The Thread of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad

[Island_Style]

Cheaters never win.

Actually, they do.

BAZIIING!!!

[HedleyLamarr]

We got a huge shocker is Softball... The Americans... LOSE! Japan wins the Gold Medal game against the USA.

So much for our dominance in Softball.

And there goes my argument for the US being too dominant. Wow, that's a huge upset right there.

NIt that shocking if you wtached the games the USA had their toughest games against Japan and a 1 game series anything can happen, if it were best of 5 or best of 7 USA wins 4 of 5 or 5 of 7 but winning all three games is tough. Perhaps if baseball ever returns to the Olympics they should do best 2 of 3 in the final like the CWS does.

You do that, and you run the risk of losing these suprise stories. If the 1980 USA-USSR hockey match was best-of-3 (Technically, it wouldn't have happened since they weren't playing the gold-medal match, but sounds good for comparison's sake.), do you think the US wins one of the two other games?

What makes the Olympics great is that the winner is decided in one gold-medal match, and not a series.

[RyanMcD29]

We got a huge shocker is Softball... The Americans... LOSE! Japan wins the Gold Medal game against the USA.

So much for our dominance in Softball.

And there goes my argument for the US being too dominant. Wow, that's a huge upset right there.

NIt that shocking if you wtached the games the USA had their toughest games against Japan and a 1 game series anything can happen, if it were best of 5 or best of 7 USA wins 4 of 5 or 5 of 7 but winning all three games is tough. Perhaps if baseball ever returns to the Olympics they should do best 2 of 3 in the final like the CWS does.

You do that, and you run the risk of losing these suprise stories. If the 1980 USA-USSR hockey match was best-of-3 (Technically, it wouldn't have happened since they weren't playing the gold-medal match, but sounds good for comparison's sake.), do you think the US wins one of the two other games?

What makes the Olympics great is that the winner is decided in one gold-medal match, and not a series.

It was the semifinal, the gold medal game was against Sweden

[DEAD!]

You do that, and you run the risk of losing these suprise stories. If the 1980 USA-USSR hockey match was best-of-3 (Technically, it wouldn't have happened since they weren't playing the gold-medal match, but sounds good for comparison's sake.), do you think the US wins one of the two other games?

What makes the Olympics great is that the winner is decided in one gold-medal match, and not a series.

It was the semifinal, the gold medal game was against Sweden

I thought it was against Finland

[WJMorris3]

You do that, and you run the risk of losing these suprise stories. If the 1980 USA-USSR hockey match was best-of-3 (Technically, it wouldn't have happened since they weren't playing the gold-medal match, but sounds good for comparison's sake.), do you think the US wins one of the two other games?

What makes the Olympics great is that the winner is decided in one gold-medal match, and not a series.

It was the semifinal, the gold medal game was against Sweden

I thought it was against Finland

Careful with this... had the Finns beaten the Americans back then, the Soviets would have won the gold. Semifinal is a misnomer here, it was a final pool between the four final teams (USA/URS/FIN/SWE), with each team carrying their results in.

Carried in: USA-SWE D, URS over FIN.

2nd group game: USA over URS, FIN-SWE D

3rd group game: USA over FIN, URS over SWE.

While the USA didn't need to beat Finland to win the gold, they did need at least a draw. (Incidentally, the draw would have been enough for Finland to get bronze.)

[ShinyHubCaps]

Wait...you're not a hater? Sorry if I got confused.

Face it, Team USA has played well. The only things lacking are three-point and free throw accuracy at the level you'd expect. Have you actually watched them play? They play suffocating defense, and their passing has been exceptional. If they were playing like crap, how in the were they getting these fast breaks and blowing these teams out?

Bogut is solid, but he's not number 1 overall pick solid. He's not a bust, but he's not yet to a Chris Kaman level of play either.

Woah, post explosion since this was posted, so it might not seem relevant anymore.

Anyway, they forced turnovers, yes, and their defense was pretty good. But when China kept jacking up threes (which were falling in the first/competitive half and not the second), USA would keep a man back, a la the grade-school cherry pick. That led to a lot of easy buckets. In fact, I might say their other fastbreaks are the result of other teams who can't handle the ball (cite China, once again, and Spain); once a team can handle the ball and make decent passes to the post, USA will be without their fastbreaks and be forced to play half-court offense (*gasp!*), which we haven't really seen as much.

Again, I want USA to win, but as a spectator, is it too much to ask for a game settled by less than 20 points? Not that USA would let up, but someone else can step up. It's fun to see them win, but just like Phelps and the 0.01 difference, the close games are more momentous and fun for the fans. Except haters, who would say the U.S. never should have played a close game.

[DEAD!]

You do that, and you run the risk of losing these suprise stories. If the 1980 USA-USSR hockey match was best-of-3 (Technically, it wouldn't have happened since they weren't playing the gold-medal match, but sounds good for comparison's sake.), do you think the US wins one of the two other games?

What makes the Olympics great is that the winner is decided in one gold-medal match, and not a series.

It was the semifinal, the gold medal game was against Sweden

I thought it was against Finland

Careful with this... had the Finns beaten the Americans back then, the Soviets would have won the gold. Semifinal is a misnomer here, it was a final pool between the four final teams (USA/URS/FIN/SWE), with each team carrying their results in.

Carried in: USA-SWE D, URS over FIN.

2nd group game: USA over URS, FIN-SWE D

3rd group game: USA over FIN, URS over SWE.

While the USA didn't need to beat Finland to win the gold, they did need at least a draw. (Incidentally, the draw would have been enough for Finland to get bronze.)

Well, now the truth finally comes out....

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Please. Like the IOC has any standing when it comes to morality on any issue. It's an organization dedicated to fleecing big money out of cities that most often don't get a return on their investment when it comes to hosting the games.

Oh, come on. Do you really think that that is their only reason for being around? That theyre really planning on doing that to a city every two years?

I dont mean this against you personally, but why do some people never lighten up and always need to see and assume the worst in things? I understand being realistic, but come on. The world may not be all sunshine and candy, but it isnt all doom and gloom either.

You do know to whom you were replying, right? We don't call him David Downer for nothing.

The irony is that my original argument is that people should lay off Bolt for being happy he won a race and expressing himself as he saw fit. The IOC rant was probably over the top, the point is kind of valid.

[TFoA]

Good Gawd, the U.S. track team has had a ridiculously rough go of it...both the men & women's 4x100 relay team dropped the baton in their semifinal heats. Unbelievable.

[Viper]

Good Gawd, the U.S. track team has had a ridiculously rough go of it...both the men & women's 4x100 relay team dropped the baton in their semifinal heats. Unbelievable.

Double d'oh!

Edit/update: From the "Blind Squirrel, Meet Acorn" Dept., Bob Costas describes the U.S. relay teams' performance as "laying a giant egg in the 'Bird's Nest'." Ouch.

[NJTank]

Good Gawd, the U.S. track team has had a ridiculously rough go of it...both the men & women's 4x100 relay team dropped the baton in their semifinal heats. Unbelievable.

USA Track has officially become an embarrassment

[oz615]

Good Gawd, the U.S. track team has had a ridiculously rough go of it...both the men & women's 4x100 relay team dropped the baton in their semifinal heats. Unbelievable.

USA Track has officially become an embarrassment

Sorry,but I'm at a loss for words right now.

[Viper]

I just stumbled upon an article in The Times of London, written by a former Olympian, that no Olympics thread would be complete without:

I am often asked if the Olympic village - the vast restaurant and housing conglomeration that hosts the world's top athletes for the duration of the Games - is the sex-fest it is cracked up to be. My answer is always the same: too right it is. I played my first Games in Barcelona in 1992 and got laid more often in those two and a half weeks than in the rest of my life up to that point.

Interestingly, I found this article shortly after seeing Bob Costas interview Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor, a conversation that didn't go two minutes before both (married) women started talking about looking forward to going home to start making babies. Yeah, there's definitely something in the air, or the water, or both, at the Games - it doesn't seem to matter where they are, or what year. If only someone could figure out how to bottle and sell it to the rest of us, they'd make Bill Gates look like a piker faster than Usain Bolt can run the 100m.

[Jigga]

Good Gawd, the U.S. track team has had a ridiculously rough go of it...both the men & women's 4x100 relay team dropped the baton in their semifinal heats. Unbelievable.

USA Track has officially become an embarrassment

Says the morbidly obese guy that probably couldn't run up or down the freaking steps.

[DEAD!]

Good Gawd, the U.S. track team has had a ridiculously rough go of it...both the men & women's 4x100 relay team dropped the baton in their semifinal heats. Unbelievable.

Double d'oh!

Edit/update: From the "Blind Squirrel, Meet Acorn" Dept., Bob Costas describes the U.S. relay teams' performance as "laying a giant egg in the 'Bird's Nest'." Ouch.

Yeah, I laughed at that.... and also right after that when he talked about the relay teams writing USA on their name tags as opposed to the standard printed ones. I was thinking, "What was the deal with that?" I guess I wasn't the only one.

But at least the US swept the mens 400m race. The bronze medallist fell (or was that dove) through the finish line.

Good Gawd, the U.S. track team has had a ridiculously rough go of it...both the men & women's 4x100 relay team dropped the baton in their semifinal heats. Unbelievable.

USA Track has officially become an embarrassment

Says the morbidly obese guy that probably couldn't run up or down the freaking steps.

Maybe now that he's going to an apartment, he make use of the stairs.... ah.... who am I kidding?

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Good Gawd, the U.S. track team has had a ridiculously rough go of it...both the men & women's 4x100 relay team dropped the baton in their semifinal heats. Unbelievable.

USA Track has officially become an embarrassment

Says the morbidly obese guy that probably couldn't run up or down the freaking steps.

Not nice, but warranted in this case. I'm not embarrassed by USA track. I think they're all swell fellows.

[Gary]

Good Gawd, the U.S. track team has had a ridiculously rough go of it...both the men & women's 4x100 relay team dropped the baton in their semifinal heats. Unbelievable.

USA Track has officially become an embarrassment

Says the morbidly obese guy that probably couldn't run up or down the freaking steps.

OUCH!!!

[Viper]

Good Gawd, the U.S. track team has had a ridiculously rough go of it...both the men & women's 4x100 relay team dropped the baton in their semifinal heats. Unbelievable.

USA Track has officially become an embarrassment

Not so fast (no pun intended)... three American men have swept the 400m, notably the bronze medalist who dove across the finish line just ahead of the fourth-place guy.

[DEAD!]

Good Gawd, the U.S. track team has had a ridiculously rough go of it...both the men & women's 4x100 relay team dropped the baton in their semifinal heats. Unbelievable.

USA Track has officially become an embarrassment

Says the morbidly obese guy that probably couldn't run up or down the freaking steps.

Not nice, but warranted in this case. I'm not embarrassed by USA track. I think they're all swell fellows.

The US really isn't doing bad in athletics at all and in fact, they are doing quite well. Yes, the quick sprint events aren't going as well as previous olympics, but look at the results overall and you will see the US swept the 400m ,400m hurdles and 20 medals in athletics overall.

[TFoA]

I already knew about that...but tonight/last night was a rough night for the Americans. I mean, how often do you see both the women and men drop the baton (on the same leg in the same round to be exact?)

I just hope the sprint team is going to come out with a vengeance come 2012.