The Thread of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad

[CC97]

Most picture you see in a news story are done by the AP. AP sets the standard of story styles, and the AP is the one who writes wire and note stories that don't have bylines.

Besides we live in America not the World, and the AP has created the medal table for years and nobody had a problem with it the way it was, but I guess the theme here is the great Chinese way of life, jusat too bad about those protesters in the re-education camp.

What are you going on about?

We simply pointed out that 95% of the world (which is the portion of people on this planet that do not live in the United States) uses a method of ranking medals differently than what you claimed the standard was; this isn't some vast Chinese conspiracy... it's just the way it's always been.

[NJTank]

I never seen an Olympics where this was a big deal it has always been listed by total medals

[Sport]

So can we give New England a silver medal for the Super Bowl and say it counts just as much as the N.Y. Giants gold? Green Bay and San Diego share the bronze). Buffalo's 4 Super Bowl silver medals put them in a tie with Green Bay (3 golds and 1 silver)?

The way the rest of the world does it is the correct way to do it. Gold is the ultimate goal and should be the ultimate reward. The American way of doing it says 2nd place is just as important as 1st place...

Good a time as any to bring out the medal point system. Gold is worth 3, silver is worth 2, and bronze worth 1. That way Gold is worth as much as a silver and bronze combined. I don't know why the press hasn't latched onto something like this. Using that system, this is how the olympics shook out:

1. China 223 pts

2. USA 220 pts

3. Russia 139 pts

4. Great Britain 98 pts

This way silvers and Bronzes aren't uncounted, but also aren't held in the same regard as a gold medal when clearly they aren't the same. If we had to use a best way to count medals I would go with gold medals only. Coming in first the most is more impressive than coming in second and third the most.

[maz]

I could be wrong, but, doesnt the IOC not recognize total medal counts? If so, that means people can look at it however they want. Whether its by total medals, gold medals, or McCarthy's awesome points system.

[CC97]

it has always been listed by total medals

In the United States that is true, keeping in mind we're talking about a global event I figured it was worth mentioning how the globe ranks success in the global games... But hey, one man's world is another man's "us > everyone else"

[DEAD!]

I could be wrong, but, doesnt the IOC not recognize total medal counts? If so, that means people can look at it however they want. Whether its by total medals, gold medals, or McCarthy's awesome points system.

If you look at the Beijing 2008 website, they do sort by golds, but have a column that reads "Rank by total"

http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/INF/...GL0000000.shtml

I even looked through the SI vault and viewed the table from 1968. They (SI) ranked them by medal

Well, too bad Iceland didn't get the gold in handball.

[Island_Style]

I'm proud of our showing.

[CC97]

I even looked through the SI vault and viewed the table from 1968. They did rank them by medal

The 1968 medal count page on wikipedia offers their reasons for ranking by gold medal

"This is the full table of the medal table of the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. These rankings sort by the number of gold medals earned by a country. The number of silvers is taken into consideration next and then the number of bronze. If, after the above, countries are still tied, equal ranking is given and they are listed alphabetically. This follows the system used by the IOC, IAAF and BBC."

[rams80]

I could be wrong, but, doesnt the IOC not recognize total medal counts? If so, that means people can look at it however they want. Whether its by total medals, gold medals, or McCarthy's awesome points system.

More importantly, isn't the concept of a "medal count" simply a Cold War relic designed to show that our athletic prowess is better than the stupid Commies' and vice versa?

[HedleyLamarr]

Geez...all this uproar over a medal count? A points system akin to soccer and hockey?

You folks are crazy. All the medal is supposed to show is how many medals each country has won....it's not an international contest nor is there a special reward about medal counts. Whoever suggested a points system should be shot.

[DEAD!]

Geez...all this uproar over a medal count? A points system akin to soccer and hockey?

You folks are crazy. All the medal is supposed to show is how many medals each country has won....it's not an international contest nor is there a special reward about medal counts. Whoever suggested a points system should be shot.

... by the Chinese military....

[Sport]

Geez...all this uproar over a medal count? A points system akin to soccer and hockey?

You folks are crazy. All the medal is supposed to show is how many medals each country has won....it's not an international contest nor is there a special reward about medal counts. Whoever suggested a points system should be shot.

That was me. I should be shot over that? A little extreme, I think. Nobody gets a trophy for having the most medals, I was just trying to come up with a way to show which country had the best overall showing. I don't think it's that big a deal.

[Eye]

Geez...all this uproar over a medal count? A points system akin to soccer and hockey?

You folks are crazy. All the medal is supposed to show is how many medals each country has won....it's not an international contest nor is there a special reward about medal counts. Whoever suggested a points system should be shot.

WHAT, DAT WULD B ANOTHER STEP CLOSER 2 COMMUNISM!!!!1!11!!112112OMG

[ShinyHubCaps]

That was me. I should be shot over that? A little extreme, I think. Nobody gets a trophy for having the most medals, I was just trying to come up with a way to show which country had the best overall showing. I don't think it's that big a deal.

Well, first off, McCarthy's system makes the most sense. If China beat the USA in every event, then the USA had one more win in an event in which the Chinese didn't place, USA would have more medals. For example, China's 100 G, 0 S, 0 B would rank below USA's 1 G, 100 S, 0 B. I think it's important to get a standard if we're going to be judging at all.

Second off, we shouldn't be judging by total medal counts. We only do so because everyone else does, but think about it. The USA wins two gold medals in basketball (1 men's and 1 women's), while each event takes the entire span of the Olympics to complete. Meanwhile, Track & Field has 40 finals in 10 days. It's comparing apples and oranges; events are not comparable, so the medals shouldn't be comparable. We lump all medals together like they were meant to be lumped together, but in actuality, that demeans events that take longer to complete, or the competition is stiffer (like running versus, say, archery), etc.

Finally, I like BMX as an Olympic event, lest it should ever be a trick competition. I like freestyle BMX, but not as an Olympic sport. Racing is fine. There are only two problems the way that it is:

* Most of the teams seem to be from the same few countries: USA, France, Australia, Great Britian, etc. No China, Korea, or really a diverse field.

* This guy, whose presence removes most credibility from BMX. (Still fun to watch on the whole, but that guy hinders its watchability.)

[HedleyLamarr]

Geez...all this uproar over a medal count? A points system akin to soccer and hockey?

You folks are crazy. All the medal is supposed to show is how many medals each country has won....it's not an international contest nor is there a special reward about medal counts. Whoever suggested a points system should be shot.

That was me. I should be shot over that? A little extreme, I think. Nobody gets a trophy for having the most medals, I was just trying to come up with a way to show which country had the best overall showing. I don't think it's that big a deal.

You can either go by total medals collected (which would favor the big countries big-time), or go by medals collected per event participated and use a ratio. If a country collects one medal in five events participated, their "medal score" is .200.

Now take your bullet like a man....

[Viper]

TSN is obviously aligned with Barak Obama and the libruhls' attempt to make America look bad across the world.

The IOC too!

http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/INF/...GL0000000.shtml

Nah, I doubt the IOC has it in for America; they're just out to pump up the USA-China rivalry. With U.S. Olympic TV ratings slipping in the years since the end of the Soviet Union, a new "superpower rivalry" is just what they needed to rekindle interest. The rise of the Chinese sports machine, complete with their Soviet-style penchant for bending the rules of competition and getting away with it, made them the no-brainer choice for America's new Olympic foil.

[gingerbreadmann]

So :censored:, it's actually over.

I think overall, with the exception of a few shady instances, these Games just yet again proved why sport is so incredibly awesome. To all who said it's all hype no bite -- I think this is a collective ":censored: you." I can't believe I have to wait 4 more long years until London.

Does anyone know how long the content on nbcolympics.com will be up? Or if there is like a DVD highlight film recapping the whole Games?

[averyj]

TSN is obviously aligned with Barak Obama and the libruhls' attempt to make America look bad across the world.

The IOC too!

http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/INF/...GL0000000.shtml

Nah, I doubt the IOC has it in for America; they're just out to pump up the USA-China rivalry. With U.S. Olympic TV ratings slipping in the years since the end of the Soviet Union, a new "superpower rivalry" is just what they needed to rekindle interest. The rise of the Chinese sports machine, complete with their Soviet-style penchant for bending the rules of competition and getting away with it, made them the no-brainer choice for America's new Olympic foil.

IT WAS SARCASM!

Also, what the hell are you talking about? Honestly, that's one of the most bonkers posts I've seen here.

Just teasing.

[Joshawaggie]

So the next time the US is dominated in total medals, but we have the most Golds, will it magically be sorted by Golds?

[gingerbreadmann]