August 20, 2008

Hidden: The USA gold rush is on....: BEIJING - Americans Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser will play for the gold medal in beach volleyball.
BEIJING - Crystl Bustos hit a three-run homer in the ninth inning as the U.S. Olympic softball team beat Japan 4-1 in extra innings and will play for its fourth straight gold medal.
BEIJING - Americans Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor will play in the women's final Thursday against China.

More below in comments....

posted by knowsalittle to olympics at 12:52 AM - 14 comments

BEIJING - Clear some more space in that pile of pretty Olympic medal boxes. Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin are bringing home more loot, including a gorgeous gold of Johnson's very own. BEIJING (Reuters) - The path to a fourth straight Olympic women's basketball gold opened for the United States on Tuesday after their biggest rivals Australia suffered a major injury.

BEIJING (Reuters) - The United States battled its way into the final of the Olympic women's waterpolo on Tuesday with a 9-8 victory over arch-rival Australia.

BEIJING (Reuters) - Henry Cejudo gave the United States its first wrestling gold medal of the Olympic Games on Tuesday with a clinical victory over Japan's Tomohiro Matsunaga in the men's 55kg freestyle.

BEIJING The U.S. women's volleyball team, popular in Beijing because they are coached by Chinese national hero Jenny Lang Ping, have suddenly become a hit for their volleyball skills, too.

BEIJING (AP) The U.S. men's volleyball team remained unbeaten in Beijing by defeating Japan in three sets to wrap up preliminary pool play

Of course, we are not going to win them all; but being there is really fun anyway. I didn't bother to copy headlines about the USA Mens Basketball team....no jinx intended...

posted by knowsalittle at 01:10 AM on August 20, 2008

I think I speak for everyone outside of America when I say NOBODY CARES! Take this jingoistic nationalistic fervor and shove it where the sun don't shine.

I'm sorry to piss on your parades. I have no problem with America. My best friend is American. However I do have a problem with repeated "RA-RA! USA USA!" type posts. Have you seen any Brits on here fist pumping due to Britain's biggest medal haul since the 1920's? No. Why? Because the Brits understand things and realise that shoving it in everyone elses face is tacky and shows a distinct lack of class.

And the Chinese are still kicking your ass if you count the medals the way EVERYONE ELSE DOES. One bronze does NOT equate t to the same value as a Chinese Gold.

The supposed greatest democracy in the world is being beaten by communists. HAHAHA!

posted by Drood at 01:34 AM on August 20, 2008

We value your opinion drood....sorry for the fist pumping. Just really happy we are doing so well in events we weren't supposed to win. Good for GB and their medal haul! Lack of class accepted; but winning bunches of medals is still fun, no matter what you say.

posted by knowsalittle at 02:04 AM on August 20, 2008

I just looked back over the last 12 postings in SpoFi, and it is curious to me that I found: (3) purely American interest postings (3) International postings (2) postings ripping American baseball managers and Tennis players for their actions (1) Humerous posting about American Basketball players indiscretions (2) Insightful political postings and (1) OH....why bother....you have your opinion and I have mine.

posted by knowsalittle at 02:30 AM on August 20, 2008

I'm sort of with Drood. I just don't think this is a good thread. It's just a Yahoo link to a short blurb about beach volleyball results and a laundry list of how some US athletes are doing. I can get all of that on, well, Yahoo. I'm glad that you're happy about what Americans are doing in Beijing. But Sportsfilter threads were not meant to be created as a vehicle to solely express those feelings. To me this is the same thing as posting about your favorite team's win streak.

Maybe in addition to the moderation policy we need the guidelines link in every thread as well.

posted by goddam at 04:04 AM on August 20, 2008

Yeah, the link isn't meaty enough no matter what the topic. I'd delete it if I could.

posted by justgary at 04:59 AM on August 20, 2008

Where's the beef? There is absolutely zero substance to this post.

Drood hit the nail on the head.

Pure, unadulterated jingoistic crap. This FPP does not belong on SportsFilter.

posted by tommybiden at 06:16 AM on August 20, 2008

Please delete.

posted by knowsalittle at 06:45 AM on August 20, 2008

I had no intent to anger the international scene on SpoFi. Sorry for being the US cheerleader. I thought that Johnson and Liukin finally NOT being ripped off in the individual judging, the US getting to the gold medal round in Men's volleyball, a new appearance in Waterpolo for the US in the medal round, and an unknown kid winning gold in wrestling would spur some conversation.

posted by knowsalittle at 07:00 AM on August 20, 2008

"I think I speak for everyone outside of America when I say NOBODY CARES!"

Then why did you read a thread called "The USA Goldrush Is On"? I understand that the American Olympic results may not interest you. So, just don't read the FPP. The fact is, you choose what converstations (or threads) to take part in. If you are not interested move on instead of telling people to talk about something else.

"The supposed greatest democracy in the world is being beaten by communists. HAHAHA!" Did you say something about a distinct lack of class?

posted by Steel_Town at 08:59 AM on August 20, 2008

The last two items you mentioned might have been good ideas for posts on their own, as they had some interest aside from just a laundry list. As it stands, there was no way to know this was some "unknown kid" or that the US was maybe going to win a medal for the first time in waterpolo.

posted by opel70 at 09:01 AM on August 20, 2008

He wasn't an "unknown" to the wrestling world. He is considered to be the future of USA wrestling. But he was not expected to take home the gold in his first olympics at the age of 21. Most olympic wrestlers don't come into their own until their late twenties. The thread kinda spoiled it for me since I didn't get to see his last too matches. I was worried because he didn't look dominant in the two matches I saw last night. Glad to here he pulled it out. I will have to watch the matches online today at work.

posted by Steel_Town at 09:15 AM on August 20, 2008

There's nothing wrong with rooting for your country. It's only a problem when you do it once every four years when the olympics roll around. The rest of the time nobody gives a shit about nationalism... Unless it involves terrorism and/or oil.

posted by docshredder at 10:03 AM on August 20, 2008

I could almost see your point till the last comment, Drood. That said, regardless of the country of origin, there will always be homerism in sports. It defines the nature of sports. If you want to brag on your team, by all means you have the right to post something. I agree with Sttel Town. If a post pisses you off, skip it.

posted by hawkguy at 10:36 AM on August 20, 2008

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