Official XXX Summer Olympiad: London 2012- Take II

[aparch]

Re: Official XXX Summer Olympiad: London 2012- Take II

http://mckaylaisnotimpressed.tumblr.com/

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>The pool is closed.. <a href="https://twitter.com/search/?q=%23notimpressed"><s>#</s><b>notimpressed</b></a> <a href="http://t.co/gSrKbMb9" title="http://instagr.am/p/OMsVFpKieZ/">instagr.am/p/OMsVFpKieZ/</a></p>— McKayla Maroney (@McKaylaMaroney) <a href="https://twitter.com/McKaylaMaroney/status/234360007313997827" data-datetime="2012-08-11T18:45:54+00:00">August 11, 2012</a></blockquote>
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[bigblue_dl]

Re: Official XXX Summer Olympiad: London 2012- Take II

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>The pool is closed.. <a href="https://twitter.com/search/?q=%23notimpressed"><s>#</s><b>notimpressed</b></a> <a href="http://t.co/gSrKbMb9" title="http://instagr.am/p/OMsVFpKieZ">instagr.am/p/OMsVFpKieZ/</a></p>— McKayla Maroney (@McKaylaMaroney) <a href="https://twitter.com/McKaylaMaroney/status/234360007313997827" data-datetime="2012-08-11T18:45:54+00:00">August 11, 2012</a></blockquote>
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That is ****ing awesome. Its one thing to rip on her for its. It's something completely different for her to roll with it and poke fun at herself. I honestly have a completely different opinion of her now

 

[MinnesotaNorthStar]

Re: Official XXX Summer Olympiad: London 2012- Take II

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>The pool is closed.. <a href="https://twitter.com/search/?q=%23notimpressed"><s>#</s><b>notimpressed</b></a> <a href="http://t.co/gSrKbMb9" title="http://instagr.am/p/OMsVFpKieZ/">instagr.am/p/OMsVFpKieZ/</a></p>— McKayla Maroney (@McKaylaMaroney) <a href="https://twitter.com/McKaylaMaroney/status/234360007313997827" data-datetime="2012-08-11T18:45:54+00:00">August 11, 2012</a></blockquote>
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Dear Ms. Maroney,

Well played, Mauer.

 

[FreshFish]

Re: Official XXX Summer Olympiad: London 2012- Take II

All possible-but why would it work only for 100 or 200 meters? it does seem to be specific. I have not seen the same incredible improvement in the rest of their team, 400 meter, field events, marathon and longer distance running, swimming, etc. What we have is a sudden improvement that is just a huge leap forward (sort of like the Bob Beamon jump of 1968)-but at first limited to one runner from one country but now present with a group of runners all still from one country. Diagnostic of tampering? Not at all. Suspicious? Certainly. Would be interested to see how they test during the year when not detoxed (if they are indeed doing anything) for the olympics or the world champioonships. I am not in any way saying something is being done-i am merely proposing an academic exercise to ponder.
Besides, if something is being done by the Jamaican team-I would think other things are being done by all the teams (as long as they don't get discovered).

The Kenyans and Ethiopians have been dominating the distance races for decades....what is it about those distances and people from that part of the world that seems to give them a natural affinity?

 

[FreshFish]

Re: Official XXX Summer Olympiad: London 2012- Take II

The US women win gold again in basketball and the world yawns. We ask our athletes to play their best and then complain they are dominating the competition too much.


When you look at this US women's team compared to women's basketball through its history, and compare it to the 1992 Men's team, and compare it to men's basketball teams throughout history....

Hmm....do you take the '92 version of each men's starter vs the '12 version of each women's starter?

Magic Johnson <--> Sue Bird. When you compare '92 Magic to all male players and '12 Bird to all women players, it's a bit closer than you might think; still, advantage '92 men.

Michael Jordan <--> Diana Taurasi. '92 Michael had won only first of his NBA titles; '12 Diana is far more accomplished. Still, slight advantage to '92 men, though not by much.

Patrick Ewing <--> Tina Charles. '12 Charles is already more accomplished than '92 Ewing when it comes to hardware; still she is so much earlier in her career than he was then....push.

Karl Malone / Larry Bird <--> Maya Moore. '12 Moore over '92 Larry Bird, but '92 Malone over '12 Moore.

Charles Barkley <--> Candace Parker. Again, '12 Parker has more hardware; '92 Barkley was near the apex of his career; slight edge to Barkley.



So the '92 Dream Team demolishes everyone in sight and it's fun and exciting to see some of the best players in men's basketball history demolish the world. The '12 women's team is nearly the Dream Team's gender equal, and we are annoyed that they won so easily.

 

[goldy_331]

Re: Official XXX Summer Olympiad: London 2012- Take II

The US women's VB team chocked about as badly as the US men's gymnastics team.

 

[CLS]

Re: Official XXX Summer Olympiad: London 2012- Take II

The US women win gold again in basketball and the world yawns. We ask our athletes to play their best and then complain they are dominating the competition too much.


When you look at this US women's team compared to women's basketball through its history, and compare it to the 1992 Men's team, and compare it to men's basketball teams throughout history....

Hmm....do you take the '92 version of each men's starter vs the '12 version of each women's starter?

Magic Johnson <--> Sue Bird. When you compare '92 Magic to all male players and '12 Bird to all women players, it's a bit closer than you might think; still, advantage '92 men.

Michael Jordan <--> Diana Taurasi. '92 Michael had won only first of his NBA titles; '12 Diana is far more accomplished. Still, slight advantage to '92 men, though not by much.

Patrick Ewing <--> Tina Charles. '12 Charles is already more accomplished than '92 Ewing when it comes to hardware; still she is so much earlier in her career than he was then....push.

Karl Malone / Larry Bird <--> Maya Moore. '12 Moore over '92 Larry Bird, but '92 Malone over '12 Moore.

Charles Barkley <--> Candace Parker. Again, '12 Parker has more hardware; '92 Barkley was near the apex of his career; slight edge to Barkley.



So the '92 Dream Team demolishes everyone in sight and it's fun and exciting to see some of the best players in men's basketball history demolish the world. The '12 women's team is nearly the Dream Team's gender equal, and we are annoyed that they won so easily.

I don’t disagree with the comparisons, but there are big differences also. The members of the ’92 Dream Team waged some epic battles against each other in the NBA and in some cases college -- the Magic/Bird NCAA Finals being the premiere example. We wondered, wow, what would it be like if they were on the same team?

Well, I know what it’s like to see a Geno Auriemma coached Sue Bird, or May Moore, or Diana Taurasi, or Tina Charles led team crush some female college version of the Washington Generals. The fact that they come from so few colleges (the US could probably win the Gold Medal with a UConn alumni association team) and the fact that the WNBA gets so little attention means that the Olympics are pretty much a continuation of what we’ve already seen.

 

[Dirty]

Re: Official XXX Summer Olympiad: London 2012- Take II

Nice to see the joke officiating in the basketball game.

 

[leswp1]

Re: Official XXX Summer Olympiad: London 2012- Take II

The Kenyans and Ethiopians have been dominating the distance races for decades....what is it about those distances and people from that part of the world that seems to give them a natural affinity?

There are certain tribes that are more likely to be successful than others making genes suspect. The culture where they come from encourages huge level of involvement. Larger pool to pick talent from. Here the running craze has hit a lull. No one runs the mileage that they used to and unless you are from a pocket of the country that has availability kids don't get involved until way later than the african kids. Someone had a documentary once- can't even remember when I saw it- that showed the little kids beating the crud out of the reporter in rec training runs in their town. There must have been 50 elementary age kids, all running on packed dirt, having a blast. You don't see that in many places.

 

[bronconick]

Re: Official XXX Summer Olympiad: London 2012- Take II

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>The pool is closed.. <a href="https://twitter.com/search/?q=%23notimpressed"><s>#</s><b>notimpressed</b></a> <a href="http://t.co/gSrKbMb9" title="http://instagr.am/p/OMsVFpKieZ/">instagr.am/p/OMsVFpKieZ/</a></p>— McKayla Maroney (@McKaylaMaroney) <a href="https://twitter.com/McKaylaMaroney/status/234360007313997827" data-datetime="2012-08-11T18:45:54+00:00">August 11, 2012</a></blockquote>
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[DrDemento]

Re: Official XXX Summer Olympiad: London 2012- Take II

The Kenyans and Ethiopians have been dominating the distance races for decades....what is it about those distances and people from that part of the world that seems to give them a natural affinity?

Odd what altitude running and emaciation can do for you. Some of these runners weigh less than my left leg and train at 8000 feet. And as Lesp answered below-sometimes you just have to look at genetics a bit more carefully when you are dealing with isolated populations that do not have much chance to introduce outside gene pools. I am just a tad suspicious of Jamaica though-none of the above really seems to be the case. Maybe it is the YAMS!

 

[manurespreader]

Re: Official XXX Summer Olympiad: London 2012- Take II

well doc so far so good, but Jamaica is not the only small population Caribbean country to produce great sprinters, and there are a number of other instance from other sports,( ore than one sport I might ad) so I'm in with genetics and opportunity and culture, But suspicion? not quite so much.

 

[Slap Shot]

Re: Official XXX Summer Olympiad: London 2012- Take II

well doc so far so good, but Jamaica is not the only small population Caribbean country to produce great sprinters, and there are a number of other instance from other sports,( ore than one sport I might ad) so I'm in with genetics and opportunity and culture, But suspicion? not quite so much.

At this rate and out of nowhere? But I am curious about all these other examples.

 

[manurespreader]

Re: Official XXX Summer Olympiad: London 2012- Take II

At this rate and out of nowhere? But I am curious about all these other examples.

well it's hard to agree that it's out of no where. Jamaica has been winning medals in sprints since 1948 which is the first year they competed, and they have been steadily winning medals since 1976 in Montreal. Having said that they are only number 13 in terms of national medal count in total behind even Poland.These countries just have fewer total athletes so the number of medals is low, but they get some real talent every so often. Ato Bolton was a top sprinter for Trinidad and Tobago and he's now on TV. Plus the Bahamas' just beat the US in the 4 x4 with Trinidad and Tobago third.

Look at it this way there were what about 30 sprinters for the 200 and 3 Caribbean nations made the top 8. Also if you look the relays are where they typically do well so they often have several good but not great sprinters.

 

[Alton]

Re: Official XXX Summer Olympiad: London 2012- Take II

At this rate and out of nowhere? But I am curious about all these other examples.

Out of nowhere? People born on islands in the Caribbean have won a medal in the men's 100 meters in 12 of the last 13 Olympics, dating back to 1964:

1964: Enrique Figuerola, Cuba
1968 and 1972: Lennox Miller, Jamaica
1976: Hasley Crawford, Trinidad & Tobago
1976: Don Quarrie, Jamaica
1980: Silvio Tartabull, Cuba
1984: Ben Johnson, Canada (born in Jamaica)
1988 and 1992: Linford Christie, Great Britain (born in Jamaica)
1996: Donovan Bailey, Canada (born in Jamaica)
1996 and 2000: Ato Boldon, Trinidad & Tobago
2000: Obadele Thompson, Barbados
2008: Richard Thompson, Trinidad & Tobago
2008 and 2012: Usain Bolt, Jamaica
2012: Yohan Blake, Jamaica

9 of the last 18 medals in the Men's 100 meter have been won by people born on Caribbean islands. Of the others, six were born in the US and three in Africa.

It's worth noting that the biggest annual sporting event in Jamaica is the High School track championship:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/caribbean/news/story/2008/08/080820_jamaica_championships.shtml

 

[joecct]

Re: Official XXX Summer Olympiad: London 2012- Take II

Interesting stat -
2/3 of US Gold won by women.

 

[DrDemento]

Re: Official XXX Summer Olympiad: London 2012- Take II

Out of nowhere? People born on islands in the Caribbean have won a medal in the men's 100 meters in 12 of the last 13 Olympics, dating back to 1964:

1964: Enrique Figuerola, Cuba
1968 and 1972: Lennox Miller, Jamaica
1976: Hasley Crawford, Trinidad & Tobago
1976: Don Quarrie, Jamaica
1980: Silvio Tartabull, Cuba
1984: Ben Johnson, Canada (born in Jamaica)
1988 and 1992: Linford Christie, Great Britain (born in Jamaica)
1996: Donovan Bailey, Canada (born in Jamaica)
1996 and 2000: Ato Boldon, Trinidad & Tobago
2000: Obadele Thompson, Barbados
2008: Richard Thompson, Trinidad & Tobago
2008 and 2012: Usain Bolt, Jamaica
2012: Yohan Blake, Jamaica

9 of the last 18 medals in the Men's 100 meter have been won by people born on Caribbean islands. Of the others, six were born in the US and three in Africa.

It's worth noting that the biggest annual sporting event in Jamaica is the High School track championship:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/caribbean/news/story/2008/08/080820_jamaica_championships.shtml

Alton-thanks for the list. But we really should be looking at the numbers before the 2008 and 2012 events since those are the athletes that might be in question. Before that i don't see a whole lot who RAN for Jamaica. And of those before who ran for other countries we know Ben Johnson was not clean. I am not in any way just focusing on Jamica-I feel that athletes from everywhere are not adverse to bending the rules for success. There was only 1 positive drug test during this latest Olympiad which means either this was the cleanest event in a long time-or we just have not caught up with the chemists who help some competitiors.

 

[DrDemento]

Re: Official XXX Summer Olympiad: London 2012- Take II

Interesting stat -
2/3 of US Gold won by women.

And I believe this was the most gold ever won by the US in an Olympics not held on US soil.

 

[Slap Shot]

Re: Official XXX Summer Olympiad: London 2012- Take II

I was referring to the runners form Jamaica not the entire region. I don't recall Jamaica dominating the sprints 20-30 years ago like they all of a sudden have the past two Olympics. There may be nothing to it whatsoever but don't pretend they've been this competitive for decades.

 

[Alton]

Re: Official XXX Summer Olympiad: London 2012- Take II

Alton-thanks for the list. But we really should be looking at the numbers before the 2008 and 2012 events since those are the athletes that might be in question. Before that i don't see a whole lot who RAN for Jamaica. And of those before who ran for other countries we know Ben Johnson was not clean. I am not in any way just focusing on Jamica-I feel that athletes from everywhere are not adverse to bending the rules for success. There was only 1 positive drug test during this latest Olympiad which means either this was the cleanest event in a long time-or we just have not caught up with the chemists who help some competitiors.

I'm not trying to prove or disprove anything other than that there is a long tradition of sprinting success in the Caribbean. My post was in reply to Slap Shot, who seemed not to be aware of it. I decline to discuss your points regarding performance enhancing drugs, because I choose not to get involved in an argument about a subject that I know nothing about.