[J-Fit]

Originally Posted by Doc Ruby

And yet she managed a dinner with the Obamas. At their request.

That says nothing.

[Grid.]

Well done Katie, great achievement!!

[Doc Ruby]

Originally Posted by J-Fit

She's a genetically gifted athlete that happened to be born on this island.

Yeah, no sour grapes at all. You need a hell of a lot more than "good genetics" to become world champion.

Talk about damning with faint praise.

[Doc Ruby]

Originally Posted by J-Fit

That says nothing.

Sure, let us know how your meeting with the most powerful man on earth goes.

[J-Fit]

Originally Posted by Doc Ruby

Yeah, no sour grapes at all. You need a hell of a lot more than "good genetics" to become world champion.

Talk about damning with faint praise.

Rubbish. Sour grapes implies jealousy. No way I'm jealous of her, really. These are just my opinions and because you don't like them, you are getting just a little offended. Why would I have sour grapes towards Katie Taylor but nor Padraig Harrington or Sonya O'Sullivan?

[Doc Ruby]

Originally Posted by J-Fit

No way I'm jealous of her, really.

Sour grapes doesn't imply jealousy. Freudian slip on your part? I think so.

[J-Fit]

Originally Posted by Doc Ruby

Sour grapes doesn't imply jealousy. Freudian slip on your part? I think so.

Oh my God. Thanks for the lesson. Lets just agree to disagree on this one, no matter the semantics.

[Jimoslimos]

Originally Posted by Naomi00

There's always one...

Make that two....

In addition to the very valid points about talent pool, participant numbers, etc there is the issue of boxing being a subjective sport. Looking at the scoring in the final shows huge discrepancies between the judges every round.

That point alone will always make her achievements pale in comparison to Sonia O'Sullivan in my eyes.

But best of luck to her in London.

[J-Fit]

Originally Posted by Jimoslimos

Make that two....

In addition to the very valid points about talent pool, participant numbers, etc there is the issue of boxing being a subjective sport. Looking at the scoring in the final shows huge discrepancies between the judges every round.

That point alone will always make her achievements pale in comparison to Sonia O'Sullivan in my eyes.

But best of luck to her in London.

Hallelujah! Or something to that effect.

[Doc Ruby]

Originally Posted by J-Fit

Oh my God. Thanks for the lesson. Lets just agree to disagree on this one, no matter the semantics.

Yeah, its probably best for you to walk away, there's just no way back at this point.

FFS, a magnificent world beating Irish athlete comes to the fore, and look what drops out of the woodwork to denigrate her achievements. And that goes for you too, jimoslimos. Back to London with you.

[Born to Die]

I don't like women's boxing but fair play it is there and she is the best in the world at it.

[J-Fit]

Originally Posted by Doc Ruby

Yeah, its probably best for you to walk away, there's just no way back at this point.

FFS, a magnificent world beating Irish athlete comes to the fore, and look what drops out of the woodwork to denigrate her achievements. And that goes for you too, jimoslimos. Back to London with you.

No way back from where? The judgement of the great Doc Ruby? Like I give a sh*t about your opinion of me. Give me a break. I simply fail to see how her achievement is any less as a result of my opinion and any more because of yours! You need a little more objectivity in your life.

[Doc Ruby]

Originally Posted by J-Fit

No way back from where? The judgement of the great Doc Ruby? Like I give a sh*t about your opinion of me. Give me a break. I simply fail to see how her achievement is any less as a result of my opinion and any more because of yours! You need a little more objectivity in your life.

Down ye curs, there's no seat for you at the table of champions.

But do feel free to start a thread in AH whenever you achieve world champion status in... whatever.

[ArmaniJeanss]

Originally Posted by J-Fit

Don't know enough about boxing to argue this but it's still a shallow talent pool (only 12 in the Olympics?).

Deliberate on the part of the Olympic committee. They wanted the number of participants in all sports to remain unchanged where possible as theres been a gradual but continuous increase over the years.

Boxing was forced to keep its total at exactly 296 competitors, so the question was how much to reduce the mens competition by. 3 compressed weight divisions of 12 for the women was the compromise reached after tough negotiations, with the men reduced to 260 over ~10 weight divisions.

So there should be no assumptions that it was a 'talent pool' issue, it was sporting politics and money. I'd expect the womens allocations to go up over the next few Olympics.

[Jimoslimos]

Originally Posted by Doc Ruby

Yeah, its probably best for you to walk away, there's just no way back at this point.

FFS, a magnificent world beating Irish athlete comes to the fore, and look what drops out of the woodwork to denigrate her achievements. And that goes for you too, jimoslimos.

I think people are getting ahead of themselves with their praise here, nothing should be closed to criticism. If you want a love-in, open a thread in the Boxing forum.

I hold the same opinions on the merits of many other 'Olympic' sports and their competitors, whether it is due to subjective judging (Boxing, gymnastics, diving), high cost of entry (sailing, equestrianism) or participant numbers. Just because she's Irish doesn't mean I'll jump on the bandwagon and change my views - I do however hope she does well and wins gold (which I know, could be construed as bandwagon jumping)

Originally Posted by Doc Ruby

Back to London with you.

Ah, you noticed my location