Counting down the Olympics

[Jeff K.]

Originally Posted by Karibou

The opening ceremonies were AMAZING...was anyone else shocked pants-less when people popped out of the blocks?

Some of the angles they did showed legs underneath the boxes before they popped out, but it was definitely an intense amount of choreography that went into it.
8 medals now!

[Eugenia Gabrielov]

I believe the olympics can be viewed online at www.nbcolympics.com

I hope this is helpful to those of you that need a source to watch them!

[Molten]

I personally am not watching the Olympics. I watched ten minutes of opening and that was enough. I really dislike the Olympics. I have little to no interest in the sports they show, and I hate that they usually block off my usual shows. However, I am grateful that it is on the opposite side of the world. That way they compete late night when I'm going to be sleeping mostly. Sorry if this seems like a rant, just was hoping CD would be a place to not think about the Olympics. Oh well, to everyone else...enjoy the games...I can't wait till their over.

[Protronie]

Originally Posted by Molten

I personally am not watching the Olympics. I watched ten minutes of opening and that was enough. I really dislike the Olympics. I have little to no interest in the sports they show, and I hate that they usually block off my usual shows. However, I am grateful that it is on the opposite side of the world. That way they compete late night when I'm going to be sleeping mostly. Sorry if this seems like a rant, just was hoping CD would be a place to not think about the Olympics. Oh well, to everyone else...enjoy the games...I can't wait till their over.

For once I am in agreement with Molten... someone mark this one down.
To me the Olympics have become too over hyped, thank God the US wasn't granted the honor of some city going billions in debt in a non-money making event that takes years to pay off and disrupts the area its hosted in.
China is using the Olympics as a tool to do a snow job on the rest of the world. Why isn't someone asking about the thousands that were rounded up and tossed in jail for fear they might speak out against the Olympics and/or China itself. Ask the business owners of the companies that were shut down for the Olympics... ask the citizens who have seen prices sore cause the trucks have been parked and business closed to hope to clean the air.
Of course the censorship in China will keep any negative reports from being spreaded

[JaneYoung]

One thing I think about when talking about, posting about, thinking about the Olympics - is the growth of robotics on an international level. The growth of robotic competitions. VEX is making a huge impact internationally. FTC is making an impact. I had the privilege of volunteering in Atlanta as a queuer for the FTC competition. While volunteering, I met many students from many countries. Of those students, there were those who did not speak English well, if at all, and I became very creative in communicating with those teams.

ChiefDelphi is a place where members of FIRST teams and of the VEX teams gather and the teams reflect their nations.

Even though this is Chit Chat, when discussions regarding peoples and nations pop up/crop up, I always keep the reading membership of ChiefDelphi in mind and the bigger picture, the larger community. There is great diversity within the many cultures and the many nations and we can build bridges of understanding when communicating and when learning about each other. I will always treasure and remember the time I spent as a volunteer in Atlanta. It opened my eyes even wider to the potential and possibilities in FIRST.

[Carlee10]

Originally Posted by JaneYoung

One thing I think about when talking about, posting about, thinking about the Olympics - is the growth of robotics on an international level. The growth of robotic competitions. VEX is making a huge impact internationally. FTC is making an impact. I had the privilege of volunteering in Atlanta as a queuer for the FTC competition. While volunteering, I met many students from many countries. Of those students, there were those who did not speak English well, if at all, and I became very creative in communicating with those teams.

ChiefDelphi is a place where members of FIRST teams and of the VEX teams gather and the teams reflect their nations.

Even though this is Chit Chat, when discussions regarding peoples and nations pop up/crop up, I always keep the reading membership of ChiefDelphi in mind and the bigger picture, the larger community. There is great diversity within the many cultures and the many nations and we can build bridges of understanding when communicating and when learning about each other. I will always treasure and remember the time I spent as a volunteer in Atlanta. It opened my eyes even wider to the potential and possibilities in FIRST.

Nicely said. I think that yes, it may be disruptful, but think of what an honor it is to go to championships, and think of the dozens of people who work hard at their sports who would not feel this great of honor, this feeling of making it to the top. All of our issues with China are clouding this; it wasn't as big a deal, I don't believe, when they were held in Sydney or Athens. I heard some of the un-GP comments too;to me they sounded slightly racist and snotty in some of the things I heard waching various events. That's just people being woefully undereducated, in my opinion.

Tune in to gymnastics finals tonight; they should be good!!!

[Jeff K.]

Women's individual time trial for cycling, Armstrong just snagged 1st spot right now from the Brits, and passed two cyclists that left before her.
EPIC!

[Carlee10]

Dang....the women's team got second. They had some mistakes, and they just couldn't get it. Oh well, they still got a medal, and that counts for something. Did anybody see the clip of the Hungarian weightlifter who completely twisted his arm out of his socket, or the other man who tore his calf muscle once, then tried to lift again? Those were not fun moments.

[jimbot]

No i have not seen those, I'm sorry for those guys. fours years of training to end in a pulled musle or dislocated arm.

My favorite moment was when the guy won Toga's first medal ever in white water kayaking. (Great sport there...)

[mathking]

Since Jane brought up the question of finding graciousness, I think that Tyson Gay's comments after getting 5th in the 100 m semi-final were quite gracious. Particularly when you consider the circumstances. He was frank about feeling devastated, but offered no excuses or whining. He offered his congratulations to those who qualified on. When you spend literally years focused on one single event, disappointment can be profound. He showed how to handle it with dignity. I also saw a volleyball match in which one of the Chinese men turned to the referee after a ball had been ruled out and gestured that he had touched the ball and it should be a point for the other team. Or one of the American women gymnasts, who would not respond to baiting to try to get her to say one of the Chinese gymnasts was under age, saying "Well, I don't look like I'm 20." Or watching the women's marathon and seeing a runner turn to a competitor from another country (both of them a couple minutes off the lead) and yell at her not to drop back. The second women, who had been slowing down, sped back up and ended up finishing a little ahead of the first woman. Or all the silver medalists turning to smile and congratulate the gold medal winners.

I mention this because of some of the recent threads about robotics being a sport. As FIRST grows it becomes more sports spectacle like. So let's try to remember the good examples we see here in the Olympics, since they are so accessible now.

[JaneYoung]

Closing ceremony coming up soon....wow, that went by fast.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

I can't believe how tough the Brazilians are in volleyball. Both the men's and women's finals matches were extremely close. I was cheering for both sides. Brazil is going to be tough in the future. Looking forward to hearing the Brazilian National Anthem in the future.

"Pátria amada, Brasil!"

[GaryVoshol]

Originally Posted by Karibou

The opening ceremonies were AMAZING...was anyone else shocked pants-less when people popped out of the blocks?

My son said, "That's a lot of pneumatics!" And then someone added, "And a lot of controllers."

Originally Posted by Jeff K.

Some of the angles they did showed legs underneath the boxes before they popped out, but it was definitely an intense amount of choreography that went into it.

We thought so too; my son said, "Show more down by the ground!"

We were also impressed by how well the tai chi performers quickly got back into near-perfect lines and circles. More synchronization. And by the torch-bearer's slo-mo run around the top of the stadium.

[Karibou]

Originally Posted by GaryVoshol

We were also impressed by how well the tai chi performers quickly got back into near-perfect lines and circles. More synchronization.

I was babysitting my friend's cousins while we were watching that, and they didn't believe the announcer when he said that there wasn't anything on the ground showing them where to go.

I thought that the drawing was really cool; the one that the performers did with their arms and legs. Did anyone catch where the inkpad things were on their bodies? I know that there was one on each arm and leg, but where exactly were they? It seemed like sometimes the ink would flow when the hands were touching the paper, and sometimes it wouldn't, then it would flow when the wrists were touching the paper.

[Boydean]

I just saw the single most epic moment ever. The US beating the French by .08sec and breaking a world record by 4secs. Its the most amazing thing I have ever seen; to see the US beat the French in the very last effort...literary the US went from being 2nd by almost a half a swimmer length(the height of the person in front of them) to 1st in just the last 3-4secs. AMAZING!!!

Here is the link to the whole story..

http://www.nbcolympics.com/swimming/...ay+rundown+u+s