Showing posts with label olympics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label olympics. Show all posts

Thursday, 9 August 2012

london 2012

We are almost two weeks into the Olympics and I was pretty on board when they started, having checked out many events from rowing to swimming to gymnastics. Where I started to get irked was around the badminton match between China's Wang Xiaoli & Yu Yang and South Korea's Jung Kyung-eun & Kim Ha-na. I've seen someone throw a game before, but I have never seen both sides trying to lose. The match didn't feature a rally of over four returns (you can do better than that in your backyard with ten beers in your system), with serves being hit into the net and routine shots hit way long. The same thing happened with the Ha Jung-eun & Kim Min-jung (South Korea) versus Meiliana Jauhari (Indonesia). Both teams were looking for an easier draw next round, but throwing games doesn't really go along with the ethics of sportsmanship in the Olympics. All eight competitors were disqualified. 

The social media doesn't bother me as much, since you can say what you want (within reason) in this day and age, not to mention that something that may appear to be accepted in some cultures may not in others. So, I take that with a grain of salt, and actually am kind of surprised by how many athletes have been expelled because of Twitter and Facebooking comments (like the pictured Greek triple jumper who was expelled just before the games).  

What did it for me, and many Canadians was the Canada-US female soccer game. The Canadians are leading the Americans 3-2 with time almost expired. Canadian goalie Erin McLeod held the ball for more than 6 seconds and apparently that is a violation, but one that it seldom called especially at such a crucial time of the game. The US is awarded a free kick and on the ensuing play the ball, at least semi-indirectly, hits a Canadian defender and we get called on a handball, then American Abby Wambach scores on the penalty kick awarded to them for the aforementioned handball. The US won it 4-3 in extra time. Forward Christine Sinclair, the best female player on the Canada team and arguably the world, said after the game "the ref decided the result before the game started." FIFA (who apparently is governing body at the Olympics?) is looking into the incidents/comments to see if supplementary action against the Canadians is required. Yes, the Canadians comments are being looked into. Not to the absolutely TERRIBLE refereeing. 

Maybe I'm just sick of London 2012, and wish it would stop pre-empting all the baseball games, but I just can't wait for them to be over. You get pretty excited at the start, then it wanes, slowly, as you watch the games unfold, then you become sick of them because of the politics and apparent match fixing. It's on every channel, every morning, then recaps all afternoon. And we're not doing too great on the Canadian front. I think we are better suited for the winter Olympics since everyone thinks we live in igloos anyways. But we can ski, skate, play hockey and curl... so spread that on your discus and smoke it!


Saturday, 4 August 2012

aug 4 - round 2


A quaint little Vermont community neighbouring the Canadian border got more than half their fleet of police vehicles destroyed by a man who was a little upset about a recent charges for resisting arrest, and marijuana possession. Roger Pion, 34, drove his huge farm tractor destroying five cruisers, an unmarked car and a transport vehicle, also mangling the radios, radar detectors and other gadgets, not to mention they needed the jaws life to retrieve the shotguns and rifles out of the trunks. The damages total about $300,000 with Pion facing new charges that include seven counts of unlawful mischief, one count of aggravated assault on an officer, gross negligent operation and leaving the scene of the accident. Fortunately, the farm vehicle tops out at 17 MPH and he was apprehended a short distance away.
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Stahl House, Los Angeles
"He who lives in a glass house…" Here's a bunch of pics of the coolest glass houses. Some of them are quite impressive, some of them not so much. And it shouldn't count as a glass house if it isn't housing people. I mean, you have a 42 acre's of property with a mansion, guest home, and a garage that puts Jay Leno's to shame and you have a glass house on the ass-end of the property shouldn't really classify as a glass home. Pretty awesome, don't get me wrong. The coolest one has to be the Stahl house in the Hollywood Hills over looking Los Angeles providing breathtaking or stomach churning views depending on how you feel about heights. It has been in numerous films and tv shows, not to mention is still occupied by the family of the original architect. Pretty incredible place. Anyways, here's the list you can check out for yourself.


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Nice story about a couple of folks who rekindled their romance - 48 years after they divorced. Lena Henderson and Roland Davis were high school sweethearts, got married soon after, and raised five kids together. The split amicably in 1964 and remained friends throughout the years. Roland's second wife passed away 6 months ago and at the urging of his daughter he called up his former flame and proposed to her. She was a little surprised at the proposal to which he said "I'm too old to be nervous. When we divorced we were still friends and we're still friends, aren't we?" The couple is getting married today, August 4th, in the presence of their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. "Love is lovelier… the second time around"


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Will Ferrell's reaction to the Kristen Stewart-Rob Pattison "fiasco." Pretty damn funny! 


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The Olympics have been entertaining for the most part. Other than knowing Michael Phelps is pretty much going to win a medal in every event he goes into, there has been a lot more than just Phelps to get the American's excited. Missy Franklin won her third Gold of the games in the pool for team USA as well as gold medal showings in the women's 800 meter, women's gymnastics and a lock in basketball. The Americans and Chinese both have 18 gold medals as of the end of competition last night, with the Americans looking to pull ahead in track & field, where they have many medal hopefuls. Canadian snagged their best medal in the games so far in the men's 8 men rowing event getting silver, but we are still looking for our first gold in London. The first paralympian to compete in the able bodied Olympics posted a time of 45.44 seconds in his 400 meter qualifying heat, finishing second, and earning a birth in Sundays semis. Oscar Pistorius' legs were amputated at 11 months old due to a bone defect and runs on carbon fiber blades earning him the nickname "Blade Runner." People have been concerned that the prosthetics may provide some kind of spring effect but nothing has really came of that, and I doubt you could argue that he has any real advantage over anyone who has two legs.
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Greinke as an Angel
Baseball trade deadline has come and gone with most of the suspected players on the block being shipped but sometimes not to the destination you think. I was surprised to see Zach Greinke wind up in Los Angeles with the Angels. Same with Ryan Dempster going to the Rangers. Expect the AL West to be the division to watch going down to the wire with both the Angels and Rangers upgrading their pitching staffs. The Rangers currently lead the division by 4.5 games over the Wild Card leading Oakland Athletics and Angels. And how about the Phillies fire sale. I'm glad Papelbon is on a last place team, snubbing the Red Sox like he did. Anyways, after shipping soon-to-be Hall Of Fame Jim Thome off to the Orioles, the Phils made the NL West a little more interesting by sending their two best outfielders to two West rivals battling it out for the division crown. Centre fielder Shane Victorino has been shipped to the LA Dodgers while aging, but having a great season Raul Ibanez goes to the San Francisco Giants. The Giants currently lead the Dodgers by a half game in the NL West. Getting down to the home stretch of the season and it should be great to watch!
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Oh My God!