Yet another reminder of how grateful I am that I wasn't famous when I was young and did a lot of stupid things while intoxicated. A very odd situation with, I'm pretty sure, some bad acting by both the swimmers and the gas station people, but generally something that would be soon forgotten if it weren't for the video that will circulate the internet and gossip TV forever. Hopefully the athletes will have the opportunity to straighten up and put this behind them and get on with whatever they will do for the rest of their lives.
A case of corruption in Rio? Or a lying douchebag?
Something interesting that was pointed out by Judge Janine on Fox this morning is that there is apparently 3 minutes missing on the security tape that was released. I don't think this story has run it's full course yet. The only thing for sure is that Lyin' Ryan has stepped on his dick.
" Lying Douchebag" gets my vote.
Always was a douchebag, but this probably concludes the notion to the public.
I will give him this, he was smart to get the hell out of that country before he wound up there for life. He may not be bright, but that much was smart. Whoever said he should go back.... I would not trust you as my life adviser.
He probably screwed up and thought he could just make up a story and get away with it. It doesn't change my opinion of him, I was never a fan, but maybe just maybe others will learn from this... Oh wait, this is America, land of "it will never happen to me and if it does I'll have a comeback story that pays me even more."
Not one ever mentioned he was "smart".
He screwed up because he was NOT smart. First he made a mistake ( which in itself was not all that serious ), then he tried to covered it up ( which made it even worse than the mistake itself ).
Does this sound familiar ? If not happened to someone around you, just look at our presidential candidates and several past presidents.
Why they couldn't "come clean" ? I would respect someone whom will wear his life on his face than someone would lie and cheat trying to hide every mistake, even those humanly forgive for,
Was reading the autobiography by Sam Snead , and he mentioned playing with Richard Nixon, guess what he discovered about the Nixon's on course behavior ?
Its a lesson I hope the swimmers will learn. Getting drunk and kicking in a bathroom door is something most would overlook except those personally involved, but lying to covering it up justifiably causes mistrust by everyone and is much harder to overcome. That is unless you're a politician that can offer something paid for by the taxpayers' money that can cause many to overlook the lie and even profit from it. Not that Lochte and the other swimmers don't deserve the scorn they're getting, but they are unlikely to do anything in their lives that will actually affect most of us. Then we (collectively, not individually) turn around and accept the lies of politicians because they have something to offer us in return or because the end somehow justifies the means, and much of what they do actually does impact our lives.
Dude, he was drunk and damaged a toilet. They're not going to do more than put him in the hot seat long enough to make him come clean and apologize, maybe force him to pay a fine. I'm not aware that he assaulted anyone, or did anything beyond what is being reported.
Now granted - for an Olympic athlete - that's unacceptable behavior and he deserves every ounce of grief that is coming his way... but he was never going to spend a day in jail in Rio. Not for that.
JMO
- Rio in the beginning looks bad.
- Rio exonerated.
- Rio wastes opportunity and again looks bad, exhorting $11,000 from US Olympian in order to get Visa back.
Tell that to the members of Australian team !
Several members of the Australian team got caught altering their credential to get into the basketball match.
Result sentenced down from the local judge is a 10.000 Brazilian Real for each violating members. Passport withheld until they pay up.
1 Real = 0.311013 USD
Roughly = $ 3,110
Pretty hefty fine, especially this had been practiced by many in the past Olympic events.
That's certainly how it looks.
It's obvious that those guys really stepped in it big-time, but aside from the punishment being considered by the US Olympic Committee - I really don't think much more than an apology and reparations for the damages to the gas station were warranted.
You're right though. This just reinforces the level of corruption within the local government there imo.
He was also dumb enough to try to claim police extortion and might have gotten away with it had there not been video. That probably saved his @$$ a bit. I think it could have gone a LOT worse for him if he had stayed and the video hadn't surfaced.
Did anyone see his "statements" on NBC during his interview? "I'm accepting complete responsibility" wellllll with the exception of the fact that we did anything wrong because we were drunk and the guy had a gun so basically what I said was right, but it's all opinions because I don't know what happened because we were drunk and we hadn't drank in so long so uhh we were really drunk and the guy had a gun pointed in our direction and that's kinda extortion I think but we were really drunk so yeah like I said that's why I'm taking complete responsibility. ( run on sentences are intentional to try to illistrate the idiocy).
I can't disagree with you too much. I guess spending 10 years in the military probably has something to do with my take on the matter... you don't leave your buddies behind to fend for themselves, especially if you happen to be the one who created the situation to begin with. He hightailed it out of there, and left them to deal with the mess.
Looks like Lockte isn't the Dochebag we thought he was and Brazil is as corrupt as we were told. Police were the ones lying and embellishing the story, the missing minutes of the video tape seem to be actually important. I owe Lochte an apology:
http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/olympics/did-rio-cops-embellish-story-like-lochte/ar-BBvTmCC?li=BBnb7Kz
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At the end of the day, no matter how much was exaggerated or wasn't, a group of guys who had partied all night caused a problem that should've and could've been avoided. I mean - Lockte admitted himself that he exaggerated the story. Why else would he say that if he didn't? He admitted this back home, away from potential prosecution.
Of course - the Brazilian authorities are corrupt. This isn't news. And that never wasn't not considered when I started reading the accounts. But that's even more reason to stay away from potential trouble imo.
And it doesn't change the fact that he hightailed it out of there, leaving his buddies to deal with it while he could go back home and figure out how to save his image. I still think he's a douchebag, for that reason alone if nothing else. You don't do that to your friends.
Sometimes things happen when you're at the wrong place at the wrong time, sure. But when you're at the wrong place and you're urinating in front of a business, which I think is still accurate despite the missing video footage - you're asking for trouble. You'd probably be in some kind of trouble here in the US, and you're sure as hell gonna be in trouble in a different country.
He's apparently still the douchebag according to his biggest sponsors.
Speedo announced today they're parting ways, as did Ralph Lauren, and another company.
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I would not automatically calling someone a douche bag when the sponsorship is dropped.
Yes, agreed on the inappropriate behavior exhibited by the young men. It is unwise to have gotten into the situation in the first place.
However, If someone ( law enforcement or related to the law enforcement of not ) showed me a badge and pulled a weapon on me to demand cash , I'd call that robbery.
Speedo dropped the sponsorship because corporate image is what they protect. I don't blame the Speedo for pulling their endorsement contract .
I would be hightailing out of Brazil if I was advised to do so. Not going to spend one minute in their jail system, period. Judging from the penalty handed down for the Australian team, greed and corruption seemed to come down from the top.
Someone has to pay for the trillions of dollars sunk into hosting this Olympics Game. Does Greece 2004 sounds familiar ? It went into financial difficulties right after the 2004 Summer Olympics. Not that it did not have issues before hands, the Olympics Debts was the last nail for the coffin .
No one should misunderstand - I am not defending the police or their actions, whatsoever. And I guess, if I was drunk and stupid enough to damage private property, then had someone draw a gun on me demanding payment for said damages - yeah - maybe in my drunken state I would assume that at least back in the US - that would meet the criteria for armed robbery.
We'll give him a pass. We'll assume that he was so drunk that he forgot he was in (basically) a 3rd world country and didn't know that a completely different set of laws or values deal with situations over there quite contrarily to the way he's been dealt with at home.
And he has been dealt with at home on several occasions. Public drunkenness, urinating in public, fighting (at least when someone hasn't drawn a gun on him), police show up. There's a pattern here.
That pattern is that he's an Olympic athlete and he feels entitled because of his status, and he's been let off the hook for so long with his behavior that he feels he can get away with stuff.
I bet he ain't feeling that way now. Dude just lost his gravy train ride, and now he's gotta get out and find a job like everybody else. Maybe this will force him to grow up.
"Someone has to pay for the trillions of dollars sunk into hosting this Olympics Game. Does Greece 2004 sounds familiar ? It went into financial difficulties right after the 2004 Summer Olympics. Not that it did not have issues before hands, the Olympics Debts was the last nail for the coffin."
You bet. The government there is in chaos, their president was removed from office several months back, the local government employees aren't getting paid, poverty everywhere, people can't feed their families, etc. so it's basically everyone for themselves.
Brazil is basically heading down the same path as Argentina... the only thing that has prolonged that eventuality has been the Olympic games, and that just ended. The corruption has destroyed their economy and taken their people hostage. It is a very sad situation that I'm afraid will only get worse in the coming months.
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The economic burden brought on by the Olympics ( since it's obvious the event cost the country to be more in debt than boosting the economy ) is so huge they have no idea how to pay for the sunk costs.
One of the criteria which won Brazil the right to host the event was that within the proposal presented to the Olympics Committee, many of the structures will remain fixtures for the public to enjoy. Truth is, they had already planned to tear down the stadium and several other structures to " build schools ". Architect stated these buildings were constructed using Lego like components, so the material could be re-purposed.
Problem is, they don't know where to put the 4 schools under the proposal to be built using the components from the Olympics building.
One wonder why the country is in such trouble. Then again, looking at our law makers, we're not that far behind.
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NBC has a contract for the Olympics for the next 16 years. Despite Michael Phelps, Simone Biles, Usain Bolt and a few other notable performances, ratings are nevertheless down this year significantly.
I would not want that contract hanging over my head. The age demographic matters. Millennials just don't have the time or the interest. The older folks (my generation) tune in, but our kids just ain't that interested. Sad to say, but Netflix gets more views in that demographic.