Olympics

[Kaysea]

I can fall asleep to the sound of football too.  Pretty boring.

*runs and hides quickly*

No no no....when Liverpool is playing I will watch, but when Arsenal is playing I'll fall asleep, unless they're up against Man United or Chelsea, then I'll sit up and watch and actually barrack for Arsenal.  It's the only time Mark and I will barrack for the same teams. LOL

He'll barrack for Liverpool against Man U or Chelsea, we have common enemies.

[Amanda N]

Actually, I find American Football boring.

Real football...I've never really been able to watch it to know.

[emma]

I can fall asleep to the sound of football too.  Pretty boring.

*runs and hides quickly*

No no no....when Liverpool is playing I will watch, but when Arsenal is playing I'll fall asleep, unless they're up against Man United or Chelsea, then I'll sit up and watch and actually barrack for Arsenal.  It's the only time Mark and I will barrack for the same teams. LOL

He'll barrack for Liverpool against Man U or Chelsea, we have common enemies.

Just so long as Liverpool play better than they did on Wednesday against Liege.  They're odds on to beat Sunderland this afternoon.  It's on the one sports channel I refuse top pay for, but I live close enough to pick up BBC Radio Merseyside.  BBC Radio 5 has Hull vs Fulham as the big game this afternoon, you might be able to get that on the internet. The early TV game here is Arsenal vs West Brom, and tomorrow has Chelsea vs Portsmouth (FA Cup winners) and Man Utd vs Newcastle.  So with that and 'Match of the Day' later, I'm going to be sported out!!!

[Kaysea]

[quote="emma
Just so long as Liverpool play better than they did on Wednesday against Liege.  They're odds on to beat Sunderland this afternoon.  It's on the one sports channel I refuse top pay for, but I live close enough to pick up BBC Radio Merseyside.  BBC Radio 5 has Hull vs Fulham as the big game this afternoon, you might be able to get that on the internet. The early TV game here is Arsenal vs West Brom, and tomorrow has Chelsea vs Portsmouth (FA Cup winners) and Man Utd vs Newcastle.  So with that and 'Match of the Day' later, I'm going to be sported out!!![/quote]

Wonder of wonders, Mark actually turned the channel from the Olympics to watch his beloved Arsenal play. LOL

I didn't have to contend with either because I was out scrapbooking at the time. *yay*

And I haven't heard how Liverpool did against Sunderland??

[emma]

I saw the Arsenal game, well 85 minutes of it and missed the only goal ;) Then I watched the Hull game on the internet, the only new team to win! Liverpool beat the Mackems 1-0, I saw it on Match of the Day, Torres on 83 minutes.

So I'm happuy because I have Torres in my Fantasy league team and scoring goals means extra points.  Got Stevie G. as well and as he got the Man of the Match, that's bonus points as well ;)

[Cali]

Michael Phelps wins EIGHT gold medals!!!

[Kaysea]

Michael Phelps wins EIGHT gold medals!!!

Was there any doubts?  Even I had heard all the hype about the super fish. LOL

The aussies have had a bad Olympics as far as individual events - and he's the reason! LOL  

Well done to the lad.

[Cali]

:D  The US is still over the moon this morning with his achievement, and the best thing is that he is so humble about it all.  He's just a sweet kid who loves to swim and he can't stop talking about how his teammates are amazing and how they're the ones who deserve the hype.  He even seems more excited for the relay wins than for the individual wins.  To show how much fanboy love there is for Phelps in the states, Baltimore had a preseason football game last night and when it was over, all 80,000 fans stayed at the stadium to watch his last relay on the jumbo screens.

I remember Ian Thorpe being the wonder of the Sydney games, I wonder who will be the big name in London?  Phelps has said that he's not going to do 8 next time, he's going to enter 4-5 maybe depending on how things go, so that leaves room for somebody else to be the star.  Of course, I don't think anyone will come close to 8 for another 20 years, but you never know.  

[Eimi]

Yeah, it's been talked about here a bit too.  But Japan has their own swimming hero to focus on - Kitajima.

Is it my imagination or is there a bit of a "cold war" feel between America and China?  It seems it's a race to see who can get more medals...  Is that just how the media portaits it?  Or is it a big deal in the states?  Sometimes its hard to tell from over here XD

[Cali]

I've noticed the medal count seems to be a race between the two for sure :D  The only anti-China stuff I've seen here in the US is about some of their gymnasts not being old enough to compete.  I guess you have to be 16, and some of their female gymnasts look about 12-14.  The birth records say they are very young 16, but those have been forged in the past and no one can find any background info on these girls before last year. (I'm of the mind that they should drop the age limit.  If a 12 or 14 yr old is good enough to compete in the olympics then they should be allowed.  I guess the US national champ is only 14 so she couldn't go this year) Other than that, the portrayal has been more positive than I would have thought actually.  I'm personally a bit annoyed they don't mention the human rights violations more... it seems that all is forgiven since they put on a nice fireworks show  :geek:

[emma]

You mean a nice faked firework show ;)

We shall see what happens in 2012

[Cali]

Oh yes, I heard about that, and girls lip synching too.  Though honestly, I don't have a problem with either.  They did have fireworks at the event, they just didn't want the helicopters filming overhead when they did it so they cgi'd some for TV.  And the girls were the two finalists and the prettier girl got the face time while the better singer got the air time.  The whole thing is a performance, it's not like it hasn't been done on tv and musical performances before.

[Amanda N]

(I'm of the mind that they should drop the age limit.  If a 12 or 14 yr old is good enough to compete in the olympics then they should be allowed.

Cali,

I think there are a couple of reasons why they raised the age limit.  First is the stress that such intense training prior to the Olympics puts on such a young body.  Second, it's the psychological pressure these children are under.  That can't be good for them either.

[Paula]

I read from our sunday paper a story about chinese girl (weightlifter) who hadn't seen her parents since she was twelve. She had been taken from them so she could be trained by the goverment. Kind of reminds me of the system DDR and Sovjet Union used to have.

[Cali]

I understand that the stress and pressures are damaging to the kids, but it's not only for the olympics that that do this.  They compete in international events every year from the time they're like 10.  And the Olympics allow 14 and 15 year old swimmers and divers... so what's the difference with gymnastics?  Injuries maybe?  but still, they get injuries at World's and Nationals and in just practicing.  *shrugs* I don't know, the whole thing just seems a bit silly to have such a huge scandal over.  

I'm getting bummed now though, Swimming is over, and gymnastics are soon too.  I don't really like the track and field stuff much, so I'm not sure what I'm going to be watching this next week :(