The Unofficial Olympic thread

[PHIL!!!!]

I'm lookin forward to the Olympic games myself, and anyone who can be dissappoitned with the opening ceremony are mad! I thought it was fantastic! Probably the best opening ceremony i've ever seen.

Good to hear the Brits gettin a nice big cheer 

[janaage]

OK personal disclaimer about the opening ceremony, I'm at work, the sound was down I only saw a couple of minutes at a time.  Made it pretty hard to get into.

[flammableBen]

How many events were there in 1924, how many now?  Surely there are fair more medals to win these days compared with ye olden days.

I'm not sure how the olympics today compared to olympics then. I guess different events and less countries. Plus we'd clearly have an advantage on development compared to a lot of nations.

But in terms of modern olympics 2004 was pretty successful.

My point was more that the idea of some PC conspiracy to prevent children being good at sports is silly when we did relatively well last time.

[janaage]

Agree with there's no conspiracy fella, it was a genuine question.  I wondered how many medals were up for grabs, what was the percentage haul like in comparison, that's all.

[flammableBen]

Dunno. Might do a bit of research later. Would be quite interesting to see. I'd presume we'd do quite well back pre-2nd world war. Although I'm no Olympic Historian.

In terms of recent gold medals, our 9 in 2004 and 11 in 2002 compare quite well to the 5 each we got in '80, '84, '88 and '92. Although I agree that in terms of media coverage, fuck loads of medals for stuff like boating in bike riding aren't that exciting.

[flammableBen]

In terms of 1924 vs. 2004 olympics.

In 1924 we won 9 golds, 13 silvers and 12 bronzes out of 126 events over 17 sports.
We came 4th out of 44 nations.

In 2004 we won 9 golds, 9 silvers and 12 bronzes out of 301 events over 28 sports.
We came 10th out of 202 nations.

Dunno how it compares to further back. I suppose with less events to win medals in but with less nations to compete against it's a pretty different competition, make of the comparison what you will.  For some proper statistical analysis I suppose you'd have to take into account nations challenging for medals in sports and stuff. Bit complex for something of a passing interest.

[Arriba]

looks like i got this completely wrong regarding the medals then.my perception as a kid was different to now it seems.but i still think we, as one of the most rich,powerful and highly populated countries should do better.
we have a lack of olympic sized swimming pools,tennis costs loads, and is for the rich kids only to a decent level,same with gymnastics,the taking part is more important than winning races,etc,etc.
we could produce many more medallists if more stuff was available to more children imo.

[janaage]

I didn't realise the 2004 medal success was that great, 10th is a pretty good finish.  Good work Benno!!

[Simon Pieman]

We get more medals per population than the USA do, or at least we did at the last Olympics. I think facilities have improved a lot in recent years and of course they have needed to.

[Jamiesfuturewife]

we should make Grannys garden an Olyimpic event

[axs]

What really pisses me off are the stupid events:
- Walking. Fuck me, man has been doing it for years. Whoopie.
- Dressage . What the fuck is the point. Oooh look at my preddy hoooorse. It's a sport for big girls who couldn't let go of My Little Pony isn't it.
- Ribbon Chasing Gymnastics. As if twirling ribbons is really a sport.
- Synchronised Swimming - No further explanation needed.
- BMX - It's not 19fucking83. Are we to have Hacky sacking and yoyo as well.
- Womens football. I rate it slightly above going to the zoo and poking zoo animal with a stick.

I'd also discount some sports for which the Olympics isn't the pinnacle:
- I like tennis, but it can fuck off back to the Grand Slams for it's peak.
- Football. The World Cup owns the Olympics.

Any other suggestions for banishment to Room 101?

Any suggestions for replacement sports?

I have a rule about what constitutes a proper sport:

'It must not contain any judgment by one or more individuals that is not a boolean decision"

I can't think of a decent example that makes this invalid.

[Batch]

I have a rule about what constitutes a proper sport:

'It must not contain any judgment by one or more individuals that is not a boolean decision"

I can't think of a decent example that makes this invalid.

Have you bugged our office? 

I was just talking about how the subjectively marked sports should be downgraded to demonstration hobbies. It's not that some of them aren't impressive, but I am sure that reputations can guide a score up or down.

[axs]

Have you bugged our office? 

I was just talking about how the subjectively marked sports should be downgraded to demonstration hobbies. It's not that some of them aren't impressive, but I am sure that reputations can guide a score up or down.

um, no.

[Jamiesfuturewife]

did you make this word up? boolean  

[Don Rogers Shop]

I will just watch the boxing the rest is shit