1. Michael Phelps consumes 12,000 calories a day. A single workout for Phelps burns around 4,000 calories. Phelps is amazing.2. Not to take anything away from Phelps, but there are WAY too many swimming events.
3. All gymnasts are short. Just in case you were tempted to think that Nastia Luikin was tall--she isn't. Luikin is only 5'3'' but looks gigantic next to the likes of Shawn Johnson (4'9") and Chinese gymnasts Deng Linlin (4'5''). Another tidbit, Deng Linlin only weights 68 pounds!
4. Misty May Treanor and her beach volleyball partner need to wear more clothes.
5. Diving should not take up several hours of prime-time Olympic coverage.
6. Synchronized Diving?
7. Women's wresting and weight lifting?
8. The Jamaicans are really fast.
15 comments:
If you want to see guys eat 12,000 calories a day, go spend some time with the rowers over at the Aquinas House. I'm sure B-Mama's husband can attest to the sheer volume of food they eat while in training. We're talking an entire frozen pizza, plus tons of other stuff, often including ice cream or a milkshake, in one sitting. Then again, those guys (6 of whom are now in Beijing), row for like 5-7 hours a day. If only I could eat like that...
As for the women's beach volleyball uniforms - back in '99, the int'l federation changed the rules to say that women's uniforms needed to be 1) bikinis, and 2) the bottoms could be more than 2.5" in width. I remember Gabrielle Reece, who was big back then, and who wore shorts and a tanktop, complaining. The following post really illustrates how women's sports uniforms objectifies women - men generally get to cover up a lot more. The following blog post is pretty illustrative (not my blog), with side-by-side pictures of men's vs. women's uniforms in Australia: http://viv.id.au/blog/?p=2066
I'm glad someone else is watching as much of the olympics as I am. Its great entertainment while feeding a new baby.
I am amazed at how much I am eating while breastfeeding. Then I think about how much Michael Phelps eats and it blows my mind.
Yes, why do the men volleyball players get to wear shirts and not the women?
Yeah the thing about the volleyball clothes I feel like is...wear whatever is most comfortable...in some ways I think that the bikini outfits might be less constrictive but then I see them land in the sand and I think...wow that looks chaffing in uncomfortable spots.
Also does it seem like the camera zooms in whenever they are trying to adjust themselves? What is with that?
Anyway, watching them play volleyball is pretty amazing, it boggles my mind how totally tough they seem on the court and then they do post-game interviews, all hyped up on adrenaline and seem so giddy and goofy...they have been a highlight for me and my former volleyball playing husband.
Yeah and how do they cram so many fast people on that little island? Watching Bolt run also blew my mind a bit.
We are in extreme Olympics fever here and Jackers told me after watching women's tumbling that he wants to "go to Lympics and win a medal". I haven't told him about our families general lack of flexibility or sporting skills yet.
When I heard how much Phelps eats I thought that it must be hard to get it all down and also extremely time consuming -- a whole pizza and a pound of pasta for dinner? He must do nothing but train and eat.
I was surprised that the womens marathon runners also wear bikinis.
I love the swimming and diving!
Also, commenting on the picture, is our president really so stupid that he holds up the flag the wrong way?
Maybe he is holding the flag up for the people behind him? Or for himself? haha!
As for Phelps, it also has to be VERY expensive.
My 7-year-old daughter wanted to know how old the gymnasts were. When I told her, she said, "Then I want to be in the Olympics when I'm 16." Like you can just make an appointment -- never mind that she's never had a gymnastic lesson in her life! But it was very matter of fact.
We are thinking of doing some gymnastics for her -- she has a brother and is surrounded by boys in the neighborhood. It would be a good physical outlet for her besides running around with the "army."
Red, loved these thoughts. I had some good chuckles reading them... And glad to know others have been equally as scandalized by the women's volleyball outfits. They are in great shape and have amazing abilities--too bad the sport has put maximum "requirements" on their attire.
Oh and BTW, I *loved* the synchro diving! I thought it much more entertaining than just regular diving. And in my former-swimmer opinion, there are *never* enough swimming events! I eat them up... :)
I'll also second the comment on the awesome timing of the Olympics for mother nursers! Nothing better than feeding a baby and watching people workout really hard! :)
My little guy was such a night owl as a newborn. So I bet the Olympics are great for the new moms - you get to watch all of these great athletes instead of the usual late programming. I remember watching lots of infomercials and a dog show...
The tallest female Olympic gymnast, I believe, was Svetlana Khorkina (5' 5") of Mother Russia.
Usain Bolt is actually the tallest "world's fastest man" ever, at 6' 5".
Jamaica has 4 of the 6 medals in the 100 meter sprints, and none of the other 500+ medals that have been awarded so far.
Deng Linlin would weigh a little more if she hadn't lost a tooth before the meet. She must have put it under her pillow and gotten a falsified passport from the Chinese Patriotic Olympic Tooth Fairy Ministry.
This is the third Olympics in which synchronized diving has been contested. I have not yet spoken to a single person who knew it existed before August 8.
Kerri Walsh and her beach volleyball partner need to wear more clothes.
American swimmer Dara Torres, 41 and the mother of a 2-year-old daughter, competed in her fifth Olympics and won her first individual silver in the 50 m freestyle. She is the oldest woman ever to medal in an any Olympic event.
Gymnast Oksana Chusovitina, 33 and the mother of a 8-year-old son, competed in her fifth Olympics and won her first individual silver in the vault. She is the first female gymnast to compete in five Olympics and the oldest woman ever to medal in Olympic gymnastics.
Diving is taking up perfectly good time that could be replaced with women's doubles badminton or team dressage. Speaking of which....
Japan's Hiroshi Hoketsu competed in equestrian in the 1964 at age 23, and in the 2008 Olympics at age 67.
The independent sovereign nation of Michael Phelps would be sixth in the gold medal count (tied with the People's Republic of Chinese Gymnastics and the People's Republic of Chinese Weightlifting) and 16th in the overall medal count.
Unlike the athletes from our gracious host nation, Michael Phelps eats 12,000 calories per day whether he wins or not.
Joey Chestnut eats 12,000 calories
in eight minutes in a typical hot dog eating contest. (It's not an Olympic sport, but it's more entertaining than equestrian.)
Women's wrestling? Really?
Great explanations of all sports can be found at
http://www.olympic.org/uk/sports/flash/open_uk.asp?flash_id=tt&season=summer
Just use the little box at the bottom to pick the sport you want.
Even if you don't get hd, you watch the Olympics 24 hours a day if you have cable. The Athens Olympics resulted in a noticable increase in our electric bill. I expect the same this year.
Tennis quit the Olympics after the 1924 games when the courts were to close to athletics (track and field) and the conditions were "intolerable". I repeated this to dh while we watched an uneven bars routine: Random cheers from the audience for other competitors and someone else's floor routine music blaring too loudly and she continued spinning etc. without a flinch. People play tennis for fun, but no one does balance beam for fun. Tennis doesn't even risk paralysis - perhaps tennis players are mental wimps.
Marie
When did tennis make its triumphant return? And when is golf going to be an Olympic sport? If there was ever a sport designed for an Olympic tournament, it's golf. 4 day team event, top 64 (or 32 or 24 or whatever) individual scores qualify for a knockout match-play tournament.
JesusthroughMary,
LOL. I'm making this into a post!
My golfer husband thinks it is a travesty that golf is no longer an Olympic sport, though he tells me is will be in 8 years.
Eating so many calories is time consuming. I am trying very hard to keep weight on, and eat all the time. It is not all it's cracked up to be. My jaws hurt. I eat at 2 am and 5am when I feed the babe and all day long...it is the last thing I want to do at 2am. It just becomes a chore when you have to do it.
I loved watching the marathon. I'm sure the majority of people were bored out of their mind that the thing was shown in real time!
As a former equestrian rider (with a brief stint training with Princeton's equestrian team), I love the equestrian events, too. Mr. Incredible thinks dressage is stupid.
just a note on the picture. it's really easy with digital photos to invert an image. I do it on gimp all the time and sometimes by accident. It could have been done by accident or on purpose or the President could have been holding the flag the wrong way. But it is not like a film picture where it would have been impossible.
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