Japan's Olympic Performance

[eb0li]

I'm mainly rooting for Japan this olympics, and it appears that so far they've got the gold in several Judo weight classes, and the badminton as well(good job nippon, it was a close call with china). I'm still following the women's volleyball and to a lesser extent, the men's. Do you think they can do it? China and the US have some tough teams. Anyone got any good reports on other events? I heard men's gymnastics was a silver.

How about that Judo guy whose life story was all over T.V. several weeks ago? Was he the guy who beat france by ippon?

[Buggermeister]

I was watching the recap of today's judo and about the Japanese guy who got gold. They said some shit on the news explaining his victory like "He believed in his own judo." Hm... What about the other Japanese guys who believed in their own judo, but didn't get gold? What are they? Steaming piles of ? Or maybe they just didn't believe enough? They believed in someone else's judo??? Shit doesn't make sense to me.

Reporting like this (and I'm sure it happens in every country, so I'm not Japan bashing ) is why I usually don't watch the Olympics. I guess I just have too much free time this summer

Overall, though, Japan seems to be doing fine. They seem to have a shot in most of the different types of events. They've got some good swimmers, one good soccer team, a good baseball team, blah blah so they should be happy about that at least. Think about Iceland's chances, for example.

[Stick-Swinging Incident]

. Think about Iceland's chances, for example.

They've probably beaten Canada. 6th largest contingent, and last I saw they were ranked 53rd with NO medals of any sort. If they handed out TIN medals or Copper medals maybe Canada would do better.

Sadly I can see this causing the public to scream bloody blue murder at the tax moneys spent on a wasted effort. (me, I don't mind, these people are working hard, representing the country and get less than say a drug rehab center and way less than Ottawa's annual budget for crappy furniture replacement or the like.)
The Money is nothing compared to the rest that the government wastes.

As for Japan, its kinda good to see em preform well, they DO want to host the 2016 Olympics in Tokyo. This might go a long way to firing up the country into more of a supportive role. I just wish it wasn't in Tokyo, but redneck Ishihara gotta have his way I guess.

[Buggermeister]

As for Japan, its kinda good to see em preform well, they DO want to host the 2016 Olympics in Tokyo. This might go a long way to firing up the country into more of a supportive role. I just wish it wasn't in Tokyo, but redneck Ishihara gotta have his way I guess.

This is a bit off topic, I guess, but it seems to be they'd be better off trying another big city in Japan before going back to Tokyo again, eh? What about Fukuoka, Osaka, Kobe, etc? Even Yokohama would be a good roundabout way to get some of the venues in Tokyo if the purpose is to bring in tourist $$$. I'd like to see them be a bit more creative... but oh well. The trend lately seems to be for every country to put its biggest cities back into contention for the Olympics.

Also, I'm not sure what to think about tax money for Olympic athletes... I suppose this is politically motivated, but it seems that at least half of their role at the games is to wear clothes made by Nike, Adidas, etc., and therefore help out certain companies with their advertising as well as acting as role models and representatives of the nation. I guess we're all subsidised by the government in some way, though, so I won't complain.

And just to make this somewhat on topic: I think Japan will do well again this year, but maybe not as well as the last games. I'm sure they were depending mightily on the judo, after all, and it seems they didn't do as well this time around.

[kunikun]

Last I checked Japan is in 6th. Australia in 7th. Oh the shame.

Japan is kicking ass.

But I call dope tests please on the Chinese! and a few Americans too. Not Phelps but some others pulling out some rather "superhuman" performances in the pool. I think Phelps is the real deal.

[eb0li]

Update:

So far the womens volleyball team is 2-2, with losses against the U.S. and Cuba, and wins against Poland and Venezuela (they crushed Venezuela ). However, they still have to play China in the final prelim match. I think they can take China in the prelims, and the U.S. in the semi-finals if they play well. The problem with playing Cuba is that they always play best and have a good rally after hitting 20 points, whereas most teams struggle to get the necessary 2 point lead after hitting 22-24 points. If Japan can develope and hold a 2-3 point lead from earlier on, they can beat Cuba too. Go Kurihara, Saori, Erika, Sugiyama, Takehashi, and everyone!!!

In Judo, I was talking about the 100 kilo guy, and I saw the highlights of his match. I think he got the gold

Womens soccer is pretty good for Japan right now too. I watched them beat china the other day.

[Buggermeister]

Does anyone else get annoyed by those ping pong players??? No doubt, apologists will say it's a perfectly normal display of emotion, but that shit drives me up the WALL. Any single point they get, especially Ai Fukuhara is "SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!" Strikes me as bad sportsmanship, but who am I to judge?

[Wage Slave]

Last I checked Japan is in 6th. Australia in 7th. Oh the shame.

It just got a whole lot worse - UK 3rd, Australia 5th. There will be calls to set up an government enquiry at this rate.

[eb0li]

Japan just lost to China in women's volleyball tonight. They just lost momentum after the first set, and China definitely had the home field advantage with the crowd cheering like crazy. They also have a large ace player who can attack with a lot of power. Japan ended up ranking 4th in Pool A, so they will move on to the semifinals, but they need to step up their defense and pull together. Japan can attack just fine, but Cuba can always hit the ball to the perfect place where the players can't reach, and China has strong women that hit with power so Japan can't react fast enough. However, Japan knew that no matter what, they would go to the semifinals, so I hope they saved enough strength. Go Saori and Erika, Shiga is cheering for you!

[wtfysc]

:( Japan just lost to China in women's volleyball tonight. They just lost momentum after the first set, and China definitely had the home field advantage with the crowd cheering like crazy. They also have a large ace player who can attack with a lot of power. Japan ended up ranking 4th in Pool A, so they will move on to the semifinals, but they need to step up their defense and pull together. Japan can attack just fine, but Cuba can always hit the ball to the perfect place where the players can't reach, and China has strong women that hit with power so Japan can't react fast enough. However, Japan knew that no matter what, they would go to the semifinals, so I hope they saved enough strength. Go Saori and Erika, Shiga is cheering for you!

Disagree on a few points there.
- They're now into the quarter finals, not the semis (just a slip/typo?)
- They had A LOT to play for tonight...winning was the difference between playing Brazil next or not playing Brazil. (1st place from Group A (Brazil) plays 4th from Group B (Japan)
- They were crushed by China and will be absolutely slaughtered by Brazil who won the Women's GP this year without dropping a set and haven't dropped a set in the olympics yet either.

Game over unfortunately. Look away on Tuesday night kids, it's going to be ugly.

[MacGyver]

Japanese volleyball just doesn't have the power, height and athleticism to match it with the world's best teams. Hell, Australia is almost as good (if not slightly better) and we don't even have a professional league! Its a shame really cause Japan used to be really good at volleyball.

[eb0li]

:( Japan just lost to China in women's volleyball tonight. They just lost momentum after the first set, and China definitely had the home field advantage with the crowd cheering like crazy. They also have a large ace player who can attack with a lot of power. Japan ended up ranking 4th in Pool A, so they will move on to the semifinals, but they need to step up their defense and pull together. Japan can attack just fine, but Cuba can always hit the ball to the perfect place where the players can't reach, and China has strong women that hit with power so Japan can't react fast enough. However, Japan knew that no matter what, they would go to the semifinals, so I hope they saved enough strength. Go Saori and Erika, Shiga is cheering for you!

Disagree on a few points there.
- They're now into the quarter finals, not the semis (just a slip/typo?)
- They had A LOT to play for tonight...winning was the difference between playing Brazil next or not playing Brazil. (1st place from Group A (Brazil) plays 4th from Group B (Japan)
- They were crushed by China and will be absolutely slaughtered by Brazil who won the Women's GP this year without dropping a set and haven't dropped a set in the olympics yet either.

Game over unfortunately. Look away on Tuesday night kids, it's going to be ugly.

Yup, I meant the quarterfinals, I must have jumped ahead when I looked at the olympic website . Well, if they're playing for the Gold, they have to win every game from the quarterfinals to the medal matches no matter who they play. I haven't seen any pool A matches with Brazil or Italy, but from what I've seen from pool B's Japan matches, Japan has the potential to beat Cuba and China and the US, if they play their best for the whole match. Cuba won all of the prelims too but it's not like there's a gaping chasme between Japan and Cuba. You've got to believe, mate!

[kunikun]

[quote="Wage Slave"][quote="kunikun"]
Last I checked Japan is in 6th. Australia in 7th. Oh the shame.
[/quote]

It just got a whole lot worse - UK 3rd, Australia 5th. There will be calls to set up an government enquiry at this rate. [/quote]

Good Lord! When did being soap dodging become an Olympic Sport? Blimey!?

[Wage Slave]

Ah, not to worry. Manipulating the results has become part of the Olympics. According to the US media, see CNN for example, the US is at 1st, Australia 3rd, The UK 5th and Japan 9th. So all is well with the world after all.

OK, it means a gold is worth no more than a bronze but hey .....The truth needs to be manufactured here.

[MacGyver]

There are even sites displaying the results on a percapita basis!

[Wage Slave]

Good grief. Why stop there? Let's include per capita income, whether the athletes have any choice in the matter, degree of government expenditure/support, number of years the country has been in the Olympics, average body mass/height, land mass of the country, climate ......

That way every single country can find a way to report to its citizens that they are in fact top of the medal table.

That said, that fact that Australia has a relatively small population does make their sporting achievements all the more creditworthy and the same for athletes from poor countries or disadvantaged backgrounds. But we knew that anyway. That's partly why Bolt is so amazing.

[Tokyo_Joe]

There are even sites displaying the results on a percapita basis!

Yeah, this is the kinda thing that made me give up on the Olympics in general.

I mean, where's the brotherhood and sportsmanship? I've watched the Olympics (on telly) in a few countries now, and I don't remember I single one in my lifetime that wasn't anything more than a nationalistic pissing contest - Japan's pushing the boundaries in this regard too, although I can imagine there must be countries where it's worse.

ETA: S'pose I shoulda put this rant in the 'No-lympics' thread. Sorry!

[allblacks]

Japan played like shit against Brazil in ladies "Baree" (Ballet?)

I was watching last night and it never ceases to amaze me the NHK announcer calling non-Japanese athletes "gaijin." What country are the olympics in again? Oh! Thats right! They should have been in Osaka! Failed attempt to bribe the right people!

ABs

[MacGyver]

I saw a fair bit of the Japan vs USA game (men) last night and its obvious why they can't compete: their skill level just isn't up to it. The back court just couldn't give the setter good delivery. So the setter was forced to use mostly open sets and the few variations he did try were too close to the net, resulting in the spike being stuffed. The Americans on the other hand gave excellent service to their setter and hence they used a wide variety of combinations, which generally broke down the Japanese defense. Actually I was really impressed by the Americans. They had good back court skills and their combinations were at times inspired. I'm hoping I get to see final now cause its renewed my interest in volleyball! Watching Japanese volleyball had so dulled my interest I had forgotten that there are some really good sides out there.

[eb0li]

Japan played like shit against Brazil in ladies "Baree" (Ballet?)

I was watching last night and it never ceases to amaze me the NHK announcer calling non-Japanese athletes "gaijin." What country are the olympics in again? Oh! Thats right! They should have been in Osaka! Failed attempt to bribe the right people!

ABs

No need to rub it in, I watched the live report on the official olympic website this afternoon. No need to tune in tomorrow evening, I guess.

I saw a fair bit of the Japan vs USA game (men) last night and its obvious why they can't compete: their skill level just isn't up to it. The back court just couldn't give the setter good delivery. So the setter was forced to use mostly open sets and the few variations he did try were too close to the net, resulting in the spike being stuffed. The Americans on the other hand gave excellent service to their setter and hence they used a wide variety of combinations, which generally broke down the Japanese defense. Actually I was really impressed by the Americans. They had good back court skills and their combinations were at times inspired. I'm hoping I get to see final now cause its renewed my interest in volleyball! Watching Japanese volleyball had so dulled my interest I had forgotten that there are some really good sides out there.

I never really got behind the men's team after the prelims started, I could tell they just weren't very good from the start. Another big reason is because the men's team just doesn't seem to have as good of an attitude/teamwork as the women's team. But you did sum up the Men's team's weaknesses pretty well. From the looks of the online match results, the women's team just couldn't recieve well against the power teams X_X . I think the same team of girls should stay together and train for 4 years, and then they would dominate the 2012 olympics, but I guess they have to go back to their professional teams. Now I have a serious interest in playing volleyball...

On another note, Bolt was pretty awesome.

[MacGyver]

Now I have a serious interest in playing volleyball...

Haha. Yeah I'd like to play again but its been so long since I played and I've put on a few too many pounds since my playing days to be able block and spike! Maybe I can be the libero...

[eb0li]

Lol, I'm still young and thin, so I want to prevent gaining weight, etc....

BTW, I might be watching the Brazil-China and U.S. - somebody match. Anyone know which channel and time?