Posted on 08/24/2008 2:01:44 AM PDT by hoagy62
The 'Redeem Team" does it, beating Spain in a close game tonight.
O! say can you see by the dawn's early light What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming. Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight, O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming. And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave (It most certainly does!) O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
What game. Spain should be very very proud too.
What a great group of representatives for the US. They are looking great at the medal ceremony.
That was one well-played game, indeed.
My wife was telling me, it was almost like the scene from the movie “Miracle” when Herb Brooks said there were just two questions to answer....
“Who are you, and who do you play for?”
These guys can answer the second question very easily.
AND...we may YET hear the ‘Star-Spangled Banner’ one more time if the US Men’s Water Polo team does.
You are right the mens water polo team is quite the story too.
Love it!! Love it!! Love it!! Great game.
ummm
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/beijing/pool/2008-08-24-hungary-beats-usa-for-gold_N.htm
Kobe.
Actually, I just checked the Olympic site...
Hungary 14, USA 10
So, we got the Silver. Not bad.
Now, since (according to the site) the last sport has been played, here’s the outcome...
USA Final Medal Total:
36 Gold
38 Silver
36 Bronze
For a total of 110 medals.
All in all, a pretty good haul.
I can understand our economic dominance. Capitalism. But what makes USA #1 in athletics?
I would say...Freedom.
Freedom from fear that if you don’t perform, something bad might happen to you or your family (for example: I wouldn’t wanna be that guy from Cuba in taekwondo who smacked that ref. I bet the only light of day he sees from now on is the sky over the sugar cane fields.)
Freedom from being forced to do drugs to get the competitive edge (Yes, we’ve had a few, and they’ve paid the price...one way or another.)
Freedom to do your best, just because you can. No national organization searching for young people and training them...our athletes compete by choice.
Now I know the US doesn’t have the monopoly on national pride, and I know that I am probably being a bit idealistic, but that’s what I feel. The reason we’re so good in many sports is...freedom.
Are you sure that the Marathon is completed? It is the last event before the Closing ceremonies.
Yes. It was started at 7:30am Beijing time. A Kenyan won it in Olympic record time.
Chris Collinsworth was interviewing LeBron James the other day and asked him what a win there meant to him. He said (I'm paraphrasing), "This isn't about me, it's about the team and every person that wakes up every day lucky to be in America. It's about our great troops that protect our freedoms."
Chris then asked him if he might get a little choked up during our national anthem. Lebron smiled and said, "Yeah, I probably will."
Much to my surprise, he and Kobe have been class acts during this olympics.
.....But what makes USA #1 in athletics? ....
Actually, the American swimming champ is like the Chinese gymnastic champs. The sport is and always has been life, for life. Training is all of life.
The same can be said for most of the events.
You can hear it for the Men’s Volleyball team.
I stayed up until5 am to watch it. It was a great game.
Heck...I never went to sleep, I just saw the Closing Ceremonies on CBC.
It’s all done now.
See you in Vancouver!
I like what Rush said: 3% of the world’s population winning 30% of all the medals.
To say freedom like a couple of posters did, is not the whole story. Yes it's freedom, but not directly. After all, all western powers are just as free(politically speaking) as the US, so why aren't they as successful? The correct answer is capitalism. True freedom begets capitalism. Capitalism begets excellence. With enormous amounts of money at stake, there is an enormous of amount of competition. Competition that is based purely on merit.
I agree. I stayed up and watched the game. Team USA’s defense was the difference between the earlier romp and this game. I believe the difference was the fact that USA played a game 24 hours earlier, while Spain had a day to rest in between games. Although these athletes are in top shape, it is still taxing to play games on consecutive days—especially against the second and third place teams in the tournament.
Spain played a cleaner (turnovers, shot percentage, etc.) basketball game, but the US was classier, didn’t whine like Spain and was more inspired, so the US won. (And it was really fun to watch them win!)
The irony is that the “individualistic” US did very well in the team sports (Basketball, Volleyball, Water Polo....), while the “collectivist” Chinese did better in the individual sports.
This one was at a hotel because they were mobbed but they made visits to the village and to all the different sports. I think people looked to bash the previous squad because of the on-court achievement and the actions of a few guys (not the whole team) including some who just may not have known (or been instructed by that idiot Larry Brown) on what to do.
Coach K is someone I normally hate (basketball-wise) but I have to respect what he and Colangelo and the other coaches did with this team.
I actually believe that even with a thrown-together squad in 2004 that we could have won, as Brown kept playing Jefferson who was AWFUL in that tournament and Marbury instead of really mixing up the lineups and playing to who was performing (not enough Lebron and Wade.)
I think once we get some size back on the team (yes, we’re versatile but it would be kind of nice to have a Greg Oden in the pivot) and the rules changes are implemented for 2012, you’ll see a return to American dominance, for FINALLY elite-level post play will be rewarded (the trapezoid lane is being eliminated.)
To answer both your questions:
1. I don’t know if they stayed in the Olympic village. I wondered in the past, if this stopped NBA players from having the Olympic experience, but I have come around on that. For example with Bryant would need a guard outside his door to get much privacy there. This group no matter where they stayed seemed to have a real Olympic experience. I wonder if some of it was that their two leaders, Bryant and James and other players on the team did not have a college experience and this became their college, ie, playing for the names on the front of the jersey, not the names on the back on a big stage. Also for the last 3 games the Olympics is like a knock out tourney like the NCAAs.
2. I think all the Spanish players are pros either in the US or Europe, including Ricky Rubio who is too young for the NBA but has been a pro since age 14 One of the announcers said a couple of times Spain had 7 guys with NBA experience, but think that was stretching it. But lets go down the list:
2.1. Pau Gasol, Long term NBA player fringe all-star.
2.2. Juan Carlos Navarro, Was 2nd team All Rookie after the past season, 07-08. But he has since signed a big contract with a Spanish pro team.
2.3. José Calderón, WHO MISSED THE REMATCH LASTNIGHT DUE TO INJURY. Has played for the Raptors for 3 years and was fifth in the league in assists per game last year. Averaged 11.2 points and 8.3 assists per game in the NBA last year.
2.4. Raúl López, played 3 or so years in the NBA. One year he averaged 7.0 points, 3.7 assists and 1.9 rebounds in 19.7 minutes per game. After 2006 returned home to play pro after being cut.
2.5. Jorge Garbajosa, All Rookie playing for the Raptors, but suffered a career threatening leg injury. He averaged 8.5 points and 4.9 rebounds. Had to have two surgeries due to the leg and knee injury he suffered. He has signed to play for the next two years with a Russian team.
2.6. Rudy Fernández, Drafted by Phoenix in 2007, rights traded to Portland. He has been play pro in Europe in the interim.
2.7. Marc Gasol, drafted by the Lakers in 2007, his rights were traded this year to the Griz and he will play for them starting this season.
So the 7 really becomes 5 who had actually played in the NBA. The 7 becomes at least 8 with NBA level skils if you count Ricky Rubio who surely one day will be drafted. The 7 becomes 4 if you only count those who played in the NBA and played in the game last night. I think it is safe to say that Spain is very talented as shown by their ability to lose a 3 year NBA point guard and still play the US tough.
Don’t forget about Argentina, who still managed to win the Bronze medal game, without Manu Ginobili. They aren’t going away either.
One thing though, especially after Ginobili’s injury, NBA owners are always going to be reluctant to send their “investments” to the Olympics.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.