Vancouver 2010 Men's Figurestaking
Yes, I am disappointed that Plushenko didn't get the gold medal since he was the only athlete in these Olympic games whom I actually had any care about. He has made me laugh time and again with his antics, he's had magnificent performances, so I was for him getting the gold. Of course, I'm no judge or figureskater and admittedly this was not the best of his routines in my opinion, but I think he deserved the gold, and not just because I prefer him over the others, but because of his actual routines.
Otherwise, I wasn't really for anyone. Geez, in the pairs figureskating after a while, I was just glad to see a pair not fall down! Maybe something wasn't quite right with the ice that day, poor folks!
Sure, it's nice to have your country win golds and other medals so that the folks who like to rub their country's gold count in others' faces don't have any ammo, but get real -- the medal count doesn't actually reflect anything about the country's people. Just because one country won gold doesn't mean the people in that country are skilled, intelligent, polite, sportsmanlike, good athletes or otherwise capable in any way. It doesn't make your country better or worse. If anything, it might reflect the amount of money that country spends on training its athletes or maybe the interest level in a certain sport. After getting gold after gold in a specific sport or event, it may reflect good coaches, more money spent in that sport, a judging bias (although that's probably not something most folks care to consider and probably not too likely), and yes, it's grand, but still, not a good indication of anything about all the people in the country.
What I'm really disappointed about is the number of people up in arms over the thing. He should have, he needs to, he's this, he's that. They throw insults at eachother, unreasonable assumptions, unearned flaunts and stupid taunts. People are free to their opinions, but I really don't think it needs to be so fervent, angry and ill-humored. Please calm down, folks.
And yes, you may have your favorites and you want them to win and their competitors to lose, and I can see someone not being able to help watching the competition and thinking, "C'mon, just a little fault, just let my athlete pass you", but after it's all done, surely there's no need to wish the other athletes ill. Face it, those guys are at the top. They're awesome in the very most literal sense of the word. They accomplish feats that the vast majority of folks posting all these comments will never be good enough to even dream of doing themselves, and so it doesn't sound like I'm saying all "them", I openly admit I'll never be good enough (probably in anything at all) either. Feel free to disagree, but I believe that it's done and people should swallow their pride or their love or their fanaticism, whichever it may be, and just respect all of the athletes for being able to do what they did.
Otherwise, I wasn't really for anyone. Geez, in the pairs figureskating after a while, I was just glad to see a pair not fall down! Maybe something wasn't quite right with the ice that day, poor folks!
Sure, it's nice to have your country win golds and other medals so that the folks who like to rub their country's gold count in others' faces don't have any ammo, but get real -- the medal count doesn't actually reflect anything about the country's people. Just because one country won gold doesn't mean the people in that country are skilled, intelligent, polite, sportsmanlike, good athletes or otherwise capable in any way. It doesn't make your country better or worse. If anything, it might reflect the amount of money that country spends on training its athletes or maybe the interest level in a certain sport. After getting gold after gold in a specific sport or event, it may reflect good coaches, more money spent in that sport, a judging bias (although that's probably not something most folks care to consider and probably not too likely), and yes, it's grand, but still, not a good indication of anything about all the people in the country.
What I'm really disappointed about is the number of people up in arms over the thing. He should have, he needs to, he's this, he's that. They throw insults at eachother, unreasonable assumptions, unearned flaunts and stupid taunts. People are free to their opinions, but I really don't think it needs to be so fervent, angry and ill-humored. Please calm down, folks.
And yes, you may have your favorites and you want them to win and their competitors to lose, and I can see someone not being able to help watching the competition and thinking, "C'mon, just a little fault, just let my athlete pass you", but after it's all done, surely there's no need to wish the other athletes ill. Face it, those guys are at the top. They're awesome in the very most literal sense of the word. They accomplish feats that the vast majority of folks posting all these comments will never be good enough to even dream of doing themselves, and so it doesn't sound like I'm saying all "them", I openly admit I'll never be good enough (probably in anything at all) either. Feel free to disagree, but I believe that it's done and people should swallow their pride or their love or their fanaticism, whichever it may be, and just respect all of the athletes for being able to do what they did.