London 2012 Megathread [Part 1]

DebDynamite

Hercule Poirot wrote: »

Two questions:

Where did you find this?

And how long have you been waiting for a reason to use it?

Saw it on balls.ie yesterday. I saw the opportunity and went for it!

Mars Bar

garv123 wrote: »

Hurling and football might give it away

Derp!

Senior cycle had it on a tuesday 2 classes before lunch for a hour and 20 mins and then again thursday evening last 2 classes for a hour and a half

Using forth, fifth and sixth years meant there was over 300 people doing it so each sport had plenty of people to do training and get games going. GAA was always the biggest followed by soccer.

It also meant that the GAA could get a full training session in without having to do it after school when people had study.

The school was big into GAA, athletics and handball.

That's feckin' brilliant! I was in an all-girls school so about 50% of the girls had some excuse to get out of PE every week leaving about 10 people participating. Each class had a designated PE time. You couldn't do much with 8-10 people.

Although our school did win an All-Ireland Senior title and were runners-up in the Junior in football and have won numerous Connacht titles and we don't even have a football pitch.

Anybody else really want to go for a swim after watching that?

DebDynamite

Mars Bar wrote: »

Anybody else really want to go for a swim after watching that?

I'm not a very strong swimmer

However, if Ryan Lochte goes out to stud when he retires, I'll take one for the team and give birth to our next gold medal winner in swimming.

Colmustard

Jaysus I have been sitting here since 10 oclock this morning with a few breaks to eat and I am off work for the next week.

I'm going for a pint for the exercise.

opinion guy

Mars Bar wrote: »

Anybody else really want to go for a swim after watching that?

YES!

Blisterman

Scary Fact:
Michael Phelps has won more Olympic gold medals than every Irish athlete in history put together.

drquirky

westendgirlie wrote: »

Just out of interest, what sports did you all participate in via your schools curriculum and what country was that in?

Would be interesting to see a range of different countries to make comparisons with.

I'm from the Boston area and my school had: (Girls) Field Hockey, Soccer ,Lacrosse, Athletics, Rowing, Basketball, Ice Hockey and Swimming

Boys had:Athletics, Wrestling, Lacrosse, Rowing, Football (American and soccer) Basketball, Ice Hockey, Swimming and Baseball. I personally competed in Athletics, Wrestling and Baseball.

Just typing out that list its pretty interesting how different sports are available in the USA vs. Ireland.

DEFTLEFTHAND

Blisterman wrote: »

Scary Fact:
Michael Phelps has won more Olympic gold medals than every Irish athlete in history put together.

At 20 medals he's also not too far off our overall total of 23.

Richard Hillman

Blisterman wrote: »

Scary Fact:
Michael Phelps has won more Olympic gold medals than every Irish athlete in history put together.

He's actually won twice as many :cool:

Gandhi

Blisterman wrote: »

Scary Fact:
Michael Phelps has won more Olympic gold medals than every Irish athlete in history put together.

Yeah, but has he won the Eurovision two years running?

keith16

Colmustard wrote: »

Jaysus I have been sitting here since 10 oclock this morning with a few breaks to eat and I am off work for the next week.

I'm going for a pint for the exercise.

Have been sitting here all day too!

I feel we have done a good shift here today Colmustard

Colmustard

Richard Hillman wrote: »

He's actually won twice as many :cool:

By the looks of it he will win 3 times as many.

The greatest Olympian ever,

el diablo

westendgirlie wrote: »

I live in Leitrim

Wow, what's that like?

Colmustard

keith16 wrote: »

Have been sitting here all day too!

I feel we have done a good shift here today Colmustard

Yeah someone has to do it, I thoroughly enjoyed it to.

tayto lover

I have to say I am really enjoying this Olympics, even the sports i hadn't much interest in previously. It is brilliant and compulsive viewing.
Also a big "well done" to the BBC for their excellent coverage.

Colmustard

tayto lover wrote: »

I have to say I am really enjoying this Olympics, even the sports i hadn't much interest in previously. It is brilliant and compulsive viewing.
Also a big "well done" to the BBC for their excellent coverage.

I have to say I am enjoying this thread as well, its a good complement to the games, some great contributions and so far its stayed roughly on topic.

steelcityblues

I honestly think Michael Phelps is the greatest sportsperson in history.

tayto lover

steelcityblues wrote: »

I honestly think Michael Phelps is the greatest sportsperson in history.

I have a bit of a doubt over that though. If you are a great swimmer then it's easy to adept to other styles of swimming. If you are a cyclist or a weight lifter then the other events don't suit you at all so your chances of winning numerous medals at the same Olympics are greatly diminished compared to swimming.

tayto lover

Talking about weight lifting i'm off to lift a big hamburger now.

DebDynamite

tayto lover wrote: »

Also a big "well done" to the BBC for their excellent coverage.

+ 1

The red button feature has been excellent. I wonder will there be any further advances in TV for the next Olympics.

steelcityblues

tayto lover wrote: »

I have a bit of a doubt over that though. If you are a great swimmer then it's easy to adept to other styles of swimming. If you are a cyclist or a weight lifter then the other events don't suit you at all so your chances of winning numerous medals at the same Olympics are greatly diminished compared to swimming.

He has mastered all of the freestyle, butterfly and medley, so he's done enough for me. It is all subjective though, just my own opinion.

BraziliaNZ

Watching the hockey now, the bodies on these women are absolutely perfect for me, I would crawl through a mile of glass to be in the same postcode as any of them...
Or I could just get on the tube to Stratford!
Also Barry Davies commentating, what a man and voice, loved when he did football, so much better than the over the top Sky nonsense nowadays.

Gandhi

westendgirlie wrote: »

Just out of interest, what sports did you all participate in via your schools curriculum and what country was that in?

Would be interesting to see a range of different countries to make comparisons with.

Small boys' school (350 students) in Cork City.

Hurling and football were the only sports with some bit of scheduling and structure to them. One science teacher who was also the main hurling coach discounted football as being a "foreign game". I was never sure if he meant it was too close to soccer, or if it was a West Cork game for culchies. He could just as easily have meant either.

There was basketball which consisted of a few lads after school throwing a ball through the nets in the school hall while a teacher sat reading the paper in the corner.

We also had cross-country running which consisted of me and (sometimes) one other fella walking half a mile to the nearest decent-sized school and training with their cross-country team.

markie29

the basketball between GB and Spain is very good....i wont spoil the result for those who want to watch(if its been shown) with the rte commentator 2moro

Gandhi

tayto lover wrote: »

I have a bit of a doubt over that though. If you are a great swimmer then it's easy to adept to other styles of swimming. If you are a cyclist or a weight lifter then the other events don't suit you at all so your chances of winning numerous medals at the same Olympics are greatly diminished compared to swimming.

While I see your point, he is also competing in each event against people who specialize in the one event. It is rare even in swimming to have an all-rounder like Phelps who dominates so much of it. Otherwise the final of every swimming event would have more or less the same 8 people, but that is not the case.

keith16

markie29 wrote: »

the basketball between GB and Spain is very good....i wont spoil the result for those who want to watch(if its been shown) with the rte commentator 2moro

SHAKE AND BAKE!

My name is URL

Gary Lineker is seriously annoying. "Well that was a terrific display.. let's have a look back now at the terrific moments from today.. well, wasn't that all just terrific?"

Is he being sarcastic or have all those terrific crisps clogged up the language part of his brain?

markie29

cannot believe the end to that game :S naive play there

steelcityblues

tayto lover wrote: »

I have to say I am really enjoying this Olympics, even the sports i hadn't much interest in previously. It is brilliant and compulsive viewing.
Also a big "well done" to the BBC for their excellent coverage.

Easier to get into the Olympics in European cities.

el diablo

How the fook did Anthony Ogogo (and his "sensitive moafff") win against the Ukranian? :eek:

joe316

Little piece on Jimmy Magee getting a replica torch, his 14th Olympics which in anybody's book is frankly amazing, well done Jimmy

keano_afc

The hometown decisions in the boxing are getting a little tedious.

Richard Hillman

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

Watching the hockey now, the bodies on these women are absolutely perfect for me, I would crawl through a mile of glass to be in the same postcode as any of them...
Or I could just get on the tube to Stratford!
Also Barry Davies commentating, what a man and voice, loved when he did football, so much better than the over the top Sky nonsense nowadays.

Barry Davies is still the finest commentator out there. He always brings class to any occasion. He was absolutely shafted by the BBC for football with his lack of big games. They always gave Motson the big matches (until he went a bit mad).

BraziliaNZ

Richard Hillman wrote: »

Barry Davies is still the finest commentator out there. He always brings class to any occasion. He was absolutely shafted by the BBC for football with his lack of big games. They always gave Motson the big matches (until he went a bit mad).

Yes a class act, I remember watching Cameroon V Ireland in the world cup 2002 because I knew he was commentating

steelcityblues

My name is URL wrote: »

Gary Lineker is seriously annoying. "Well that was a terrific display.. let's have a look back now at the terrific moments from today.. well, wasn't that all just terrific?"

Is he being sarcastic or have all those terrific crisps clogged up the language part of his brain?

Dan Walker on BBC3 is a super cool and likeable presenter - they really should be reversed.

steelcityblues

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

Yes a class act, I remember watching Cameroon V Ireland in the world cup 2002 because I knew he was commentating

Actually, Motson's call for Keane's equaliser vs Germany that year was brilliant: 'Look at these scenes, just look at these scenes'

steelcityblues

I noticed that when they don't do really well at the swimming, Australia don't get many medals.

G.A.Ay

keano_afc wrote: »

The hometown decisions in the boxing are getting a little tedious.

You're just bitter that Team Gb are cleaning up while Team Ireland are happy with 10th place finishes.:pac:

keith16

watching the basketball now. USA v Nigeria. The US are scoring 3 pointers at will. It's pretty much target practice. 38-15 and there is still two mins left in the first quarter.

keith16

This is ridiculous. They are literally scoring a 3pointer with every shot.

Diego Maradona

LeBron James is unreal. USA are brilliant to watch.

keith16

Diego Maradona wrote: »

LeBron James is unreal. USA are brilliant to watch.

Class by Durant just now! This is a great spectacle!

tayto lover

I suppose i'm a bit late realizing that there's more to sport than GAA and Soccer but you never stop learning. I'm surprising myself at how easy it is to get into and really enjoy other sports.

keith16

tayto lover wrote: »

I suppose i'm a bit late realizing that there's more to sport than GAA and Soccer but you never stop learning. I'm surprising myself at how easy it is to get into and really enjoy other sports.

Nothing like the Olympics for getting into a load of sports. How was that burger?

tayto lover

keith16 wrote: »

Nothing like the Olympics for getting into a load of sports. How was that burger?

I think I broke two records, lifting and eating it.

bilston

DebDynamite wrote: »

+ 1

The red button feature has been excellent. I wonder will there be any further advances in TV for the next Olympics.

This isn't an advance in the actual coverage output per se and it may not even be appropriate for this thread but since you asked there was this report on the BBC's website last week about Super Hi Vision TV and how it was being tested at the London Olympics. To put Super Hi Vision into perspective the picture is allegedly 16 times sharper than HD which in turn is 4 times sharper than SD (Standard Definition) TV. This isn't going to be rolled out by the time the next Olympics come around or probably even for the 2020 Olympics but perhaps in the next 10-15 years we'll see it. Apparently those that witnessed the test broadcast were blown away by it.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-19049341

As for the TV coverage in Rio the problem for us is that it will be about 4 hours behind which means the big events are going to be on at Midnight, which will be a pain in the arse for the midweek events if you're at work the next day.

DEFTLEFTHAND

Was just down in the gym at my local pool and the place is jammed with Michael Phelps wannabees, the swimming bug has caught on. These aren't children either, 35 year old fellas thrashing in the water like fish on hooks.

I'll give it 2 weeks at best before their interest wains.

fryup

i reckon the women's gymnastics can be very bitchy

keith16

USA now have a 60% success rate with the 3 pointers, with Anthony scoring 10 from 12 attempts.

johnmcdnl

Carmelo Anthony 10/12 3pts so far holy ****.. Only just turned it over just there but this is a ridicilous scoreline.. Assuming Nigeria are just plain ****e and not USA being unreal