US Olympic Swimmers

Discussion in 'West Mall' started by Hollandtx, Aug 19, 2016.

  1. Hollandtx

    Hollandtx 250+ Posts

    http://www.sfgate.com/ndnvideos/?nd...=45981&sitesection=mysastory_top&vid=31285803


    This link was titled, Proof Ryan Lochte lied about being robbed.

    I'm putting this on the politics page since suddenly the "robbery" story from the Olympics has turned in to a"white man privledge" or "What about the people who complained about Gabby Douglas's frowny face" story.

    What am I missing here? At best, isn't the truth of this robbery at least somewhere in the middle? No, no one pulled up to their taxi and made the swimmers lay down on the street, but, a man does point a gun in to the taxi, the swimmers get out, at various points with their hands raised, and hand money over. Then, the swimmers are escorted to a dark alley, where they sit down, again, sometimes raising their hands, and seem to give more things over to a man/men?
    It seems to me a case of drunk swimmers, perhaps not understanding directions (if they indeed destroyed property) to pay for the damage, OR, some corrupt people taking advantage of US athletes, then trying to shame them in front of the world.
    I know the whole truth will never be fully known, but I am amazed at how quickly people have turned against these men, with little facts, and how quickly this has become a "what if these were black athletes" and "oh, here goes the white privilege".
    If I am in a South American country, and someone points a gun in my face, and doesn't let me go, I call that robbery.
    And, in order to keep my self out of a prison not on US soil, you better believe I would say whatever got me home.
     
    Last edited: Aug 19, 2016
  2. Musburger1

    Musburger1 2,500+ Posts

    For Christ sake, Lochte is 30 years old. He is an immature, spoiled, idiot. Period. The fact is these four swimmers committed vandalism in a night of debauchery and then lied to protect themselves. If they had simply made restitution and owned up to their misconduct it would have been over with and forgotten by now.
     
  3. Hollandtx

    Hollandtx 250+ Posts

    Maybe they are innocent, why own up to something you didn't do...facts are still coming in. I would wager that many on this board have drunkenly missed the urinal in a ratty bathroom.
    Did you watch the videos, or are you just reading headlines?
    I'm not trying to be snarky, I am sincerely curious.
    With all the crime, and a few dead bodies outside the Olympic Village I find it curious that this is the crime of the century in Brazil.
    I also find it curious that the last swimmer is being allowed to return to the states as long as he makes a contribution to a Brazilian charity.
    I don't think we will ever know what happened, but I think we can all agree it has been blown totally out of proportion.
     
  4. Musburger1

    Musburger1 2,500+ Posts

    The video clearly shows them kicking the door in. Two of the swimmers admitted Lochte's story was a lie. Good grief. And the moon is made up of green cheese.
     
  5. ShAArk92

    ShAArk92 1,000+ Posts

    The posse of 4 misbehaved and then failed to take responsibility for it. Even if in their drunken state they misperceived what the armed individual was doing. Don't get drunk! Don't destroy property. Easy.

    Two of the 4 (the two who didn't speak) ... have already lost their endorsements if I read correctly. Now, their endorsements were hardly the same value as that of Phelps ... but they weren't going to need to punch a time clock. Now?

    Lochte has undoubtedly swam his last race for the US Team and I'm fairly certain he'll end-up losing his endorsements ... so ... there's accountability being applied. How many endorsements of value can one team get?

    Look at the gymnastics team. Biles is obviously tops ... Raisman a close second ... then the "endorsement value" drops pretty fast.

    What happened to Douglas? To my knowledge ... NOTHING. If she doesn't compete on the US gymnastics team in 2020, it won't be because she failed to render proper respect during the National Anthem ... or discuss it in an interview. Will Manuel get to compete again after her ridiculous comments? you bet she will.

    Oh, then there's the female soccer player ... solo ... her remarks. Reckon she'll be playing again ... or suffer real consequences beyond a few snide facebook comments? Naw.


    white male privilege my eye.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  6. Run Pincher

    Run Pincher 2,500+ Posts

    As usual with these type of incidents the truth lies somewhere in between. Too bad UT swimmers had to have their names drug though the mud as this seems to be an incident of Lochte acting like a spoiled brat punk.
     
  7. ShAArk92

    ShAArk92 1,000+ Posts

    well, hey ... guilty by association.

    If Lochte is the only bad actor ... the other 3 should have kept him under control. That's what a good wingman does. Lochte didn't win the relay by himself. He didn't get in trouble by himself either.
     
  8. Musburger1

    Musburger1 2,500+ Posts

    I'm pretty sure Putin was behind all of this.
     
  9. Horns11

    Horns11 10,000+ Posts

    Did Douglas, Manuel, or Solo lie about a crime happening to them? There's a difference between stupid comments/attitude and committing an actual crime of false reporting. I'm missing the link.

    Seems like you want the court of public opinion to match your opinion.
     
  10. ShAArk92

    ShAArk92 1,000+ Posts

    Yes of course you are right.

    Gotta keep the narrative alive.

    Hands up don't shoot!

    SMH.
     
  11. Horns11

    Horns11 10,000+ Posts

    What are you talking about? Explain why you think the situation of white male swimmers lying about a crime happening to them (when they, in fact, were the ones committing a crime) and thus, losing their endorsements, parallels how Douglas, Manuel, and Solo should lose their endorsements?
     
  12. Seattle Husker

    Seattle Husker 10,000+ Posts

    Lochte and the other swimmers were apparently idiots. Maybe they were shaken down by the security guard but it appears they were clearly in the wrong place at the wrong time committing what would be misdemeanor crimes were they in the US.

    Not sure if that is "white privilege" but they appear to think they were above reproach. Why concoct the story afterwards though?
     
  13. ShAArk92

    ShAArk92 1,000+ Posts

    Did I or anyone else say or suggest those athletes should lose their endorsements?

    I didn't make the initial comparison, btw. Don't forget that. Everything has to be relative in the world of liberalism ... there is no standard against which a single example can be placed ... because then that means there must be principle.

    If there was presumed privilege it was celebrity privilege .... and the swimmers ARE being held accountable.

    Will the other examples be held to account? the swimmer, the gymnast, the soccer player?

    No, they won't. They are already victims, see.

    Let's return to that "celebrity privilege" shall we?

    In Fall 1991, I got a boondoggle 3 hours credit for being one of about 5 TAs who ran a particular Radio-TV-Film lab. It was associated with a professor-lecture class. The lab for the student was an easy A, too. Monkey See, Monkey Do on a projector, mix board, turntable/two ... easy. The semester prior (Spring '91) I was the monkey student.

    I didn't know beforehand, but apparently this was a targeted course for certain groups in athletics who needed an easy A. I had a handful of football players who passed through. Again, monkey see, monkey do ... Al sign's ya off. Easy A. These guys had the new walkman playing their tunes while I did the demo ... I didn't have a walkman. They'd not pay attention to the demo, and to a man, would respond when I'd challenge "(Susie) will take care of it." Their tutor. They wouldn't even study the playbook!

    They got their A ... for wasting my time on a task which was incredibly easy. I'm not sure how that was accomplished, but I learned if I wanted to press on to graduation, I'd tend to my own business.

    So ... thanks to my experience at The University ... I tire quickly of racism cries. I don't doubt it still exists, but today's minority has no idea ... evidently can't read, either. When there was institutional racism; there was a scourge on our society which weakened us ... we WEREN'T free at all. But since the mid-60s ... students have had the same access to the same education. Noting differences being in support from home, but the curriculum, teachers/administration were very much and intentionally ... SAME. That was 50 years ago.

    With what have we done with our opportunity?
     
    Last edited: Sep 3, 2016
  14. Joe Fan

    Joe Fan 10,000+ Posts

     
    • Like Like x 1
  15. ShAArk92

    ShAArk92 1,000+ Posts

    Isn't that a kicker!

    I apologize to the team members for grouping them with celebrity privilege (prematurely).

    I'm sure there are others who might should consider similar action.
     
  16. UTChE96

    UTChE96 2,500+ Posts

    Very confusing story. Kudos to USA Today for doing some actual journalism. Too bad the rest of the media basically left the story as reported at the "Ugly American" narrative phase.

    I am still not sure what happened. It appears that the swimmers urinated in public and damaged a sign outside the bathroom. For that, they were held up at gun point, had their passports confiscated, and forced to stay in a foreign country while being accused of a fabricated crime. And then they apologized? Is this the gist of the story?
     
    • Like Like x 1
  17. Seattle Husker

    Seattle Husker 10,000+ Posts

    The only rational person in this story may be been that bystander who helped translate between the security guards and the swimmers. Like most stories, the real story was somewhere in the middle of the extremes. Drunk ******** stumbling around in a foreign country get shaken down after putting themselves in a bad situation. That's sounds like a crappy movie script.
     
  18. mchammer

    mchammer 10,000+ Posts

    Disrespecting locals is bad juju. Something bad is going to happen.
     

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