Post: #51

(06-03-2014 06:27 AM)Mage Wrote:  

(06-03-2014 05:56 AM)Slick Shimmer Wrote:  

(06-03-2014 05:51 AM)Mage Wrote:  What are the unique narrative possibilities that japanese script offers and aplhabetic systems lack?

I'm not finished the course yet, so I can't give you an expert analysis or anything, (as I can't sight-read Japanese yet) but Japan co-opted the Chinese alphabet but retain several scripts of their own. They often use multiple scripts at one time, so they can take advantage of very strange puns and in-jokes by cross-referencing.

Still the simplicity of western style alphabet seems superior to me.

This was a very uneducated and idiotic comment.

Post: #52

(06-03-2014 06:27 PM)Teedub Wrote:  As for the OP, I love the show. It's a bit of fun in my opinion. Plus, who doesn't want to see a man pull a truck down the road!

This was the reason I started the thread, and I think most people watching don't care whether the guy pulling the truck down the road is white, black or Asian. As far as I know, every race has been at least somewhat represented in the sport, even if most of the first place winners were white.

Post: #53

(06-02-2014 09:14 AM)Samseau Wrote:  Regardless if the strongest men are Black or White (although Whites do seem to have the advantage), it's obvious that Asians will be under-represented in the strength category.

Stereotypes which are probably true:

Blacks: Speed
Whites: Strength
Asians: Intelligence

How do you explain China whooping everyone's ass in weightlifting?

For the record, I'm white. No bones to pick here.

Post: #54

China is surely going to become a more dominant force at the Olympics simply by sheer size of population. The other thing about the Chinese Olympic programme is that they seem to be a lot more strategic about which events they target, particularly at a youth level. In the U.S., the overwhelming majority of athletic talent goes into basketball and American football. The latter is not an Olympic event. Basketball (and other team sports) is a really poor return on investment. It's basically ten people (?) for one medal. On the other hand, the Chinese have been targetting sports such as shooting (counter intuitive, huh?) that are out of the limelight because there's very high overlap between disciplines, and so one athlete can bag several medals. Of course, swimming and track can be like that, too, but they're highly contested. If I remember correctly, the Chinese were also looking at targeting other low profile sports such as kayaking for the same reason.

India, on the other hand, seems to take pride in not doing well at the Olympics, and to a large extent, I'd agree with them. What a colossal waste of taxpayer money it is having a major sporting programme like that.

Post: #55

(06-03-2014 11:37 PM)dreambig Wrote:  

(06-02-2014 09:14 AM)Samseau Wrote:  Regardless if the strongest men are Black or White (although Whites do seem to have the advantage), it's obvious that Asians will be under-represented in the strength category.

Stereotypes which are probably true:

Blacks: Speed
Whites: Strength
Asians: Intelligence

How do you explain China whooping everyone's ass in weightlifting?

For the record, I'm white. No bones to pick here.

Their olympic team is unbelievable. Even their women's team is almost beyond comprehension. One of their female lifters can clean and jerk something like 350 pounds and jerk 385 right off the pins. Even if you consider steroids (despite their rigorous testing standards) that kind of strength still flies in the face of upper body strength with respect to sexual dimorphism, it's entirely possible that women just don't train hard enough to give an accurate picture of how much more potential men have than women (if any).

Post: #56

Post: #57

My brother was telling me the greatest weightlifter in the world (or of all-time, I forget which) is Iranian.

And he was telling me that this dude is the most famous person in Iran.

And in Iran they feel justified in feeling they have the greatest sportsman in the world. There are hundreds of sportspeople who are most famous around the world.

And cooler.

And richer.

And faster.

And more skillful.

But who is the strongest?

Post: #58

(06-04-2014 01:58 AM)cardguy Wrote:  My brother was telling me the greatest weightlifter in the world (or of all-time, I forget which) is Iranian.

He's one strong dude, do you think he gets loads of Iranian girls?

He's got the official world record at the moment but he's not the strongest of all time in the clean and jerk. Leonid Taranenko lifted 266.0 kg vs Hossein Rezazadeh's 263.6 kg.

The world records were wiped after the weightlifting classes got restructured. They shouldn't have bothered nullifying the heavyweight record as bodyweight limits don't matter with the big buys.

Here's Taranenko's real world record

Post: #59

(06-03-2014 11:37 PM)dreambig Wrote:  

(06-02-2014 09:14 AM)Samseau Wrote:  Regardless if the strongest men are Black or White (although Whites do seem to have the advantage), it's obvious that Asians will be under-represented in the strength category.

Stereotypes which are probably true:

Blacks: Speed
Whites: Strength
Asians: Intelligence

How do you explain China whooping everyone's ass in weightlifting?

For the record, I'm white. No bones to pick here.

Doping

Post: #60

I think China dope a lot of their athletes as well.

Anyone remember the 16 year old girl at a recent Olympics who kep beating everyone (and breaking world records?) in the swimming events?

I wonder if anything ever came out about her?

Post: #61

(06-04-2014 08:44 AM)Samseau Wrote:  

(06-03-2014 11:37 PM)dreambig Wrote:  

(06-02-2014 09:14 AM)Samseau Wrote:  Regardless if the strongest men are Black or White (although Whites do seem to have the advantage), it's obvious that Asians will be under-represented in the strength category.

Stereotypes which are probably true:

Blacks: Speed
Whites: Strength
Asians: Intelligence

How do you explain China whooping everyone's ass in weightlifting?

For the record, I'm white. No bones to pick here.

Doping

That goes for everyone else too. Try again.

Post: #62

(06-03-2014 08:20 AM)Hades Wrote:  So what if these big guys get injuries. Does that justify practically everyone being weak as kittens compared to them?
Lots of strong guys have never gotten injured, and even the ones who have know it comes with the territory. If winning is important then injuries are no reason to avoid heavy weights. Even if you get injured a few times by the time you're 40 you should understand that it's more about commitment to performance rather than avoidance of discomfort. No risk no reward.

Weak as kittens? I beg to differ.

There are plenty of men who can deadlift or squat over 300kg without being their size, you work with what you have and you go from there.

These men may be the strongest on Earth but they are far from all-rounders.

They cannot excel at anything else except in strength sports, they're just too damn big. On the battlefield they pose a threat but if you gas them out long enough they become exposed.

Post: #63

The World's Strongest Man is a Yuletide tradition in the Turpin household. I've watched it since I was a kid, cheered on Geoff Capes (UK), Sigmarsson (The Viking!), Pudzianowski (incredible), Savickas (Big Z!).

In the UK, they screen the qualifiers over Christmas and the whole thing culminates with the Grand Final on New Years Day. I insist that the whole family sit down quietly and watch it with me. The rest of the Christmas TV can fuck off.

SPOILERS ......

This year was interesting. I'd managed to avoid spoilers (it's filmed in the summer!) so had no idea who would win it. I was honestly expecting Brian Shaw to win it. Hafthor won it in the end and no-one can argue with that really (how does Iceland do it?! With a population less than a UK city!)

The most incredible competitor for me though was Poland's Mateusz Kieliszkowski. Quiet, business-like, no-nonsense and incredible fast and strong considering he was much lighter than some of his contemporaries. In fact, he was the most 'normal', fittest looking one there. I find it astonishing that he proved so strong despite a distinct lack of 'power belly'! His deadlifting let him down a little but they all have an achilles heel.




I miss the old days though, when they used to arm-wrestle each other, or do tug-o-war, see how many swimsuit models they can lift! Too professional now.

Big Z has been my favourite of recent years and he's quietly losing ground, with old age and injuries. But for him to make the final yet again was incredible.