. With less than 2 weeks to go, it's a big call for the federations.
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scrappinghappy
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Jun 26, 2014 19:30:06 GMT
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Post by scrappinghappy on Jul 24, 2016 14:05:12 GMT
I rarely watch the Olympics either. What with all the doping, cheating, AND CONSTANT ADVERTISING they are no longer any fun. I grew up watching in Africa where we were banned from competing so the coverage was wide and varied and interesting. Here all we get is USA, USA, USA. Advertisement, advertisement, advertisement!
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Post by gar on Jul 24, 2016 14:08:07 GMT
I rarely watch the Olympics either. What with all the doping, cheating, AND CONSTANT ADVERTISING they are no longer any fun. I grew up watching in Africa where we were banned from competing so the coverage was wide and varied and interesting. Here all we get is USA, USA, USA. Advertisement, advertisement, advertisement! That can't be much fun
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sueg
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Post by sueg on Jul 24, 2016 14:08:42 GMT
I rarely watch the Olympics either. What with all the doping, cheating, AND CONSTANT ADVERTISING they are no longer any fun. I grew up watching in Africa where we were banned from competing so the coverage was wide and varied and interesting. Here all we get is USA, USA, USA. Advertisement, advertisement, advertisement! I feel very lucky that we don't have to deal with the advertising here. I watch either on the BBC or ARD/ZDF (Germany) which are non-commercial stations.
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wellway
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Jun 25, 2014 20:50:09 GMT
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Post by wellway on Jul 24, 2016 14:22:44 GMT
I rarely watch the Olympics either. What with all the doping, cheating, AND CONSTANT ADVERTISING they are no longer any fun. I grew up watching in Africa where we were banned from competing so the coverage was wide and varied and interesting. Here all we get is USA, USA, USA. Advertisement, advertisement, advertisement! I feel very lucky that we don't have to deal with the advertising here. I watch either on the BBC or ARD/ZDF (Germany) which are non-commercial stations. We are lucky in the UK too as we get great coverage of all different sports and teams. There is a great campaign at the moment here re the paralympics. Jockscrap linked the video and it is amazing. 2peasrefugees.boards.net/thread/45905/superheroes-paralympics
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sueg
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Post by sueg on Jul 24, 2016 14:26:21 GMT
I feel very lucky that we don't have to deal with the advertising here. I watch either on the BBC or ARD/ZDF (Germany) which are non-commercial stations. We are lucky in the UK too as we we get great coverage of all different sports and teams. There is a great campaign at the moment here re the paralympics. Jockscrap linked the video and it is amazing. 2peasrefugees.boards.net/thread/45905/superheroes-paralympicsI loved the BBC coverage of London and Sochi. Being able to watch any sport when it was on, not relying on what the channel decided to cover. Great for those of us who like obscure sports!
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sueg
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Post by sueg on Jul 24, 2016 14:27:52 GMT
An athlete being interviewed on the BBC just now has said something that I was thinking as this news came through. 'Anytime a Russian athlete wins a medal, or even competes beside you at these games, who is going to believe they are clean?'
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raindancer
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Jun 26, 2014 20:10:29 GMT
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Post by raindancer on Jul 24, 2016 14:28:12 GMT
I rarely watch the Olympics either. What with all the doping, cheating, AND CONSTANT ADVERTISING they are no longer any fun. I grew up watching in Africa where we were banned from competing so the coverage was wide and varied and interesting. Here all we get is USA, USA, USA. Advertisement, advertisement, advertisement! Oh yeah the Olympics is like a microcosm of our terrible xenophobia and insular ways. They cut things off, air old reruns of 90s tv shows during events that the US teams aren't participants, etc. It's bad. And God forbid if you suggest you are happy for other countries. Last time they would even talk over the medal ceremony if the US anthem wasn't the one being played
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imsirius
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Jul 12, 2014 19:59:28 GMT
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Post by imsirius on Jul 24, 2016 14:28:55 GMT
Our coverage shows all countries competing as much as they can. They broadcast 24/7 so we get to see not only our country compete, but others as well. I love it.
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wellway
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Jun 25, 2014 20:50:09 GMT
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Post by wellway on Jul 24, 2016 14:37:47 GMT
I loved the BBC coverage of London and Sochi. Being able to watch any sport when it was on, not relying on what the channel decided to cover. Great for those of us who like obscure sports! My friend and I made a big thing of the Beijing Olympics when our girls were younger, we watched the opening ceremony, explained all the parts of the ceremony, explained the various sports even the more unusual ones, made crafts, coloured sporting pictures, ate Chinese food with chopsticks..(the opening ceremony is long..we had loads of time!!) So when the Olympics came to London the girls were very excited and luckily we got tickets but not together as the ticketing system was a random draw type of thing. But they got to be part of it all and will have life long memories.
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pyccku
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Jun 27, 2014 23:12:07 GMT
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Post by pyccku on Jul 24, 2016 15:07:38 GMT
The hockey team was pretty much booted out of the recent U18 world championships. In this case, it was due to the use of meldonium - a drug that pretty much every athlete was taking as part of their training regimen. It was only recently added to the banned list (2015) and the Russians saw this as something where they were singled out - it had been legal for so long, but all of a sudden it wasn't - and they were the country most hit.
But this sounds much, much worse - if they are trying to cheat to pass the drug tests, they obviously KNOW that they are doing something against the rules rather than "well, they changed the rules on us!" as in the hockey case.
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Post by epeanymous on Jul 24, 2016 15:10:32 GMT
I hadn't heard any of this. What a shame. The Olympics aren't what they used to be. They may be, but we didn't know it .
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M in Carolina
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Jun 29, 2014 12:11:41 GMT
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Post by M in Carolina on Jul 24, 2016 15:24:45 GMT
So many sports aren't as much fun because since so many people cheat, it's not even close to a fair competition.
The equestrian events is one of the least fair competitions. There are members that have unlimited resources to buy the most expensive horses and trainers. They can woo trainers to their facilities by building huge, cutting edge facilities and even woo different riders.
There are riders who have worked their whole lives to get a chance to compete and find a train a horse that has a chance of competing who then have to compete with riders who are the children of billionaires and some have been royalty--like Princess Anne and Zara Tindall. They have their choice of the most expensive and experienced horses in the world. They're also allowed to ride multiple horses.
So if one of their horses isn't having a good day, they have another one to compete with. So they wind up getting more metals than the rider who only has one horse for all the events.
I'm another who was shocked at the way the communist countries trained their athletes, the way they looked, the way those judges voted, and some of the stories of how these athletes were treated.
I felt so bad when an athlete didn't do as well as the coach expected. You could tell how upset the athletes were, and a few times everyone witnessed the coach react very cruelly.
I've heard that a lot of these athletes didn't really have a choice of whether they could compete or not. The ones who showed good talent were forced to train even if they didn't want to.
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Post by gar on Jul 24, 2016 15:32:19 GMT
I rarely watch the Olympics either. What with all the doping, cheating, AND CONSTANT ADVERTISING they are no longer any fun. I grew up watching in Africa where we were banned from competing so the coverage was wide and varied and interesting. Here all we get is USA, USA, USA. Advertisement, advertisement, advertisement! Oh yeah the Olympics is like a microcosm of our terrible xenophobia and insular ways. They cut things off, air old reruns of 90s tv shows during events that the US teams aren't participants, etc. It's bad. And God forbid if you suggest you are happy for other countries. Last time they would even talk over the medal ceremony if the US anthem wasn't the one being played Really?? That's appalling, and certainly not in the spirit of sporting endeavour and achievement.
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Post by freecharlie on Jul 24, 2016 15:33:16 GMT
I rarely watch the Olympics either. What with all the doping, cheating, AND CONSTANT ADVERTISING they are no longer any fun. I grew up watching in Africa where we were banned from competing so the coverage was wide and varied and interesting. Here all we get is USA, USA, USA. Advertisement, advertisement, advertisement! Oh yeah the Olympics is like a microcosm of our terrible xenophobia and insular ways. They cut things off, air old reruns of 90s tv shows during events that the US teams aren't participants, etc. It's bad. And God forbid if you suggest you are happy for other countries. Last time they would even talk over the medal ceremony if the US anthem wasn't the one being played I've found if I watch on one of the spin off networks it isn't as bad as prime time nbc
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Post by hop2 on Jul 24, 2016 16:01:36 GMT
Oh yeah the Olympics is like a microcosm of our terrible xenophobia and insular ways. They cut things off, air old reruns of 90s tv shows during events that the US teams aren't participants, etc. It's bad. And God forbid if you suggest you are happy for other countries. Last time they would even talk over the medal ceremony if the US anthem wasn't the one being played I've found if I watch on one of the spin off networks it isn't as bad as prime time nbc Yes that's true. They even had 'on demand' last time. But the normal network coverage is awful plain awful
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Post by gmcwife1 on Jul 24, 2016 17:59:54 GMT
I love the Olympics. I love what it (Supposed)stand for. I Love watching the graceful athletes and the joy when they succeed. I love the camaraderie of the countries and the teams. I love watching both Winter and Summer games. However, the last few Olympics have been tainted and ruined by a corrupt bunch of yahoos who now believe it's only a money maker. Back when pros weren't allowed to compete and all athletes had to be of amateur status, was the glory days. I know the IOC has always been corrupt to a point, but it's just gotten worse over the years. It's a shame for the athletes who work so hard to be recognized in their sport. It's a shame for the countries who without the Olympics would never be given a second look and it's a shame for the athletes from those countries who have their 15 minutes of fame for all their hard work. Rio is a joke and it's hard for me to watch it all unfold. I agree. Watching the Olympics is a wonderful memory of my childhood. But it has changed so much through the years.
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