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Olympic Badmitton Controversy (and other Olympic Controversies)

Discussion in 'General Discussions' started by the_jazz, Aug 1, 2012.

  1. the_jazz

    the_jazz Accused old lady puncher

    2012 London Olympics -- Eight badminton players disqualified for trying to lose matches - ESPN

    So eight players (4 teams), including the favorites, have been kicked out of the Olympics for not playing their best at all times. China has accepted the decision by the governing body, South Korea is appealing again and apparently Indonesia is taking their shuttlecock and going home. The Chinese and (I think) Korean pair were originally disqualified at the court, but that was quickly overturned. It's only after the rest of the world realized what was going on that this decision was made.

    It is very common in other sports to not give everything in the preliminaries. Track and swimming both have multiple heats, and athletes commonly do just enough to qualify for the next round. In other words, no world records are set in the semi-finals.

    That said, these athletes were losing on purpose to manipulate the seeding in the next round, either so they wouldn't have to face countrymen or so they would get to face someone they were more likely to beat.

    Did the badmitton federation act appropriately? Is there something else they should have done?

    And are there any other stories where you think someone got screwed or should have been punished?
     
  2. Jove

    Jove Slightly Tilted

    Location:
    Michigan
    London 2012: Chinese Men Take Gymnastics Gold - WSJ.com

    The Ukraine men gymnast's were awarded a bronze medal only to get it taken away after Japan's team demanded the judges to look a particular dismount by Kohei Uchimura where it appeared he fell off the pommel horse. After an analysis of the situation, Ukraine dropped to 4th and Great Britain dropped to 3rd. It was a super intense 5 minutes since Great Britain and Ukraine were happy with their results only to get re-ranked and the Ukrainian gymnasts' looked upset. (I would be as well).
     
  3. Hektore

    Hektore Slightly Tilted

    My first though when I read this was shame on them. But now that I've had a chance to digest it some, I think I've changed my mind.

    The metagame is part of the game. This isn't substantially different than a professional football team taking a knee at the end of the game. The point is to win even if it means you stop playing football to accomplish it. So goes the Olympics where the point is to win a medal and to do everything legally you can to win it. If anyone deserves to be blamed for the situation it's the organizers for creating a situation where losing is your best shot to medal and 'play your hardest' needs to be in the rule books at all.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  4. Japchae

    Japchae Very Tilted

    I blame the siren's call of the 'cocks.
     
    • Like Like x 7
  5. cynthetiq

    cynthetiq Administrator Staff Member Donor

    Location:
    New York City
    you make rules. You play within the confines of the rules. You play to ultimately win.

    Why penalize someone for this? There's so much riding on each athlete shaving off thousands of a second and performing in a manner that optimizes their results.

    They hacked the matrix
     
    • Like Like x 2
  6. roachboy

    roachboy Very Tilted

    i wish i had been able to see those two matches. it would have made my night to watch teams play as badly as possible.
     
  7. the_jazz

    the_jazz Accused old lady puncher

    There's a lot of footage out there. Let me know if you can't find any.

    The women's epee ended strangely too. Rather, the semis did. A German fencer needed a touch to win against a South Korean with 1 second left. No touch would mean the S. Korean would advance to the gold medal round. Somehow the clock stuck on 1 second, allowing the German to score. It was reviewed and upheld. There are several versions of it online, but this is my favorite:

    The Controversial Olympic Fencing Semifinal, Recreated Using Legos

    It also has a link to the real thing in case you have something against Legos.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  8. ASU2003

    ASU2003 Very Tilted

    Location:
    Where ever I roam
    I understand why they did it, and agree with the elimination decision.

    But, throwing a match is different from swimming at 95% in a semi-final. Or if a soccer team wins the first 2 games and then plays it easy in the third game.

    People pay a lot of money for the tickets to see these games too.
     
  9. snowy

    snowy so kawaii Staff Member

    It was pretty hilarious.
     
  10. spindles

    spindles Very Tilted

    Location:
    Sydney, Australia
    Personally, I find it deplorable that teams would treat the olympics so poorly - can you imagine if you'd shelled out money to watch these teams bumble through games? I'd be demanding a refund. They *should* actually give the paying public their money back.
    --- merged: Aug 2, 2012 7:15 AM ---
    The chinese were trying to avoid playing the *other* chinese team - perhaps they should only allow one team per country?
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 9, 2012
  11. Zweiblumen

    Zweiblumen Slightly Tilted

    Location:
    Iceland
    The badminton incident affected other competitors since the games were both were trying to loose took way longer than expected. That disrupted the schedule and games got postponed repeatedly and making it hard for those people to prepare for their games.
     
  12. Jove

    Jove Slightly Tilted

    Location:
    Michigan
  13. the badminton tanking issue could be fixed if they changed the format from a pool draw into a knockout competition. That way everyone has to fight for its survival through each round. No second chances would ensure that everyone would try their best instead of trying to manipulate the standings.

    for example, If i knew i was coming up to play the dream team in the next round if i won my next game, then you can be as sure as hell im going to tank it. But if my sporting survival hinged on winning every game, it wont matter who im playing next match.
     
    • Like Like x 2
  14. Hektore

    Hektore Slightly Tilted

    The problem with single elimination tournaments is that 50% of the teams will only play one game. I mean, if those are the rules, I understand, but it's more fun for everyone if teams can get multiple games. It's pretty much the entire point of pool play. I think they should go to a straight triple elimination tournament with the winner of each loss bracket getting the appropriate medal (0 loss = gold, 1 loss = silver, 2 loss = bronze). That way everyone gets at least three games and tanking a game automatically costs you the medal for your bracket.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  15. snowy

    snowy so kawaii Staff Member

    This was kind of a big deal here:
    Nic Batum Delivered A Mighty Nutshot To Juan Carlos Navarro In The Closing Moments Of Today's France-Spain Game

    Personally, I thought it was hilarious.

    And he apologized: Nic Batum apologizes for punching Juan Carlos Navarro in groin during game - Olympics - Boston.com
     
  16. rogue49

    rogue49 Tech Kung Fu Artist Staff Member

    Location:
    Baltimore/DC
    Man, it just makes you feel like you've been wacked up the side of the head real hard,
    then something is just dragging you slower...and it starts all over again...and again...
     
  17. Stan

    Stan Resident Dumbass

    Location:
    Colorado
    • Like Like x 1
  18. ASU2003

    ASU2003 Very Tilted

    Location:
    Where ever I roam
    While I don't think he should have been expelled (what about poster boy Phelps?). I don't think that pot or alcohol should be allowed in the month leading up to the games and during the games. And even after, the athletes shouldn't be endorsing it or glamorizing it.
     
  19. Remixer

    Remixer Middle Eastern Doofus

    Location:
    Frankfurt, Germany
    I get how marijuana's illegality thing plays a role in terms of IOC policy, but how do you figure on Alcohol?
     
  20. ASU2003

    ASU2003 Very Tilted

    Location:
    Where ever I roam
    Most of them aren't old enough to drink in the US. And I doubt that their training diets let them drink lots of alcohol anyways. And for image, you probably don't want to see a gold medalist lying in puke when they celebrated a little too much.

    You also have the middle eastern countries that frown about alcohol, and I don't know what their Olympic committees would do if they are found to have had a few drinks when visiting a country where it is easy to get.