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dacher wrote:The age limits are senseless since "underage" gymnasts train for and perform the exact same moves that senior gymnasts perform, but they do it in junior competitions. Top junior gymnasts scores are just as high as top senior gymnasts.

Hmm. I stand corrected then. But since it appears the age limits are senseless, as you and Max said, what's the rational behind them?

Rocky5000 wrote:^That's a good point. People are always trying to mess with what we invent in the US.

Basketball was invented in Canada genius.

Young Guru wrote:

Rocky5000 wrote:^That's a good point. People are always trying to mess with what we invent in the US.

Basketball was invented in Canada genius.

Ouch...

Young Guru wrote:

Rocky5000 wrote:^That's a good point. People are always trying to mess with what we invent in the US.

Basketball was invented in Canada genius.

Basketball was invented in Springfield, Massachusetts, USA by DR. James Naismith in December 1891. Dr. Naismith was a Canadian, you however are not a genius. Perhaps if you make a smartass Ballboy remark you will look like less of an idiot, but I doubt it.

lfmidwood wrote:

Young Guru wrote:

Rocky5000 wrote:^That's a good point. People are always trying to mess with what we invent in the US.

Basketball was invented in Canada genius.

Basketball was invented in Springfield, Massachusetts, USA by DR. James Naismith in December 1891. Dr. Naismith was a Canadian, you however are not a genius. Perhaps if you make a smartass Ballboy remark you will look like less of an idiot, but I doubt it.

I meant by a Canadian. I made that post last night around 4:30am. Regardless its not made by americans

Power walking in the olympics???? really??????????? i had no idea this is crazy i was watching it for like 10 mins in shock and my brain halfway melted and started leaking out of my head.

I thought we made Canada a State a while ago?

never been so sad to see the olympics end

Sleepy51 wrote:I thought we made Canada a State a while ago?

Nope, cuz Americans are allergic to free health care.

bakafool wrote:

Sleepy51 wrote:I thought we made Canada a State a while ago?

Nope, cuz Americans are allergic to free health care.

This is true...we do hate things that suck.

I guess all those Canadians who come over the border to get critical medical care immediately rather than waiting months for something as routine as a CT scan are a shining testimony to your system, eh?

My impressions from the Olympics:

I talked to a competitive ex-gymnast, and she said age limits were appropriate not just for protection of the young gymnast's emotional development, but because they may have a competitive advantage in their early teens, where their height gives them a mechanical advantage on flips, and they may have increased flexibility. She said something about estrogen and its effect on breasts, hips and muscle tone too that I didn't catch.

I was happy to see the Americans do so well in volleyball, and I hope that it promotes the sport in the US, particularly among boys. Even Dalhauser didn't play the game until his senior year because he said, "Its a girl's sport!" I hope casual viewers were impressed with the power and speed of the game at its higher levels, and weren't cringing too much when Clay Stanley block a crucial point last night with his face.

I continue to say water polo is the toughest sport in the world. In most sports there is healthy competition, but this one has battles under the water with guys trying to drown you. I could run a bad marathon, but WP is one I could die in. The athletes who do synchronized swimming don't get enough credit either. I could never watch the sport myself, but the lifts they do, half the time underwater, is pretty athletic.

Don't all the male swimmers look like they have the exaggerated triangle bodies from the Superman/Batman/Justice League cartoons?

What is it about America that makes us feel that lip-syncing for the Chinese girl with the overbite is so so wrong. I can't put my finger on it, but I just feel outraged by this.

I watched the marathon, and when they reached tianamen square, I just expected there to be a tank.

I don't know what's more amazing .. that the US women's softball team lost the gold Medal game after outscoring all previous opponents something like 45-1, or that they may cancel the sport in the next Olympics! The softball team helped me illustrate a point to my kids though. You don't have to be a better to beat a great team, you just need to play better that day. It gave one some courage playing against her undefeated soccer rival yesterday. She still lost, but it was fun seeing her try to motivate the other kids on her team.

So where did all those gold medal China got come from? Does their state-supported programs put as much emphasis on getting a gold in bantam-weight judo and badminton as they do in more popular sports? Or do American networks mainly show sports that Americans care about, and are good at? there were a lot of medals given out for the different races in the pool and on the track, so I'm curious what sports aren't we seeing?

Jackie Chan should never sing. It would have been great though if he kicked over a mike stand, swung it between his feet, and knocked a few of those fashionista singers off the stage.

Overall, a very impressive Olympics. I became master of my DVR, and still was only getting four hours of sleep a night. This will be a favorite for a long time.

MyInsatiableOne wrote:

bakafool wrote:

Sleepy51 wrote:I thought we made Canada a State a while ago?

Nope, cuz Americans are allergic to free health care.

This is true...we do hate things that suck.

I guess all those Canadians who come over the border to get critical medical care immediately rather than waiting months for something as routine as a CT scan are a shining testimony to your system, eh?

Sure. But it's really great that over there your wait times are low because many of you aren't getting any care at all. That opens things up for us so thank you very much; it's also wonderful that while more money is spent over there, 16% of your population can't use the system because they don't have insurance; it's super duper that most of you don't have a regular physician; it's fascinating that medical service over there isn't particularly convenient because apparently, not many of your doctors offer early morning hours, evening availability, or weekend slots; but it's kinda weird that with such a great system, you guys still have higher rates of chronic conditions, are frequent victims of medical, medication, and lab errors, and gasp! are dissatisfied with what you get.

Yup, you guys do seem to be allergic to free healthcare. Oh, and say hi to that low dollar and high deficit for me will ya. God Bless America!

I am sketical about anyone who calls any government program .. "free."

shrink wrote:I am sketical about anyone who calls any government program .. "free."

True. I guess "free" in this context means "taxes not used to finance a war".

bakafool wrote:

shrink wrote:I am sketical about anyone who calls any government program .. "free."

True. I guess "free" in this context means "taxes not used to finance a war".

LOL! I guess my skepticism was well-placed, true believer.

shrink wrote:So where did all those gold medal China got come from? Does their state-supported programs put as much emphasis on getting a gold in bantam-weight judo and badminton as they do in more popular sports? Or do American networks mainly show sports that Americans care about, and are good at?

It was about two or three in the morning when the ping pong finals were televised.

The non-medal parade of champions (or whatever they call it) was created specifically for network TV just so they could milk yet another evening of prime time out of the gymnastics while countless other actual medal events were taking place. They do a similar thing for ice skating in the winter olympics. Americans sure do love their gymnastics and figure skating. So much so that they'd rather watch meaningless exhibitions (even after a week of saturated coverage), rather than real medal events.

Stud of the Games: After week one it was Phelps hands down. But along comes Bolt to steal the show. Those three world records could end up being the most important feat in Olympics history for all past and future generations to come.

I'm sad the olympics are over. They were really fun to watch.

Oh well, Feb. of 2010 isn't that far away.

MyInsatiableOne wrote:

bakafool wrote:

Sleepy51 wrote:I thought we made Canada a State a while ago?

Nope, cuz Americans are allergic to free health care.

This is true...we do hate things that suck.

I guess all those Canadians who come over the border to get critical medical care immediately rather than waiting months for something as routine as a CT scan are a shining testimony to your system, eh?

I guess it's okay to call something down when you have no idea.