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Post by arjan on Aug 22, 2008 10:34:03 GMT -5
Oops, we did it again  Girls field hockey  |
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Post by jhar26 on Aug 22, 2008 12:13:12 GMT -5
Oops, we did it again Girls field hockey And against the host country at that. Fabulous achievement - I'm happy for them.  |
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Post by erik on Aug 22, 2008 17:03:33 GMT -5
The only other country besides the U.S. that I am really keeping close tabs on (as all the other big fish are being covered) is Denmark, which is where my mother is originally from. Thus far, they have won seven medals: two Gold[/color]; two Silver[/color]; and three Bronze[/color].
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Post by jhar26 on Aug 22, 2008 19:49:40 GMT -5
The only other country besides the U.S. that I am really keeping close tabs on (as all the other big fish are being covered) is Denmark, which is where my mother is originally from. Thus far, they have won seven medals: two Gold[/color]; two Silver[/color]; and three Bronze[/color].[/quote] Well, that's a great result for a country the size of Denmark. Holland are the best of them all though. Just think about it - they are the size of a postage stamp and yet they already have seven gold, five silver and four bronze medals - amazing. And the good thing for athletes from these smaller countries is that when they win something it really means something. They become instant celebrities at home while in big countries like the US or China this probably isn't the case because they win so much that they lose count (unless you do something truly extraordinary like Phelps of course). |
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Post by arjan on Aug 23, 2008 3:56:32 GMT -5
Yes, well, all surprises aside, Holland still has a feeling of slight dissapointment. Because: Marianna Vos was destined to win 3 gold, Theo Bos at least 1 and possible 3 and Marleen Veldhuis won with the estafette swim but also was supposed to win solo. That's about 7 gold medals that were counted before the games even started we didn't get Anyway about the cashing in, I just read an article in a sports magazine where is stated that a gold medal indeed is good for a life time of invatations and fame, but silver and bronze not so much. It just doesn't have the same status and is easily forgotten specially if others do win gold. |
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Post by jhar26 on Aug 23, 2008 8:30:48 GMT -5
>>We've got a girl highjumper who's good enough to challenge for a medal, but she will probably jump half a meter below her best on this occasion.  << Gaston **If she wins maybe she can form (or be!!) a government in Belgium-- or here in the USA for that matter, or both!!! ;D  Ed She did it! She's won the gold!  |
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Post by arjan on Aug 23, 2008 8:41:58 GMT -5
Congratulations Always nice to win gold on the last day of the games, end it with a positive feeling. |
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Post by dawnstar on Aug 23, 2008 13:23:47 GMT -5
Congrats! Ben Congratulations Always nice to win gold on the last day of the games, end it with a positive feeling. |
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Post by erik on Aug 24, 2008 18:49:28 GMT -5
Quote by jhar26:
True.
And it may seem shocking to all the non-American members here, but I for one was not terribly impressed by our men's basketball team's clean sweep to Gold, for the simple reason that I don't think we fielded an Olympic team so much as we fielded a team consisting solely of wildly overpaid NBA bigshots who seemed to have chips on their shoulders for wasting away in Athens four years ago. I didn't even watch much of their run throughout this Olympic tournament on TV, to be brutally honest.
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Post by egoodstein on Aug 25, 2008 1:22:53 GMT -5
I didn't watch much basketball, but I thought this US b'ball team were more respectful and
better mannered than the previous group-- at least the interviews I heard. Sticky question of whether pro players should be in Olympics. Since basketball players only have to play one year of college, or even go straight from high school, unlike some sports, the line is sorta murky. Much as I love tennis though, I think it out of place as Olympic sport: if they have to have it, I'd much rather have college players eligible instead of pros too. Ed
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Post by jhar26 on Aug 25, 2008 2:01:23 GMT -5
Just my opinion - but every sport at the Olympics should be represented by it's best athletes IMO. Not that tennis or soccer, or even basketball should necessarily be a part of the Olympics, but as long as they are I want to see the best. I mean, it would (to me anyway) be meaningless to win an Olympic gold in tennis when everyone knows that Federer or Nadal would have easily wiped the floor with you if they had been allowed to play.
Besides - where do you draw the line? The top athletes in ANY sport these days are professionals. And if we're honest about it we have to admit that it's always been like that - even in the days of the cold war when all American top athletes were so-called "students" and those from the communist east were in the army....give me a break. They were professionals who called themselves amateurs to be allowed to compete. I'm glad they got rid of the hypocricy in that regard.
Gaston
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Post by jhar26 on Aug 25, 2008 2:06:50 GMT -5
Quote by jhar26: True. And it may seem shocking to all the non-American members here, but I for one was not terribly impressed by our men's basketball team's clean sweep to Gold, for the simple reason that I don't think we fielded an Olympic team so much as we fielded a team consisting solely of wildly overpaid NBA bigshots who seemed to have chips on their shoulders for wasting away in Athens four years ago. I didn't even watch much of their run throughout this Olympic tournament on TV, to be brutally honest. I like the US Basketball team (basketball is the only teamsport that I really enjoy watching). It's more difficult for them recently because the top European countries now also have NBA players. But from what I've seen of them this time the US team was very good. Gaston |
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Post by egoodstein on Aug 25, 2008 10:20:47 GMT -5
>>Besides - where do you draw the line? The top athletes in ANY sport these days are professionals. And if we're honest about it we have to admit that it's always been like that - even in the days of the cold war when all American top athletes were so-called "students" and those from the communist east were in the army....give me a break. They were professionals who called themselves amateurs to be allowed to compete. I'm glad they got rid of the hypocricy in that regard. Gaston[/quote]<< **Those are good points. I agree esp. with eliminating the hypocrisy factor. I guess I have some concern that some of the 'accomplishment for accomplishment's sake' sports will be squeezed out so that famous, rich pros can add hardware to the cabinets in their mansions. & yeah I know winners in many sports can and do cash in (I don't begrudge that really-- a lotta work goes into those medals/performances!). So far to be fair there's a decent balance, but I sometimes wonder. . . Or something Ed |
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Post by jhar26 on Aug 25, 2008 11:45:46 GMT -5
A good reason to get rid of tennis (which as everyone knows I love), basketball and soccer is that there is a danger that they take the spotlight away from other sports. There are people from minor sports who work like crazy for their two weeks of glory every four years and it must be frustrating for them if even then the headlines are still dominated by Bryant, Nadal and Ronaldinho. Fortunately Track & Field, Swimming and Gymnastics have a strong enough tradition to remain the main Olympic sports no matter what.
Gaston
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Post by erik on Aug 25, 2008 12:39:12 GMT -5
Quote by jhar26:
I suppose my own personal worry as an American is how our country comes across on a world athletic stage like this, seeing as how we have this tendency to win the Medal count (as if just doing your best wasn't enough) each time out and seem to tend to make a big deal out of it (I heard chants of "USA! USA!" in more than a few events during the Games). How we come across in the world as a nation has bothered me for a while anyway, but particularly since 9/11.
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