I remember seeing the first gold medal that got awarded - to an American. The actual event was weird as a spectator. They were shooting air rifles at a stationary target (still a very small one at that), and I would be thinking, "When did they even pull a trigger?"
The last gold medal was in men's basketball, where you kind of knew the results ahead of time. I actually thought the last three games were "seeded" wrong. Serbia were 2-3 in pool play, and then started to beat the better teams. I could see them as a semifinalist facing the USA. Actually, when we played them the first time, the game came down to a three point margin. Spain are probably the second best team in the world. Australia only lost to the USA in the group phase. Spain vs Australia would sound like a competitive semifinal.
If it had gone that way, I think just two of the medals would've switched places. The USA won by 30 over Serbia, and based on Spain winning the bronze, they beat Australia. To get to the final, Serbia upset Australia, and the USA only won by six over Spain. So, it sounds like Serbia would've upset Australia for the bronze, with Spain in the silver position, and a competitive final where the USA would still come away with a gold.
Overall, I don't remember watching many of the basketball games. I still follow a little of the modern NBA, but this team didn't even have the best player from the 2016 champions or the MVP from the past two seasons. I would guess that most of the players would still make an NBA "All-Star" team, but the talent level of the league seems a little diluted compared to the 1990s. Actually, it's been a while since I've watched a replay from the 1990s.
In the medals "race," it wasn't even close! I think, if you turned the United Kingdom and the Russians into one team, they only would've finished two medals ahead of us. Why were Russia allowed to compete, though? I'm trying to think of who was expected to win a medal but didn't meet the expectations. I think Serena Williams had two chances but lost before any of the medal rounds (Olympic tennis doesn't seem much like their regular season. You'll have people who hardly ever play doubles competing for those medals.). You know how Missy Franklin was all over the commercials during the Olympics? I don't even think she raced in a final this year. Katie Ledecky was a better swimmer, but with a more plain face.
Out of all the team sports, I would say that the women's soccer team were the biggest surprise not to play for any kind of medal. I know that all we had to do was beat Colombia (ranked outside the top 40 worldwide?), but that might not have changed the pairings in the quarterfinals.
Women's field hockey looked a little disappointing to me. We only lost one group game (presumably to the undefeated team - probably the UK). Then, we had to play third place Germany from the other group (maybe a stronger group?), and that was a one goal loss.
I didn't really know that sports like field hockey and water polo could have shootouts to break ties. It kind of makes sense, if the score stays tied. Based on video of the field hockey version, it looks kind of like the NHL. The goalie can come out to block the player's angles, but not tackle or really touch them. There's also a time limit for the offensive player to attempt a shot. I'm not sure about water polo, but I'd picture it where the goalie has to stay near the goal. I think the shootout score from that sport was something crazy like 19-18.
Have you ever watched handball? I think the Germans get credit for inventing it. Why doesn't it look very original? The announcers said it used to be an outdoor sport. I saw what looked like an indoor surface, with more length than width. It's flat, possibly concrete, with painted lines. There are goals, but only about as tall as the goalie and a little wider than a goalie's "wingspan." The way it stays competitive is that a whole area is painted to restrict anybody but the goalie from standing there. I can't really describe the shape of that (wide like a rectangle, but more round on the edges), or the dimensions.
The way they move the ball reminds me the most of water polo. That could be since you can grip the ball in only one hand, and the best passes seem to be overhand. I'm not sure if a "bounce pass" or anything like that would be legal. Beyond that, it's a set of rules that partially resemble basketball. The announcers will talk about the number three. You can actually walk around with the ball, but can only take three steps before needing a bounce/"dribble" off the ground. I'm not sure if you would need to keep the dribble active, because individual players have to get rid of the ball within three seconds. I'm not sure how long each team can hold the ball before shooting. The only time you absolutely have to shoot is when you're inside a dotted curvy line that's the same distance away from the bright "crease" where only the goalie can stand. In order to get an advantage over the defense blocking all of your angles or to clear some space, an offensive player can jump in a way that they land inside the painted area, but they have to pass or attempt a shot. If you land with the ball, even outside the paint, it's like an "up and down/traveling" violation in basketball.
I couldn't figure out any limits to how you can score a goal. One strategy seems to be bouncing the ball in a way that it gets past the goalie, but you can probably just throw it in a straight line, too. There are even "penalty" throws in that game, where the goalie tends to come out to cut down angles, and the shooter uses that bounce tactic.
Basically, you probably have to watch a match to understand it, right? The final scores I've seen would be 50 or more combined goals between the teams. I think they play two 30 minute halves, with the clock counting UP like soccer/football, but not really any stoppages or "injury time." The players do seem large and it can get pretty physical.
So, yeah. It will actually be less time from now to "Pyeong-Chang 2018," but then a little more time between the winter games (not as fascinating somehow, or we have trouble winning medals) and Tokyo 2020. I know that, in 2022, Beijing are the hosts again (winter instead of summer), so what's with all the Asian cities? I don't think 2024 or beyond have been announced yet. By the next summer games, Michael Phelps would be 35? Usain Bolt is about the same age. Kerri Walsh-Jennings would be 41 or 42! There was this one female gymnast doing vaults (as in a quadruple front flip) at age 41.
Maybe that's part of it? I'm around the age where even people who play pro sports are past their prime or ready to retire, and I keep noticing that happening across other sports (Peyton Manning, Alex Rodriguez). Most of the people in the Olympics from now on would be a younger generation.
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If you see multiple of the same name, it just means different versions that can be in the ring together. Names highlighted in blue are Cruiserweights | ||||
1 Up Man Adam Cole Aerostar Aiden English AJ Styles Akam Akira Tozawa Albert Aleister Black Alexander Wolfe Andrade "Cien" Almas Andre The Giant Angelo Dawkins Animal Apollo Crews Ariya Daivari Arnold T101 Austin Aries B Brian Blair Bam Bam Bigelow Baron Corbin Barron Blade Batista '10 Beautiful Bobby Eaton Big Boss Man '91 Big Boss Man '99 Big Cass Big E Big Show Big Show '00 Bo Dallas Bobby Fish Bobby Roode Booker T Braun Strowman Bray Wyatt Bret Hart '97 Bret Hart '98 Brian Kendrick British Bulldog Brock Lesnar Brutus Beefcake Bryan Danielson Buddy Roberts Butch Cactus Jack '92 Cactus Jack '98 Captain Jobber Cedric Alexander Cesaro Chad Gable Chris Jericho |
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BATTLE TYPES TIME BATTLE: All characters battle for a set amount of time scoring one point per KO and LOSING one point each time they are KO'ed. STOCK BATTLE: All characters have a set number of lives and when they run out, they're done. When combined with a time limit whomever has more lives left when time runs out wins. COIN BATTLE: For 2-4 characters ONLY! Coins are knocked out of characters as they battle. After a fixed time limit whomever has the most coins wins. SETTINGS TIME LIMIT: Can be from 1 to 15 minutes. |