Lighten up folks. It was a joke. Nothing more.
And no, I don't want this to become another political thread by any stretch of the imagination.
Ticomaya, there's another Olympic thread, maybe it is more for that one.
I think that columnist went a little bit too far, but generally I agree.
My view on who are 'we' and who are 'them' is bit different, but he has some good points.
For example - J.R. Holden. Did he fall in love with Russia and wants to live there for the rest of his life? If he did - fine. No problem at all. He should play for Russia.
He didn't? Then he shouldn't.
I disagree that you have to be born in USA, Russia, Kenya or wherever to be American, Russian, Kenyan...
But, you should be American, Russian, Kenyan...to participate in Olympics for your country. 'Huh, USA never called me' does not make Holden Russian. Nor does oil money make Kenyan athletes Bahreinians (or whatever is the word).
Croatian national football team is good example - we have Eduardo Da Silva, Brasilian by origin. But he came to Croatia as a kid. He speaks Croatian. He is married to Croatian. He owns house in Croatia. I have no problem with him playing for Croatia. He IS Croatian.
But, we also had weight-lifter that is Bulgarian by origin. He won gold and bronze in Olympics. But, he is not Croatian and I don't care much about those medals. He participated for Croatia because he was in a fight with Bulgarian Association. He doesn't live in Croatia. He has absolutely no connections with Croatia. This is something I don't approve.
Important note: this is about national teams. there is no problem if 20 Brasilians and Bulgarians come to play for Dinamo Zagreb or Hajduk Split, or if 150 Croatians go to play for Manchester United, Barcelona or Inter Mailand. but national teams are something different.
spreadsheet?
hey fbaezer. I have duplicated this game at my work and I was wondering if you could send me a copy of your spreadsheet so that I don't have to invent a new one.
Re: spreadsheet?
bobbymcmasters wrote:hey fbaezer. I have duplicated this game at my work and I was wondering if you could send me a copy of your spreadsheet so that I don't have to invent a new one.
give me your e-mail address, and I'll send it to you.
Foxfyre wrote:Lighten up folks. It was a joke. Nothing more.
And no, I don't want this to become another political thread by any stretch of the imagination.
Thank you.
Lightening up is indeed a good thing.
fbaezer wrote:
The team to beat, IMHO, is Chicago 2016. At least it's the most similar to the hypothetical team SI's Brian Cazeneuve would have picked.
.
Thanks for the vote of confidence, fbaezer! It's not surprising that my team is similar to Cazeneuve's, since SI was the source for my research in making my picks.
Best of luck to everyone!
spreadsheet
fbaezer,
hmm... it seems that I can't find a way to send you a private message so that the whole world doesn''t get my email address. Is there a way you can do that on here? I just signed up on this thing.
Results after 1 day of competition.
1. ossobuco (Dolphinkicking Dogpaddlers) - 31 points
2. Calamity Jane - 23
3. Capitalgull (British Dreamers) - 22
4. hingehead - 21
5. alex - 21
6. jespah (Ring-o-leave-os) - 21
7. jpinmilwaukee - 20
8. Diane (PDQ Geckos) - 18
9. fbaezer - 17
10. Barneyhull - 16
11. Foxfyre (Night Owls) - 16
12. ElStudHoncho (Fighting Gerbils) - 16
13. Patada Veloz (Fantasy Warriors) - 16
14. MyOwnUsername - 15
15. Pantalones - 14
16. wandeljw - 14
17. EhBeth - 13
18. cicerone imposter - 13
19. markr - 12
20. tgordon92 (Chicago 2016) - 12
21. Imur (THIOS) - 12
22. realjohnboy (WIFF's) - 10
23. McGentrix - 10
23. fom2020 (Pancho's Olympic Team) - 10
24. fidell (Castro's Champion Kiwis) - 9
25. MrKingsley - 9
26. Ticomaya (Ticolympians) - 9
27. George (TGIF) - 8
--
Rule 7 applied as tie-breaker.
Only true tie is in 23rd. place.
--
Please check your score. PM me in case of an error.
"Dream Team" after 1 day of competition
US Women
China Men/ China women
South Korea
Spain
Romania
Czech Republic
Austria
Turkey
Argentina
(Anyone else)
Croatia
North Korea
Switzerland
Taiwan
Uzbekistan
WOW, osso, I guess CONGRATS are in order.
I was dazzled by their opening ceremony.
It certainly was, cicerone. Very spectacular and beautiful!!
I just can get over the constant commercial interruptions
Why not leave them off altogether at such important events?
The US TV is weird.
It's been informed that in the US they didn't get to see the opening ceremony live. Really?
I saw the opening ceremony on Televisa, one of Mexico's most commercial channels. Not one commercial interruption this time (perhaps they wanted to win continuity against the other commercial channel)
What sports have you watched so far?
Me: Weightlifting, cycling, gymnastics, rowing, swimming, fencing + one badminton match, one boxing bout and glimpses of archery, volleyball, handball & basketball.
3 different stations transmit the games.
2 of them are very commercial, send "circuses" for their prime-time shows (one half sports, one half "comedy") with little live sports bits and transmit sports from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. (some live, some recorded earlier).
The other station transmits live sports, live sports and live sports.
(for those who didn't see it)
Results after 1 day of competition.
1. ossobuco (Dolphinkicking Dogpaddlers) - 31 points
2. Calamity Jane - 23
3. Capitalgull (British Dreamers) - 22
4. hingehead - 21
5. alex - 21
6. jespah (Ring-o-leave-os) - 21
7. jpinmilwaukee - 20
8. Diane (PDQ Geckos) - 18
9. fbaezer - 17
10. Barneyhull - 16
11. Foxfyre (Night Owls) - 16
12. ElStudHoncho (Fighting Gerbils) - 16
13. Patada Veloz (Fantasy Warriors) - 16
14. MyOwnUsername - 15
15. Pantalones - 14
16. wandeljw - 14
17. EhBeth - 13
18. cicerone imposter - 13
19. markr - 12
20. tgordon92 (Chicago 2016) - 12
21. Imur (THIOS) - 12
22. realjohnboy (WIFF's) - 10
23. McGentrix - 10
23. fom2020 (Pancho's Olympic Team) - 10
25. fidell (Castro's Champion Kiwis) - 9
26. MrKingsley - 9
27. Ticomaya (Ticolympians) - 9
28. George (TGIF) - 8
--
Rule 7 applied as tie-breaker.
Only true tie is in 23rd. place.
--
Please check your score. PM me in case of an error.
--
Notice that 4 women are among the top 8.
10 men are among the bottom 10.
spreadsheet... again
Fbaezer
ok I sent you an email. Did you get it? hopefully it didn't go to your spam.
No, unfortunately it wasn't aired live, fbaezer. I got my preliminary views from the German online sources. Here in California we finally got to see it at 8:00 pm PST. Every 10 minutes we stopped for a commercial. It is very frustrating to watch any sports event here in the U.S. and this is the main reason I don't want the World Cup in the U.S. again (although South Africa probably can't host it).
Oh, I am just looking at your list - I am second!!!
(sheer beginners' luck)
yeah, in Croatia we also had no commercial interuptions (fbaezer will probably be interested that commentator welcomed Mexico with words "and now very beautiful and interesting country - Mexico!")
as for watching - I watched all sports from first day at least a bit, except for fencing and badminton. I even watched final round of shooting, probably for the first time in my life, since it was clear Croatia can win a medal - and we did.
Of other sports - I watched most of the two volleyball and handball matches, lots of gymnastics and cycling (it was combined live), swimming heats, rowing, one boxing bout, a bit of sailing, judo and basketball...I also watched first part of weight lifting competition.
fbaezer wrote:What sports have you watched so far?
Me: Weightlifting, cycling, gymnastics, rowing, swimming, fencing + one badminton match, one boxing bout and glimpses of archery, volleyball, handball & basketball.
Nothing!! All they show here is the news about the U.S.Olympic men's volleyball coach attacked at a tourist site in Beijing. Okay, it's 9:00 am
here, so perhaps they bring some sports later, hopefully.
Oh wait, I just found a channel that shows the female soccer game Canada:China.
MyOwnUsername wrote: (fbaezer will probably be interested that commentator welcomed Mexico with words "and now very beautiful and interesting country - Mexico!")
I even watched final round of shooting, probably for the first time in my life, since it was clear Croatia can win a medal - and we did.
(MyOwnUsername will probably be interested that our commentator welcomed Croatia with this words: "Croatia, good football players, good team sports players... and they march with their checkered uniform")
Congrats on that first medal.
----
Sport loving Americans would have loved to watch the sabre bronze medal match. It's so mental! The Russian girl was easily winning, but the American overcame the deficit, and totally turned things around.
