The Official 2024 Paris Summer Olympics Thread (from July 26 - August 11) - Closing Ceremony replay at 7pm EST

[Space Cowboy]

Just saw a breh kick ass at the Olympics in gymnastics and it was amazing showing. Could pull USA ahead get the gold

 

[DetroitEWarren]

water polo>

treading water laterally hits the thighs/glutes like nothing else

Every time I try I can't stay above water, can't even float on my back without turning over.

I legit have felt retarded for years because I can't figure out how to stay above deep water. Treading just does not work for me, although I have pulled off floating on my back at least once but couldn't repeat it.

 

[MustafaSTL]

NBC been knocking these games out of the park.

 

[Space Cowboy]

Every time I try I can't stay above water, can't even float on my back without turning over.

I legit have felt retarded for years because I can't figure out how to stay above deep water. Treading just does not work for me, although I have pulled off floating on my back at least once but couldn't repeat it.

Do the frog plus use your arms on the side combined with your legs.



You’ll look like a jellyfish

 

[Bigwhite2498]

The right player could absolutely transition and its not unheard of; There was a player for Ireland Tom Court who stopped playing rugby as a kid to focus on Track n Field but then switched back to rugby at 24 and did pretty well for himself ... But kind like for NFL I think a player taking up rugby in his 20's could only really stand out in a few of the positions

For USA to really take off I think we need more guys playing rugby in the spring during their school years and getting a good understanding of the game while their young b/c on of the hardest aspects of learning the game is learning how to read the flow of the action and pick your spots to really go 100% cause even the fitttest person on earth would be gassed trying to go full speed the whole time in an 80 min match

Also just my take but while I'm skeptical if the 15 woman game could really catch on here, I think womens 7s has significantly more potential to blow up

I see. it would be interesting to how good we really could become considering the athletes we have in the US

 

[MenacingMonk]

The Japanese be running the skateboarding competition.

 

[Bigwhite2498]

There's a shytload of issues to unpack with US Rugby regarding the 15's game. I'll give just a few main problems.

The US Rugby Federation went bankrupt a few years back and hasn't recovered.

No real money in US Rugby to make it as a career unless they can make it to Europe South Africa and Australia/New Zealand club rugby. Best bet is Europe.

Major League Rugby doesn't care about the NT team their goal is to turn a profit. (Club rugby is a flawed business model and majority of the clubs worldwide run at a loss) Most of the teams are made up of majority foreigner players. So young American players aren't getting better.

The biggest issue playing wise and for US Rugby to grow is that they don't play the Tier 1 nations enough/hardly at all. And the other Tier 2 nations have caught up while the US has stagnated and regressed. They shouldn't be losing to the likes of Chile and Brasil and drawing with Portugal. As the US are regarded as high performance nation while those 3 are below that.

Now the good news. The Rugby 15's World Cup is coming to America in 2031. So you can count on World Rugby will try their best to get America having a competitive team for 2031 because they themselves want US Dollars. So that should mean some more investment will likely come into the game over the next 2-3 years while they prepare for 2031.

That’s good that it’s getting more investment possibly. I could see the game getting huge here if i remember correctly I think that’s how we got American football. The game is exciting and the be hitting the hell outta each other. I rather watch that in the spring instead of the boring ass UFL or whatever it’s called

 

[Kunty McPhuck]

Say breh, what's the top Rugby league in the world in terms of prestige, competition, star power etc? I'm hooked on Rugby Sevens, but now I'm curious to check out the 15 man game as well.

I don't know much about rugby, but I'm down to learn. I even copped that New Zealand jersey just because the team is called "All Blacks"

FYI there is also a Rugby code called Rugby League (13 a side) which has slight differences to the Rugby Union. Its probably more comparable to Gridiron than Union is. As an example in League you have 6 plays to try and score in Union its unlimited possession.

Club Rugby The strongest club competition is in Europe. And that's mainly because Covid basically killed off the Super Rugby which was made up of the Kiwi Aussie and Saffer teams. The Saffers left after Covid and they joined the European competiton. And none of the other South Hemisphere countries club teams outside of Australia and New Zealand are miles behind in level. Its like a Div 2 or 3 College playing an NFL team. Super Rugby was electric the skills the pace the physicality the athleticism was different compared to European Rugby.

New Zealand domestic club rugby is probably the highest level in terms of skills athleticism and violence (hitting). Then after that I'd say South Africa and France have the 2 next strongest domestic club competitions. Usually the French teams win the European Club competitions as they have the most money to spend on talent. While Australia is a powerhouse in Rugby Union but have been in slowly decline for the last decade both on and off the field. It is also the 3rd sport behind Rugby League and Aussie Rules Football so the popularity in Australia has taken a hit.

In Rugby Union International Rugby is King. So the best Rugby competition outside of the World Cup is the Rugby Championship which is between New Zealand Australia South Africa and Argentina so basically the 4 best/strongest South Hemisphere teams. This year competition starts on 10th August and runs till end of September. After that ots the 6 Nations so England Scotland Wales Ireland France and Italy. Which runs from 1st weekend in February till the end of March. And then you have the Autumn Internationals which is the Southern Hemisphere teams touring the Northern Hemisphere 6 Nation Teams which take place in November and early December.

 

[The axe murderer]

The Japanese be running the skateboarding competition.

First place women 14 years. Second place 15

 

[Megadeus]

Every time I try I can't stay above water, can't even float on my back without turning over.

I legit have felt retarded for years because I can't figure out how to stay above deep water. Treading just does not work for me, although I have pulled off floating on my back at least once but couldn't repeat it.

Trust me, ive felt retarded for the longest time. I could swim in any direction but treading water in place is super difficult. I later found out that i'm naturally not buoyant. My natural skeleton/muscle type is dense as fxck and causes me to sink fast ( they say it's a trend with us apparently)

but yeah Ive always had issues treading.

 

[BlackAchilles]

Say breh, what's the top Rugby league in the world in terms of prestige, competition, star power etc? I'm hooked on Rugby Sevens, but now I'm curious to check out the 15 man game as well.

I don't know much about rugby, but I'm down to learn. I even copped that New Zealand jersey just because the team is called "All Blacks"

If you tryna watch rugby in the US our best accessible competiition IMO is the 6 Nations on Peacock, starting right around/after Super Bowl weekend

Its basically the annual European championship

 

[RugbyMan]

Can our women’s rugby team beat New Zealand?

No

 

[ViShawn]

fukking AMAZING kid! #BlackExcellence

 

[ViShawn]

Just saw a breh kick ass at the Olympics in gymnastics and it was amazing showing. Could pull USA ahead get the gold

Frederick Richard

 

[RugbyMan]

There's a shytload of issues to unpack with US Rugby regarding the 15's game. I'll give just a few main problems.

The US Rugby Federation went bankrupt a few years back and hasn't recovered.

No real money in US Rugby to make it as a career unless they can make it to Europe South Africa and Australia/New Zealand club rugby. Best bet is Europe.

Major League Rugby doesn't care about the NT team their goal is to turn a profit. (Club rugby is a flawed business model and majority of the clubs worldwide run at a loss) Most of the teams are made up of majority foreigner players. So young American players aren't getting better.

The biggest issue playing wise and for US Rugby to grow is that they don't play the Tier 1 nations enough/hardly at all. And the other Tier 2 nations have caught up while the US has stagnated and regressed. They shouldn't be losing to the likes of Chile and Brasil and drawing with Portugal. As the US are regarded as high performance nation while those 3 are below that.

Now the good news. The Rugby 15's World Cup is coming to America in 2031. So you can count on World Rugby will try their best to get America having a competitive team for 2031 because they themselves want US Dollars. So that should mean some more investment will likely come into the game over the next 2-3 years while they prepare for 2031.

^100% this.

Pat Clifton wrote a series of articles going into details with the problems USA Rugby faces, and he touched on most of these points. I’ll also add:

1) Football really does drain the talent pool of other American sports (rugby, boxing, soccer etc). I coached high school rugby, and football coaches explicitly forbid their players from coming over even though the sports compete at different times of the year.

2) When a football player is allowed to cross over, he’s met with a lot of cacish gatekeepers who don’t want “those guys” invading “their” sport. I personally went through this when I played rugby, and it wasn’t until I got called up into the Sevens pool that the animosity died down.