The spirit of the Olympics

[forgetful]

Where's the smart money going on the "Lochte robbery" situation?

a)  Lochte and buddies made up some elaborate story after doing something stupid/illegal and lost all their money
b)  Rio 'officials' are trying to show they are in control, or the the city isn't out of control, and therefore being super d@ckish to the US swimmers, or
c)  something else.

Locate reminds me of Johhny Manziel, both physically and the way he carries himself, so i'm going with "a"

B. The rest don't make any sense.  Lochte is quite well off.  There is zero reason what so ever to concoct an elaborate story and hide it from everyone else, except your parents. 

Robberies by the police or by people pretending to be the police are very common in Brazil (especially rio).  Rio is trying to pass the blame and protect their image. 

May Lochte have been going to get drugs or something; yeah possibly.  But the robbery was not related to that and was nothing more than a typical Rio robbery that the government is trying to coverup by changing the narrative.

[jesmu84]

Saw a question floating around twitter:

If every country had to send one male and one female athlete to complete in every event, who would the US send? And would the US still have the medal lead?

[wadesworld]

Saw a question floating around twitter:

If every country had to send one male and one female athlete to complete in every event, who would the US send? And would the US still have the medal lead?

If you're just going for medal count?  Do swimmers just swim their own events minus relays?

If so, Phelps and Biles, and yes, they win the medal count.

[GooooMarquette]

Where's the smart money going on the "Lochte robbery" situation?

a)  Lochte and buddies made up some elaborate story after doing something stupid/illegal and lost all their money
b)  Rio 'officials' are trying to show they are in control, or the the city isn't out of control, and therefore being super d@ckish to the US swimmers, or
c)  something else.

Locate reminds me of Johhny Manziel, both physically and the way he carries himself, so i'm going with "a"

I'm guessing A.

Sounds like there is inconsistency between his story and Feigin's, and Matt Lauer just said Lochte's story has changed a bit since he got home.  And the video of them getting back to the Olympic Village sure doesn't look like four guys shaken from being held up at gunpoint.  Also strange that Feigin seems to have disappeared.  The other two are now being questioned, so it'll be interesting to see how consistent their versions are.

I hope I'm wrong.

[forgetful]

Saw a question floating around twitter:

If every country had to send one male and one female athlete to complete in every event, who would the US send? And would the US still have the medal lead?

If we are also assuming that they will get time to train for every single event, so not just spontaneously having to do them all, I might go with JFB.

He's got the length and build to be a really successful swimmer, top class athleticism (both agility and straight line speed/strength).

I'd be worried about difficulties in distance events for him though.

If not JFB.  Easy, Ashton Eaton.

On the women's side.

Katie Ledecky.

[forgetful]

I'm guessing A.

Sounds like there is inconsistency between his story and Feigin's, and Matt Lauer just said Lochte's story has changed a bit since he got home.  And the video of them getting back to the Olympic Village sure doesn't look like four guys shaken from being held up at gunpoint.  Also strange that Feigin seems to have disappeared.  The other two are now being questioned, so it'll be interesting to see how consistent their versions are.

I hope I'm wrong.

Just curious, why would they lie about it?  Remember, the media only learned of this because Lochte's mom mentioned it to the media.  It was not initially reported to the police or USOC. 

And if it happened to me and my buddies after a night out drinking, we would have been joking and telling stories when we walked back in too.  At that point it was all over, they survived unharmed and it would become a great story to tell. 

[StillAWarrior]

Saw a question floating around twitter:

If every country had to send one male and one female athlete to complete in every event, who would the US send? And would the US still have the medal lead?

I'd send mini-Ditka.

[Tugg Speedman]

How about some love for Evan Jager.  Silver medal in the Steeple Chase.  My vote for one of the best performances of the games.

Jager is a 2007 graduate of Jacobs High School in Algonquin IL.  He was the 2006 IHSA XC state champion and 1600 and 3200 state champion.

Went to Wisconsin for one year and then went Pro signing with Nike.

The Steeple has been dominated by the east Africans like no other event.  They often sweep the medals.  Jager has the best "non-African" time and broke the old Olympic record today (so did the gold medalists so Jager now has the second fastest Olympic time in history.)

Jager Silver is the best performance for an American in the Steeple since 1952.

Lastly, the Bronze medal went to is Ezekiel Kemboi of Kenya.  He is consider the greatest Steeple Chaser in history, two time gold medalist and 5 time world champion.  Kemboi and is known for his blinding closing speed.  Jager out-ran him in the last 150 meters.  That alone is a feat that almost no one in the world can do.

So congrats to Jager for a truly inspiring performance.


http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/international/ct-evan-jager-silver-steeplechase-olympics-20160817-story.html

[GooooMarquette]

Just curious, why would they lie about it?  Remember, the media only learned of this because Lochte's mom mentioned it to the media.  It was not initially reported to the police or USOC. 

And if it happened to me and my buddies after a night out drinking, we would have been joking and telling stories when we walked back in too.  At that point it was all over, they survived unharmed and it would become a great story to tell.

No idea why they'd lie.  My suspicion is based mainly on the conflicts between the swimmers' stories, and Lochte's changes since he got home. 

So I'll ask you - why all the changes and inconsistencies?

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

No idea why they'd lie.  My suspicion is based mainly on the conflicts between the swimmers' stories, and Lochte's changes since he got home. 

So I'll ask you - why all the changes and inconsistencies?

Because Lochte is dumb.

[forgetful]

No idea why they'd lie.  My suspicion is based mainly on the conflicts between the swimmers' stories, and Lochte's changes since he got home. 

So I'll ask you - why all the changes and inconsistencies?

There was only one change.  The gun wasn't placed against his head.  That was an embellishment.

The inconsistencies, unless I'm missing something, are not inconsistencies.  Lochte had said in some reports that they were robbed by one gunmen.  Feigen said they were robbed by a group.

But Lochte's story was that they were confronted by a group of people, only one of which had a gun.  The inconsistencies sound more an issue of what was asked and perception (gunmen was robber, vs whole group being the robbers).

The only other inconsistency was the time they said they left club france.  Apparently they left later than they thought.  Seems an issue of being drunk, not lying.

To me it all seems like they told the truth, they were robbed, Lochte said a gun was at his forehead as part of an exaggeration before Brazil went Batcrap crazy to cover their arses.

[GooooMarquette]

There was only one change.  The gun wasn't placed against his head.  That was an embellishment.

The inconsistencies, unless I'm missing something, are not inconsistencies.  Lochte had said in some reports that they were robbed by one gunmen.  Feigen said they were robbed by a group.

But Lochte's story was that they were confronted by a group of people, only one of which had a gun.  The inconsistencies sound more an issue of what was asked and perception (gunmen was robber, vs whole group being the robbers).

The only other inconsistency was the time they said they left club france.  Apparently they left later than they thought.  Seems an issue of being drunk, not lying.

To me it all seems like they told the truth, they were robbed, Lochte said a gun was at his forehead as part of an exaggeration before Brazil went Batcrap crazy to cover their arses.

You keep saying "only"...and then adding to the list.  Against his head or not?  One or a group?  What time?  To me that isn't an "only."

And you seem to have missed the Matt Lauer report.  Lochte originally said the fake cops pulled them over, but later told Lauer that they had stopped at a gas station and were confronted when they came out of the restroom.  How many changes or inconsistencies do you need to get a bit suspicious?

[forgetful]

You keep saying "only"...and then adding to the list.  Against his head or not?  One or a group?  What time?  To me that isn't an "only."

And you seem to have missed the Matt Lauer report.  Lochte originally said the fake cops pulled them over, but later told Lauer that they had stopped at a gas station and were confronted when they came out of the restroom.  How many changes or inconsistencies do you need to get a bit suspicious?

I wasn't aware of the change regarding the bathroom.  The only change before then was whether a cocked gun was pointed at his forehead or against his forehead.  That doesn't raise any suspicion to me.

The bathroom part is also not major.  The full story is they used a gas station bathroom..  When they left, they got in the cab and the cab driver refused to drive.  The robbers showed up with a badge and removed them from the vehicle.  One of the robbers pointed a gun at Lochte and cocked the gun.

Again, not a change in narrative.  It is providing more specifics.  In an interview (not police) in the same situation I would have said pulled over, its easier and establishes the story sufficient for general media.  Lochte voluntarily contacted the media to clarify the key details as it suddenly became a huge deal and huge story when none of them had planned to report it to anyone.

My only suspicions would be that one of them got too drunk, puked out of a moving car or in the car and they stopped to clean up.  Taxi driver likely called people to rob them.  They were robbed at gunpoint.

Any nefarious stories regarding Lochte and the rest are absurdly illogical.  These types of "inconsistencies" are present in just about any eye witness accounts of any situation.

[forgetful]

Because Lochte is dumb.

This is very factual.  The biggest issue here is that Lochte is too stupid to realize how big a deal this would become.  He wanted to tell a cool story of how they were robbed and the danger they were in.

[jsglow]

I wasn't aware of the change regarding the bathroom.  The only change before then was whether a cocked gun was pointed at his forehead or against his forehead.  That doesn't raise any suspicion to me.

The bathroom part is also not major.  The full story is they used a gas station bathroom..  When they left, they got in the cab and the cab driver refused to drive.  The robbers showed up with a badge and removed them from the vehicle.  One of the robbers pointed a gun at Lochte and cocked the gun.

Again, not a change in narrative.  It is providing more specifics.  In an interview (not police) in the same situation I would have said pulled over, its easier and establishes the story sufficient for general media.  Lochte voluntarily contacted the media to clarify the key details as it suddenly became a huge deal and huge story when none of them had planned to report it to anyone.

My only suspicions would be that one of them got too drunk, puked out of a moving car or in the car and they stopped to clean up.  Taxi driver likely called people to rob them.  They were robbed at gunpoint.

Any nefarious stories regarding Lochte and the rest are absurdly illogical.  These types of "inconsistencies" are present in just about any eye witness accounts of any situation.

That's kind of what I'm thinking.  There might be an embarrassing detail (like puking in the backseat) that might have been left out and the exact details of the story might not match up exactly (who cares, they never do) but a robbery took place.  And I agree that the cabbie was in on it.

[GooooMarquette]

I wasn't aware of the change regarding the bathroom.  The only change before then was whether a cocked gun was pointed at his forehead or against his forehead.  That doesn't raise any suspicion to me.

The bathroom part is also not major.  The full story is they used a gas station bathroom..  When they left, they got in the cab and the cab driver refused to drive.  The robbers showed up with a badge and removed them from the vehicle.  One of the robbers pointed a gun at Lochte and cocked the gun.

Again, not a change in narrative.  It is providing more specifics.  In an interview (not police) in the same situation I would have said pulled over, its easier and establishes the story sufficient for general media.  Lochte voluntarily contacted the media to clarify the key details as it suddenly became a huge deal and huge story when none of them had planned to report it to anyone.

My only suspicions would be that one of them got too drunk, puked out of a moving car or in the car and they stopped to clean up.  Taxi driver likely called people to rob them.  They were robbed at gunpoint.

Any nefarious stories regarding Lochte and the rest are absurdly illogical.  These types of "inconsistencies" are present in just about any eye witness accounts of any situation.

You just confirmed my suspicion - that no number of changes or inconsistencies will ever change your mind.

Let me ask you - why would Rio authorities challenge the allegations if they are legitimate?  If they let this go, the robbery would have been a one-day blip in the news coverage.  By very publicly challenging the charges, they have turned it into a huge news story. 

So using your own words, it would be "absurdly illogical" for Rio authorities to publicly challenge the story if they don't have a sound basis for doing so. 

[wadesworld]

You just confirmed my suspicion - that no number of changes or inconsistencies will ever change your mind.

Let me ask you - why would Rio authorities challenge the allegations if they are legitimate?  If they let this go, the robbery would have been a one-day blip in the news coverage.  By very publicly challenging the charges, they have turned it into a huge news story. 

So using your own words, it would be "absurdly illogical" for Rio authorities to publicly challenge the story if they don't have a sound basis for doing so. 

Before any of it was ever challenged this was on the front page of espn.com, all over national news, etc.  It wasn't some one-day blip.  There had been discussions for literally years about how Brazil wouldn't be ready to host the Olympics, questions about the safety of the athletes, etc.  This just confirms all of those issues.  Why wouldn't they challenge it?

It seems like it's pretty common for these robbers in Brazil target people relieving themselves.  When my buddy and his friend were there and got "arrested" (thrown into a car by guys in police uniforms pointing guns at them and then driven to the middle of nowhere before they took their belongings and threw them out of the car) they were peeing in bushes.  Apparently when these cops "arrested" the swimmers they were coming out of a gas station bathroom.  I have also heard stories that taxi drivers in some places now work with these robbers.  So it doesn't seem like an unlikely story at all, unless these swimmers did their research and were like, "Hey, fake police rob people here all the time.  Easy excuse for us!"

When I was a senior in high school I got held up at gunpoint while working at a locally owned pharmacy.  The police interviewed me after it happened, and after that we went back and watched the surveillance video.  I got a lot of the details wrong (whether or not there was wool on the hood, whether or not he had gloves on, etc.).  Why?  Because victims of armed robberies tend to only notice/see/remember one thing: the weapon.  When someone's there threatening to "blow your effing brains out," you're not sitting there taking note of every detail.  One thing is on your mind: survival.  The fact that someone who got robbed at gunpoint got details of it wrong?  Not at all out of the ordinary.  In fact, it would raise more red flags if the victim remembered every detail of the event than if he/she didn't.

[jesmu84]

If you're just going for medal count?  Do swimmers just swim their own events minus relays?

If so, Phelps and Biles, and yes, they win the medal count.

Each male would swim every event of the olympics against 1 male from every other country. So, if Phelps, yes he would do all the swimming events. Then he'd do all the track events, gymnastics, volleyball, shooting, taekwondo, etc. Same with the female.

Each country would only have 1 person of each gender to do every single event.

They would not get much prior time to train for events. But they would be given explanations of rules for each event.

Many online picks for Lebron and Serena. Some for Westbrook.

[jesmu84]

Just curious, why would they lie about it?  Remember, the media only learned of this because Lochte's mom mentioned it to the media.  It was not initially reported to the police or USOC. 

And if it happened to me and my buddies after a night out drinking, we would have been joking and telling stories when we walked back in too.  At that point it was all over, they survived unharmed and it would become a great story to tell.

I'd guess drugs/brothel. When they showed up to the village exceptionally late, they needed a story to tell that wouldn't implicate themselves (or get them in trouble with their significant others). So, they came up with the robbery, figuring that would be easy to get away with.

Brazil is freaking out over this, likely because of all the bad press already and they don't want a reputation for a tarnished olympics.

[GGGG]

Well it looks like it was fabricated.  Apparently they got into a fight with a security guard at the gas station.

Matt GutmanVerified account
‏@mattgutmanABC
#BREAKING Brazil sources: #RyanLochte + 3 swimmers fabricated robbery story. Video shows swimmer "fighting" w/security at gas station @GMA

[GGGG]

Video surfacing of Lochte at the Rio airport.

[GooooMarquette]

Before any of it was ever challenged this was on the front page of espn.com, all over national news, etc.  It wasn't some one-day blip.  There had been discussions for literally years about how Brazil wouldn't be ready to host the Olympics, questions about the safety of the athletes, etc.  This just confirms all of those issues.  Why wouldn't they challenge it?

It seems like it's pretty common for these robbers in Brazil target people relieving themselves.  When my buddy and his friend were there and got "arrested" (thrown into a car by guys in police uniforms pointing guns at them and then driven to the middle of nowhere before they took their belongings and threw them out of the car) they were peeing in bushes.  Apparently when these cops "arrested" the swimmers they were coming out of a gas station bathroom.  I have also heard stories that taxi drivers in some places now work with these robbers.  So it doesn't seem like an unlikely story at all, unless these swimmers did their research and were like, "Hey, fake police rob people here all the time.  Easy excuse for us!"

When I was a senior in high school I got held up at gunpoint while working at a locally owned pharmacy.  The police interviewed me after it happened, and after that we went back and watched the surveillance video.  I got a lot of the details wrong (whether or not there was wool on the hood, whether or not he had gloves on, etc.).  Why?  Because victims of armed robberies tend to only notice/see/remember one thing: the weapon.  When someone's there threatening to "blow your effing brains out," you're not sitting there taking note of every detail.  One thing is on your mind: survival.  The fact that someone who got robbed at gunpoint got details of it wrong?  Not at all out of the ordinary.  In fact, it would raise more red flags if the victim remembered every detail of the event than if he/she didn't.

It was all over the news...for a day.  Then the headlines switched back to the games.  By challenging this, Rio authorities turned it from a one-day blip to a huge deal.  They have more to lose by challenging it than they did by letting it die.  And the changes/inconsistencies just keep popping up.

Look at the story this morning about the Brit who was held up.  Headline this morning, but my guess is that it will die by tomorrow if authorities believe it and don't make it a bigger deal.

[WarriorInNYC]

Before any of it was ever challenged this was on the front page of espn.com, all over national news, etc.  It wasn't some one-day blip.  There had been discussions for literally years about how Brazil wouldn't be ready to host the Olympics, questions about the safety of the athletes, etc.  This just confirms all of those issues.  Why wouldn't they challenge it?

It seems like it's pretty common for these robbers in Brazil target people relieving themselves.  When my buddy and his friend were there and got "arrested" (thrown into a car by guys in police uniforms pointing guns at them and then driven to the middle of nowhere before they took their belongings and threw them out of the car) they were peeing in bushes.  Apparently when these cops "arrested" the swimmers they were coming out of a gas station bathroom.  I have also heard stories that taxi drivers in some places now work with these robbers.  So it doesn't seem like an unlikely story at all, unless these swimmers did their research and were like, "Hey, fake police rob people here all the time.  Easy excuse for us!"

When I was a senior in high school I got held up at gunpoint while working at a locally owned pharmacy.  The police interviewed me after it happened, and after that we went back and watched the surveillance video.  I got a lot of the details wrong (whether or not there was wool on the hood, whether or not he had gloves on, etc.).  Why?  Because victims of armed robberies tend to only notice/see/remember one thing: the weapon.  When someone's there threatening to "blow your effing brains out," you're not sitting there taking note of every detail.  One thing is on your mind: survival.  The fact that someone who got robbed at gunpoint got details of it wrong?  Not at all out of the ordinary.  In fact, it would raise more red flags if the victim remembered every detail of the event than if he/she didn't.

I spent eight months in Mexico City for work and while a big city, not quite as dangerous as everyone makes it out to be if you avoid the bad parts.  But the one thing you always had to keep in mind were the taxis you took.  Taking GPS-linked (they call them radio taxis) taxis or cars from your hotels.  I've heard many stories of taxi drivers taking foreigners down a road and then all of a sudden they are surrounded and robbed there, or taken elsewhere and forced to withdraw cash from ATMs.

On another note regarding not remembering everything.  Many years ago my mother and stepfather were robbed at gunpoint in Chicago.  My mom remembers quite a lot of the details of the whole thing.  My stepfather barely remembers anything.  Only knows there was a gun.  Couldn't tell you what the guy looked like, etc.

[WarriorInNYC]

It was all over the news...for a day.  Then the headlines switched back to the games.  By challenging this, Rio authorities turned it from a one-day blip to a huge deal.  They have more to lose by challenging it than they did by letting it die.  And the changes/inconsistencies just keep popping up.

It was all over the news for a day at the start of the games, yes.  And then the games themselves quieted it down.

But this was all over the news for the months leading into the Olympics.  I'm not sure how you can ignore that.

It was never going to be a one-day blip when it involved Lochte.  The American media was going to eat it up and run with it against the previous narrative that had been built up for months and they did.

[StillAWarrior]

Well it looks like it was fabricated.  Apparently they got into a fight with a security guard at the gas station.

Matt GutmanVerified account
‏@mattgutmanABC
#BREAKING Brazil sources: #RyanLochte + 3 swimmers fabricated robbery story. Video shows swimmer "fighting" w/security at gas station @GMA

Interesting.  One thing odd about this, however, is that I read a previous article citing the fact that the swimmers didn't appear on the surveillance video at the gas station as one of the things that was calling their story into question.  I wonder if/when this video will be released.

I'll admit that I'm beginning to think this will end poorly for Lochte and the other swimmers.  The thing about Lochte, as others have mentioned, is that he doesn't seem particularly bright.  Given that, I feel like anything is possible here.  He could have told a real story but is a little foggy on the details; he could have exaggerated a real robbery; or he could have made up a story completely for the hell of it.  Who knows.  And I strongly suspect that if the story was made up, the other swimmers who are now stuck in Brazil will spill everything.