2024 Summer Olympics

[pbehn]

Tennis Golf and Cricket are a complete waste of grass, they should be banned on environmental grounds with the bars and cafes preserved to remind people what decadence leads to.

 

[GrauGeist]

Yeah...the opening ceremony was too weird.

It was supposed to be a nod to Dionysius, but completely lacked anything Greek.

Now, if you want to honor the spirit of the Greek games, have Greek Hoplites enter the stadium in full gear like they did back in the day: Athenians, Spartans, Laodiceans, Thebians, etc.

Now that would be really cool.

 

[SaparotRob]

"Joey, do you like movies about gladiators?"

 

[GrauGeist]

"Joey, do you like movies about gladiators?"

The age of the Gladiators was long after the sun set on the Hoplites.

 

[SaparotRob]

Don't bother me with facts.

 

[GrauGeist]

Don't bother me with facts.

Well, perhaps these facts might help:
Gladiators were often poorly armed and had various pieces of obsolete armor (if they were given any).
Their weapons were subgrade and often specialized for arena combat and certainly not military grade.

Actual trained Gladiators were often pitted against weaker opponents who had little or no protection and armed with only a trident or old sword.
Captured prisoners of war were often pitted against professional Gladiators, but they were not afforded their armor or weapons, so there was an intended handicap to insure they would lose.

To be honest, there was nothing glorious about gladitorial combat - Hollywood makes it out to be much more spectacular than it really was.

 

[Snautzer01]

Well, perhaps these facts might help:
Gladiators were often poorly armed and had various pieces of obsolete armor (if they were given any).
Their weapons were subgrade and often specialized for arena combat and certainly not military grade.

Actual trained Gladiators were often pitted against weaker opponents who had little or no protection and armed with only a trident or old sword.
Captured prisoners of war were often pitted against professional Gladiators, but they were not afforded their armor or weapons, so there was an intended handicap to insure they would lose.

To be honest, there was nothing glorious about gladitorial combat - Hollywood makes it out to be much more spectacular than it really was.

I think you might want to dig deeper.
Romans set up games cancelling out the advantage one had, with a handicap.

 

[GrauGeist]

I think you might want to dig deeper.
Romans set up games cancelling out the advantage one had, with a handicap.

The games were rarely ever fair.

On certain occasions, there would be a showdown between two celebrated Gladiators and in such a case, they were evenly armed - but this was the exception, not the rule.

 

[pbehn]

Was there no breakdancing, BMX or synchronised diving between gladiators then?

 

[GrauGeist]

Was there no breakdancing, BMX or synchronised diving between gladiators then?

No - Rome took their cicenses seriously and didn't allow that sort of nonsense.

 

[pbehn]

No - Rome took their cicenses seriously and didn't allow that sort of nonsense.

I can point you to sources that maintain that the mens 3 meter springboard synchronised diving is the ultimate expression of masculinity and gladiatorial combat, and it has been for several thousand years. I must admit all those sources work for the BBC sport commentary team though.

 

[GreenKnight121]

Geez, GrauGeist - SaparotRob was making a joke with a reference to a scene in the movie Airplane (1980 version) - and you took him seriously.

Sigh.

 

[GrauGeist]

Geez, GrauGeist - SaparotRob was making a joke with a reference to a scene in the movie Airplane (1980 version) - and you took him seriously.

Sigh.

Ahh...now, if he had said "have you ever seen a grown man naked", I would have caught the reference.

 

[Luft.4]

I didn't understand it. What was French about the opening ceremony?
I would have thought the host nation would want to portray the best of their nation. Instead we got, among other things, a crude portrayal of an Italian painting and a semi-nude blue Smurf (apparently a Greek mythological god) with sack exposed next to a child.
Surely there could have been a beautiful display of the rich French culture, domestic and sport related, instead?

 

[swampyankee]

I only saw a few minutes when they have the Metal Band thrashing one platforms out of the windows of whatever building it was and all the other windows were filled headless mannequins. That was enough for me. I also am sick of cutting away to all the celebrities in the audience at events, who cares.
Snoop Dogg was hilarious last night as he did a mock commentary on the Badminton tournament...

The 2012 London Olympics opening ceremonies where the Queen parachuted into the the stadium and Eric Idle sang "Always look on the Bright side of Life" was far more entertaining IMO.

In the US, NBC's coverage continues to be horrible: too much blather with celebrities, too little time spent watching the events.

 

[pbehn]

In the US, NBC's coverage continues to be horrible: too much blather with celebrities, too little time spent watching the events.

It was the same in UK but that was the deal they signed. The BBC and ITV only had 250 hours total coverage of live sport, so a lot of blather and interviews with back stories and tears etc.