The Miscellaneous Sports Thread

[Liep]

Watching Hockey now and it feels like there's too many players on the field. Also did they build an entire stadium just for hockey or does something else use those dimensions as well?

[Josquius]

5 a side football I guess?

[Duque de Bragança]

Watching the Olympics opening ceremony. They are playing JPRG soundtacks while the athletes parade 

If I had known that, I would have watched it.

[Grey Fox]

I'm hoping Yorkshire puts in a strong showing again.

Glancing at the opening ceremony it's interesting/sad that a lot of countries haven't sent many people. Ethiopia seemed to be only a handful of guys. Normally they're strong at long distance.

Athletes are only allowed to show up 5 days before their events. I assume Ethiopian athletes mostly compete in the 2nd week Track competitions.

[Admiral Yi]

Does anyone know what the function of the player with the different colored uniform is in volleyball?

Pretty sure they're not the goalie.

[The Larch]

Does anyone know what the function of the player with the different colored uniform is in volleyball?

Pretty sure they're not the goalie.

They can't spike the ball to the other court, they can only set it up for their team mates.

[PDH]

They are the defensive specialist - the Libero.  They always play in the back row and are the designated person who digs out the shots.  They don't spike or front row set the ball.

[Sheilbh]

Bloody hell, South Korea

Chernobyl for Ukraine, pizza for Italy: South Korean TV apologises for Olympic images
    MBC sorry for 'inappropriate images and captions'
    Syria and Haiti summed up by war and unrest
Tom Lutz
@tom_lutz
Sat 24 Jul 2021 12.59 BST

A South Korean broadcaster has apologised after using offensive images to depict several countries during the opening ceremony of the Olympics on Friday.

MBC displayed photos and facts about each country as athletes walked out during the parade of nations. Most of them varied from inane to odd: Great Britain's athletes were accompanied by a photo of the Queen, and El Salvador, where the cryptocurrency is legal tender, was summed up by a bitcoin symbol.

Others offered basic stereotypes. MBC used a photo of Dracula for Romania, pizza for Italy and salmon for Norway.

However, there were others that drew criticism. When Ukraine's athletes walked out MBC flashed up an image of the Chernobyl disaster, which is considered the worst nuclear accident in history and devastated large parts of the surrounding area. The Marshall Islands were described as "once a nuclear test site for the United States".

Haiti's athletes, meanwhile, were accompanied by photos of men protesting in front of an explosion and the words "the political situation is fogged by the assassination of the president". Jovenel Moïse, the president of Haiti, was killed at his home earlier this month.

Rather than concentrating on Syria's rich culture and historic sites, MBC said it was known for "underground resources; a civil war that has been going on for 10 years".

After backlash on social media, the broadcaster issued an apology. "Inappropriate images and captions were used to introduce some stories," said MBC in a statement. "We apologized to those countries including Ukraine and our viewers."

The opening ceremony was a more subdued event than usual with spectators absent from the stadium due to Covid-19 restrictions. The Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka lit the Olympic cauldron to start the Games.

Raphael Rashid
@koryodynasty
South Korean broadcaster MBC used images to "represent" each country during the #Tokyo2020 Opening Ceremony.

Italy: pizza

Norway: salmon

Haiti: upheaval

Ukraine: Chernobyl

Also:

Raphael Rashid
@koryodynasty
Sweden: said it was the "developed country of welfare" but made a typo in "developed country" (선진국) and wrote "선지국" which is cow blood soup, a Korean delicacy.

One more thing: MBC also indicated the GDP and vaccination rate for each country, leaving netizens baffled.

[celedhring]

Jon Rahm down with Covid, that's a medal gone. Dude was vaccinated *AND* already had Covid.

For some reason I find golf at the Olympics to be weird. 

[Josquius]

Shooting at the Olympics is the weirdest.
How is this counted as sport?

Odd to observe skateboarding with no helmets. You'd think at this top level it'd be mandatory.

[Josephus]

I'm surprised the Americans don't win at shooting every time. It's like in their DNA; like hockey to Canadians, football to latinos, gymnastics to Romanians.. etc.

[PDH]

It doesn't take place in schools.

[Grey Fox]

I'm surprised the Americans don't win at shooting every time. It's like in their DNA; like hockey to Canadians, football to latinos, gymnastics to Romanians.. etc.

The American sports dominance is conducted thru Collegiate sports. If it's not there, they are only good once in a while.

[celedhring]

I'm surprised the Americans don't win at shooting every time. It's like in their DNA; like hockey to Canadians, football to latinos, gymnastics to Romanians.. etc.

The American sports dominance is conducted thru Collegiate sports. If it's not there, they are only good once in a while.

Plenty of shooting at the college level.

(sorry)

[jimmy olsen]

This isn't exactly the dream team, but it's still a team that would earn a top 4 seed in the NBA playoffs. They shouldn't be losing to France.

https://www.nba.com/news/usa-basketball-announces-2021-olympic-team-roster