Author Topic: Olympics Culture  (Read 360 times)

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Offline Michael Hardner

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Olympics Culture
« on: July 27, 2021, 10:37:40 am »
Quite fascinating piece on women's (girls' really) gymnastics and how NCAA sponsorships drove Cold War foes to start using children to compete.

It's long and I didn't make it all the way through but have a look.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/gymnasts-age-olympics/

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Offline wilber

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Re: Olympics Culture
« Reply #1 on: July 27, 2021, 09:25:10 pm »
Medals are more important than the physical and mental welfare of young female athletes.

I can't believe the flak Biles is getting for pulling out. It's a dangerous sport and if your head isn't in it, you shouldn't be doing it. She's won over 25 gold medals in international competitions, a lot of them team medals the US wouldn't have won without her. Typical what have you done for me lately attitude.
« Last Edit: July 27, 2021, 09:28:29 pm by wilber »
"Never trust a man without a single redeeming vice" WSC
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Offline kimmy

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Re: Olympics Culture
« Reply #2 on: August 02, 2021, 01:29:11 pm »
It's unfortunate that Simone Biles is the biggest story of the Olympics.  I have no objection to pulling out (I hope there was an alternate who got to compete in her place...) but I feel that it's unfortunate that press has focused on an athlete that isn't competing, instead of on the athletes who are. Unfortunate for Simone, as well.  Leave Simone alone.


Canada Women's soccer team defeats Team USA to advance to the gold medal game!  They will play the winner of Sweden vs Australia. This is some payback for the 2012 semifinal where the Canadian women were leading the US until controversial calls by the referee gave the US a chance to tie and take the lead. This must be incredibly satisfying for them, they have been beaten by the US so many times, this time they win and the timing couldn't be better.

Jamaican women win gold-silver-bronze in the 100m sprint.  How does a country with just 3 million people dominate sprinting to such a degree? Two women from Switzerland (of all places) finished 5 and 6; only one American was in the final and she finished 7th. America's fastest sprinter was watching on television; she was disqualified from the Olympics because she had smoked marijuana.

Laurel Hubbard, the transgender woman weightlifter, bombed out spectacularly and didn't register a single successful lift. Stupid-people will say that Hubbard's failure proves that transwomen don't have an advantage.  Stupid-people will say that because they're stupid. 

Imagine for a moment an athlete, perhaps a hockey player. He has some modest amount of success as a young man, makes it to the AHL, and scores some goals there. But he never makes it to the NHL, and at age 24 he hangs up the skates to move on with his life. Then, at age 39, he decides to give hockey another chance. And not only does he make the NHL, he becomes a star player, one of the league's best, an all-star player. And at age 43, an age when even the all time greats are retiring from the sport, he's still going strong and even gets chosen to play on the Olympic team!  Everybody would recognize that this is a completely ridiculous story, right? A Hollywood fantasy.  This is basically the plot of "Damn Yankees" (the middle-aged guy in that story had to make a deal with the devil to become a baseball star).  People would ask, how is this former minor-leaguer becoming a hockey superstar at age 39, when other players are in rapid decline?  Was this guy bitten by a radioactive spider? Is he wearing Kryptonite shorts?  It would be completely unbelievable.  And yet, that's the Laurel Hubbard story.  A weightlifter who was successful in New Zealand but never qualified for an international event, left the sport at 24, came out of retirement at age 39 and achieved international success overnight. It would be unbelievable, if you don't mention that he's competing against women now.

Anyway. Hubbard's poor showing means that Canada's Quinn will be the first transgender athlete to win an Olympic medal. Who is Quinn?  Quinn is a member of Canada's women's soccer team.  Quinn only has one name. Quinn identifies as "transgender and non-binary" and uses they/them pronouns.   Why isn't there a furor over Quinn being a transgender athlete on the women's team?  Because Quinn is a female person competing against other female people. Not complicated and not controversial.


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Offline waldo

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Re: Olympics Culture
« Reply #3 on: August 02, 2021, 02:05:37 pm »
...Canada's Quinn will be the first transgender athlete to win an Olympic medal. Who is Quinn?  Quinn is a member of Canada's women's soccer team.  Quinn only has one name. Quinn identifies as "transgender and non-binary" and uses they/them pronouns.   Why isn't there a furor over Quinn being a transgender athlete on the women's team?  Because Quinn is a female person competing against other female people. Not complicated and not controversial.



say what member kimmy? Are you saying you're accepting cause, 'the parts don't need an alignment'?

Offline kimmy

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Re: Olympics Culture
« Reply #4 on: August 02, 2021, 02:13:29 pm »


say what member kimmy? Are you saying you're accepting cause, 'the parts don't need an alignment'?

Gender identity was never the issue.  Biological sex is the issue. Identifying as "transgender and non-binary" doesn't give Quinn an advantage over female athletes.  Quinn is a female athlete, regardless of Quinn's gender identity.  Quinn's physiology is adult human female, regardless of whether they identify as transgender, non-binary, furself, faeself, or attack helicopter.


 -k
Paris - London - New York - Kim City
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Offline waldo

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Re: Olympics Culture
« Reply #5 on: August 02, 2021, 02:23:49 pm »
say what member kimmy? Are you saying you're accepting cause, 'the parts don't need an alignment'?

Quinn's physiology is adult human female, regardless of whether they identify as transgender, non-binary, furself, faeself, or attack helicopter.

so ya then, parts-r-parts that you're ok with!

Offline Michael Hardner

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Re: Olympics Culture
« Reply #6 on: August 02, 2021, 02:24:13 pm »
Not sure if I care, but what is your criteria for using preferred gender?  You seem to use it sometimes but not others?

Offline kimmy

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Re: Olympics Culture
« Reply #7 on: August 02, 2021, 02:25:38 pm »
Thursday:


Friday:


IOC medical experts:


 -k
Paris - London - New York - Kim City

Offline kimmy

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Re: Olympics Culture
« Reply #8 on: August 02, 2021, 02:31:09 pm »
so ya then, parts-r-parts that you're ok with!

I think that male people should compete against male people and not female people, yes.  It's sad that this is now a controversial opinion.

Not sure if I care, but what is your criteria for using preferred gender?  You seem to use it sometimes but not others?

I think that when I've misgendered people here it has usually been the kind of people who I can't take seriously in their claimed gender. It makes me want to puke to be expected to call Jessica Yaniv a woman or a lesbian, for instance.

 -k
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Offline Squidward von Squidderson

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Re: Olympics Culture
« Reply #9 on: August 02, 2021, 11:07:19 pm »
Belarus removes their sprinter….  Then the Belurusans kidnap her and try and force her on a flight to Belarus, likely to be arrested.

Japanese authorities step in.

Granted asylum by Poland.

https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.6126676

IOC = useless.

Offline Boges

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Re: Olympics Culture
« Reply #10 on: August 04, 2021, 08:21:02 am »
DeGrasse wins the 200m Gold.

Star of these games!
« Last Edit: August 04, 2021, 09:04:34 am by Boges »
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Offline Michael Hardner

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Re: Olympics Culture
« Reply #11 on: August 04, 2021, 08:25:38 am »
DeGrasse wins the 200m Gold.

Star of this game!

NO WAY !

Sometimes, a little tiny bit of insignificant good news nudges a middling day into the GOOD column...

Offline Boges

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Re: Olympics Culture
« Reply #12 on: August 06, 2021, 09:53:52 am »
Best Gold so far?

200m Mens: Andre DeGrasse
Decathlon: Damian Warner
Women's Soccer

As exciting as the Women's soccer Gold was, beating the Muricans and all, that Decathlon victory was amazing. First time a Decathlete scored 9,000.

I do think DeGrasse winning 3 medals again is huge, he was never going to win Gold in the 100m or 4x100m.
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Offline kimmy

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Re: Olympics Culture
« Reply #13 on: August 07, 2021, 02:01:03 pm »
I love that the Canadian soccer women finally got over the mountain. 

 -k
Paris - London - New York - Kim City
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