In deference to our American members I refuse to gloat at the results at the olympics but feel that the USA athletes had it too good, too long and now the old saying about sauce and a gaggle of geese come to mind. This is a long article be warned. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5716924/ Your comments. David
As long as you’re beaten fairly then you should shut up and congratulate the winner. I have no use for winy athletes. America has some very winy pros and a few amateur ones as well. I never let my fighters talk trash before or after a fight. As an American things like this really make me mad as these people are suppose to represent me.
Never ever in my entire life have I thought that it could be possible for USA to play basketball so poorly. I really expected more, but on the other side it has to be stressed that Puerto Rico did a great job. However they shot the ball, they scored. The game was theirs all the way
The whiners don't represent me. Where is it written that the US should always win the most gold medals, or any gold medals? The athletes who perform the best should win the medals. I give the most credit to those athletes who go into the olympics knowing ahead of time that they have no chance to win any medal, but they still compete to the best of their ability, with pride for their countries. We don't often see these athletes, as the television networks focus on the medal contenders, but one year, the network broadcasting the winter olypics showed a segment on athletes who were at the bottom of the standings -- ones whose countries were participating for the first time, or "winter" athletes from countries that never see a single flake of snow. These people put just as much effort into their performances as the ones at the top, even though they had no realistic chance to win. They deserve our accolades.
The bigger they come the harder they fall. I think the US was cheated in the men's gymnastics in being told to change up their routine, but I don't know the full story. As for basketball, our players became arrogant and underestimated the rest of the world and it came back to bite em in the ass. As for swimming, it looked clean to me and I enjoyed watching the races. Of course I root for America, but I am glad to see Japan win too. The only country I may be rooting against is France and Russia because it's still in my mind that the Russians use steroids back from the Soviet and East Germany days, and the French judges are cheating (just like in 02). As far as the Olympics go, I just like watching some good worldly competitions, and if America loses, we lose. No need to get in a huff about it, we will just come out strong next four years. As the article said, one bad Olympics won't put a dent in our already massive medal winnings. We need something like this to knock us back down to Earth, we are getting too big headed out there.
I agree with you. I hate it when people start spitting on athletes who didn't win any medals or made a mistake in their performance and thus lost the medal. Everyone should know that ALL athletes worked very hard to be allowed to take part in the Olympics. There are criteria that had to met and the fact alone that they made it tells a lot about their skills. On the other side, not everyone can win. Someone will win and someone will take the last position, which does not mean that they are lousy athletes. Having a bad day, feeling tired, being sick can ruin it all for someone but I myself respect all who made it to Athens and every other Olympics for that matter. Those who do not stand a chance to win should try to break their personal best and their task is fullfilled.
Even the athlete who comes in dead last is better at his/her sport than most of the rest of the world!
I think that article was a bit harsh. there are some whiners, i.e. the mens basketball team. But for the most part I think everyone else is holding up well. That swimmer did use an illegal dolphin kick, the t.v. commentators called it as soon as it happened. And in re. to the men's gymnasts', that is just messed up that they made them change their routines at the last minute. That is BS. I would be complaining if I were them. It will be interesting to see how everyone takes Blain Wilson's comments, "if they can't beat us fairly...." I cheer for US on most of the games. However, I can't help to root for some other countries when they are playing better and seem to be the better athletes, even if it's against the US. And I felt bad for that Chinese male gymnast who was VERY good on the Pommel horse only to screw up on his dismount which cost him the chance to do the individual.
WELL SAID! Just to be able to participate in the Olympics is completely and totally amazing! I respect each and every individual athlete even the ones that came close to being a part of this event.
The link was not working, but at any rate, all the athletes are winners in my book no matter how it turns out for them. The sad part is that in the end, this whole summer games will be forgotten until the next 4 years.
The men's basketball team has fallen a long way from the Dream Team. There should be a televised ceremony where Magic Johnson slaps each one in the face, one by one, and informs them of just how much they've disappointed their country.
The biggest problem with the American Basketball team is that they are not a team. They are a bunch of individuals, overpaid, egotistic athletes. For the other countries, the Olympics is their chance in the spotlight, NBA players get that everyday.
Well said. Of course, that could be seen from looking at the NBA.....they didn't have to travel all the way to Athens for us to figure this one out. On the bright side, Paul Hamm showed fortitude and humility in his Olympic win, and Michael Phelps (arguably the world's current best swimmer) showed the true spirit of teamwork and cooperation when he bowed out of a relay to allow one of his teammates to take the spot instead.
You tell em Cpt Anne... why dont we try to recognize the people who really represent the spirit of the olympics, instead of constantly harping on those that dont meet our exceedingly high expectations.... Plus, these NBA guys were the only ones willing to go. I mean, they have a long season in the NBA ahead of them, they may be sacrificing their own longevity in the next season by going to these games... They may not be performing that great, but who knows, maybe they will come out of this experience having learned something. Olympic basketball has different rules then NBA ball...these guys are one on one players...drive to the hoop guys... this is not the tournament for them.
The spirit of the olympics is to take part, and join in fairly, more than anything. There is no point in whining if you don't do as well as you'd hoped. p.s. For olympic spirit, google up "Eddie the eagle" anyone heard of him?
