I'm really starting to get frustrated with these subjective events at the olypics...figure skating, synchronized swimming, gymnatics....I'm looking at you!

We lost out on a bronze medal because of in aincorrect calculation. Now, in now way, shape or form am I suggesting the the Romanian athlete be stripped of his medal, because it wasn't his fault the judges screwed up.
But if there are certain standards that are supposed to be adhered to, then they should be! If a fall requires a minimum deduction then the competitor should get that minimum deduction. Now the trick is to get judges world wide to agree what consititutes a fall/slip up, etc, etc.

I realize that these sports take a lot of athletic ability and skill, but if the sport federation can't agree on minimum standards, then maybe they shouldn't be olympic events?

Grrrr....this is just a rant really. I'm very proud of Kyle Shewfelt. This is not just a Canadian issue. This happens to far too many athletes all over the world.

Unfortunately this is not the first time this has happened to Canada. For me it just conjured up the whole figure skating situation in Salt Lake.

last night they had ANOTHER scoring controversy in the men's gymnastic high bar. something about the judge giving the russian dude low scores and the crowd stared to boo for like 10 minutes. did anyone catch that?

Oh yeah.

There is going to be some major gymnastics scoring fallout after this!

That is so true. It's happened to us in synchronized swimming too.

The gymnastics scoring was very confusing last night. It also reminds me of the figure skating controversies of the past.

I saw that -- it was nuts. After the crowed booed and the head of the competition came out and talked to the two judges who scored him way too low, they changed their scores but he was still in last place of the people who had performed. It was crazy.

What I really don't understand is why there were so many ties. I don't know if the judges talk to each other at all and know that there's going to be a tie, but it sort of seemed like they were doing it on purpose. The tie breaker procedure seems really bizarre.

ETA: Oh, and I forgot to add that I am still saying that Lithuania is going to win the gold in men's basketball. :)

Well, even though I feel like I have learned a lot about these sports like gymnastics, I still have to understand that these types of scoring techniques are pretty foreign to me... I think it is something that we all cannot really understand unless we are gymnastics buffs... No pun intended... Anyways, it doesn't ruin the competition, and the Russian athlete was super cool about it, he came out and asked the crowd to stop booing... It just shows you the sportmanship of many of these guys and girls...

Lithuania looks good, I wouldn't be surprised, I LOVE seeing these other teams play ball, it is so much fun...

Also, can ya'll believe that Jeremy Wariner kid from Baylor winning the 400-meters? He is a sophomore!!!

BRYAN WON SILVER IN THE DECATHLON!

He surpassed his personal best point total at 8820, 63 points behind Roman Seberle of the Czech Republic, who won the Gold.

At only 24, if he keeps this up, he'll definitely be in Beijing 2008!

Poor Perdita.

It is so sad. I wish they would stop replaying that race. She seems to be taking it in stride and handling herself very well. Yes, 4 years is a long time to wait, but hopefully we'll see her faster and stronger in 2008.

I feel sorry for the Australian rowers Sally Robbins. She is being villified by the entire nations. People need to relax.

Link to the Story

I didn't see the race, and I don't know if she truley was physically unable to continue or she just gave up. We will never know, because we're not her.
However, she will never row with thosewomen again. She may find another team, or she may have to row single. But she will never earn the trust of those women again.

The judges do not confer, they each score individually.
That night they obviously all kept scoring the same.

Well, maybe not SO super cool....in this article he mentions that he feels he should have had at least a bronze (which I personally would agree with, but as others in the interview said, he took a big step on his landing which cost him some points).

Is the NBC coverage that bad?

Which, of course, is exactly why they do it that way. You had to watch the entire Prime Time program instead of just a little part of it.

That makes their advertisers most joyful!

At least they've been putting up the "Coming Up in 13 Minutes" notices. Makes it a little better.

Yup. Let's me know when I can make popcorn or another drink.

I should say this. Having worked a Summer Olympics in TV Production, they do a masterful job of storytelling. There's no way to please everyone, and the logistics of what you see on the air are truely remarkable given the number of venues and events, amount of equipment, communications, etc.

Using their other networks (USA, CNBC, MSNBC, etc.) for long form coverage of some events really helps for the purist.

CBC SPORTS ONLINE - Less than 24 hours after she crashed into the first barrier of the 100-metre hurdles final and fell to the track in tears, Canadian Perdita Felicien was marveling at the support of fellow Canadians.

Felicien heartened by outpouring of Canadian support

She's taking this very well. Good for her!

On another note...

Holy crap! The Russian synchronized swimmers (duet) are amazing!!!!!! They desevered those scores and the gold medal!!

I was a little miffed at the low scores the Canadians got (I really thought they should have placed better than 6th...they weren't really medal contenders, but they swam better than Spain), but what can you do?

Congrats on Israel winning their first Gold ever! In Windsurfing...

The athlete did a great job with his board to take adavantage of all the wind he could.... again great technique.

On this note I'm going to have to ask a question.

They sing anthems for the medal winners correct? How do the people know the words??

For Israel they sang Hatikva. There is absolutely no way that the Japanese/Russian/Americans/etc. all knew the words. And I can't imagine that many fans being Israeli there. Maybe they were but seriously the words were pretty audible so it sounded like everyone was singing but again, how the heck are people knowing all these lyrics?

Is it staged??

-Rudey

Actually, they just play the anthem without any lyrics, just an orchestral track. You can only hear the words if enough fans from that nation are there at the ceremony to sing along. This has happened for the Greek athletes who've won gold. I guess there were just enough Israelis who attended the ceremony so that it could be heard. If you notice there were a lot of Israeli flags in the audience, so I'm assuming everyone came out to show support. Plus, Israel is closer to Greece than Japan/Russia/American.

The Nightmare Team Beat Spain 102-94(?)!

Congratulations to American Long Jumper Dwight Phillips, who I had the pleasure of meeting in Las Vegas last year! He won the gold medal and his teammate was the surprise silver medalist.

He's a genuinely nice and humble guy. (He's on the right)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...htPhillips.jpg

Congratulations to Adam van Koeverden for bringing Canada the Bronze in the K1 1000m and to Marie-Helene Premont for bringing Canada the Silver in Women's Mountain Bike.

YAY!
 

Congrads to Republica Dominica for winning its first Gold medal ever!! Felix Sanchez won in the 400m hurdles.

Well it's over for the "Dream Team".... they simply got out-played by Argentina. Argentina's team and positional play simply was beter than the US players....

They lost? Whoa.

I can just imagine the editorials and commentaries spelling the 'end of the world as we know it' because our poor excuse of a 'Dream Team' (excepting a couple of athletes) got their primadonna asses handed on a platter. The media hype surrounding them expecting them to get a gold was downright pathetic.

Better luck in 2008.

ITs all about the track and field and the swimming

Add the softball team who had shutouts except for that one hit in the gold medal game...and the women's soccer team...and the gymnastics events. It's not just swimming and track and field!

OH MAN how did you guys pick today to lose, you silly Lithuanians? Y'all have enough bronze medals, yo.

Yeah! More medals for us! A gold and bronze in kayaking (on top of the bronze we won the other day in kayaking) and a silver in sailing!

12 is pretty close to what they predicted we'd get (I think it was 14 or something like that?), so we shouldn't have been complaining ALL that much...:)

marathon controversy
 

Did anybody see it? Some lunatic grabbed the front runner and shoved him into the crowd. The crowd helped the runner get back on the track. He continued to lead for a little bit but then someone passed him. He ended up with the bronze. There has been a complaint filed with a request for a second gold to be awarded to him. What do you think?

Dee

Re: marathon controversy
 

It's the same whacko (a defrocked Irish Catholic priest who allegedly has mental problems involoving rabid Bible-thumping) who pulled a similar stunt at the British Grand Prix in Silverstone, England. Dodging Formula 1 race cars hauling ass at nearly 200 mph. (Wouldn't have been sorry if one of the drivers accidentally-on-purpose hit him).

Highly unlikely they'll award a second gold, however, along with the bronze medal he was also awarded the Baron Pierre de Coubertin medal for sportsmanship, something the IOC awards very rarely during the Olympics.

While that cockamamie stunt caused by that whacko cost the Brazilian the gold medal, his perseverance in completing the 26.2 mile marathon was what earned him the Coubertin medal - lesser men would have probably dropped out of the race.

It is over, it is done. The torch has been extinguished and passed on to Beijing, China where it will be relit in 2008.

Or, if you can't wait that long, there's the Winter Olympics in Torino (Turin), Italy in 2006.

Efkharisto, Athina! (Thank you, Athens!)

(For all you Greek-speakers, please forgive my schoolboy Greek. All I really know how to pronounce well is the secret motto of my fraternity, along with the usual Greek dishes and drinks! :))

the olympics sure did bring some of us together some nights

it was fun cheering on USA

I might be a big nerd, but I am really kinda bummed the Olympics are over. I watched so many events these past two weeks, it made me a little sad watching the closing ceremonies.:(