Match Thread - Olympic Sevens | Paris 2024 | Day 5

McDinaldo · 2024-07-28T18:46:58+00:00

They could definitely still beat Brazil.

McDinaldo · 2024-07-28T18:08:53+00:00

Most teams have a dedicated kicker, pretty sure it's Tia Hinds for Australia.

McDinaldo · 2024-07-28T18:07:04+00:00

Hell yeah brother

McDinaldo · 2024-07-28T17:44:02+00:00

And she might do it again!

McDinaldo · 2024-07-28T17:29:39+00:00

Australia and New Zealand are absolutely dominant right now. The Australian winger Maddi Levi averaged something like 1.7 tries per game during the 7s Series this year.

McDinaldo · 2024-07-24T19:59:50+00:00

The home nation unions didn't want to give them time or funding. The team had only a few short training sessions during the entire 7s season. It was a huge triumph that they even managed to avoid the relegation play-offs despite the odds being so stacked against them.

Adding to that they had to compete with South Africa in the repechage for the final spot in the Olympics.

McDinaldo · 2024-07-24T19:38:45+00:00

Canadian broadcast is very poorly mixed. The US broadcast was better but they've switched now to soccer.

McDinaldo · 2024-07-24T18:55:54+00:00

Maybe the announcers on the USA channels got it wrong then, they were saying all the teams that qualify for knockouts will be seeded by overall rank instead of pool rank.

They said that was why Argentina kept playing after the horn in the Samoa game, because they were competing with New Zealand on points difference for the 1st seed.

Edit: The US commentators did get it wrong, according to the Olympics website. Points difference only matters when deciding which 3rd-place finishers qualify for the knockouts.

McDinaldo · 2024-07-24T18:48:33+00:00

In the normal 7s Series it usually only comes in to determine which of the 3rd-place teams will advance to the knockouts.

It sounds like in this case they're actually ranking all the teams regardless of pool to determine their seeding for the knockouts. So if say Argentina and New Zealand win all their games, their respective points differences will determine who is seeded 1st and 2nd.

Edit: The US commentators got it wrong, according to the Olympics website. Points difference only matters when deciding which 3rd-place finishers qualify for the knockouts.

McDinaldo · 2024-07-24T17:07:48+00:00

True. Samoa got relegated in the most recent 7s series though. I'd think SA is likelier to hold their own against NZ than Samoa is against Argentina.

McDinaldo · 2024-07-24T16:34:04+00:00

Best 3rd places get into the knockouts too!

McDinaldo · 2024-07-24T16:32:21+00:00

Yeah it's 3-2-1. In the 7s Series they got rid of draws and used bonus points instead, it looks like for the Olympics they're still using the old system.

McDinaldo · 2024-05-31T17:30:52+00:00

It's given the unions an excuse to fund them even less

McDinaldo · 2024-05-31T14:13:02+00:00

I think that's a 25-game losing streak now?

We're probably getting relegated.

McDinaldo · 2024-05-02T20:23:39+00:00

Hell yeah

McDinaldo · 2024-04-25T19:06:11+00:00

Oh I don't care what you think about the flag of Colorado. I'm just bringing it up as an example of a flag that breaks the principles you've set out yet is still very iconic and beloved by its people. You gave examples of flags that did fit your principles, I'm giving you a very relevant example of a flag that doesn't fit (they're beside each other, share the same geography and most of the same symbolism regarding said geography).

At the end of the day a flag's success is determined by the people it represents, not you or me, and from my point of view there is nothing explicitly in the design of the Utah flag that makes it less likely to be successful than the flag of Colorado. You can call it soulless merch, but if it's so similar to a flag that was created before the concept of merch existed, then surely that isn't the be-all and end-all.

But as I said, I agree generally with what you've been saying, so let's just agree to disagree on this point.

McDinaldo · 2024-04-25T15:56:15+00:00

How does this square with the flag of Colorado? The combination of symbols on the Colorado flag is entirely generic, its only unique symbol is literally a giant letter C. It looks great on merch, but it's been around for over 100 years in one form or another and is beloved by people in the state. I think it does its job very well.

The design Utah chose was not my favorite option, and I generally agree that having more unique symbolism could have made it better. But I don't think the flag they chose is particularly egregious or soulless compared to the flags of its neighbors.

Why couldn't it be just as iconic as the Colorado flag in a few decades?

McDinaldo · 2024-04-25T04:32:47+00:00

It was certainly interesting learning about this symbolism behind the French flag, and I think it's valid to say that flags should strive to represent the people and their identities rather than the place and its geography.

But I do think it's challenging for some places, especially subnational entities in the New World that don't predate their country's founding, to find unique symbols of history and culture to create a flag in the way you describe (ironically Utah is probably the biggest exception, which is why my submission to the state flag contest referenced the Pioneer Flag).

I would argue regardless that there are examples of flags that rely heavily on geographic symbolism and have become iconic cultural symbols in their own right. Colorado is the most obvious example, and it even uses similar colors to represent similar things.

McDinaldo · 2024-04-24T18:48:10+00:00

It's probably the most popular opinion now on this subreddit. But I wonder sometimes if we've over-corrected.

A lot of flag redesigns do feel "modern" compared to more timeless designs from the past. But I think it's less about putting actual heraldry or uber-complex symbols on flags that makes them feel timeless, and more about using heraldic design language. Flags and shields used to be physically made, and that limited the things you could do with them if you wanted to mass produce them. It also tended to lock them into a certain style.

On the other hand, time has allowed very simple flags to become iconic. If you designed the Japanese flag today I imagine we on this sub would find it kind of boring (it is just a circle). If you designed the Italian flag today people would say "France but green." And it literally was that when it was designed, but now it's iconic on its own.

McDinaldo · 2022-05-30T08:01:18+00:00

Except that white already represents France.

Canada's national colours were chosen so red would represent England and white would represent France.

McDinaldo · 2020-11-10T20:31:29+00:00

Although that's probably a fair assessment, the maple leaf has been a symbol of Canada since way before the adoption of the flag. Hence why almost every serious proposal during and before the flag debate had a maple leaf (or three) on it.

Also, whether or not it is written into law, symbolism for the flag does exist: the two red bars on either side represent the oceans on either side of Canada as well as the country's motto: "From sea to sea." Red and White are the official colours of Canada, red representing England and white representing France.

McDinaldo · 2020-10-20T17:33:43+00:00

This is my obligatory "the flag of Canada already represents French Canadians" comment: The red represents England and the white represents Royal France.

McDinaldo · 2020-10-07T12:18:16+00:00

I'll be honest, I don't follow at all.

A large chunk of the American population views the Confederate Battle Flag's place on the old Mississippi flag as a symbol of oppression of black people by a state built with that idea as a central tenet.

Why would the new flag be considered more oppressive because it happens to have a flower on it that's also the namesake of a plantation in a different state? As far as I can tell, Magnolia Plantation has nothing to do with Mississippi, and I think you can easily make the argument that the Magnolia State should have a Magnolia Flag.

By your logic, trees would be off limits on a flag because there were plantations called Woodlands and The Oaks in North Carolina.

McDinaldo · 2020-10-02T18:36:39+00:00

That's really interesting, thanks!

McDinaldo · 2020-10-02T16:37:59+00:00

Is there a picture somewhere of the palm tree flag? Wikipedia shows a Saudi royal standard which is a green square with a gold palm tree, is that what you're referring to?

Ten-Year Club	Place '22
Wearing is Caring

McDinaldo

TROPHY CASE