Olympics

[tornado]

I know we're going to be talking about the Olympics and the competition started today...

In women's soccer - the US had a scare....they fell behind 2-0 in the first 15 minutes to a solid French squad...then score four unanswered goals to win 4-2.
Here's a link to results and replays of the goals...

http://www.nbcolympics.com/soccer/results-schedules/index.html

If you're looking at the schedule wondering when the USA men's soccer team is scheduled to play, then you haven't been keeping up...

http://articles.latimes.com/2012/mar/27/sports/la-sp-olympic-usa-soccer-20120327

[tornado]

story on Olympic basketball, Hersey Hawkins, the Peoria Caterpillars...

http://www.pjstar.com/sports/x2078606367/USA-hoops-rich-in-Peoria-ties?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

[BUFanatic]

If you're looking at the schedule wondering when the USA men's soccer team is scheduled to play, then you haven't been keeping up...
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/mar...occer-20120327

I'm not worried about Bradley's future, I'm worried about the USMNT's future.

[Da Coach]

Maybe another Olympic scandal brewing?
The 2 London Olympic mascot outfits, Wenlock and Mandeville, were made in a Chinese sweatshop-

http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/sports/2012/07/27/watchdog-olympics-mascots-made-in-china-sweatshops/

Are those things ugly, or what?-


These mascots have been widely ridculed for their silly, and unattractive appearance. Some critics believe the London Olympic Committee could have sold millions of dollars more in merchandising if they had made them more kid-friendly, instead of the amorphous blob with no feet and one humongous eye.
BTW, here are the supposed inspitations for the design-


BTW- here are some other funny Olympic mascots from the past-

http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/47533

[tornado]

they are indeed ugly and they are named after a town & a hospital for PC-reasons...
Several people have also written of their ugly & silly appearance - http://is.gd/Lek5Al - http://is.gd/g4p2T4 - http://is.gd/v9zCra

[BUFanatic]

Nothing beats the Fuwa!!! hehehe

[SFP]

Honestly those things are UGLY and they look like parking meters! BUFanatic you are right the Fuwas are much better! Again just about anything is better then a design that looks like a cross between a lobster and a parking meter.

[BUFanatic]

Honestly those things are UGLY and they look like parking meters! BUFanatic you are right the Fuwas are much better! Again just about anything is better then a design that looks like a cross between a lobster and a parking meter.

Oh good I thought it was just me. I thought it was all bias from being the first Olympics I really followed but now no!

[Da Coach]

A minor Olympic "scandal", since not many people care about doubles badminton. But 8 female badminton players from China, South Korea, and Indonesia have been disqualified from further Olympic play for intentionally losing matches in their pool play in order to get a more favorable draw in the elimination round.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/london/story/2012-07-31/Badminton-players-charged-with-throwing-matches/56630488/1

The teams from Indonesia and South Korea are appealing their disqualification. The Chinese duo was booed loudly during their match Tuesday in which they appeared to lose intentionally to the South Korean pair. The Chinese pair were the #1 ranked team in the world, yet they repeatedly hit shots into the net and out of bounds, and made little effort to go after the shots made by their opponents, clearly trying to save their energy, and lose as quickly as possible. This deliberate losing strategy has apparently been used in the past by the Chinese, but this is the first time any punitive actions have been taken.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/31/olympic-badminton-booed-off_n_1726361.html

http://www.macon.com/2012/07/31/2116408/badminton-booed-after-top-doubles.html

The Chinese team didn't help their cause much when they said this after their sham match-

"We would try hard in every match if they were elimination games," she said. "Because they are group stage, that's why we are conserving energy.

"If we're not playing the best it's because it doesn't matter - if we're the first or the second (in the group) we're already through. The most important thing is the elimination match tomorrow."

[Da Coach]

In other scandal news- concern is growing about another Chinese athlete, female swimmer Ye Shiwen. The 16 year old has already clocked a faster time in the water for the 400 meter IM than the male world record holder at the same distance, the U.S.'s Ryan Lochte. She won another gold medal yesterday in the 200 meter IM, setting another Olympic record.
So far, she has passed all her doping tests, but many believe her performance is tainted.

http://news.discovery.com/adventure/ye-shiwen-doping-scandal-olympic-swimming-120801.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/31/ye-shiwen-chinese-olympic-doping_n_1726106.html

By the way, there is no verification of the rumor that she was late arriving for her medal ceremony yesterday because she had to shave again.

[tornado]

she not only had to shave but she used the men's restroom

[Da Coach]

And finally-

Here is a contrived scandal involving Kobe Bryant-

http://global.christianpost.com/news/vanessa-bryant-arrives-in-london-amid-kobe-partying-shirtless-scandal-79148/

And some gymnastics fans consider the new scoring system scandalous. It has resulted in one US female gymnast, who happened to be the reigning World Champion Jordan Weiber, achieving the 4th best overall score (due to some suspiciously low scored from some judges, yet being eliminated from the finals in the overall competition, while dozens of other gymnasts who scored far lower were allowed to advance. That is because mew Olympic rules now allow only 2 participants from any one country to advance, regardless of their scores.

http://www.buddytv.com/articles/olympics/olympics-2012-scandal-takes-ce-46841.aspx

And one final scandal that should concern all of us- NBC was able to conspire with Twitter to shut off the Twitter feed of one journalist who NBC thought was too critical of the Olympics coverage.

http://www.geekwire.com/2012/guy-adams-twitter/

[tornado]

Here's an excellent little known and little used technique that always gets your players performing better!!

The Tunisian basketball head coach slaps on of his players hard right across the face while in the pregame huddle

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/olympics-fourth-place-medal/tunisia-basketball-coach-slap-player-face-team-usa-143519876--oly.html

BTW -- can we get a little less screen time for competetors' moms?? We literally miss significant parts of the competitions because NBA thinks we gottas see mom's face every 30 seconds

[Da Coach]

The Tunisian basketball head coach slaps on of his players hard right across the face while in the pregame huddle
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/olympi...9876--oly.html

=


and if we are taking requests, please give us less of Ryan Seacrest.

[FlyingSpaghettiMonster]

I don't have an issue with the badminton teams throwing games once they've qualified for the next round. It doesn't seem different than resting your starters once the playoff seed is set. Hopefully the croquet and bocce teams will learn not to purposefully lose.