I totally agree. That's why I switched to Lativa vs Argentina in beach volleyball because it was starting to reek of BS.
I agree with florige, seeing the male gymnasts upper body strength is amazing. Almost as if they were taking steriods.
I like the olympics because it's so important to the athletes that almost all sports are interesting to watch. So I often watch the more obscure sports I would never watch otherwise. Today I watched the women 58kg class weightlifting - those ladies really left all they had on that little stage it was fascinating.
Some of the fireworks at the opening ceremony were fake!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/oth...nts-faked.html
http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/bei...?urn=oly,99745
Some Opening Ceremony fireworks were faked
By Chris Chase
If you watched the Opening Ceremony on Friday night, chances are you said something like, "no way that's possible" at least once. It turns out you were right.
London's Telegraph newspaper reports that some of the fireworks which appeared over Beijing during the television broadcast of the Olympic Opening Ceremony were actually computer generated. But -- hold on -- it's not necessarily as bad as you think.
The faked fireworks were actually set-off at the stadium, but because of potential dangers in filming the display live from a helicopter, viewers at home were shown a pre-recorded, computer-generated shot. It sounds dishonest, but I'm not sure it's such a terrible thing.
The Opening Ceremony is, at its core, just one big performance. And isn't it accepted that some things might not be legit at a performance? The final torch bearer wasn't actually running around the top of the stadium, does the fact that everyone could figure that out make it any less impressive? It might have been unnecessarily deceptive, but the firework-faking isn't really that big of a deal. But, if I found out that the lighted-drum thing wasn't on the up and up, then we'll have problems.
Some of the fireworks at the opening ceremony were fake!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/oth...nts-faked.html
http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/bei...?urn=oly,99745
I think the announcers mentioned it during the broadcast. It was still a great show. Plus, the fireworks were not the most amazing part of it.
America, yeah!
I've watched that race three times since last night and it's still bad-ass.
We even stopped our poker game last night to catch the final three legs and started whooping it up right as Lezak made his move.
What's amazing is that Phelps set the American record in the 100 Free on the first leg and that Lezak actually bettered that mark with the anchor leg by more than a second (even though it doesn't actually count as an American record).
I think we've conclusively established that it's the kiss of death to pronounce before the Olympic 4x100 free relay that you are going to "smash" your opponent. Gary Hall, Jr. said the Americans would smash [the Australians] like guitars" at Sydney in 2000. When Ian Thorpe did to Hall what Lezak did to Bernard last night, catching him late and outtouching him at the finish, Michael Klim and the boys serenaded the Americans with some impromptu air guitar on the deck.
I don't think the French officially said they would "smash" the Americans -- I think there might have been some journalistic license in that translation. But if they were so bold as to make such a prediction, I suspect it's the last time we'll hear such a prediciton in advance of the men's 4x100 free relay.
To be honest, I don't have any desire to watch the Olympics. Am I the only one???
The comentator on our side never mentioned it. I agree it's a minor thing and doesn't take away anything from the greatness of the ceremony. I just find it a somewhat unusual technical solution/decision.
Oh, and it makes a great headline
I thought of the Sidney talking almost instantly when I heard of the French iness. We might have a new "sport curse" on our hands(although talking , before you achieve anything is never a smart decision)
The comentator on our side never mentioned it. I agree it's a minor thing and doesn't take away anything from the greatness of the ceremony. I just find it a somewhat unusual technical solution/decision.
Oh, and it makes a great headline
I thought of the Sidney talking almost instantly when I heard of the French iness. We might have a new "sport curse" on our hands
Gary Hall Jr. was notorious for talking crap and never being able to back it up. He was a clown more than anything else. Alexander Popov used to own his ass regularly in the 100m freestyle.....
Anywhere to watch a video of the entire Relay race? I've only seen the last leg on all the highlights
Phelps smashed his own record today in the 200M free and claimed his 3rd gold.
wow phelps eats around 8-10 thousand calories a day? And it said he barely gains weight, plus he has a six pack and his body fat seems low. They also said he is in the water for 5 hours a day and does about a 100 laps, but seriously? 10000 calories? His breakfast was like a bajillion items all junk food. WTF I limit myself to 1500 calories a day wiht the only junk food being peanut butter and run 2 miles every other day and lift weights and I can only lose 12 pounds and see no visible difference. this diet, I'm taking a fat burner pill and switching to a diet plan with that in it.
Also, I'm pretty sure that I remember this but in 2004 he was interviewed in the olympics and he said that he was eating oatmeal and fruit and and eats healthy when he trains, now I'm hearing different? Either at the age of 23 he has some sort of super duper crazy driven metabolism, (I've read that the male metabolism slowly declines starting from the age of 25) or swimming doesn't need one to eat healthy in order to be good at it.
Last edited by E20; 08-11-2008 at 11:41 PM.
pretty impressive opening ceremony.
That, or swimming at the level that Phelps does burns calories at an incredible rate.
Few workouts can match swimming for the positive effect on cardiovascular conditioning and muscle toning.
I'd bet that Phelps swims at least 2 miles every day -- if he swims 100 laps, he swims more than 3 miles every day -- much of it at an incredible rate. And he lifts several times a week. And he does land-based cardio several times a week.
I'm sure his metabolism is incredible, but I'm also sure that his workout would kick the ass of most normal people and that anyone who worked out the way that Phelps does would see the sorts of physical results (not necessarily the same performance) that he does.
Are you sure you heard that right? I think you might have heard that he eats healthy the day of the actual races. They made a big deal about it in 04 here last time around about the restaurant he went to EVERY morning and about all the crap he consumed in one day. He was pretty much saying the same thing then that he is saying now. I have a friend who is 29 who eats whatever the he wants maybe not as much as Phelps, but still takes down alot of crap and he never gains a pound. And is in about the same shape as Phelps. He just has a high metabolism.
My friend saw Roger Federer here in Beijing. I cut her out of the picture for privacy reasons and my other friend attended the China - USA basketball game.
I'll upload some of my pictures from events when I have time.
You can see the Bush family on the second row from the top.
Senior Bush is in the red/dark blue and the President is in the blue.
Last edited by mffl89; 08-12-2008 at 09:17 AM.
My friend saw Roger Federer here in Beijing. I cut her out of the picture for privacy reasons and my other friend attended the China - USA basketball game.
I'll upload some of my pictures from events when I have time.
You can see the Bush family on the second row.
Senior Bush is in the red/dark blue and the President is in the blue.
Sweet pics......
show the other half of the pic with girl with roger pic...
dude sharing is caring
And looked like he didn't tried hard at all
The guy was standing there in the pool, immediately after setting a world record and looking around like if he just realized it was a race - wasn't out of breath or anything. Made it look easy
I'm pretty sure a lot of his opponent will be swearing when they see that footage.
Sucks to hear this.
"Olympic opening uses girl's voice, not face
BEIJING, China (AP) -- A 7-year-old Chinese girl was not good-looking enough for the Olympics opening ceremony, so another little girl with a pixie smile lip-synched "Ode to the Motherland," a ceremony official said.
9-year-old Lin Miaoke
9-year-old Lin Miaoke had the 'cute' face that Olympic organizers wanted for the opening ceremony.
A member of China's ruling Politburo asked for the last-minute change to match one girl's face with another's voice, the ceremony's chief music director, Chen Qigang, said in an interview with Beijing Radio.
"The audience will understand that it's in the national interest," Chen said in a video of the interview posted online Sunday night.
The news follows reports that some footage of the fireworks exploding across China's capital during the ceremony was digitally inserted into television coverage, apparently over concerns that not all of the 29 blasts could be captured on camera.
China has been eager to present a flawless Olympics image to the world, shooing migrant workers and so-called pe ioners who come to the central government with grievances from the city and shutting down any sign of protest.
The country's quest for perfection apparently includes its children.
Lin Miaoke's performance Friday night, like the ceremony itself, was an immediate hit. "Nine-year-old Lin Miaoke becomes instant star with patriotic song," the China Daily newspaper headline said Tuesday.
But the real voice behind the tiny, pigtailed girl in the red dress who wowed 91,000 spectators at the National Stadium on opening night really belonged to 7-year-old Yang Peiyi. Her looks apparently failed the cuteness test with officials organizing the ceremony, but Chen said her voice was judged the most beautiful.
"The national interest requires that the girl should have good looks and a good grasp of the song and look good on screen," Chen said. "Lin Miaoke was the best in this. And Yang Peiyi's voice was the most outstanding."
During a live rehearsal soon before the ceremony, the Politburo member said Miaoke's voice "must change," Chen said in the radio interview. He didn't name the official.
So Peiyi's voice was matched with Miaoke's face.
"We had to make that choice. It was fair both for Lin Miaoke and Yang Peiyi," Chen told Beijing Radio. "We combined the perfect voice and the perfect performance."
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Chen couldn't be reached for comment Tuesday.
A photo of Peiyi posted Tuesday on popular Web site Sina.com shows a smiling girl with bangs and crooked teeth. A China News Service story posted with the photo says a China Central Television reporter asked Peiyi whether she felt regret over the opening ceremony.
Peiyi responded that just having her voice used for the opening ceremony was an honor.
Whether the move was unethical, or unfair to both girls, has become a hot topic among Chinese and is racing across the country's blogosphere.
"The organizers really messed up on this one," said Luo Shaoyang, 34, a retail worker in Beijing.
"This is like a voice-over for a cartoon character," Luo said. "Why couldn't they pick a kid who is both cute and a good singer? This damages the reputation of both kids for their future, especially the one lip-synching. Now everyone knows she's a fraud. Who cares if she's cute?"
Zhang Xinyi, 22, who works in marketing in Beijing, disagreed.
"I can understand why they picked the prettier girl. They need to maintain a certain aesthetic beauty during the opening ceremonies. This situation is not so bad, especially since it gives two people an opportunity to shine rather than just one."
Peiyi is a first-grader at the Primary School affiliated to Peking University. Her tutor, Wang Liping, wrote in her blog that Peiyi is both cute and well-behaved, with a love for Peking opera.
"She doesn't like to show off. She's easygoing," Wang wrote. She and other school officials couldn't be reached Tuesday.
Miaoke, however, was a minor celebrity even before the opening ceremony. The third-grader appeared in a television ad last year with China's biggest gold medal hope, hurdling champion Liu Xiang, and she was in an Olympics ad just before Chinese New Year, China Daily reported.
Miaoke has her own blog, and one of the latest photos posted since the ceremony shows her looking up nervously at the ceremony's director, film director Zhang Yimou. "Giving the child encouragement," the caption says.
Her father, Lin Hui, told China Daily he learned Miaoke would be "singing" only 15 minutes before the opening ceremony began. The newspaper wrote Lin "still cannot believe his daughter has become an international singing sensation."
It was the second straight Olympics where the opening ceremony involved lip-synching.
Luciano Pavarotti's performance at the 2006 Winter Games in Turin was prerecorded. The maestro who conducted the aria, Leone Magiera, said earlier this year that the bitter cold made a live performance impossible for Pavarotti, who was in severe pain months before his cancer diagnosis. Pavarotti died in September 2007 at age 71."
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/as....ap/index.html
Michael Phelps has international glory, most girls would do him and fame, I don't want none of that . I want his goddamn metabolism.
My company supplied and setup all the projectors for the ceremony, we've been working on the setup for about 8 months. I believe they said they used over 147 projectors. Awesome opening ceremony.
THat relay race was awesome. I haven't had a chance to see anything else.
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