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Thread: OT - Congrats Michael!!
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08-01-2012, 05:36 PM #25Hall Of Fame Poster
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08-01-2012, 07:19 PM #26
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08-01-2012, 07:27 PM #27
Re: OT - Congrats Michael!!
While I generally agree with what your saying, I believe Carl Lewis won gold in long jump in 4 straight Olympics.
I don't think anyone is sticking up for his character. I guess my point is that if someone accomplishes something amazing, you can look past their being a bit of an idiot and/or prick. If he raped or murdered someone then yea I'd stop cheering for him, but I'm not aware of anything nearly that egregious.
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Re: Ot - congrats michael!!
I think it's awesome and he is in the record books as the "the most decorated olympian of all time" despite some of these discussions on what sport is harder. Great to see a Baltimore guy achieve such high honors IMO.
Last edited by Ravenswintitle; 08-01-2012 at 08:03 PM.
World Domination 3 Points at a Time!
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08-01-2012, 09:02 PM #29Legendary RSR Poster
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08-02-2012, 12:38 AM #30
Re: OT - Congrats Michael!!
For anyone trying to say that it's just swimming and that the strokes aren't that much different to master at an elite level, I ask you this: If it's not that great of an accomplishment, how come nobody else has ever done it before? Nobody. Ever.
It's not that Phelps has been dominant - it's that he was been dominant in several different events against guys who are specialists in that event alone, and for several consecutive years. It's not that he's winning medals - he's winning mostly gold medals and still holds seven world records in different events.
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08-02-2012, 08:05 AM #31Regular 1st Stringer
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08-02-2012, 10:00 AM #32
Re: OT - Congrats Michael!!
Festivus
His definitions and arguments were so clear in his own mind that he was unable to understand how any reasonable person could honestly differ with him.
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08-02-2012, 11:14 AM #33Regular 1st Stringer
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Re: Ot - congrats michael!!
You haven't seen any T&F events on TV because they haven't started yet. In a few days or less, swimming will be over, and you won't see that anymore. Making a statement like the one you just made would be like saying "It's April and there's no football on TV, this sport must be dead. I guess that people only watch hockey and basketball here."
As a matter of fact, the only reason that they have T&F start later is so that the marathon can be the final event of the Olypmics, and it finishes into the arena where the closing ceremonies are.
But you are half-right. While T&F used to be the cornerstone event of the Olypmics, it's taken a backseat due to the steroid cloud. Also, swimming has been put in the forefront in the USA because we medal so much in it.
But I do kind of have a gripe with how many medals they give away in swimming. While I realize that it benefits our country, it's not exactly fair. With the team, traditional sports, they compete for days and days with many games and are lucky to get one medal. Most sports are lucky to give away a few medals in their entire program. Even with T&F, the events are so different than it's virtually impossible to take home more than 2 or 3. 4 is a feat that will put you in the record books.
But with swimming, they're basically doing the same thing with variations. Freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, Medley, 100 meters, 200 meters, 400 meters, and relays for all of them. Maybe for a sport like basketball they should have 10 minute games, 20 minute games, 40 minute games, games like one hand tied behind the back, games where you have to run backwards, etc. If anything, maybe swimming should be more like gymnastics, where the medal goes to the person with the best overall program through a points system based on how they finish (5 points for first, 4 points for 2nd, etc.).
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08-02-2012, 11:35 AM #34Legendary RSR Poster
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08-02-2012, 11:59 AM #35
Re: Ot - congrats michael!!
You are assuming he was talking about just these events right now in London. His post was worded more broadly than that: "How many track events do you watch on Tv. Swimming get's better ratings that track and field." That's what sroberts wrote. Not "At the London Olympics swimming gets better ratings."
I guess he's all right, now.
You would award the generalist but not the specialist? No thank you, I like it the way it is. Let the specialists compete against each other.
People train all their lives for one shot to win gold in the 200 back. Let them compete against each other, and if there is a super freak of a generalist who can do that and the 200 breast (or whatever) as well, so much the better for us as spectators.
In other words, don't hate the player *or* the game. Just enjoy history as it's being made.Festivus
His definitions and arguments were so clear in his own mind that he was unable to understand how any reasonable person could honestly differ with him.
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08-02-2012, 03:05 PM #36Hall Of Fame Poster
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