The Olmypics thread *spoilers*

rick_chasey
rick_chasey Posts: 72,242
edited August 2012 in Commuting chat
To discuss all Olympic sports that aren't cycling :)




Seems that I love fencing.
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Comments

  • MonkeyMonster
    MonkeyMonster Posts: 4,628
    Always a little surprising to come in after a weekend and see that there are teams with so many golds and in fact just medals... Oh wait, no its just america v china for top spot.
    Le Cannon [98 Cannondale M400] [FCN: 8]
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  • jamesco
    jamesco Posts: 687
    Given the title, this seems appropriate ;)
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  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,242
    Have to say, I know this sounds really gimpy, but I much prefer watching olympic boxing to professional boxing.
  • Gizmo_
    Gizmo_ Posts: 558
    Have to say, I know this sounds really gimpy, but I much prefer watching olympic boxing to professional boxing.
    I agree. All that rubbish said about it being a beautiful sport is pretty lost in the 'show' of the professional game. The art of getting in, scoring a clean hit to get a point, not getting hit yourself... I like that.
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  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,242
    Gizmo_ wrote:
    Have to say, I know this sounds really gimpy, but I much prefer watching olympic boxing to professional boxing.
    I agree. All that rubbish said about it being a beautiful sport is pretty lost in the 'show' of the professional game. The art of getting in, scoring a clean hit to get a point, not getting hit yourself... I like that.

    It also seems less gratuitous. It's feels more like a sport and less like two people beating the sh!t out of one another.
  • jzed
    jzed Posts: 2,926
    Is the title typo a deliberate one, to wind Greg66 up?
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,242
    JZed wrote:
    Is the title typo a deliberate one, to wind Greg66 up?

    Just figured it was tradition for this part of the forum, no?

    Like Spoliers.

    Nothing to do with greg.
  • Ben6899
    Ben6899 Posts: 9,686
    Have to say, I know this sounds really gimpy, but I much prefer watching olympic boxing to professional boxing.

    Rick, it's much better. I put it down to the head guards, the scoring and the format.
    Ben

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  • Paulie W
    Paulie W Posts: 1,492
    Ben6899 wrote:
    Have to say, I know this sounds really gimpy, but I much prefer watching olympic boxing to professional boxing.

    Rick, it's much better. I put it down to the head guards, the scoring and the format.

    Amateur boxing is for people who dont actually like boxing - it's become a completely different sport.
  • Paulie W
    Paulie W Posts: 1,492
    Never really watched handball before but caught France hammering GB and quite enjoyed it as a spectacle.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,242
    Paulie W wrote:
    Ben6899 wrote:
    Have to say, I know this sounds really gimpy, but I much prefer watching olympic boxing to professional boxing.

    Rick, it's much better. I put it down to the head guards, the scoring and the format.

    Amateur boxing is for people who dont actually like boxing - it's become a completely different sport.

    Makes sense.
  • Ben6899
    Ben6899 Posts: 9,686
    Paulie W wrote:
    Ben6899 wrote:
    Have to say, I know this sounds really gimpy, but I much prefer watching olympic boxing to professional boxing.

    Rick, it's much better. I put it down to the head guards, the scoring and the format.

    Amateur boxing is for people who dont actually like boxing - it's become a completely different sport.

    Am I the exception to the rule? Because I like both.
    Ben

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  • Paulie W
    Paulie W Posts: 1,492
    Ben6899 wrote:
    Paulie W wrote:
    Ben6899 wrote:
    Have to say, I know this sounds really gimpy, but I much prefer watching olympic boxing to professional boxing.

    Rick, it's much better. I put it down to the head guards, the scoring and the format.

    Amateur boxing is for people who dont actually like boxing - it's become a completely different sport.

    Am I the exception to the rule? Because I like both.

    I think my point was that amateur boxing has become increasingly removed from the pro sport and is much closer to other striking sports like Karate and Taekwondo now - so it's quite possible to dislike pro boxing while enjoying the Olympic version because they don't have a lot in common any more.

    The scoring format drives me mad because it equally rewards the fighter who lands a wild 'slap' and the fighter who works to create an opening and lands a power shot. There is no direct reward for effective aggression, for slipping punches, or for inside work (because the judges often cant see it properly); head punches are favoured over body punches, and judges often only score one punch when a quick combination is landed because of the bizarre system of judges hitting buttons when they see a punch land!
  • Paulie W
    Paulie W Posts: 1,492
    Double post
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,242
    I guess I like the idea that it's a tactical battle rather than a slug fest.

    I don't get turned on seeing 2 enormous men stagger around for 40 minutes only for one sudden glancing blow to the chin which is still SO hard it KOs the other guy.
  • Ben6899
    Ben6899 Posts: 9,686
    Ah, I see where you're coming from now. It seems you know the slight differences much better than I do.

    And I didn't realise judges hit buttons to register identifying a punch... it must look like a giant video game from certain angles! :D
    Ben

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  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,242
    In other news, it seems to me that every single swimmer refuses to compete in their favoured disciplines.

    Every time I watched a race yesterday, they'd say "she's coming in good for the 100m from the 200m, her favourite race"

    Or "the favourite for this, the 200m freestyle, is the 100m world champion.." or whatever it was.

    WTF? If they're so similar, scrap it.

    One race every single favourite noted by the commentator on Eurosport was champion in another discipline to the one they were competing in.
  • TheStone
    TheStone Posts: 2,291
    They're very different, but I like them both.

    Why have they removed the scoring during the rounds? Mistake.
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  • Paulie W
    Paulie W Posts: 1,492
    I guess I like the idea that it's a tactical battle rather than a slug fest.

    I don't get turned on seeing 2 enormous men stagger around for 40 minutes only for one sudden glancing blow to the chin which is still SO hard it KOs the other guy.

    You havent really watched much pro boxing have you Rick!!?

    Granted you dont tend to see any slugfests in amateur boxing because of the scoring system - there's just no reward. But you see plenty of tactical battles in pro fighting and generally of a much higher level. Boxing is one of the few Olympic sports now where we are not watching the very best the sport has to offer - this is especially true since Eastern European and Cuban fighters are now turning pro.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,242
    No not really. I've tuned into the odd "big fight" and get bored.

    Even when it's not boring it feels too much like a fight than a sport.

    I guess I'm not cut out for being a boxing fan :)
  • Paulie W
    Paulie W Posts: 1,492
    TheStone wrote:
    They're very different, but I like them both.

    Why have they removed the scoring during the rounds? Mistake.

    No, it's the first step in a move back to old school scoring!
  • sketchley
    sketchley Posts: 4,238
    Fencing has to be my new favourite sport...

    Looks like google agrees too judging by the home page.
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    Chris

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  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,242
    Sketchley wrote:
    Fencing has to be my new favourite sport...

    Looks like google agrees too judging by the home page.


    Loving the foil especially!
  • Paulie W
    Paulie W Posts: 1,492
    Sketchley wrote:
    Fencing has to be my new favourite sport...

    Looks like google agrees too judging by the home page.


    Loving the foil especially!

    Bah I'm a sabre man!
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,242
    Paulie W wrote:
    Sketchley wrote:
    Fencing has to be my new favourite sport...

    Looks like google agrees too judging by the home page.


    Loving the foil especially!

    Bah I'm a sabre man!

    Too quick for my simple mind.
  • Paulie W
    Paulie W Posts: 1,492
    Ben6899 wrote:
    Ah, I see where you're coming from now. It seems you know the slight differences much better than I do.

    And I didn't realise judges hit buttons to register identifying a punch... it must look like a giant video game from certain angles! :D

    It's even more bizarre than that. 3 of the 5 judges have to register the punch within the space of (I think) 3 seconds for it to count!
  • Ben6899
    Ben6899 Posts: 9,686
    I guess I like the idea that it's a tactical battle rather than a slug fest.

    I don't get turned on seeing 2 enormous men stagger around for 40 minutes only for one sudden glancing blow to the chin which is still SO hard it KOs the other guy.

    You need to watch a few Mayweather fights.
    Ben

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  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,242
    But yeah. Swimmers.

    I get excited for a bit, but then i start :roll: when I notice none of them ever seem to compete in their favoured event.
  • Paulie W
    Paulie W Posts: 1,492
    Given how little info we, the viewers, got in the cycling has anyone checked the sailing out - they've even got computer generated images of where everyone is in the race, distance between them, speed, etc!!
  • TheStone
    TheStone Posts: 2,291
    But yeah. Swimmers.

    I get excited for a bit, but then i start :roll: when I notice none of them ever seem to compete in their favoured event.

    The problem with swimming that there's way too many events. It's the only* sport where they make up slower ways of doing something to create more events. Then you end up with half the final just using it as a warm-up for another event making it possible to get 9 gold medals!!!

    Freestyle 50, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1500, plus some relays should be more than enough.

    * maybe walking too, but I'd definitely get rid of that anyway.
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