The A2K Fantasy Olympics Beijing 2008

Oh look at jespah, slowly climbing the ladder.
Yesterday it was ehbeth who got way ahead, what happend today ehbeth?

Go, Uzbekistan, GO!!!!

Who picked both the Chinese Men and Women? I toyed with it - wish I had now.

I'm sure FB has already figured this out - but what are you doing with the 'open/mixed' medals for Group A?

If the medal is won by a truly mixed team, it goes to both men and women teams; if not, it goes to the gender of the competitor.
For example, the US has one gold and two silver medals in open/mixed events. The gold was from a team with both men and women: so it's gold for both US Men and US Women for A2K Fantasy purposes. The silvers went actually to one woman and one man, so they count only in their gender.

On the other part of your post. US women have made more points than Chinese men. Only Calamity Jane has the perfect Group A combination, I believe (she must have not done very good in other Groups: for example, she picked Austria and South Africa... Senegal hasn't helped her, either).

Results after Thursday August 21.

It's getting a lot closer at the top. Last two laps for the medals.

1. realjohnboy (WIFF's) - 737 points
2. hingehead - 736
3. tgordon92 (Chicago 2016) - 732
4. alex - 726
5. Patada Veloz (Fantasy Warriors) - 726
6. Capitalgull (British Dreamers) - 712
7. jespah (Ring-o-leave-os) - 708
8. markr -678
9. fom2020 (Pancho's Olympic Team) - 678
10. Barneyhull - 676
11. wandeljw - 668
12. Calamity Jane - 665
13. EhBeth - 661
14. fbaezer - 641
15. fidell (Castro's Champion Kiwis) - 641
16. Pantalones - 637
17. MyOwnUsername - 633
18. jpinmilwaukee - 624
19. cicerone imposter - 601
20. Foxfyre (Night Owls) - 593
21. McGentrix - 563
22. MrKingsley - 541
23. ossobuco (Dolphinkicking Dogpaddlers) - 537
24. George (TGIF) -500
25. Ticomaya (Ticolympians) - 490
26. Diane (PDQ Geckos) - 484
27. ElStudHoncho (Fighting Gerbils) - 440
28. Imur (THIOS) - 426

A brief analysis on the leaders.
(Miracles happen, but I believe only those with more than 700 points aspire for the gold).

They all got Brazil and Canada, so they shouldn't care much about the fate of the verde-amarelha or the maple leaf for fantasy purposes.

Only Patada Veloz chose Australia; only tgordon12 chose US women and only Capitalgull chose Chinese men, so their performance depends a lot on that bunch.
Only Alex did not choose Great Britain -one of the master keys for a good 2008 fantasy performance-, so he should be rooting against them Brits.

Chicago2016 and the Ring-o-leave-os have Cuba on their team. Cuba placed 8 boxers in semis...
realjohnboy is the only one among the leaders who chose Italy, he'd better cheer for the azzurri. Same thing with Alex and Denmark.
Oddly, a lot of them chose Greece, that fantasy lame; this gives an edge to Patada Veloz and tgordon12. And Capitalgull & Jespah should pray for South Africa to do something.

In group D, Fantasy Warriors and British Dreamers have a major flaw: not choosing Jamaica. Jespah has Jamaica alright, but all her other D picks have paid poorly.

All this said, I think rjb needs a very strong performance of the WIFF's (think Italy, think Bulgaria, think stopping those bloody Africans in the long races) to keep the lead. Hingehead and tgordon look like strong closers. Hinge should clinge to Uzbekistan and bet against Cuba. Chicago2016, as predicted, is the team to beat: his evident weakness: it has no Chinese women (or men).

Hooray for the GB sailors!

I don't got no Canada. Go Thailand!!!

go Aussies! go Aussies!

I'd toss away my top 3 spot for five more aussie gold.

I loved Tallant's silver medal - because I got to see his bride to be, Claire Woods, who I used to work with. Name dropping....

Results after Friday August 22.

A new leader and one and a half laps to go.

1. tgordon92 (Chicago 2016) - 814 points
2. realjohnboy (WIFF's) - 810 points
3. hingehead - 801
4. alex - 793
5. Patada Veloz (Fantasy Warriors) - 783
7. jespah (Ring-o-leave-os) - 776
6. Capitalgull (British Dreamers) - 771
8. markr -759
9. fom2020 (Pancho's Olympic Team) - 749
10. Barneyhull - 740
11. EhBeth - 722
12. fbaezer - 721
13. wandeljw - 720
12. Calamity Jane - 703
15. fidell (Castro's Champion Kiwis) - 701
16. Pantalones - 699
17. MyOwnUsername - 697
18. jpinmilwaukee - 673
19. cicerone imposter - 666
20. Foxfyre (Night Owls) - 627
21. MrKingsley - 623
22. McGentrix - 608
23. ossobuco (Dolphinkicking Dogpaddlers) - 583
24. George (TGIF) -557
25. Ticomaya (Ticolympians) - 557
26. Diane (PDQ Geckos) - 520
27. Imur (THIOS) - 478
28. ElStudHoncho (Fighting Gerbils) - 475

It's coming down to the wire!

Two battles worth watching:
George versus Ticomaya
lmur versus the gerbils

Does "666" count for anything? The Chinese claim that "888" is a lucky number.

19. cicerone imposter - 666

In case anyone wonders, tgordon12 is actually 3 points above Brian Cazeneuve's hypothetical fantasy picks (the ones that would be made according to his medal predictions).

the intense battle for the middle of the pack

11. EhBeth - 722
12. fbaezer - 721
13. wandeljw - 720

(just let me stay above the median and I'll be happy)

~~~

now, how do we get some of the new members of the fantasy pool world to reappear and post with us?

That is also interesting, ehBeth, but personally I was getting tired of being stuck in the middle. My attention wandered to what was going on at the bottom.

I guess my positioning has been a bit more volatile than yours - down, up, down, middle - it's all so drama (yawn) tic.

Although I haven't been on this thread for almost a month, ehBeth needs to know that I was referring to swearing, not the 'other' let 'er rip.
Ugh. Right, TMI.

Now, back to the games.

Uh oh - it's deja vu all over again...

http://www.rte.ie/sport/olympics2008/2008/0821/lynchd.html

We all know you lent him the horse. Imur.
No wonder the nickname.