Olympics 2012

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Re: Olympics 2012

Postby Heckler » Mar 22nd, '12, 13:40



Perhaps an Erdnase colour change where a photo of a Russian Lady weight lifter changes into a man? :D

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Re: Olympics 2012

Postby Liam » Apr 3rd, '12, 21:16

Karma wrote:Am I the only person that couldn't care less about the Olympics? 10 Billion to see who can run the fasted! no thanks, I'd rather have a cup of tea.


I couldn't agree with you more, Karma.

I'm not anti-olympics or anything, I just think that it is a waste of money, to the point of gross excess and and it's just hype built upon more hype, so there's nothing solid supporting all this......just hype.

I'm looking forward to one event.....the mens cycling road race, being a cyclist myself and a pro cycling fan....but that's the only thing I'll watch, to be honest. It's a shame Contador will miss the olympics....I really like the guy.

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Re: Olympics 2012

Postby Liam » Apr 3rd, '12, 21:31

The Olympic Torch was a Nazi invention. Just saying.



The rotary symbol that is in common use today.....that was originally and widely used by the Nazis. Lots of companies, corporations and clubs use logos and symbols that were used by bad eggs like the Nazis or Soviet communists.

I had this discussion sometime ago with a friend, and we both agreed that you can't ban or censor a symbol simply because one bad group has taken it and used the symbol for their own means, it's simply not fair to the people who used the symbol for other things, and at the end of the day, a symbol or logo is just that...it's inanimate, it's the people who are responsible for their actions, not a symbol or a torch.

The swastika is a prime example..........it's originally a symbol that represents peace and harmony! Originally used by Hindus and Buddhists for thousands of years as a peaceful symbol, until it was hijacked and tunred around by the Nazis for other means. But not a lot of people know that.

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Re: Olympics 2012

Postby Heckler » Apr 4th, '12, 08:26

Liam wrote: It's a shame Contador will miss the olympics....I really like the guy.


I'd really like the guy if he wasn't a cheat.

That said I'd like all pro cycling more if in the back of my mind I wasn't wondering if either a) they all cheat and b) they just cheat better than Contador.

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Re: Olympics 2012

Postby Liam » Apr 4th, '12, 10:23

I think he's been unfairly victimized though.

If anyone is caught cheating, it should be a ban. But if that was the case, half the peloton would be banned and we wouldn't have much of a race.

In my opinion, most, if not all, male pro cyclists have at one time, or are currently on some sort of perfomace enhacing drug...be it steroids, EPO, blood tranfusions, etc. I honestly think that they (UCI) pick and choose who they decide to prosecute, and those who they decide not to and brush it under the rug.

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Re: Olympics 2012

Postby Heckler » Apr 4th, '12, 10:51

Liam wrote:I think he's been unfairly victimized though.

If anyone is caught cheating, it should be a ban. But if that was the case, half the peloton would be banned and we wouldn't have much of a race.

In my opinion, most, if not all, male pro cyclists have at one time, or are currently on some sort of perfomace enhacing drug...be it steroids, EPO, blood tranfusions, etc. I honestly think that they (UCI) pick and choose who they decide to prosecute, and those who they decide not to and brush it under the rug.


Er no, they all get tested on a very regular basis, more than any other sport, his medical team got lax or got unlucky and he got caught. What is unfair is that any other cyclist would have been banned from the off, he got to argue the case because of his standing in the sport and the shouting from the Spanish Cycling federation. It is the right thing to do to ban him, if the evidence is extrapolated to it's logical conclusion not only was he doping off season, he was also re-transfusing blood during the season. Half the peloton would definitely get banned if they got caught, they weren't caught, which brings us onto the part where we agree.

I am very suspicious of the modern Tour riders and a little sad if my suspicions are correct that in order to have a level playing field all the riders are doping to some degree. The medical teams are probably getting cleverer, the drugs are getting harder to spot (wild conjecture on my part of course).

Eddie Mercx talks about a season in the 80's when he was in the run up to the season in the best condition of his life. When the tour got under way, riders who were mid level the previous year were suddenly able to maintain an incredible pace throughout the race, seeming to never tire, which naturally pushed the whole peleton's pace up. At that point he realised the game had changed, these guys were doping and everyone else just to keep up would have to as well.

Marco Pantani, who was one of my favourite riders and won the tour a couple of times in the late 90's turned out to be doped up to the eyeballs and had been doping since he was an amateur. An amateur in the UK taking part in a county league last year, the guy was an older rider in his late thirties, was tested randomly and was doping, so it goes top to bottom in the sport.

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Re: Olympics 2012

Postby Liam » Apr 4th, '12, 20:06

Heck, I agree with you about it going from the bottom of the sport all the way to the top, absolutely. I read an article sometime ago in cycling plus about a guy who got caught doping, and I think he was a cat 2 or 3 racer, and he also did sportives, too. So you've got a rider who's also doing sportives and he's on performance enhancing drugs.... absolute madness, lol.

Everyone has their own opinon on it, my uncle thinks the majority of pros are clean, I couldn't disagree more....but I don't blame them, as I think there is a lot of pressure on them from behind the scenes. I'm of the opinion that you cannot ride a grand tour clean, let alone win one, and well....seven consecutive wins...well....hmmm, you get the point.

And not just drug cheating, Mark Cavendish....several riders have accused him of hanging off team cars in the mountain stages, and I for one believe every word of it. He's a great sprinter, but he is an awful climber for a pro cyclist, so I can't see him hanging in, even with the grupetto. I just can't believe it. Look at this years Milan San Remo.....he got totally dropped on one of the big climbs. Now imagine him in a mountain stage in the Alps.....I just can't see it, without the aid of help from the car.

Pantani is a great rider. One of my favourite historical riders is sean kelly, great rider. He got caught doping as well. Most of the big names will have doped at one stage or another. I believe that's just the way it is, unfortunately. It's not a new thing, I reckon they've doped in one form or another from the very beginning, but with all sorts of undetectable drugs and masking agents now available, it's become easier and more common.

Have you read Floyd Landis's interview about his and Armstrong's alleged doping at US postal? It's an Interesting read....

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Re: Olympics 2012

Postby Heckler » Apr 5th, '12, 14:13

The odd thing about doping is, it isn't going to make you as fast as a pro, most of the doping substances are about maintaining the pace, so you still need that natural ability. Lance Armstrong was still an incredible athlete with a lung capacity off the charts, but I honestly believe he was still cheating, because everyone else was and if you're not doping and have an off day mid tour it's game over.

Very sad really, the money involved in Pro cycling is peanuts compared to, say pro-football but they are prepared to risk long term damage and in some cases death in the short term just to be a pro.

The Cavendish thing is funny, he's incredibly gifted on the flat for about a hundred yeards, but he needs towing the rest of the way either slipstreaming his team or getting a pull from the team car. Mind you, can't recall where I read it, but someone described Indurain as being "Not particularly good at anything, just not bad at everything, that's why he won Tours".

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Re: Olympics 2012

Postby Mandrake » Apr 5th, '12, 16:53

I was once given a dope test and it proved conclusively that I am.

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Re: Olympics 2012

Postby Acolophon » Apr 5th, '12, 17:41

Liam wrote:
The Olympic Torch was a Nazi invention. Just saying.

The swastika is a prime example..........it's originally a symbol that represents peace and harmony! Originally used by Hindus and Buddhists for thousands of years as a peaceful symbol, until it was hijacked and tunred around by the Nazis for other means. But not a lot of people know that.

I'm glad you mentioned "turned around". I'm surprised how many people are not aware that the Nazi swastica is widdershins.

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Re: Olympics 2012

Postby Poppadom » Apr 6th, '12, 06:49

I've never been the sporty type, and to me the Olympics is a bit of fun, but not much more. Actually, make that an <i>expensive</i> bit of fun. I won't be paying much attention to it.

All those years ago, when London was making its bid to host the Olympics, I was still in school and my class was shown what I thought was a very thought-provoking presentation by a trainee teacher. He started off talking about how wonderful the Olympics are and how much he enjoys them, how much they would add to the country if they were to come to London. Then he showed us images and statistics about all the poor and homeless people living on the streets of London who are desperately in need of charity, before concluding that while getting the Olympics would probably be a good thing for the country, there are surely better things to spend the zillions of pounds on. That got me thinking, and since that day I have looked at the London Olympics with a certain degree of cynicism.

I just hope that those who adore the Olympics are able to respect my decidedly uninterested view of them when they arrive. To delve into another relevant anecdote, a couple of years ago when the World Cup was on (an event that I am even less concerned about than the Olympics) a lot of people were given afternoons off work and the like to watch the England game. On the local news that evening was a small report about this, and the report also featured some of the people who weren't into football so used their free afternoon to do something else. I remember there was one guy who went for a long walk in the countryside, both to escape from the hype of the football and to take advantage of how quiet the place was while everyone was inside watching the match. "Good on him!" I thought to myself. Following this, the program cut back to the studio, where one of the presenters concluded the section with "Aww, that's so mean-spirited!" You can only imagine how frustrating and insulting that was to me and I'm sure all the others in the area who don't follow football. I could go on for pages and pages just countering that comment and complaining about how shallow it is, but all of the arguments against it are probably obvious. Anyway, my point is that I don't mind people enjoying the Olympics and following it and getting excited about it. So long as they don't make out that I am an intrinsically mean person for not sharing their enthusiasm.

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Re: Olympics 2012

Postby Liam » Apr 6th, '12, 17:02

Mandrake wrote:I was once given a dope test and it proved conclusively that I am.


LOL....thought, you were talking about cycling for a second there, Mandrake. :lol:

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Re: Olympics 2012

Postby Liam » Apr 6th, '12, 17:06

Acolophon wrote:
Liam wrote:
The Olympic Torch was a Nazi invention. Just saying.

The swastika is a prime example..........it's originally a symbol that represents peace and harmony! Originally used by Hindus and Buddhists for thousands of years as a peaceful symbol, until it was hijacked and tunred around by the Nazis for other means. But not a lot of people know that.

I'm glad you mentioned "turned around". I'm surprised how many people are not aware that the Nazi swastica is widdershins.


Yep...I'm suprised how many people don't know the symbol's real and original history. It's a bit of a shame really.

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Re: Olympics 2012

Postby Liam » Apr 6th, '12, 17:17

Heckler wrote:The odd thing about doping is, it isn't going to make you as fast as a pro, most of the doping substances are about maintaining the pace, so you still need that natural ability. Lance Armstrong was still an incredible athlete with a lung capacity off the charts, but I honestly believe he was still cheating, because everyone else was and if you're not doping and have an off day mid tour it's game over.

Very sad really, the money involved in Pro cycling is peanuts compared to, say pro-football but they are prepared to risk long term damage and in some cases death in the short term just to be a pro.

The Cavendish thing is funny, he's incredibly gifted on the flat for about a hundred yeards, but he needs towing the rest of the way either slipstreaming his team or getting a pull from the team car. Mind you, can't recall where I read it, but someone described Indurain as being "Not particularly good at anything, just not bad at everything, that's why he won Tours".


I one hundred percent agree with this post, Heck.

All pro cyclists, cheating or no cheating, are extremely fit and work harder than any other sport for their money....My opinion might seem a bit biased I know, but bias aside, it is only as a cyclist myself that I can appreciate how hard the men's pro pelton on a grand tour must work.

Cycling is a team sport, so obviosuly it helps to have a tow to the finish line off team mates, but other riders like Farrar, Boonen or Greipel...they can get out there on their own and stay there....whereas for Cav to win, he needs a complete lead out all the way to the last few hundred metres, he always looks to be struggling towards the end as well. Like you said, fantastic finish in the last few hundred metres, and if he's in a good position, he will always do the business, but apart from his finishing sprint, I don't really rate him as a cyclist.

Be interesting to see how he does come the olympics, what with several laps of Box Hill.

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