does anyone else think...

[JenEM]

[QUOTE=vineyridge;3429990]
Personally I’m fond of men’s diving. Beautiful bodies, they don’t wear much, and they spend a lot of time up on the board exposing all that beauty while they are preparing for their dives.

Plus the dives themselves are pretty incredible.

I don’t understand why we have rhythmic gymnastics and synchronized swimming but women’s softball is getting canned in 2012. Reckon it’s because softball isn’t feminine enough and the players are all covered up?[/QUOTE]

I was just enjoying the diving earlier this evening. I may like that more than the regular swimming :winkgrin:

They’re not just getting rid of softball, but baseball, too! My coworkers and I were discussing that development, and were rather puzzled how softball/baseball is being eliminated, yet there’s trampoline :eek: We were also shocked to realize that there is in fact men’s indoor volleyball.

[copper1]

Let us all imagine for a moment, keeping in mind how thin is in for riders and many coaches really push at riders to lose weight, ladies in sports bras and men shirtless in the equestrian games! Ugh! So many riders are so thin that they would be unattractive compared to to the divers and volleyball players! Also the farmers tan would not help!

[Anne_FS]

[QUOTE=JenEM;3434808]

They’re not just getting rid of softball, but baseball, too! My coworkers and I were discussing that development, and were rather puzzled how softball/baseball is being eliminated, [/QUOTE]

Baseball? That’s easy (although both sports may be reconsidered for 2016). Baseball is out because the best athletes don’t compete. IOW, unlike NBA players in basketball, major league baseball players will not compete because of the drug testing. Look it up. The problem of drug use in American baseball is the reason cited for dropping it.

Softball is at this point pretty much exclusively an American sport. The Americans have utterly dominated, like never once even lost one game; very few other countries have women’s softball, so it’s not that appealing.

Here’s some quotes on the baseball issue:

"The absence of major league stars is a big issue for the IOC, which wants the world’s top athletes from all sports in the games.

“The lack of the MLB players — I think people have looked and said, `Well, all right, if there’s to be a change, that seems to be the logic of it,”’ British IOC member Craig Reedie said.

Baseball’s steroid problem in the United States was cited as another factor. While Major League Baseball has toughened its drug-testing programs, they still fall far short of Olympic standards.

“Problems with doping in U.S. baseball probably cost the sport dearly,” Australian IOC member John Coates said.

Several IOC members also cited high stadium costs associated with both sports, saying baseball and softball venues have little post-games use in some host cities."

[Anne_FS]

To all of us who LOVE the equestrian events but admit they can be, uh, like watching paint dry to the uninitiated:

The South China Morning Post had a cover article on the equestrian events, with a beautiful jumping photo, but inside, unfortunately, was a photo of a group of people who all fell asleep watching the dressage! LOL!!! Quote: “Spectators said the dressage event at the Sha Tin venue was boring, mystifying and soporific. Organisers said it would get more interesting.”

“Soporific” is classic.

[Wellspotted]

Vineyridge posted:

Personally I’m fond of men’s diving. Beautiful bodies, they don’t wear much, and they spend a lot of time up on the board exposing all that beauty while they are preparing for their dives.

I didn’t see much that was beautiful to me in last night’s synchronized diving. The guys looked almost like victims of famine. The Russians, with their shaved heads, were horribly reminiscent of photos I have seen of concentration camp inmates. And all that pale skin. I saw no beauty in most of the divers.

I wanted to haul out the beet pulp and alfalfa, and maybe a gallon of corn oil.

[coco21]

I agree

[QUOTE=Anne FS;3428021]
What ticks me off about beach volleyball is that the women wear TINY bikinis but the men? Big t-shirts and long shorts. I protest. Speedos for the men![/QUOTE]

I think the exact same thing! I can’t believe it’s an Olympic sport too! And they don’t exactly add much respect to their sport with those silly outfits.

[FEIwannabe]

Wearing teeny, low cut bikinis for beach volley is about as ridiculous as wearing white tie and a tophat.

I’ll even go further than that :eek:. There is already a sport called VOLLEY BALL. It’s played on a proper court, not the beach. It’s very fast and very interesting. They don’t wear teeny bikinis. They don’t have the viewers that beach game has. You do the math.

For the record, I am looking forward to wearing the penguin suit and top hat one day… I hope… in the far distant future…

[Wellspotted]

I nearly fell asleep during the women’s diving last night; I will attribute it to the fact that I’d eaten an unusually heavy supper …

Then I whiled away the time during the beach volleyball by looking at penguin suits and top hats and dressage saddles in my Dover catalog, adding up how much it would cost to compete without even factoring in the price of a suitable horse! (But I do love those Pikeur breeches!)
Speaking of penguin suits, does anyone actually wear a vest? Or only a coat with vest points?

[Wellspotted]

Oh, goody, NBC is showing MORE beach volleyball!!! (Where is the gag smiley when you need it?) :rolleyes:

So here I am back at the computer, to see what’s going on at COTH.

I must say, the springboard divers look a bit more well-nourished (and in some cases a bit more well equipped) than the platform ones.

Kinda gives a new meaning to the term “chef d’equipe!”

[JSwan]

@Aggie4Bar;3433671

The name alone should have ruled that one out. Solo synchronized swimming. If you are solo, you’re in synch with… what? :rolleyes:
)

Yeah - I saw that and was like… huh?

About the beach volleyball… I seem to recall some of the female athletes complaining about the “uniforms” (years ago). Some of them either wanted to wear, or actually did star to wear, leggings.

Then there was some whispering/henparty/closed door meetings and the bikini “uniform” was deemed to be the official and only “uniform” permitted.

Anyone remember that? There was one woman… she was really tall… she was the most vocal.

[Wellspotted]

It’s the same with the gymnastics. The women’s buns hanging out, the men all well covered in little track shorts or long pants. Why don’t the women compete in long pants and shorts? Do they LIKE the uniforms? Do they CARE?