Prepping for the Olympics

[darien87]

So what's the deal with the scoring in women's gymnastics?!?!?

The Americans consistantly got artificially low scores in the team competition, and then Alicia Sacramone gets screwed on the vault yesterday.

I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but does anybody else think that there's some anti-American sentiment among the judges? I know the Iraq fiasco has most people outside of the U.S. thinking we're tyrants. I realize that there has always been inconsistencies any time a human being is involved in scoring an event, but this has to be the worst display that I can remember.

Poor Alicia. I wouldn't be surprised if she retires from gymnastics after this. I also wouldn't be surprised to see her on the news on top of a building with a sniper rifle shooting at people.

 

[aberkowitz]

Interesting, and points well taken. However, I bet these Chinese and Kenyans can speak English. I'm not saying, or am even sure, that there are a significant number of athletes who cannot speak their "native" tongue. Maybe not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, as you imply.

I wonder what % of blood you have to be of a certain country to be able to compete for it. For instance, my "Latvian" friend is half Latvian. He says his baby daughter would be eligible to compete for Latvia as well, being 1/4. After being asked just how much blood of a certain country one must have, he says he didn't know. Does anyone here know?

I think of the Jamaican bobsled team! LOL. Ok, just looked that up, it appears two Americans were mainly responsible in creating the team according to Wiki. At least half were "native" Jamaican. Still some pride in that!



No doubt. I think if it was me, I'd do it out of pure pride or bragging rights (if I wasn't too intimidated to begin with). Just a great story to tell really. Money? Yea, sure, why not! I doubt shot putters, kayakers, or curlers make all THAT much in endorsements. Who knows...

Thanks for your thoughts aberkowitz.

I'll always give my thoughts!!

According to international rules it's not about blood or lineage or language in order to compete for a country- all it takes is a passport. A country will only issue a passport if they consider you a citizen (either single or dual citizenship), so as long as a you find a country willing to grant you citizenship and issue you a passport you can compete. There was a story on ESPN today about Chris Kaman (a US-born basketball player for the Clippers) playing for the German team (he's about 1/8th German) b/c he wanted to play in the olympics and they needed another quality player. His father is actually pissed b/c he believes his son is American and should not be playing for the Germans, even though it's his own lineage!!

On the shot putters and kayakers- totally agree that they're not in it for the endorsements, however the bonus money for a medal can be huge. In the US a gold medal will get you $25K, which can nicely defray some training costs or even pay for part of college. Other countries give even higher amounts- China (~$80K), Russia (100K), and India ($280K ).

 

[aberkowitz]

Poor Alicia. I wouldn't be surprised if she retires from gymnastics after this. I also wouldn't be surprised to see her on the news on top of a building with a sniper rifle shooting at people.

I sure hope not... she's really hot!!! I already told my wife that Alicia can move in with us anytime she wants to .