04/20/24
August 13, 2012
SportsFilter: The Monday Huddle:
A place to discuss the sports stories that aren't making news, share links that aren't quite front-page material, and diagram plays on your hand. Remember to count to five Mississippi before commenting in anger.
Did Caster Semenya tank the 800m?
posted by Etrigan at 10:29 AM on August 13, 2012
MLS to track player's positions
Good.
speed
Cool.
acceleration
Kinda hard to imagine that graphically, but interesting.
heartbeats
Say what now?
posted by grum@work at 10:32 AM on August 13, 2012
"MLS to track player's positions, speed, acceleration and heartbeats and provide fans with access to results."
Good. About time. World Cup 2010 had a decent first stab at heat mapping player positions and then Euro 2012 half-arsed it and their stuff was way less impressive than the free iOS app from 4-4-2.
posted by Mr Bismarck at 10:56 AM on August 13, 2012
Did Caster Semenya tank the 800m?
It is shameful to suggest such a thing with zero evidence to back it up.
posted by bperk at 11:53 AM on August 13, 2012
Agreed, bperk. Also note from a linked article, "If Semenya wins the gold, she is likely to be accused of having an unfair advantage. If she runs poorly, she is likely to be accused of sandbagging the race so as not to be accused of having an unfair advantage."
posted by Etrigan at 12:14 PM on August 13, 2012
Did Caster Semenya tank the 800m?
It is shameful to suggest such a thing with zero evidence to back it up.
But it's so much fun to do!
Did June Thomas strangle puppies for fun and profit?
posted by grum@work at 01:00 PM on August 13, 2012
"If Semenya wins the gold, she is likely to be accused of having an unfair advantage. If she runs poorly, she is likely to be accused of sandbagging the race so as not to be accused of having an unfair advantage."
This seems familiar to me...
"If Clemens/Bonds don't answer the accusations of PED use, then it's obvious they used them. If Clemens/Bonds vigorously defend themselves against the accusations of PED use, then it's obvious that they are trying to hide something."
posted by grum@work at 01:03 PM on August 13, 2012
On the PED theme, the women's shot put champion failed a drug test and was stripped of her gold medal, vindicating (somewhat) a British male putter who accused her of doping -- and looking like a man -- on Twitter last week.
posted by etagloh at 05:49 PM on August 13, 2012
and looking like a man
Failing a drug test doesn't make that comment OK.
As a Kiwi I was pleased Val Adams didn't try to excuse not winning on the with accusations of doped opponents, and delighted it turns out she got the gold she's worked her arse off to get.
posted by rodgerd at 07:22 PM on August 13, 2012
Failing a drug test doesn't make that comment OK.
No, it doesn't, hence the "(somewhat)"; I agree with the sentiments of this post on the whole thing.
posted by etagloh at 07:25 PM on August 13, 2012
Bill Ranford's day with The Cup
posted by tommybiden at 08:22 PM on August 13, 2012
A little harsh?
Well, it's just over a year after this happened to the A's.
posted by grum@work at 09:46 PM on August 13, 2012
Did Brett Morse say the female shot putter looked like a man, or just that he was glad he didn't look like her? Either way it's harsh, of course.
posted by rcade at 10:01 PM on August 13, 2012
In interviews following the Twitter furore, yes: "Obviously, physically, she just looks like a man and can lift 200 kilos, which is just ridiculous." From all accounts, the throwers comprise a fairly small and tight subcommunity -- with their unglamorous events shunted off to the edges of competitions -- so I'm not surprised that they're gossipy.
posted by etagloh at 12:05 AM on August 14, 2012
"Looks like a man" is an interesting observation. A transgendered woman once told me that when we look at a person and try (consciously or unconsciously) to determine their gender, it takes five "female" cues to overcome a single "male" cue. In other words, there's something in us, nature or nurture (I tend to think the latter, but whatever) that insists that male is the norm. When it takes five "female" cues (long hair, check; short stature, check; high voice, check; carrying a purse, check; wearing certain colors, check) to overcome one "male" cue, it's pretty easy to see where this "looks like a man" stuff comes up over and over and over and over again where female athletes are concerned. Has muscles! Not wearing makeup! Athletic! Damn, we now need fifteen female cues OR WE'RE GOING TO THINK SHE LOOKS LIKE A MAN!
tl;dr: this is about the stupidest shit ever, and most people do it all the time, and are completely unaware that they're doing it, and the only way it will ever go away is if people just pull their heads out of their asses.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 10:07 AM on August 14, 2012
From all accounts, the throwers comprise a fairly small and tight subcommunity ...
Not tight enough for Morse to afford her a little common decency.
posted by rcade at 11:21 AM on August 14, 2012
MLS to track player's positions, speed, acceleration and heartbeats and provide fans with access to results.