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08/02/2012 02:22:47 PM · #101
Originally posted by Spork99:

Originally posted by K10DGuy:

It's only BADMINTON...

... nobody will notice. Right?

WRONG. LOL.


The problem with the badminton fiasco event doesn't just lie with the competitors, but the organizers who set up the tournament in a way that it could be advantageous in the overall tournament to lose a match so that they would be paired with an easier team for the next round. In that case,, losing a match intentionally becomes part of a reasonable strategy to win the tournament.


No. The format is not the problem. Players need to step up and act properly, even if underhanded tactics could be used. It's called sportsmanship and responsibility. Using that excuse is pathetic and harmful to sport in general.
08/02/2012 02:25:12 PM · #102
Originally posted by Spork99:

Originally posted by K10DGuy:

It's only BADMINTON...

... nobody will notice. Right?

WRONG. LOL.


The problem with the badminton fiasco event doesn't just lie with the competitors, but the organizers who set up the tournament in a way that it could be advantageous in the overall tournament to lose a match so that they would be paired with an easier team for the next round. In that case,, losing a match intentionally becomes part of a reasonable strategy to win the tournament.

Contributing to this is that similar behavior/strategems seem to have been overlooked in previous tournaments -- only now, with the media spotlight, did the officials feel the need to enforce the rule more strictly.
08/02/2012 02:25:30 PM · #103
Originally posted by K10DGuy:

Originally posted by Spork99:

Originally posted by K10DGuy:

It's only BADMINTON...

... nobody will notice. Right?

WRONG. LOL.


The problem with the badminton fiasco event doesn't just lie with the competitors, but the organizers who set up the tournament in a way that it could be advantageous in the overall tournament to lose a match so that they would be paired with an easier team for the next round. In that case,, losing a match intentionally becomes part of a reasonable strategy to win the tournament.


No. The format is not the problem. Players need to step up and act properly, even if underhanded tactics could be used. It's called sportsmanship and responsibility. Using that excuse is pathetic and harmful to sport in general.


+1
08/02/2012 02:26:42 PM · #104
Originally posted by GeneralE:

Originally posted by Spork99:

Originally posted by K10DGuy:

It's only BADMINTON...

... nobody will notice. Right?

WRONG. LOL.


The problem with the badminton fiasco event doesn't just lie with the competitors, but the organizers who set up the tournament in a way that it could be advantageous in the overall tournament to lose a match so that they would be paired with an easier team for the next round. In that case,, losing a match intentionally becomes part of a reasonable strategy to win the tournament.

Contributing to this is that similar behavior/strategems seem to have been overlooked in previous tournaments -- only now, with the media spotlight, did the officials feel the need to enforce the rule more strictly.


And good on them for doing so. Hopefully it continues, now that it IS in the spotlight.
08/02/2012 02:52:48 PM · #105
Originally posted by K10DGuy:

And good on them for doing so. Hopefully it continues, now that it IS in the spotlight.

Good that the rules are being enforced as written, but I think the officials need to suffer for their duplicity in sandbagging the players, and punishing them for behavior previously-condoned. I'm tired of players suffering for the transgressions of coaches and league/university officials.
08/02/2012 02:59:57 PM · #106
Originally posted by GeneralE:

Originally posted by K10DGuy:

And good on them for doing so. Hopefully it continues, now that it IS in the spotlight.

Good that the rules are being enforced as written, but I think the officials need to suffer for their duplicity in sandbagging the players, and punishing them for behavior previously-condoned. I'm tired of players suffering for the transgressions of coaches and league/university officials.


Please. Players have just as much a responsibility as anyone.
08/02/2012 03:07:13 PM · #107
Originally posted by K10DGuy:

Originally posted by Spork99:

Originally posted by K10DGuy:

It's only BADMINTON...

... nobody will notice. Right?

WRONG. LOL.


The problem with the badminton fiasco event doesn't just lie with the competitors, but the organizers who set up the tournament in a way that it could be advantageous in the overall tournament to lose a match so that they would be paired with an easier team for the next round. In that case,, losing a match intentionally becomes part of a reasonable strategy to win the tournament.


No. The format is not the problem. Players need to step up and act properly, even if underhanded tactics could be used. It's called sportsmanship and responsibility. Using that excuse is pathetic and harmful to sport in general.


Notice that I didn't say the blame was entirely with the organizers, it's the players too, but the organizers created the BWF's tournament format had to recognize that possibility and the fact that such behavior had been condoned before and the sport is known for such match fixing. I read a little bit about the politics and history of the Badminton World Federation and found an entire sport full of shady business.

Slate article on Badminton scandal

Message edited by author 2012-08-02 15:08:56.
08/02/2012 03:14:40 PM · #108
Originally posted by K10DGuy:

Please. Players have just as much a responsibility as anyone.

Players play the game according to the rules as they are enforced. If the badminton officials previously allowed players to "throw" games at one stage of a tournament in order to gain a more advantageous seeding later on, then it should not only be the players who should be ousted -- the officials are/have been patently corrupt in failing to carry out their duty to enforce the rules consistently.

If you are playing basketball and commit what the rules say is a foul but the officialls consistently don't call it, how can the player not assume that the play must somehow be legal? If the umpire calls the pitch two inches off the plate, every pitcher will continue to try and throw it outside the strike zone until the ump starts calling it a ball. Any survey of large business will show you that, given the opportunity to cheat, people will.

However, when I was bitching about players suffering, I'm mostly referring to big-time college football, where the coaches make ten times as much as the President (of the US, not just the university) while the players get almost nothing, and when the team is eventually banned from bowl games or forfeits games for "recruiting violations" or similar infractions, it is usually a totally new group of players who had nothing to do with the situation, and the coach has usually already left for an even more lucrative position at some other entertainment mill ...
08/02/2012 11:59:19 PM · #109
Nice....Wikipedia is already up to date with Phelps' 20 medals: //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Phelps
08/03/2012 12:07:43 AM · #110
Everybody is talking about the badminton nonsense, but did you see the Azerbaijan v Japan bantamweight bout?
match possibly fixed

The ruling was overturned by appeal, but honestly, watch the video... it's ridiculous
video
08/03/2012 12:24:50 AM · #111
Originally posted by spiritualspatula:

Everybody is talking about the badminton nonsense, but did you see the Azerbaijan v Japan bantamweight bout?
match possibly fixed

The ruling was overturned by appeal, but honestly, watch the video... it's ridiculous
video


Unreal. Just, unreal.
08/03/2012 09:54:00 AM · #112
Originally posted by spiritualspatula:

Everybody is talking about the badminton nonsense, but did you see the Azerbaijan v Japan bantamweight bout?
match possibly fixed

The ruling was overturned by appeal, but honestly, watch the video... it's ridiculous
video


Boxing has been crooked for so long, people pretty much expect it. It's almost like the WWF with punching.
08/03/2012 10:24:51 AM · #113
Originally posted by spiritualspatula:

Everybody is talking about the badminton nonsense, but did you see the Azerbaijan v Japan bantamweight bout?
match possibly fixed

The ruling was overturned by appeal, but honestly, watch the video... it's ridiculous
video


At least it's overturned, but it's sad it had to come to an appeal.
08/03/2012 12:40:21 PM · #114
Originally posted by JamesDowning:

Originally posted by spiritualspatula:

Everybody is talking about the badminton nonsense, but did you see the Azerbaijan v Japan bantamweight bout?
match possibly fixed

The ruling was overturned by appeal, but honestly, watch the video... it's ridiculous
video


At least it's overturned, but it's sad it had to come to an appeal.


How did they think they were going to slip this past 8 billion people ?
08/03/2012 12:56:53 PM · #115
Just found out about this, but did anyone know that american athletes who win a medal have to pay the IRS? Each olympic athlete wins a prize of 25k for gold and less for silver and less for bronze. But when they come home they have to pay 35% tax on their winnings. Michael Phelps has already paid 150some thousand in taxes on his medals. So rediculous. Meanwhile in most other countries, their returning athletes wont pay taxes on their winning a medal and representing their country. Total crap.
08/03/2012 01:13:54 PM · #116
Originally posted by jusjoshing:

Just found out about this, but did anyone know that american athletes who win a medal have to pay the IRS? Each olympic athlete wins a prize of 25k for gold and less for silver and less for bronze. But when they come home they have to pay 35% tax on their winnings. Michael Phelps has already paid 150some thousand in taxes on his medals. So rediculous. Meanwhile in most other countries, their returning athletes wont pay taxes on their winning a medal and representing their country. Total crap.


The 25K for gold is paid by the US Olympic Committee (many countries pay more: Russia and Italy, to name two, pay in excess of 100K for gold), and of course it qualifies as income; why shouldn't it? The 35% figure is bogus, though; that assumes the athlete's in the 35% tax bracket, which very few of them would be. You gotta make over 350k a year to reach that bracket.

R.

Message edited by author 2012-08-03 13:14:11.
08/03/2012 01:15:39 PM · #117
this country already overtaxes taxes the hardworking people to fund the lazy freeloaders, why should athletes get a free pass?

Message edited by author 2012-08-03 13:21:10.
08/03/2012 01:25:52 PM · #118
Originally posted by Bear_Music:

Originally posted by jusjoshing:

Just found out about this, but did anyone know that american athletes who win a medal have to pay the IRS? Each olympic athlete wins a prize of 25k for gold and less for silver and less for bronze. But when they come home they have to pay 35% tax on their winnings. Michael Phelps has already paid 150some thousand in taxes on his medals. So rediculous. Meanwhile in most other countries, their returning athletes wont pay taxes on their winning a medal and representing their country. Total crap.


The 25K for gold is paid by the US Olympic Committee (many countries pay more: Russia and Italy, to name two, pay in excess of 100K for gold), and of course it qualifies as income; why shouldn't it? The 35% figure is bogus, though; that assumes the athlete's in the 35% tax bracket, which very few of them would be. You gotta make over 350k a year to reach that bracket.

R.


I have the same thing with my bonus...it gets taxed at 35% and not the same rate I normally pay based on my W4 etc. When I file my tax return, I make up for that 35% and I only wind up paying tax on my bonus at the actual rate I pay tax on the rest of my income. The difference is basically a mandatory interest free loan I make to the government each year. I don't have a problem with them getting taxed, I do have a problem with the mandatory 35% witholding unless they make enough to actually be in the 35% tax bracket.

Message edited by author 2012-08-03 13:27:45.
08/03/2012 01:29:55 PM · #119
Originally posted by Spork99:

I have the same thing with my bonus...it gets taxed at 35% and not the same rate I normally pay based on my W4 etc. When I file my tax return, I make up for that 35% and I only wind up paying tax on my bonus at the actual rate I pay tax on the rest of my income. The difference is basically a mandatory interest free loan I make to the government each year. I don't have a problem with them getting taxed, I do have a problem with the mandatory 35% witholding unless they make enough to actually be in the 35% tax bracket.


OK. Not to pick nits, then, but your bonus WITHOLDING is at a high rate; the rate at which you are TAXED is lower, but it happens at the end of the year. It IS a significant distinction, to me. But it sucks to have to loan the gov't money, sheesh.
08/03/2012 01:35:57 PM · #120
Originally posted by Bear_Music:

Originally posted by Spork99:

I have the same thing with my bonus...it gets taxed at 35% and not the same rate I normally pay based on my W4 etc. When I file my tax return, I make up for that 35% and I only wind up paying tax on my bonus at the actual rate I pay tax on the rest of my income. The difference is basically a mandatory interest free loan I make to the government each year. I don't have a problem with them getting taxed, I do have a problem with the mandatory 35% witholding unless they make enough to actually be in the 35% tax bracket.


OK. Not to pick nits, then, but your bonus WITHOLDING is at a high rate; the rate at which you are TAXED is lower, but it happens at the end of the year. It IS a significant distinction, to me. But it sucks to have to loan the gov't money, sheesh.


Yeah, that's what I was trying to say. The government witholds 35%. I actually get taxed at a lower rate, but I don't get the difference refunded until I file my tax return at the end of the year, about 10 months after my bonus gets paid.

I would assume that the winnings for Olympians are treated the same way. 35% gets withheld, but they receive the difference between the 35% witholding and their actual tax rate when they file their return. Assuming that they aren't already in the upper tax bracket from endorsement deals...like Michael Phelps.

Message edited by author 2012-08-03 13:48:37.
08/03/2012 02:15:33 PM · #121
Don't worry congress will make it "fair".

//www.businessinsider.com/olympic-athlete-taxes-2012-8

Message edited by author 2012-08-03 14:15:42.
08/03/2012 02:18:43 PM · #122
Originally posted by mike_311:

this country already overtaxes taxes the hardworking people to fund the lazy freeloaders, why should athletes get a free pass?


Athletes should not, OLYMPIC athletes should. No one competing can count on a medal so in turn no one can count on the prize money. They are all competing for glory and to represent. No one there says I want to compete so I can win the money. Thats what professionl athletes say who are already getting paid the big bucks. A lot of them are students or have famalies and full time jobs. So if they train their ass off and go win a gold for their country and themselves and the gov't wants to give them a little extra, well a lot extra, for being so great then dont take it back via taxes. I mean its nothing for lebron james and kobe bryant and friends but for the others its a nice little bonus. That should be an exception in my opinion. Im a bit obsessed with the olympics(summer and winter).....so maybe im a little biased haha
08/03/2012 02:19:04 PM · #123
good few days for the UK :)

the UK doesnt pay bonuses for medals, but yeah it should be taxed health care doest pay for itself oh wait...... haha ;)
08/03/2012 02:21:48 PM · #124
I am really uncomfy with the whole idea of countries paying their athletes to win medals - surely such an incentive could at least exacerbate the likelihood of cheating, with athletes and coaches deciding that the risks were worth taking? Until today I hadn't actually realised that some countries offered such incentives!
08/03/2012 02:28:55 PM · #125
Originally posted by jusjoshing:

So if they train their ass off and go win a gold for their country and themselves and the gov't wants to give them a little extra, well a lot extra, for being so great then dont take it back via taxes. I mean its nothing for lebron james and kobe bryant and friends but for the others its a nice little bonus. That should be an exception in my opinion. Im a bit obsessed with the olympics(summer and winter).....so maybe im a little biased haha


Except it's not the government; it's the USOC paying the bonuses. I don't understand why they shouldn't get taxed like any normal person would.

R.
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