Author Topic: Place your bets: will the Olympics be cancelled?  (Read 4912 times)

K Frame

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Re: Place your bets: will the Olympics be cancelled?
« Reply #50 on: June 05, 2021, 11:49:48 AM »
The caber toss actually has its origins in Scottish military history. They used to toss cabers across streams as ersatz bridges.
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230RN

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Re: Place your bets: will the Olympics be cancelled?
« Reply #51 on: June 05, 2021, 07:47:13 PM »
I'll believe you, but I question your source.  That sounds like a contrived, artificial, speculative, off-the-top-of-someone's-head explanation.

My first thought was that almost any stream narrow enough to be bridged by a pole like those could probably be waded across.

A quick DDG search did not reveal any origin at all (except for an initial date) and kind of sniffed around the Spanish or Portugese for "pole," which didn't help etymologically speaking.

So for now I'm going to continue with the idea that tossing the caber is/was pointless, like a pissing contest.

Someone feel free to enlighten me.

Terry

K Frame

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Re: Place your bets: will the Olympics be cancelled?
« Reply #52 on: June 06, 2021, 08:04:40 AM »
Well, with everything like that, the story could well be apocryphal. But I've heard it for years.

https://theculturetrip.com/europe/united-kingdom/scotland/articles/tossing-the-caber-what-exactly-is-it/

And, many of the streams in Scotland in the highlands are at the bottom of steep, deep, cuts.


"So for now I'm going to continue with the idea that tossing the caber is/was pointless, like a pissing contest."

So, you sneer at the caber toss, but you're all for the keyboard toss as practiced here at APS. Noted :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
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230RN

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Re: Place your bets: will the Olympics be cancelled?
« Reply #53 on: June 07, 2021, 08:49:46 AM »
"So, you sneer at the caber toss, but you're all for the keyboard toss as practiced here at APS. Noted :rofl: :rofl: :rofl::"

Is that supposed to make some kind of sense?  And I object to the "sneer."  Explicate, so I can laugh too.

And I thought of steeply-sided streams, but I doubt a pole across them would be either helpful or very possible.  Still sounds like a "plucked from the air" explanation, but you go ahead with it. It's OK with me.

Yep, one man takes a 150-300 lb pole, balances it in the air, throws it so it will bounce off the upper end and falls across the stream to form an ersatz bridge.  Or even a supporting member thereof.  Ayup.  Noted.

Well, on the other hand, who would have expected an army to take elephants across the Alps, so I'll give you that one.

 :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: yourself.

And you stated it as a plain fact, not something possibly apocryphal.  Tsk-tsk.

Terry, 230RN
« Last Edit: June 07, 2021, 09:14:43 AM by 230RN »

K Frame

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Re: Place your bets: will the Olympics be cancelled?
« Reply #54 on: June 07, 2021, 08:55:33 AM »
It's a joke, Grandpa Simpson.

Go yell at a cloud...
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230RN

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Re: Place your bets: will the Olympics be cancelled?
« Reply #55 on: June 07, 2021, 09:16:01 AM »
Nonsense.  Excuse it as a joke. How cheap.

And are you using my age as an insult?

Terry, 230RN

K Frame

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Re: Place your bets: will the Olympics be cancelled?
« Reply #56 on: June 07, 2021, 09:54:50 AM »
 ;/

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MechAg94

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Re: Place your bets: will the Olympics be cancelled?
« Reply #57 on: June 07, 2021, 09:59:40 AM »
https://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/facts/washington-stories/remarkably-robust-and-athletic-george-washington-the-sportsman/

I have seen this before about G. Washington throwing an iron rod.  Not sure what the comparison is with size and weight. 
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Hawkmoon

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Re: Place your bets: will the Olympics be cancelled?
« Reply #58 on: June 07, 2021, 06:35:59 PM »

So for now I'm going to continue with the idea that tossing the caber is/was pointless, like a pissing contest.


As opposed to, say, the shot put or hammer throw, or weightlifting in general, all of which have obvious, practical, real world origins.
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K Frame

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Re: Place your bets: will the Olympics be cancelled?
« Reply #59 on: June 08, 2021, 06:46:52 AM »
As opposed to, say, the shot put or hammer throw, or weightlifting in general, all of which have obvious, practical, real world origins.

Let's not forget javelin, discus, hurdles, curling, speed skating... :rofl:

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WLJ

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Re: Place your bets: will the Olympics be cancelled?
« Reply #60 on: July 23, 2021, 03:13:15 PM »
They started. Did anyone even notice?

Tokyo Olympics begin with muted ceremony in empty stadium
https://www.wlky.com/article/olympic-games-begin/37109322
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Re: Place your bets: will the Olympics be cancelled?
« Reply #61 on: July 24, 2021, 10:04:08 AM »
I was only ever interested in the Biathlon and sometimes skating.  The Biathlon because it combined shooting and skiing, which was is sort of like an actual hunter-gatherer activity.

But I wonder how good a cheek weld you can get with a mask on.  Is it like shooting with a beard?  Does it fog up your shooting glasses?

 Skating...? Just wished I could do it like they did.  To me it was mostly when the creek froze over and the ice was pretty rough.  I got skates for Wife1 and the oldest boy but they weren't as interested in it as I was.

I also remember the Olympics mainly as an Eastern bloc versus a Western bloc kind of chest-bumping, and later on, the testing of some of the women to check their genders.

To me, most of the contests involved rather artificial made-up tests of skills, like the hurdles... and sort of just as dumb as the Sottish caber toss.

Oops!  I'll bet I triggered all the caber toss and hurdle apologists.

Holy crap, look out, prey animal or deadly enemy, I'm about to throw a huge hunka wood at your sorry ass !

https://youtu.be/xb0FU8rSisU

:)

Terry, 230RN

You will note I only used the caber toss as an example of purposeless tests.  And then, "Oops!  I'll bet I triggered all the caber toss and hurdle apologists."

Sho' 'nuf.

:rofl:  ...You guys... =D

Terry, 230RN

Blakenzy

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Re: Place your bets: will the Olympics be cancelled?
« Reply #62 on: July 25, 2021, 09:41:38 AM »
I have lost all interest in circuses
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Re: Place your bets: will the Olympics be cancelled?
« Reply #63 on: July 25, 2021, 12:07:31 PM »
The olympics might come back... if... they concentrate more on sportsing stuff, and less on dancing stuff...
 
Swim fast? Cool. How many perfect flips and motions  you can do after you jump off a ledge? Nope.
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Fly320s

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Re: Place your bets: will the Olympics be cancelled?
« Reply #64 on: July 25, 2021, 12:14:10 PM »
The olympics might come back... if... they concentrate more on sportsing stuff, and less on dancing stuff...
 
Swim fast? Cool. How many perfect flips and motions  you can do after you jump off a ledge? Nope.

Diving is more athletic than the dancing stuff.  I'll watch diving.  I won't watch the dancing stuff.

It is all moot to me anyway.  I don't have cable or broadcast TV and the streaming option is limited to NBC and whenever they feel like showing the events.
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Re: Place your bets: will the Olympics be cancelled?
« Reply #65 on: July 25, 2021, 12:18:32 PM »
I just saw that the US basketball team, made up of NBA stars, was trounced by... France. Also early on, the US women's soccer team was murdered by Sweden right at the get go.

As I mentioned earlier, I haven't followed the Olympics in forever. And now I appear to be having schadenfreude whenever the US athletes lose. I guess that is unfair to the athletes that work hard, compete, and keep their mouths shut, but man do I like to read about the woke jackwagons that hate me for breathing their air getting beat on.
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Andiron

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Re: Place your bets: will the Olympics be cancelled?
« Reply #66 on: July 25, 2021, 12:37:47 PM »
Basketball stars and purple hairs getting trounced has amused me to no end.  Ironic that the loudest critics of our country are getting wrecked while representing it.
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Re: Place your bets: will the Olympics be cancelled?
« Reply #67 on: July 25, 2021, 01:26:48 PM »
Basketball stars and purple hairs getting trounced has amused me to no end.  Ironic that the loudest critics of our country are getting wrecked while representing it.

I have to admit the thought crossed my mind that some of these woke idiots might be throwing their games.  All because 'Murica is so very bad and deserves to be punished.
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Re: Place your bets: will the Olympics be cancelled?
« Reply #68 on: July 25, 2021, 01:33:02 PM »
A plan is just a list of things that doesn't happen.
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230RN

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Re: Place your bets: will the Olympics be cancelled?
« Reply #69 on: July 25, 2021, 02:38:09 PM »
I have to admit the thought crossed my mind that some of these woke idiots might be throwing their games.  All because 'Murica is so very bad and deserves to be punished.

An interesting and not too far fetched possibility, given the mental state of some many of the awakened.


Andiron

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Re: Place your bets: will the Olympics be cancelled?
« Reply #70 on: July 26, 2021, 12:13:11 PM »
I have to admit the thought crossed my mind that some of these woke idiots might be throwing their games.  All because 'Murica is so very bad and deserves to be punished.

Hadn't even considered that, but I can see the possibility.
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dogmush

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Re: Place your bets: will the Olympics be cancelled?
« Reply #71 on: July 26, 2021, 12:38:31 PM »
I think the woke are too narcissistic to purposely throw an Olympic medal.  Not to mention whatever other issues they have, getting to the Olympics is no small amount of work and sacrifice.

I suspect they just aren't quite as good at their chosen sport as they may have thought.  From what I heard, wasn't this the same team the spanked the US Women's Soccer team last time? No reason to think they needed the US to take a fall to repeat what they've already done once.

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Re: Place your bets: will the Olympics be cancelled?
« Reply #72 on: July 26, 2021, 12:59:43 PM »
One guy's take: Crypto-Mithraism Gets Less Cryptic at Tokyo Olympics

Yeah, he's weird.  It's still interesting.
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Re: Place your bets: will the Olympics be cancelled?
« Reply #73 on: July 26, 2021, 01:20:49 PM »
I think the woke are too narcissistic to purposely throw an Olympic medal.  Not to mention whatever other issues they have, getting to the Olympics is no small amount of work and sacrifice.

I suspect they just aren't quite as good at their chosen sport as they may have thought.  From what I heard, wasn't this the same team the spanked the US Women's Soccer team last time? No reason to think they needed the US to take a fall to repeat what they've already done once.

Yeah, I can't see them taking a fall either. If anything, getting a medal gives them a bigger PR pipeline for their commie stuff, and I think they know that.

I wonder what the training regimes have been for US athletes during the covid vs that of other countries? I heard an interesting hypothesis this morning regarding training areas for US athletes being closed/restricted, etc. and athletes' fear of getting covid making it difficult for them to train as much, thus they are not as prepared as foreign athletes.
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ConstitutionCowboy

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Re: Place your bets: will the Olympics be cancelled?
« Reply #74 on: July 26, 2021, 02:39:50 PM »
The Olympics? Doesn't even register on my GAS meter.

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