Random Thought Thread

Olympics have always been a big deal for us. Growing up, it was one of the rare opportunities for us to watch live television - it was kind of a treat. We don't watch every sport (I certainly don't have that kind of time) but we watched basketball, soccer (or football), gymnastics, some field & track, and a lot of the races. Ryan Crouser is an Oregon native and he took gold for the 3rd consecutive Olympics for shot put.

With respect, I don't know how it's a joke. I'm sure all the athletes who are putting it all out there for the world to see don't think it's a joke.
 
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Blues said:
I didn't watch it either...and anybody that knows me would think that would ever happen.
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Seems to be an oddly common sentiment this year.

This is the first Olympics I've ever not tuned into ANYTHING, from Opening to Closing.

I remember the 84 L.A. Olympics, where we went to a few events (lived in L.A. at the time), and set the VCRs to record most of the rest.

Probably changing/waning interest. I watched far less of the previous two, than in prior years.
 
Watched a lot of gymnastics and track and field, and a bit of other things here and there (swimming, diving). Men's 4x110 was a joke...again. Would've refused to swim in that f'ing cesspool river, and (shocker!) there was way too much drama right from the opening ceremony...every day people whining about something new.
 
I have nothing against the athletes. I respect the sweat, dedication and pain they put themselves through to be the best they can be. (I'm specifically referring to those who don't take shortcuts.)

I do pretty much despise the IOC and the manner in which they carry themselves and promulgate. But they've been a cancer for a long time, IMHO.

Rivalry between countries is fine, but I can root for any athlete who shows good sportsmanship and what was once considered the spirit of the games.

I just wasn't feeling it for these games, and I think that's my loss, not the athletes.

Further, affiant sayeth naught.
 
I was able to separate the athletics from all the drama (which I personally believe to be manufactured) and enjoy the events. Every day, I get told to be outraged by something, so I've learned to largely ignore it; it doesn't serve any useful purpose anymore.

I recall drama surrounding the Tokyo games, as well as the Rio games. I tuned it all out, similarly to how I tune out most sports commentary (seriously, people get paid (a lot) to say dumb shit).
 
ferider said:
B bluemax_1 - "This is the first Olympics I've ever not tuned into ANYTHING, from Opening to Closing."

Same here. With the exception of googling some videos on breaking in the aftermath. Including Australians :)
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I've seen various videos posted to the forums I'm on, but even with the breakdancing, I've just seem the comments and videos that were posted about it.

*** one in particular, that showed me how laughable breakdancing is as an Olympic sport, was posted on another forum, of the Japanese kid, Hiro, vs Victor from the US. The Japanese kid performed some incredibly difficult stunts, requiring extreme athleticism, yet they gave the win to Victor, whose performance didn't involve any tricks or moves of that caliber/difficulty, over whatever subjective criteria they used in judging.

There was only ONE video that I actually searched for, and couldn't find (they've been VERY prompt about taking the video down anytime it's posted somewhere), and that was the Tajik judoka who refused to shake the hand of his Israeli opponent, at the end of the match, then had his arm broken in the next match by the Japanese fighter who won Gold.

Some folks mentioned that it was karma. Some said that the Japanese judoka deliberately broke the Tajik's arm for showing disrespect to the sport, but people who have judo experience simply said that the Japanese judoka (who's very skilled and has won previous titles), simply executed a good throw, and the Tajik stuck out his arm to try to avoid the opponent winning by ippon, in effect, breaking his own arm (and something even beginners are explicitly warned not to do, BECAUSE of the high potential of injuring your own arm).

Still haven't managed to find a viewable clip of the throw, ro see for myself (there ARE throws in judo, that pose a significantly higher risk of injury to the uke/person being thrown, and certain ways to modify/execute a throw, that also increases the risk of severe injury. I wanted to see for myself, which category this incident fell into).
 
I only watched Track and Field and a little weight lifting. Most events shouldn't be in the Olympics as I see it so I simply don't watch them and I don't worry about medal counts since it includes all the nonsense events.
For me as a year round Track fan it was very exciting, but I don't see any point in non-fans tuning in. Reminds me of how I hate watching the Superbowl with people who don't know the game and mainly want to see the commercials.
 
Pàdruig said:
Olympics have always been a big deal for us. Growing up, it was one of the rare opportunities for us to watch live television - it was kind of a treat. We don't watch every sport (I certainly don't have that kind of time) but we watched basketball, soccer (or football), gymnastics, some field & track, and a lot of the races. Ryan Crouser is an Oregon native and he took gold for the 3rd year in a row for shot put.

With respect, I don't know how it's a joke. I'm sure all the athletes who are putting it all out there for the world to see don't think it's a joke.
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Crouser is awesome, I love some of the training videos he posts, like hip snatching 140kg for max velocity. You meant to say gold in 3 consecutive Olympics, not just 3 years in a row.
 
bluemax_1 said:
*** one in particular, that showed me how laughable breakdancing is as an Olympic sport, was posted on another forum, of the Japanese kid, Hiro, vs Victor from the US. The Japanese kid performed some incredibly difficult stunts, requiring extreme athleticism, yet they gave the win to Victor, whose performance didn't involve any tricks or moves of that caliber/difficulty, over whatever subjective criteria they used in judging.
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There are some "sports" that I am confused by their addition to the Olympics and breaking was the one that raised a lot of question marks for me this year. I don't know how you can objectively judge something so individualistically stylized. I didn't even know about it until much later in the games. I am not sorry I missed it.

EDIT: I just read that breaking is scrapped for 2028 games. I'm not shocked at all.


Oh, I forgot - I watched rugby too because those matches are ALWAYS entertaining.
 
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