Romney/Wenlock 2012

July 16, 2012 1:02 PM

Are we going to approach the Olympics the same way we approach the US elections?

They're both once every 4 years and tend to inspire a *lot* of posts. US election stuff has been scrutinized, it seems, way more than Olympics stuff - there have been nine Olympics posts in the past two weeks.

I don't personally mind all of the posts, but is this something that should be addressed before the Games actually begin?

posted by troika to Etiquette/Policy at 1:02 PM (64 comments total)

Let's just get it straight beforehand, because we're all on the same page on this one.
posted by carsonb at 1:08 PM on July 16, 2012 [2 favorites]

Olympics stuff has much less of a propensity to turn people into argumentative assholes though we have a few suggestions for ways to be a decent MeFite. These are all etiquette suggestions, not mod-given rules for things.

- Don't place results spoilers above the fold in Olympic posts that are roughly when the results come in because people watch them time-delayed. Don't be cutesy about what your post is about so people can know if there's a likely spoiler coming
- Use the Olympics tag so people can find other Olympics posts
- Don't turn Olympics posts into political posts by proxy
- Don't come here for liveblogging your favorite event and making a thin post just to have a place to chat.
- Not every bit of Olympics minutia needs its own posts, look and see if there is an active thread your post might be able to be tucked in to if it's on a small or narrow topic.

Those are just ones I can think of offhand. Any others?
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 1:09 PM on July 16, 2012 [7 favorites]

Just don't make any jokes about the Olympic logo. That's a deletion, right thar.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 1:12 PM on July 16, 2012 [2 favorites]

In terms of sheer post volume, it'd be good for folks to try and be thoughtful about whether given development x needs a new post or can just be folded into existing discussions, and we'll likely nix thin update posts that don't seem to be accounting for that to try and keep it in check.

But part of the upside with the Olympics is that it's a pretty time-constrained thing; we've got months of election to go and have had more than months of run-up to this point, whereas the Olympics will be over in a couple weeks or so. So while the above definitely pertains as far as people not going nuts with the new posts, it's a little bit less of an active concern for us on in Modville because the scope of the potential problem is a lot smaller and so the potential overall site impact is a lot less.
posted by cortex (staff) at 1:17 PM on July 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

I wish I could favorite just the title of this post.
posted by prize bull octorok at 1:23 PM on July 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

Just don't make any jokes about the Olympic logo.

It's the lemur this year, isn't it?
posted by octobersurprise at 1:23 PM on July 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

jessamyn: "Those are just ones I can think of offhand. Any others?"

No "X beats Y at X" posts at all, IMO. There's probably plenty of interesting journalism about various teams, athletes, and sports without having to endure the old "thin headline so we can talk about this event" canard.

Also- SportsFilter.
posted by mkultra at 1:26 PM on July 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

er, "X beats Y at Z"....
posted by mkultra at 1:26 PM on July 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

X beats Y at Z

I was just about to watch the X-Y Z match on my Tivo, you insensitive clod!
posted by grouse at 1:28 PM on July 16, 2012 [3 favorites]

X beats Y at X

I'm now wondering whether there's been Olympic athletes competing in sports with which the share a name. Like, "Alice Pommelhorse" seems pretty unlikely, but "John Curling" could be the protagonist of a law procedural.
posted by cortex (staff) at 1:31 PM on July 16, 2012 [7 favorites]

Whoa, today I learned that some people actually care enough about Olympics that event results could be spoilers for them. Respect.
posted by vidur at 1:33 PM on July 16, 2012 [2 favorites]

John Stamos

is

HANK PENTATHALON, P.I.
posted by griphus at 1:38 PM on July 16, 2012 [8 favorites]

With special guest star Dolph Lundgren as LARS HAMMERTHROW
posted by elizardbits at 1:40 PM on July 16, 2012 [13 favorites]

You know how Modern Pentathlon has been recently reconfigured so that the running and shooting are one event, but they're still calling it the pentathlon anyway, because they don't really have a better name for it?

I figured out what they should call it.

The Post-modern Pentathlon.
posted by ocherdraco at 1:41 PM on July 16, 2012

Pentathlon Unbound
posted by griphus at 1:42 PM on July 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

Also all the villains will have Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen-style mobster names like Steven "Uneven" Bars and Freddie "Field" Hockey.
posted by griphus at 1:44 PM on July 16, 2012

Pentathlon: Son of Pentathlon
posted by ocherdraco at 1:44 PM on July 16, 2012

Pentathlon III: The Pentathloning
posted by elizardbits at 1:45 PM on July 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

I think we can all agree that only the posts that revolve around the sex lives of the athletes should be allowed to stay.
posted by crunchland at 1:47 PM on July 16, 2012 [3 favorites]

The Olympics are boring, let's just skip it save for a conclusion/summary post at the end.
posted by 2bucksplus at 1:51 PM on July 16, 2012

Is this where I can complain about how bike racing is weird in the Oylmpics(tm)? Example: USA basketball, they are all in the NBA and are gonna crush everybody anyway so it doesn't really matter that they play for different teams back home. But with bike racing it's guys who are on rival teams now have to pretend to be bosom national buddies. It's always strange and disappointing. The team kit is OK, though. Probably made in China.
posted by fixedgear at 1:51 PM on July 16, 2012

X beats Y at X

Aren't we done talking about 50 Shades of Grey yet?
posted by smirkette at 1:51 PM on July 16, 2012 [7 favorites]

They're both once every 4 years and tend to inspire a *lot* of posts. US election stuff has been scrutinized, it seems, way more than Olympics stuff - there have been nine Olympics posts in the past two weeks.

I agree, let's have less about this over commercialized ritual which does nothing but give the elites something to do and which has little meaning once it's over.

Maybe less Olympics too.
posted by Jehan at 1:59 PM on July 16, 2012

Are we going to approach the Olympics the same way we approach the US elections?

From the rear with a knife?
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 2:06 PM on July 16, 2012 [8 favorites]

Mitt Romney would complain about the oversight that the Olympics actually comes every 2 years, what with the Winter Olympics, but he was too busy not being the CEO of a former business.
posted by Atreides at 2:24 PM on July 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

Is this where I can complain about how bike racing is weird in the Oylmpics(tm)? Example: USA basketball, they are all in the NBA and are gonna crush everybody anyway so it doesn't really matter that they play for different teams back home. But with bike racing it's guys who are on rival teams now have to pretend to be bosom national buddies. It's always strange and disappointing. The team kit is OK, though. Probably made in China.

But this is actually kind of regular in some ways. Soccer (football) works this way with the World Cup.
posted by OmieWise at 2:35 PM on July 16, 2012

Pentathlon Shrugged...
posted by Naberius at 2:42 PM on July 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

It would also be nice if people kept away from the "ugh, sports" kind of comments.
posted by smackfu at 2:45 PM on July 16, 2012 [8 favorites]

As a non-sponsor, I believe metafilter is enjoined from using the word "Olympics." tags included.
posted by spitbull at 2:56 PM on July 16, 2012

As a non-sponsor, I believe metafilter is enjoined from using the word "Olympics."


Voldesport it is then!
posted by never used baby shoes at 3:00 PM on July 16, 2012 [4 favorites]

Ugh, smackfu.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 3:13 PM on July 16, 2012

You know how Modern Pentathlon has been recently reconfigured so that the running and shooting are one event

They shoot while running?
posted by ActingTheGoat at 3:21 PM on July 16, 2012

Maybe they shoot at the runners? That would be exciting.
posted by never used baby shoes at 3:22 PM on July 16, 2012 [3 favorites]

Well, they are having samurai chase the race walkers.
posted by OmieWise at 3:35 PM on July 16, 2012

HAMMERTHROW: Ja, but Hank, we ah going to need to talk to someone inside de cartel if we want to find out who kidnapped the women.

PENTATHALON: I know just who we need to see, old buddy. Let's pay a call to Carlos Javelín.
posted by Rock Steady at 3:36 PM on July 16, 2012

All well and good, but I reserve the right to make fun of national anthems, such as "Wake Up, Romanian!"
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 3:37 PM on July 16, 2012

Yes, yes, I know it also translates as "awaken," as in a call to action. These are the jokes, people.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 3:37 PM on July 16, 2012

I can't stand the Olympics. But I won't be an asshole about it. I'll just avoid it here as I avoid it in real life. Completely.
posted by Splunge at 3:54 PM on July 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

I can't stand the Olympics. But I won't be an asshole about it. I'll just avoid it here as I avoid it in real life. Completely.

This kind of attitude and execution won't even get you a Bronze in the Olympics-Ignoring competition.
posted by GenjiandProust at 4:19 PM on July 16, 2012 [5 favorites]

And don't link to them in a derogatory fashion.

Don't come here for liveblogging your favorite event and making a thin post just to have a place to chat.

That's restricted to posts about Doctor Who, Mad Men, Game of Thrones, etc.
posted by jeather at 4:27 PM on July 16, 2012 [11 favorites]

The difference between the US elections and the Olympics is that once the latter start, there's nothing more to say about them.
posted by mahershalal at 4:35 PM on July 16, 2012

I'm now wondering whether there's been Olympic athletes competing in sports with which the share a name.
There is a LLoy Ball in the US volleyball team.
posted by unliteral at 4:42 PM on July 16, 2012

I'm now wondering whether there's been Olympic athletes competing in sports with which the share a name.

The verb bolt can mean "run really fast".
posted by madcaptenor at 4:47 PM on July 16, 2012 [3 favorites]

Another thing they have in common is that Joseph Göbbels is the architect of both.

Oh, Godwin Schmodwin.
posted by "Elbows" O'Donoghue at 4:47 PM on July 16, 2012

Also, although non-Olympic: the baseball players Cecil Fielder and Prince Fielder, although they're both first basemen/designated hitters so it's kind of debatable how much fielding they do. Jay Baller pitched a little in the eighties. There's a list of baseball players, alphabetical by last name if you want to try to come up with more.
posted by madcaptenor at 4:53 PM on July 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

I'm now wondering whether there's been Olympic athletes competing in sports with which the share a name.

I'll give you another spin: There are many instances of where a particular move, trick or strategy has taken the name of the person that famously used it in the Olympics.

The Fosbury Flop
The Axel
The Tsukahara
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 6:24 PM on July 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

The whole anti-Olymics zeitgeist evident here is new to me and comes as a surprise...I guess because it's new to me. D'uh. But I certainly understood it, when I thought about it, and I share most of the same complaints.

It's just...I guess I'm old, or something. I'm not really that much into athletics of any type, but my dad and his whole family were avid athletes and fans (my dad literally subscribed to Sports Illustrated, without a break, from its second issue to his death a few years ago) and for all the obvious reasons the Olympics was something that when I was a kind I could get excited about and enjoy with him and my uncles and such. And like lots of people, there's a number of events I find quite interesting, such as gymnastics. I've always had a fondness for the Winter Games because I did ski a lot when I was younger and able and I guess I generally like winter sports. (Must be the Minnesota/Wisconsin Scandinavian blood in me, I suppose.)

Anyway, it's probably telling that as the decades have gone by, I've less and less managed to make any time to watch any of the games on the television. I haven't had any sense of why that is — I've assumed it was mostly personal. But it occurs to me that maybe the games have changed over the years in ways, ways that people are angry about, that I've not examined much and just took for granted as my own idiosyncratic waning interest.

But, you know, this makes me sad.

I was never that comfortable with the nationalism in the games, but I thought it was often compensated, partly, by a friendly comradely in sportsmanship. Sometimes, truly, I think the games lived up to what it imagines itself to be. And there were all those very memorable moments, whether edge-of-your-seat victories and accomplishments to just seeing someone's joyful face as they've achieved something truly extraordinary that they've been working for through much of their life. To see incredible, astonishing physical and mental skill. The medal tallies always bored me, even annoyed me, but seeing a talented athlete excel at the very global peak of their specialty was wonderful.

I'm sad that something's gone awry so that all these good things that the Olympics have been have been drowned underneath all this bad, this bad crap that smothers much of the joy and makes a lie of all the high ideals.

I almost want to argue with the folk here who sneer at the Olympics; but I can't, because they're largely right. Even so, we've lost something and I wish there were a way we could get it back instead of just letting it slide into ignominy.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 6:31 PM on July 16, 2012 [9 favorites]

- Don't turn Olympics posts into political posts by proxy:

Even if ... Mitt Romney's wife's dressage horse Rafalca heading for Games

The Republican candidate to become the next American president, Mitt Romney, will be heading to the London Olympics to watch the opening ceremony – and he has a special interest in the Games now, after his wife's horse earned a berth on the US dressage team.
posted by R. Mutt at 7:21 PM on July 16, 2012

Especially if.
posted by cortex (staff) at 7:29 PM on July 16, 2012 [7 favorites]

Whoa, today I learned that some people actually care enough about Olympics that event results could be spoilers for them. Respect.

Considering the undignified weeping and gnashing of teeth over spoilers for a series of children's books, this can hardly surprise you.
posted by atrazine at 5:31 AM on July 17, 2012 [1 favorite]

Even if ...

Don't cross the streams - it would be bad.
posted by mikepop at 5:40 AM on July 17, 2012 [1 favorite]

You know how Modern Pentathlon has been recently reconfigured so that the running and shooting are one event, but they're still calling it the pentathlon anyway, because they don't really have a better name for it?

They changed it to alternate shooting and running to be more like the biathlon because they wanted to make it a more distinctive event to train for. That's also one of the reasons they moved to a one day format, with the old five day format you could swim all-out not conserving leg strength for a later running leg of the event. The one day format makes it more like triathlon where you need modified swimming, running and cycling technique compared to the pure versions of those sports.

It's my favourite event, but I'm not really sure if it will survive as part of the Olympics much longer. Even if in many ways it's more "Olympic" than sports like football and basketball which have large professional leagues and for whom the Olympics is not really the pinnacle event.

It doesn't help that they're team events and that the teams often don't train together for long enough - one reason why the US does better than you might expect at Olympic football is the nascent American Pro teams know that a good US Olympic showing will drive gate numbers at their own events (that's obviously not true in countries where it's already The Sport) and so they release players for Olympic training earlier and for longer.
The one time the NBA really put their full force behind an Olympic bid was in 1992 (the first year that pros could compete) and it wasn't even funny how epically they dominated (not that the US doesn't dominate basketball anyway though.

Is this where I can complain about how bike racing is weird in the Oylmpics(tm)? Example: USA basketball, they are all in the NBA and are gonna crush everybody anyway so it doesn't really matter that they play for different teams back home. But with bike racing it's guys who are on rival teams now have to pretend to be bosom national buddies. It's always strange and disappointing. The team kit is OK, though. Probably made in China.

Well, how many of the Olympic cycling events have sub-national teams in serious competition?
Aren't most track cycling events mostly contested in nation vs. nation competition, anyway? You do have point for the road racing (Except the individual time trial), each country can select 5-6 men for the "individual" road race but actually winning that race is not really an individual sport.
posted by atrazine at 6:03 AM on July 17, 2012 [1 favorite]

I always thought Ryder Hesjedal had a great name for a cyclist. Of course, so does Axel Merckx.
posted by misha at 8:57 AM on July 17, 2012

I'm now wondering whether there's been Olympic athletes competing in sports with which the share a name. Like, "Alice Pommelhorse" seems pretty unlikely, but "John Curling" could be the protagonist of a law procedural.
posted by cortex (staff) at 1:31 PM on July 16 [6 favorites +] [!]

Cortex, would Li Ping winning at Ping Pong (aka Table Tennis) count?
posted by vespabelle at 11:07 AM on July 17, 2012

It at least medals, yeah.
posted by cortex (staff) at 11:15 AM on July 17, 2012

Gunnery Schriver, Martin Gunnarson, and Gunner Gabrienson have all won shooting medals.
posted by troika at 11:22 AM on July 17, 2012

Like, "Alice Pommelhorse" seems pretty unlikely

MY MOTHER WAS A SAINT!
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 12:52 PM on July 17, 2012

I really wanted to like the Pentathlon, and I don't deny that it looked great and was plenty exciting, but I wish they didn't keep jumping around from one sport to another. It made it hard to get attached to any of the athletes, and what the hell was that business at the end, running away from that rolling thing?
posted by kagredon at 5:58 PM on July 17, 2012

I wish I could favorite just the title of this post.
posted by prize bull octorok at 3:23 PM on July 16 [+] [!]

In case anyone else was as clueless as I was about the second half of the title:
Wenlock - one of the London 2012 Olympic mascots
posted by AMSBoethius at 5:58 PM on July 17, 2012

I'm with Ivan - I understand the hate, but I get great fun out of watching the Olympics every 2-4 years, and not just for the arms and back muscles on the swimmers.
posted by maryr at 9:03 PM on July 17, 2012

The Fosburys taste like Fosburys.
posted by adamdschneider at 10:33 PM on July 17, 2012 [1 favorite]

I'd let 1 olympics post per day stand, and everybody can post details in it. I like the Olympics the same way I like watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade; it's a tradition with some authentic moments (though the network will try to either expunge them or fake them).

US Election? same thing. I'm already really tired of it, even though I really care about it. Yup, contradictory.
posted by theora55 at 7:18 PM on July 18, 2012

There's a lot of anti-Olympic feeling in the UK right now - those who have lived in other host cities, did the same thing happen then?
posted by mippy at 4:37 AM on July 19, 2012

US Election? same thing. -- The conversations in the election posts on Metafilter seem to fall into two narratives ... "Obama has failed us," or "Romney is a rich butthead." I don't know that we even need one a day of either of those.
posted by crunchland at 4:55 AM on July 19, 2012