2008 Olympics

[Goldeneye]

Bella Lugosi was going nuts cheering in the press room, evne went was far as huggin Bob Costas.

Bela Lugosi?
Bela Karolyi maybe?
Both are from Romania.

[Kristatos]

I finally got to see some of the Olympics last night, and I have to say, NBC's coverage is teh suxxorz (as I believe the young people say). The formula seems to be 3 parts commercials to two parts Bob Costas droning on and on to one part actual sporting events. I think I'll pass.

[Mazer Rackham]

Its been too commercialized.
Watch a sport for 3 minutes and take a commercial break for 10 then come back to catch a Nike add running 100m sprint with a McDonalds' logos plastered allover the back ground.
NBC is having a fit becasue the ratings are bad and use the commentators to try to keep the audience from America's favorite sport, channel surfing.

[James]

I was listening to BBC Radio 5 yesterday and someone said that in the US they don't really cover the athletics (or 'Track and Field') because that sport is so discredited over there with the recent high profile drug cases. Is this true?

[Kristatos]

I was listening to BBC Radio 5 yesterday and someone said that in the US they don't really cover the athletics (or 'Track and Field') because that sport is so discredited over there with the recent high profile drug cases. Is this true?

They don't really cover anything much that I can tell, other than letting us know ad nauseum that Andrex is the official bog roll of the Olympic Games or whatever.

[carl stromberg]

I watched some women's softball today! i thought that was a pastime rather than an organised sport.

[FormerBondFan]

The mystery of Michael Phelps' missing father

By Chris Chase

During Michael Phelps' races, camera shots of his mother Debbie were a fixture on NBC. The network showed endless replays of her falling to her seat after that memorable 100 butterfly finish. She even watched one race on camera with Cris Collinsworth, squeezing his knee the entire time. And after her son won his eighth gold medal, Debbie was all over NBC getting interviewed by Bob Costas, Matt Lauer and Meredith Viera. Michael's sisters, Hilary and Whitney were also in Beijing cheering on their little brother. All this coverage of the Phelps family led to one obvious question from our readers: Where was Dad?

It's been well-documented that Debbie and Fred Phelps divorced when Michael was 9. Beyond that, little else has been publicized about Michael Phelps' father. Enter: Fourth-Place Medal's Investigative Unit. Today the FPMIU looks into the mystery of the whereabouts of Michael Phelps' father.

Fred Phelps is a retired Maryland State Trooper, lives in a suburb of Baltimore and has remarried since divorcing Debbie Phelps in 1993. According to the Baltimore Sun, he watched the Olympics from his home, saying he was "on pins and needles" every time Michael dove into the pool. But, the New York Post reported that Fred has yet to call his son to congratulate him on his Olympic accomplishments.

Following the divorce, Fred Phelps had little contact with his son. Prior to the 2004 Olympics, Michael told a reporter that his father hadn't even called to congratulate him when he set his first world record. However, the two reconciled prior to the Athens Games and Fred even made the trip to watch his son win six golds and two bronzes. Since then, however, the relationship has reportedly fractured.

Fred Phelps declines most interview requests, citing a desire to have the focus remain on his son.

Mystery: solved.

[Dr. No]

What is wrong with the relay teams? Both dropped the baton!

Hats off to the Jamaicans! They are dominating it this year.

[Dr. No]

I was listening to BBC Radio 5 yesterday and someone said that in the US they don't really cover the athletics (or 'Track and Field') because that sport is so discredited over there with the recent high profile drug cases. Is this true?

Could you been more specific? Which scandal? We had so many recently
I think the real problem is we don't care about track and field because we don't have any real stars on it. It also may be the way it being presented, I found myself tuning out. I don't think the scandals hurt it I think itis the us population not being interested in general. Lance Armstrong had scandals, most professional teams have scandals. in a way we became desensitized to it.

[stockslivevan]

All this talk about gymnasts like He Kexin being underage is ludicrous. Back at my high school we had Asian girls look just as short as her.

Eh, wait, scratch that, the girl I'm recalling skipped a few grades ahead.

[Dr. No]

I got to admit they didn't look quite right for their age. The Koreans pulled the same thing a few Olympics ago, underage girls with the wrong birth date on their passport so they could compete.
But there girls could be the real deal. Being Chinese throws off most of how the west judges age anyway and some gymnasts have eating disorders and thye try to stay small any how.

My first thought when I saw them was someone gave the growth inhibiting drugs. It didn't occur to me they might be underaged til all the shouting about it.

[Mazer Rackham]

The Chinese were basically caught red handed. The gymnasts are at least two years too young.
Stryde Hax dug deep to find the trail after it had been methodically covered.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/gymnastics/u ... 74664.html

[stockslivevan]

The Chinese were basically caught red handed. The gymnasts are at least two years too young.
Stryde Hax dug deep to find the trail after it had been methodically covered.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/gymnastics/u ... 74664.html

What an embarrassment for the people of China to have their government use an underage girl and go as far as to force her to lie to her own country just to win a gold medal. All for what? Public image? This just worsens the image.

[carl stromberg]

The Chinese were basically caught red handed. The gymnasts are at least two years too young.
Stryde Hax dug deep to find the trail after it had been methodically covered.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/gymnastics/u ... 74664.html

What an embarrassment for the people of China to have their government use an underage girl and go as far as to force her to lie to her own country just to win a gold medal. All for what? Public image? This just worsens the image.

It's nothing new for an authoritarian state (It's not communist!) to cheat in sport for propaganda and national pride purposes. I remember the East Germans used to put athletes in training camps from a young age and pump them full of drugs!

[FormerBondFan]

Phelps says London will be his farewell Games

8 hours, 27 minutes ago

By Alan Baldwin

LONDON (Reuters) - Michael Phelps had some comforting news for demoralized rivals on Sunday when he declared the 2012 London Games would be his final Olympics.

“I told myself I would never compete past the age of 30,” the 23-year-old American swimmer told a news conference after flying in from Beijing, where he won a record eight golds in the Water Cube pool.

“I’m not sure if I’ll go a few more years after the (London) Olympics. I don’t know why I picked 30 but I told (coach) Bob Bowman that I’m not swimming past the age of 30 so don’t get any ideas.

“He said ‘Well, that’s good because I don’t want to coach you past the age of 30.”’

Phelps surpassed compatriot Mark Spitz’s 1972 record of seven golds in a single Games in Beijing with victories in freestyle, butterfly, individual medley and relays.

The Baltimore swimmer has said he wants to take up new events, with the 100 freestyle a prime target along with individual backstroke.

However he assured Japan’s Kosuke Kitajima, the double Olympic breaststroke gold medalist, that he would not be moving into his territory in the quest for new challenges.

“It’s going to be no breastroke, no distance swimming and no open water, so at least those guys will still be my friends,” he said.

SINGLE MEDAL

Mobbed by photographers as he held up just one of his Beijing medals at the appearance for sponsors Visa, Phelps was in London to kick off the countdown to 2012 as Beijing handed over the baton.

“I’ve no idea what I am really going to do over the next four years but I’m looking forward to trying some new events and swimming some events that I haven’t really had the opportunity to swim,” said the American.

“Bob said to me that he’s going to put everything that he’s done coaching me and just throw it out the door and do something completely different, just to see how it works.

“If it’s successful then great, if not we can go back to what we’ve been doing.”

Phelps has never competed in London, where he enjoyed behaving like a regular tourist on Sunday by standing in the summer rain outside Buckingham Palace to watch the changing of the guard.

He said he hoped to catch a soccer game, preferably involving Manchester United or West Ham United, and looked forward to 2012 where he expected Britain to field an “amazing” team in the pool.

“We’ve all had some races here and there and they (Britain) have improved so much over the last four years and I’m just looking forward to seeing how much faster they can go.”

With a record 14 career Olympic gold medals, Phelps will have to contend with a new level of celebrity and fortune but he saw no choice between fame and success in the years ahead.

“I’m having fun and I think that’s really all that matters,” he said. “You can do anything. I think one of the biggest things I’ve learned over the last four years is that anything is possible if you set your imagination.

“Whatever you dream of, you can do. For me, the sky’s the limit. I have some pretty lofty dreams in my head and those goals are going to stay there until they are accomplished.

“It’s not going to be easy getting there and there are going to be some bumps in the road … I don’t think it’s going to be perfect but it’s going to be fun over the next few years while I finish off my career.”

(Editing by Jeremy Laurence)