Still works for me. I'm using Firefox. ?

In reply to this comment by Lolthien:
I am sad this cannot be watched anylonger *broken?

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

Thanks - and good to see that you're a cheese connoisseur as well!

In reply to this comment by Lolthien:
In reply to this comment by dag:
I'm glad everyone is mostly onboard with the changes. All the issues that we've struggled with are starting to melt away like a fine gruyère on a piece of baguette under the grill.
grate on graterers!


Man, you guys go all out for Cheese Festival huh? Gratingly well done!

Congratulations! Your comment has just received enough votes from the community to earn you 1 Power Point. Thank you for your quality contribution to VideoSift.

You pay for signs? When Ron Paul had an office in town for the caucus, I could get all the Paul signs I wanted, not just little ones, either. I'm talking the 4x6' ones!

In reply to this comment by Lolthien:
My guess is after paying their five bucks for a second or third time these people got tired of buying their signs and wanted to see if they could catch someone at it.

My wife and I have covered the back side of our sign with pepper spray.. that way, someone might get it again, but they'll have a helluva time after they get that stuff all over their hands and arms.

Fundamentally, you don't have to root for anyone. If you don't know who deserves to win, generally you wouldn't want to support any particular contestant.

The reason the swimming video, for example, got so many votes is that most sifters were impressed by the general level of performance, rather than cheering for 'their' team who happened to do well. I don't know enough about the sport to make a judgment, but it's possible the French really were the better swimmers and ought to have won. I don't believe the one chance, do-or-die approach to competition taken in the Olympics is a good measure of an athlete's ability.

I'll give you an example of a sport I enjoy - Formula 1. The reason is it's essentially handicapped, different drivers in different stages of their careers, in different cars built on different budgets with different tyres and different strategies. This means I can applaud many individually good performances, of cars, drivers and teams, and indeed pit mechanics, tyre manufacturers, and so on.

In reply to this comment by Lolthien:
Fair enough, that does clarify your position somewhat. But so I understand your position on cheering for the most capable person during a contest, how exactly do you determine that before the contest is complete. That swim relay was an excellent example, for all intents and purposes the French team were considered to be better swimmers. Therefore we should have rooted for them? And since they lost in the last few seconds, we would have picked the wrong team to root for?

I have to admit, I'm enjoying this discussion. But I'm currently stuck at exactly how you determine who to cheer on during a contest before it is complete?

In reply to this comment by gorillaman:
You have not understood me.

Let 'most skilled' or 'most competent' mean 'most capable at the task to be tested'. This can include such things as determination, strategy, training discipline, as well as raw talent and mechanical proficiency.

It is possible for a lesser-skilled competitor to triumph, in a flawed test.
It is possible to celebrate an undeserved victory, but one should not.

In reply to this comment by Lolthien

You have not understood me.

Let 'most skilled' or 'most competent' mean 'most capable at the task to be tested'. This can include such things as determination, strategy, training discipline, as well as raw talent and mechanical proficiency.

It is possible for a lesser-skilled competitor to triumph, in a flawed test.
It is possible to celebrate an undeserved victory, but one should not.

In reply to this comment by Lolthien

I don't know why you would want a test of skill to be won by anyone but the most skilled. Insanity, presumably.

In reply to this comment by Lolthien:
To only support the most 'competent' contender is to only root for the favored athlete in any competition.

And that my friend, is decidedly un-American ;-)

Rooting for the underdog, ESPECIALLY from your own country, is a well practiced tradition than pays off so much more rarely than pulling for the dominant player, but when it pays off, it pays off big.

Talent gets you to the Olympics, but in a close race, heart wins it everytime.

Welcome to the Sift.

In reply to your comment:
“Sorry, I had to register just to respond to persephone above. I feel I can say with some certainty is that the monologue wasn't meant to be seen as a believable conversation between two people with only one person talking. After all, who (in America at least) has the patience to sit there and be preached at for THREE WHOLE MINTUES. This is a monologue which helps define the story and give some sense of conflict in a story that could easily have devolved into 'The smart guy is always right'. This monologue is studied in several theater programs and it is exceedingly well delivered. Williams often gives himself the short stick with the roles his picks.. but when he picks right.. damn, he picks right.”