Olympics

[a bebop a rebop]

Evidently Google does. Search for Turin and you get Torino. It's wacky, jack.

[Dan-O from Five-O]

Turin seems to produce the same results, but those bastards at NBC must have bribed Google to put Torino on their map.

In other news, Bode (pronounced: drunken, loudmouth, self grandizing, loser American asshole) Miller continues his dominance in the "Medals don't really matter to me" category of the Olympics.

[jack]

when i look at a map, i look at an english map, seeing as it's the only language i speak.

so if your logic is correct........

this



should actually be called this

北京2008 年

but it won't be.

[Spud]

After all, these are the American Olympics, right?

[mkilly]

So you're accepting that that's the logo of the 2008 Olympic Games, right?

Here's the official logo for Torino 2006:


I imagine if the Beijing Olympics Committee had decided to call it the local name they would have. It seems this wasn't an arbitrary decision on the part of NBC to call it something it isn't, because at the official sites, and as mentioned inside the logo, it's the local, Italian, "Torino."

[boltoph]

I don't think sliding down hills in various ways is really a sport

you've gotta be fuckin kidding. Do you have any idea how much skill and balls it takes to do that? 120 mph, bitch. In spandex. no protection. well, maybe if you were a eunuch you'd not have the balls...but you'd have the gaul...

the olympics are a time honored tradition, bringing the whole world together, and breaking it apart at the same time. Do you not see the power in that?

I'm fuckin appalled at the lack of respect shown here. It's a disgrace to the world. This "Olympics" thread is a bunch of bullshit. I get the impression that none of you give a shit. You bitches should respect what happens in the olympics. All of those athletes deserve your respect. Just cause you are a "musician" you think you have something better? ha.

go ahead, knock my spelling and capitalization.

the way you all have treated this thread is a fuckin disgrace. One thing that brings us all together...God hope.

I'm not coming back to this thread. I'll talk about the Olympics to people who give a shit about people.

[Lyricburglar]

I don't think sliding down hills in various ways is really a sport

...I get the impression that none of you give a shit.

In my case you'd be right - I certainly don't give a shit about people sliding down hills in various ways

[Leaf]

But Australia won it's first ever Gold last night (on the back of a disgruntled Canadian ) in a downhill event? Where is your bragging about international dominance (dependant upon using disgruntled Canadians)??


I enjoy the Winter Olympics. I also enjoy reading the pseudo (echo, greatest Aussie band of the mid-80's, propelled to international stardom on the back of a cheesy American funk hit) arguements about what actual term should be used for the Olympics. I often wonder why the peoples of the world DON'T call a nation (or place for that matter) by the name that the locals use. Like Sweden. It's not really Sweden. And Japan? It's not Japan!!

oh, I remember why. Cause we're all a bunch of arrogant bastards!!! ...but not you...no, I meant everyone else..

GO CANADA!!!!
I enjoy the winter Olympics.

[Spud]

It's always been a mystery to me too, Leaf. And we don't just do it with place names.

"Hello, my name is Jorge."
"Well, dang nice to meetcha. We'll just call you George around here, if ya don't mind."
"But my name is Jorge."
"Ha ha ha. You're a funny guy, George."

[HeuristicsInc]

Yeah, many nations seem to call all the other ones by a name that's not the local name. It's not an English-speaking thing by any means.

But I think this topic is talked out.

I'm not sure what touched off Boltoph so much. A disgrace to the world? What is? I don't know where he could have gotten the idea that nobody here has respect for athleticism. Bizarre.

Anyway, uh, let's talk about sports. Hey, men's hockey has started. I wonder if all the athletes have made it to Torino yet

What's the Australia thing? I see the winner but I don't know what you mean. Evidently that Aus guy is an internet ad guy. Weird.
-bill

[Leaf]

Boltoph = teh smashed out of his gourd last night.

Spud: YEAH. That's more irritating than the country thing!!!!

Bill: Australia won a Gold in downhill skiing last night/yesterday. The skiier is actually a Canadian, who lives in Vancouver, but competes for Australia because he became disgruntled with the Canadian sports system. He's also worth 40 million, the bastard. And Carvan Ray and I have this little nationalistic rivalry founded on our secret mutual love and admiration of me. heheheh... I mean each other's glands... LANDS! Lands. ha.

How bout Switzerland beating the Czechs? Nice little upset there I'd say. AND Latvia tying the US?? They should have given those athletes (like the NHL players I mean) Sunday off so they could have been well rested for their first games... although it does create a little bit of a level playing field in men's hockey I suppose...maybe in 2010 they should send the American and Canadian women's hockey teams on a round the world trip to level the jet lag a bit so the other teams have a chance?

[starfinger]

Google made a big deal recently about how good a resource they were for olympic stuff, so it would make sense that they'd make it easy to find the location. (Hence google maps is not necessarily an unbiased, official atlas).

But hey i didn't realize they were even in Italy -- heck I hadn't even narrowed them down to Europe, so the correctness of any name choice is beyond me.

-craig

[boltoph]

I'm not sure what touched off Boltoph so much. A disgrace to the world? What is? I don't know where he could have gotten the idea that nobody here has respect for athleticism. Bizarre.

I was overly emotional last night, and get (overly) passionate about things that bring the world, and people together.
Kind of like when you mentioned that thing about hurricane Gert, a hurricane that never was...that died before becoming itself.

I guess I don't think it's all that bizarre that I got that impression from the banter in this thread though, in a way, when I read back through this, I still feel the same way. But I'm probably bizarre. And Leaf's right there...he actually heard my drunken voice last night ...anyway it's all good. Sorry about all the swears.

I'm glad you guys are talking about the sports Leaf and Bill. Thanks.

how bizarre, how bizarre...buy the rights, how bizarre

[Dan-O from Five-O]

About the only thing I wrote that was disrespectful of the athletes was the crack about Bode Miller. But he's an asshole, period. He's made bizarre comments about skiing drunk, unsupported accusations about Lance Armstrong and others using steroids, went on a self promotion tour in the months leading up to the Olympics and yet claims to care nothing about the media or his own fame. Now he's got Nike commercials on TV where he's talking about not getting how fans watching him train is helping him.

Dude, you're on TV for Nike. Shut the fuck up about not getting how fans being interested in you is helping you. Check your bank account if you need clarification.

[HeuristicsInc]

Heh, cool, no problems.

I'm still kinda peeved that the schedulers of these events saw fit to have the women's GOLD FINAL GAME on a weekday. What the hell?
Way to devalue the sport, people.
-bill

[john m]

the olympics are a time honored tradition, bringing the whole world together, and breaking it apart at the same time.

The summer olympics are a time-honored tradition. The winter olympics have only existed since 1924.

[Lyricburglar]

But Australia won it's first ever Gold last night .

No, not the first ever - Australia won 2 gold at the last one (and actually won by real Australians).

The best was Steve Bradbury who got gold in the skating-around-in-a-circle race. That was cool - there were about 5 blokes in the race - Steve was coming last, then at the last turn, all the others fell over and he cruised home. He became a national hero after that.

[pegor]

RE: the xenophobic pronouciation thing ......

I love going into a Starbucks and asking the kid for a chocolate cresent roll. The become so superior so suddenly. And yet when they correct me they don't pronounce the chocolate in French just the crousaunt part.

this is california and its a cresant roll dang nab it!

[a bebop a rebop]

Haha, I've never heard it called a 'crescent' roll and I'm from Alabama by way of Texas, neither of which are exactly centers of high culture.

[Leaf]

But Australia won it's first ever Gold last night .

No, not the first ever - Australia won 2 gold at the last one (and actually won by real Australians).

The best was Steve Bradbury who got gold in the skating-around-in-a-circle race. That was cool - there were about 5 blokes in the race - Steve was coming last, then at the last turn, all the others fell over and he cruised home. He became a national hero after that.

First down hill gold man. Not first gold at a olympics...I thought I said that, but maybe I didn't, and I'm gonna pretend that I can't go back and check..haha!



EDIT: ok... I looked back...and lo and behold!! I did say first gold in a downhill event..

[Lyricburglar]

EDIT: ok... I looked back...and lo and behold!! I did say first gold in a downhill event..

Isn't all the Winter Olypics involved withith sliding down hills? (except of course for the nancy-boy ice-dancing)

But Alisaa Camplin won gold 4 years ago in the "Cute-blonde-girl-slides-down-a-hill-and-does-a-somersault" event
http://www.alisacamplin.com/
isn't that a"downhill event"?

BTW: I just saw a sport I liked at the WOs. The 4-blokes-on-snowboards-racing-each-other event was really cool!

That's the problem with the Winter Olympics. Any sport that involves timing how fast somebody slides down a hill is stupid.

Any sport that involves people doing tricks while they slide down a hill, or slide about on ice - and receiving some sort of subjective score out of 10 is even more stupid.

BUT - a sport where 4 blokes slide down a hill together and actually race each other - that's cool - that's a sport - I'll watch that.

[HeuristicsInc]

BTW: I just saw a sport I liked at the WOs. The 4-blokes-on-snowboards-racing-each-other event was really cool!

Yeah, that was very exciting, actually (snowboard cross). It was amazing to me that one guy can be behind for a long time and then suddenly shoot to the lead. No idea how they do that, but of course I've never snowboarded either. The final race was really close, great finish.

We watched the men's ice skating too. I think Matt Savoie's programs were under-scored in both the short and the long, and he should have ranked higher. That whole event was pretty bleuh, actually; nobody really skated cleanly and even the winner (Plushenko)'s program was not inspiring. Oh well.
-bill