Coin toss now racist

I kinda didn't want to believe this one but today, well anything is possible.

Yes you read the title correctly.
The coin toss,
The most innocent of decision makers.
The true 50/50 chance.
Rock, paper, scissors is the coin tosses lil bitch.

Yet now it's racist.
Well kinda.

There was a coin toss to decide which athlete would get to carry the American flag at the Olympic opening ceremony.
One, a black male speed skater.
One, a white female skier.
They agreed to a coin toss and the woman won.

"The skater, Shani Davis, said the coin toss was dishonorable"

"The flag-bearer is chosen by a vote of the eight US winter sports federations but the result was tied at 4-4 between Hamlin and Davis and a coin was used to break the tie, in keeping with United States Olympic Committee [USOC] rules."


www.realclearpolitics.com...

www.google.com...


www.google.com... -us-flag-bearer-opening-a8204071.html%3famp


I do not fail to see the irony in the situation.
Black American are upset about not carrying the flag at the Olympics that represents their country but at the same time support black athletes that refuse to stand and respect the flag during the national anthem.

You don't respect it but want to carry it....

My world just doesn't make sense anymore.

Look, seriously. I know the alt-right media machine is very proficient at churning out all of these 'XYZ Is Now Racist!' outrage stories, but they're absolute fabrications designed to distract you with simple outrage from the real issue.

Read the Chicago Tribune story, the story is actually about this angle of it:

"The coin toss is almost beside the point. That the vote was tied between a bronze medalist and a two-time gold medalist points to an outcome that also included intangibles — among them, likeability and popularit y. While a coin cannot be biased, people can — and often, the results of racial bias can sting with unfairness."

That's the issue here.

Absolutely not that the coin toss is 'racist'. Stop allowing complex issues to be boiled down to these simple emotional headlines by people who don't want us to think about the complex issues.

Just 1 individual who wants to minipulate his/her way into another game of chance imho. Sore losers will be sore losers. There is a portion of Americans claiming they want everything fair while only fighting for their preferred group of people to have privileges. I can't say this is one of those times. I didn't read into your link to come to a conclusion.

originally posted by: Bluntone22
I do not fail to see the irony in the situation.
Black American are upset about not carrying the flag at the Olympics that represents their country but at the same time support black athletes that refuse to stand and respect the flag during the national anthem.

You don't respect it but want to carry it....

My world just doesn't make sense anymore.

Sub groups butting heads with other subs apart of the whole group. Just 1 individual who wants to minipulate his/her way into another game of chance imho.

In all fairness maybe Shani also disagreed with the kneeling. But I do agree that calling the coin toss dishonorable is a bit whiny.

a reply to: Painterz

Too rational. Doesn't work on ATS.

a reply to: Bluntone22
It seems liberals cant win at anything anymore. Not even a simple coin toss. So it has to be racist.
Yep , you heard it right. That coin was racist. Disregarding the laws of probability . Probability is science so therefore should not be considered .
Ban coins

a reply to: Painterz

There is the possibility that several of the committee's that choose the flag bearer were concerned with the recent NFL protests and didn't want to chance a black athlete dragging the flag around the arena.
Every action has a reaction but that's as you say, a complex issue.

originally posted by: Bluntone22

The coin toss,
The true 50/50 chance.

Well.....
econ.ucsb.edu...

The 50-50 proposition is actually more of a 51-49 proposition, if not worse. The sacred coin flip exhibits (at minimum) a whopping 1% bias,

Suffice to say their approach involved a lot of physics, a lot of math, motion-capture cameras, random experimentation, and an automated "coin-flipper" device capable of flipping a coin and producing Heads 100% of the time.



Here are the broad strokes of their research:

If the coin is tossed and caught, it has about a 51% chance of landing on the same face it was launched. (If it starts out as heads, there's a 51% chance it will end as heads).

If the coin is spun, rather than tossed, it can have a much-larger-than-50% chance of ending with the heavier side down. Spun coins can exhibit "huge bias" (some spun coins will fall tails-up 80% of the time).

If the coin is tossed and allowed to clatter to the floor, this probably adds randomness.

If the coin is tossed and allowed to clatter to the floor where it spins, as will sometimes happen, the above spinning bias probably comes into play.

A coin will land on its edge around 1 in 6000 throws, creating a flipistic singularity.

The same initial coin-flipping conditions produce the same coin flip result. That is, there's a certain amount of determinism to the coin flip.

A more robust coin toss (more revolutions) decreases the bias.

Hehe sorry couldn't resist...I just read this about a month ago.

a reply to: Painterz

it was a complex issue that was simplified by the coin toss. If both parties agree to the terms, all the ambiguity is removed. You have a 50-50 chance, as does your opponent. It doesn't get any more fair than that. If there was a complaint about who was chosen, that should have been done before hand, not after a winner, and subsequent "loose" was chosen.

a reply to: dug88

Funny man...

originally posted by: Gothmog
a reply to: Bluntone22
It seems liberals cant win at anything anymore. Not even a simple coin toss. So it has to be racist.
Yep , you heard it right. That coin was racist. Disregarding the laws of probability . Probability is science so therefore should not be considered .
Ban coins

Isn't it like super racist to assume all black people have to be liberals?
They're all one person in your head, right?

a reply to: Peeple

Same can be said that Christians are all republicans.
Broad strokes.

a reply to: Bluntone22

aka racism.

a reply to: Bluntone22

It's also kind of a secret well known fact that Shani is...a total jerk and not very popular with other athletes, hence the coin toss perhaps? Then no one was in the line of fire...or so they thought.

originally posted by: Peeple

originally posted by: Gothmog
a reply to: Bluntone22
It seems liberals cant win at anything anymore. Not even a simple coin toss. So it has to be racist.
Yep , you heard it right. That coin was racist. Disregarding the laws of probability . Probability is science so therefore should not be considered .
Ban coins

Isn't it like super racist to assume all black people have to be liberals?
They're all one person in your head, right?

Did I say they were ?
Never , ever make the mistake of calling me racist or even hinting at it again . Ever.
Liberals lose and the very first thing they claim ? Racism
Now move along....
And remember.

a reply to: Gothmog

OMG dude you must have been hacked!

originally posted by: Gothmog
a reply to: Bluntone22
It seems liberals cant win at anything anymore. Not even a simple coin toss. So it has to be racist.
Yep , you heard it right. That coin was racist. Disregarding the laws of probability . Probability is science so therefore should not be considered .
Ban coins

originally posted by: Bluntone22

I do not fail to see the irony in the situation.
Black American are upset about not carrying the flag at the Olympics that represents their country but at the same time support black athletes that refuse to stand and respect the flag during the national anthem.

You don't respect it but want to carry it....

My world just doesn't make sense anymore.

Maybe they would have accepted the coin toss if it was between starving to death or getting murdered at the border as our Venezuelan brothers and sisters are having to do...

Absurd, and deluded comes to mind...


Lucky it was not proper old skool rules, I have know sporting decisions to be cast after a timed w@nking competition...



The obvious elephant in the room is why was the straight white male not represented???....




RA

originally posted by: Peeple
a reply to: Gothmog

OMG dude you must have been hacked!

originally posted by: Gothmog
a reply to: Bluntone22
It seems liberals cant win at anything anymore. Not even a simple coin toss. So it has to be racist.
Yep , you heard it right. That coin was racist. Disregarding the laws of probability . Probability is science so therefore should not be considered .
Ban coins

Where does it mention anything of race in my post ?
Where?
Can you show me ?
No , you cant
Now

Now , this ends here.

originally posted by: Bluntone22
Black American are upset about not carrying the flag at the Olympics that represents their country but at the same time support black athletes that refuse to stand and respect the flag during the national anthem.

You don't respect it but want to carry it....

My world just doesn't make sense anymore.

This specific guy knelt before?
Or in your mind do the actions of some black people represent all black people?

I was with you until this last bit

Can't you support peoples right to protest, and support the USA also? I tend to think the two are completely intertwined.

a reply to: Gothmog

Come on grumpy old man, I don't even really care, I am just having fun hanging out on ATS.

I pointed out what I felt when reading it is all.
You didn't mention race per se but you immediately called this athlete liberal. How do you know he is?