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Also best team sport in the Olympics is mens Indoor Volleyball.

 

Watch any replay of Japan, Italy, USA, Poland, Russia and of course Canada:towel: (forgot Brazil - probably the most entertaining)

 

Too bad no fans for Japan. They are a "smallish" team with some guys that can absolutely fly. Nishida and Ishikawa real life Haikyu's!!!

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Maggie MacNeil's gold medal is garnering a fair amount of attention and not just in Canada....

 

For those who may not be aware, she was born in China and abandoned by her birth parents, thanks to China's (now relaxed) one child policy. She was adopted as a toddler by Canadian parents, brought to London, Ontario and the rest, as they say, is history:

 

https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/28/china/margaret-macneil-china-mic-intl-hnk/index.html

 

Quote

 

A gold medal-winning Canadian swimmer has made waves in China for her Chinese heritage, sparking heated discussions over the country’s decades-long one-child policy and gender discrimination.

Margaret MacNeil shot to international fame Monday after winning the women’s 100-meter butterfly at the Tokyo Olympics, setting an Americas continental record at her very first Games.

In China, however, the 21-year-old was drawing wide attention for another reason, as news spread that the Canadian girl who beat China’s top woman swimmer, Zhang Yufei, by 0.05 seconds was actually born in China and adopted as a baby by a Canadian couple.

The subject of MacNeil soon lit up Chinese social media. A hashtag about her victory became the top trending topic on Chinese microblogging site Weibo on Monday morning, and has since drawn nearly 400 million views.

Much of the attention has focused on her Chinese heritage – and reflections over the wider social and political circumstances that led to her adoption by a foreign family.

MacNeil was born in 2000 in Jiujiang, a city on the southern shores of the Yangtze River in China’s Jiangxi province, according to her profile on Team Canada’s official website.

On Chinese social media, many suspected she had been abandoned by her biological parents, a once-common practice under China’s now-scrapped one-child policy.

The stringent policy, in place until 2016, led to female infants being aborted, abandoned and even killed due to a traditional preference for sons among many Chinese families. That has left the country with a deeply skewed sex ratio at birth, and a surplus of more than 30 million men.

Concerned about plunging birth rates, the Chinese government allowed all couples to have two children in 2016. This year, it further relaxed the policy to allow three children.

But for many Chinese internet users, especially women, MacNeil’s victory has served as a vivid reminder of the pernicious legacy of the decades-long policy, and still widespread gender inequality.

According to the US government, more than 84% of the over 82,000 children Americans adopted from China between 1999 and 2019 are girls.

While some online articles and posts have portrayed MacNeil’s Chinese lineage as a case of national pride for China, many were quick to point out that the country should instead draw reflections.

“We lost such a talent owing to the preference of boys to girls, how do you still have the nerve to mention (her Chinese origins),” a comment said.

Others lamented the discrimination against girls in their upbringing, especially in rural China.

“She might not be a talent had she been raised in China. Instead, she might have dropped out of school early to work in the factories,” said another comment.

One viral Weibo post, which said, “Canada has stumbled upon a precious gem” and called for people to help MacNeil search for her birth parents, was met with strong criticism.

“It’s the Canadians who have nurtured her into a precious gem,” said the top comment underneath the post.

After the race on Monday, Zhang, the Chinese swimmer who took silver, said she felt quite close to MacNeil. “I feel that she is a family member,” Zhang was quoted as saying by Reuters.

MacNeil, meanwhile, has stressed that she’s Canadian and has “always grown up Canadian.”

“I was born in China and I was adopted when I was really young, so that’s just as far as my Chinese heritage goes,” MacNeil said at a news conference.

“So it’s just a very small part of my journey to where I am today, and it’s kind of irrelevant when it comes to swimming, and how far my swimming has come.”

 

A similar story appeared in the South China Morning Post:

https://www.scmp.com/sport/china/article/3142642/tokyo-olympics-adopted-china-canadas-maggie-macneil-wins-gold-and

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14 hours ago, Jack Fig said:

Quitting is a bigger disaster. Fine legacy that. 

While I agree to some degree....I feel that we're seeing the flipside to young athletes who achieve GOAT status too quickly.  All the deals/endorsements/etc. flood in, but then the bar is set at excellence and perfection in a glaring way.   We want "heroes" out of our athletes but they're simply....human beings.

 

The pressure, at that age, to sustain that could really wreak havoc on a young mind.  It is likely overwhelming and the mental game is vitally important and people in their early 20's may not be adequately equipped to deal with that end of things.  It comes fast and furious and they get swept away in it.  To lose focus, become anxious or, even worse, potentially suffer things like panic attacks (there is no report of this, it just often goes hand in hand) can be debilitating.

 

I don't look down on her for recognizing that "it's too much" and step away.  It's ok for her to do that....while it's rather crippling on her team, it's likely much more so on her end.   It's a good time for teams to realize that there's no I in team and if they're putting all their eggs in one basket, things can happen.  

 

These gymnasts work through all kinds of injuries and pain and the toll on them is huge at times.  We want them to be robotic and just go out there and do their stuff but they deal with all the same fears and potential obstacles that the rest of us do.  Times 1,000,000.

 

Mental health is nothing to look down on....her legacy is that she was an amazing competitor who had to step away to take care of more important things.  That makes it ok for other young people to also say "I'm not ok".  "I can't do this right now".  It's their journey to decide upon...the team aspect does factor in but it's not the ultimate decider and no person should have to sacrifice their overall well being to satisfy commitments to a team.  Sometimes that's doing the team more harm than good than staying if unfit to do so.

 

We're seeing athletes wave the white flag but, for me, it's ok...it doesn't make them any lesser or take away from what they HAVE accomplished.  They're allowed to make decisions that are "theirs/for them".

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I'm beginning to think Piers Morgan has a problem with black women:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/news/piers-morgan-roasted-for-hypocritcal-slams-of-simone-biles-nothing-heroic-or-brave-about-quitting/ar-AAMF4ju?ocid=BingNewsSearch

 

Piers Morgan is under fire again this time after making U.S. gymnast Simone Biles the target of his ire. The people of the internet are having none of it, though, turning the British broadcaster's own history and criticism back on him.

After Biles dropped out of the gymnastics team finals at the Tokyo Games on Tuesday to focus on her mental health, Morgan tweeted his disgust, saying that Biles should just "admit you did badly, made mistakes, and will strive to do better next time." On Wednesday morning, Morgan doubled down on his comments in a new column about Biles.

"Sorry Simone Biles, but there's nothing heroic or brave about quitting because you're not having 'fun' - you let down your team-mates, your fans and your country," Morgan tweeted.

And just about immediately after, Morgan found himself in the crosshairs online. Many pointed out the irony of Morgan slamming Biles for "quitting" and exiting the competition floor (though she did return to watch her teammates compete), when Morgan himself stormed off the set of "Good Morning Britain" in early March in the middle of a broadcast.

In response to that particular mockery, Morgan acknowledged his "gutless" choice, saying that "Twitter rightly mocked me" ever since the incident.

Others online noted that they weren't surprised by Morgan's bashing of Biles because she's a woman of color, noting his frequent attacks on Meghan Markle and others. "If bullying black women was an Olympic sport, Piers Morgan would win the gold medal," one person tweeted.

Another argued that "Watching Piers Morgan bully another prominent black woman should not be surprising to anyone." You can check out more responses to Morgan's column below.

 

 

 

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58 minutes ago, gurn said:

I'm beginning to think Piers Morgan has a problem with black women:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/news/piers-morgan-roasted-for-hypocritcal-slams-of-simone-biles-nothing-heroic-or-brave-about-quitting/ar-AAMF4ju?ocid=BingNewsSearch

 

Piers Morgan is under fire again this time after making U.S. gymnast Simone Biles the target of his ire. The people of the internet are having none of it, though, turning the British broadcaster's own history and criticism back on him.

After Biles dropped out of the gymnastics team finals at the Tokyo Games on Tuesday to focus on her mental health, Morgan tweeted his disgust, saying that Biles should just "admit you did badly, made mistakes, and will strive to do better next time." On Wednesday morning, Morgan doubled down on his comments in a new column about Biles.

"Sorry Simone Biles, but there's nothing heroic or brave about quitting because you're not having 'fun' - you let down your team-mates, your fans and your country," Morgan tweeted.

And just about immediately after, Morgan found himself in the crosshairs online. Many pointed out the irony of Morgan slamming Biles for "quitting" and exiting the competition floor (though she did return to watch her teammates compete), when Morgan himself stormed off the set of "Good Morning Britain" in early March in the middle of a broadcast.

In response to that particular mockery, Morgan acknowledged his "gutless" choice, saying that "Twitter rightly mocked me" ever since the incident.

Others online noted that they weren't surprised by Morgan's bashing of Biles because she's a woman of color, noting his frequent attacks on Meghan Markle and others. "If bullying black women was an Olympic sport, Piers Morgan would win the gold medal," one person tweeted.

Another argued that "Watching Piers Morgan bully another prominent black woman should not be surprising to anyone." You can check out more responses to Morgan's column below.

I've never quite understood why we pay so much attention to professional trolls....I guess it's people's fascination with those who are willing to say stuff that they would never say out loud themselves?

 

I don't really know much about Piers Morgan, (other than he's an opinionated assclown) so it's probably unfair to call him a racist, but he does seem to spend an inordinate amount of energy being critical of women of color....

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1 hour ago, gurn said:

I'm beginning to think Piers Morgan has a problem with black women:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/news/piers-morgan-roasted-for-hypocritcal-slams-of-simone-biles-nothing-heroic-or-brave-about-quitting/ar-AAMF4ju?ocid=BingNewsSearch

 

Piers Morgan is under fire again this time after making U.S. gymnast Simone Biles the target of his ire. The people of the internet are having none of it, though, turning the British broadcaster's own history and criticism back on him.

After Biles dropped out of the gymnastics team finals at the Tokyo Games on Tuesday to focus on her mental health, Morgan tweeted his disgust, saying that Biles should just "admit you did badly, made mistakes, and will strive to do better next time." On Wednesday morning, Morgan doubled down on his comments in a new column about Biles.

"Sorry Simone Biles, but there's nothing heroic or brave about quitting because you're not having 'fun' - you let down your team-mates, your fans and your country," Morgan tweeted.

And just about immediately after, Morgan found himself in the crosshairs online. Many pointed out the irony of Morgan slamming Biles for "quitting" and exiting the competition floor (though she did return to watch her teammates compete), when Morgan himself stormed off the set of "Good Morning Britain" in early March in the middle of a broadcast.

In response to that particular mockery, Morgan acknowledged his "gutless" choice, saying that "Twitter rightly mocked me" ever since the incident.

Others online noted that they weren't surprised by Morgan's bashing of Biles because she's a woman of color, noting his frequent attacks on Meghan Markle and others. "If bullying black women was an Olympic sport, Piers Morgan would win the gold medal," one person tweeted.

Another argued that "Watching Piers Morgan bully another prominent black woman should not be surprising to anyone." You can check out more responses to Morgan's column below.

 

 

 

Guy sounds like a complete idiot.  Why make comments like that?  Not too sure who he is anyway, but he’s clearly an asshat.  

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2 hours ago, -DLC- said:

While I agree to some degree....I feel that we're seeing the flipside to young athletes who achieve GOAT status too quickly.  All the deals/endorsements/etc. flood in, but then the bar is set at excellence and perfection in a glaring way.   We want "heroes" out of our athletes but they're simply....human beings.

 

The pressure, at that age, to sustain that could really wreak havoc on a young mind.  It is likely overwhelming and the mental game is vitally important and people in their early 20's may not be adequately equipped to deal with that end of things.  It comes fast and furious and they get swept away in it.  To lose focus, become anxious or, even worse, potentially suffer things like panic attacks (there is no report of this, it just often goes hand in hand) can be debilitating.

 

I don't look down on her for recognizing that "it's too much" and step away.  It's ok for her to do that....while it's rather crippling on her team, it's likely much more so on her end.   It's a good time for teams to realize that there's no I in team and if they're putting all their eggs in one basket, things can happen.  

 

These gymnasts work through all kinds of injuries and pain and the toll on them is huge at times.  We want them to be robotic and just go out there and do their stuff but they deal with all the same fears and potential obstacles that the rest of us do.  Times 1,000,000.

 

Mental health is nothing to look down on....her legacy is that she was an amazing competitor who had to step away to take care of more important things.  That makes it ok for other young people to also say "I'm not ok".  "I can't do this right now".  It's their journey to decide upon...the team aspect does factor in but it's not the ultimate decider and no person should have to sacrifice their overall well being to satisfy commitments to a team.  Sometimes that's doing the team more harm than good than staying if unfit to do so.

 

We're seeing athletes wave the white flag but, for me, it's ok...it doesn't make them any lesser or take away from what they HAVE accomplished.  They're allowed to make decisions that are "theirs/for them".

I never cared much about who won the medals. I cheered for Canadians, but not ones who were jerks. I like that people give it all they have and can live with that, podium success or not. I was much happier to have us represented by someone who represented Canada with effort, class and a smile. That is what really mattered to me. Coming up short on game day is part of life. If someone is afraid to fall short because they fear being labelled in some way, that's a problem. That's society with screwed-up expectations and demands. You train, you compete, you roll the dice. If the world can't accept that you don't win every time, so be it. That's on the world with their unjust demands. A person that competes to the best of their abilities on any given day can always hold their head up. 

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On 7/27/2021 at 9:48 PM, Jack Fig said:

Then some other kid was robbed of a chance. Some kid who wouldn't have quit. 

The alternate did get her chance.  No one was robbed. The team got into finals because of Biles.  Biles judged that they would lose a medal if she kept going in the final.  That's a team player. 

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4 hours ago, Jaimito said:

The alternate did get her chance.  No one was robbed. The team got into finals because of Biles.  Biles judged that they would lose a medal if she kept going in the final.  That's a team player. 

Game 7 Stanley Cup Final. Your starting goalie who you've run with all the way says he can't go. His psyche isn't right. He's pulling the plug. Team player or no? 

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22 hours ago, gurn said:

I'm beginning to think Piers Morgan has a problem with black women:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/news/piers-morgan-roasted-for-hypocritcal-slams-of-simone-biles-nothing-heroic-or-brave-about-quitting/ar-AAMF4ju?ocid=BingNewsSearch

 

Piers Morgan is under fire again this time after making U.S. gymnast Simone Biles the target of his ire. The people of the internet are having none of it, though, turning the British broadcaster's own history and criticism back on him.

After Biles dropped out of the gymnastics team finals at the Tokyo Games on Tuesday to focus on her mental health, Morgan tweeted his disgust, saying that Biles should just "admit you did badly, made mistakes, and will strive to do better next time." On Wednesday morning, Morgan doubled down on his comments in a new column about Biles.

"Sorry Simone Biles, but there's nothing heroic or brave about quitting because you're not having 'fun' - you let down your team-mates, your fans and your country," Morgan tweeted.

And just about immediately after, Morgan found himself in the crosshairs online. Many pointed out the irony of Morgan slamming Biles for "quitting" and exiting the competition floor (though she did return to watch her teammates compete), when Morgan himself stormed off the set of "Good Morning Britain" in early March in the middle of a broadcast.

In response to that particular mockery, Morgan acknowledged his "gutless" choice, saying that "Twitter rightly mocked me" ever since the incident.

Others online noted that they weren't surprised by Morgan's bashing of Biles because she's a woman of color, noting his frequent attacks on Meghan Markle and others. "If bullying black women was an Olympic sport, Piers Morgan would win the gold medal," one person tweeted.

Another argued that "Watching Piers Morgan bully another prominent black woman should not be surprising to anyone." You can check out more responses to Morgan's column below.

 

 

 

Piers Morgan is a wannabe Faux News guy, a Trumper, and a failed CNN reality host. Most of his interviews are slime at its best.

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1 hour ago, Jack Fig said:

Game 7 Stanley Cup Final. Your starting goalie who you've run with all the way says he can't go. His psyche isn't right. He's pulling the plug. Team player or no? 

Yes. He got you to the final and he isn't pretending he can play well enough to win in the biggest game.  If a player knows it, then respect it.  No different if it's a lower body injury.  If he can play through it, give it a shot.  If not, get the backup in. You have a backup that can give the team a better chance.  That is what she did, she tried and got the worst vault score of the games,  jeopardizing US of a medal chance.  If she wanted to continue anyway, no one will say no to her. If she kept that poor performance, the team will drop out of medal contention. That would be selfish. People will be even more angry. "Why didn't you drop out and give rest of the girls a chance to medal?"  Give her the benefit of doubt. She has been the best in her sport of all time, won everything on the biggest stage. She endured sexual molestation by the former team Dr, who is now in jail.  She isn't a coward.  These are ultra competitive athletes who trained all their lives to win. 

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Too bad Shady El Nahas couldn't medal last night. I saw his RO16 match and then he lost in the quarter to the world number 1. He won the following match but then lost the Bronze.

Our ladies got obliterated in Rugby against the Fijians as expected.

Our ladies unfortunately were bested in the swimming relay and finished fourth. They fell behind with the first swimmer even though she set a personal best and it compounded between the second and third swimmer with an additional half second/second. About three body lengths by the time it was Penny's turn to go - too much ground to make up.

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8 minutes ago, Tortorella's Rant said:

Too bad Shady El Nahas couldn't medal last night. I saw his RO16 match and then he lost in the quarter to the world number 1. He won the following match but then lost the Bronze.

Our ladies got obliterated in Rugby against the Fijians as expected.

Our ladies unfortunately were bested in the swimming relay and finished fourth. They fell behind with the first swimmer even though she set a personal best and it compounded between the second and third swimmer with an additional half second/second. About three body lengths by the time it was Penny's turn to go - too much ground to make up.

Yeah, that was quite a race. Though beaten by three teams that all broke the world record at the same race is nothing to be ashamed of.  Canada set an all time Canadian record too. Something in those waters....

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2 hours ago, Jaimito said:

 

Didn't know that is her brother.  He is now a Kracken. We will see a lot of him vs Nux. 6'7 255 lbs. 

 

 

Minor quibble; the Heisman is for college football players

The Marsh is for every Canadian athlete.

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