The US Basketball team are JERKS!

[ronnykmarshall]

They frowned and looked like a bunch of spoiled brats.

They got the bronze medel which is more than many people can not ever say.

Cheney the little fucks!

[JohnKleeb]

1. who won the gold?

to even get a medal in the olympics would be an honor to me.

[ronnykmarshall]

2. Argentina!!!

Italy got the silver.

Both the Aregentines and the Italians were wonderful. The Americans were a fucking shame.

[JohnKleeb]

5. ahh thats a surprise

Good on both of them.

[ronnykmarshall]

9. Cool huh?

It was a tough call for me being a proud (part) Italian. Italy wasn't excepted to even get a medal and they were in the finals and got the silver.

Argentina ...... they f'in rocked!!!

I'm so proud of them.

I can't express how ashamed I am at the US team. Pompous arrogant jerks. They have no right to represent this nation.

[JohnKleeb]

24. yeah well I wanted the Serbs to do good because I am part from a nearby

country but still like the Italians and Argentians both.

[UrbScotty]

3. Argentina won gold, Italy got Silver (nt)

[JohnKleeb]

6. I would have never predicted that

but thats nice to know.

[Yupster]

30. And they played wonderfully in the bronze medal game

Lithuania hit 21 threes and they won with hard work and rebounding. I was proud of them.

[lazarus]

4. Yeah

Imagine not be proud to be up there, when EVERYBODY HERE HAS BEEN criticising them and calling them jerks and lazy and thugs.

They're sad because they're competitors, and didn't win the gold. How many bronze medalists are jumping for joy up there, particularly bronze medalists who historically always win the gold?

[bigwillq]

7. That's a very good point (nt)

[Red_Viking]

8. Didn't you hear--only first place matters!

At least, that's how it goes in our culture. What a waste. These guys medaled and they're pouting about it. Partially, it's due to the fact that they're spoiled uber-athletes, but it's also a symptom of the pervasive problem in our society that anything other than first place just isn't good enough.

My daughter plays lacrosse. I have to reinforce all the time that it's truly not whether you're first place or last place. Were you a gracious winner? A gracious loser, which is more difficult? Did you play well? Will you do better next time?

I saw a scary story on CNN about child gymnasts. This philosophy of "win at all costs" is especially rampant there.

Thanks for sharing--I've avoided the Olympics completely!

RV

[lazarus]

12. spoiled?

Pouting?

I saw none of that.

I saw 12 men spend a month of their vacation, unpaid, to play for their country.

I saw 12 highly paid athletes (but underpaid*) risk career-ending injury to represent their country.

I saw 12 highly competitive players unhappy that they're the first team in US history to not win the gold medal.

I didn't see spoiled or pouting.

Imagine representing your country, risking your career to do so, and being called selfish and lazy for it. How would you feel?

I'm sick of the attacks on these men. They're just wrong.

Another thing these men are risking is the next season. Of the players who participated in the 2000 Olympics, virtually every one of them had injuries or sub-par seasons. Same with the players on the 2002 team, and the qualifying team last summer.

Case in point: Tim Duncan played, Kevin Garnett didn't. Duncan had injuries that messed up his season, and little or no rest. KG won MVP.

It affects foreign players as well. Manu Ginobili didn't play a good part of the last two seasons because of injuries he suffered at the Worlds.






*Underpaid: The NBA has a hard salary cap on individual salaries, preventing players from earning their fair market value.

[ronnykmarshall]

16. Uh, yeah right.

What I saw was a bunch of men acting like children because they didn't get the big prize.

Cry me a fucking river that they gave up a month of their NBA salary. I think it's great that there men had that HONOR to be in Athens. They should be proud of the bronze medal, yet they frowned and acted like spoiled brats.

There are PLENTY of athletes that would be thrilled to walk in their shoes and be proud of what our team was awarded.

[lazarus]

18. They frowned

BECAUSE THEY LOST THE GOLD MEDAL FOR THE FIRST TIME IN US HISTORY.

And they've been attacked since before the Olympics began as a bunch of spoiled brats.

As for athletes happy to walk in their shoes, there are a bunch of NBA players who declined invitations. But nobody criticises them. Just the players who actually WANTED TO GO AND WIN A GOLD MEDAL.

Jeez.

[blockhead]

42. btw

Soviets won gold in 1988, U.S. won bronze. Also, U.S. took silver in 1972.

[1monster]

31. I have always told my son that it didn't matter whether or not he won or

lost a game in his Little Soccer League. What counted was whether or not he had fun, and if he had fun, then he WAS a winner. (He was six and I'm glad he bought that because his team was the youngest and smallest in the league and rarely ever won.

One day we were in the grocery store and saw a young college baseball player. My son ran up to him and asked did you win or lose? The player made a sad face and said they lost. And my young'un piped up, "It doesn't matter if you won or lost. If you had fun, then you were a winner."

Proud Momma.

[nyhuskyfan]

10. I didn't see the medal ceremony

But I disagree with people who say they were spoiled brats or embarrased the US. Michael Wilbon wrote a good piece today...

http://msnbc.msn.com/ID/5845326/

[ronnykmarshall]

13. I saw it

and they behaved like little pissed of brats.

They have something (an Olympic bronze medal) that most of us will never have.

They are an embarrassment. They lost fare and square. They won their bronze medal fare and square. They should be happy and not acting like children.

[lazarus]

15. I saw it

And I say you're projecting your own opinion of them. I saw no poor behaviour at all.

Why don't we all attack the Argentines for jumping around gloating and being poor sports about winning? They couldn't show some humility? </sarcasm>

[ronnykmarshall]

22. ZZZZZZZZZ!

The Argentines not gloating. They were celebrating. If the Americans won and were celbrating like Agentina, good for them. They earned would have earned that right.

They (the americans) have earned something that most of us will never do. An olyimpic medal. They don't seem to be able to some down to earth and except that.

[lazarus]

25. Yeah

They were such poor sports they didn't even show up to receive their medals.

Oh, wait, they did show up.

And they refused to play for the bronze, because gold is all that matters.

Oh, wait, they did play. And win, beating a team that had previously beaten them

When one team is unhappy, so you call them jerks instead of acknowledging that they could well be unhappy because they went down in history as the first team in US history (don't count '72) to fall to a bronze.

But the happy team isn't gloating, they're rightfully proud.

That's a double standard. I can guarantee you that, had they been jumping around cheering, they would have been attacked as a bunch of snots lording it over the rest of the world.

[nyhuskyfan]

26. Can you provide anything at all to back up your claim...

Other than not smiling.

[lazarus]

14. Also

Check the Jason Whitlock article on ESPN about how this may well have something to do with racism. I disagree. I think it's classism and culturalism.

How come we never hear about "spoiled" NFL or NHL players? Because the NFL and NHL haven't made hip hop a big part of their culture, but the NBA has.

People have been actively cheering against this team of volunteers since before the Olympics began, and I'm disgusted by it, for reasons I list upthread.

[BootinUp]

11. what a shock I tell ya

glad I didn't watch it.

[guruant]

17. It seems to me...

that this team had a lot more sportsmanship than 2000 team. This team went out, shook hands, said good game, and helped other people up when they fell, and weren't all whiney like the 2000 team when they almost lost.

[lazarus]

20. doesn't matter

Everyone had decided these players were bad people before the Olympics even started. They had no chance of having a decent reputation after these Olympics.

I won't be surprised if no NBA players volunteer in 2008. Then watch us compare to Angola in talent level.

[DrWeird]

19. What's with all the player hating?

Jesus fucking Christ. If I were an NBA athlete and I had the opportunity to play in the Olympics I'd fucking take it. And if I were the best in the world I'd be upset if I didn't get gold.

Jesus fucking Christ. People are upset that some NBA players went. The same people are upset that other NBA players didn't go (out of security fears, or whatever), they're upset when they win, they're upset when they lose, they're upset that they're skilled, they're upset that they're uppity and make too much money.

Jesus fucking Christ. Shut the fuck up already.

[lazarus]

21. Thank you

It's amazing, isn't it?

[ronnykmarshall]

23. You both have made my point so clear.

[lazarus]

27. In that case

You made need to restate your point, because we're both attacking your point. They were not pouting or being jerks.

[1monster]

28. I have been disgusted by most of the medal winners for the last several

Olympics. And the judges, and the audiences, and the Olympic Committee itself. They have forgotten what the Olympics are supposed to be about. Winning the Gold has become not just everything, but the only thing.

The most outstanding medal winner in my memory was figure skater, Paul Wylie. He took Silver in the Men's Figure Skating and was so elated that his face was a beacon of joy.

Would that more contenders could take that attitude toward the Olympics. Don't they realize that it is an incredible honor just to attend as a competitor????

[lazarus]

29. No

Because this basketball team has been attacked since before the Games began, and many Americans (and DUers) have been actively cheering against them.

They have every right to be a bit down at the medal ceremony. First team in US history to fall to a bronze.

[nyhuskyfan]

33. If they were happy on the medal stand...

They would be ripped to shreds for acting like they didn't give a shit. "Can you believe that? They finish third behind two soccer countries and they're up there laughing like a bunch of morons. No wonder we lost -- they didn't even care."

As far as I'm concerned, this team lost the gold medal because Argentina was better that day. We tried hard, we hustled, we dove for loose balls, etc. We didn't shoot particularly well, but that's not a problem with their character.

You can look at any competition, and the reaction on the medal stand is usually proportional to expectations. A person getting a silver who was supposed to win (or had a heartbreaking loss) is going to look sad. A person who took silver who was a total dark horse is going to be thrilled to be on the medal stand at all.

[lazarus]

35. Yup

For poor behaviour, look at Spain. When we beat them, their coach went ballistic, screaming at Larry Brown and refs. Their players stormed off the court.

Very poor behaviour.

[1monster]

39. Excuse me, Lazarus and myhuskyfan...

I said EVERYONE, not just the the USA basketball team, and not just this Olympics and not just the USA teams.

Every now and then, someone will show grace, win or lose. It is not something seen very often anymore in any sports area, including the Olympics.

[ronnykmarshall]

34. More than anyone else can say

They won and earned that medal (the bronze).

They earned something that most of us will never have.

[lazarus]

36. And were expected to do more

Although most were cheering against them, bizarrely.

They also have something else that most of us will never have: Millions of dollars. Should they prounce around and smile all the time about that, or would that be gloating?

[ronnykmarshall]

40. Expected?

They should be expected to do their best. Their best was coming from behind after two loses and still get a bronze medal.

The money means nothing. I guess that I am too harsh on the guys on the team and should be more harsh on the "it's the gold or nothing" attitude with the media and the "fans".

These men should be proud of what they have done and not beat themselves up over the bullshit of what is "expected" of them.

[lazarus]

41. No

They were expected to win the gold, just like every other US team has won the gold.

The harshness I have a problem with is your calling them jerks and accusing them of being spoiled and pouting, when in reality they were just upset at losing, because they're competitors.

Iverson was playing with a broken thumb. Does that sound spoiled or pampered to you?

[BootinUp]

37. I haven't paid that much attention

and didn't even see it, so I retract my previous post.

[bloom]

43. I thought maybe it was the media

but there seem to be those here with the attitude of it's all about the USA and the gold and us getting more golds than other people and so on so forth.

One show was mentioning the olive branch wreaths and them symbolizing peace and such. Seems like an occasion to promote peace and fun to me. And I think a lot of the athletes DO get that.

I was happy to see other countries doing well because frankly, I think it is awfully boring if it's just about what the USA can do. If people are only interested in what the USA can do they can always watch the "WORLD SERIES" (ha) or the NBA or Monday Night Football.

[Kellanved]

32. huh?

I thought it was a fine performance, with a deserved Gold Medal.




OH now I get it: you mean the male team. . Personally I believe athletes, who think they're too good to live in the Olympic Village, have no place in the Olympics anyway.

[ronnykmarshall]

38. Thank YOU!

The ladies kicked ass.

The men busted their asses off as well. They came back from losing to Puerto Rico, but fell short in the end.

These guys have something that the bulk of us will never have, an Olympic bronze medal.

Yeah, I'll admit at the start of this thread I had a BIG stick up my ass, but I stand by my thoughts.

[allalone]

44. they were the last time too