Personal computing discussed

Moderators: askfranklin, renee, emkubed, Captain Ned

 
paulWTAMU
Emperor Gerbilius I
Topic Author
Posts: 6257
Joined: Wed Nov 24, 2004 5:14 am
Location: Dallas, Texas

Wrestling in the Olympics?

Thu Feb 14, 2013 12:02 pm

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/13/sport ... .html?_r=0

Is anyone else kind of appalled that they're dropping wrestling while keeping stuff like dressage and wakeboarding? Am I being a stick in the mud?
Ugly people have sex all the time. We wouldn't have 6 and a half billion humans if you had to be beautiful to get laid.
 
sircharles32
Gerbil Team Leader
Posts: 269
Joined: Thu Jun 23, 2005 7:31 pm

Re: Wrestling in the Olympics?

Thu Feb 14, 2013 12:12 pm

Does seem a bit odd.
Wrestling seems to be a more pure test of strength and athleticism and would seem to belong in the Olympics.
Yes, seems a bit weird to me.
Workstation: Phenom II X4 965
Every-Day: Athlon II X4 630
Servers: Athlon X2 BE-2400, A8-7600
Gym: Opteron 150
 
jihadjoe
Gerbil Elite
Posts: 835
Joined: Mon Dec 06, 2010 11:34 am

Re: Wrestling in the Olympics?

Thu Feb 14, 2013 12:25 pm

Wrestling was in the olympics since the times when we all spoke Greek.
This is a travesty! :cry:
 
DancinJack
Maximum Gerbil
Posts: 4494
Joined: Sat Nov 25, 2006 3:21 pm
Location: Kansas

Re: Wrestling in the Olympics?

Thu Feb 14, 2013 12:56 pm

Pretty weak. One of the original Olympic sports.

As a lifelong wrestler I find this disgusting. Not that everyone else shouldn't as well.
i7 6700K - Z170 - 16GiB DDR4 - GTX 1080 - 512GB SSD - 256GB SSD - 500GB SSD - 3TB HDD- 27" IPS G-sync - Win10 Pro x64 - Ubuntu/Mint x64 :: 2015 13" rMBP Sierra :: Canon EOS 80D/Sony RX100
 
shaq_mobile
Gerbil Elite
Posts: 631
Joined: Wed Jul 16, 2008 2:33 pm

Re: Wrestling in the Olympics?

Thu Feb 14, 2013 1:21 pm

At least they still have curling! :p
 
Flying Fox
Gerbil God
Posts: 25690
Joined: Mon May 24, 2004 2:19 am
Contact:

Re: Wrestling in the Olympics?

Thu Feb 14, 2013 1:44 pm

What events get included, where to host the event, they are now more politics than anything else. :x
The Model M is not for the faint of heart. You either like them or hate them.

Gerbils unite! Fold for UnitedGerbilNation, team 2630.
 
Dirge
Gerbil Jedi
Posts: 1620
Joined: Thu Feb 19, 2004 3:08 am

Re: Wrestling in the Olympics?

Thu Feb 14, 2013 3:22 pm

Personally I have no interest in wrestling and wont miss it, but it is a bit weird to see one of the founding games removed from the Olympics. Presumably allot of other people don't care either way. It has been pretty clear to me for a while that the Olympics is just another business. They are looking for airtime and I guess wrestling doesn't attract enough eyes on screen.
FDISK /MBR
 
UberGerbil
Grand Admiral Gerbil
Posts: 10368
Joined: Thu Jun 19, 2003 3:11 pm

Re: Wrestling in the Olympics?

Thu Feb 14, 2013 3:39 pm

I have no interest in wrestling (Greco-Roman or Eroto-WWE) but as one of the "original" Olympic sports I would think it deserves to remain. (I suspect one issue is the number of wrestling contests and participants, since there are so many weight classes for both men and women)

I don't really care, but since the Olympics wants to add new sports and (apparently) needs to prune existing sports to do so, the philosophical framework for making these decisions that makes sense to me is to only allow sports where the source of energy is human muscle or gravity. So the equestrian events would go away (not primarily human muscle) and the sailing events (likewise) as would the shooting events (chemical power). You could hang onto the Winter Biathalon if they made the shooting portion archery, which would be more fun anyway. Skydiving would present an interesting problem if it was an event, but it isn't and probably never will be.
Flying Fox wrote:
What events get included, where to host the event, they are now more politics than anything else. :x
Politics and marketing. Sports that command large TV audiences in countries where the networks have a lot of money to throw at the Olympics will tend to bubble to the top. Wrestling is a big deal in Mongolia but their TV network isn't going to have much influence on the IOC. The IOC is also very Euro-centric, so sports that aren't as popular there (like baseball and softball) will tend to get cut while others (like team handball) remain.
 
vargis14
Gerbil Jedi
Posts: 1900
Joined: Fri Aug 20, 2010 6:03 pm
Location: philly suburbs

Re: Wrestling in the Olympics?

Thu Feb 14, 2013 4:00 pm

Its unbelievable......I see no reason why they had to drop one of the most important olympic sports as was previously stated has been going on since roman times. Its a outrage.
I wrestled H.S & junior olympics and wrestling is a grueling sport. Nothing has ever made me more tired and out of breath in my life.

Curling is a joke! you do not have to be physically fit at all...I though skill and fitness is what the olympics was all about, I am so mad................................Kicks dog...punches wife...wife punches back while great dane bites me :) Joke
2600k@4848mhz @1.4v CM Nepton40XL 16gb Ram 2x EVGA GTX770 4gb Classified cards in SLI@1280mhz Stock boost on a GAP67-UD4-B3, SBlaster Z powered by TX-850 PSU pushing a 34" LG 21/9 3440-1440 IPS panel. Pieced together 2.1 sound system
 
Flying Fox
Gerbil God
Posts: 25690
Joined: Mon May 24, 2004 2:19 am
Contact:

Re: Wrestling in the Olympics?

Thu Feb 14, 2013 4:21 pm

vargis14 wrote:
Curling is a joke! you do not have to be physically fit at all...I though skill and fitness is what the olympics was all about, I am so mad................................Kicks dog...punches wife...wife punches back while great dane bites me :) Joke

You have no idea how hard the top curling teams train. Granted it may be less than some other sports, but curling has its physical demands. Plus you have to be dead accurate in the process. Those rocks are 44lbs each. Trying throwing them all day with power and precision. Or sweep the ice the whole day while maintaining balance on the ice.
The Model M is not for the faint of heart. You either like them or hate them.

Gerbils unite! Fold for UnitedGerbilNation, team 2630.
 
UberGerbil
Grand Admiral Gerbil
Posts: 10368
Joined: Thu Jun 19, 2003 3:11 pm

Re: Wrestling in the Olympics?

Thu Feb 14, 2013 4:33 pm

Not to mention that the Winter and Summer are separate Olympics, so it's not like eliminating curling would somehow make more room for wrestling. And target shooting doesn't require much strength or aerobic fitness either, but it's still pretty difficult to do at the Olympic level.
 
Sargent Duck
Grand Gerbil Poohbah
Posts: 3220
Joined: Thu Mar 13, 2003 8:05 pm
Location: In my secret cave that has bats

Re: Wrestling in the Olympics?

Thu Feb 14, 2013 4:38 pm

I've never watched Wrestling (then again, I don't bother watching the Olympics since it's so corrupt), but it's a sport that ALL nations (regardless of wealth can participate in) and it is one of the original sports. It's much better than some of the Horse events, like horse showing. Faster, Higher farther? Nope, none of those, but make sure that horse can trot around the ring *snort*. Absolute garbage. I personally think any Equstrian event should be dropped from the Olympics. That's a pretty elite activity (read: $$$) that not all nations can participate in. That, and it's boring to watch a horse dance about.

But what do I know? I'm not getting paid millions of dollars and hookers to make these decisions.
No matter how bad the new homepage sucks or how bungled the new management is...

To all the original writers/contributors and volunteers, please know that I have nothing but the deepest love for you and the work you've done.
 
JohnC
Gerbil Jedi
Posts: 1924
Joined: Fri Jan 28, 2011 2:08 pm
Location: NY/NJ/FL

Re: Wrestling in the Olympics?

Thu Feb 14, 2013 5:20 pm

Hmm... They are saying they want to have more "telegenic" sports and the ones that would attract younger generation... Maybe they should've modified wrestling (instead of dropping it) to something like "women's mud wrestling" or something like this, where athletes would have to wear swimsuits and wrestle in some kind of slippery substance like "mud" or oil or something? :wink: That should be "telegenic" enough :wink:
Gifter of Nvidia Titans and countless Twitch donation extraordinaire, nothing makes me more happy in life than randomly helping random people
 
Sargent Duck
Grand Gerbil Poohbah
Posts: 3220
Joined: Thu Mar 13, 2003 8:05 pm
Location: In my secret cave that has bats

Re: Wrestling in the Olympics?

Thu Feb 14, 2013 5:59 pm

vargis14 wrote:
Curling is a joke!


There are many jokes in the Olympics. Like...walking. Yes, Olympic walking. Or field hockey? How about we make it real road hockey.
No matter how bad the new homepage sucks or how bungled the new management is...

To all the original writers/contributors and volunteers, please know that I have nothing but the deepest love for you and the work you've done.
 
Captain Ned
Global Moderator
Posts: 28704
Joined: Wed Jan 16, 2002 7:00 pm
Location: Vermont, USA

Re: Wrestling in the Olympics?

Thu Feb 14, 2013 6:32 pm

Bring back the pankration. You want ratings?? You'll get ratings.
What we have today is way too much pluribus and not enough unum.
 
Turkina
Gerbil Elite
Posts: 607
Joined: Mon Apr 21, 2003 10:02 pm
Location: Philly

Re: Wrestling in the Olympics?

Thu Feb 14, 2013 6:43 pm

Sargent Duck wrote:
There are many jokes in the Olympics. Like...walking. Yes, Olympic walking.


There are indeed jokes - Olympic 20km / 50km racewalking however is not one of them. Yes, it looks ridiculous, but these are people that *walk* ~7 minute miles. For 12 or 31 miles.
 
Captain Ned
Global Moderator
Posts: 28704
Joined: Wed Jan 16, 2002 7:00 pm
Location: Vermont, USA

Re: Wrestling in the Olympics?

Thu Feb 14, 2013 6:52 pm

Turkina wrote:
There are indeed jokes - Olympic 20km / 50km racewalking however is not one of them. Yes, it looks ridiculous, but these are people that *walk* ~7 minute miles. For 12 or 31 miles.

Back in HS when I ran/threw track & field a bunch of us tried racewalking just to see if we could do it. Going that fast while always having one foot on the ground is a whole lot harder than it looks and there is major technique involved in Olympic-level race walking.

After 440 yards (a hint to when I was in HS, and once around the track) my butt and shins were killing me and my lower spine was about to collapse. No, racewalking is a true athletic sport.
What we have today is way too much pluribus and not enough unum.
 
TurtlePerson2
Graphmaster Gerbil
Posts: 1171
Joined: Sat May 26, 2007 9:08 am
Location: Dallas, Texas

Re: Wrestling in the Olympics?

Thu Feb 14, 2013 7:03 pm

It's kind of strange that they would remove wrestling for being irrelevant while the discus throw remains in the games. I guess the people on the secret committee come from countries that don't do well in wrestling.
"TORTURIS EXUVIAS EUNT"
Phenom X6 1090T @ 3.2 GHz
XFX Radeon RX 580
 
vargis14
Gerbil Jedi
Posts: 1900
Joined: Fri Aug 20, 2010 6:03 pm
Location: philly suburbs

Re: Wrestling in the Olympics?

Fri Feb 15, 2013 8:52 am

Flying Fox wrote:
You have no idea how hard the top curling teams train. Granted it may be less than some other sports, but curling has its physical demands. Plus you have to be dead accurate in the process. Those rocks are 44lbs each. Trying throwing them all day with power and precision. Or sweep the ice the whole day while maintaining balance on the ice.


This is my opinion but bowling looks harder then curling. Its not like they have to bowl that 44lb rock they are sliding it on ice at a very slow speed a child could do with no problem...sure it may take skill but the only ones working are the sweepers and i am pretty sure they have special felt shoes so they do not slip.
Want to see a comedy show , put some regular dress shoes on them all :) I bet you would see a lot of butts hitting the ice.

Shuffleboard on ice.
2600k@4848mhz @1.4v CM Nepton40XL 16gb Ram 2x EVGA GTX770 4gb Classified cards in SLI@1280mhz Stock boost on a GAP67-UD4-B3, SBlaster Z powered by TX-850 PSU pushing a 34" LG 21/9 3440-1440 IPS panel. Pieced together 2.1 sound system
 
Deanjo
Graphmaster Gerbil
Posts: 1212
Joined: Tue Mar 03, 2009 11:31 am

Re: Wrestling in the Olympics?

Fri Feb 15, 2013 9:04 am

paulWTAMU wrote:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/13/sports/olympics-may-drop-wrestling-in-2020.html?_r=0

Is anyone else kind of appalled that they're dropping wrestling while keeping stuff like dressage and wakeboarding? Am I being a stick in the mud?


Probably making room to bring in MMA which would gather a lot more media attention and boost viewership.
 
Captain Ned
Global Moderator
Posts: 28704
Joined: Wed Jan 16, 2002 7:00 pm
Location: Vermont, USA

Re: Wrestling in the Olympics?

Fri Feb 15, 2013 9:17 am

vargis14 wrote:
This is my opinion but bowling looks harder then curling. Its not like they have to bowl that 44lb rock they are sliding it on ice at a very slow speed a child could do with no problem...sure it may take skill but the only ones working are the sweepers and i am pretty sure they have special felt shoes so they do not slip.

Get back to me when you can make the rock curve to the exact point the skip picks out with the exact weight requested by the skip with at least 85% performance or better. As for the sweepers they wear a grip pad over one shoe and slide on the other foot. Pulling a rock several feet past where it really wants to die is Hard Work.

Living where I do and having CBC on the cable plan means I watch a lot of curling over the winter months.
What we have today is way too much pluribus and not enough unum.
 
tanker27
Gerbil Khan
Posts: 9444
Joined: Tue Feb 26, 2002 7:00 pm
Location: Georgia

Re: Wrestling in the Olympics?

Fri Feb 15, 2013 9:22 am

Deanjo wrote:
Probably making room to bring in MMA which would gather a lot more media attention and boost viewership.



That would be cool. But MMA is too bloody at times.
(\_/)
(O.o)
(''')(''')
Watch out for evil Terra-Tron; He Does not like you!
 
Flying Fox
Gerbil God
Posts: 25690
Joined: Mon May 24, 2004 2:19 am
Contact:

Re: Wrestling in the Olympics?

Fri Feb 15, 2013 9:39 am

vargis14 wrote:
This is my opinion but bowling looks harder then curling.
Both have their difficulties and demands. Does not mean that it is not a sport. Of course, whether it is Olympic sport is a different matter.

vargis14 wrote:
Its not like they have to bowl that 44lb rock they are sliding it on ice at a very slow speed a child could do with no problem...
Not 100mph as in baseball yes, but I would not call a big weight triple takeout shot "very slow". To move 3 other 44lbs rocks requires quite a bit of energy.

vargis14 wrote:
sure it may take skill but the only ones working are the sweepers
In "classic" play, the 3 people other than the skip take turns sweeping, not just 2. And skill is important in almost any sport, not just power. Modern day curling tournaments you play round-robin in like a 10/12-team pool, with 2 games per day for the entire week. And then there is practice during the days and in between tournaments. Those at the elite level play lots of tournaments and the grind can be taxing. In the past you see curlers drinking and people playing with big bellies and such. Not anymore.

vargis14 wrote:
i am pretty sure they have special felt shoes so they do not slip.
If both feet stick to the ice then you can't slide. They have one foot sliding and the other with grip. I remember the first time I stepped on a curling rink throwing my first stone, and I could not even get the balance right and just rolled over. :o :oops: Then you have to control the power of your shot (just blasting everything will not win you any games), to aim properly, account for the curls (bending), judge the ice conditions at the instant, think about strategy, (and then there is the screaming) etc. It is not easy.

Take a look (some of those may be luck, but these guys are doing it all the time):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvEPMUmTaWY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kE5QzOprns
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzz1ARHstnQ
The Model M is not for the faint of heart. You either like them or hate them.

Gerbils unite! Fold for UnitedGerbilNation, team 2630.
 
bernardo78
Gerbil
Posts: 10
Joined: Tue Feb 12, 2013 10:40 am

Re: Wrestling in the Olympics?

Fri Feb 15, 2013 12:58 pm

I can't wait for rock climbing in the Olympics. That will surely give me a reason to watch.
 
lilbuddhaman
Gerbil First Class
Posts: 140
Joined: Sat May 10, 2008 8:23 pm

Re: Wrestling in the Olympics?

Fri Feb 15, 2013 2:05 pm

tanker27 wrote:
Deanjo wrote:
Probably making room to bring in MMA which would gather a lot more media attention and boost viewership.

That would be cool. But MMA is too bloody at times.


It would turn into Kumate, with a monstrous north korean "accidentally" breaking someone's neck.
I am jaded. I am cynical.
 
Captain Ned
Global Moderator
Posts: 28704
Joined: Wed Jan 16, 2002 7:00 pm
Location: Vermont, USA

Re: Wrestling in the Olympics?

Fri Feb 15, 2013 2:10 pm

lilbuddhaman wrote:
tanker27 wrote:
Deanjo wrote:
Probably making room to bring in MMA which would gather a lot more media attention and boost viewership.
That would be cool. But MMA is too bloody at times.
It would turn into Kumate, with a monstrous north korean "accidentally" breaking someone's neck.

The rules already exist and come from the original Olympic Era. It's called pankration.
What we have today is way too much pluribus and not enough unum.
 
cynan
Graphmaster Gerbil
Posts: 1160
Joined: Thu Feb 05, 2004 2:30 pm

Re: Wrestling in the Olympics?

Fri Feb 15, 2013 3:40 pm

Captain Ned wrote:
Living where I do and having CBC on the cable plan means I watch a lot of curling over the winter months.


Lol. You watch CBC? I remember growing up across the border in the Montreal area, over 20 years ago now, and trying to get a handful of American channels, endlessly playing with the rabbit ears. I can't stand 90% of Canadian television. CBC radio, on the other hand, has some top notch content, although too bad much of it is filler garbage. I guess if you only watch sports on CBC, then that's OK :P . Sports coverage is sports coverage.

And as for curling. Yes it requires skill. Of course it does. Any sport, especially at the elite level requires gobs of skill, practice, training, etc. But the fact remains that curling will never be a very physical sport in relative terms. It requries lots of coordination and precision, but little strength and practically no endurance - though they do compensate a bit with all that yelling (which can get awkward if watching in the next room to people who aren't familiar with it: "Go hard! Hurry! Hurry! Hurry hard! HAARD!!" :oops:)
 
Captain Ned
Global Moderator
Posts: 28704
Joined: Wed Jan 16, 2002 7:00 pm
Location: Vermont, USA

Re: Wrestling in the Olympics?

Fri Feb 15, 2013 4:23 pm

cynan wrote:
(which can get awkward if watching in the next room to people who aren't familiar with it: "Go hard! Hurry! Hurry! Hurry hard! HAARD!!" :oops:)

How else would you know the skip is Russ Howard?
What we have today is way too much pluribus and not enough unum.
 
TheEmrys
Minister of Gerbil Affairs
Posts: 2529
Joined: Wed May 29, 2002 8:22 pm
Location: Northern Colorado
Contact:

Re: Wrestling in the Olympics?

Fri Feb 15, 2013 4:59 pm

I don't know how wrestling could be dropped. Sooo many other drop-worthy candidates exist. Like.... kayaking/canoeing. Or shoot, badminton, after the scandal they had. It would "serve" them right.
Sony a7II 55/1.8 Minolta 100/2, 17-35D, Tamron 28-75/2.8
 
Flying Fox
Gerbil God
Posts: 25690
Joined: Mon May 24, 2004 2:19 am
Contact:

Re: Wrestling in the Olympics?

Fri Feb 15, 2013 5:01 pm

Captain Ned wrote:
cynan wrote:
(which can get awkward if watching in the next room to people who aren't familiar with it: "Go hard! Hurry! Hurry! Hurry hard! HAARD!!" :oops:)

How else would you know the skip is Russ Howard?
Or a lot of the female skips? :lol:

I don't buy the no endurance thing. You have to last through a whole tournament playing multiple games, nowadays with the shot clock and stuff it is down to 2 hours. It used to be able to go up to 3 (may be 2.5). You have to be constantly thinking and stay focus, plus to execute the shots with power and precision as the situation called for it. Sure it is not triathlon endurance, but if you expect to last till the end of a tournament, you have to have good fitness in general too. Just look at John Morris. :)

Another frequently dissed "sport" is racing. Being able to withstand all the G forces for 2+ hours, and to be able to maintain focus the whole time. There is definitely endurance to that.
The Model M is not for the faint of heart. You either like them or hate them.

Gerbils unite! Fold for UnitedGerbilNation, team 2630.

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest
GZIP: On