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Post by admin on Aug 5, 2008 18:43:16 GMT
An Olympics 2008 thread it is, maybe we'll all still be here for London 2012 too! I'll open a seperate thread in other sports for the rest.
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Post by apocalipstick on Aug 5, 2008 18:58:44 GMT
The draw is set to occur on Thursday. Why do I want it to be set now so I can study it and predict?
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Post by ilsabing on Aug 5, 2008 23:44:24 GMT
Because you are me, apocalipstick. I want it now. [/Veruca Salt]
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Post by apocalipstick on Aug 6, 2008 2:31:53 GMT
Oh I LOVE that song. I want a PAH-tee! Ancic out with mono.But.. After initially being in doubt because of an arm injury, David Nalbandian confirms he will be taking part in the Olympics. Nalbandian in. Additional blurbs from tennis.com ticker. Lunch adventures of Roger and Rafa . FedererAustralian field hockey player Hope Munro reports that Roger Federer was mobbed in the Olympic cafeteria during a meal on Tuesday. "All he wanted to do was eat his lunch and star athletes from all over the world kept lining up to get his autograph or their photo taken with him," she told Australian press. "You kind of feel sorry for the poor guy... I don't know if he actually got his lunch."NadalThe Australian reports that Nadal was "ribbed by Spanish team-mates when he failed to take his food tray with him as he left the table at the communal dining hall. 'You are not a star here,' one Spanish athlete said."GonzoFernando Gonzalez will carry the Chilean flag at the opening ceremonies of the Olympics.I've seen questions elsewhere about why Ana and Jelena aren't playing doubles for Serbia, but no real answer.
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Post by roseha on Aug 6, 2008 2:41:43 GMT
So will the opening ceremonies be live? That would I guess be about 7:30 am in New York, which would mean I could watch it. Or at the very least record it (lazy oversleeper that I am . I'm happy that Roger and Gonzo will be carrying their flags. I already know I'm out of town during the final rounds of the Olympic tennis tourney. I've noticed that my digital cable system (Time Warner) has a Sports on Demand channel that's supposed to carry all the Olympics, so I hope I can see the final there if there's no other way. It's so confusing already to figure out all the different versions of NBC, MSNBC, USA and who knows what other cable channels will show what here. I can't imagine that tennis will be high on the US list with Roddick not playing, though Venus and Serena should maintain some local interest. The US coverage of the Olympics has always given new meaning to the term "jingoistic."
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mell
1st Round
Posts: 64
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Post by mell on Aug 7, 2008 10:36:56 GMT
Draw's out!I see that Rafa might run into trouble in the second round, but I am confident he is going to get through. Shocker: Djoker is in his half!!! So is Murray. This is the last time that Rafa is going to head the bottom half, right? It'll be weird (but nice) to see him heading the top half next time. I'm also interested in Mathieu-Lapentti (that's one good-looking first round), Karlovic-Berdych, and Monfils-Almagro. Ivo and Gilles Simon are both in Fed's half. Nice also to see my lovely Oli Rochus' name there.
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Post by francienolan on Aug 7, 2008 12:01:05 GMT
So will the opening ceremonies be live? That would I guess be about 7:30 am in New York, which would mean I could watch it. Or at the very least record it (lazy oversleeper that I am . I know the swimming competitions will be held in the am so they can be televised during American primetime but the ceremonies will be on tape delay starting at 7:30pm EST. For Project Runway fans did they say that this week's winning outfit was a definite for the ceremonies, I wasn't sure... Thanks for posting the draw, does anyone know what kind of tv schedule tennis is getting?
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Post by falafaclese on Aug 7, 2008 13:34:59 GMT
Here's the women's draw. Venus and Serena are on opposite sides of the draw again. Safina and Jankovic are in the same quarter, and Safina and Davenport could face each other in the second round. Actually I think Jankovic has the toughest draw of the top players. She could have Alona Bondarenko in the second round, Cibulkova in the 3rd, Safina or Lindsay in the quarters, and then maybe Venus in the semis. I think, Rafa has the toughest draw for the men on paper, but given his recent results and Fed's, Fed could either crash out way early again, or get to the final. Six months ago, I would have said Fed was a shoe-in for the final. On a more general note, I've been reading articles about how some people feel Olympic tennis should be more of a team event. I can understand that, and I agree to a certain extent, but I don't know that I agree with some who want to set it up like WTT. I wonder why, in addition to the individual competition, why don't they establish a point system similar to the one the tour events have, and then whichever country scores the most points across the men's and women's singles and doubles events gets a team medal? I think that would be an easy addition that could add more of a team atmosphere without completely overhauling the format.
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Post by curlywhirly on Aug 7, 2008 13:44:54 GMT
I am NOT happy that Rafa has Murray in his section and Djokovic in his half, AGAIN . Especially since I would love for both Rafa and Murray to win medals, and I don't think that's possible now. If Rafa comes away with the gold he will truly be The Man. But whatev. I'm expecting some upsets anyways because some of those players are going to wilt in the heat and humidity. Djokovic's draw on paper looks the easiest up to the semis, but I'm not sure he's fit enough to outlast the Beijing heat. Fed's draw is sort of tough. YAY for Vee and Rena being on opposite sides! Gold and silver right there. Serena is in a nice section, though I think Zvonareva could play spoiler. I'd like a Venus-Safina semi. I don't think they've ever played before. Is the bronze medal winner determined by the two semifinal losers playing each other?
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mell
1st Round
Posts: 64
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Post by mell on Aug 7, 2008 13:58:21 GMT
I forgot that the women were playing too. I'm rooting for Venus and Dinara. Yup.
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Post by ilsabing on Aug 7, 2008 14:06:57 GMT
Fat Dave managed to pull the lowest ranked person in the whole draw. And Ferrer ended up with Tipsarevic. Here's what I culled from the TV schedule, and can I just say that my DVR is going to hate this. (link to full schedule www.philly.com/philly/sports/olympics/24272929.html)Sunday Aug 10 CNBC and CNBC HDMidnight-4:30 a.m., — Tennis (LIVE); USA and USA HD, 2 a.m.-2 p.m. — Men's Soccer - USA vs. Netherlands (LIVE) and Argentina vs. Australia; Men's Basketball - Lithuania vs. Argentina (LIVE); Tennis (LIVE); Beach Volleyball; Equestrian - Dressage; Women's Archery - Team Gold Medal Final; Men's Weightlifting 56kg Gold Medal Final Monday August 11 CNBC and CNBC HD — Midnight-4:30 a.m.MSNBC, 5 a.m.-5 p.m. — Women's Basketball - Australia vs. Brazil (LIVE); Beach Volleyball; Women's Handball - South Korea vs. Germany; Women's Volleyball - China vs. Poland; Men's and Women's Badminton Singles Competition; Women's Water Polo - Russia vs. Italy; Men's Weightlifting 62kg Gold Medal Final; TennisTuesday Aug 12 USA and USA HD, 2 a.m.-Noon, — Men's Basketball - USA vs. Angola (LIVE); Tennis; Rowing (LIVE); Beach Volleyball; Women's Field Hockey - USA vs. Japan (LIVE); Badminton Round of 16 Competition; Men's Handball - Spain vs. Poland MSNBC[/b], 5 a.m.-5 p.m. — Men's Basketball - China vs. Spain (LIVE); Women's Soccer - USA vs. New Zealand (LIVE) and Nigeria vs. Brazil; Men's Greco Roman Wrestling 55kg & 60kg Competition & Finals; Men's Volleyball - Serbia vs. Brazil; Tennis; Badminton Round of 16 Competition; Men's Weightlifting 69kg Competition; Men's Water Polo - Serbia vs. Croatia
Wednesday August 13 MSNBC, 5 a.m.-5 p.m. — Baseball - USA vs. South Korea and Cuba vs. Japan; Women's Volleyball - Cuba vs. China (LIVE); Tennis; Men's Cycling Individual Time Trial; Greco Roman Wrestling 66kg, 74kg Competition & Gold Medal Finals; Table Tennis Team Competition; Men's Weightlifting 77kg Competition OXYGEN, 6-8 p.m. — Tennis; Equestrian - Team Dressage
Thursday Aug 14 USA and USA HD, 2 a.m.-Noon — Men's Basketball - USA Game (LIVE); Baseball - USA vs. Netherlands; Tennis; Beach Volleyball; Women's Field Hockey - USA vs. Germany; Women's Fencing - Team Sabre Competition and Gold Medal Final; Women's Archery - Individual Gold Medal Final OXYGEN, 6-8 p.m. — Tennis - Semifinals; Equestrian - Team Dressage Gold Medal Final
Friday August 15 USA and USA HD, 2 a.m.-Noon — Women's Soccer Quarterfinal (LIVE); Women's Basketball - USA vs. Spain (LIVE); Baseball - USA vs. Cuba; Tennis Semifinals; Beach Volleyball; Men's Archery - Individual Gold Medal Final; Cycling Track Events Competition OXYGEN, 6-8 p.m. — Equestrian - Jumping Competition; Tennis Semifinal
Saturday August 16 USA and USA HD, 2 a.m.-2 p.m. — Women's Tennis - Singles Gold Medal Final (LIVE) and Singles Bronze Medal Match; Track & Field - Men's 20k Walk; Men's Tennis - Doubles Gold Medal Final and Men's Singles Bronze Medal Match; Women's Field Hockey - USA vs. New Zealand; Cycling - Track Gold Medal Finals; Men's Table Tennis Team Semifinals
Sunday August 17 USA and USA HD, 2 a.m.-2 p.m. — Women's Beach Volleyball; Men's Tennis - Singles Gold Medal Final (LIVE); Women's Tennis - Doubles Gold Medal Final (LIVE); Cycling - Track Gold Medal Finals; Women's Handball - Russia vs. Germany; Men's Table Tennis - Team Bronze Playoff
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Post by roseha on Aug 7, 2008 14:07:56 GMT
Actually the whole draw looks kind of tough. Rafa potentially getting Hewitt in round two could be very tough. Fed's could be tough depending on what happens in the first round or two, but it also could have been a lot worse. I bet he's glad Berdych and Ivo have to play each other first.
So the Williams could play each other even though they're both American (sisters yet)? That doesn't bother me in normal tournaments but in the Olympics it does seem a little weird. I guess I'm used to the Davis/Fed cup idea of country vs country.
I would love to see Roger win but I have a feeling I'll be lucky to see much of this tennis event either way. Well there's always Youtube if all else fails.
ETA: Thanks a lot, ilsa! I guess I can DVR USA and hope for the best.
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minty
1st Round
Posts: 37
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Post by minty on Aug 7, 2008 14:10:55 GMT
I am not liking this draw for Rafa but to be honest I care more about how he does at the US Open this year as I think that will have more effect on how his career is judged. However, I agree with curlywhirly in that I would have loved both him and Andy to medal, so this really sucks as they can't both reach the semis.
It's just annoying that Nadal, Murray and Djokovic's rankings allow them to all be dumped in the same section of the draw. It's really Murray thats the problem, and the fact that he is clearly superior to Ferrer and Davydenko at the moment.
Federer has Karlovic in his section and Tursunov as a first rounder isn't easy, but I think he'll be OK.
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Post by amarathe on Aug 7, 2008 14:40:27 GMT
According to this schedule, NBCOlympics.com is streaming the coverage live for the US. The 4am start time is rough, though. I'm not that interested in watching Olympic tennis.
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Post by apocalipstick on Aug 7, 2008 14:56:34 GMT
I've cleaned out my DVR so that I have 74 hours of available recording. I've also suspended some things I record, like Shimmy. My butt will have to do without my daily attempt at belly-dancing.
The problem with the coverage, of course, is that I may record 18 hours of what could possibly be tennis and then it turns into 14 hours of rowing, archery and cycling and 4 hours of tennis. And i will want to watch it all.
Is there some place that is going to have the matches themselves for re-viewing at a different time?
ETA: Re: Project Runway. They didn't get the authority to use any of those outfits. This is the "phone it in" season of PR. The big prize for winning that challenge was...immunity in the next challenge.
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