I've seen some quality shots on my facebook feed of these athletes but I suspect I would get alerted on.

I just wish they would think outside the box when it comes to "uniforms." With figures like that they would look very cool in boy cut bottoms.

and while they may have played it in Santa Barbara early on, most will agree Santa Monica gets the bragging rights for introducing it on the West Coast.

The rumor the Hawaiians played a mean game of beach volleyball with coconuts instead of inflated balls is totally unsubstantiated.

Reminder Palm Park?

So young, so cute.

...for 30 years. Worked at UCSB for 25.

Became Olympic sports. I watched it last year and there was this guy in worse shape than me who was a medal contender.

I admit it's a skill set, but so is playing poker.

...brief that they might as well just wear thongs.

Well, almost. They get to wear long shorts and tank tops. I don't get why women don't have the same option.

The women's are designed for the men watching the sport. Objectification of women in the olympics is nothing new, unfortunately.

The only requirement should be logos to indicate the country represented.

I know many women would also object if they were required to wear something like a bathing suit from the early 20th century.

just as the men do.

... when women expose anything above the knees? I'm old school.

JOKING! I just think people have widely different ideas about what's appropriate.

The women could wear shorts and t shirts if they wanted to. Most of them choose bikinis. The Egyptian team wore a full length burka-type uniform.

might make them feel inadequate.

I'm still thinking nude diving would hurt if you got the angle wrong

Watch out for stereotypes

My wife likes them too

They can wear shorts and sleeved/sleeveless shirts if they want to, it was changed for the 2012 games, was a news story that year.

So it's pretty much a non-issue then.

outfits because it's what they're used to wearing at other competitions. If it's what you're comfortable in then I don't have an issue.

Eventually Summer Olympics will be back in the northern hemisphere during summer. The body suits will likely kill their chances of a medal shortly after they leave the dressing room.

for medical reasons and who lives in the desert southwest, I agree with you. For driving in short sleeve shirts, I have pull on sleeves made of a synthetic with SPF of 50. I'm so much more comfortable when I pull them on, compared with having the sun, even with tinted windows , shining on my arms.

but they come is several colors. They fit loosely but have knit wrists. If you're interested:

http://www.sunprecautions.com/product/31800

It isn't about the coverage, but that black absorbs vs reflects, and that it is close to the skin. The robes they wore were not tight.

I don't wear tight, dark wicking fabrics in the summer, just in cold weather.

by a few moments of obscure sports.

Not sure, but I think it's worse than their London coverage, oh, and the whole 'every sport is streaming live online' does fuck all good if you're at work.

Yowch!

with the losing team being sacrificed to Queztocoatl, the serpent God.

plus the Olympics would save money by not having to buy any silver metals for that event

It was the winning since the were considered more worthy to the gods.

But then, it seems all games would be 0-0.

the high school girls had to wear at my high school in the early 60s.



Teehee....

Ours were pale yellow. It was really humiliating when we would have the square dancing classes and have to wear them in front of the boys.

I guarantee it.

In the 60s square dancing was part of GYM.
I failed.

...was marching. WTH!

in Jr High School. It was one day a week and you wore street clothes. The other days, they pulled the massive divider doors across the gym to segregate by sex and you wore your gym shorts to participate in whatever the Phys Ed teachers had dreamed up for the week.

My HS girlfriend looked adorable in one.

that exact uniform in the early - mid '70's. Only in green. They never fit me right because I was tall. Never could wear a one piece anything.

In the 50's the bottom was "bloomer" style, with knee length legs ending in elastic (we did roll them up somewhat in public school. The parochial school girls had to wear then full length!)

Different times is all. Somehow, everything managed to work out, however people dressed. That's my point, really. Clothing doesn't really matter. The population just keeps growing. Whatever the,styles were, teenaged boys and girls managed to be fascinated by each other.

Decidedly no!

I watched the Aussie women and (i think) Germany. That was pretty close until the Aussie women easily pulled away in the last 10 or 12 minutes.

The men whomped China by 55 or 60 points and then beat Venezuela by around 30.

There's no competition for either the of US teams.

Several European teams have NBA players on them. It can get interesting later on in the competition.

Sorry Zip, but it won't get more interesting. The only team that can make things difficult for the USMNT is the USMNT. They played terribly and in a disinterested fashion against Argentina for one quarter. Then went on a 93 - 47 run the rest of the game.

It started when the "second team" (like there is such a thing with that group of talent) started playing defense.

France is playing shabbily and they have 3 NBA guys. The rest of the team is little more than US high school talent.

Same with Spain. If Spain had both Gasol brothers, maybe they could give the US a half, but everyone is toast playing the US team.

They'd better pick it up or they could be quite embarrassed.

While i did forget about Australia, as i was thinking about the Euro and South American teams, they just quit playing defense.

Those teams aren't good enough, especially their reserves, to score 90 points in a 40 minute game if the US players applied themselves on defense. They're playing like the Globetrotters and not like NBA players.

Maybe they're coasting until the medal rounds, but they better get some defensive intensity.

I didn't expect a single game to be less than a 15 point win.

Sorry, the DU spell checker doesn't allow that expression. No really, I always think that the US team goes into the games with a significant entitlement complex.

are disgusting!

It must be rather constricting to allow for only two possibilities- the burka or the bikini (but only some men allow for two possibilities, "not ALL men!!"-- I've learned my lesson, little fella).

The rational mind is often on a voyage to demand of ourselves consideration for multitudes of possibilities, but I'm confident you'll allege your dogmatic choice as being open-minded and tolerant... or amusing (which could be more tortuous, hence more entertaining in and of itself)?

I look forward to that particular wee bit of bemusing justification.

Just take a look at some of the middle eastern countries that play. I also saw another female team in shorts and tank tops just as the men.

The human body is such a shameful thing. We need more modesty to stop the leering dogs.

for leading men to ruin by exposing their hair, their bare limbs. I was about to say knees, but in Iran women get called whores for not wearing socks to cover their ankles.

Exposed hair is like begging for rape, and don't fool yourself that it is the men who get called "icky".

But don't expect it to be the majority view.

We need to require these women to properly cover themselves. Perhaps look to Saudi Arabia for an example of a proper nation where modesty is valued...


Seriously though.. Have you guys thought that maybe these women aren't ashamed of their bodies and LIKE wearing the bikinis? Are all the bikini clad women on the beach sluts? Or is it just proper wear for the beach?

And nothing spins up the outrage drive more than scantily clad people on tv

I think that is the point. That does not look comfortable. They are playing to play that sport, not to be proud of their body in that way. It would be interesting to ask them. Women on the beach are not playing a sport. It should be a uniform they don' have to be concerned about comments about their boob size, whether they have good enough skin (they aren't models) and the bottoms should not be skimpy so they'd be worried about shaving or having part of their butt hang out.

They aren't there to be ogled but to play that sport, so it's a fair question and your crap about the human body being disgusting is irrelevant. No feminist argues that the female body is disgusting, but you set up the straw Victorian man to ridicule.

essentially the same old fashioned uptight finger-wagging, anti-sex morals panic and body-shaming.

If the players themselves object to the outfits, great. Then they should have the final say.

But if some people at home get mad, that's another story.

Also, the Olympics were originally done totally nude. People should get a grip and stop trying to stamp out things like healthy sexuality in the human animal.

you're the one doing the finger-wagging. Expressing concern about the sexual objectification of women in sports does not make someone old-fashioned, uptight, anti-sex, or ashamed of the human body. Disagree all you want, but please leave out the name-calling.

If not, then why does anyone else care?

Because they want to tell other consenting adults what to do.

I can come up with a lot of ways to describe that approach to existence, but it is what it is.

It's true, they changed the rules so that the women do not have to wear bikinis. The fact that they ever were required to wear them in the first place speaks to the fact that female athletes are often seen as sex objects first, athletes second.

Just look at this thread- interesting that nobody is discussing the women's skill, just talking about how hawt they are. The men are admired for their skills first. Photos taken of the women often focus on body parts- plenty of bare butt cheeks. I see no crotch-shots of the male athletes.

All this has nothing to do with "consenting adults" and wanting to tell other people what to do. It's about a culture which tends to focus attention on a woman's sexual attractiveness more than her skills. Hell, look at what the Williams sisters in tennis have had to put up with, that they aren't feminine enough. The men aren't subjected to that shit.

letting people make their own decisions.

I have no problem with crotch shots of the male athletes, either. (witness: "Hottest Olympic Diver EVER" etc) Personally I find the Olympics in general mind-numbingly boring, and if I want to look at scantily clad women I don't need to watch beach volleyball to do it.

The players should be the ones to decide what they should wear. You're worried about "culture", it's culture that is dictating things like full body coverings or death sentences for gay teenagers, in some countries.

Fortunately we have a culture which at its best values individual choice and freedom, as much as that may bug some people.

People find each other sexually attractive oftentimes on the basis of physical or superficial characteristics. That's not going away--- the human race doesn't need "saving" from its lustful urges, it's not a "problem" that is ever going to be "corrected" or eradicated......nor is it only limited to evil menz male gaze-ifying hawt women.

Shit, just look what happened when Justin Trudeau took his shirt off the other day.

https://twitter.com/LacyMB/status/762279627649867776

That's what I'm talking about, cultures that hurt people who have no choice but to live within that culture.

You and I have more in common than not. I'm an atheist. I believe people should have consensual sex with anyone they want, and with as many people as they want. Why not? I agree, the human body is nothing to be ashamed of. I'm not "an authoritarian".

My concern is just this: that women are held to a different standard than men. Hell, look at Fox news (ok, maybe not). The women may or may not want to wear short skirts, but it is something expected of them. The men are fully dressed. If the men were expected to sit in short shorts with their junk hanging out, at least then it would be fair.

I'm not telling any individual what to do, I'm just talking about a culture that is often unfair to women. Peace.

It's better than it used to be (FOX News notwithstanding) but I would agree that it's not there yet.

My ideal is a world where everyone pretty much does what they want insofar as everyone is a consenting adult and they aren't directly hurting or endangering anyone else, and that includes wearing what they want. Hell, where I live the weather seems to be the sole external determinant of what people do or don't wear, and even then it functions more as "good advice" than strict edict.

In professions where some uniform is mandated the standards should apply equally or equivalently to everyone, to be sure.

Peace to you, too.

Good talking with you, Warren.

what makes it easiest to excel in the sport. Regardless of its reflections on their sexual attractiveness. I did notice that the bathing suits the swimmers wear now go down to their legs. I don't think they are ashamed of their bodies, they think they will swim faster.

And that example where the Egyptian girl is playing with more covering proves that the outfit does not advantage them in playing in any way.

As to their own decisions, they only make them under pressure of the usual sexism in society. Yes they could decide to wear more but that takes standing up to accusations of being prudish and all that shit - these people just want to play the sport and probably put up with a certain amount of BS to be able to do it.

bikinis.

So it should be up to them, not random observers who are bent out of shape because they fear someone may get aroused watching the game on tv.

lol. I do not. That's what they feel they have to say.

Maybe to wear to the beach, but not to play a sport at Olympic level.

Every time someone makes a choice one doesn't agree with, they don't actually feel that way or aren't really capable of voluntarily making the choice.

Therefore, it's just trying to help em out, no matter what they say to the contrary.

Rinse. Repeat.

They don't, and if they did, they have options to wear other outfits.

They appear to be completely comfortable and focused.

and no way are they comfortable when moving about. I loved my bikinis, but if I was going to do anything requiring serious movement, jumping waves, boating, I wore a suit that was less prone to wardrobe malfunction.

Speaking only for myself, I know I would find it very annoying/distracting to have something riding halfway up my butt cheeks all the time - a constant wedgie-in-progress. I hate it when underwear does that.

Happened to me when I ran with bikini undies under my running shorts. Yes I wear both (!) No more.

when they have to move about, when looser clothing will tend to be better for moving in a sport.

about what they are wearing.

At any rate, some girl is going to come along and be talented at the sport and not want to wear it - might be a bit more muscular and less skinny. I'm glad that person will not have to wear it - who wants the team to include not the people most talented, but the ones who look best in the outfit. That's what feminism would be concerned about. Not the bullshit about being ashamed of the body.

most of them were wearing tights and/or t shirts.

and why aren't the male anchors and meteorologists going sleeveless?

Honestly, for some of us it's nothing short of a crime to keep these guns covered up, yo.*




*full disclosure: I have never referred to my biceps as guns non-ironically

a female who wore many a bikini in her day, it's not about the body exposure it's about the discomfort, at least for me, of flopping around in the sand trying to practice a sport, on camera, with a sandy bikini bottom riding up my butt.

I've always thought that one of the large differences between men's and women's fashions, in all walks of life, is the amount of discomfort women will put up with versus men. Somehow you never see men wearing anything that they have to constantly adjust to keep from showing it all in public.

So far today I have seen Men's Soccer and Women's diving. Now they have women's gymnastics about to start.

Also, are you limiting your viewership to NBC? They are also showing events on MSNBC and CNBC.

.....Women's Beach volleyball....Germany v Egypt:

http://twitchy.com/gregp-3534/2016/08/07/can-you-spot-the-difference-as-egypt-takes-on-germany-in-beach-volleyball/


...Germany won in straight sets. The Egyptian women played well. But the entire time, despite it being played at night when it's cooler temps, there was no doubt as one watched all of them, who was wearing the uniform that allowed for sweating and breathability, even if the material the Egyptian team was state of the art...

Fuck, the original Olympics were played in the nude.

I can only imagine the nuclear meltdown level shit-losing that would provoke.