London 2012 Megathread [Part 1]

SharpshooterTom

China now odds on to top the medal table.

China 8/11

USA 6/4

goodie2shoes

ThomasFlynn wrote: »

Right lets get back on topic, too many "patriots" taking too much offense to everything on here.

Swimming has 4 gold events every day till sunday is that correct? So plenty of medals there for Britain to collect still.

I noticed Murrays out of the doubles, guess that might help him in the singles, plus he has a good track record of winning 3 set tournaments.

as the host nation it has been a disappointing opening day.
did Boyle feature any bottlers in his 2nd rate production?:rolleyes:

DEFTLEFTHAND

Ireland's hopes seem firmly set on Katie. Surely to christ we can bring something else home, when you look at countries with a similar population to us like New Zealand and Norway its embarrassing how badly we fair in the medal haul.

SharpshooterTom

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

Ireland's hopes seem firmly set on Katie. Surely to christ we can bring something else home, when you look at countries with a similar population to us like New Zealand and Norway its embarrassing how badly we fair in the medal haul.

Ireland are really hit and miss at sports, sometimes they overproduce, like in Rugby and Golf, but can't produce a single tennis player. Heck they're even better are cricket then they are tennis.

bwatson

goodie2shoes wrote: »

outside of the Brit-media fed hype the rest of the world is distinctly underwhelmed, especially by the over-hyped embarrassing opening ceremony to which that Bufoon Boris said and I quote "we tore spots off Beijing's" ??????!

Get real you clown! When all the Brit-tabloid fed hype dies down most sensible people will realize just how 2nd rate, cringe-worthy and amateurish it really was.

i sincerely Irish people wake up to the fact that just because they are near neighbours, we are quite entitled to call it as we see it, ie Typical Brit claptrap!

Got any links which show that the globe has already formed a very poor opinion of this a 16 day sporting marathon after one day of competition?

Does the fact that Britain has over the last few years developed a sense of identity and self-confidence scare you?

Beefy78

Happyman42 wrote: »

Do you think it was good sports journalism to do what they did before the cycling race or not? Is that what you expect of 'good' sports journalism, to not countenance the possibility of defeat? I can understand the Sun indulging in it, considering the demographic that buys that, but is it right for the BBC to be engaging in it?

The thing is that you're right in your criticism but completely out in your assumption of the reasons.

BBC Sports coverage is categorised not by an arrogant assumption that the Brits will win everything, but by a general lack of knowledge of most of the rest of the field. When Sonia O'Sullivan was in her pomp she was being talked up by the BBC on the basis that they know who she is. You see it most markedly in the football coverage where no one knows anyone not playing in England.

The lack of any knowledge or analysis from the 'experts' on the BBC annoys myself and many British people as well as we either are paying or have paid for their wages. But that's a completely different crime to the one that you're trying to accuse them of.

RTE are no better for it , by the way. RTE panels tend to argue amongst themselves about whose ill-informed opinion is least far away from the facts but that's the only real difference.

goodie2shoes

ThomasFlynn wrote: »

Well I didn't watch it, but this is problem I have with some of the commentary, I know they say this happens in all host countries, but the whole things still off putting. My big fear is when they're so wrapped up in team Geebee, nothing else matters and I hope that isn't the case and I'm sure they're not all like that. It reminds me of euro 96 when a lot of the non-England games didn't sell out because nobody else cared about the foreign teams lol.

it was very poor imho.
a 16 year old girl had just swam what was a truly remarkable race, coming from behind to win in spectacular style and create a NEW WR in the process.
the BEEB barely mentioned it, and instead concentrated on Hannah Miley who came in 5th!
to add further insult the pair then made passing references to possible performance enhancement in order to explain the Chinese girl's victory.

Very tawdry indeed.:mad:

Jimoslimos

Happyman42 wrote: »

Do you think it was good sports journalism to do what they did before the cycling race or not? Is that what you expect of 'good' sports journalism, to not countenance the possibility of defeat? I can understand the Sun indulging in it, considering the demographic that buys that, but is it right for the BBC to be engaging in it?

Expectation was high, 1-2 in the TdF. Cavendish taking his tally of stage wins to 23, including 4 in a row on the Champs-Élysées. Compare it to the hype surrounding Katie Taylor and many here already crowning her with the gold medal.

Beefy78

goodie2shoes wrote: »

it was very poor imho.
a 16 year old girl had just swam what was a truly remarkable race, coming from behind to win in spectacular style and create a NEW WR in the process.
the BEEB barely mentioned it, and instead concentrated on Hannah Miley who came in 5th!
to add further insult the pair then made passing references to possible performance enhancement in order to explain the Chinese girl's victory.

Very tawdry indeed.:mad:

You make it sound like they went on about Hannah Miley for ages when the reality is that it was a 45 second interview followed by Clare Balding asking the guy in the studio who knew Hannah personally a couple of questions. They then went on to talk about the young girl who won.

The commentators went on, and on about what an amazing achievement it was by the 16 year old.

I didn't hear a single allusion to doping. There was a comment made about the size of the Chinese population being a factor. Could you tell me exactly when this was, please? In what context? It's bound to be on the iPlayer.

Samich

goodie2shoes wrote: »

it was very poor imho.
a 16 year old girl had just swam what was a truly remarkable race, coming from behind to win in spectacular style and create a NEW WR in the process.
the BEEB barely mentioned it, and instead concentrated on Hannah Miley who came in 5th!
to add further insult the pair then made passing references to possible performance enhancement in order to explain the Chinese girl's victory.

Very tawdry indeed.:mad:

Ha you complain about the BBC concentrating on their athlete, yet RTE refused to show live swimming this evening and had a repeat of our boxers fights on.

Richard Hillman

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

Ireland's hopes seem firmly set on Katie. Surely to christ we can bring something else home, when you look at countries with a similar population to us like New Zealand and Norway its embarrassing how badly we fair in the medal haul.

Its a very poor record. What i think is worst is that we have only won medals in 4 different events; Boxing, Athletics, Sailing and Swimming (although the swimming medals are very tainted). Im watching the Olympics and all the different events cursing that i wasted so much of my youth playing football. Out of those 4 events we excel at Boxing but we cant compete at Athletics anymore because of our genetics. We can compete at sailing but in Swimming we dont have a sufficeint swimming programme to compete Internationally. The likes of the Aussies, Americans and Chinese are competing at a high level in secondary school. How many secondary schools in Ireland even have swimming pools? We've only had a full size swimming pool in Ireland just over 10 years.

In Ireland we tend to brush aside people who are not good at football, GAA or rugby and just tar them as "not naturaly sporty". In my school all we did for PE was play football. People who didnt like football just sat it out. I would imagine that is replicated all over the country. How many people that sit out PE every week in Ireland would be good at the likes of Archery, Badminton, Fencing or Judo?

We need to lower the emphasis on the trinity of Football, GAA and Rugby and make more sports accessable.

Happyman42

Beefy78 wrote: »

The thing is that you're right in your criticism but completely out in your assumption of the reasons.

BBC Sports coverage is categorised not by an arrogant assumption that the Brits will win everything, but by a general lack of knowledge of most of the rest of the field.

They have the resources to bring in experts, and they had them. They just weren't interested in anything other than victory.

RTE are no better for it , by the way. RTE panels tend to argue amongst themselves about whose ill-informed opinion is least far away from the facts but that's the only real difference.

RTE almost always has one person on the panel who calls it right. They set the panel up so that there is a range of opinion. Which is the correct and professional thing to do, regardless of what you think of the individual 'experts' opinion.

SharpshooterTom

Samich wrote: »

Ha you complain about the BBC concentrating on their athlete, yet RTE refused to show live swimming this evening and had a repeat of our boxers fights on.

Yeah thats bad and stupid. I guess the great thing about the BBC's coverage is that there are so many channels you can easily avoid the hype of British athletes that compete haha.

Seriously though there's an Irish guy on a British forum laying into their hype and its just turned into a mature debate, no ones calling him a little irelander etc infact some people are agreeing with him.

http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1704386

He's getting less of hostile reaction that he would on here!

goodie2shoes

bwatson wrote: »

Got any links which show that the globe has already formed a very poor opinion of this a 16 day sporting marathon after one day of competition?

Does the fact that Britain has over the last few years developed a sense of identity and self-confidence scare you?

outside the Brit controlled media, there doesn't appear to be a huge amount of interest let alone hype. just Google it.
here's a quote from Forbes,

"The firework display of the glowing rings in the brief video above was thrilling and well-executed, but otherwise, this evening’s opening ceremony from the Olympics in London was positively cringe-inducing. I’m sure some of the less self-conscious performers were having a good time, but some must have wondered why they were there.

Unlike the awesome (and a bit terrifying) display of synchronized drumming and acrobatics from the Beijing games in 2008, that attempted to symbolize the entire Chinese industrial economy, there was no obvious talent or social organization in the London mob. The overwhelming feeling was of a desperate mediocrity. And it was boring."

the comments from contributors were equally damning.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonykosner/2012/07/27/london-olympics-the-most-embarrasing-opening-ceremony/

i suppose you'll be tellin me now the Yanks are frightened by your new-found self-belief! LOL!;)

Happyman42

Jimoslimos wrote: »

Expectation was high, 1-2 in the TdF. Cavendish taking his tally of stage wins to 23, including 4 in a row on the Champs-Élysées.

Yes....

British cyclists are programmed to win

:rolleyes:

Samich

Richard Hillman wrote: »

Its a very poor record. What i think is worst is that we have only won medals in 4 different events; Boxing, Athletics, Sailing and Swimming (although the swimming medals are very tainted). Im watching the Olympics and all the different events cursing that i wasted so much of my youth playing football. Out of those 4 events we excel at Boxing but we cant compete at Athletics anymore because of our genetics. We can compete at sailing but in Swimming we dont have a sufficeint swimming programme to compete Internationally. The likes of the Aussies, Americans and Chinese are competing at a high level in secondary school. How many secondary schools in Ireland even have swimming pools? We've only had a full size swimming pool in Ireland just over 10 years.

In Ireland we tend to brush aside people who are not good at football, GAA or rugby and just tar them as "not naturaly sporty". In my school all we did for PE was play football. People who didnt like football just sat it out. I would imagine that is replicated all over the country. How many people that sit out PE every week in Ireland would be good at the likes of Archery, Badminton, Fencing or Judo?

We need to lower the emphasis on the trinity of Football, GAA and Rugby and make more sports accessable.

We did badminton, bitta shotput and there was cross country done for the province too. I think it's a shortage of athletics clubs around the place.

I'd have loved to have played badminton or table tennis.

Samich

Nice hot blonde on BBC 1 now too

bwatson

goodie2shoes wrote: »

outside the Brit controlled media, there doesn't appear to be a huge amount of interest let alone hype. just Google it.
here's a quote from Forbes,

"The firework display of the glowing rings in the brief video above was thrilling and well-executed, but otherwise, this evening’s opening ceremony from the Olympics in London was positively cringe-inducing. I’m sure some of the less self-conscious performers were having a good time, but some must have wondered why they were there.

Unlike the awesome (and a bit terrifying) display of synchronized drumming and acrobatics from the Beijing games in 2008, that attempted to symbolize the entire Chinese industrial economy, there was no obvious talent or social organization in the London mob. The overwhelming feeling was of a desperate mediocrity. And it was boring."

the comments from contributors were equally damning.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonykosner/2012/07/27/london-olympics-the-most-embarrasing-opening-ceremony/

i suppose you'll be tellin me now the Yanks are frightened by your new-found self-belief! LOL!;)

If that is the opinion of a certain number of Americans, then fair play to them. It was a uniquely British spectacle and if it didn't hit the spot for those Americans then we move on. Because I tell you, they certainly will have. Right at this moment they probably couldn't care less about the opening ceremony. We are so incredibly insignificant to them that their attention will have switched firmly to their medal hopes. The creativity and production value of the ceremony (or lack of it depending on your viewpoint) don't matter to most any more who couldnt give a toss about Britain. Then we come to you... Full of disdain, full of mockery, yet still utterly fixated. Something more must be going on there.

More to the point though, you have suggested that "the Yanks" were completely unenthused by the whole affair, suggesting that as a nation they unanimously laughed and mocked London's attempt to put on a show. The reaction from many of their large (larger than Forbes) media outlets would suggest this isn't quite the case though.

goodie2shoes

ThomasFlynn wrote: »

Ireland are really hit and miss at sports, sometimes they overproduce, like in Rugby and Golf, but can't produce a single tennis player. Heck they're even better are cricket then they are tennis.

yes cycling is another good example, of how we produced 2 world beaters during the '80s and very little of note thereafter.

don't get me wrong i wish the Brits well, but the tabloidesque (is that a word?) flag-waving is both amateurish & nauseating.

and as me granny used to say "self praise is no praise"

Nite!:)

Jimoslimos

Richard Hillman wrote: »

Its a very poor record. What i think is worst is that we have only won medals in 4 different events; Boxing, Athletics, Sailing and Swimming (although the swimming medals are very tainted). Im watching the Olympics and all the different events cursing that i wasted so much of my youth playing football. Out of those 4 events we excel at Boxing but we cant compete at Athletics anymore because of our genetics. We can compete at sailing but in Swimming we dont have a sufficeint swimming programme to compete Internationally. The likes of the Aussies, Americans and Chinese are competing at a high level in secondary school. How many secondary schools in Ireland even have swimming pools? We've only had a full size swimming pool in Ireland just over 10 years.

In Ireland we tend to brush aside people who are not good at football, GAA or rugby and just tar them as "not naturaly sporty". In my school all we did for PE was play football. People who didnt like football just sat it out. I would imagine that is replicated all over the country. How many people that sit out PE every week in Ireland would be good at the likes of Archery, Badminton, Fencing or Judo?

We need to lower the emphasis on the trinity of Football, GAA and Rugby and make more sports accessable.

Other sports, tend to cost a lot more, whether in terms of equipment or technical training. It's much easier to throw a ball to some kids and say 'kick'.

DEFTLEFTHAND

goodie2shoes wrote: »

yes cycling is another good example, of how we produced 2 world beaters during the '80s and very little of note thereafter.

don't get me wrong i wish the Brits well, but the tabloidesque (is that a word?) flag-waving is both amateurish & nauseating.

and as me granny used to say "self praise is no praise"

Nite!:)

Sean Kelly was a class act. Stephen Roche has many questions to answer.

Panthro

So apparently an Irish athlete got probed at the Olympics.
Story here

Probed...

Hehehehe!:pac:

DEFTLEFTHAND

Panthro wrote: »

So apparently an Irish athlete got probed at the Olympics.
Story here

Probed...

Hehehehe!:pac:

Any word on who it is yet?

Panthro

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

Any word on who it is yet?

I can't see any mention of a name yet

Samich

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

Any word on who it is yet?

Well it's definitely not Katie Taylor

I'll have a guess at one of the boxers or one of the horse riders, dodgy them wans :P

Richard Hillman

Jimoslimos wrote: »

Richard Hillman wrote: »

Its a very poor record. What i think is worst is that we have only won medals in 4 different events; Boxing, Athletics, Sailing and Swimming (although the swimming medals are very tainted). Im watching the Olympics and all the different events cursing that i wasted so much of my youth playing football. Out of those 4 events we excel at Boxing but we cant compete at Athletics anymore because of our genetics. We can compete at sailing but in Swimming we dont have a sufficeint swimming programme to compete Internationally. The likes of the Aussies, Americans and Chinese are competing at a high level in secondary school. How many secondary schools in Ireland even have swimming pools? We've only had a full size swimming pool in Ireland just over 10 years.

In Ireland we tend to brush aside people who are not good at football, GAA or rugby and just tar them as "not naturaly sporty". In my school all we did for PE was play football. People who didnt like football just sat it out. I would imagine that is replicated all over the country. How many people that sit out PE every week in Ireland would be good at the likes of Archery, Badminton, Fencing or Judo?

We need to lower the emphasis on the trinity of Football, GAA and Rugby and make more sports accessable.

Other sports, tend to cost a lot more, whether in terms of equipment or technical training. It's much easier to throw a ball to some kids and say 'kick'.

Fully understand. I just think that its sad that during the Celtic Tiger we never created what should have been a sporting legacy when we had the chance. For the 2016 Olympics and the future our only hopes for gold will probably be Boxing and now Golf. Neither to do with sporting programs in schools. Our footballing prowess will be the same as always, GAA won't change because we don't compete against anybody and we should still be strong at rugby.

Notorioux

I feel sorry for that kieran behan lad

DEFTLEFTHAND

Notorioux wrote: »

I feel sorry for that kieran behan lad

Sad alright, the poor kid choked under pressure. Although to become an Olympian with his medical background is very admirable. I'm sure he'll compete at a games again.

Hercule Poirot

And on to day 2....:)

http://www.rte.ie/sport/olympics/2012/0729/331011-olympics-day-2-when-are-the-irish-in-action/

Gives a rough idea of when our Irish athletes are on today

steve9859

Happyman42 wrote: »

Do you think it was good sports journalism to do what they did before the cycling race or not? Is that what you expect of 'good' sports journalism, to not countenance the possibility of defeat? I can understand the Sun indulging in it, considering the demographic that buys that, but is it right for the BBC to be engaging in it?

What should you care? It's a foreign TV channel....you have your own TV if I remember rightly...

Colmustard

10.15 the dressage, horsey stuff, I always find people who are big into horses look like horse, except Zara Phillips, Zara Phillips is a ride.
I do watch and I do be truly baffled as to what is this about.

jinxremoving

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

Panthro wrote: »

So apparently an Irish athlete got probed at the Olympics.
Story here

Probed...

Hehehehe!:pac:

Any word on who it is yet?

Named on front page of independent website today!

Truman Burbank

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

Ireland's hopes seem firmly set on Katie. Surely to christ we can bring something else home

Profile, picture and prospects for each athlete
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056704963

fryup

jinxremoving wrote: »

Named on front page of independent website today!

linky please

Tipsy McSwagger

Peter O' Leary is the accused.

Hercule Poirot

Mel Nocher with a rather rather disappointing 1.02.44 in the 100m backstroke - probably won't make the semi-final

She didn't make it - we did everything we could

Colmustard

You always know when the Irish are swimming they are the ones with the armbands.

Happyman42

steve9859 wrote: »

What should you care? It's a foreign TV channel....you have your own TV if I remember rightly...

I don't particularily, but seems it's wrong to even dare to have an opinion on something, that is noticed by most outsiders, here though. :rolleyes: The crude expression of Britian's superiority complex used to be the preserve of the tabloid press like The Sun, but it has crept into all areas of the BBC (who should know better and who are paid to be better) as telly dumbs down. Lastyt night, Hardtalk on the news channel was even asking some sporting talking-head, the compliment seeking leading question, '3 times now, do you think London is the perfect venue for these games?':rolleyes:

Tox56

Happyman42 wrote: »

I don't particularily, but seems it's wrong to even dare to have an opinion on something, that is noticed by most outsiders, here though. :rolleyes: The crude expression of Britian's superiority complex used to be the preserve of the tabloid press like The Sun, but it has crept into all areas of the BBC (who should know better and who are paid to be better) as telly dumbs down. Lastyt night, Hardtalk on the news channel was even asking some sporting talking-head, the compliment seeking leading question, '3 times now, do you think London is the perfect venue for these games?':rolleyes:

I think you're taking this a little too personally, you should see the Spanish TV during sporting events, for example.

Happyman42

Tox56 wrote: »

I think you're taking this a little too personally, you should see the Spanish TV during sporting events, for example.

Fair enough, they do it to. Does that make it right and professional for the BBC to be doing it?
It was only a minor lighthearted criticism, until the denial posse here jumped on it. :rolleyes:

steve9859

Happyman42 wrote: »

I don't particularily, but seems it's wrong to even dare to have an opinion on something, that is noticed by most outsiders, here though. :rolleyes: The crude expression of Britian's superiority complex used to be the preserve of the tabloid press like The Sun, but it has crept into all areas of the BBC (who should know better and who are paid to be better) as telly dumbs down. Lastyt night, Hardtalk on the news channel was even asking some sporting talking-head, the compliment seeking leading question, '3 times now, do you think London is the perfect venue for these games?':rolleyes:

You should check out the American coverage....you'd think that there was only one country in the Olympics. You're being way too sensitive....

Hercule Poirot

Why are people surprised that the British Broadcasting Corporation employ people to talk about how great it is to be British? They get excited when they genuinely think they might get a medal, in events where they haven't much hope they are usually quite open/blunt about not having much chance. I don't really see the problem here.

Tox56

I don't really see the problem either, but if you do, just don't watch it. It's not aimed at an Irish audience after all.

ankles

Anyone know the depth of the pool in waterpolo? Are they treading water the whole time?

fryup

Tox56 wrote: »

I don't really see the problem either, but if you do, just don't watch it. It's not aimed at an Irish audience after all.

exactly, if ireland had the olympics would we be any different??

jayus!! some irish really need to get rid of that chip on their shoulder

Hercule Poirot

Sycerik McMahon on RTE/Eurosport now

steve9859

ankles wrote: »

Anyone know the depth of the pool in waterpolo? Are they treading water the whole time?

Yes.....it is a savage tough, and very physical sport. Don't know the depth, just that it's deep

Tox56

ankles wrote: »

Anyone know the depth of the pool in waterpolo? Are they treading water the whole time?

I don't know the depth but I'm pretty sure they're treading water all the time.

Happyman42

Tox56 wrote: »

I don't really see the problem either, but if you do, just don't watch it. It's not aimed at an Irish audience after all.

I've already said I enjoy it as I do watching any overly cocky athlete getting toppled. It's those on here who seem to have a problem even acknowledging it exists and happens more and more.

LostBoy101

More sexy olympians.

Sania Mirza - India
http://www.helloraipur.com/images/person/big/23.jpg

Naz Ayedmir - India
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1U7QTd6LqMI/SyrErtvih3I/AAAAAAAAFf8/AmJpaX5ev6I/s400/naz+aydemir.jpg

Cibulkova - Slovakia
http://cdn.bleacherreport.net/images_root/slides/photos/002/325/175/53DominikaCibulkova-russianwomentruth_display_image.jpg?1339871940

Sara Ramirez
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3060/3109821573_615af531af_z.jpg?zz=1

M.Pestoska
http://i2.ytimg.com/vi/ixmEcASheZ4/mqdefault.jpg

Voula Papachristou
http://theoriginalgreenwichdiva.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Voula-Papachristou.jpg

Jelena Jankovic
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/Jelena_Jankovi%C4%87.jpg

Tania Cagnotto - Italy
http://cdn.blogosfere.it/styleandfashion/images/Cagnotto%20%28Large%29-anteprima-600x824-722148.jpg

Federica Pellegrini - Italy
http://renatocapponpuntoit.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/pellegrini.jpg?w=700&h=