The Games of the XXIX Olympiad Park Place Log II



apparently between sunday and tuesday there was a brouhaha over at boardgamegeek, but i completely missed it because, you know, the olympics are on, and i have trouble finding time to sleep, let alone keep track of some brouhaha created by people i know almost nothing about.


well look at that: there's a handball that isn't at all like racquetball.


when they refer to badminton as the world's fastest racquet sport, they aren't idly talking.  i had trouble keeping track of the shuttlecock on some of the volleys, and i saw a one break a racquet.  the mixed doubles gold medal match had a 56-stroke volley.  as an aside, it's surprising how much the game changed thanks to the desire to squeeze in commercials.


for the most part, i'm rather disappointed with the commercials so far, though the kia luxury SUV ones were nicely done.


judo is definitely more like wrestling than i was expecting, just with scoring that rewards more difficult moves.  as an aside, cuba got robbed on the women's side.  i'm sure it was coincidence that it was to china (and that they alone were allowed to bring a flag into the arena).


i'm more of a football guy (what do i mean by that?), but field hockey is definitely an interesting watch; some of that stick-work is impressive.


not being a horse person, even after reading, "to achieve the objective of dressage the horse must be calm, loose and flexible, but also confident and attentive and keen, thus achieving perfect understanding with his rider", i still don't really get it, though i guess it's basically rhythmic gymnastics for horses (in slow motion).  regardless, kudos to wearing your military uniform (or a tail coat and top hat if you don't have one).  and i do have to admit that it's kinda cool that you can train a horse to be that specific.  it's a shame you can't train a cat to do that.  or anything useful at all.  or even simply not shed all over the place.


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