The official Athens 2004 olympic games thread

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@joacqin

Do a google search on designer steroids. Only the stupid and unlucky ones get caught.

 

Really? I know that was how it was in the past but today I am convinced that the controllers have finally caught up with the cheaters. Sure there is probably some team out there which is still ahead but just look at the Americans, it isnt them anymore. I know about designer roids but apparently it is not as hard to figure out as people thought and also it is harder and harder for athletes to dope up without the support of their governments which I do not think all that many have nowadays.

@DHB, commercial breaks during the olympics? Blasphemous!

 

And so what if they use drugs, what I don't get is how these 'athletes' can look at themselves in a mirror wielding a gold medal that was gained by cheating.

Anyway enough about drugs this thread was to be intended to talk about the games so drop the drug posts. And please people if you don't like the games don't post, at least a few people here can enjoy sports instead of hanging on the internet the whole live long day.

 

I don't really care... Why? I'm not a jock, I guess, plus computer games are more interesting

 

Go Puerto Rico! Dream Team turned into Nightmare team. Puerto Rico crushed the US team. Viva la underdogs!

 

Wahey. Go Puerto Rico.

Plus, go New Zealand. No medals so far . . . . we rule.

 

Yeah, shocking about the Dream Team.

Really, though, I'm not that much of a fan of many sports at the Olympics.

Swimming - hey, I can swim, no-one's thrownig cash at me
Cycling - I'm pretty sure most people can ride a bike
Track and Field - same thing, I'm pretty sure most people can run, jump etc
Equestrian - I can ride a horse too!
and so on and so on.

Sure, most of the sports where I can actually do the thigns that are involved, I can't do them to quite the same level of expertise or at the same speeds but that's beside the point.

I like watching the sports where it takes a bit of training before you even think of taking part, or the sports than could be considered outside mainstream - such as Fencing, Martial Arts, Gymnastics (some of it anyway) and so on.

But I still get a kick out of seeing who won what in each event, particularly in situations such as the French guy who IIRC won the first ever swimming medal for France - and it was a gold, and the South African (I think it was them) team winning gold in the men's 4x100 Freestyle Relay. Yes, even though we only finished 6th and the winners broke the record set by Australia at the 2000 Olympics.

I like winners who are considered underdogs going in.

 

God lord, but the American prime-time coverage absolutely SUCKS OUT LOUD! There's more minutes of commercials than of coverage, and when there *is* coverage, it's more of the medal ceremonies and the touchy-feely human interest stories that I completely despise than on actual athletic competition. Not to mention that all they show in prime time is gymnastics, track&field, swimming, and basketball. GO PUERTO RICO! GO THORPEDO!

I've never been quite so appreciative of our satellite service and TiVo. We can tape the daytime coverage on the affiliate stations (three additional channels, plus another in Spanish) then watch SPORTS in the evening, and sports that we actually want to see. I think I need to express this opinion to NBC directly, in the vague hope that coverage of the next Olympics can be improved.

 

All I have to say is that Canada may not have any medals yet, but we'll eventually find one. I think...

 

Bah, still no medals for New Zealand.....surely we can win at least one...

 

I'm more of a fan of the Winter Olympics than the Summer Games. But I also miss the days when amateurs played, instead of having "Dream Teams." What a crock!

Personally, I'd like it to go back to the every four years format and have amateurs play instead of pros.

 

Man, Australia already has 9 medals!

 

Bel, the olympics are still only every four years.

 

We may be doing well this time, after so many times being not-so-successful, but those damn Chinese always manage to get ahead of us.

And in the early hours of this morning, Thorpe became 'the most successful Australian Olympic athlete' as far as number of medals per athlete. And he set new World and Olympic records in the 200m Freestyle.

I guess that means we're supposed to get excited or something. Don't get me wrong, I applaud his achievments but, what about every other Australian that's winning medals? Or even every other athlete?

Oh, BTW, LMAO about the fact that 2 million Athenians have left the whole place to go on holidays while the Olympics are on. Especially because there's still approx 2 million tickets unsold. Though it's gotta be hard on people like the soccer teams and rowers when there's almost no-one there.

 

What's with the Football tournament? Is it U-21 teams that are playing or what, because it sure isn't the best players that are there.

I heard of at least one event where the best are not allowed to compete because of an age limit.

Another US basketball "Dream team"? Really? Why do they insist on misusing the phrase "Dream Team".

As you might imagine I'm not glued to the TV this olympics.

 

Earl Grey, you are correct. It is pretty much the U-21 teams who play in the Olympics. FIFA would not allow anything else. You are allowed to use players who had not turned 21 at the start of the qualifying as well as some (one or two?) properly overaged players. IIRC Romario played in the 1996 Olympics.

 

Yes, but the Winter and Summer games are not held in the same year. I miss that. It made the Olympics a little more special for me, personally.

 

The Winter and Summer Olympics have never been in the same year (as far as I can remember).

Ooh, the NZ basketball team only just lost to Yao Ming's Chinese team 69-62. Man, that guy is a monster.

 

Actually, up until 1992, both Olympics were held in the same year. After that, they alternated every 2 years.

 

Well, you learn something every day!