Official 2008 Beijing Olympics Thread

[Bankshot]

I thought this was funny:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080812/ts_afp/oly2008chinaceremonysongfake_080812123027

China is trying so hard to look good and they come off as so petty and silly it's hilarious.  My favorite part is the very last paragraph.

Earlier this year Olympic organisers preoccupied with the right image for the country were criticised for insisting that only tall, slim, young and attractive women could serve as medal award ceremony hostesses.

Isn't that what everyone does, except no one admits it?  How ridiculous. 

I don't blame them for using the extra shots of the fireworks.  Supposedly it was a hazard for the helicopters to get an "above the stadium" view while the fireworks were going off, so they CG'd some of them for the rebroadcasts.  The thing about using two little girls for that song is terribly sad, though.

Yesterday Tom Brokaw said he's been to China several times and the site in Beijing is all staged because they know the world is watching.  He said that 2/3 of the people don't live in Beijing and most of the people still live in the country in less than desirable conditions.

[Robb]

every country is fake in some way or form, people just don't admit it.

Oh, I definitely don't mean to offend, but it'd be sad in every instance that a cute girl is thrown front and center while an ugly* one was kept behind the curtain despite her talent.

*saw pictures of the "ugly" girl on Yahoo.  As a teacher of small Asian children, she's just as cute as any seven year old I've ever met.

When I was in Beijing, we went on a walk through the older and poorer part of the city where whole families live in tiny concrete houses no bigger than my bedroom.  As tourists, we were "treated" to a ride in on one of those wheeled benches that is pulled around by a man riding a bicycle.  It was probably the worst thing I've ever done in my life.  That was the first (and it will be the last) time in my life that I felt like I was treating a person like an animal.

I didn't see the Brokaw documentary, but I saw his interview on the Daily Show (Comedy Central puts all their shows online and DOESN'T block them out to international viewers, God bless 'em), and remember vividly him mentioning that China has 300,000,000 people in what we would consider middle class.  They have nearly the entire population of America living like Americans.  However, for whatever reason, no one pointed out that there are a billion more people in China who AREN'T in that middle class.

[ederson]

I thought that other countries had "closed the gap" in basketball?  Certainly doesn't look like it. Of course there are still more games to be played, but I don't see this USA team being beaten. The only reason the USA lost the last time around is because they didn't send their best players, imo.  The US aren't even playing that great and still winning handily.  I don't think every game will be a cakewalk, but I still think they win Gold.

Correct me if i`m wrong but so far US team faced angola and china. Not the biggest competition there. But i too see the US winning the gold

The only reason the USA lost the last time around is because they didn't send their best players, imo.

Not exactly true but there is source of the problem. It`s not about the best players. It`s about the best team.

I`ve heard about the fireworks but i thought it was a hoax or something. I don`t like it. It was supposed to be a live event and not a star wars movie. And about the little girl ..... Unethical?

Sports related the games are great but too many bad things are going on around the games. Thousands where forced to leave their homes in order to build sports venues and malls, the pollution is unbelievable, part of the ceremony was virtual reality. There`s even a death ....

[Redz]

every country is fake in some way or form, people just don't admit it.

Oh, I definitely don't mean to offend, but it'd be sad in every instance that a cute girl is thrown front and center while an ugly* one was kept behind the curtain despite her talent.

*saw pictures of the "ugly" girl on Yahoo.  As a teacher of small Asian children, she's just as cute as any seven year old I've ever met.

When I was in Beijing, we went on a walk through the older and poorer part of the city where whole families live in tiny concrete houses no bigger than my bedroom.  As tourists, we were "treated" to a ride in on one of those wheeled benches that is pulled around by a man riding a bicycle.  It was probably the worst thing I've ever done in my life.  That was the first (and it will be the last) time in my life that I felt like I was treating a person like an animal.

I didn't see the Brokaw documentary, but I saw his interview on the Daily Show (Comedy Central puts all their shows online and DOESN'T block them out to international viewers, God bless 'em), and remember vividly him mentioning that China has 300,000,000 people in what we would consider middle class.  They have nearly the entire population of America living like Americans.  However, for whatever reason, no one pointed out that there are a billion more people in China who AREN'T in that middle class.

excellent post Robb

[Robb]

I`ve heard about the fireworks but i thought it was a hoax or something. I don`t like it. It was supposed to be a live event and not a star wars movie.

Ultimately both are shows, though.  I read an article about this and the guy summed it up by asking the question (paraphrased) "Are you upset that the man that lit the torch wasn't literally running around the stadium, but in truth was being held up by wires?"  What's the difference?

My problem with the production side is that they're vocalizing all of the things that are normally done quietly, like putting beautiful women front and center.  I mean everyone does that and it makes sense from that point of view, but that they're being so brazen about it just seems silly.

Thousands where forced to leave their homes in order to build sports venues and malls.

That sounds pretty familiar actually.

[crownsy]

I thought this was funny:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080812/ts_afp/oly2008chinaceremonysongfake_080812123027

China is trying so hard to look good and they come off as so petty and silly it's hilarious.  My favorite part is the very last paragraph.

Earlier this year Olympic organisers preoccupied with the right image for the country were criticised for insisting that only tall, slim, young and attractive women could serve as medal award ceremony hostesses.

Isn't that what everyone does, except no one admits it?  How ridiculous. 

I don't blame them for using the extra shots of the fireworks.  Supposedly it was a hazard for the helicopters to get an "above the stadium" view while the fireworks were going off, so they CG'd some of them for the rebroadcasts.  The thing about using two little girls for that song is terribly sad, though.

Yesterday Tom Brokaw said he's been to China several times and the site in Beijing is all staged because they know the world is watching.  He said that 2/3 of the people don't live in Beijing and most of the people still live in the country in less than desirable conditions.

to be fair, very host city does this. i didn't see a whole lot of homeless peaole walking around the event centers in atlanta, yet it has one of the highest homeless populations.

what, you think they all got jobs for 2 weeks? they were shipped off to shelters.

[Edgar]

Federer   6   6
Arevalo   2   4

Good job kid, future is bright for salvadorean tennis

Saludos

Edgar

[kw10]

Anyone catch the Australian Argentina game? Again, I couldn't wat the whole game, I was shown about half, which is much improved from last game, but this time they were showing Equestrian (!!!) instead...and when they showed the game, Australia was playing fairly well, they didn't show when Argentina put on all the points...so did anyone watch it and able to tell me a little?

[Amonkey]

I think if there was an Olympics on the States, other countries could find  plenty of things to criticize.  For example, I was reading in a Brazilian newspaper that USA was booed during the Opening Ceremony, which was complete bull.  The little girl though, that one is weak.

I don't want to be defending China, but I think people underestimate what China is dealing with.  China as a population of 1.3 BILLION PEOPLE!  Of course there will be a significant percentage of poverty coming along with it.  It is incredibly difficult for any centralized government to deal with that many people and make everyone happy.  However, one way to deal with that is by becoming one of the most powerful nations on earth and that is why China is trying to do.  They're spending their money but they're hoping to get it back.  It's an investment for the future and unfortunately, a lot of people are paying the price.

[Donoghus]

Minutes away from Phelps in the 200 meter butterfly...

This thing has definitely drawn me in.

[Donoghus]

Wow. 

Another gold medal for Phelps (plus a world record).  His 4th gold of the games and his 10th(!!) of his career, also a record. 

Absolutely incredible!!!

About 50 minutes until he goes for gold again in the 4x200 relay.

[Donoghus]

Americans win the 4x200 relay gold in swimming.  That's gold #5 in these games for Phelps.

They smashed the world record.  Sub 7 minutes. 

[wdleehi]

That one wasn't even close. 

[Donoghus]

That one wasn't even close. 

It was amazing how far ahead they were of the "world record" pace line the entire race.  Not to mention the competition.

[jackson_34]

I'm going to have to say Phelps is the greatest athlete ever, he will/has overtaken overtaken the likes of Tiger/Jordan/Federer in terms of dominance of their sport IMO.

Anyone watch the 100m Freestyle semifinals today? The frenchman breaks the world record with a time of 47.20secs only for Eamon Sullivan to break it again five minutes later with a time of 47.05secs. Going to be a great final tommorow, an absolute must watch!