I've not seen that article. I guess I sort of expect that level of hubris, especially from an individual athlete like swimmers are. If you don't think you're the greatest, you certainly won't be. And its hard separate the two, at the expense of seeming like a dickhead. On the more positive recent trend of this thread, the Dutch Field Hockey team is a bunch of smokeshows...
If one of those positions involves staring down the barrel of a rifle, I'll pass. What does one of those rifles cost, anyhow?
A top of the line, Olympic-level prone or 3-Position rifle is at least $3000. I know of one from a Swiss firm called Grunig & Elmiger that runs $7500 from the factory. This is an Anschutz 2013, which many competitors use (Ms. Furrer included): What sets them apart is that you can adjust this rifle to fit your skeletal structure to the Nth degree. The amount of tinkering and tuning to make it fit your body and shooting style is simply staggering and the goal is to make it fit you best so when you are in your shooting position, as much of the rifle is supported by your bones and not muscles (short story). When someone orders a custom stock from me, I take a bunch of measurements and carve it to fit their own dimensions like a glove, but it only fits them. With the Anschutz 2013, the same rifle can fit anyone just as well without a yearlong wait on a custom, unadjustable stock. The barrel, trigger, action, sights, etc. are also optimized for target shooting and less "out there" like the stock, but still nothing like your off the shelf .22s. This is my prone/3P rifle, which was used by ze East Germans in the 60's-80's (mine made in '89, same month I was born). This is pretty much what the modern designs originated from.
Re: Ryan Lochte Douchebag Seriously? The guy is a refined human specimen in an individual sport. You have to tell yourself you have trained to be the best. It's what Michael Jordan did, and hey it turned out for him. The people that are the first to sit and tear someone down for being full of themselves are usually not very confident about themselves and throw people with higher self-esteem under the bus. Now adding on the fact his current career has another 4 years max, before he ends up becoming a coach to a future iteration of his current self...he has all right to carpe the hell out of that diem. I'd also love to see anyone, anyone stay humble when you have millions of tweets, emails, blog posts, anything talking about how badly girls/guys want you and stay humble. When you have a million people telling you that you're the shit, eventually you're going to stop and say "Hey, I'm the shit." Toss in the fact you're at the Olympics, you're winning some medals, and you won a race against Poseidon himself...I think you can be a little full of yourself. I know I'd love me some me. And I'd love to have a pair of shoes that put my name in the sand when I walk. That's baller shit right there.
I take everything back! He just came in third place for the backstroke. I think you're jealous of Ryan Lochte BS4.0. Let the guy live his life. Any number 1 athlete is going to have that attitude. Kobe has it, Jordan STLL has it, all of them have it. Also, humble is effing boring. It seriously is. Please don't think I'm a dink Ballsack, my entire self-esteem and any validation I have in the world is how I stand in your eyes, I might have to cancel my flip-flop order that has "Par" on the left and "ker" on the right. (I'll let you think about how ironic your "you're becoming a clown on here" statement is.)
Interesting...she lives just a few miles from my hometown in Idaho, I was looking at news from back there and they were reporting on her. A few years back we had a girl from my hometown in the Olympic shooting too. Name: Amanda Furrer Sport: Shooting Discipline: 50m Three Position Current Residence: Spokane, Wash.
I love Michael Phelps. That guy is incredible. It's too bad he dogged it that last half second in the 200m Butterfly Final.
Lochte is a douche and heres why. Hes so arrogant, so full of himself that he thinks every idea he has should be expressed and he should run with it, despite obvious reasons not to. The grill is stupid, not cool, not funny, just stupid. His shoes are narcissistic. Athletes should be confident, they should enjoy their athletic gifts while they can, they should enjoy their lifestyle while they can, however they should act like a professional. That means playing nice with the media and pretending to be a good person. Its not hard. Lochte is so self absorbed he seemingly looses sight of the fact that the event is bigger than him, that his success is temporary and one day he'll be old and washed up. I hope he's matured more by then because once he gets to the point when he's no longer wanted he may have a hard time with it. I don't care about his sex life, just keep it quite. I don't care about his narcissism, just play it down if he can stand it. I do care about that grill. Have some respect for the event and those around you. I never saw Phelps act half as arrogant (which is different from confident) as Lochte. Like I said, pretend to play nice. As a public we don't ask much from out athletes. Pretend like you don't screw a different girl every night, if indeed you do thats cool cause you know you're a pro athlete, but when talking to reporters make up a lie or say nothing. Have a public respect for those around you, we know you think you're better than everyone, just don't act like it to people's faces. Dress decently, try not to let any photos of you taking bong hits leak. Lochte is such douche that these simple things escape him, that or he simply doesn't care. It'll be interesting to see how reacts once his career dims, athletes like this tend to have a hard time letting go and moving on.
My only hope is that Lochte is kicking himself in the teeth by showing his true colors for future endorsement deals. If you were looking for an Olympic swimmer to showcase your products are you going to pick the charming 17 yo swimmer who has blown away expectations, or the 27 yo swimmer who sports a grill, whose mom pimps him out on a morning talk show, who hasn't lived up to the hype?
Lochte was suppose to steal the show this year, he hasn't. In the 4x100 relay he dropped the ball and caused the US to get silver, he choked. He was ahead in the last 50 and got caught from behind. That shouldn't happen to the next great thing.
1) Again, I think that comment from his mom was out of context. It doesnt help, but I think it was more about a fractured dating life not being a man whore. 2) Hype or not, he still has 5 medals, likely will add another gold in the medley relay, giving him 3 golds, 2 silvers, and a bronze. That and girls still love him. His marketability will be fine.
I still say the tides are turning. Maybe pre-Olympics the girls love him, they probably still appreciate the looks, but pretty much since the Olympics have started more has been made about his "personality" than his medals And let's face it, it's wha we are talking about and we are not a crowd who doesn't appreciate a good douche. Look where we came from
That right there, isn't that the reason to go balls out? Isn't it why he should be going crazy because as I mentioned before he's at his twelfth out of fiftheen minute of fame? Also, IS the event really bigger than him? If he lost every major event he was in, would we be talking about America losing or we be talking about Ryan Lochte losing? Just saying. Endorsement deals...lolwut? I'm in advertising, I'm all about celebrity endorsements. Phelps endorsed Subway. So did Jared. Whoop-tee-fucking-doo. Oh and Head & Shoulders dandruff shampoo. He didn't get Coke, Pepsi, McDonald's Burger King or any of the advertising juggernaughts. Unfortunately Olympian Endorsement deals last 6 months to a year max at that. Unless you're Apollo Ono, who is still jumping on Subway ads, I doubt he's making it rain on dem hoes compared to what Aaron Rodgers got from his silly State Farm cameos. Also, Lochte did score 2 golds, 2 silvers, and 1 bronze. There are countries that cry tears of joy if they get a bronze. He's pretty much living up to his hype. The guy isn't Michael Phelps, but he did beat Michael Phelps in a race once. Also, that grill was the American flag. Do you hate 'Murica? I think you might hate 'Murica. But you know... Spoiler
Yeah, totally. If he was a gymnast, though, he could've continued on by fighting off attackers by finding stone remains that look exactly like a pommel horse that happened to be in the middle of the old city. (jump ahead to 0:40 mark) Personally, I think NBC's coverage would be a lot better if they'd added in some of those kick-punch sounds during the routines.
I saw this today and thought it was funny: "I can't wait 'til I'm done swimming...so I can go to the market...and do a little shopping." I was rooting for Lochte over Phelps because I thought Phelps was obnoxious, but he's actually acting somewhat classy this go-around. I guess not medaling in an event and a lot of talk of being "dethroned" will do that. As long as we win, and the racing is good, I'm happy. I'm trying real hard not to get spoiled for the ladies' gymnastics...so tempting.
Golly these German beach volleyball players sure are touchy feely with each other. They're playing holland and I am currently within spitting distance of the Dutch border, but you know what? I'm not conflicted about who to cheer for. We all win here.