Brazil Olympics 2016

[Imp]

These things are starting August 5, 2016 according to the interwebs. May as well get an early start on a thread.

So, um, anyone going?

They apparently have sewage problems for water sports:
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/a...ppens-when-theres-sewage-in-the-water/476013/

Then there's the Zika...

President may be getting impeached (video in link):
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-36263678

There's some massive recession in Brazil (AUTO-PLAY VIDEO in link):
http://money.cnn.com/2016/03/03/news/economy/brazil-recession-lower-middle-class/

Some Brazilian soccer player is saying things are happening...
https://www.thestar.com/news/world/...cs-due-to-violence-political-instability.html

But in all likelihood, games will go off without a hitch?

 

[Anubis]

lol going

shit I wouldn't go if they were in the US

 

[Ns1]

Games will go off without a hitch. But what about the future Zika babies? O_O

 

[GagHalfrunt]

But in all likelihood, games will go off without a hitch?

Without a hitch? LOL, no effing way. They'll go on and the events will be held and NBC coverage will rhapsodize about the "Olympic Spirit" overcoming all obstacles. But it's going to be a travesty in a shithole and the non-NBC uncensored news coming out of Brazil ought to be really amusing.

 

[waggy]

should be interesting.

 

[Blackjack200]

Without a hitch? LOL, no effing way. They'll go on and the events will be held and NBC coverage will rhapsodize about the "Olympic Spirit" overcoming all obstacles. But it's going to be a travesty in a shithole and the non-NBC uncensored news coming out of Brazil ought to be really amusing.

Yeah, Sochi was a joke, with reporters offering to trade lightbulbs for doorknobs and shit. With Rio, you've got a country descending into a severe economic depression, a government in disarray, a terrible mosquito transmitted virus ready to explode, and sewage flowing into the waterways. The infrastructure is not complete, athletes don't want to go. It's going to be a complete shit show. It could severely damage the Olympic brand. But hey, it's okay because I bet the IOC got to fuck some sweet Brazilian prostitutes.

To steal a line from SAForums, who have a huge thread about Rio, "Mogadishu 2024!"

 

[Homerboy]

Can not wait for the Sochi-esque reports to start coming out once reporters get down there. That was the best thing 2 years ago.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Yeah, Sochi was a joke, with reporters offering to trade lightbulbs for doorknobs and shit. With Rio, you've got a country descending into a severe economic depression, a government in disarray, a terrible mosquito transmitted virus ready to explode, and sewage flowing into the waterways. The infrastructure is not complete, athletes don't want to go. It's going to be a complete shit show. It could severely damage the Olympic brand. But hey, it's okay because I bet the IOC got to fuck some sweet Brazilian prostitutes.

To steal a line from SAForums, who have a huge thread about Rio, "Mogadishu 2024!"

Maybe it will help the TV ratings? It will be like NASCAR, people will watch in the hopes of seeing some carnage. "Well Fred, the USA 4x100 relay team won the gold medal right before the new stadium caught fire and sank into the swamp. Over to Babs at the swimming venue where it appears the entire Dutch team was eaten by piranhas..."

 

[dainthomas]

Who the hell would want to go there and get the zika? Big old pass.

 

[Imp]

Without a hitch? LOL, no effing way. They'll go on and the events will be held and NBC coverage will rhapsodize about the "Olympic Spirit" overcoming all obstacles. But it's going to be a travesty in a shithole and the non-NBC uncensored news coming out of Brazil ought to be really amusing.

I don't know, but it appears that the more unstable or dictatorship a country is, the more it cares about projecting a positive image via the Olympics. Brazil just pulled off FIFA in 2015... maybe they can do it again.

 

[Printer Bandit]

World Cup was a success. Olympics will also be a success.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

World Cup was a success. Olympics will also be a success.

Define "success".

The games were played and no athletes were kidnapped by terrorists. Yay!

Brazil built giant stadiums that are already white elephants generating no revenue and the hoped-for boost in tourism didn't come because the entire country was seen as a dangerous slum. Brazil lost a shit-ton of money it couldn't afford, sank deeper in debt, worsened the recession and got pretty much nothing beneficial in return.

 

[Imp]

Define "success".

The games were played and no athletes were kidnapped by terrorists. Yay!

That is essentially my definition of success for any Olympics in third-world countries. Maybe throw in no one died and no major events got cancelled -- Canada failed years ago when some guy died on a track during practice.

All that economic/white elephant stuff is practically guaranteed for olympics these days.

Maybe I should further clarify, the "performance" of the Olympics, as in the "we're a great country" show, was a "success" is how I judge it... which is pathetic.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

That is essentially my definition of success for any Olympics in third-world countries. Maybe throw in no one died and no major events got cancelled -- Canada failed years ago when some guy died on a track during practice.

All that economic/white elephant stuff is practically guaranteed for olympics these days.

Maybe I should further clarify, the "performance" of the Olympics, as in the "we're a great country" show, was a "success" is how I judge it... which is pathetic.

If the economic/white elephant stuff is guaranteed why do it? A shithole is a shithole, Sochi looked like a shithole and lost a fortune and Brazil looked like a shithole during the World Cup and lost a fortune. Barcelona pulled it off successfully, they came off great, looked like a vacation paradise and got the big uptick in tourism. But Brazil can't do that, every story coming out of there will be Zika, sewage, sickness and slums. Take a broke hellhole and make it worse and call it a success because the decathlon started on time? That's a pretty sad definition of "success". Brazil doesn't have money to provide basic services to most of its citizens and they're pissing away huge piles of cash with no hope of seeing any return.

 

[Anubis]

World Cup was a success. Olympics will also be a success.

not so sure

Brazil cares about Soccer

 

[Anonemous]

I'll take some Zika to go.

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-s...ka-virus-global-health-disaster-a7024146.html

 

[Slew Foot]

The Olympics will go off without a hitch. The long term effects to the country? Meh, who cares.

 

[Imp]

If the economic/white elephant stuff is guaranteed why do it? A shithole is a shithole, Sochi looked like a shithole and lost a fortune and Brazil looked like a shithole during the World Cup and lost a fortune.

With an attitude like that, you'll never work in government or be a CEO...

 

[GagHalfrunt]

With an attitude like that, you'll never work in government or be a CEO...

I'm well aware that my insistence on telling the truth is going to prevent a career in politics, PR, used car sales or law.

 

[Miramonti]

I think the games will go fine for the most part and will be about the athletes. Attendance will completely destroy Brazil's economic model for having them (as if they aren't close to economic meltdown already.) Exception...rowing in water as bad as a sewer...what could go wrong? (besides a few amputations from flesh-eating bacteria)

 

[gorcorps]

Yeah, Sochi was a joke, with reporters offering to trade lightbulbs for doorknobs and shit. With Rio, you've got a country descending into a severe economic depression, a government in disarray, a terrible mosquito transmitted virus ready to explode, and sewage flowing into the waterways. The infrastructure is not complete, athletes don't want to go. It's going to be a complete shit show. It could severely damage the Olympic brand. But hey, it's okay because I bet the IOC got to fuck some sweet Brazilian prostitutes.

To steal a line from SAForums, who have a huge thread about Rio, "Mogadishu 2024!"

If there's one thing to do with a blood transmitted virus like that, you don't bring visitors from every corner of the globe to help it spread faster.

Humanity is doomed, and the Olympics are dead (they've been dying for a while)

 

[FerrelGeek]

But FIFA made million$$$. That's a win, right?

/sarcasm

Define "success".

The games were played and no athletes were kidnapped by terrorists. Yay!

Brazil built giant stadiums that are already white elephants generating no revenue and the hoped-for boost in tourism didn't come because the entire country was seen as a dangerous slum. Brazil lost a shit-ton of money it couldn't afford, sank deeper in debt, worsened the recession and got pretty much nothing beneficial in return.

 

[yllus]

The Olympics will be fine; running the core activities is so professionalized at this point that you could put them down in the Sahara and they'd probably be fine.

 

[vi edit]

I don't know if it's because I've been completely numbed by ESPN, non-stop sports stuff year round, so many other on-demand services to fill my time (Netflix, Amazon, ect) or what...

But I have lost any and all interest in the Olympics at this point. When I was a kid and we had 3 channels of TV and no internet the Olympics were something very different and special. Now...I'm just...meh.

 

[Anubis]

I don't know if it's because I've been completely numbed by ESPN, non-stop sports stuff year round, so many other on-demand services to fill my time (Netflix, Amazon, ect) or what...

But I have lost any and all interest in the Olympics at this point. When I was a kid and we had 3 channels of TV and no internet the Olympics were something very different and special. Now...I'm just...meh.

current coverage is so horrid they are basically unwatchable anyway