The Olympics

A selection of the very best posts and/or most memorable threads on KUMB since the current Forum launched in 2002.

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sendô
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Re: The Olympics

Post by sendô »

sendô wrote: Seems there's a lot more pressure on footballers than there was on Olympians, which probably showed through in their attitudes.
Clucking Bell wrote:How do you figure that out?

Cup games excepted, if they play like a bag of **** one week, they get to try again the next.

You **** up in one of the sports where the Olympics is the pinnacle of achievement and, at best, you've got a four year wait until the next opportunity. Take Rebecca Adlington as an example - if she'd equalled her personal best in the 800m, she'd have had a gold medal not a bronze one. On the track, Osagie set a PB that would have won a medal at any previous Olympics but he came eighth!
Not the same pressure though is it? Not that the Olympians aren't under pressure, but if they fail they can fade into obscurity. Footballers have thousands of "fans" shouting and jeering at them. West Ham players are regularly booed and ****ed off by their own supporters. It's a far different kind of pressure. At the Olympics the atmosphere was completely different, everyone was happy no matter whether Team GB won Gold or came last. Everyone got a cheer whether they were British or not. Can you imagine us lot at the Boleyn cheering if we were losing 5-0 to Man Utd because the other team were doign so well and deserved a clap, and gosh didn't our players give it their best, give them a clap too? We'd be booing and walking out.

In all honesty, the only reason footballers come under pressure is that a Premier League team's wage bill is the size of a small country's GDP and yet half the players can't pass wind and control a ball rather less well than another ball would.

I've got a fair bit of sympathy for a lottery- funded Olympian on 30k a year who ****'s up on their big day .... rather less for the typical pre- literate numpty on 30k a week who seemingly doesn't give a **** about the team, the fans or their own performance.[/quote]
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Sweeney Bod
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Re: The Olympics

Post by Sweeney Bod »

sendô wrote:
Not the same pressure though is it? Not that the Olympians aren't under pressure, but if they fail they can fade into obscurity. Footballers have thousands of "fans" shouting and jeering at them. West Ham players are regularly booed and ****ed off by their own supporters. It's a far different kind of pressure. At the Olympics the atmosphere was completely different, everyone was happy no matter whether Team GB won Gold or came last. Everyone got a cheer whether they were British or not. Can you imagine us lot at the Boleyn cheering if we were losing 5-0 to Man Utd because the other team were doign so well and deserved a clap, and gosh didn't our players give it their best, give them a clap too? We'd be booing and walking out.

.

So basically, footballers are twats and football fans are twats. It is like a marriage made in heaven :D
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Re: The Olympics

Post by shammy »

Can you imagine us lot at the Boleyn cheering if we were losing 5-0 to Man Utd because the other team were doign so well and deserved a clap, and gosh didn't our players give it their best, give them a clap too? We'd be booing and walking out.

No I cant imagine that, but I think this has got worse in recent years. I remember going to Football with my Dad and as long as the players had given their all defeat was taken as part and parcel. To this day my old man comes in from football and says "we lost but it was a lovely game of football"..I never hear people of the "Premiership generation" speak like that mainly as I think we all hate footballers nowadays.
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inter me nan
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Re: The Olympics

Post by inter me nan »

davids cross wrote:Forgive my stereotypical assumption inter..

Me very bad person..... Now tuck your arse into your trousers please... ...:D
Proper grown up response there fella, very funny.
I,ll have a word with my mate at channel four, see if he can get you your own show, I reckon you could be huge.
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davids cross
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Re: The Olympics

Post by davids cross »

inter,

You appear to have taken a point far too seriously, when I was clearly making a sweeping statement, and knew I was at the time.

Hence my winky at the point about builders. It was saying "this is generalisation that I can't stand up"

You missed that though......
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inter me nan
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Re: The Olympics

Post by inter me nan »

no mate i think its you that missed the point,,,,,you think i,ve got all serious about the builder remark, i couldn,t be bothered less aout that, it was the " even nicola" thing that got me.
i understand it might come as a surprise to you that someone who engages in a sport such as boxing, might be eloquent, polite, charming........but it doesn,t me.
some of the nicest ,well mannered , charming people i,ve ever met have been in the boxing gym.
i guess you didn,t intend to offend anyone with your comment,maybe it just came across as patronising.
if thats the case then ,i,ll wind my neck in......its all good :thup:
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Re: The Olympics

Post by monkeyhanger »

inter me nan wrote:some of the nicest ,well mannered , charming people i,ve ever met have been in the boxing gym.
Hear hear. I always state this when people slag boxing off to me. It is a sport that teaches respect and discipline and channels peoples aggression away from crime and street violence IMO. It should be available as a sports option to all kids in schools I think.
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Re: The Olympics

Post by Sweeney Bod »

I am not an apologist for DC, mainly cos he is a **** :D , but this whole fight is over symantics. My mother worked for years at Repton Boxing Club, so I have a healthy respect for boxers, and what good the sport of boxing does in a community. But.... I recently made a comment regarding the 'fit looking " gold medalists amongst the female members of Team GB, and added the dreaded "even" word when talking about Jade Jones.

It was not a slur on the taekwondo (sp?), but more about the dichotomy of having a fairly pretty girl who could probably kick my head off.

Sexist? Yes. Judgemental? Totally. But stereotypes are a bitch
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Re: The Olympics

Post by mcan »

You are Andy Gray and I claim etc... :D

Can people not say anything these days without being jumped all over. I'm sure in about 10 years time there will be busybodies in pubs and football grounds earwigging every conversation for the slightest offence (on behalf of someone else of course).
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Re: The Olympics

Post by Sweeney Bod »

mcan wrote:You are Andy Gray and I claim etc... :D

Can people not say anything these days without being jumped all over. I'm sure in about 10 years time there will be busybodies in pubs and football grounds earwigging every conversation for the slightest offence (on behalf of someone else of course).
Tikkaboson

Few people will admit it, but things heard or said in pubs would lead to mass arrests.
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mcan
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Re: The Olympics

Post by mcan »

Without wanting to speak for DC myself (i'm sure he's big and ugly enough etc), the 'even Nicola' comment would resonate with me and others I think for this reason, and this only - not because she's a female boxer (admittedly had my doubts, allbeit not against as such either, but she and Katie Taylor have firmly ended any such misgivings); nor the builder stuff which I wasn't aware of anyway; nor of the conduct of amateur boxers in general; but this - many 'casual' boxing observers still have their opinions of the sport formed chiefly by what they see in the Professional game, and whilst I'm sure much of this is admirable also (and I firmly agree that boxing can be a huge influence on young people in terms of discipline and exercise), too often it's the Hayes and Chisoras that stick in peoples' minds. The constant posturing and grandstanding has turned a lot, including myself, off boxing, and has become so much the norm that I don't think it's wrong or out of turn for someone to be surprised that a boxer doesn't turn out to be a bit of a twat when he/she speaks to the media?

Is that unfair? If it is it's only on Pro boxing imo, and not Adams or any of the amateurs And in any case, we could also apply the same logic to the many ****hole footballers who would make any self respecting amateur or lower league player, or indeed fan, say ....'even so and so made me proud today'. Yet it's the sort of sentiment we would hear every week.
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Re: The Olympics

Post by mcan »

davids cross wrote:Couple/Three, complementary reads from Aussies newspapers.

Someone who loved the closing ceromony
http://www.theage.com.au/olympics/news- ... 2448t.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Someone who loved the Games.
http://www.theage.com.au/olympics/news- ... 242we.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Someone else who loved the Games very much.
http://www.theage.com.au/olympics/news- ... 2418t.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Feck me, the writers at that paper seem to like us!

The best being -

'Well done you magnificent Pommy bastards.'
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inter me nan
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Re: The Olympics

Post by inter me nan »

fellas D.C made a comment, it was a throwaway remark that, i dont think was meant to offend.
i read it and instantly thought , what a snidey thing to say....." even nicola" as if he expected her to be a monosyllabic , thug.
now maybe i was wrong, maybe looking at it as a fan of boxing, both amateur and professional i was a bit quick to make a comment back.......now these things can quickly turn negative and nasty, and i have no intention of getting into back and forth ding dong with D.C. or anyone else on this site for that matter.
I guess we can all be guilty of stereotyping,of judging a book by its cover.....we live and learn i suppose.
I hope we can draw a line under it ...no hard feelings D.C .
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Re: The Olympics

Post by shammy »

Feck me, the writers at that paper seem to like us!

The best being -

'Well done you magnificent Pommy bastards.'
All when and good but who really cares what Aussies think? At the end of the day we know and they know they are just British people who live abroad...Even their PM is a Welsh woman who does her best to sound more Aussie than any Ocker you might happen to meet.
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Re: The Olympics

Post by AnthraxDave »

I got home from work on Monday at got serious withdrawal symptoms at there being no Olympics on TV!

To be honest, my eyes have been opened to a whole new world of interesting sports that I will most likely want to watch if they are ever on TV again. Cycling especially. I've already bought myself a bike for to/from work journeys on the back of enjoying the Olympics so much. That, and it will make me healthier!

BTW, my favourite Olympic moment was not one involving a British Athlete winning. It was the mens 800m final. Every single one of the runners would have won gold at Beijing with their times. It was an amazing spectacle.
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Re: The Olympics

Post by mcan »

Fair point inter, all opinions as you say and well put.

Vaguely related, but me and a mate were talking about Bolt last week, the way he does all that showboating. Now that seemed to start in sprinting about 15 years ago, I remember Maurice Greene and the rest of the US Relay team really preening when they won a gold (not sure if it was '96 or '00). I think most thought that was nauseating at the time, I even recall a female US athelete saying how embarrased she was.But now it's the norm.

There are comparisons to boxing I think. Ali/Clay was widely seen to be the first to bring this showmanship into the game and the public loved him for it. Why? Because they could see it was natural confidence and charisma. Most boxers (imo) have tried to emulate this since (particularly Heavyweights) and have come across as arrogant tossers instead.

Bolt in that respect is the Ali of his day, so to speak His showmanship, which in others is seen as arrogance and cockiness (witness the intros at the start of the sprint finals) is what (apart from the speed) endears him to the crowd. He is a natural in his charisma and performance. In other words he is himself. And that is why, like Ali, he has the respect and admiration of all, and the likes of Greene and Gatlin, and Bowe and Haye, do not.
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Re: The Olympics

Post by mcan »

AnthraxDave wrote:BTW, my favourite Olympic moment was not one involving a British Athlete winning. It was the mens 800m final. Every single one of the runners would have won gold at Beijing with their times. It was an amazing spectacle.
One of mine as well. I remember as a kid watching any race that involved Coe and Ovett (which seemed to be every week) and one of the great World Records of that time was Coe's 800m in Florence in 1981, it stood for a long time, until about 10-15 years ago and was one of the longest standing mens WRC.

Well the amazing stat from that race last week was that the man in 2nd (and he was a good 5 metres behind Rudisha) equalled Coe's old WRC, and it still was the joint 3rd/4th fastest of all time.

Fantastic race, some of the other middle/long distances were a bit pedestrian by comparison, especially the (slightly dodgy 1500m?) but 2 were won by Mo so who cares!
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Re: The Olympics

Post by inter me nan »

mcan...i gotta agree with you there , the haye and chisora examples are perfect. i saw an interview with haye witha female journo that works for sky, and she said she was disappointed with david for his remarks about audley...( david said when he fights audley" he will think he is being gang raped" or something similar...but it definitely contained "gang raped"....she asked him if he regretted making those remarks, as it is very offensive, especially to victims of rape.....david could, have said .....yes of course it was a silly thing to say, i made that comment in the heat of the moment, i apologise for any offense etc......but he didn,t he said he sticks by what he said, audley will think he has been gang raped by the time i have finished with him.
Now how ****ing stupid have you got to be not to take the opportunity retract a ridiculous statement like that?
who did he think would be impressed with it?
i dont get it.

bolt,s personality is there for everyone to see, joking with the people before the race,the twinkle in his eye, your comparisons with ali are spot on, they both share/shared a inner confidence bordering on arrogance, but it never seemed to spill over, i have seen many lesser athletes, try and fail miserably at the same thing.....you can see the lie in there eyes, they cant pull it off.....i remember prince naseem trying to do the ali thing with a sneer instead of a smile......it was embarrassing.
sport needs guys like bolt,he is inspirational.....along with your,e.... wiggins, redgraves, hoy,s etc. etc.
but unfortunately you get a few hayes, bartons, el hadj dioufs aswell. :thdn:
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Re: The Olympics

Post by Up the Junction »

Here's a bit of a coup... a KUMB.com Q&A with the marvellous Mark Hunter MBE:

http://www.kumb.com/qa.php?id=36" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: The Olympics

Post by Hambrosia Stu »

inter me nan wrote:no mate i think its you that missed the point,,,,,you think i,ve got all serious about the builder remark, i couldn,t be bothered less aout that, it was the " even nicola" thing that got me.
i understand it might come as a surprise to you that someone who engages in a sport such as boxing, might be eloquent, polite, charming........but it doesn,t me.
some of the nicest ,well mannered , charming people i,ve ever met have been in the boxing gym.
i guess you didn,t intend to offend anyone with your comment,maybe it just came across as patronising.
if thats the case then ,i,ll wind my neck in......its all good
:lol:
Can't believe what I'm reading tbh!
Talk about taking a minute jokey point far too literally, or more like grabbing the wrong end of the stick altogether and running off in the wrong direction with it with the speed of Usain Bolt on the last relay leg...

I don't need to defend DC, but I'll defend the point he was making, as it was a response to something I wrote....

The point I made was how well our Olympians came across when interviewed, compared to a lot of PL footballers. DC gave an example, a very good example imo
Many footballers are, shall we say, less than well educated. I guess it's often a trade off, as to become that good as a young lad the academic side of things often plays second fiddle. Footballers often come across as a bit thick, but more to the point, rude, ignorant, arrogant, etc

Boxing is also a game where it's participants are hardly renowned for their intelligence.....so DC highlighted a boxer, and used her as an example of how pleasant and decent a human being she came across as. He was essentially saying "even boxers... (who are hardly renowned for being mentally sharp, and who make a career out of aggression and inflicting pain) come across as really genuine decent human beings....(when you might expect them to be less erudite)"

If anything, he was passing a compliment, and you've taken offence at that!
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