but we are still third in the metal rankings! i thought that we are king of the world, or at least we act like that in forgin policy
Well, we do generate more GNP than all other nations combined, so yes, that is an impressive stat. Moving on, there are lots more olympics to come, and the finesse stuff is coming to an end. In other words, the part we're bad at is coming to an end.
We'll have to see about the attendance situation. From what I've heard on T.V., Sunday was a Greek Orthodox holiday. Plus, a lot of Greeks take the month of August off.
But the images of all the empty seats are depressing.
Hm... wouldn't their August vacations coincide perfectly with something like being a spectator at the Olympics? Or is this like sabbath, and they can't even open a door for a month, or it's considered "work."
I think if anyone knows about the lax security, it's the locals. And they're soft targets, as opposed to the athletes. I don't think that's the explanation, but it's an important one to consider.
Some Americans I think will be disappointed if our athletes don't win every single event. 1984 spoiled us. Really, it's nice to see real competition this year, moreso IMO than previous Olympics, and except for the blow to the collective ego of US basketball fans out there, I think we're about where where we should be with a large population that's rather wealthy and well-trained. It's nice to see other countries in there, isn't it? I mean, isn't that the point?
Holy f*ck, my thoughts exactly. LOL! The Olympic commitee is probably the most pompous, arrogant, cheating, stealing, bribing bunch of bastards in the world. They easily make Enron look like a non-profit charity.
It's great though, because every Olympics seems to forget all the bribing and table tilting from the previous games. Ignorance is bliss.
All that aside though, I just love watching the womens beach volleyball players running around in those shorty shorts. I swear to God, an American chick made this AMAZING play, after that, she had these SUPER erect nipples. OMG that was great T.V.
but we are still third in the metal rankings! i thought that we are king of the world, or at least we act like that in forgin policy
Wait'll track and field. We always clean up on the short-distance events. China's been kicking butt on diving and shooting, but I don't think their sprinters are so hot. Speaking of shooting, shouldn't it be a national scandal that we suck at shooting? I mean, us, the home of the NRA, where it's a god-given right to kill stuff, where I can watch skeet shooting every weekend on OLN... we can't produce even one world-class marksman? Maybe we should discharge the USMC champion marksman for two weeks every fourth year.
Wow, Paul Hamm was amazing tonight. Those last two routines were just incredible; it was pretty cool to watch such a significant "first-American-ever" event unfold, and in such an unlikely fashion. I wonder how close NBC stuck to reality in its production. It seemed so odd, through the entire first half of the competition, everyone was near-perfect. Then Hamm fell, and suddenly his competitors were making mistakes left and right, falling off apparati, missing easy skills, etc. It was almost too perfect a storyline. But kudos to NBC for a compelling watch.
If by "always" you mean "in the last week," then maybe you're on to something. China has effectively replaced USSR as the major olympic competitor for the USA, but it's a bit strange, since the two nations excel in totally different spheres.
Those 40 medals are quite a ridiculous number once you compare it to the EU's 120 though. Just kidding.
I know you're just teasing but it is impossible to compare due to too many differences.
Population is vastly in the EU's favor.
EU has more state funding of youth and Olympic COmmittee level programs.
I would imagine that the vast majority of the best male athletes in Europe are going into soccer/football which isn't played fully (with the very best) at the Olympic level. Likewise 95% of the best male US athletes are playing Hockey, (American) Football, Baseball (no MLB players) and Basketball. Only Basketball is a real summer Olympic sport and we can't even get our best freaking ballers to go to the Olympics anymore.
EU people get to qualify on a per country basis so they get a lot more athletes at the games. A quick check shows France with 342 athletes and 19 medals and the UK with 278 athletes and 17 medals. That's as many athletes just between those two countries as the US has without counting all of the other EU countries. 620 athletes and 36 medals together. Compare that to 614 athletes and 43 medals.
Plus those Brits suck at real sports. They only do well in rowing, sailing and junk like that.
Undoubtedly rotting teeth would bump up the British medal count. But the Americans can easily counter with golds in the team and individual Trolling events.
Naw. Haven't you heard? It's the age of the global economy and all the benefits that that brings. We're still number one but the Brits are getting pretty fat these days too.
Comments
Originally posted by xterra48
but we are still third in the metal rankings! i thought that we are king of the world, or at least we act like that in forgin policy
Well, we do generate more GNP than all other nations combined, so yes, that is an impressive stat. Moving on, there are lots more olympics to come, and the finesse stuff is coming to an end. In other words, the part we're bad at is coming to an end.
Originally posted by k squared
We'll have to see about the attendance situation. From what I've heard on T.V., Sunday was a Greek Orthodox holiday. Plus, a lot of Greeks take the month of August off.
But the images of all the empty seats are depressing.
Hm... wouldn't their August vacations coincide perfectly with something like being a spectator at the Olympics?
I think if anyone knows about the lax security, it's the locals. And they're soft targets, as opposed to the athletes. I don't think that's the explanation, but it's an important one to consider.
Some Americans I think will be disappointed if our athletes don't win every single event. 1984 spoiled us. Really, it's nice to see real competition this year, moreso IMO than previous Olympics, and except for the blow to the collective ego of US basketball fans out there, I think we're about where where we should be with a large population that's rather wealthy and well-trained. It's nice to see other countries in there, isn't it? I mean, isn't that the point?
Originally posted by bunge
You're obviously not looking very hard.
Holy f*ck, my thoughts exactly. LOL! The Olympic commitee is probably the most pompous, arrogant, cheating, stealing, bribing bunch of bastards in the world. They easily make Enron look like a non-profit charity.
It's great though, because every Olympics seems to forget all the bribing and table tilting from the previous games. Ignorance is bliss.
All that aside though, I just love watching the womens beach volleyball players running around in those shorty shorts. I swear to God, an American chick made this AMAZING play, after that, she had these SUPER erect nipples. OMG that was great T.V.
Originally posted by xterra48
but we are still third in the metal rankings! i thought that we are king of the world, or at least we act like that in forgin policy
Wait'll track and field. We always clean up on the short-distance events. China's been kicking butt on diving and shooting, but I don't think their sprinters are so hot. Speaking of shooting, shouldn't it be a national scandal that we suck at shooting? I mean, us, the home of the NRA, where it's a god-given right to kill stuff, where I can watch skeet shooting every weekend on OLN... we can't produce even one world-class marksman? Maybe we should discharge the USMC champion marksman for two weeks every fourth year.
Originally posted by iKwak
As always, China and US is the top.
Good for the two superpowers.
If by "always" you mean "in the last week," then maybe you're on to something. China has effectively replaced USSR as the major olympic competitor for the USA, but it's a bit strange, since the two nations excel in totally different spheres.
Those 40 medals are quite a ridiculous number once you compare it to the EU's 120 though. Just kidding.
I know you're just teasing but it is impossible to compare due to too many differences.
Population is vastly in the EU's favor.
EU has more state funding of youth and Olympic COmmittee level programs.
I would imagine that the vast majority of the best male athletes in Europe are going into soccer/football which isn't played fully (with the very best) at the Olympic level. Likewise 95% of the best male US athletes are playing Hockey, (American) Football, Baseball (no MLB players) and Basketball. Only Basketball is a real summer Olympic sport and we can't even get our best freaking ballers to go to the Olympics anymore.
EU people get to qualify on a per country basis so they get a lot more athletes at the games. A quick check shows France with 342 athletes and 19 medals and the UK with 278 athletes and 17 medals. That's as many athletes just between those two countries as the US has without counting all of the other EU countries. 620 athletes and 36 medals together. Compare that to 614 athletes and 43 medals.
Plus those Brits suck at real sports. They only do well in rowing, sailing and junk like that.
carly patterson
Netherlands not doing too bad for a small country vs number of medals
They should cut back on the number of sports, back to basics...