Olympics

[mikbone]

Anyone excited?

I considered myself an olympic hopeful while in high school (then I went to University and had a rude awakening).

The change in multimedia makes it a nightmare to try to watch the games.  Back in the day you just tuned into channel 8 for 2 weeks and enjoyed the whole atmosphere.  

All I hear mostly is that the Rhine is too polluted to swim, despite the politicians taking a dip.

[Phoenix_person]

47 minutes ago, mikbone said:

Back in the day you just tuned into channel 8 for 2 weeks and enjoyed the whole atmosphere.  

Kinda hard to keep track of multiple events that way. I share my partner's Peacock account. This will be my first time using Peacock to watch the Olympics (I have cable, but I barely use it outside of football season), so I'm not exactly sure what the UI will look like, but Peacock is one of the more user-friendly streaming services imo, so I'm hoping it'll be easy to find the specific events I'm looking for either from the home screen or from an in-app hub of some sort. 

[mikbone]

My favorite story so far.

This guy should be in a 007 movie.

The Koreans are all fitted out with ridiculous gear. They look like gamers.

Edited August 1 by mikbone

[zil2]

Shooting?  All the US would have to do is send Jerry Miculek - we'd win all the medals.

[Ironhold]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concerns_and_controversies_at_the_2024_Summer_Olympics

Take a look at how long that list is. 

And I don't think it's been updated yet with the issue regarding women's boxing; I'm still reading it. 

I'm actually getting nostalgic for the Goodwill Games at this point given how poorly so many Olympic events over the last 20 years have been.

[LDSGator]

Grim humor is always the best way to deal with things like this

[mikbone]

9 minutes ago, LDSGator said:

Grim humor is always the best way to deal with things like this

Reality is worse than the caricatures.

[mikbone]

Totally respectable time for a 52 year old.

Might even call it smoking.

[Phoenix_person]

5 hours ago, Ironhold said:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concerns_and_controversies_at_the_2024_Summer_Olympics

Take a look at how long that list is. 

And I don't think it's been updated yet with the issue regarding women's boxing; I'm still reading it. 

I'm actually getting nostalgic for the Goodwill Games at this point given how poorly so many Olympic events over the last 20 years have been.

The woman at the center of the boxing "controversy" is Imane Khelif, and she is biologically female from birth. Yes, she has XY chromosomes and higher-than-normal testosterone levels. Neither of these things are unheard of in biological women. She has always had female genitalia and she has never had any surgeries or hormone treatments to alter her gender identity. 

https://novonordiskfonden.dk/en/news/more-women-than-expected-are-genetically-men/

 

[LDSGator]

40 minutes ago, Phoenix_person said:

The woman at the center of the boxing "controversy" is Imane Khelif, and she is biologically female from birth. Yes, she has XY chromosomes and higher-than-normal testosterone levels. Neither of these things are unheard of in biological women. She has always had female genitalia and she has never had any surgeries or hormone treatments to alter her gender identity. 

https://novonordiskfonden.dk/en/news/more-women-than-expected-are-genetically-men/

 

She brutalized the other woman. It wasn’t just a beatdown, it was an assault. I’ve refereed TKD matches before and I would be very uncomfortable if I saw that. She had no skill-it was just brute force.  Where’s the sportsmanship in that? The ability? 
 

I could easily beat an untrained person in a TKD match relying on force, but it wouldn’t mean much.  I want a challenge, as do probably 90% of people who partake in combat sports-what was she thinking? Where’s the challenge? It would be like you slapping around a six year old than strutting like you beat Oleksandr Usyk. 

Mad love for you bro, but I don’t understand this one on many levels. 

Edited August 2 by LDSGator

[Phoenix_person]

1 hour ago, LDSGator said:

She brutalized the other woman. It wasn’t just a beatdown, it was an assault. I’ve refereed TKD matches before and I would be very uncomfortable if I saw that. She had no skill-it was just brute force.  Where’s the sportsmanship in that? The ability? 
 

That's not what I saw. I saw a very well-placed and poorly-defended punch. I also saw a size mismatch. It's hard to believe that Khelif and Carini are in the same weight class. But athletes exploiting their size advantage is nothing new. In 1989, this high school basketball team won a state championship. Every single player on that team will tell you they owe their title to #33, a talented and vertically gifted kid named Shaquille O'Neil. #35 is a former boss of mine, and I still haven't forgiven him for not sending me a text when Shaq came into our bar on my day off.

1 hour ago, LDSGator said:

I could easily beat an untrained person in a TKD match relying on force, but it wouldn’t mean much.  I want a challenge, as do probably 90% of people who partake in combat sports-what was she thinking? Where’s the challenge? It would be like you slapping around a six year old than strutting like you beat Oleksandr Usyk. 

Mad love for you bro, but I don’t understand this one on many levels. 

Her opponent is an Olympic boxer, not a six year-old. Khelif has been defeated five times by other women, including once at the Olympics. She's entitled to enjoy her moment on the world's biggest stage (and that said, she was fairly stoic after the fight). It royally sucks for the other boxer, but there's always losers in these things. And sometimes the losses are ugly. 

[LDSGator]

22 minutes ago, Phoenix_person said:

That's not what I saw. I saw a very well-placed and poorly-defended punch. I also saw a size mismatch. It's hard to believe that Khelif and Carini are in the same weight class. But athletes exploiting their size advantage is nothing new. In 1989, this high school basketball team won a state championship. Every single player on that team will tell you they owe their title to #33, a talented and vertically gifted kid named Shaquille O'Neil. #35 is a former boss of mine, and I still haven't forgiven him for not sending me a text when Shaq came into our bar on my day off.

Her opponent is an Olympic boxer, not a six year-old. Khelif has been defeated five times by other women, including once at the Olympics. She's entitled to enjoy her moment on the world's biggest stage (and that said, she was fairly stoic after the fight). It royally sucks for the other boxer, but there's always losers in these things. And sometimes the losses are ugly. 

Mike Tyson, legendary respecter of women, has entered the conversation. 

[LDSGator]

26 minutes ago, Phoenix_person said:

That's not what I saw. I saw a very well-placed and poorly-defended punch.

Let’s just say I didn’t see a Roy Jones jr technical classic. 

[Phoenix_person]

10 hours ago, LDSGator said:

Let’s just say I didn’t see a Roy Jones jr technical classic. 

True. But that doesn't mean it wasn't a clean victory for Khelif. Yes, it was a very lucky hit. But I don't see it as anything more than that, and Carini seemed determined to try not to make it out to be more than that.

[LDSGator]

12 minutes ago, Phoenix_person said:

True. But that doesn't mean it wasn't a clean victory for Khelif. Yes, it was a very lucky hit. But I don't see it as anything more than that, and Carini seemed determined to try not to make it out to be more than that.

Totally fair. Luck has always played a role in sports. 

[Phoenix_person]

1 hour ago, LDSGator said:

Totally fair. Luck has always played a role in sports. 

Yep. And in sports, one person's good luck is usually someone else's bad luck.

[LDSGator]

3 minutes ago, Phoenix_person said:

Yep. And in sports, one person's good luck is usually someone else's bad luck.

Truth! Lol. Poor Drew. 

[Traveler]

@LDSGator and @Phoenix_person:

I am an engineer not a biologist and so I am not an expert.  However, it is my understanding that gender is not always clear.  Generally, it is not difficult to determine genetic gender 99.9% of the time but the reality of our physical universe is not always replicated specifically.  There are fuzzy variations in the spectrum of possibilities.  I do not know if Khelif falls into such a category.  It does appear that there are difficulties with definitions for her.

Whenever there are separate categories there must be a clear definition – not a fuzzy sort of definition of category.  One of the very clear definitions is testosterone levels.  I am led to believe that Khelif’s testosterone levels are clearly in excess of the rules.  If that is the case – she is disqualified.  We can argue about the justification but if Khelif can compete with high testosterone levels – should not anyone and everyone with such levels also be allowed to compete?  Regardless of how or by what method the higher levels of testosterone were reached.

The whole purpose of sports is to level the playing field to make the competition as honest and straightforward as possible to be “fair” to all participants.

 

The Traveler

[LDSGator]

3 minutes ago, Traveler said:

However, it is my understanding that gender is not always clear.

I completely agree with you there.

 

4 minutes ago, Traveler said:

The whole purpose of sports is to level the playing field to make the competition as honest and straightforward as possible to be “fair” to all participants.

 

Agree again, and in combat sports it’s even more important to do that. Yes, in every sport there is a high risk for injury. But in baseball, you don’t have to worry about the catcher assaulting you every time you go up to bat. Therefore, in combat sports the referees and organizers go the extra mile to make sure it’s as fair as possible*.
 

*you can always find a d-list promoter who will let Al the 65 year old overweight plumber fight against a 22 year old in their prime. But they are rare.      

[NeuroTypical]

17 hours ago, Phoenix_person said:

The woman at the center of the boxing "controversy" is Imane Khelif, and she is biologically female from birth.

Ok.   What I'm learning about this controversy, is everyone is bringing different "truth" to the table.  I've seen claims in the news media that she is trans, that she was born female and is female, and that she's intersex.   Some sources call her she, some call her they.   I've also seen umpteen billion random claims on random social media sites making all those same statements.  

Imane's Wiki page says Imane was disqualified by the IBA Women's World Boxing Championships for testosterone levels too high.   The IBA president called Imane "they", saying DNA tests "proved they had XY chromosomes".  Imane started an appeals process, but later withdrew. 

There's a fight between IBA and IOC:

Quote

On 31 July 2024, regarding their 2023 decision, the IBA stated that Khelif and others "did not undergo a testosterone examination but were subject to a separate and recognized test, whereby the specifics remain confidential", and that they "were found to have competitive advantages over other female competitors".^[23] The following day, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) released their own statement in response, stating that the IBA's decision was "sudden and arbitrary" and "without any due process". They further stated the following:

According to the IBA minutes available on their website, this decision was initially taken solely by the IBA Secretary General and CEO. The IBA Board only ratified it afterwards and only subsequently requested that a procedure to follow in similar cases in the future be established and reflected in the IBA Regulations. The minutes also say that the IBA should "establish a clear procedure on gender testing".

Wiki feels like they're playing sources and claims close to the vest on this page.  The whole notion of "disrespecting gender claims is violence and might cause someone to unalive themselves" is absolutely muddying the waters here.

So, everyone's got a notion about Imane.  Who's got a link to share?  This issue is all about fighting over who has the best source, because everyone's opinion is different.

Edited August 2 by NeuroTypical

[Ironhold]

4 hours ago, NeuroTypical said:

Ok.   What I'm learning about this controversy, is everyone is bringing different "truth" to the table.  I've seen claims in the news media that she is trans, that she was born female and is female, and that she's intersex.   Some sources call her she, some call her they.   I've also seen umpteen billion random claims on random social media sites making all those same statements.  

Imane's Wiki page says Imane was disqualified by the IBA Women's World Boxing Championships for testosterone levels too high.   The IBA president called Imane "they", saying DNA tests "proved they had XY chromosomes".  Imane started an appeals process, but later withdrew. 

There's a fight between IBA and IOC:

Wiki feels like they're playing sources and claims close to the vest on this page.  The whole notion of "disrespecting gender claims is violence and might cause someone to unalive themselves" is absolutely muddying the waters here.

So, everyone's got a notion about Imane.  Who's got a link to share?  This issue is all about fighting over who has the best source, because everyone's opinion is different.

The head editor at my flagship newspaper worked his way up from being a sports reporter. 

We got to talking about how poorly the Olympics were going when we were at the office last night, and he raised a point: failing a single test for anything performance-enhancing can get an athlete booted from competition or even derail their entire career, yet the boxer in question has failed numerous tests regarding certain hormones and so there is a question as to why they were allowed to compete. 

[mikbone]

https://youtu.be/1IA-KocoPJA?si=fkzouuo6nIooaDgU

Judo awesome takedown in Gold Medal round.

6’8”

315#

Edited August 3 by mikbone

[NeuroTypical]

On 8/1/2024 at 10:50 AM, mikbone said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 3 by NeuroTypical

[Phoenix_person]

[NeuroTypical]

I see the U.S. is doing it's usual outstanding job in medal count. 

 

I'll always root for the U.S., but if I were to root for any other nation's Olympian, it would be the folks who barely squeaked onto the record books by winning a bronze.  Without that bronze, they'd be competing for last place with 150 other countries.  With it, their nation now ties for 57th place.