2012 London Olympics Thread

[Anthony_MQ]

22 Gold medals for GB now !!!!!

Best haul for over 100 years .......

Well done, but paid for by a massive influx of cash from your government. Not blaming GB, but that's how it works. Canada did the same thing at the winter Olympics. At the same time, both of these nations (alongside cha,pions USA) feature in the medals for most obese and inactive young people. It's all very Orwellian.

[Anthony_MQ]

Terrible officiating and bias towards British boxers this whole Olympics! Terrible! Even when British boxers are clearing losing, they somehow get the win.

Equally appalling was the handing over of the semi-final footie match to the USA.

You really have to wonder about the sham of this whole Olympic spirit marketing we are being fed. If that were true, the USA would have deliberately missed the unjustly-awarded penalty (this sort of thing actually happened in a time of honour). Instead, it turns out a senior member of the USA team coaxed the ref into awarding the free kick that started the whole debacle. A great shame for America.

[StillShaving]

I didn't see the match, only the sports highlights showing the last second come back without any context or mention of the controversy. Found this article USA vs. Canada Women's Olympic Soccer: Grades, Twitter Reaction & Analysis which included the excerpt copied below. Is this a case where the Canadian player did not take too long, or a technical issue that is never called even though it sometimes happens?

But anything Rapinoe could do, Sinclair could do better. Just two minutes later, she notched a hat trick and gave Canada a 3-2 lead off another header.


That's when it got strange. The Americans were awarded the ever-rare indirect free kick after McLeod took too long to take a free kick, and on the preceding free kick the U.S. was awarded a penalty kick after a Canada handball. Abby Wambach stepped up and cooly evened the score.


You could make the argument that the call was unnecessary and unjust, but that's for another day. On this day, overtime it was.

[cluelessdude]

Equally appalling was the handing over of the semi-final footie match to the USA.

You really have to wonder about the sham of this whole Olympic spirit marketing we are being fed. If that were true, the USA would have deliberately missed the unjustly-awarded penalty (this sort of thing actually happened in a time of honour). Instead, it turns out a senior member of the USA team coaxed the ref into awarding the free kick that started the whole debacle. A great shame for America.

True, I watched that game live here in Canada (obviously NBC didn't show it live..) and it was pretty bizarre when those calls occurred. I totally agree with you about the Olympic spirit we're being fed. The athletes have to follow such a code where they even take a oath at the opening ceremonies to not cheat etc. Yet when an official does something wrong it isn't corrected. US is almost unbeatable in women's soccer and I'm still proud of Canada's effort.

I heard a boxing commentator say a lot of bizarre decisions were made in boxing in Beijing as well where many Chienese boxers benefited. Seems like the IOC tries to get as many hometown athletes deep into events.

I didn't see the match, only the sports highlights showing the last second come back without any context or mention of the controversy. Found this article USA vs. Canada Women's Olympic Soccer: Grades, Twitter Reaction & Analysis which included the excerpt copied below. Is this a case where the Canadian player did not take too long, or a technical issue that is never called even though it sometimes happens?

I havent followed the coverage from an American media perspective but in Canada all they are talking about are the two controversial calls:

1) Delay of game call when Canadian keeper took more than 10 seconds to kick the ball. This is hardly ever called especially without a warning. Didn't know this rule but it happens that the free kick is taken inside the penalty box.

2) On the free kick the ball hit a Canadian player's hand and the referee called it a handball. It seems clearly it wasn't intentional so the call is probably wrong.

So yeah the Canadian player did take long but it's a call that's never called (that's what I'm told).

[JRobinhood]

Just a heads up, the game was shown live here in the US. In fact, it delayed a portion of the mens basketball game from being shown live.

I think it is asking a little much for them to botch the kick out of "honor" no matter how bad the calls were in their favor. It is too bad the ref was so one sided, but I think both teams should be proud of the games they played. It was a blood bath out there, players were dropping left and right by the end of the game and it sure was intense.

[cluelessdude]

Just a heads up, the game was shown live here in the US. In fact, it delayed a portion of the mens basketball game from being shown live.

I think it is asking a little much for them to botch the kick out of "honor" no matter how bad the calls were in their favor. It is too bad the ref was so one sided, but I think both teams should be proud of the games they played. It was a blood bath out there, players were dropping left and right by the end of the game and it sure was intense.

Oh so it was broadcasted live then. I agree it was a good game much more entertaining than many men's soccer games I've watched in my life.

[Anthony_MQ]

2) On the free kick the ball hit a Canadian player's hand and the referee called it a handball. It seems clearly it wasn't intentional so the call is probably wrong.

It's not simply that the ball hit her arm rather than arm going out to ball, but her arm was against her body and the kick originated merely yards away.

[SalvadorMontenegro]

Here's a video of Canadian player Melissa Tancredi stomping on an American player's head in the penalty box:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3ggsT2HWkc

This was not called. It should have resulted in a penalty kick for the United States. From what I've heard, Tancredi did a lot of this sort of thing during the game.

Look, the thing is this: Any time a team loses a hotly contested, close contest, the immediate reaction by the losing team and the losing team's fans is to blame the officiating. This happens in every sport in every country - basketball, American football, hockey, soccer. Not very often in baseball, because there aren't a lot of penalties in baseball and it is the most transparent of team sports. It's practically a national pandemic during the NBA playoffs. As a Lakers' fan, I'm pretty used to hearing it.

[Anthony_MQ]

This was not called.

It not really clear cut that this wasn't simply a careless mis-step influenced by loss of balance. Yet, even if I agree that it was deliberate, the referee failing to spot something is a totally different story to the sort of bias or incompetence we are talking about here.

[ouch]

Well done, but paid for by a massive influx of cash from your government. Not blaming GB, but that's how it works. Canada did the same thing at the winter Olympics. At the same time, both of these nations (alongside cha,pions USA) feature in the medals for most obese and inactive young people. It's all very Orwellian.

Just couldn't help yourself, I suppose.

[rajagra]

Well done, but paid for by a massive influx of cash from your government.

It's true, but also true for every other successful nation. It raises the question, what is the point of the Olympic Games? To see what people can achieve, or what spending can achieve? Is this the Olympic spirit?
I think the true meaning of the Olympics is long gone, any pretence otherwise is pure spin. But it is still interesting to see the limits of human performance when given the best support.

[SalvadorMontenegro]

It not really clear cut that this wasn't simply a careless mis-step influenced by loss of balance. Yet, even if I agree that it was deliberate, the referee failing to spot something is a totally different story to the sort of bias or incompetence we are talking about here.

I think it's pretty clear that it's deliberate. That's about as blatant as Wayne Rooney stomping on the Portuguese player.

My point is that @#$% happens. There are controversial calls, non-calls, incorrect calls. This does not mean "THE REF IS BIASED!"

The Canadian keeper had been cautioned prior to the penalty to stop delaying the game. She even admits that she was cautioned. She was holding the ball for 10 seconds. That's a long time to be running around with the ball.

Neither of the calls that led to the American goal were incorrect. Both were legal calls. It's not as if the keeper was holding the ball for four seconds and the penalty was called. She held it for over six after she had been cautioned previously to stop. Just because it's a rare call, doesn't mean it's an incorrect one.

[Penguinetti]

oh man, i wish i had seen that game.

I was only coming in here to see if anyone mentioned what Maroney did on the vault, and do you think it was overconfidence that triggered it...

[nole1]

On the free kick the ball hit a Canadian player's hand and the referee called it a handball. It seems clearly it wasn't intentional so the call is probably wrong.

It's not simply that the ball hit her arm rather than arm going out to ball, but her arm was against her body and the kick originated merely yards away.

Her arm was not against her body though. Her elbow was extending out to help shield her face but it was still away from the body.

The 'normal' checklist a ref should go though before making that call would be:
Was the ball played with the arm (generally considered to start a few inches from the shoulder and below)? Yes.
Was the arm extended away from the body? Yes, as the player jumped and twisted to block the shot they extended their elbow out.
Was the arm extension outside of the normal movement of play? Yes, as stated above the player jumped, twisted, and extended their elbow.
Did they gain an advantage by the ball hitting the arm in this position? Yes, the ball was deflected down to the feet of a defender and cleared.

I understand it happened after an extremely rare '6-second' call towards the end of extra time inside the 18 for a team down by one. While it makes the situation look odd, it has no bearing on the validity of the foul. If it was anywhere else on the pitch it would be an obvious call with no hesitation. Yes it sucked for Canada but it was the correct call.

[Anthony_MQ]

This does not mean "THE REF IS BIASED!"

I can't speak for others, but that is not what I am saying and it is most probably not the case. The ref was incompetent and ignorant of the rules and spirit of the game. He also seems to have caved into some pressure from one of the teams.

[Anthony_MQ]

It's true, but also true for every other successful nation. It raises the question, what is the point of the Olympic Games? To see what people can achieve, or what spending can achieve? Is this the Olympic spirit?

I agree that it's true of other nations. Didn't mean to single out just one or two. I also wonder whether it's a good idea to encourage people to spend their critical formative years to be focused obsessively on one relatively unimportant thing. I much prefred the old amateur days, even with the obvious drawbacks.

[SalvadorMontenegro]

I can't speak for others, but that is not what I am saying and it is most probably not the case. The ref was incompetent and ignorant of the rules and spirit of the game. He also seems to have caved into some pressure from one of the teams.

Yes, but as nole1 said, she was not ignorant of the rules. Both calls, as I said, were legit. They weren't outside of the rules.

What most people are questioning is:

1. The fact that the six second penalty was called and that the result of it was a free kick. Again, this is a legit, but rare call.

2. That the handball, which was indeliberate, resulted in the United States getting a penalty kick. The rule in the event of an indeliberate handball is that the ref should use his or her judgment to determine whether or not to award the non-offending team a free/penalty kick. In this situation, the ref DECIDED to give the American team the penalty kick.

The objection most objecting people have is that the ref made decisions that benefited the American team. But, as I said, neither decision was against the rules. If you want to blame someONE or someTHING, blame the vague rules that allow the ref to use judgment that could be swayed by favoritism or a predetermined agenda. If, for instance, the rules said that in the event of a six second violation, the first infraction results in a yellow card and the second in a red card, we would not be having this discussion. If the rules stipulated that any handball, under any circumstances, results in a free kick, there would be no objection. As it is, it's up to the ref's judgment. Had she not called a handball, Americans would have been outraged. No win situation.

[cluelessdude]

Congratulations to Adam van Koeverden of Canada. Winning silver in men's 1000m kayak. He was leading most of the race and after the race he congratulated the gold medal winner from Norway. Adam is all class and is extremely humble.

[SalvadorMontenegro]

Speaking of Olympic Spirit, who has seen this jolly interview with Dawn Harper and Kellie Wells?:

Edit: Can't link to the video...

Regular link:

http://www.cbssports.com/olympics/bl...olo-jones-fans

[StillShaving]

Thanks for the explanation and different perspectives on the soccer match between Canada & USA. That helps.

I think these close calls exacerbate some fundamental problem in the scoring system (scoring opportunities) of elite soccer/football. There are too many 1-Nil or 2-1 outcomes, where one mistake by one player or some amazing shot akin to shooting a basketball from 3/4 length of the court determines the final outcome. Its like a science teacher who gives their class a final exam with 2 questions, making it extremely difficult to get enough separation between the students to determine who is A-level, B-level, C-level, etc. But I am starting to go off topic.