That's the difference: widely played, but not as widely watched, because you can only have TV adverts shown every 45 mins. I could not stand the amount of adverts you guys get on US TV, it would drive me nuts!
Nonsense. A NASCAR race, which is constant racing, will be watched by 20 times the people a soccer game can draw. NASCAR can pack a stadium with 80 thousand people, while the MLS gives away tickets to get people into empty stadiums. Ever heard of the Columbus crew, the profession MLS soccer team? Half the people in Columbus haven't. They just don't care. Soccer to Americans is an extremely boring game, and nothing disgusts us more than a player faking a foul/injury, a common act in the sport of soccer.
In the meantime, back to the real Olympic feats: High Jump: Ivan is a beast! Some cretin stole his jersey but with minutes to spare before his jump, he stuck his number on another jersey and won the GOLD in high jump.
The US is tearing it up on the track right now. They just took gold and silver in the men's 110m hurdle,band gold/bronze in the women's 200m hurdle.
This first day of the decathlon is over, and the United States is whipping the rest of the field. I'm guessing the title of "worlds greatest athlete" will easily be defended yet again by the United States in these Olympic games.
Misty & Kerri whips the field again! Three straight Golds...love it! Also so happy for Allison Felix, Aries Merritt & Brittney Reese...Gold medal winners all.
Posing a question (or more of a commentary) for the board. I notice on the "official" London 2012 Olympics website, they list the medal count and show China ahead of the USA even though USA has more total medals. China has more Gold medals, therefore they are listed first ahead of the USA. If it's Gold that really matters in the medal count, why bother with Silver and Bronze...if winning the event is all that matters, getting the Gold medal..why bother acknowledging 2nd and 3rd place. Initially I thought it was purely political posturing by the Limeys in merry old England to list China ahead of the USA when clearly the Table is identified as "MEDAL COUNT"....however I've seen Medal Count lists elsewhere and China is indeed #1. on these lists as well having more Gold medals but fewer total medals than the USA. I say do away with the Silver and Bronze, if this is the case...if it's #1. they value, the Gold, then stop acknowledging the runner ups. Winner take all. *end of rant*
well there are site list as total medal. it depend how certain site list it. gold is certainly more valueable than silver. and i'm not sure why this has to be US vs china? china has 1.3 billion, and their athelete are state sponsor, they spend Billions on olympic program etc we don't, our athelete is mostly support by their parents before they win any major event.
It's a stupid system of medal values, it's never made much sense to me. I'm all for abolishing any sport from the Olympics where judges decide the outcome. Gymnastics, diving, ice dancing etc all need to go. Biased judging coupled with absurd judging criteria like "uniqueness of routine" make these events nonsense.
This is Cold War II...hence it is similar to USSR vs. USA Back on topic. True. A Gold medal is more valuable as indicative of 1st place and should be weighted higher on a chart...than Silver..Bronze... I understand that. Why not establish a point system. Keep it simple. 3 points for Gold 2 points for Silver 1 point for Bronze List "Total points" instead of Medal Count.
Don't worry Herk, with the events left in the games the US will finish on top with the most gold and overall medals.
Widely played still implies it is a very popular sport. People like to justify us not dominating soccer because it's not popular and I think that's a stupid argument. I'm with you on the TV advertisements though. I hardly watch TV anymore, but most of the sports I enjoy have a ridiculous amount of commercials. I would rather watch the NFL teams stand around in huddle than be subjected to the same Budweiser commercial every two minutes.
Herk's ill concealed competitive streak is showing there, though it's business as usual for you. How many golds would US have this time without Phelps, one wonders? Maybe Team GB (believe it, embarrassingly that's what they're calling it) will beat you next time out. ;p Philistine again. Man does not live by bread alone and the Olympics are not just about winning as I'm tired of pointing out.
I know, it's annoying. Andy Murray and Chris Hoy... Still, it's apparently more annoying that Chris Hoy now has more golds than Steve Redgrave and is our most successful Olympian (or so the taxi driver in Manchester told me, before he heard my Scottish accent). We went to the semi final of the football at Man U's ground. Brazil are something to see I have to admit, even though I don't like football they are a joy to watch. Once they put a goal in though, the game was pretty boring and turned into an exhibition match. They were winning 3 - 0 when we left for the nearest hostelry.
Hero of the games so far has to be the American 4X400 relay runner Manteo Mitchell who felt his leg break halfway through his stint, but ran on to pass the baton before collapsing! http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_sports/view/1219201/1/.html
Unfortunately for you, and fortunately for me, GB will never out medal the United States, you can bet the farm on it. As the host country you'd best enjoy these Olympic games, because in Brazil GB will not be permitted the extra athletes they are in these games as the host nation, so if you're not going to beat us now on your home soil with far more athletes than usually permitted, you never will.
It will be interesting to see on Sunday if the Chinese have whipped the US. What's in no doubt however is, if China comes first with Golds but the US has the overall medal count, it will be claimed as a US victory. However, if the US has more Golds than the Chinese, but the Chinese have the highest medal count, it will still be claimed as a US victory. Which makes a mockery of it because it isn't about medals at all, for if it was, about 200 other countries wouldn't bother to enter. Something that will continually go over the head of the average American.
Luckily, no debate will be needed. The United States will finish with more medals, as well as gold medals, than any other country pending a few crazy things don't end up happening. You can't even place a bet on the US over the Chinese anymore, they are saying its guaranteed money.
Per head of population, we're second or third globally to the US fortieth or so. It all depends on how you slice it. Grenada is tops pro rata to population.
That's such a nonsensical argument, because the Olympics are not set up to allow a per capita argument. The United States could field the 3 best basketball teams, a dozen more swimmers who could medal, or several other events where the US could medal in, however due to qualification restrictions with the number of athletes from any given country in a event, such an argument is just silly.
