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Post by Ryosuke on Aug 16, 2004 22:20:13 GMT -5
What if like, Australia and the Netherlands play each other in the baseballf finals?
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Post by maarts on Aug 17, 2004 4:49:22 GMT -5
It depends on the participant....
Like this morning, in the swimming- the 200 metres freestyle, where Ian Thorpe competes against Pieter Van den Hoogenband, I side with the Dutchman for the fact I find him more sympathetic. Not that I dislike nor have no respect for Thorpe, it's just that his public profile is so strong in the media, it almost makes me gag.
I do admit I side a bit more with the Dutch than with the Aussies simply because I have been supporting Dutch athletes for so much longer than Australians. The sports I like, like soccer, speedskating and volleyball are more common in Holland and I have been to live events there regularly, so in those circumstances I'd support the Dutch.
When it comes to Holland vs. Australia, that will be difficult. I guess if it was baseball, I wouldn't really care one way or the other, if it was volleyball I'd side with the Dutch. Same as with soccer.
For the rest- I'll support them both. Having two countries to support helps the medal tally too.
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Post by RocDoc on Aug 17, 2004 7:55:38 GMT -5
Well, I've got the same thing going on...but with one of 'MY' countries at a smallsmall fraction of the population of the Netherlands, darn it!
But we've still got the gold medal discus guy(Aleksa, who's expected to repeat), a coupla women cyclists and then the basketball team...who I am just SO hoping they can make a better than decent showing...
The U.S.A.? Well, I would to have liked to have seen Phelps do better than he has, so far....and that 15 year old Hoff girl, the IM swimmer...thank GOD she pulled off a good show in that 2nd qualifying she had yesterday! The poor kid...
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Post by Mary on Aug 17, 2004 11:20:39 GMT -5
Since I have absolutely not basis whatsoever for favoring any particular athletes, being as I have no idea who any of them are, I'm just going to root for all the Australians because Nick Cave is from Australia  erm...but seriously...I don't give two shits about 98% of the olympics, but I have to confess the former gymnast in me still feels the need ot watch all the gymnastics competitions, which always makes me feel incredibly odd in a way I can't even put into words - it's this weird combination of nostalgia, morbid fascination, melancholy, high stress, and total disgust. I mean I was watching the mens' gymnastics last night and when that Romanian guy fell on his high bar release move and had to do the very same move again - I was imagining if balance beam was like that, if every time I fell on my flight series I had to get right back up an do it again - and I almost started to cry from how horrifying that thought was. I just had this horrendous lump in my stomach the whole time. And these weren't even the womens' events! The one thing that was just fuckin awesome though, was the Romanian vaulter who did a fucking double front half-out off the horse. That is totally fucking impossible - I mean that's fucking gravity-defying insanity. Just doing one front flip off the horse is an insanely difficult vault which I spent years and years trying to perfect but was never consistent enough to compete. Getting that much power off the horse is just unthinkable. I started fumbling madly around for a videotape to record the damn thing on a rerun right after he did it because it was just that amazing, but I wasn't fast enough. My boyfriend was laughing at me the entire time. That was just one of the coolest things I've ever seen. I missed the womens' gymnastics two nights ago cause I wasn't home, but I'm kind of looking forward to the rest of it, in a weird anxious ulcer-inducing kind of way. Cheers, M |
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Post by maarts on Aug 18, 2004 5:31:09 GMT -5
Mary- in name of all of us and Mr. Nick Cave in particular; Welcome to the Australian Boxing Kangaroo-Squad!
I do share your view that you do look different at a sport you have been involved with for so long. I'm a keen volleyballplayer and I'd love to be able to spike the ball as hard as any of the guys on court there!
The worst part is that they make the game look so damn easy- digging the ball to the setter was always one of the toughest things for me to do and they do it so fluently! I'm just like 'fuck, I can do that'- then to go on court myself, try to dig the serve properly and see the ball go any place except the hands of the setter....
If I wasn't so stubborn I would have given up ages ago.
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Post by PC on Aug 18, 2004 16:20:14 GMT -5
Mary, did you watch the womens' gymnastics events at all last night? I watched part of it, and it made me think of you.  I didn't catch the end of it, but I heard Romania won the gold, the US won the silver, and Russia got the bronze. Anyway, I really like gymnastics for some reason (probably because I was a gymnast once, though not competitively), definitely my favorite event of the Summer Olympics. Though as a whole, I think I prefer the Winter Olympics. |
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Post by Mary on Aug 18, 2004 19:11:21 GMT -5
Mary, did you watch the womens' gymnastics events at all last night? I watched part of it, and it made me think of you. I didn't catch the end of it, but I heard Romania won the gold, the US won the silver, and Russia got the bronze. I actually only caught the tail end of it, punkchick, because I ended up going out at the last minute. But I did videotape the whole thing - I have no idea when I'll actually be able to watch it, though, since I leave tomorrow for Boston (which means I'll miss the womens' gymnastics yet again, since I'll be on an airplane while my favorite competition, the individual all-around finals, is taking place!! God what terrible timing I've had this week!) You really shouldn't think of me when you watch olympic gymnasts, though, because even at my very best, if I tried to do any of those tumbling passes, I'd have had a broken neck  ... as for maarts playing volleyball, shit, having seen his picture, I can definitely picture him spiking the ball good and hard!! If we ever have a big rs.com get-together, I want to be on his volleyball team! Cheers, M |
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Post by Meursault on Aug 18, 2004 19:41:32 GMT -5
I use to play competitive volleyball too Mary. So I'm thinking for our team..... Maarten J and Myself power hitting Mary and Bowiglou substituting on setting RocDoc and whoever else is a giant Middle. I think this website probably has a lot of setters. Ekul, Rocky. |
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Post by PC on Aug 19, 2004 15:10:53 GMT -5
What about me, Shane? Would I be in the middle, or would I be doing something worthwhile?
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Post by JesusLooksLikeMe on Aug 21, 2004 2:33:24 GMT -5
I'm a brilliant volleyball player.
Oh hang on, no I'm not 'cos it's shit. Fucking jessies.
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Post by JesusLooksLikeMe on Aug 21, 2004 2:39:18 GMT -5
I've been making a list of olympic sports worth watching, and I came up with football, cycling and erm.... tennis.
Except the football is under-23 teams of kids and reserve players and only a handful of nations bothered entering.
So that leaves cycling and tennis. Except the leading players clearly couldn't be arsed in the tennis.
So once the cycling is all over, there'll be no olympics on my tv. Some really fucking stupid sports that no-one would ever watch normally, even if you offered them a free handjob off Elisha Cuthbert in return for their time.
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Post by phil on Aug 21, 2004 5:16:02 GMT -5
Tennis - Basketball - Baseball and especialy Football
shouldn't even be Olympic events ...
Give me bowling and Ballroom dancing instead ...
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Post by phil on Aug 21, 2004 5:36:53 GMT -5
Other events that should be
banned from the Olympics :
- Synchronized diving ... WTF ??
- Women's weight lifting ...
- Women's wresling ...
- Lawn hockey (or whatever they call it ...)
- Beach Volleyball ...
All those events where you have
to flash a stupid smile in order to win ...
- Synchronized swimming
- Artistic Gymnastic
- Rythmic gymnastic ...
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Post by maarts on Aug 21, 2004 5:48:25 GMT -5
Shane- I used to be a middle because of my length- especially for blocking very handy. Also I'm ambidextrous, which is a pretty handy thing to fool opposition blocks.
Currently for my own team I'm a backcourt setter & left hand attack (position 4).
PunkChick- I reckon you'd be the kind of player that's tenacious and tough to beat- any position would suit you!
Jesus- you're a ponce! ;D
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Post by maarts on Aug 21, 2004 5:53:39 GMT -5
No women's wrestling or women's weightlifting? Phil, you're such an egalitarian....
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I didn't catch the end of it, but I heard Romania won the gold, the US won the silver, and Russia got the bronze.
