World of Pageantry

fieldshowqueen wrote: YEAH! It's China ... we HAVE to have ping pong! (Boy there's a sterotype begging an argument.)

Have You seen the ITTF''s (international table tennis federation) player and team rankings? China dominates. Germany is the only good country outside of Asia.

I follow all the sports I can get my eyes on. Only Band camp's that week (#@*(%^&) and I can't record so I'ma miss a bunch. My favorite would be track and field (long distance! yeah! Sprints are more fun to watch though. Same w/some of the fields).

Did you know that the WR mile was run with an average 55.78 quarter mile split?
*It's a shame they switched to 1500M. 1600 meters made sense, being metric an' all, but no-one outside of the sport knows what 1500 meters feels like. Everyone knows what 4 laps around a track is like. Luckly they still run miles occasionally. So we know roughly how fast they are. .

My father was a Golden Gloves boxer when he was a young man, so I always watch the boxing events as well as judo and greco-roman wrestling. My wife loves the gymnasts [who doesn't?] and my kids watch the water sports. We all watch track & field.

Chapagne wrote:Baseball and softball are getting dumped after this Olympics as well. Just not enough places in the world where it is played.

I think it is unfortunate that they are dumping baseball and softball from the olympics. While none of the big major league ball players can play in the games it has always been a tradition for our top college players in the nation to go out and compete on a national level. Some of our MLB heros were once on the olympic teams back in the day.

Personally I think it is good that the pro baseball players cannot compete due to their schedules. I thought the whole premise behind the olympics was supposed to be a competition for and between amateur athletes. I've never been a supporter or fan of our basketball pros playing on our olympic teams. I understand the whole thing about playing for our country and having the opportunity to represent our nation, but sometimes, well a lot of the time, I feel that it's a bit unfair for all the other countries.

Jsaxm wrote:

Chapagne wrote:Baseball and softball are getting dumped after this Olympics as well. Just not enough places in the world where it is played.

I think it is unfortunate that they are dumping baseball and softball from the olympics. While none of the big major league ball players can play in the games it has always been a tradition for our top college players in the nation to go out and compete on a national level. Some of our MLB heros were once on the olympic teams back in the day.

Personally I think it is good that the pro baseball players cannot compete due to their schedules. I thought the whole premise behind the olympics was supposed to be a competition for and between amateur athletes. I've never been a supporter or fan of our basketball pros playing on our olympic teams. I understand the whole thing about playing for our country and having the opportunity to represent our nation, but sometimes, well a lot of the time, I feel that it's a bit unfair for all the other countries.

noooo... it's unfair to us. the NBA lets a LOT of things slide for the sake of keeping up the excitement and pace of the game.
the US got thrashed in the Olympics.

I wonder how bad the pollution really is.

Ex Nihilo wrote:noooo... it's unfair to us. the NBA lets a LOT of things slide for the sake of keeping up the excitement and pace of the game.
the US got thrashed in the Olympics.

Oh yeah, the U.S. Olympic Basketball record is horrible....The United States won all of the gold medals in the men's competition from 1936-2000, with the exception of 1972, 1988 (Soviet Union), and 1980 (Yugoslavia). The United States did not participate in the 1980 Olympics due to their boycott of the Games. In 2004, Argentina won the gold medal. So that means the US has taken gold in 14 of 18 Olympic Basketball competition. In 1972 (before NBA players were allowed in Olympic play) the U.S. should have won Gold (read about the controversy at the '72 Olympic gold medal game), and even refused to accept the silver medal due to the unfair ruling in the game. Not to mention since the loss in the 2004 Olympics the US national team came back to win the international FIBA competition in 2006. And is the favorite by far in the Olympics this year. So I have to ask, where is this thrashing? Reffing in the NBA is actually quite a bit better than in FIBA, and I actually like NBA rules better than FIBA rules. Luckily FIBA rules gradually look more and more like NBA rules.

Thank you! My thoughts exactly. I was wondering when there was a year that the US wasn't the one doing the thrashing, with the exception of the few years you listed. That is my exact point to why I think it is unfair for our country to have NBA level professionals competing in the games.

Yeah, but I was just making a point that we don't get thrashed. I see no problem allowing NBA players in the Olympics professionals are allowed in every other Olympic sport, including players from other countries professional basketball leagues. Also many NBA players will play for their home country's Olympic team. If other countries want to win, they need to step up, and they have, upsetting us at the 2004 Olympics, since then the US team has strengthened it's resolve and reclaimed their place on top.

Yeah, I realize that was your point, I just added on to it with my point. I understand that the other countries use their professional players as well. I just don't understand why there are ANY professionals competing in the olympics. The olympics are supposed to be a competition of amateurs. I guess this will just be one of life's mysteries, haha!! I don't really care because I can't stand basketball anyway, LOL!

... and then on the opposite point of the spectrum, there's the Chinese gymnastic team where 3 of the girls ages are in question (you have to be 16 in the year of the Olympics to compete). Supposedly the past 3 years show the 3 as born in 1993 and 1994 (making them 14 and 15), but Viola! this year their birth dates are now 1991 and 1992. Forget the pros ... amateur scandals are even more fun! (sarcasm intended) Sheesh!

Ben! I didn't know you ride! So do I!!!! It just bums me out because I don't have tivo and our dvr doesn't work, so I can't record the equestrian events... that are on at 6 in the morning! Urgh. Guess it's better than the 2 am time slot from a few olympics ago.

I don't like the pro basketball players. Well, to be fair, I don't like basketball at all. In Sydney, durning the opening ceremonies, all I remember was those cameras on the pro basketball players, and they were walking that track as individuals, and not as a team. That bothers me. You are playing to represent our country!!!

That polution looks NASTY! I heard that the cycling team from the US came in wearing masks that the IOC issued, and now they have to apologize to the Chinese government for wearing them. Even though China's OWN citizens are wearing those masks. Sheesh, indeed!

JenKozy wrote: That polution looks NASTY! I heard that the cycling team from the US came in wearing masks that the IOC issued, and now they have to apologize to the Chinese government for wearing them. Even though China's OWN citizens are wearing those masks. Sheesh, indeed!

Yeah but they wore them in the airport, as they got of the plane--so according to S.J. Mercury news writer Ann Killion the air was clean (maybe the filter it?).

There was a good marathon runner who pulled out because he didn't want to race in the smog.


And are the Olympics meant to represent amateurs, or are they supposed to showcase the best athletes in the world?

BGRtumpet wrote:And are the Olympics meant to represent amateurs, or are they supposed to showcase the best athletes in the world?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympics#A ... ssionalism

My favorite sport in the summer olympics is soccer but I will watch everything that I can manage. During the Athens games I watched a lot of Greco-Roman wrestling and fencing; I guess it just depends on how the TV coverage works out. I really am just a sports fan in general and most of these people care so much about competing for their countries that I enjoy watching all of it.

The Aceman wrote:

BGRtumpet wrote:And are the Olympics meant to represent amateurs, or are they supposed to showcase the best athletes in the world?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympics#A ... ssionalism

Well, I guess you can call me a traditionalist then, haha!