2022 Winter Olympics Thread

[SkinnyPupp]

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[blkgsr]

Originally Posted by underscore

Aren't the people at the Olympics amateurs? This is specifically not supposed to be professional sports.

uh?? think about that again...what would be the "pro" level of any of the sports other than hockey? their world cup series or what ever they may be called? their all in those too. olympics just brings them all together to compete at the same time for their countries.

[GLOW]

add a ton of seasoning, and it could be pretty good as beef jerky

[AzNightmare]

Originally Posted by CivicBlues

You could say that about Professional Sports in general. Why aren't all Canucks born and raised Vancouverites?!? Or Canadians for that matter!!

Olympics is different. It's literally about countries competing.

Pro sports like NHL is teams formed by different cities, where players getting signed from literally anywhere and traded from team to team is common practice. People aren't playing for anything more than the team they are being paid to play for.

[threezero]

something that is not discussed on any media outlet. the lives of regular people in China during the winter Olympics.

My partner's student in Shanghai made a short visit to Beijing for academic purposes. The moment she return to shanghai and got off the train, she was greeted by a team of police in hazmat suit and an ambulance to escort her to a temporal container box with literal prison bars on all windows for quarantine. All because she visited a "red alert zone". None of this was communicated to her before hands, nor was she told of the possible consequence for making such travel. Yet all of the agencies that sold her the necessary ticket, hotel stay etc help track her movement and report it to the authority.

Zero warning, zero chance for protest or even to inform her family this is happening until days later.

nooice China

[underscore]

Originally Posted by blkgsr

uh?? think about that again...what would be the "pro" level of any of the sports other than hockey? their world cup series or what ever they may be called? their all in those too. olympics just brings them all together to compete at the same time for their countries.

It looks like they dropped the amateur thing back in the 90's. But originally yes, they were supposed to all be amateur athletes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amateur_sports#Olympics

[will068]

Originally Posted by Teriyaki

Step back a bit and I think we've all been sold this fairytale idea that you need to "represent" something or, specifically a country to have meaning in your personal achievement. If you think about it, representing country A, or country B, serves the interest of the IOC and the general idea and marketability of the games more than the athletes themselves. Yes, it could be the extra cherry on top to bring glory to your home country or what not. However, does it take away from anyone's personal achievement if we just recognize people's achievements for THEM, so athlete A vs athlete B pure and simple.

We've been conditioned to place so much emphasis on this country vs country thing, and are projecting it on to the athletes as well without even second guessing it. I'm sure as heck some of them don't give two pennies worth about who they're representing but its all just part of the song and dance.

I don't hate the players for working the system to their advantage. It's a complex and often severely unfair system in the world of professional sports.

Agreed. Both players and national org for working the system. Either to get the best players/athletes or just be on that stage for personal gain. E.g. for other world sporting events like FIBA basketball world cup, the Philippines granting citizenship to foreign ball players so they can be in their national squad.

Can't knock the hustle for the athletes just wanting to be in the olympics by working the system.


Makes me wonder about Eileen Gu. I would think it would be the lower echelon athletes being recruited for by a country who is not normally a powerhouse at a certain sport. Makes me wonder what made her not choose to rep Team USA. Would like to know the reason(s).

[AzNightmare]

Originally Posted by underscore

It looks like they dropped the amateur thing back in the 90's. But originally yes, they were supposed to all be amateur athletes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amateur_sports#Olympics

I've always wondered how do you define the fine line of amateur and pro?

My idea is that if you get paid to play, then you're a pro. But I feel that's also an over simplistic view.

I only follow hockey, but besides NHL, even lower pro leagues like ECHL are still technically "pro" as players are getting paid.

How does it work for all these other events in Olympics? Are there leagues, for example, like speed skating, where these athletes can do it full time and get paid enough to make a living? Or are these athletes competing and training on the side while still doing a basic full time job to put food on the table?

[whitev70r]

For example ...ladies hockey. I got the impression that all of them had a main thing doing something else and only got together to train for tournaments and Olympics. Hockey isn't their primary income.

[teggy604]

Hard to say. Depends on if there is a league. Christine Sinclair play pro level soccer for Portland and she makes $300,000+ USD. She did mention she wanted Canada to have a pro level soccer league after winning gold.
Then you got the CFL. Average player makes $40,000CND so most of them do it for love of the sport or hoping to make it to NFL.

[Traum]

Damn I'm pissed... US men hockey steamrolled the Chinese hockey team 8:0. I knew I should have placed a bigger bet on the game LOL~

[murd0c]

Originally Posted by Traum

Damn I'm pissed... US men hockey steamrolled the Chinese hockey team 8:0. I knew I should have placed a bigger bet on the game LOL~

did you win 50 cents on a 1000 bet? LOL

[BlackV62K2]

Watching the men's halfpipe on CBC right now. What's with this weird commentary dub over the normal commentary lol

[68style]

Originally Posted by BlackV62K2

Watching the men's halfpipe on CBC right now. What's with this weird commentary dub over the normal commentary lol

They had this problem yesterday too, described video is on the primary for some reason… if you switch to the secondary audio it will get rid of it.

[BlackV62K2]

Originally Posted by 68style

They had this problem yesterday too, described video is on the primary for some reason… if you switch to the secondary audio it will get rid of it.

Ohh. I've never listened to described audio before. Its the weirdest thing. "He takes off his board",. ". He raises his hands"

[underscore]

Originally Posted by AzNightmare

I've always wondered how do you define the fine line of amateur and pro?

My idea is that if you get paid to play, then you're a pro. But I feel that's also an over simplistic view.

I only follow hockey, but besides NHL, even lower pro leagues like ECHL are still technically "pro" as players are getting paid.

How does it work for all these other events in Olympics? Are there leagues, for example, like speed skating, where these athletes can do it full time and get paid enough to make a living? Or are these athletes competing and training on the side while still doing a basic full time job to put food on the table?

I think you're right though, if you're getting paid to play you're a pro. Most of them originally were doing it on the side, now I think some might be paid or at least all their living expenses are covered by the gov't when they're training. Some sponsors but I don't imagine that pays much when you're in a sport nobody watches.

[AzNightmare]

lol, I was watching USA China highlights and noticed team China's goalie was White but had a weird last name so I looked him up.



lol. Jeremy Smith.
It also says Jierumi on his jersey, so technically his first name.

[TOS'd]

Originally Posted by AzNightmare

lol, I was watching USA China highlights and noticed team China's goalie was White but had a weird last name so I looked him up.



lol. Jeremy Smith.
It also says Jierumi on his jersey, so technically his first name.

#6th post in thread, relevant info:

Originally Posted by Razor Ramon HG

My friend is on the Chinese hockey team.

He was laughing because for some of the players on the team, they changed the spelling so it's in pinyin pronunciation and putting that on the jerseys.

e.g. Jeremy Smith is now Jieruimi Shimisi

My friend is a white-washed halfer, so he doesn't have a Chinese name. When he went to China for the first time, they apparently asked him for one. He said he didn't have one so they made one for him. We were joking he should've gave them another friend's Chinese name because as it turns out that would've been on the jerseys instead.

[whitev70r]

So ...is the curious case of Eileen Gu one where both parties are using one another? Is a larger global market share the reason why Gu chose to compete for China? Not ideologically driven but rather $$$ driven (or shall we say inspite of ideology). Is it that simple and shrewd?

[68style]

There's so much weird shit going on... like Kimberly Newell... was born in Nelson and grew up in Canada and played goalie for Team Canada as a U18 before going to Princeton... she's now Zhou Jiaying and isn't allowed to speak English in any interviews.

China is a fucked up place man.

[TOS'd]

Did some quick reading on Eileen Gu, seems like its more for exposure and potential future sponsors/income as she is also a model with current overseas sponsors.

China doesn't recognize dual citizenships, and she dodges the question whenever asked about it. Her response is: "I am American when I am in the US, I am Chinese when I am in China."

She also made the announcement to represent China when she was 15 years old, so most likely she had some other influence in her decision making (her mom, "expert in China investment at Fusion Investment in San Francisco").

This was pretty funny though, her post was shared on Weibo and subsequently blocked/censored shortly after:

[teggy604]

Originally Posted by TOS'd

Did some quick reading on Eileen Gu, seems like its more for exposure and potential future sponsors/income as she is also a model with current overseas sponsors.

China doesn't recognize dual citizenships, and she dodges the question whenever asked about it. Her response is: "I am American when I am in the US, I am Chinese when I am in China."

She also made the announcement to represent China when she was 15 years old, so most likely she had some other influence in her decision making (her mom, "expert in China investment at Fusion Investment in San Francisco").

This was pretty funny though, her post was shared on Weibo and subsequently blocked/censored shortly after:

"I am American when i am in the US, I am Chinese when I am in China" LOL.
WTF is she talking about. Hopefully US blacklist her. She can't be trusted with any high clearance career with US. Obviously smart girl with SAT over 1000 and going to Standford.

[Gumby]

Yeah given her skill set, Eileen Gu will have way more opportunities in China/overseas compared to being in the US/North America, especially since she’s fluent in Mandarin.

[Traum]

ESPN specifically did an article on him and China's preparation for the Olympic hockey games -- it is quite a long but interesting read, and it's a very similar story to Razor Ramon HG's friend:

https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/...en-hockey-team

It was the 2018-19 season, and Smith was a goalie for the AHL Bridgeport Tigers, an affiliate of the New York Islanders. It was the ninth minor league team of his career. He was getting older. Outside of 10 games with the Colorado Avalanche, his NHL dream hadn't been realized. He was in hockey purgatory. "I was an NHL bubble guy, always a No. 3 goalie," he said.

His career, and his life, changed with a phone call. It was his agent. Someone had offered Smith a contract for next season. It was a team based in the hottest of hockey hotbeds:

Beijing, China?

Smith, 32, initially laughed at the randomness of the suitor. "If you're joking, I'm waiting for the punchline," he recalled thinking. "But it was a two-year contract. They were serious."

There was more to the offer. The Kunlun Red Star in Russia's Kontinental Hockey League served as an incubator for the Chinese men's national team. Smith wasn't just being offered the chance to play professionally in the KHL; he was being given the chance to be the goaltender for the host nation in the 2022 Beijing Olympics.

...

"I told them I can't renounce my U.S. citizenship," said Smith. "They were like, 'Do not worry. We will not ask you. This is not what this whole process is about. It's about getting you qualified for the Olympics.'"

Originally Posted by AzNightmare

lol, I was watching USA China highlights and noticed team China's goalie was White but had a weird last name so I looked him up.



lol. Jeremy Smith.
It also says Jierumi on his jersey, so technically his first name.

[will068]

Originally Posted by Traum

ESPN specifically did an article on him and China's preparation for the Olympic hockey games -- it is quite a long but interesting read, and it's a very similar story to Razor Ramon HG's friend:

https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/...en-hockey-team

That's awesome for him. Also common for semi pro athletes to get bigger $$ to play pro overseas.

Then for for him to be an Olympian. Good for him.



For Eileen, I thought winning gold as for Team USA would be $$$ galore. Then again, the Winter Olympics is not much popular for Americans. She seems like she will now be treated as royalty in China. She won't get that treatment in the US.