The Mid-Point Olympics Recap
I don’t watch television often. My television may be on, but I’m usually doing something else in the foreground. I multi-task. I can absorb the information while I’m dedicating myself to something else. That’s why sports are so great, especially baseball. I can truly half-ass paying attention and still get 100% of the highlights at the opportune times.
The Olympics have been a true gem. NBC, MSNBC, OSC (Olympic Sports Channel? There’s 2 of em, actually), Bravo, there has been an onslaught of sports broadcasting that run practically 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It’s been delightful.
I’m going to start with the women’s semi-final soccer match that happened yesterday. Don’t get me wrong, I’m super glad that America advanced their way to the finals, but…. to me, it was on some less than desirable events. Here me out.
1) The sequence of events that gave the U.S. their 3rd, equalizing goal late in the second half was shady, at best. I’ve watched a moderate amount of soccer, nothing special, and I’ve never seen a goalie called for ‘handling’ a ball for too long. Is this something that occurs often? Then, the handball that was practically non-existent came seconds later. We got about as many breaks as you can get.
2) The other thing I noticed during the match was Canada’s composure or etiquette that truly ended their gold medal aspirations. Around 115′, one of our defenders went down because of a cramp (or something, she got back up with no medical attention), but she laid on the ground for around 45 seconds. Canada, trying to show sportsmanship, kicked the ball out of play so she could receive help, thinking she was hurt (even though she was pretty much flopping like every soccer player… ever…). Either way, I thought that was funny because earlier, the U.S. had the opportunity to do the exact same thing and opted not to. They kept attacking.
5 minutes later, the rest is history. We went on to score the winning goal in extra time late into the game. I guess, let this be a lesson, Canada. You guys are pussies.
It’s really fun to watch the 100M and 400M relays in track. Watching Usain Bolt is probably one of the top 10 memorable sports moments I’ve ever seen. Whether you like the spectacle that goes along with his talent or not, the man is a freak. How freakish? So freakish that the runners who finished 2nd, 3rd, and 4th almost all hit their personal bests and still lost. They also set records for fastest 2nd place, 3rd place, and 4th place finishes in Olympic history…. and still lost.
I’m really looking forward to the 200M. If he can break away in the last 30 meters of the 100M, imagine what he can do when there’s an extra 100M of space.
Oscar Pistorius was a pretty big hit. What a cool name. He sounds like a Greek God.
I was one of the many fools who said that his disability actually gave him an advantage. That’s because I was ignorant. I wasn’t aware that there was several hundred other athletes in the exact same position as he, and they still didn’t come close to running as fast as he did.
It’s remarkable that he was able to accomplish as much as he did. It does raise the huge question that is looming regarding prosthetic body parts and technological advances in body parts. Where do you draw the line for that kind of stuff? Can you draw a line?
While the olympic committee figures that out, I’ll be sawing my arms off and replacing them with JAX ARMS ala Mortal Kombat 2. Mmmmm, come to find out, Jax didn’t get his awesome cyborg arms until Mortal Kombat 3. My memory is hazy.
Either way, I’ll be on my to the gold medal in handball, fencing, archery, boxing, gymnastics, rowing, weightlifting, and most importantly, table tennis. The judges won’t even know what hit em.
Speaking of which, I’ve concluded the most entertaining sport to watch this entire Olympics is…. drumroll….. table tennis. Seriously. There are just so many angles to argue for this!
The entertainment of how serious these guys take it. The shock and awe one has when they realize that there is an intense amount of skill and coordination that goes into table tennis. The fast paced competition. The grunts. The celebrations. The outfits. There’s just too much involved to NOT consider table tennis the most entertaining. Give it a chance, yeah?