Off topic OT: 2016 Summer Olympics

[josie]

Annemiek van Vleuten is back on the bike. Posts her first trip on Strava. 

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/pb/olympics/2016/live-updates/rio-games/scores-and-latest-news/dutch-cyclist-flips-bike-suffers-horrific-crash-in-olympic-road-race/

Great to hear.

 

 

I'm excited for the Paralympics. They start September 7th I believe. 

 

Also, Tokyo 2020 looks like it'll be great. I have a feeling it'll be the most precise, pulled together Games in modern memory. As long as Akira doesn't play out in the stadium in reality... we're gold! 

[Eleven]

Great to hear.

 

 

I'm excited for the Paralympics. They start September 7th I believe. 

 

Also, Tokyo 2020 looks like it'll be great. I have a feeling it'll be the most precise, pulled together Games in modern memory. As long as Akira doesn't play out in the stadium in reality... we're gold! 

 

 

Is NBC going to cover the Paralympics or do I have to turn to CBC again?

[JJFIVEOH]

Great to hear.

 

 

I'm excited for the Paralympics. They start September 7th I believe.

 

Also, Tokyo 2020 looks like it'll be great. I have a feeling it'll be the most precise, pulled together Games in modern memory. As long as Akira doesn't play out in the stadium in reality... we're gold!

You're right, the 2020 games look like they're going to be great. I just hope the 2018 Winter Games aren't a bust. I'm hearing they're going to have some serious issues with lack of snow. I wish they'd hold those Games in true winter nations.

[josie]

Is NBC going to cover the Paralympics or do I have to turn to CBC again?

I doubt they'll be great about it. I plan to catch as much of it by online streaming as I can. 

[LTS]

Great to hear.

 

 

I'm excited for the Paralympics. They start September 7th I believe. 

 

Also, Tokyo 2020 looks like it'll be great. I have a feeling it'll be the most precise, pulled together Games in modern memory. As long as Akira doesn't play out in the stadium in reality... we're gold! 

 

Wonder how the US will do in Pokemon...

[Cereal]

Catching up on this thread.... 

 

USA's Galen Rupp took bronze in the men's marathon!  It was an absolute pleasure to watch.  Rupp is a 10k runner (silver in 2012, 5th this year) who very recently decided to try the 26.2.  In fact, yesterday was only his second marathon ever, aside from the US Olympic Qualifying 26.2 in January of this year!

 

Kenya's Kipchoge (gold) looked incredibly strong the whole way, and as he began to pull away ~18miles in, there was no doubt in my mind he would hang on.  Kipchoge and Ethiopia's Desisa (silver) are both very accomplished marathon runners, so it is not the least bit disappointing for Rupp to share the podium with those two. 

 

Also, USA's Jared Ward also finished sixth, which is nearly as impressive as Rupp's triumph.  Ward surprised as USA's third qualifier (with Rupp and Meb Keflezighi) in January.  He is BYU professor of statistics who apparently wrote his Masters thesis on “Analyzing Split Times for Runners in the 2013 St. George Marathon”.  Very very cool.

 

It will be interesting to see if Rupp is still attached to the 10k for 2020, or if he sees his 10k window fading (29 years old) and turns his efforts fully to the 26.2 instead.  Another fun note - during each of the water/aid stations, Rupp would whip his white hat to the ground and acquire a new dry one.  Pretty crafty planning for fella who's only run one previous marathon!

[josie]

Catching up on this thread.... 

 

USA's Galen Rupp took bronze in the men's marathon!  It was an absolute pleasure to watch.  Rupp is a 10k runner (silver in 2012, 5th this year) who very recently decided to try the 26.2.  In fact, yesterday was only his second marathon ever, aside from the US Olympic Qualifying 26.2 in January of this year!

 

Kenya's Kipchoge (gold) looked incredibly strong the whole way, and as he began to pull away ~18miles in, there was no doubt in my mind he would hang on.  Kipchoge and Ethiopia's Desisa (silver) are both very accomplished marathon runners, so it is not the least bit disappointing for Rupp to share the podium with those two. 

 

Also, USA's Jared Ward also finished sixth, which is nearly as impressive as Rupp's triumph.  Ward surprised as USA's third qualifier (with Rupp and Meb Keflezighi) in January.  He is BYU professor of statistics who apparently wrote his Masters thesis on “Analyzing Split Times for Runners in the 2013 St. George Marathon”.  Very very cool.

 

It will be interesting to see if Rupp is still attached to the 10k for 2020, or if he sees his 10k window fading (29 years old) and turns his efforts fully to the 26.2 instead.  Another fun note - during each of the water/aid stations, Rupp would whip his white hat to the ground and acquire a new dry one.  Pretty crafty planning for fella who's only run one previous marathon!

I really enjoyed seeing the end of that race. Rupp had a great quote which I will now botch; something along the lines of "It's like in Happy Gilmore where Happy wanted to be a hockey player but ends up better at golf. I wanted to be a 10k runner but maybe I should be doing marathon"

 

Neat stuff. Still boggles my mind. I have several distance runner/triathlete friends and I believe it's their way of zenning out/escaping their usually incredibly busy/overachieving lives for a couple hours while still going after a lofty goal. 

[bunomatic]

Went to Tokyo this past Christmas. A city of 35 million that has its shite together as far as transit and well pretty much everything. Great place . Great people. I'm sure they'll do it right with little to no glitches.

[3putt]

Nino Schurter rode a brilliant race in Men's MTB. I rode my first competitive race 3 weeks ago and still have the aches and road rash from a crash. On a lighter note I was amused to find out out the USA had a female sprinter named English Gardner and a men's platform diver named Steele Johnson. You can't make this stuff up.

[MattPie]

Can I just say: men's basketball isn't well-served as an event just having the USA win everything every time around.

[GoPre]

Can I just say: men's basketball isn't well-served as an event just having the USA win everything every time around.

 

US was rather shaky, almost lost to Serbia in pool play from what I can recall, this Olympics, and in for at least one, don't feel like looking it up, the US did not win gold and simply looked pathetic.  Are top players were not on the team and the coaching was blah, but there's no excuse for our country to collapse as bad as it did in the Olympics they were embarrassed in. That was one of the reasons Team USA had their lineup stacked in the previous Olympics. Still felt there was little team play this year. Hence the shaky, non-consistent play. 

[MattPie]

US was rather shaky, almost lost to Serbia in pool play from what I can recall, this Olympics, and in for at least one, don't feel like looking it up, the US did not win gold and simply looked pathetic.  Are top players were not on the team and the coaching was blah, but there's no excuse for our country to collapse as bad as it did in the Olympics they were embarrassed in. That was one of the reasons Team USA had their lineup stacked in the previous Olympics. Still felt there was little team play this year. Hence the shaky, non-consistent play. 

 

Caveat: I don't know basketball.

 

I think if the US was shaky and inconsistent this year but still went 5-0 in group (winning by 20 on average) and winning the final by 30 seems silly. Is there another sport in the Olympics where there's consistently such a wide gap between Gold and Silver? Looking back, the US has only lost 5 games total in Olympic history. Two Bronze, One Silver, and the rest Gold.

[Eleven]

Caveat: I don't know basketball.

 

I think if the US was shaky and inconsistent this year but still went 5-0 in group (winning by 20 on average) and winning the final by 30 seems silly. Is there another sport in the Olympics where there's consistently such a wide gap between Gold and Silver? Looking back, the US has only lost 5 games total in Olympic history. Two Bronze, One Silver, and the rest Gold.

 

 

Between 1964 and 1992, the USSR won every hockey gold medal except one.  Didn't stop the rest of the countries from playing or trying to be better.

[BagBoy]

US was rather shaky, almost lost to Serbia in pool play from what I can recall, this Olympics, and in for at least one, don't feel like looking it up, the US did not win gold and simply looked pathetic.  Are top players were not on the team and the coaching was blah, but there's no excuse for our country to collapse as bad as it did in the Olympics they were embarrassed in. That was one of the reasons Team USA had their lineup stacked in the previous Olympics. Still felt there was little team play this year. Hence the shaky, non-consistent play. 

 

This was my take. too.  You nailed it.

 

I watched the whole AUS game - not any kind of impressive.

Who picked this team?  It shouldn't be an all-star offense only team.  It should be a well balanced team.

The coaching was terrible.  Honestly, do the coaches matter that much?  No.  But they should be PRO coaches, not college coaches.  We used college coaches back when we had to send college players.  Those days are gone.

[Eleven]

Hope Solo has been both suspended AND terminated by USWNT.  https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2016/08/24/hope-solo-suspended-six-months-by-u-s-soccer-for-calling-sweden-cowards/

[That Aud Smell]

Hope Solo has been both suspended AND terminated by USWNT.  https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2016/08/24/hope-solo-suspended-six-months-by-u-s-soccer-for-calling-sweden-cowards/

 

Sort of a weird thing to do.

 

I didn't like what she said about the Swedes, for sure, but it didn't seem to warrant those actions.

 

I infer from the statement from U.S. Soccer that there's more to this than just that outburst.

[Eleven]

Sort of a weird thing to do.

 

I didn't like what she said about the Swedes, for sure, but it didn't seem to warrant those actions.

 

I infer from the statement from U.S. Soccer that there's more to this than just that outburst.

 

 

She's been a pain in the ass forever.  I haven't been able to stand her since her comments about Brianna Scurry.

[darksabre]

They just wanted to get rid of her. They'll replace her and no one will care.

[Eleven]

They just wanted to get rid of her. They'll replace her and no one will care.

 

 

Oh, I'll care.  I'm thrilled!

[That Aud Smell]

She has been a huge PIA for a long time, true.

 

She's also probably the best woman to play that position, ever. Which is something.

 

Being beautiful has also helped her cause, and brand.

[LTS]

The word was the USWNT was going to appeal this decision as being too harsh.

 

I think it's warranted.  I have no problem demanding more from people in the realm of respect and sportsmanship.  Her entire argument was the equivalent of the "Campers suck" argument from first person shooters.

 

Playing defensively is a strategy.  Solo can shut up and serve her suspension.  I'm not impressed by her ability as it is.

[Samson's Flow]

Sort of a weird thing to do.

 

I didn't like what she said about the Swedes, for sure, but it didn't seem to warrant those actions.

 

I infer from the statement from U.S. Soccer that there's more to this than just that outburst.

My take is that they've been wanting to get rid of her ever since her domestic violence charges, but since she head and shoulders above the other goalies talent wise they let her hang on. Now that she had demonstrated that her talent is diminishing the cons outweigh the pros.

 

Hockey analogy: She used to be Sidney Crosby and now she is Mike Richards. Much easier to cut Richards

[GoPre]

Sort of a weird thing to do.

 

I didn't like what she said about the Swedes, for sure, but it didn't seem to warrant those actions.

 

I infer from the statement from U.S. Soccer that there's more to this than just that outburst.

 

Part of me agrees w/ this, but another part me does not. Yes, she is, almost was, incredibly talented, but I can understand why the USWNT decided to cut ties w/ Solo. She's done a few things in the last couple of years that has temporarily hurt Team USA's image. Solo has certainly not been a good role model. However, w/ what she has done for USWNT on the field throughout her career things could have ended on a higher note. USWNT and Solo could have possibly reached an agreement a few months after the Olympics that it was time for her career w/ the USWNT to come to an end. This would have appeared as if it had nothing to do w/ comments made at Olympics. Maybe could have had some type of positive send off. An organized retirement so speak. Just things to consider. What has been done is practically done. Solo's career w/ the USWNT has ended on a sour note. 

[dudacek]

Part of me agrees w/ this, but another part me does not. Yes, she is, almost was, incredibly talented, but I can understand why the USWNT decided to cut ties w/ Solo. She's done a few things in the last couple of years that has temporarily hurt Team USA's image. Solo has certainly not been a good role model. However, w/ what she has done for USWNT on the field throughout her career things could have ended on a higher note. USWNT and Solo could have possibly reached an agreement a few months after the Olympics that it was time for her career w/ the USWNT to come to an end. This would have appeared as if it had nothing to do w/ comments made at Olympics. Maybe could have had some type of positive send off. An organized retirement so speak. Just things to consider. What has been done is practically done. Solo's career w/ the USWNT has ended on a sour note.

 

What do you think the Sabres should do about Evander Kane?

[JJFIVEOH]

Uh oh.............