SubscribeOlympic fever
Maybe it’s because I had no other plans for the weekend, but I found myself watching an inordinate amount of the Games.
I found the Opening Ceremonies a bit odd. On the one hand, it sure was colorful, but, as many other outlets have noted, a but weird and quirky. And long. I’m sure there are cultural reasons why
Other observations:
* As at least one pundit pointed out, they had time to include farm animals in the ceremony, but not 60 seconds to pay tribute to the Munich 11?
* Was I reading anything into this? I could have sworn on the parade of athletes the Israeli team started out with their flag dipped, but was raised as the team advanced around the track.
* I wish someone would explain the intricacies of bicycle raising to me. During the rain-soaked women’s 150km race yesterday, it seemed there was cooperation not only between members of the same team, but between competitors? As my colleague and I discussed, why shouldn’t the racers simply say, the hell with you, I’m going for it? Maybe it’s one of those “mutually assured destruction” scenarios. Even within your own team, there is one rider who’s put up above the rest, for whom teammates will sacrifice their chance at a medal to see him or her win? Very altruistic.
* I enjoyed watching events that would normally escape my attention, primarily because the networks never show them: Team handball, fencing, field hockey, and archery. Lots of drama and tension in those.
* Can we take it easy on these athletes, many of whom are just teenagers, even though they are “elite” in their fields? Headline on the back page of yesterday’s New York Post: “Phlop.” So he lost. On the other hand, if you want to be chauvinistic about it, at least it was a fellow American who won. Although Ryan Lochte was deemed “responsible” for the failure to win gold in the men’s 400-meter relay.
* In volleyball, why is there one athlete whose jersey is a different color from the rest?
* And again in volleyball, why is it that the men wear “regular” shorts while the women’s attire is, shall we say, snug? And on the beach, again, the men don “regular” beachwear while the ladies are in bikinis? Just sayin.’ (Sorry, no photos here. This is a family blog.)
As for the last question about volleyball, I don’t really know why it is done, but I fully support the decision.
Which decision is that: the one to wear a different colored jersey or the other thing?
The volleyball player with the different colored jersey is the “setter” on the team.
Oops. I should know better than to take my husband’s word for something without checking it out myself…even if he did play volleyball for years.
Here’s a better answer from livestrong. Apparently it’s a relatively new position called a “libero.”
Interesting.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/383950-why-does-one-woman-have-a-different-uniform-on-womens-volleyball/
Ron, I think the dipped flag might have been in deference to the Queen. I read something about that being the tradition, thought not everyone seemed happy about it, lol.
Yes, I heard that too. The U.S. supposedly does not “dip” for any country, but I also didn’t notice any other country dipping.
I would never dip or double-dip! Surprised Israel would too, especially after the IOC moment of silence snub. Maybe just needed a better grip.
There is such cooperation in cycling because there is such tremendous benefits for “drafting” behind the lead rider. The rider behind the lead rider use much, much, much less energy. To give the team’s best rider or fastest sprinter an advantage over the other top competitors, teammates will protect their strongest rider or fastest sprinter as long as they can, and do things like retrieve water bottles for him/her. Opposing riders that have broken away from the pack will cooperate to try to stay away from the chasers. Similarly, opposing chasers will cooperate to bring back any breakaway.
The chasers in this situation doing the most work will typically not have a [good] rider in the breakaway and/or will have one of the best sprinters on their team, so they’ll be working in hopes that everyone will be together at the end, allowing their fresh sprinter to take the win. In the Olympics, the logic is the same as in big pro cycling races like the Tour de France, but the strategies are harder to implement because the teams are smaller, with teams with no more than five riders instead of the usual nine.
As a result, races like the men’s Olympic race that would have -under most normal circumstances ended with a bunch sprint- ended with breakaways winning with relatively small time gaps. The 14 second margin of victory in the men’s road race would have been easily erased if the UK or German team had an extra rider or two to waste by going all out to close the gap, setting up their world-best sprinters to battle it out on the finish line.