Olympics

[Erni]

Instead of sports they are rehashing globular warmering. Time to change channels.

[KestrelBike]

This article said it best: http://www.pagunblog.com/2016/08/03/olympic-shooting-snub/
[found it via thegunfeed.com. Am I allowed to just copy/paste the article? Mods, apologies if that's a no-no]


USA Shooting has been pitching the story of Kim Rhode to mainstream media because she’s broken some pretty unique Olympic records during her years of competing. She’s the only American to win individual medals in five straight Olympics – only American at all, not just the only American shooter. Her presence in Rio also makes her the only American Olympian to compete on 5 continents. Beyond American records, she is the only woman to win three Olympic golds in shooting.

In addition to holding records, she’s overcome challenges that many Olympians would find it hard to overcome – like having her specialized sport discontinued and being forced to take up a new one. Her prized equipment was stolen at one point. Yet she makes news for keeping such an upbeat attitude about her sport and life’s many challenges.
With these kinds of records, this news story from May highlighted that the US Olympic team members have never recognized Kim Rhode with the honor of carrying the American flag during opening or closing ceremonies.

Instead, news came today that US swimmer Michael Phelps will carry the flag. He was chosen because he has won multiple medals in various swimming sports that are largely just swimming different distances in the same discipline. Oh, and the other headlines he has generated for the US Olympic team include an underage DUI arrest to which he pled guilty and being photographed with drug paraphernalia. And then there’s the second DUI arrest since he apparently didn’t learn the first time. As this article notes, after every single medal-winning games Phelps has competed in, he follows up with headline-making illegal activities.
Sure, let’s choose that guy because he holds an Olympic record to represent the United States in the ceremonies.

That said, I’m going to try and watch the Olympic shooting events if I can figure out how to stream it. (I think the NBC sports channel on Roku may have all the sports airing if I have read things correctly.) It’s a fairly minor show of support, but our Olympic shooters could probably use a little more support.

[Jeffrey Lebowski]

Man some weird sports come out of the woodwork during the olympics.

[drew890]

USA won the first gold medal of this years olympics. Not that it will be reported nor celebrated; it was in 10m air rifle. Those dangerous guns are ruining lives again...

[wyome]

I want the HD video projection system they used in the opening ceremonies....

Oh yah...air rifle medal

http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/olympics/teen-shooter-wins-usas-first-gold-medal-of-games/ar-BBvjYLS?li=BBnb7Kz

[Gman]

USA won the first gold medal of this years olympics. Not that it will be reported nor celebrated; it was in 10m air rifle. Those dangerous guns are ruining lives again...
They actually had it on the MSN home page. Found it funny that they left "Shooter" out of the headline on the home page.
Teen shooter wins USA's first gold medal of Games (http://http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/olympics/teen-shooter-wins-usas-first-gold-medal-of-games/ar-BBvjYLS?li=BBnb7Kz)

Enjoyed the Brazilians claiming to have the first manned flight during the opening ceremonies. The discussion of that tidbit was quite entertaining.
Brazil claims the first flight, Americans on Twitter disagree (http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/olympics/brazil-claims-the-first-flight-americans-on-twitter-disagree/ar-BBvjrek?li=BBnb7Kz)

Loved this comment;

Oh yes, the Brazilians are taking credit for the first flight. I love passive aggressive spectacle

[Jeffrey Lebowski]

USA won the first gold medal of this years olympics. Not that it will be reported nor celebrated; it was in 10m air rifle. Those dangerous guns are ruining lives again...


It was on TV, briefly. They showed the rifle, target graphic, and the podium.
I'm not into this much myself, but I'm on babysitting duty this am and watching the road race.

[Gman]

Screw the Olympics. IOC is worse than any big corporation or commie regime.
It's like the sports wing of the UN.

[HoneyBadger]

I stopped watching after the first 2 minutes of save the Earth, tree-hugging, global warming, politically correct bullshit.

[SamuraiCO]

Meh

[KestrelBike]

http://www.breitbart.com/california/2016/08/06/gold-medal-olympic-shooter-criticizes-california-gun-control/
Kim Rhode comes out swinging again, speaking about the bullshit CA laws that were just passed.

[rfizzle]

First gold of the games go to USA in 10m Air Rifle, plus her name is Virginia Thrasher. [rockon]

http://edition.cnn.com/2016/08/06/sport/rio-olympics-first-gold-medal-virginia-thrasher/

[Gman]

Stray bullet finds its way into Rio media tent at equestrian center (http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/olympics/stray-bullet-finds-its-way-into-rio-media-tent-at-equestrian-center/ar-BBvkHwl)

Things continue to go exceptionally well at Rio, if you disregard the stray bullets making their way into media tents.

For reasons that remain unclear, a bullet landed in the media tent near the equestrian center in Rio on Saturday. No one was injured, but it still provided for a rather unsettling visual.

[wctriumph]

I was late to work the other morning because I watched 19 year old Virginia Thrasher smoke the Chinese in the 10 meter air rifle event. She was amazing and what a great win it was.

USA USA USA USA USA!!!

[BladesNBarrels]

Screw the Olympics. IOC is worse than any big corporation or commie regime. Been messed up since the start. In 1936 and they "removed" Jews from the German games because they didn't want to upset Hitler! They make billions, give the athletes dick, and ruin the host city. The Olympics also legitimizes bad governments- Putin, China, Brazil, etc. Seen enough McDonalds and VISA ads in my life. Better things to do than watch the idiot box.

Well, Dick Lamm must have agreed with your opinion.......
"In 1972, as a member of the Colorado General Assembly (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_General_Assembly), Lamm led the movement against Denver (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denver)'s hosting of the 1976 Winter Olympics (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976_Winter_Olympics). Denver had already been awarded the games, but the movement succeeded in cutting off public funding for the games, forcing the city to cancel its hosting. Innsbruck, Austria (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Innsbruck,_Austria) replaced Denver as the host. Lamm's successful effort made him known statewide"

I had already found a place for a hot dog stand on I-70 for the fans heading to the ski events to make my first million $
That sure did not work out

[hammer]

[hobowh]

I avoid the olymics like the plague. If I wanted to watch professional athletes pretending to be armatures I would watch the NFL

[Jer]

I avoid the olymics like the plague. If I wanted to watch professional athletes pretending to be armatures I would watch the NFL

How do NFL players pretend to be amateurs?

[KestrelBike]

cocks. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-12/olympics-sponsors-want-nothing-to-do-with-team-usa-shooters


When Team USA’s Kim Rhode won a bronze medal in skeet shooting Friday, she claimed a piece of Olympic history: the 37-year-old Californian became the first woman to take the podium in six straight Olympics.
Landing a big-name sponsor might be the bigger feat. In the year leading up to Rio 2016, Rhode’s agent Patrick Quinn pitched her to around 20 companies that back the Olympics. None were convinced.
“The big mystery is how someone like Kim isn’t part of the Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, and the Olympics sponsor push,’’ Quinn said by phone from Chicago.“It would be nice to have an Olympic sponsor recognize the magnitude of her accomplishment.’’

Coca-Cola Co. didn’t respond to a request for comment, and Procter & Gamble Co.’s spokesperson Damon Jones said in an e-mail the company receives hundreds of sponsorship requests so it must be selective. Rhode and other shooters on Team USA think the reason they’re passed over is obvious. The rise in gun violence and mass shootings in the US have attached a stigma to shooting as a sport, they say. So while companies like Winchester, Beretta and Otis Technology (http://www.otistec.com/default.asp) support Rhode, she doesn’t have a single sponsor from outside the firearm industry.
The same is true for USA Shooting, even though the sport has since 2000 been the fifth-highest medal producer for the US team at Summer Olympics. The very first gold medal for any sport awarded in Rio went to 19-year-old Ginny Thrasher, competing in her Olympics debut.
Politics may only tell part of the story. American television audiences don’t tend to watch
shooting – or, for that matter, a number of other sports. “The biggest challenge is limited exposure,” said Peter Carlisle, head of the Olympic Sports and Action division at Octagon Worldwide. “If the sport itself doesn’t provide a consistent platform for the athletes to become recognizable and maintain relevance, there’s limited value to a sponsor.”
What’s more, noted Scott Becher, the executive vice president of sports and entertainment at Zimmerman Advertising, a lot of Americans own firearms, so the potential affinity exists.

A Costly Sport

The difference for shooters is the cost of training. Competition-level firearms price between $8,000-20,000. Between ammunition, clay pigeons and range fees, a day of training can run as high as $450. “It really adds up,’’ said Vincent Hancock, one of Rhode’s teammates. “I’ve only found two sports that are more expensive -- anything to do with a horse, and car racing.’’
The US Olympic Committee helps foot the bill. Because of shooting’s high potential to medal, USA Shooting received $2.5 million in 2015, third-most among summer sports behind swimming and track and field. Still, the ammunition provided by the federation doesn’t always cover athlete’s needs. The day before departing for Rio, for example, Rhode shot 450 targets, she said.
Similar Challenges

As for Hancock, on Saturday he will attempt to win a gold medal in his third consecutive Olympics for skeet shooting. Even as one of the sport’s favorites, Hancock still struggles to prevail upon potential backers who aren’t tied in some way to the firearm industry.
“A lot of times they say, well, we really like you, you’re great and your credentials speak for themselves, but we’re not sure how we can really fit you in,’’ Hancock said. “It seems like they want to, but don’t want to get caught up in the media backlash that may arise if something were to come about with, say, one of the shootings.’’
Shooters in other countries have faced similar challenges. Even in Italy, where the national shooting federation claims about 500,000 members – its U.S. counterpart has about 5,250 – the team struggled to transcend sponsors’ fears about firearms.
“You talk about rifles and pistols and people are afraid, especially in Europe with the recent terrorism,’’ said Luciano Rossi, an Italian senator who is also president of the country’s shooting federation, and also vice-president of the international shooting federation. “We must offer a new image of our sport. If the spectators know our sport, they understand and love us, and if they love us, the sponsors come.’’

[hurley842002]

How do NFL players pretend to be amateurs?

I'm still waiting for the answer to this question..

[BushMasterBoy]

My favorite sport is the Brazilian wax.

[Jer]

I'm still waiting for the answer to this question..
I don't think there is one. NFL players pretend to be a lot of things but amateurs isn't one of them.

[TFOGGER]

My favorite sport is the Brazilian wax.

How many is a brazillion?

[Alpha2]

More than three. Everyone knows this.

[speedysst]

The one you wont hear about on NBC>>>https://pjmedia.com/lifestyle/2016/08/12/olympic-shooter-kim-rhode-fires-back-at-gun-control/

[Gman]

American Shooter Makes History (http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/olympics/kim-rhode-wins-bronze-makes-olympic-history/ar-BBvyHO7?li=BBnb7Kz)

RIO DE JANEIRO — Make it six straight for Kim Rhode.

The 37-year-old American won a medal for her sixth consecutive Olympics on Friday, capturing bronze in the skeet shooting event at the Olympic Shooting Center.

It’s a stunning accomplishment from Rhode, who becomes the first female Olympian to medal in six consecutive games, and the first summer Olympian as well. Only Italian luger Armin Zoeggeler has done it on the men’s side.

[O2HeN2]

American Shooter Makes History (http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/olympics/kim-rhode-wins-bronze-makes-olympic-history/ar-BBvyHO7?li=BBnb7Kz)
Yhea I saw that on CNN. No, wait, I didn't.

O2

[StagLefty]

I was surprised yesterday to see that MSNBC was actually carrying the Skeet and Archery competition. Great TV for the afternoon !!!

[KestrelBike]

Iran Volleyball team, 1974 & now. (From Reddit)

66699

[Ronin13]

I haven't watched hardly any of the Olympics, I don't have much of an interest... but my wife turns on the news every morning and seeing the medal count:
66704
I just have to say- until other countries can compete with us, they have no room to trash talk America. USA!
Well, except for the swim team, they kind of deserve the criticism, they're making us look bad when they're out of the pool and without adult supervision.

[Gman]

Over here its what, 340? [LOL]
We need to have Tug-of-War as an Olympic event. [Coffee]

[cstone]

Does the US Olympic team compete as a team? I know we have a training facility in the Springs. For all I know we have several training facilities. I thought most US athletes are individuals who have their own coaches and train independently. Sure some of them are college athletes and now many are professional athletes, but they compete to make the team, usually a year or so before the games. I thought most US Olympians compete as individuals unless they are competing in a team sport and I see US teams in the Olympics as being more like an All-Star team.

Now countries like Russia or China where Olympic athletes are selected, trained, and coached from very early ages in national training facilities; I can see why they are concerned about national medal counts. Those programs actually are competing as a national team.

[Gman]

I'm not sure how they expect conscripted athletes in China to outperform free people who do well in athletics because that's what they want to do.

There will probably be some dead coaches open coaching positions in China after their performance this year.

[Aloha_Shooter]

In all fairness with the Russian bans it's a little skewed.

In all fairness, it was a little skewed with the Russians doping nearly their entire team and conducting "Mission: Impossible"-type operations to substitute clean samples.


Does the US Olympic team compete as a team? I know we have a training facility in the Springs. For all I know we have several training facilities. I thought most US athletes are individuals who have their own coaches and train independently. Sure some of them are college athletes and now many are professional athletes, but they compete to make the team, usually a year or so before the games. I thought most US Olympians compete as individuals unless they are competing in a team sport and I see US teams in the Olympics as being more like an All-Star team.

Team events compete as a team -- except, apparently, the basketball team. Athletes over 16 who qualify are offered the equivalent of scholarships to reside and train at one of 3 training centers (there are more training facilities but only three that have all-in-one centers with dormitories, chow halls, training facilities, medical facilities, etc.). This is what the sponsorship money goes toward since it costs the US Olympic Committee and/or the individual sport committees about $50K per year to feed and train the athletes. The athletes who make it get food, housing, training, and travel to competitions but have to pick up their own expenses for other things (like entertainment, personal travel, etc.).

The US OTC now offers tours -- $12 per person, $2 off for military or senior citizens, another $2 for groups of 10 or more but the groups have to enter and pay as one.

[cstone]

Team events compete as a team -- except, apparently, the basketball team. Athletes over 16 who qualify are offered the equivalent of scholarships to reside and train at one of 3 training centers (there are more training facilities but only three that have all-in-one centers with dormitories, chow halls, training facilities, medical facilities, etc.). This is what the sponsorship money goes toward since it costs the US Olympic Committee and/or the individual sport committees about $50K per year to feed and train the athletes. The athletes who make it get food, housing, training, and travel to competitions but have to pick up their own expenses for other things (like entertainment, personal travel, etc.).

Interesting. Thanks for the information. I wonder what percentage of athletes take advantage of the full scholarship or whether partial assistance is available if they would rather stay near home and utilize the coaches and medical they are already are familiar with. For track and field and swimming, it seems like the US athletes are mostly college athletes who remain members of their college team. Also, it seems like more and more of the teams are getting like the basketball team. I just don't see another US hockey team like the 1980 team; amateurs coming together to take on national teams.

Its been a while, but I know when I attended the 1976 games in Montreal I learned how many sports there were in an Olympic games that most people in the US will never see or hear about because they aren't televised. It gave me a great taste in learning how much information we get and don't get when we only consume what the television networks feed us. Same for most news outlets. If I don't check other foreign new agency feeds published in the english language, I miss a great deal on not only what is happening in the world but how it is perceived by other people. Bias is natural and pervasive, so I like to know about it so that I can take that into account when I weigh information for myself.

[Gman]

Americans are often trying to get Olympics coverage from the BBC and CBC. They show you all of the competitions on a multitude of channels, not just the packaged for TV pabulum that we get from NBC.

[Aloha_Shooter]

Interesting. Thanks for the information. I wonder what percentage of athletes take advantage of the full scholarship or whether partial assistance is available if they would rather stay near home and utilize the coaches and medical they are already are familiar with. For track and field and swimming, it seems like the US athletes are mostly college athletes who remain members of their college team. Also, it seems like more and more of the teams are getting like the basketball team. I just don't see another US hockey team like the 1980 team; amateurs coming together to take on national teams.

Its been a while, but I know when I attended the 1976 games in Montreal I learned how many sports there were in an Olympic games that most people in the US will never see or hear about because they aren't televised. It gave me a great taste in learning how much information we get and don't get when we only consume what the television networks feed us. Same for most news outlets. If I don't check other foreign new agency feeds published in the english language, I miss a great deal on not only what is happening in the world but how it is perceived by other people. Bias is natural and pervasive, so I like to know about it so that I can take that into account when I weigh information for myself.

From the tour I took last week, most of the swimming team is coached over in Indianapolis as the University of Indiana appears to be the central point for USA Swimming. Michael Phelps was at the US OTC in CS for a couple of weeks for high altitude conditioning but otherwise he trains elsewhere. Winter sports tends to train at the OTC at Lake Placid although it sounded like they often spend portions of the summer in CS because there's no snow in NY either and they also like to get the high altitude conditioning. The women's gymnastic team trains elsewhere since most of the team doesn't meet the minimum age of 16. It looked to me like Shooting, Archery, Men's Gymnastics, and Wrestling train primarily at CS and it sounded like a number of the Track and Field athletes do too because of the advantage gained from high altitude training.

I think you're right in that a number of other sports are so individual that the athletes could train elsewhere but the level of training and support offered by the US OTC for $50K a head would probably cost them a LOT more (like over $100K each) due to the efficiencies of the testing equipment and having top-level sports medicine and physical conditioning experts on staff at the OTC. The indoor track they just built (courtesy of 24 Hour Fitness) not only meets Olympic standards for design and surface but has sensors underneath that allow the coaches and conditioners to not only see how fast the athlete is running but even how their weight displacement and foot-to-foot stride varies. Uneven strides or weight displacement between left and right feet show inefficiency and give them pointers on where to shave fractions of a second off.

The swimming pool (used mainly by the paralympic athletes except when the Olympic athletes are looking for altitude training) has cameras above and below water so the coaches cna see how the swimmers are breathing and stroking. They also have a pulley system so the swimmer can feel what the water and his/her stroke ought to feel like at their target speed. It's quite an amazing complex for the top 10-15% of athletes in their given sports and not one penny comes from the US Government.

[hurley842002]

From the tour I took last week, most of the swimming team is coached over in Indianapolis as the University of Indiana appears to be the central point for USA Swimming. Michael Phelps was at the US OTC in CS for a couple of weeks for high altitude conditioning but otherwise he trains elsewhere. Winter sports tends to train at the OTC at Lake Placid although it sounded like they often spend portions of the summer in CS because there's no snow in NY either and they also like to get the high altitude conditioning. The women's gymnastic team trains elsewhere since most of the team doesn't meet the minimum age of 16. It looked to me like Shooting, Archery, Men's Gymnastics, and Wrestling train primarily at CS and it sounded like a number of the Track and Field athletes do too because of the advantage gained from high altitude training.

I think you're right in that a number of other sports are so individual that the athletes could train elsewhere but the level of training and support offered by the US OTC for $50K a head would probably cost them a LOT more (like over $100K each) due to the efficiencies of the testing equipment and having top-level sports medicine and physical conditioning experts on staff at the OTC. The indoor track they just built (courtesy of 24 Hour Fitness) not only meets Olympic standards for design and surface but has sensors underneath that allow the coaches and conditioners to not only see how fast the athlete is running but even how their weight displacement and foot-to-foot stride varies. Uneven strides or weight displacement between left and right feet show inefficiency and give them pointers on where to shave fractions of a second off.

The swimming pool (used mainly by the paralympic athletes except when the Olympic athletes are looking for altitude training) has cameras above and below water so the coaches cna see how the swimmers are breathing and stroking. They also have a pulley system so the swimmer can feel what the water and his/her stroke ought to feel like at their target speed. It's quite an amazing complex for the top 10-15% of athletes in their given sports and not one penny comes from the US Government.

Thanks a lot for all the info! Being into strength training and conditioning myself (merely at the hobby/health level), I've always wanted to check out the training center, maybe someday i'll make it happen.

[Gman]

Winter Olympics athletes often go to Mount Hood, OR to train during the summers.