Future of the Olympics

[Guest Lobo]

Will do.  Always liked that guy, he really helped put that sport on the map.  I wanna watch some hockey too.  

csb/ Last year, I jokingly emailed Sean White through his company and said it was so sad to see such a great American athlete stealing a lectern from the U.S. Capitol, that it wasn't the kind of podium he should aspire to...haha.   Few days later, after likely googling the image, he wrote back with something like "holy cow, that dude does look like me when I have long hair and a beard.  Seems like kind of a dick though!"  I wished him well in 2022 and that was that, but he seems funny and cool in real life.  /csb

Edited February 10, 2022 by Lobo

[bolverk 29,728]

22 minutes ago, Bravo said:

Problem here is doesn't China have laws that state you cannot have dual citizenship? So she had to renounce her US citizenship. That's a pretty big move for some dollars. More power to ya but US should not allow her to be a citizen and have her apply for visas to enter. 

From the ESPN article I linked on the previous page:

Quote

 

Kunlun refers to those born outside of China as "Heritage and Import" players. China does not allow dual citizenship, but it's known to make exceptions for foreign athletes.

"I told China that I'll never give up my [U.S.] passport, and they said that's fine," said Smith.

Smith isn't sure if he has any Chinese heritage. It doesn't factor into his eligibility to represent the nation. "To play in the Olympics, you have to have a passport for the country [with whom] you're competing. I looked it up: I think there were 180 Olympians in Tokyo [2020] that participated under a passport that is not of their birth country," said Smith.

 

[Johnny Sack 8,397]

19 minutes ago, Lobo said:

Will do.  Always liked that guy, he really helped put that sport on the map.  I wanna watch some hockey too.  

csb/ Last year, I jokingly emailed Sean White through his company and said it was so sad to see such a great American athlete stealing a lectern from the U.S. Capitol, that it wasn't the kind of podium he should aspire to...haha.   Few days later, after likely googling the image, he wrote back with something like "holy cow, that dude does look like me when I have long hair and a beard.  Seems like kind of a dick though!"  I wished him well in 2022 and that was that, but he seems funny and cool in real life.  /csb

Lobo,

You make me laugh a lot.  I appreciate that.

[956 Worldwide 34,794]

1 hour ago, bolverk said:

Y'all need to read up on China's hockey team:

 

 

They can eat dicks too. 
 

[Brisketexan 105,427]

I only watch ice dancing. And ALL the ice dancing.

[956 Worldwide 34,794]

45 minutes ago, Bravo said:

Problem here is doesn't China have laws that state you cannot have dual citizenship? So she had to renounce her US citizenship. That's a pretty big move for some dollars. More power to ya but US should not allow her to be a citizen and have her apply for visas to enter. 

It’s really hard to give up U.S. citizenship and in practice you need to proactively do it.  Almost certainly Beijing just didn’t ask for proof of whether she did it or not. 

[Johnny Sack 8,397]

8 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

It’s really hard to give up U.S. citizenship and in practice you need to proactively do it.  Almost certainly Beijing just didn’t ask for proof of whether she did it or not. 

So it's not like declaring bankruptcy?

[MrBig 5,444]

41 minutes ago, crash_davis said:

watch tonight. it will be the last time you see Sean White compete. he's not favored to win gold as the sport has progressed past him but anything can happen.

Definitely Shaun White’s last Olympics. Shaun is great but I would have loved to see the progression of snowboarding with the Kevin Pearce v. Shaun White rivalry through the years. Kevin Pearce is the only one who was even close to giving Shaun any competition until is accident. Good luck Shaun!

[NeverMarryAStripper 21,942]

6 hours ago, FartingMonk said:

 Maybe some of you need to check your Sinophobia at the door.

It's not Sinophobia if they really are out to get you

[Guest Lobo]

31 minutes ago, Johnny Sack said:

Lobo,

You make me laugh a lot.  I appreciate that.

Like I’m a clown.  I amuse you?

[Fudge Nuggets 19,227]

1 hour ago, crash_davis said:

will the olympics committee have the balls to ban her from future events and strip the cheating russian bastards of their team gold? the IOC is corrupt as shit but there is precedent already set on this. it's a no brainer, right?

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! 

Yeah, not gonna happen.

[Fudge Nuggets 19,227]

1 hour ago, Bravo said:

Problem here is doesn't China have laws that state you cannot have dual citizenship? So she had to renounce her US citizenship. That's a pretty big move for some dollars. More power to ya but US should not allow her to be a citizen and have her apply for visas to enter. 

She can get one of them Einstein visas.

[Johnny Sack 8,397]

5 minutes ago, Lobo said:

Like I’m a clown.  I amuse you?

Yes.  You do.

[Billy Pilgrim 1,984]

She’s a fucking idiot for being a shill for an authoritarian communist regime with a horrific record of human rights violations and genocide at the present time- but she’s made a ton of money and I can’t say I wouldn’t do the same if I was her age.

That said- NBC shouldn’t be trying to make her a superstar or hero in our country. We have plenty of great athletes like Chloe Kim, Nathan Chen, Mikaela Schiffen that should be the face of these games. Not her,

[Billy Pilgrim 1,984]

She’s a fucking idiot for being a shill for an authoritarian communist regime with a horrific record of human rights violations and genocide at the present time- but she’s made a ton of money and I can’t say I wouldn’t do the same if I was her age.

That said- NBC shouldn’t be trying to make her a superstar or hero in our country. We have plenty of great athletes like Chloe Kim, Nathan Chen, Mikaela Schiffen that should be the face of these games. Not her,

[YChang 3,462]

As a Chinese American, I don't like it. I think she could have made money here too. But I also don't think it's anything nefarious what Gu's doing. I think she's just capitalizing on her stardom to make as much money as possible. Window is pretty short typically for Olympic athletes.

She does invite tons of criticism and I think some of y'all feel a lot stronger about this because she's of Chinese descent. And it's fucking China (fuck them). And that's ok, we all have our built-in biases. But I wonder if some of y'all would be as vigorous in your criticism if she was Scandinavian descent and just won a gold for Norway. 

[HenryJames 66,188]

2 hours ago, CooterBrown said:

We're not going to support you for shit but it's 'murica or die.

No one ever bitched about Sandra Richards Ross competing for the US instead of her native Jamaica.

 

That's because she's black, and Daily Texan posters really like black people.

[956 Worldwide 34,794]

12 minutes ago, YChang said:

As a Chinese American, I don't like it. I think she could have made money here too. But I also don't think it's anything nefarious what Gu's doing. I think she's just capitalizing on her stardom to make as much money as possible. Window is pretty short typically for Olympic athletes.

She does invite tons of criticism and I think some of y'all feel a lot stronger about this because she's of Chinese descent. And it's fucking China (fuck them). And that's ok, we all have our built-in biases. But I wonder if some of y'all would be as vigorous in your criticism if she was Scandinavian descent and just won a gold for Norway. 

I’d be thrilled for her if she was ethnic Chinese and competing for Taiwan. My stance is exclusively that anyone who helps China can get fucked. 

[NoName 16,408]

On 2/9/2022 at 10:27 AM, billfromlaketravis said:

I watched the US Women's Luge Team last night, and it looked about like this. They celebrated finishing runs that didn't even qualify. They were just happy not to fall off. 

to be fair, that is exactly what i would do if i was on the luge or the skeleton teams.

[MrBig 5,444]

14 minutes ago, YChang said:

As a Chinese American, I don't like it. I think she could have made money here too. But I also don't think it's anything nefarious what Gu's doing. I think she's just capitalizing on her stardom to make as much money as possible. Window is pretty short typically for Olympic athletes.

She does invite tons of criticism and I think some of y'all feel a lot stronger about this because she's of Chinese descent. And it's fucking China (fuck them). And that's ok, we all have our built-in biases. But I wonder if some of y'all would be as vigorous in your criticism if she was Scandinavian descent and just won a gold for Norway. 

Money talks and bullshit walks

[NoName 16,408]

3 hours ago, FartingMonk said:

If the Chinese tell her to renounce us citizenship at this point it is pretty stupid

she already did.

[NoName 16,408]

1 hour ago, crash_davis said:

moving to the next thing to bitch about.  so about the russians and doping...

https://www.kxan.com/sports-general/2022-olympics/what-is-the-drug-behind-russias-olympic-skating-case/

the 15 yr old chic got caught with trimetazidine in her system but testing was before the olympics. will the olympics committee have the balls to ban her from future events and strip the cheating russian bastards of their team gold? the IOC is corrupt as shit but there is precedent already set on this. it's a no brainer, right?

see this is what i don't understand

test was ~2 months BEFORE the olympics and they just now are getting the results back?!

[ChickenSandwich 9,853]

30 minutes ago, Billy Pilgrim said:

She’s a fucking idiot for being a shill for an authoritarian communist regime with a horrific record of human rights violations and genocide at the present time- but she’s made a ton of money and I can’t say I wouldn’t do the same if I was her age.

That said- NBC shouldn’t be trying to make her a superstar or hero in our country. We have plenty of great athletes like Chloe Kim, Nathan Chen, Mikaela Schiffen that should be the face of these games. Not her,

It’s good enough for the NBA, why not her?

[crash_davis 23,115]

5 minutes ago, NoName said:

see this is what i don't understand

test was ~2 months BEFORE the olympics and they just now are getting the results back?!

my thinking is the test results were kept secret until someone leaked it. the fact that the dumb bitch is still skating around the rink practicing as if nothing happened tells you everything you need to know about how fucking corrupt the IOC is. for the athletes' sake, i'm trying to separate the bullshit and watching them in full support. they train 4 years to get here. they don't have a fucking say in the shitshow circus outside of their competition arena. the least i can do is to support them.

[smuggs 9,353]

18 minutes ago, YChang said:

But I wonder if some of y'all would be as vigorous in your criticism if she was Scandinavian descent and just won a gold for Norway. 

 

Fuck the Norwegians. I'll never kowtow to those fjord-dwelling ice nerds.

 

[crash_davis 23,115]

3 minutes ago, smuggs said:

 

Fuck the Norwegians. I'll never kowtow to those fjord-dwelling ice nerds.

 

plus i question anyone's sanity for choosing to live in these conditions. and they stole all the blondes from ireland leaving that country with nothing but gingers who look like ed sheran.

 

[NoName 16,408]

4 minutes ago, crash_davis said:

my thinking is the test results were kept secret until someone leaked it. the fact that the dumb bitch is still skating around the rink practicing as if nothing happened tells you everything you need to know about how fucking corrupt the IOC is. for the athletes' sake, i'm trying to separate the bullshit and watching them in full support. they train 4 years to get here. they don't have a fucking say in the shitshow circus outside of their competition arena. the least i can do is to support them.

yeah, agreed - if she was some rando from Poland who finished in 35th place she wouldn't have ever touched the ice.

they just need to fucking nuke the Russian Olympic program and start from scratch at this point. just give them the death penalty and call it a day. will it fuck over athletes? sure. but does anyone think the gov't cares about the athletes in the end? nope.

let them go to the Olympics as members of the Independent Olympic Athletes. not ROC or OAR. let them wear any color that isn't white, blue or red. if the athletes choose not to - then fuck 'em.

it's incredible.

[FartingMonk 3,608]

36 minutes ago, YChang said:

As a Chinese American, I don't like it. I think she could have made money here too. But I also don't think it's anything nefarious what Gu's doing. I think she's just capitalizing on her stardom to make as much money as possible. Window is pretty short typically for Olympic athletes.

She does invite tons of criticism and I think some of y'all feel a lot stronger about this because she's of Chinese descent. And it's fucking China (fuck them). And that's ok, we all have our built-in biases. But I wonder if some of y'all would be as vigorous in your criticism if she was Scandinavian descent and just won a gold for Norway. 

That's exactly how I feel about it.  As a Chinese American I don't necessarily agree with her decision.  But I don't see anything wrong with it.  Now if she were to use that platform and give a big FU to the US then I would be pissed.  She capitalized on an active incredible opportunity has stayed in her lane of skiing and basically said fuck bitches make money.  Ain't nothing wrong with that.  That to me is American as fuck

[TurkeyChew 383]

1 hour ago, Johnny Sack said:

Lobo,

You make me laugh a lot.  I appreciate that.

Lobo is fantastic 

[NeverMarryAStripper 21,942]

1 hour ago, YChang said:

She does invite tons of criticism and I think some of y'all feel a lot stronger about this because she's of Chinese descent. And it's fucking China (fuck them). And that's ok, we all have our built-in biases. But I wonder if some of y'all would be as vigorous in your criticism if she was Scandinavian descent and just won a gold for Norway. 

It's my understanding that under U.S. law she is allowed to have dual citizenship so she is allowed to do what she did.  You are probably correct in that there is some bias in our criticism.  However, it's pretty hard to imagine a situation where we end up in a shooting war with Norway.  You can't really say that about China, so that might be a source of some of the criticism as well.

[Samson's Wig 3,194]

18 hours ago, bolverk said:

 

To be fair, they're only a 4-5 hour drive from skiing.  One of the overlooked aspects of that place.  That store is way less ridiculous than the shops we have in Austin selling ski gear.

[dcar00 14,378]

1 hour ago, MrBig said:

Money talks and bullshit walks

and it can't touch my 3 lock box!

[bolverk 29,728]

1 minute ago, Samson's Wig said:

To be fair, they're only a 4-5 hour drive from skiing.  One of the overlooked aspects of that place.  That store is way less ridiculous than the shops we have in Austin selling ski gear.

I'm well aware, having got my undergrad at Tech. The conversation about Lubbock hosting the winter Olympics immediately reminded me of the store's logo, so I posted it for cheap laughing face points.

[dcar00 14,378]

1 hour ago, YChang said:

As a Chinese American, I don't like it. I think she could have made money here too. But I also don't think it's anything nefarious what Gu's doing. I think she's just capitalizing on her stardom to make as much money as possible. Window is pretty short typically for Olympic athletes.

She does invite tons of criticism and I think some of y'all feel a lot stronger about this because she's of Chinese descent. And it's fucking China (fuck them). And that's ok, we all have our built-in biases. But I wonder if some of y'all would be as vigorous in your criticism if she was Scandinavian descent and just won a gold for Norway. 

fucking Norks...oh wait, sorry.

[Sandman 3,415]

1 hour ago, YChang said:

But I wonder if some of y'all would be as vigorous in your criticism if she was Scandinavian descent and just won a gold for Norway. 

It reminds me of when Athens was awarded the 2004 games and they had to scramble to find guys to make up their baseball team. So they recruited minor leaguers of Greek ancestry who had zero chance to make the USA squad. As a person of Greek ancestry myself, I thought it was weak but not exactly a mortal sin. 

[StruggleBus 3,922]

The future:

[Samson's Wig 3,194]

Of course people are bothered by Gu because it's China.  That's the point.  I don't think it's some kind of nefarious bias. It's a justifiable bias. China is a shitstain on the face of the planet.  The fact she's shilling for them does not speak well of her character, but I don't don't blame her for chasing cash.  The issue is with China being able to use the Olympics as a disinformation and propaganda campaign while the West sanctions it.  She is a part of that propaganda machine so of course she will ruffle some feathers.  The dislike is ultimately with China, though, not her.  

I do think it's a bit sad that national pride has largely disappeared for many of the athletes, with snowboarders in particular seeming unwilling to even wear their nation's flags or insignia during events (kudos to Chloe Kim for being one of the few repping her country well).  Dual citizen athletes play a role in this as well, but it's just a sign of the times and ultimately not a bad thing, imo.   Our retirement plans involve settling into a tropical nation and forming a curling team to become the oldest Olympic athletes in the winter games.  Good excuse for travel every four years.

Edited February 10, 2022 by Samson's Wig

[UTCzech III 2,907]

2 hours ago, Johnny Sack said:

Lobo,

You make me laugh a lot.  I appreciate that.

 

Edited February 10, 2022 by UTCzech III

[TurkeyChew 383]

10 minutes ago, Samson's Wig said:

Of course people are bothered by Gu because it's China.  That's the point.  I don't think it's some kind of nefarious bias. It's a justifiable bias. China is a shitstain on the face of the planet.  The fact she's shilling for them does not speak well of her character, but I don't don't blame her for chasing cash.  The issue is with China being able to use the Olympics as a disinformation and propaganda campaign while the West sanctions it.  She is a part of that propaganda machine so of course she will ruffle some feathers.  The dislike is ultimately with China, though, not her.  

I do think it's a bit sad that national pride has largely disappeared for many of the athletes, with snowboarders in particular seeming unwilling to even wear their nation's flags or insignia during events (kudos to Chloe Kim for being one of the few repping her country well).  Dual citizen athletes play a role in this as well, but it's just a sign of the times and ultimately not a bad thing, imo.   Our retirement plans involve settling into a tropical nation and forming a curling team to become the oldest Olympic athletes in the winter games.  Good excuse for travel every four years.

To bring your post to the OP: It really does feel like the Olympics matter the MOST to the countries who need to propagate propoganda to the rest of the world. Hence Russia and China caring so much about them recently. It's part of their Go-to-market and media blitz to showcase how they are not humanitarian criminals and horrible people.

If the IOC were smart, they would be hire a bunch of geopolitical strategists to help them forecast which crappy countries need them the most and cater to them. It's the only way they stay relevant as most sane countries realize they are a moneypit and scam.

[gernblansten 3,197]

18 minutes ago, Sandman said:

It reminds me of when Athens was awarded the 2004 games and they had to scramble to find guys to make up their baseball team. So they recruited minor leaguers of Greek ancestry who had zero chance to make the USA squad. As a person of Greek ancestry myself, I thought it was weak but not exactly a mortal sin. 

I'll just assume you didn't make the team.

[FartingMonk 3,608]

12 minutes ago, Samson's Wig said:

Of course people are bothered by Gu because it's China.  That's the point.  I don't think it's some kind of nefarious bias. It's a justifiable bias. China is a shitstain on the face of the planet.  The fact she's shilling for them does not speak well of her character, but I don't don't blame her for chasing cash.  The issue is with China being able to use the Olympics as a disinformation and propaganda campaign while the West sanctions it.  She is a part of that propaganda machine so of course she will ruffle some feathers.  The dislike is ultimately with China, though, not her.  

I do think it's a bit sad that national pride has largely disappeared for many of the athletes, with snowboarders in particular seeming unwilling to even wear their nation's flags or insignia during events (kudos to Chloe Kim for being one of the few repping her country well).  Dual citizen athletes play a role in this as well, but it's just a sign of the times and ultimately not a bad thing, imo.   Our retirement plans involve settling into a tropical nation and forming a curling team to become the oldest Olympic athletes in the winter games.  Good excuse for travel every four years.

If we really gave a shit about the genocide in China we would have boycotted the games.  Or attacked the sponsors.  Or attacked the IOC for awarding the games.  Or attacked NBC for showing the games.  But what do we do?  We take out our anger on a 18 year old.  Good job guys

[utee94 15,868]

4 minutes ago, FartingMonk said:

If we really gave a shit about the genocide in China we would have boycotted the games.  Or attacked the sponsors.  Or attacked the IOC for awarding the games.  Or attacked NBC for showing the games.  But what do we do?  We take out our anger on a 18 year old.  Good job guys

Meh.  Plenty of people in the USA have criticized our government for not boycotting, have criticized the sponsors for participating, have attacked the IOC for awarding, and have attacked NBC for showing them.

Since we're not government officials or television network officials, but rather message board posters, what we can do, is bitch about it on a message board.  This seems to surprise you and I'm not sure why? 

She made her choice, she's a legal adult, and I'm sure she can handle the consequences, whilst laughing all the way to the bank.

 

[YChang 3,462]

17 minutes ago, TurkeyChew said:

To bring your post to the OP: It really does feel like the Olympics matter the MOST to the countries who need to propagate propoganda to the rest of the world. Hence Russia and China caring so much about them recently. It's part of their Go-to-market and media blitz to showcase how they are not humanitarian criminals and horrible people.

If the IOC were smart, they would be hire a bunch of geopolitical strategists to help them forecast which crappy countries need them the most and cater to them. It's the only way they stay relevant as most sane countries realize they are a moneypit and scam.

Hasn't this always been a sub-plot of every modern Olympics?

[TurkeyChew 383]

1 minute ago, YChang said:

Hasn't this always been a sub-plot of every modern Olympics?

I don't know, Barcelona seemed cool.

[Samson's Wig 3,194]

9 minutes ago, FartingMonk said:

If we really gave a shit about the genocide in China we would have boycotted the games.  Or attacked the sponsors.  Or attacked the IOC for awarding the games.  Or attacked NBC for showing the games.  But what do we do?  We take out our anger on a 18 year old.  Good job guys

White knighting is a solid look. 

While some mouth breather or two might be taking out their anger on Gu, most of us should be able to recognize she's merely the public face for a bad actor.  I agree we should have completely boycotted the games.  Comcast, like too many American companies, sucks a lot of Chinese tit.  It's embarrassing for them, especially when Xi laughs in their face when they try to get much of their content into the Chinese market. It's time to isolate and ostracize China and Russia. Gu may live to regret her decision when she accidentally says something that offends Xi and ends up in an off grid prison.

[FartingMonk 3,608]

10 minutes ago, Samson's Wig said:

White knighting is a solid look. 

While some mouth breather or two might be taking out their anger on Gu, most of us should be able to recognize she's merely the public face for a bad actor.  I agree we should have completely boycotted the games.  Comcast, like too many American companies, sucks a lot of Chinese tit.  It's embarrassing for them, especially when Xi laughs in their face when they try to get much of their content into the Chinese market. It's time to isolate and ostracize China and Russia. Gu may live to regret her decision when she accidentally says something that offends Xi and ends up in an off grid prison.

Far from white knighting.  Just think the hypocrisy of it all is a little much.  4 years ago we had the Chloe Kim story which was a role reversal.  It more or less fucked her up bad by how her sponsors and the media chose their narrative.  Now we have another girl who decides she is choosing her own narrative and we still are trying to fuck her up.  Add the China talk and it's just a little much

[Guest Lobo]

2 hours ago, Johnny Sack said:

Yes.  You do.

I can't believe people consider you smug and entitled.   

I'll give you this...I've been working with the heirs to the Aldi Grocery empire for 20+ years.  We've been handling their dedicated fleet for longer than that.  Largest grocery store chain on Planet Earth.  Since they don't have to worry about liquidity like most "billionaires" who if they sold their shares tomorrow would completely crater their value, rendering them much less in terms of net worth...the Albrechts are maybe one of the "real" 10 richest families on Earth.....they are beyond annoying and douchey.  But what's worse in my opinion, they are so terribly un-funny, it's painful.  I don't expect elderly Nazi sympathizers in the discount grocery store business to be entertaining, but holy shit---they are just a constant clenched asshole to be around.  You at least seem to have a sense of humor.  But I bet y'all have other stuff in common  

[InkaUtexas 26,164]

17 hours ago, BERT said:

Better be some fast sweepers 

And make sure she leads the team. 

[ztejas 43,545]

3 hours ago, YChang said:

But I wonder if some of y'all would be as vigorous in your criticism if she was Scandinavian descent and just won a gold for Norway. 

Dude no one gives a fuck about the medal count. It's voluntarily hitching your wagon to an authoritarian, human-rights violating regime that many of us have a problem with. I'm not going to judge her too harshly because 18 year olds in general are naive and make bad decisions but I'm guessing there are plenty of Chinese athletes that would get the fuck out of dodge if they could. I know there's at least one tennis player that would. I hope she enjoys her money - we'll see if she likes it 10 years from now and still thinks it was the right decision. 

[YChang 3,462]

4 minutes ago, ztejas said:

Dude no one gives a fuck about the medal count. It's voluntarily hitching your wagon to an authoritarian, human-rights violating regime that many of us have a problem with. I'm not going to judge her too harshly because 18 year olds in general are naive and make bad decisions but I'm guessing there are plenty of Chinese athletes that would get the fuck out of dodge if they could. I know there's at least one tennis player that would. I hope she enjoys her money - we'll see if she likes it 10 years from now and still thinks it was the right decision. 

I don't think I said anything originally that's in disagreement with what you just said. It just hits different reading some of these comment as a Chinese American.