The London Olympics

[Gurn Blanston]

You telling me you weren't waving the Texas flag at the LA games? ; )

Nah. I think the athlete who executes the best performance should be praised, no matter his/her accident of origin. I am a purist, Karl. 

[springrite]

Or we could base the medal system on the galvanic series:
1. Gold
2. Silver
3. Mercury
4. Copper
5. Lead
6. Steel
7. Potassium
8. Lithium

You might want to be careful that the potassium and lithium medals don't get in contact with water 

I feel for the athletes who finish too far behind and gets the radio-active medals. In addition to the health risk, they may also become targets for kidnapping from nations with nuclear aspirations.

[Karl Henning]

In corporate America, that's called incentivizing.

[North Star]

I feel for the athletes who finish too far behind and gets the radio-active medals. In addition to the health risk, they may also become targets for kidnapping from nations with nuclear aspirations.

That might inspire some organizations to gather a football (soccer) team or two, preferably ones that had not seen a ball before.

[Todd]

If you think about it, no one considers gettging into the Super Bowl a high number of times (Buffalo Bills) as a greater achievement than winning it N-1 number of times.

"Winning isn't everything; it's the only thing."

Second and third place are good.  First place is better.  The only thing better than first place is first place involving a world record. 

[springrite]

Winter or summer, I think my least favorite Olympics sports are the ex- X-Games events. They should be left to the X-Games where they belong.

[Todd]

Winter or summer, I think my least favorite Olympics sports are the ex- X-Games events.

Did you include curling?

[Karl Henning]

Xtreme Badminton!

[springrite]

Did you include curling?

Oh I love Curling. Anything grandma can do together with her grandkids is a good event in my book!

[mc ukrneal]

Apparently, if you want to make a living from the Olympics, Italy is the country to be from, giving over $180k to gold medal winners!!

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/us-olympic-medal-winners-bonuses-170523656.html

[springrite]

Apparently, if you want to make a living from the Olympics, Italy is the country to be from, giving over $180k to gold medal winners!!

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/us-olympic-medal-winners-bonuses-170523656.html

I am surprised that Greece was not on the list. It seems the countries who are close to being broke give the most money. The Chinese money is right on the mark. But sometimes local government may give some more, like an apartment, better jobs for the family members, etc. I hear that Azerbajian, India also pay an incredible amount. But given that they don't win too many medals, the total outlay is not that big.

[Opus106]

Apparently, if you want to make a living from the Olympics, Italy is the country to be from, giving over $180k to gold medal winners!!

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/us-olympic-medal-winners-bonuses-170523656.html

I saw a full-page in yesterday's newspaper announcing the plan of the state of Haryana to award Rs. 25M (~ $450,000) for a gold medal winner, 15 for a silver and 10 for bronze, to medal winners from the state (and jobs too!). The first Indian medal winner, the shooter Gagan Narang, will be richer by a crore when he comes back home.

The politicians here get a bit more crazy with offering monetary rewards when the occasional championship is won by the country, despite turning a blind eye to the terrible state of infrastructure for most sports other than cricket.

[Coopmv]

If you live in the UK, you might be sick to death of hearing and seeing images of the Olympics everywhere.  The press, tv, radio...everything.  Put the tv on now and no question the main channels will be carrying the bloody Olympics.  The BBC and its news channel have gone 100% Olympics, I turn on to hear what is going on in Syria and all I get is smiley happy faces yapping about how good London is in its staging of the Olympics.  Olympics.  I'm sick of the word itself.  It is everywhere. Olympics Olympics Olympics.  Oh yes, and one more thing...Olympics.   

Did I mention the Olympics?  The Olympics are on.

That was the reason I was more than happy when NYC lost to London on the bid for hosting this year Olympics since I work in Manhattan.

[springrite]

The greatest day in modern Olympics history for Great Britain? I'd think so! What a great day for you chaps! Even a most typical defeat in penalties by the football team couldn't dampen it.

BTW, I believe it is the first time in pentathlon history the winner won the last event in the last run to win it. What a way to finish!

[springrite]

During a badminton match 2 days ago, the Chinese player requested for the floor to be mopped because of sweat on the floor. This is always granted. But for some reason the ref refused and threatened the player with point penalty if she does not continue to play on that floor without mopping.

The the next player the player torn her ligament. She finished the match which she obviously lost and will be out of action for months.

The officiating at this Olympics has been the worst in memory.

[North Star]

During a badminton match 2 days ago, the Chinese player requested for the floor to be mopped because of sweat on the floor. This is always granted. But for some reason the ref refused and threatened the player with point penalty if she does not continue to play on that floor without mopping.

The the next player the player torn her ligament. She finished the match which she obviously lost and will be out of action for months.

The officiating at this Olympics has been the worst in memory.

Ouch! It's certainly dangerous to play if the floor is wet.
The officiating has certainly been dreadful.

[Lisztianwagner]

Usain Bolt has won the 100m race, it was a spectacular final!

[Opus106]

Usain Bolt has won the 100m race, it was a spectacular final!

And crated a new Olympic record too. I'm glad it wasn't all a waste staying up late on a Sunday night. Just by looking at how much he slowed down towards the end of the semi-final sprint, it was clear that he was going to rocket through in the final.

[Lisztianwagner]

And crated a new Olympic record too. I'm glad it wasn't all a waste staying up late on a Sunday night. Just by looking at how much he slowed down towards the end of the semi-final sprint, it was clear that he was going to rocket through in the final.

Yes, that's true, he looked very confident through all the turns. If there had been a higher temperature, Bolt would have provably beaten the current record of the 100m.

[TheGSMoeller]

Usain Bolt has won the 100m race, it was a spectacular final!

Yeah, I read about it, on Twitter, because we have NBC, that wants to show all the best highlights at 8pm when they can get the most viewers, NOT when it's actually happening..so lame.