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Paris Olympics

Jimjamesak said:
Soccer is #1 in Brazil but volleyball is definitely #2. Crowds have been electric for volleyball.
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I'll repeat a question I posted before- given the popularity of volleyball in the US, especially mens, how is it that the US has a pretty darned strong team for mens volleyball? It seems that it's mostly a California only sport.

At least womens is played in pretty much all HS and college programs. Mens is really rare here.
 
MichVandal said:
I'll repeat a question I posted before- given the popularity of volleyball in the US, especially mens, how is it that the US has a pretty darned strong team for mens volleyball? It seems that it's mostly a California only sport.

At least womens is played in pretty much all HS and college programs. Mens is really rare here.
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There’s enough numbers coming through the college programs into professional ranks that it’s enough to be competitive.

I think people kind of lose sight of how much other countries put into sports. For the most part, a lot of countries dump so many of their resources into soccer that even sports that might be #2 or #3 really don’t get very much. Volleyball is a prime example. Even though there’s professional leagues in Europe, Japan, and Brazil, they’re not as big as they’re made out to be and even the medium effort the US puts in is enough to be competitive.
 
Jimjamesak said:
There’s enough numbers coming through the college programs into professional ranks that it’s enough to be competitive.

I think people kind of lose sight of how much other countries put into sports. For the most part, a lot of countries dump so many of their resources into soccer that even sports that might be #2 or #3 really don’t get very much. Volleyball is a prime example. Even though there’s professional leagues in Europe, Japan, and Brazil, they’re not as big as they’re made out to be and even the medium effort the US puts in is enough to be competitive.
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What colleges? That's my real question- where are these guys coming from? I know the B1G doesn't have it. Between the P12 and the Big West- that's enough to keep the team on the top of the world? Given how much closer the rest of the world is to our very pro BB team- it just seems odd that such a limited source can be such a strong team.

And is there a pro men's VB series in the US (not including Puerto Rico- they do have pro VB, but they also represent themselves).
 
MichVandal said:
What colleges? That's my real question- where are these guys coming from? I know the B1G doesn't have it. Between the P12 and the Big West- that's enough to keep the team on the top of the world? Given how much closer the rest of the world is to our very pro BB team- it just seems odd that such a limited source can be such a strong team.

And is there a pro men's VB series in the US (not including Puerto Rico- they do have pro VB, but they also represent themselves).
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Penn State, Ohio State, Harvard, Princeton, there’s a few there. There’s not a men’s pro league here in the US AFAIK.

For most Olympic sports, the numbers don’t have to be big. If there are 10 guys coming out of college volleyball every year to go play pro somewhere, that’s enough to be competitive.
 
Jimjamesak said:
Penn State, Ohio State, Harvard, Princeton, there’s a few there. There’s not a men’s pro league here in the US AFAIK.

For most Olympic sports, the numbers don’t have to be big. If there are 10 guys coming out of college volleyball every year to go play pro somewhere, that’s enough to be competitive.
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But competitive isn't the same as being one of the top teams in the world. We have a TON more mens soccer.... And even with even more mens BB, the world is closing in on the US. We've even lost a gold with the highest paid professional team on the planet.

I mean it's cool and all that the US is so competitive. But given how many play it compared to other sports....
 
Watching the prime time replay of the beam. Did they mount that solid? Or is it not level? Almost everyone is falling or holding the beam. The winner will be the one who survives that harsh bar. As said in racing, to finish first, you have to first finish.
 
Wouldn't it make more sense if they did the individual gymnastic disciplines first and then did the individual all-around and then the team all-around? I'm sure there's some logic I'm missing why they do it in the reverse order.
 
Suni Lee mentioned that she was uncomfortable up there because nothing else was going on to create some background noise. Is there usually multiple events going on at the same time during the individual skills and they changed it up this time around?
 
state of hockey said:
Suni Lee mentioned that she was uncomfortable up there because nothing else was going on to create some background noise. Is there usually multiple events going on at the same time during the individual skills and they changed it up this time around?
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It's usually a madhouse.
 
MichVandal said:
But competitive isn't the same as being one of the top teams in the world. We have a TON more mens soccer.... And even with even more mens BB, the world is closing in on the US. We've even lost a gold with the highest paid professional team on the planet.

I mean it's cool and all that the US is so competitive. But given how many play it compared to other sports....
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The US is the second most successful nation in volleyball history (combining medals in men’s, women’s, and para), and they could move into first after this Olympics. And volleyball is a niche sport in this country.

If you think of it in percentages, most countries are putting somewhere between 80-95% of their sporting focus into soccer, with 5-7% likely going to another sport and the rest being split up between everything else (there are exceptions, Canada with hockey, New Zealand with rugby, Kenya with distance running). In the US it’s probably 50-70% going to football, 10-20% going to basketball, another 10% going to baseball, and the rest being split amongst the others (with soccer and hockey likely taking the bulk). The reason why the US still succeeds at other sports is twofold:

1. 0.5% in the US is still massive compared to most other countries. This country does not care about sports like track or swimming or wrestling outside of the Olympics but nearly every high school has a track to train on, most communities have a pool to swim in, and most have a wrestling club.

2. We’re really good at transitioning athletes who may not excel at a major sport like football into other sports like track or volleyball or cycling or wrestling. If a high school has a kid who can run a sub 5 second 40 yard dash but can’t catch, that kid would likely be recruited for track. If a soccer club in England or Spain or Germany has a kid that can run a sub 5 second 40 yard dash but can’t make a pass, I doubt they’re telling the local track club about that kid.
 
Jimjamesak said:
The US is the second most successful nation in volleyball history (combining medals in men’s, women’s, and para), and they could move into first after this Olympics. And volleyball is a niche sport in this country.

If you think of it in percentages, most countries are putting somewhere between 80-95% of their sporting focus into soccer, with 5-7% likely going to another sport and the rest being split up between everything else (there are exceptions, Canada with hockey, New Zealand with rugby, Kenya with distance running). In the US it’s probably 50-70% going to football, 10-20% going to basketball, another 10% going to baseball, and the rest being split amongst the others (with soccer and hockey likely taking the bulk). The reason why the US still succeeds at other sports is twofold:

1. 0.5% in the US is still massive compared to most other countries. This country does not care about sports like track or swimming or wrestling outside of the Olympics but nearly every high school has a track to train on, most communities have a pool to swim in, and most have a wrestling club.

2. We’re really good at transitioning athletes who may not excel at a major sport like football into other sports like track or volleyball or cycling or wrestling. If a high school has a kid who can run a sub 5 second 40 yard dash but can’t catch, that kid would likely be recruited for track. If a soccer club in England or Spain or Germany has a kid that can run a sub 5 second 40 yard dash but can’t make a pass, I doubt they’re telling the local track club about that kid.
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I work with a woman who emigrated from Kenya to Minneapolis, and she tells me that Kenya’s distance runners almost all come from the same tribe and are somewhat isolated from the rest of the country. From how she described many things about Kenya’s government, I don’t think they have much money to put into sports, and running is relatively cheap.
 
Jimjamesak said:
The US is the second most successful nation in volleyball history (combining medals in men’s, women’s, and para), and they could move into first after this Olympics. And volleyball is a niche sport in this country.

If you think of it in percentages, most countries are putting somewhere between 80-95% of their sporting focus into soccer, with 5-7% likely going to another sport and the rest being split up between everything else (there are exceptions, Canada with hockey, New Zealand with rugby, Kenya with distance running). In the US it’s probably 50-70% going to football, 10-20% going to basketball, another 10% going to baseball, and the rest being split amongst the others (with soccer and hockey likely taking the bulk). The reason why the US still succeeds at other sports is twofold:

1. 0.5% in the US is still massive compared to most other countries. This country does not care about sports like track or swimming or wrestling outside of the Olympics but nearly every high school has a track to train on, most communities have a pool to swim in, and most have a wrestling club.

2. We’re really good at transitioning athletes who may not excel at a major sport like football into other sports like track or volleyball or cycling or wrestling. If a high school has a kid who can run a sub 5 second 40 yard dash but can’t catch, that kid would likely be recruited for track. If a soccer club in England or Spain or Germany has a kid that can run a sub 5 second 40 yard dash but can’t make a pass, I doubt they’re telling the local track club about that kid.
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I understand what you are trying to get at, but comparing it to something like BB, where the US is the clear dominant market for the game- by a rather huge margin. But the rest of the world has really closed on us for one of the most common games played across the country. Whereas mens VB is a lot more popular in other countries, with pro leagues and all- so people grow up seeing it play.

Another comparison is T&F- while it's not a super popular spectator sport- it's played everywhere. From HS through college- so much so that a really large amount of olympic competitors have NCAA experience to go along with it. So given the range that it's played- it makes sense that even though the US does not really have a pro T&F system, the availability of it across the country makes it easy to find really good athletes. As a reminder, the guy who just won the gold and broke the WR in pole vault was born in the US and went to school at LSU.

Same with swimming, even though it's quite a bit less for HS.

But how would an amazing VB player from mid Minnesota be found? Given the amount it's played, the pool to find the best players is limited in it's ability to find the ideal athletes. More than likely, the medal potential VB player in Minnesota would end up playing D2 BB with a scholarship- never knowing he would be better at VB.

You point out that the process is good at transitioning athletes- but that really requires the game to be played in a place that the athlete lives. And if mens VB isn't really played in a 1000 mile radius....

So for a game that can't really get the same kind of transition pool because it's less played, it's just really interesting the US is so good.
 
Interesting effort in the women's skateboarding- there's a 13 year old Finnish girl that isn't supported by the Finnish Olympic committee because she is too young. And so far, she's in the top 8.
 
Watching the US Women's soccer team really reminds me a lot of Michigan Hockey's worst flaw. When the defense is pressured with the ball (or puck), they are slightly uncomfortable, making them hesitate, and then really increasing the chance of a turn over and a scoring chance. I know they haven't gotten scored on much- but they are vulnerable.
 
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone jogs to a 52.13 in her 400m hurdles semifinal. That's .03 faster than Dalilah Muhammad's then world record World Championship time in 2019.
 
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