CMR: Chief Middle-management Resident (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} medipol) wrote,@ 2008-08-17 23:10:00 |
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Olympic Thoughts
After a week of watching the Olympics (a bit of a challenge without cable, or even a television), a few thoughts come to mind:
That's enough for one night. Now back to watching some incredible athletes in action ....
After a week of watching the Olympics (a bit of a challenge without cable, or even a television), a few thoughts come to mind:
- Michael Phelps: Wow.
- Shooting is an Olympic sport? I thought the Olympics were supposed to bring about peace and harmony among nations by bringing the young athletes together every 4 years. And yet, the first medal is awarded by someone's ability to use a weapon.
- Come to think of it, why are their separate men's and women's shooting events? Shouldn't this be an arena where gender differences are mute? Whether you have a Y chromosome or not doesn't really affect your ability to aim and pull a trigger, right? Though, it occurs to me that the small bore, 3 position competition sounds like it belongs in a porn movie rather than the Olympics.
- Gymnastics - incredibly athletic, requiring insane amounts of strength and control, but not a sport in my book. Let's call it what it (and it's winter cousin, figure skate) truly is: competitive art. Sure, there are required components, and penalties for falls and stepping out of bounds, but there's also a purely subjective component. What if one judge thinks dancing like a robot is more artistic than smooth, flowing moves? Why is that opinion wrong? Why is another correct? Opinions and style preferences can change.
Sports should have objective measures: who scored the most goals? Who crossed the finish line first? Who touched the wall first? These are easily recorded, documented and agreed upon. Yes, there are always subjective components (was that a foul?), but the final measure of competition is objective, not subjective and subject to debate. We know Michael Phelps touched the wall first because we can all see it on the replay.
- Track should use a start system like drag racing with a series of lights. They use something similar in bicycle racing (in the velodrome portions), so why not on the track? It would be better than penalizing those with slow reaction times, and would eliminate the bizarre fact that a runner can be deemed to have a false start even if they leave the blocks after the gun (but sooner than 0.1 seconds after the gun).
- Beach volleyball? Come on ... how is putting one sport on sand make it a different sport? Beach soccer, anyone? And don't get me started on trampoline (see gymnastics, above). Synchronized diving doesn't come close, either, but it would be more interesting if the divers had to make contact with each other during the dive. (What next, couples trampoline?)
That's enough for one night. Now back to watching some incredible athletes in action ....
