It took me forever (months) but I finally was able to get through the second season of the Australian version of Big Brother. Like its first season is didn’t have many twists and stuck close to the original Australia format. Unlike the UK version of the show the nominating is a little different. They have a point system. The first person they nominate for two points and the second person they nominate for one point. This usually changes up the nominees so it isn’t always the same people but of course that tends to happen, like with this season with Turkan.

Anyway I think the hardest thing about getting through this season was that it kind of died after the first few weeks. Though I wasn’t a fan of people like Damian or Aaron I like that they brought some conflict and different viewpoints on the show. They were actually characters and were interesting to watch. Even Shannon and Katrina brought a different sense to the house and weren’t part of the love family that ended the season. Even the intruders weren’t given a huge chance with Nicole evicted immediately, Brodie as soon as he could be nominated, and Kieran was basically nominated by all but was at least somewhat liked by the public. About  halfway through the series Turkan was taken out and we lost the other two big or at least polarizing characters of Nathan and Alex leaving us with six people who either all liked each other or didn’t really cause any problems in the house. So that last few weeks the show kind of dragged along. I liked Marty, Kieran, and Jessica but I had to suffer with the bores of Peter, Sahra, and Mirabai who did little to entertain me. Worse yet someone like Jessica was eliminated while Sahra and Peter went into the finals. How that happens I will never know.

Around midway we could see some problems starting to emerge but the audience quickly doused the flames but eliminating Aaron and Shannon back to back. There was a lot of potential but something didn’t click.

This season had a lot of different romances and the stories actually had a lot to do with cheating. Mirabai hooked up with Damien in the first two weeks and then he was eliminated. She then hooked up with intruder Brodie a couple weeks later and he was immediately eliminated. Mirabai, the classically trained violin player, turned into the house slut. Peter and Turkan were a couple for a little while but that died out and wasn’t that interesting. The other couple was Jessica and Marty. It was slightly controversial. Marty had a girlfriend on the outside and basically broke up with her while he was in the house and continued to hook up with Jessica until she was evicted. In the last week he even said he was planning on marrying her (which he did in a special television series but the couple divorced 15 months later).

Overall it was ok but it wasn’t that exciting. The audience and the house got rid of all the potential argumentative people right away.  I did however really like Jessica. She was a lot of fun and I was glad that basically the last few weeks were about her and Marty and how Marty was cheating on his girlfriend on the outside. Jessica was what every housemate should be, or at least have one of her every season. She wanted to have fun but she also didn’t mind being in all of the drama of the house. She was in a romance but still was creative and hung out with everyone else. I wasn’t sure what to make of her early on but she quickly became my favorite. Her and Nathan were the best “characters” this season.  Nathan was my favorite for the first few weeks of the show but Jessica easily won me over about halfway through. I also liked Kieran, I thought he was trying a little too hard at first but he was a great intruder. Once he got comfortable he became just like everyone else, fun to have around.

Peter sucks as a winner though, I felt like it was a pity party. Yes his parents died and that is horrible but he wasn’t entertaining. In fact he really sucked, he sucked worse then Ben winning the first season.

This season is a classic example of what happens in a show like this when you get rid of the people who are willing to argue and the big characters with a few weeks left. Average and so-so but not fascinating enough to keep me watching which is why it took me so long.

The World Cup has started out well for American Jessica Hardy, as she broke her own world record in the 50M breaststroke. She clocked in with a time of 28.96.

Interestingly, Hardy could have this world record taken away from her. She is just returning from a one year ban for taking a performance enhancing supplement. She had mixed a powdered supplement called Arginine Extreme. Since it was a contaminated supplements, she only had to serve a one year ban. However, FINA is arguing that it should be a two year ban, and if they win she will be stripped of her world record.

Still, Hardy’s World Record is impressive no matter the outcome. To go under 29 seconds in the 50 probably won’t happen once we get back to the old suits, at least not for awhile.

Oh yeah, one more impressive note about Hardy’s record: she did it with a torn suit.

Jessica Hardy quebrou o recorde mundial nos 50m peitonuma tomada d etempo nos US Open 2009. Ela marcou 29s95 superando a marca anterior, que era da russa Yulia Efimova com 30:09.

A nadadora está suspensa pela FINA por 2 anos mas foi liberada a nadar nos EUA, porque a pena foi reduzida a um ano por decisão judicial.

The International Swimming Federation (FINA) has backed out of its appeal of Jessica Hardy’s …

Read the rest of the story at: Lane9

While Jessica Hardy may have won the first step in getting her career back on track with a suspension reduction, she still faces some obstacles as FINA and WADA have joined forces to fight the American Arbitration Association’s decision to reduce Hardy’s suspension.

Read the rest of the article at: Lane9, Swimming News.

UNA SETTIMANA AL VIA Molte stelle già pescate dall’antidoping

Dai casi di positività dello sport azzurro ai problemi delle altre federazioni. Fra i primi a dover rinunciare ai Giochi cinesi, lo sprinter americano Justin Gatlin, sospeso nel luglio 2006 per quattro anni. Il 31 luglio è la volta delle due atlete romene, Elena Antoci e Cristina Vasiloiu, sospettate di doping a seguito di un’eccessiva concentrazione di emoglobina. Niente Olimpiadi anche per lo sprinter giamaicano Julien Dunkley.

trovato positivo ai Trials, per la nuotatrice statunitense Jessica Hardy, positiva a una sostanza stimolante non resa nota, per il velocista greco Dimitrios Regas, positivo al metiltrionelone ai Campionati ellenici e la mezzofondista romena Liliana Popescu. Dopo aver squalificato a vita il dorsista Ouyang Kunpeng, i padroni di casa della Cina, il 2 luglio, adottano lo stesso provvedimento per il lottatore Luo Meng, trovato positivo a uno steroide, il clenbuterolo. La positività di undici atleti di sollevamento pesi costringe la Bulgaria a ritirare l’intera squadra di sollevamento pesi dai giochi. Sorte simile tocca alla squadra greca: altri undici atleti colti in fallo e sospesi dalla federaqzione internazionale.

Giovedì scorso è stata la volta delle mezzofondiste russe, sette atlete di vertice – compreso la primatista del mondo dei 1.500 metri indoor Yelena Soboleva – accusate di scambiare le provette delle urine: «È un complotto politico», gridano i russi. Caso a parte quello della sprinter greca katerina Thanou, squalificata dal Cio per 4 anni, assieme al suo collega Kostas Kenteris, alla vigilia di Atene 2004. A sette giorni dall’inizio dei giochi la sua squalifica è finita. Ma il Cio non la vuole a Pechino.

Simone Di Stefano – Pubblicato su L’Unità del 02-08-2008

Die Schwimm-Weltmeisterin Jessica Hardy soll laut US-amerikanischen Medienberichten positiv getestet worden sein. Der erste Dopingtest am 01. Juli und der dritte am 06. Juli sollen negativ ausgefallen sein, während der zweite Test am 04. Juli die Substanz Clenbuterol nachgewiesen haben soll.

Die 21-jährige Kalifornierin, die im Jahr 2005 in Montreal Weltmeisterin über 100 Meter Brust wurde, gilt als eine der Medaillenhoffnungen für die Olympischen Spiele in Peking, wo sie für 100 Meter Brust, 50 Meter Freistil und als Mitglied der 400 Meter Freistilstaffel vorgesehen ist.

Ihr Rechtsanwalt Howard Jacobs gab nun bekannt, daß die Athletin, die weiterhin jedes Dopingvergehen bestreitet, bei den US-Ausscheidungen Einspruch eingelegt habe und weiter auf eine Olympia-Teilnahme hoffe.

“Sie wusste noch nicht mal, was Clenbuterol ist, als sie über den positiven Test informiert wurde”, so Jacbos

Quellen:

• focus.de
• faz-net.de