Olympic Bullshit

[Mr. Tea]

Here's one for you: what's the difference between patriotism and nationalism?

And another one: is it possible to have a sporting event in which competitors represent their country without it being to some degree nationalistic/patriotic?

 

[Bangpuss]

Here, here! I get the feeling that a lot of minority sports are only played by people who weren't very good at the major sports as kids. So a lot of the volleyball players are basically second-rate tennis players who couldn't get into the team when they were a kid, so decided to compete in an event where there weren't as many naturally gifted people. Just a hunch. Because when I were at school, the only kids who played volleyball and sports like that were the ones who weren't in any of the sports teams.

 

[Bangpuss]

Given a few weeks to get to grips with the variables, I bet Federer, Nadal and Djokovic would be able to compete as a world-class volleyball players. I doubt the reverse is true.

 

[Mr. Tea]

Any figures on relative investment of corporates versus the public?

I heard, from a so far unauthenticated source (my brother, the other day) that a measly £1bn of the total bill has come from corporate sponsors. Which kind of boggles the mind, given the amount of power ceded to those sponsors.

To say nothing of the fact that the onerous task of frogmarching anyone caught with a can of Pepsi out of the stadium is being enforced by cops, squaddies and G4S goons who are being paid out of the public purse.

 

[Mr. Tea]

Then again Redgrave can hardly be called the greatest ever Olympian, I appreciate that you can only beat what's in front of you and he has been very successful over a long period but ultimately you simply can't think about making that claim if you're in a minority sport - ninety nine percent of the world has never had the chance to row one of those boats that Redgrave kept winning in, for all anyone knows I would have been better than him given the opportunity.

Oh man, I know what you mean. I could have been Usain Bolt if only I'd had the good fortune to be really, really, really, really, really good at running.

 

[Leo]

I heard, from a so far unauthenticated source (my brother, the other day) that a measly £1bn of the total bill has come from corporate sponsors.

from the guardian back in may:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/may/13/london-2012-olympics-coe-sponsor?INTCMP=SRCH

About two-thirds of the organising committee's £2bn operating budget is raised from domestic and international sponsors.

Locog's budget is privately raised, but the Games take place in stadiums and infrastructure provided from the £9.3bn public funding package. Locog's budget is also underwritten by the government, which must make up any shortfall if it fails to balance.

 

[Mr. Tea]

OK, so about £1.7bn out of more than £9bn total cost. Hardly the lion's share.

 

[baboon2004]

They could save a lot of money by having events all round the country and using more existing stadiums and other facilities as they do in the World Cup.
Greatest ever Olympian? Dunno but seeing as you can win loads of events in swimming it's not comparable to sprinting that's for sure. Free-style is the fastest way to the end and back and compares well to a running race, having the other strokes as events in their own right is like having 100m hop or 100m running backwards as another event. They should get rid of breast stroke etc they're pointless.
Then again Redgrave can hardly be called the greatest ever Olympian, I appreciate that you can only beat what's in front of you and he has been very successful over a long period but ultimately you simply can't think about making that claim if you're in a minority sport - ninety nine percent of the world has never had the chance to row one of those boats that Redgrave kept winning in, for all anyone knows I would have been better than him given the opportunity. And if that seems like a stretch it's not unreasonable to suggest that one of the millions of people from Africa or wherever who never dreamt of rowing might well have been better.
For me, to be the greatest across all disciplines you need to a) be in a sport that is open to pretty much anyone (that rules out dressage or yachting but that should be self-evident anyway) b) win it by a long way or against the odds etc c) and do it more than once. Then once you've used those criteria to whittle it down you start talking about those extra factors that make them special.
Edit: there is some flexibility, a sport that's open to almost all is possible as long as the athlete excelled in the other categories and so on and so forth

Carl Lewis is an obvious suggestion. He achieved unbelievable things. Michael Johnson, for sheer 'wtf' factor, has to be close too. Maybe a couple of gymnasts. Certainly they score way above that prick Coe.

 

[mistersloane]

Given a few weeks to get to grips with the variables, I bet Federer, Nadal and Djokovic would be able to compete as a world-class volleyball players. I doubt the reverse is true.

Really? I so DON'T CARE, and really, please, but please, really? Really? But I so DON'T CARE. Really.

 

[grizzleb]

Oh man, I know what you mean. I could have been Usain Bolt if only I'd had the good fortune to be really, really, really, really, really good at running.

The comparison really doesn't hold though does it. Because running is a sport as accessable as having a body and rowing involves kinds of weather, equipment, etc that few people will have access to.

 

[Mr. Tea]

The comparison really doesn't hold though does it. Because running is a sport as accessable as having a body and rowing involves kinds of weather, equipment, etc that few people will have access to.

Yeah I know, I'm just being a cunt.

 

[Bangpuss]

Paula Radcliffe for taking a dump during the marathon, and then coming to terms with the fact that it would be the number one talking point of her career from then on.

 

[Mr. Tea]

Paula Radcliffe for taking a dump during the marathon, and then coming to terms with the fact that it would be the number one talking point of her career from then on.

Number Two talking point, surely?

I read a pretty good article recently about elite athletes shitting themselves in the line of duty - I'll post it here if I can find it.

 

[Mr. Tea]

Brilliant

 

[Slothrop]

Dunno but seeing as you can win loads of events in swimming it's not comparable to sprinting that's for sure. Free-style is the fastest way to the end and back and compares well to a running race, having the other strokes as events in their own right is like having 100m hop or 100m running backwards as another event. They should get rid of breast stroke etc they're pointless.

As far as "greatest ever olympian" stuff goes, agree, but as far as being pointless goes - well, the whole shebang is pointless in the grand scheme of things, it's just a question of pointless stuff that you're interested in vs pointless stuff that you aren't. If you want to take that line, all the fighting stuff could be replaced by a Mixed Martial Arts contest. Which the rifle shooting guys would probably win.

 

[Mr. Tea]

If you want to take that line, all the fighting stuff could be replaced by a Mixed Martial Arts contest. Which the rifle shooting guys would probably win.

By the same token, Bolt would get his ass whupped by Lewis Hamilton or Jenson Button...

 

[Bangpuss]

Number Two talking point, surely?

I'm surprised a lot of people still think she was having a piss, when in fact she was crapping. I wonder if we'd be taking the, err, piss quite as much/even more if a bloke did it...?

Please dig out the article about sportspeople shitting mid-contest.

 

[muser]

it all looks pretty unhealthy, cyclists arms look fucking weird.

 

[Patrick Swayze]

if the olympics involved more wild animals like gladiator then it would be worth hosting, basically. David Davis would probably emerge victorious at the end and be rude to Cameron in front of millions of rabid tourists

 

[IdleRich]

"As far as "greatest ever olympian" stuff goes, agree, but as far as being pointless goes - well, the whole shebang is pointless in the grand scheme of things, it's just a question of pointless stuff that you're interested in vs pointless stuff that you aren't. If you want to take that line, all the fighting stuff could be replaced by a Mixed Martial Arts contest. Which the rifle shooting guys would probably win."

Yeah, the whole thing is pointless, but even given that, the breast stroke is higher up the internal hierarchy of pointlessness than the 100m sprint or even any of the freestyle swimming events.