View Poll Results: Who would you want to win an Olympic matchup between Dirk and German vs the US
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Germany
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37 |
56.06% |
USA
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29 |
43.94% |
07-24-2012, 10:49 PM
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#81
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chumdawg
Well, I'm sorry you feel that way. Myself, I'm comfortable making a distinction between a hometown team that plays entire season after entire season and a band of mercenaries that plays for a few weeks once in four years.
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I'm sorry you feel that they're a "band of mercenaries." But at least that's easier to digest than the irrational comments made by other folks about some of the individual players.
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07-25-2012, 12:02 AM
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#83
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Diamond Member
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Since 2008 they're no more a band of mercenaries than Spain, Argentina or any other international team.
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07-25-2012, 12:05 AM
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#84
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dirno2000
Since 2008 they're no more a band of mercenaries than Spain, Argentina or any other international team.
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That's why nobody cares anymore. 1992 ain't walking through that door.
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07-25-2012, 12:18 AM
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#85
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Diamond Member
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Nobody cares because,once again, everyone assumes the gold is a given. It wasn't the Dream Team but there was interest in the 2008 "redeem team" since it had become clear that we could no longer send a collection of ill fitting all stars and expect steamroll the field.
But again, we're just as much of a team as anyone we're playing against.
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07-25-2012, 12:29 AM
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#86
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dirno2000
But again, we're just as much of a team as anyone we're playing against.
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That's a very true point. Doesn't change the notion, though, that it's far from a level playing field. I love a heavyweight title fight...I don't care to watch a schoolyard bully ply his craft.
But hey, as I said, it will be fun to watch. And I will feel good for most all those guys, to win that gold medal. I'll probably even feel a twinge of American pride (as if I need it).
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08-01-2012, 02:56 AM
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#87
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Definitely going for the Germans
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08-02-2012, 05:00 PM
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#88
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Member
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Posts: 218
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I would probably root for Germany. I don't like most of the guys on Team USA and would find it impossible to root for them. I'm not arguing their talent level; they are all great players and essentially have been penciled in to get the gold. But I'm hoping Argentina, Spain, or Brazil pull off an upset. (Not France, because I loathe Tony Parker.)
I take pride in what some of the American athletes are accomplishing, but not the basketball team. Too loaded with jackasses-although every team has its share of jackasses, regardless of sport.
* And Dirk wouldn't be able to play for USA because he would have to be an American citizen, if I recall correctly.
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08-02-2012, 05:37 PM
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#89
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Diamond Member
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Melo with 37 points vs. Nigeria. 127-64 now. Gaah.
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08-02-2012, 05:46 PM
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#90
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Frankly, i would be pleased if the commitment and effort, that disabled Athletes show @ the Paralympics would be recognized as high as the effort of the Athletes at the ""normal"" Olympics is and that Mercedes would not say OK OK here is the money, compete, but don´t show unattractive humans in front of our cars. That is what i wish. That´s all.
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Last edited by GermanDunk; 08-02-2012 at 05:48 PM.
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08-04-2012, 03:45 PM
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#91
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An US American just finished #2 in the 10000 m competition.
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08-07-2012, 08:05 PM
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#92
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Golden Member
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Many Still Doubting.
Carmelo Anthony's Olympic gender-identity confirmation exam comes back inconclusive.
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08-07-2012, 08:16 PM
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#93
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Golden Member
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GermanDunk
An US American just finished #2 in the 10000 m competition.
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For the first time in 48 years, and only the 3rd time in 100 years, an American man medals in the 10,000 and the American broadcaster NBC doesn't show the race without interruptions. A 27-minute race, and the network breaks away at least twice for 1.5-2 minutes for commercial advertisements. When the race broadcast resumed, there had been lead changes, but no explanation or context given. Simply astounding.
On the other hand, the network provided nearly a full-hour of uninterrupted action in the riveting semi-final of women's beach volleyball. Doubtless, network executives calculate correctly that sexually repressed men in Middle America would rather see women jiggling around in bikinis than show the beginning of an American resurgence in distance running.
Will be interesting to see if Texan Leo Manzano's amazing, cheat-code-fast silver-medal winning blast down the final 100m of the men's 1500m will get any coverage whatsoever by the network. Right now the big story on NBC appears to be Lolo Jones' 4th place finish in the 100m hurdles (she looks good in shorts), and the fact that Gabby What's-her-name almost fell off the balance beam today in gymnastics.
Leo Who?
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08-07-2012, 10:25 PM
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#94
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Diamond Member
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack.Kerr
On the other hand, the network provided nearly a full-hour of uninterrupted action in the riveting semi-final of women's beach volleyball. Doubtless, network executives calculate correctly that sexually repressed men in Middle America would rather see women jiggling around in bikinis than show the beginning of an American resurgence in distance running.
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I don't disagree with your point that NBC has been absolutely horrible with their coverage.... but isn't it possible that more people are just interested in volleyball? I mean, I only am because of the aforementioned bikini jiggling, but I think volleyball is just a more interesting sport.
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08-08-2012, 02:49 AM
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#95
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Quote:
Originally Posted by spreedom
I don't disagree with your point that NBC has been absolutely horrible with their coverage.... but isn't it possible that more people are just interested in volleyball? I mean, I only am because of the aforementioned bikini jiggling, but I think volleyball is just a more interesting sport.
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NBC's coverage of the Olympics is such a joke. I don't even know where to begin. I think what really set me off is they didn't show the replay of Andy Murray beating Roger Federer to capture the gold medal in tennis. Murray faced Roger at Wimbledon which is located in England a month ago and lost in the final match. He has always lost to Roger in the finals and Murray is the only English player to have such skill in many many years. The English have been starving for win at a major and they finally get one and fucking NBC does not show it. Unbelievable because Murray won IN ENGLAND, his home country and they didn't show it.
I also cannot stand Matt Lauer. Every time I see his ugly mug I wonder how my fist would feel against his jaw.
Also, I'm not sure if anyone else has noticed, but year after year the hosts and or commentators (whatever you prefer) gets worse and worse. I am sick and tired of having American nationalism shoved down my throat about how amazing and talented our athletes are. Don't get me wrong, I go balls to the wall cheering for our athletes to win, but I cannot stand them being shoved in my face while competing countries who have some amazing performances are barely given a glance or comment. And God forbid if an athlete from another country messes up a routine while in close contention to an American for the gold medal, he/she gets bashed by the hosts. The most annoying part is when those same hosts use replay and condemn the judges who don't have replay to burn in hell for the iffy scores that are posted.
/endrant.
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08-08-2012, 02:52 AM
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#96
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I'm with you on the NBC rant. Can you even imagine if FOX were broadcasting these games?
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08-08-2012, 02:54 AM
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#97
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Or how about some CBS, with the great Jim Nantz?
What does NBC have left, besides SNF and the Olympics? They should auction both off, and be done with it.
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08-08-2012, 09:01 AM
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#98
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GhostFace
NBC's coverage of the Olympics is such a joke. I don't even know where to begin. I think what really set me off is they didn't show the replay of Andy Murray beating Roger Federer to capture the gold medal in tennis. Murray faced Roger at Wimbledon which is located in England a month ago and lost in the final match. He has always lost to Roger in the finals and Murray is the only English player to have such skill in many many years. The English have been starving for win at a major and they finally get one and fucking NBC does not show it. Unbelievable because Murray won IN ENGLAND, his home country and they didn't show it.
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Don't worry, I'm sure they showed it in England.
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08-08-2012, 10:16 AM
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#99
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Moderator
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chumdawg
Or how about some CBS, with the great Jim Nantz?
What does NBC have left, besides SNF and the Olympics? They should auction both off, and be done with it.
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They've got a bit of hockey still, I think. Definitely the Winter Classic, and I think NBC shares the playoffs with NBCSN (formerly Versus)....although I feel like almost every game I ever see is on the latter and not the former.
Anyway, I agree with the point. They won't give up SNF because it's so lucrative, but they may as well jettison everything else.
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08-08-2012, 12:17 PM
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#100
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Lazy Moderator
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GhostFace
NBC's coverage of the Olympics is such a joke. I don't even know where to begin. I think what really set me off is they didn't show the replay of Andy Murray beating Roger Federer to capture the gold medal in tennis. Murray faced Roger at Wimbledon which is located in England a month ago and lost in the final match. He has always lost to Roger in the finals and Murray is the only English player to have such skill in many many years. The English have been starving for win at a major and they finally get one and fucking NBC does not show it. Unbelievable because Murray won IN ENGLAND, his home country and they didn't show it.
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Just so everyone is aware, Murray is from Scotland. Doesn't affect the point of your rant too much, just wanted to be correct.
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08-08-2012, 02:18 PM
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#101
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Platinum Member
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chumdawg
I'm with you on the NBC rant. Can you even imagine if FOX were broadcasting these games?
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I can't even imagine. Their morning program is so hideously atrocious. The only good thing that ever originated from that network is the show 24.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jthig32
Just so everyone is aware, Murray is from Scotland. Doesn't affect the point of your rant too much, just wanted to be correct.
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England and Scotland are unified.
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"What Dirk is doing is legendary stuff, this is a joke how good this man is" - JVG
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08-08-2012, 02:43 PM
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#102
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GhostFace
England and Scotland are unified.
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Yeah, but you said Murray is "English"....
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John Madden on Former NFL Running Back Leroy Hoard: "You want one yard, he'll get you three. You want five yards, he'll get you three."
"Your'e a low-mentality drama gay queen!!" -- She_Growls
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08-08-2012, 04:41 PM
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#103
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Member
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He's right in saying they are unified when referred to as "Britain." However, you can't refer to Murray as English.
Last edited by SchumiWDC; 08-08-2012 at 04:46 PM.
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08-08-2012, 04:54 PM
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#104
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Fair enough.
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"What Dirk is doing is legendary stuff, this is a joke how good this man is" - JVG
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08-08-2012, 11:56 PM
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#105
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Golden Member
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Quote:
Originally Posted by spreedom
I don't disagree with your point that NBC has been absolutely horrible with their coverage.... but isn't it possible that more people are just interested in volleyball? I mean, I only am because of the aforementioned bikini jiggling, but I think volleyball is just a more interesting sport.
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Well, I would hope that weren't true, but I fear it may be. At least, I think that NBC execs must be making the same calculation that you are. But if that is the case, wouldn't NBC want to show MORE advertisements when they have the (supposedly) larger viewing audience with beach volleyball? If as you suggest there's a smaller audience watching the 10K event, why show commercials during that race? Just let the race finish and move on to a more viewer-friendly event. My specific complaint is that they cut away twice during the 27+ minute race for minutes at a time, which really leaves a viewer wondering what happened. In beach vollleyball, by contrast, they showed much longer uninterrupted stretches of the match, even when there is more deadtime, and even when, on a tape delay, the nature of the action allows for interruption without leaving a gap in the action.
I guess that I have always seen Track & Field as one of the most essential, defining (series of) events of the Olympics; one of the events with the most tradition and history. Beach volleyball has less than a 20-year history as an official event. And Track & Field has a whole lot more athletes participating than beach volleyball. It's not that I don't think that beach volleyball doesn't deserve ANY coverage; but when it gets disproportionately MORE coverage, and better-quality coverage that I begin to wonder about motives and values.
One thing this broadcast has made clear for me: I hate Bob Costas (Olympic double gold medalist in Pomposity and Hot-Air Bloviating). Did NBC really bid over $1 billion to give Costas a talk-show vehicle? He has the most annoying delivery of any broadcaster since Brent Musberger. Way too much of every day's coverage is of Costas sitting down with athletes (invariably Americans, invariably winners of something) who don't have anything particularly interesting to say. ("How does it feel to win a gold medal?") These don't seem to be interviews as much as branding opportunities.
Worse still: The Social Media Reports. Could there be any less sport-relevant news coverage than having a Ryan Seacrest-type come on for a report on how many million tweets have been about the Olympics, and about how many people are writing on Facebook about Tweeting about the Olympics, and how many people are Tweeting about posting on Facebook. And updates on Celebrity Tweets on the Olympics!
I'd really rather see them let the events themselves do the talking.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GhostFace
I can't even imagine. Their morning program is so hideously atrocious. The only good thing that ever originated from that network is the show 24.
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Gotta give Fox credit for The Simpsons.
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08-09-2012, 12:11 AM
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#106
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack.Kerr
I guess that I have always seen Track & Field as one of the most essential, defining (series of) events of the Olympics; one of the events with the most tradition and history. Beach volleyball has less than a 20-year history as an official event. And Track & Field has a whole lot more athletes participating than beach volleyball. It's not that I don't think that beach volleyball doesn't deserve ANY coverage; but when it gets disproportionately MORE coverage, and better-quality coverage that I begin to wonder about motives and values.
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Counter-argument:
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These days being a fan is a competition to see who can be the most upset when
your team loses. That proves you love winning more. That's how it works.
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08-09-2012, 01:01 AM
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#107
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Kiki, in defense of the coverage of the distance race, I'll offer that the layman isn't riveted by 27 minutes straight of that stuff. I agree that lead changes and the like should be accounted for, but even a guy like me (a more enthusiastic viewer than their average, I am sure) is far more tuned in to the final moments than he is to the long grind that came before. If I recall correctly, you are a distance runner in your own right. As such, you of course represent more of a niche audience.
That said, I don't at all get the sport in beach volleyball. I suppose it's fun enough to play, but watching it is like watching grass grow.
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08-09-2012, 04:01 AM
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#108
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Maybe I'm the only one, but I'm loving every minute of Olympic basketball. I don't care if they are a band of mercenaries. Team USA is friggin fun to watch. Every time I see these guys mop the floor with their opponents by 40+, I hear the "Team America" song in my head. (Although I must say, I do feel really, really dirty rooting for Kobe and Lebron.)
I even find myself fascinated by the other games that don't involve Team USA. Pretty much every game that has involved either Russia or Spain has been really intense. Argentina vs. Brazil was a great game too.
Lastly though, I must say my favorite thing about this Olympic tournament though has been the emergence of nut-punching your opponent as an acceptable strategy for players to adapt. First some Argentinian punk cheap-shots Carmelo, and then earlier today Nicolas Batum elevates the art of nut-punching to a whole new level on poor Juan Carlos Navarro. Seriously, this was worthy of "Tosh.0" or "Jackass." Apparently all that blatantly, shamelessly nut-punching your opponent in international basketball amounts to is a flagrant, or "unsportsmanlike", foul. In the NBA that would be a hefty fine and a lengthy suspension. So acceptable is this that I'm now counting the days until the Olympic committee announces that the Nut-Punch has become an official Olympic sport. I would totally watch it. My money would be on Nicolas Batum to win the gold, with Jason Terry taking the silver. Andrew Golota might even come out for that one and take the bronze (I would say gold, but his eyesight is probably going by now.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnZFELgVvu8
Edit: Even better was Batum's explanation. Apparently he was pissed that Spain was flopping so much.
Quote:
After the game, Nic was shockingly candid with Adrian Wojnarowksi about why he delivered his dangerous punch:
Adrian Wojnarowski
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@WojYahooNBA
I asked Nicolas Batum why he hit Juan-Carlos Navarro in the groin. "I wanted to give him a good reason to flop," Batum said.
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Last edited by Thespiralgoeson; 08-09-2012 at 04:27 AM.
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08-09-2012, 08:58 AM
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#109
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Jack.Kerr...I've always been a HUGE Costas fan. You missed the boat on this one.
And very, very few people are interested in a 27 minute race.
As far as races go, give me:
100m
200
400
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hurdles
and that's it. I don't care to see anything but the last couple of minutes of anything else.
Last edited by Murphy3; 08-09-2012 at 09:00 AM.
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08-09-2012, 10:19 AM
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#110
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Platinum Member
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Excellent counter argument UD.
@ Jack.Kerr - I gotta agree with Murph on this one. Costas is an excellent interviewer. I always admire his ability to feel out the interview and say exactly the right things. Also, what other question should he ask a gold medalist? Everyone wants to know what it feels like to be the best in your sport every four years and everyone feels that differently. And of course they will only interview Americans, come on now, don't act like you didn't expect that to happen.
I've not seen a single match of USA basketball.. and I am not sure if they show that on basic cable.. will probably stream it from some website. However, I did see the nut shot. That shit was crazy, I can't fathom that being done in the NBA. I guess players are getting tired of flopping and if the league does not want to do something about it they will. That is why international basketball is such a joke sometimes.
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"What Dirk is doing is legendary stuff, this is a joke how good this man is" - JVG
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08-09-2012, 10:23 AM
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#111
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Moderator
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Bob Costas's interviewing abilities are well above average, but the man looks like a reanimated corpse dressed in copious makeup.
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