USA vs. Canada Gold Medal Hype Thread (Game CHAT)

[rincewind]

Sorry, in checking my facts.... it was the summer olympics where the USA has won the medal count for the past 3 olympics (could be more, I didn't check any further back).

And in the winter... it's been 2 second places and a 3rd place finish in medal counts.

Poor baby.... if that isn't complete world domination then I don't know what is Come on... that's as close as it gets.

So, you're saying the Red Sox were the most dominating team for decades on end?

[ACW]

http://www.america.gov/st/washfile-english/2006/February/20060209164553jmnamdeirf0.9387018.html

There's a lot of fundraising and corporate sponsorship.

I'd imagine that Canadian athletes enjoy some of those same benefits.... but the general gist is it isn't at the same level as Americans.

"Retailer The Home Depot, for instance, has assisted individually hundreds of athletes by offering them jobs where they work 20-hour weeks for a 40-hour salary, with flexible schedules that afford time off for training and competitions. Thirty-three of the 2006 U.S. team’s 211 members are Home Depot employees."

That would NEVER happen in Canada

Better private funding than public funding.

[Die Hard]

meh- every country has their advantages and disadvantages. Like Canadian youth hockey and support- I find it amazing the US can even field a competitive team.

And every Canadian being from a cold weather climate, etc.

Dude, your population is 10x the size of ours. And people have access to a market that most countries can't compete with.

Why do you think our doctors, nurses, and comedians move south of the border? $$$$$$

It's no surprise to me that American athletes dominate sport (in general).

Every countries' competitive edge in their cultural sport is slowly eroding once the Americans put their mind to it. But you guys are taking slower in some sports than others.

Heck, Canadians began by DOMINATING snowboarding. Now look at who owns the podium there.

It's only a matter of time with curling and hockey.

[ixcuincle]

2 good games coinciding with today's gold medal game

UConn - Louisville

Purdue - MSU

[Ghost of]

And nothing compares to the Chinese- the most annoying country in the olympics by far- who make their olympic hopefuls full time employees/royalty because they see the games as a penis measuring event with the west. Funny to me that they still lose despite this

I think China still operates under Cold War rules. There have been two big examples of Chinese cheating it East German style. One was the multitude of complaints about how the Chinese swimmers---was that 2 Olympics ago?--were huge in the shoulders, had acne on their back (signs of hormone or steroid use) and had deep voices. Apparently even the Chinese ended up removing women from the team and it was a clear case of cheating, whether it was programmatic or directed from the government.

I also took the opening ceremonies at Vancouver to be the perfect representation of why the West is still morally superior to a place like China. Think of those hundreds (or thousands) of people they had in Beijing--many of them kept for months with only subsistence diet and trained to the breaking point. They may very well have signed up for it, but there was something sinister about it and the relatively few performers in Vancouver reminded me of the value we still place on the individual. And it was still a great show, I thought.

China pretty much plays the role of a nicer Soviet Union/Communist Bloc in the Olympics, let's be frank.

As for the advantages countries have, I'd point out that countries with a history of slavery or that absorbed immigration from those places have benefited from the presence of West African descendants in a number of Summer Games competitions, though it's probably a small percentage of the contests overall.

Denmark could spend its national budget on track and field events emphasizing explosive movements over short distances and it is not winning any golds or setting records without significant chemical engineering.

[ACW]

Why do you think our doctors, nurses, and comedians move south of the border? $$$$$$

Or because socialized healthcare sucks? :pfft:

[Die Hard]

So, you're saying the Red Sox were the most dominating team for decades on end?

Sure, the USA and China are the Yankees and Bosox.

And you've got Canada.... the equivalent to the Royals.... good at one thing... or having 1 good pitcher. And you want to begrudge Royal fans for cheering on Grienke for pitching in the All-Star game and hoping he strikes out Albert Pujols :pfft:

[Ghost of]

Or because socialized healthcare sucks? :pfft:

That would be it, at least for the health care field.

Comedians know they need to come here to make the huge bucks because that BBC equivalent BS they got up there is not going to pay them nearly the same, though they could try to carve a out a long career at taxpayer expense, I suppose.

[Capt Rich Fla]

Why do you think our doctors, nurses, and comedians move south of the border?

Education, health care and giant water parks?

[Special K]

When was the last time Americans DIDN'T win the overall race?

I don't think any Canadian could or would EVER expect to finish first in overall medals. Not only the average Canadian... but even the Canadian athletes participating in the Olympics.

If you read any quotes from Canadian participants... you'd understand that even the athletes have begrudged that committee for placing those kinds of expectations on the athletes. In fact, the athletes have even come out PUBLICLY and said that the committee never, at any point, even CONSULTED with the athletes to see what kind of training they would prefer, or equipment, etc.

So nobody truly cares about what a few guys/gals in business suits hunkered down in luxury suites.... who are supposed to be representative of Canadian athletes... has to say.

Which is consistent with the fact that Canadians, on average, are ecstastic with the current results overall. Despite the fact that the "Own the Podium" president came out a few days ago to inform Canadians that we weren't going to meet *our* goals..... because no one listened or cared.

Lol. I see you corrected yourself ...Americans haven't won the overall medal count in a winter Olympics in decades. In fact I don't know if we have ever won that outside our borders.

Regardless, you guys have won the most golds, so kudos

And yes, it is my understanding that the "own the podium" things wasn't received too well among Canadian. Athletes in general. We still get to laugh. The prediction though!

Zoony- meant to quote you but my phone's jacked...about China. Lol. They are ridiculous, like you talk about with the measuring contest. It eas just confirmed those cheats used underaged girls for. Gymnastics team in '00. DUH. Can't wait until anyone starts looking into the '08 cluster

[royallypwned]

USA! USA! USA!

[Ghost of]

A college regular season basketball game does not match the Olympic gold medal game in hockey.

I grew up loving college basketball with the likes of the old great Hoyas and Glen Rice and Co. at Michigan. Then the Fab Five and even some great teams up until early 2000.

College basketball is a little better than it was a few years back but it doesn't really hold my attention anymore until the tournament (and even then not nearly the same way.) And it's not like I didn't have the time at certain points to invest in it.

[Die Hard]

Better private funding than public funding.

Agreed. But it's not the first time the government will fund projects that people may disagree with.

And there's a LOT of pressure on hosting nations to succeed and post favorable results. Heck, there was a lot of negative feedback (50%) of Vancouverites who didn't want the Olympics.

There was actually a pretty strong public outcry during the last summer Olympic games... at how poorly Canada fared. So since we're hosting... their was pressure to succeed.

For me personally, I could care less. I'm just a spectator observing the whole phenomenon.

[Teller]

If you're not in the chat, you suck. Jus' sayin'.

[Ghost of]

Well, i thought this would be the jump point for an actual chat room experience but it looks like it brings up the "waiting room" for me. Don't know what's up there.

EDIT UPDATE: Fine now. Come on in, the ice is cold!

[ixcuincle]

GIT R DUN

GO USAa

[ACW]

Al Michaels, no bigger star in the NHL than Crosby?

:finger:

[ixcuincle]

Don cherry weighing in.

[royallypwned]

@ Don Cherry's get-up.

[ACW]

LuLongo?

[ixcuincle]

Canada predicted to win 5-3.

[Die Hard]

That would be it, at least for the health care field.

It's not the system. It's cash. In every professional field... there's going to be a few percentage of people who will follow the money.

No different than the Dallas Cowboys Deion Sanders coming over to arch-rival Skins. Or hockey players or basketball players playing in Europe rather than the US professional leagues. It's about cash and lifestyle.

And since Canadians could have the same lifestyle in the US as they would in Canada (because our cultures are basically the indentical) but receive more compensation... it makes the decision easy for some.

Why do companies move and outsource overseas? Is it because their socio-economic-political environment is superior? Or because of the bottom line (ie. $$$$$$$$$?

[ixcuincle]

Stupid pre-game ****. Get to the game.

[royallypwned]

Stupid pre-game ****. Get to the game.

Well game time was listed as 3:15 ET.

Loved the miracle on ice highlights.

[FLRedskins]

Don Cherry is the worst always talks out his ass The guy can't stand Ovechkin actually he hates every player in the NHL thats not canadian I think the guy actually sleeps with crosby the way he talks about him being the greatest player.