The Poojer Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 I think what he meant was the americans were the benchmark for the longest time, except for hockey, You mean except for the fact that in almost every sport, the Americans are the guys who get beat? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokinandjokin Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 Not to make excuses or even keep this rediculous thread going, but don't underestimate the motivation factor. Right or wrong, the majority of the athletes we send to international events are multi-millionaires, who have been pampered, sponsored, and well-compensated for many years. Travelling abroad to play in a semi-amateur tournament is probably more of a hassle than an honor to them. While most of us mortals can't even comprehend representing your country as being a hassle, it is the way some of these guys look at it. The other nations, conversely, view beating the USA as the major highlight of their tournament, year, lives, etc. A victory often triggers national holidays and celebrations in these countries. The USA literally takes every team's best shot in every event, no matter the sport, no matter the round. The USA is like Notre Dame football or the Yankees...The other teams don't care who's wearing the uniform, they just want to say they beat them. And you can tell by the celebrations after a USA loss what the game meant to their opponent. I can't imagine that beating Argentina in a 'FIBA Basketball' tournament means a whole hell of a lot to Tim Duncan. Not that that line of thinking is right, or that it's an excuse...But it's definitely a factor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheeseburger in Paradise Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 Well, on the one hand I feel a little silly. On the other I feel relieved that I don't have to spend the next ten pages vainly trying to convince Bungee Jumper and Ramius that electronic 40 times are in fact more accurate than hand-measured 40 yard times. I was sort of expecting something like this:Me: according to Wikipedia, hand measured 40 yard times are seriously flawed. Bungee Jumper/Ramius: you're an idiot for quoting Wikipedia. Find real sources which support this. Me: I've now found quotes from Stanford or Duke or someplace, and they support this. Bungee Jumper/Ramius: you're an idiot, and you obviously didn't understand a word of those sources, now did you? Me: Of course I understood them. They said the same thing I've been saying the last ten pages. Bungee Jumper: What's amazing is he thinks he's actually right. Ramius, let me suck on your penis. Ramius: Wow! I know you said Holcomb's Arm is a moron, but man. He's a moron! And Bungee Jumper, let me suck on your penis. Me: Do you or don't you now feel hand measured 40 times are seriously flawed? Bungee Jumper/Ramius: I've already answered that question. Go back and look it up. Absolutely a classic. You have captured the essence of the PPP circle jerk perfectly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly the Dog Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 I think it's funny we are getting so worked up trying to prove a crusader wrong. When his sole purpose is to volley a rock into a hornets nest and have fun at the mayhem. If he were here for true rational conversation, he would not present NFL players as mere chumps in the athletic stage. Take for example Ben Johnsons world breaking 1988 100 meter dash. When broken down, he covered the first 40 meters in 4.08 seconds. Bo Jackson fan a 4.12 40, Deion Sanders ran a 4.17, and even our pedestrian Lee Evans managed a 4.31. I would say that those times easily falls into world class stature. This is one of my favorite articles. Ben Johnson, in the Olympics, on steroids, in track shoes, with the wind, running the fastest race ever, covering the first 40 yards in 4.38. It's almost impossible to believe that any football player has ever ran under 4.4, so all 40 times should be considered bullschit. http://www.usoc.org/11611_32384.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buzzbait1965 Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 As far as the 40 times it's apples and oranges anyway. 40 meters is about 43 yards. This discussion is pointless anyway, but you can't compare those two stats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly the Dog Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 As far as the 40 times it's apples and oranges anyway. 40 meters is about 43 yards. This discussion is pointless anyway, but you can't compare those two stats. The article linked talks about 40 yards, not meters. Ben Johnson ran the first 40 yards in 4.38. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buzzbait1965 Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 didn't read the link. I assumed, (yeah I know), they were talking about 40 meters as that's what the track stars run. Alot of those guys are amazing that they don't really slow down that much over the length of the course. The 200 and 400 splits are amazing. Christ they could take me straight to the morgue after running them, assuming I'd even finish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardy Pyle Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 Canadians won the MVP in 3 of the big American sports this year. NHL, MLB, NBA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokinandjokin Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 Canadians won the MVP in 3 of the big American sports this year. NHL, MLB, NBA. Who won the gold medal in Snowboard half-pipe, B word? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardy Pyle Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 Is that a sport or something you smoke in the Igloo? B word. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bartshan-83 Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 I was thinking HogBoy myself....no one is this much of an idiot.... First thing that came to my mind. No one could pull it off like Hogboy in his day... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobblehead Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 First thing that came to my mind. No one could pull it off like Hogboy in his day... All firemen are arsonists. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt in KC Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 All firemen are arsonists. Not the professionals, just the volunteers. There's one in every volunteer fire department.... actually most of them are sick and just want to be heroes putting out the fires they start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 All firemen are arsonists. Classic hogboy! Does anyone have a link to that thread? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SACTOBILLSFAN Posted February 3, 2007 Share Posted February 3, 2007 I'm an avid Bills fan, but I'm also a fan of international, Olympic-type sports. The other day at work a guy said that the only sport the USA is good at any more on the world stage is football. I said that's because football is not on the world stage... Our golfers get blown away in the Ryder Cup (or whatever it's called where we annually get taken apart by the Europeans). Our basketball 'dream teams" win internationally, but only in their dreams. Our baseball could not win an international tournament that began last year. Our soccer doesn't win Our hockey doesn't win. I don't know who our tennis players are anymore. Track still does well, but not great. Our "great" football athletes are competing against the fewest people in the world for their positions. If we started to open it up to international competition, our "world's greatest athletes" would be selling shoes, or crack, in Des Moines or Kansas City... "Impossible," we said about our basketball players, but now they are the world's B word. Half of Samoa seems to be playing nose tackle in the NFL, and they just heard about the sport yesterday. Think about this, provincial American slobs and wimps, when you diss soccer players, track athletes, et. al.-- if the entire world cared about football, our hero Nate Clemen$ (or Clement$ or Clement or however he wants it spelled/pronounced) would likely be playing semi-pro in Peoria. Big fish in a small pond. BASEBALL Just because I have played a higher level of baseball than a lot of people lets look at that "tournament" first. Pitch counts? Are friggin serious? The pitchers in the Little League World Series have less stringent requirements. Its a much different game when you know that you only have to face a Clemens or a Peavy or Willis until the 3rd inning and then face another starter who does not come out of the bullpen, which, if you've played the game, is much much much different than starting a game. That one rule alone, to me, made the World Baseball Classic an utter joke. Many US players didn't participate because of owners, whereas the Japanese teams have always had a little chip on their shoulder and put their best out there just to win, but yet with the exception of Ichiro, the Japanese players have been absolute busts in our game. HOCKEY Not our sport. Most of our kids do not grow up with sticks in their hands like the Canadian and European teams. If more of our top athletes that chose to play sports like football basketball and baseball chose to play hockey we'd be much more competitive in the international game. SOCCER Who friggin cares? Again, if you had NFL DBs and WRs and small forwards and guards from the NBA playing soccer we would dominate the game, but America finds this game to be tedious and our kids play sports designed for real men. The speed and physical nature of hoops and football make soccer look like a joke. BASKETBALL Again, because a lot of players fear injury, they don't participate in a great deal of international competition. Our players remain loyal to their employers, whereas the Euros get paid pittance compared to our guys and love the chance to beat the US and A. To be sure, this sport has boomed outside of the US and even with our very best the gap has closed to almost nothing. Also, the teams from other countries are fielded much differently than ours and play together a lot more often. GOLF Kelly was right. Europe is not a country moron. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCinBuffalo Posted February 3, 2007 Share Posted February 3, 2007 As much as I hate to keep this going - I just wanted to add a point. Has anyone considered that these international tournaments(Olympics, etc.) are one gigantic tryout? North American(I'll add the Canadians just to make them feel good ) players in baseball, basketball, hockey and football all get paid a heck of a lot of money. Meaning our guys represent the "Haves", or Major Leaguers . The "big time" players from Croatia(or insert tool country here) are lucky to get paid 1/20th of what our players in all four sports get. They play in leagues that are the equivalent of box lacrosse in their countries(compared to soccer). Meaning the rest of the world's guys represent the "Have nots", or Minor Leaguers. Beyond playing for national pride, the minor leaguers know that this international competition is probably their best possible opportunity to impress NFL,NBA,MLB,NHL scouts/organizations. Meanwhile, why in the hell would some "Have" guy coming up on a contract year want to match up against a "Have not" and potentially get shown up? Or get hurt? Bottom Line: the bigger the deal the "Have Not" guys make out of beating the USA, the more likely they are gonna get a look. The "Have"s essentially gain nothing out of playing for the USA, and the only thing they lose is people on a message board like this one pissing and moaning. Read: no real effect. The fact is I haven't seen attendance/TV revenue go down in any of the leagues we have as a result of losing and international competition. Which leaves the question: If everyone is so upset about USA team losing, why are they still willing to go to its leagues regular season/playoff games? So, basically as a country we are rewarding bad behavior - QED we have no one to blame but ourselves. For my part, I have sworn off the NBA in total until they bring home a gold medal. I turned down free tickets last year and I won't watch it on TV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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