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Was that all you can come up with?
pick a side then Wilson
LMAO
I don't have to argue about whether I'm more American than you or not because my passport says I AM American.
WTF kind of is that?
i think it used to be true. but there are several factors that have changed that-
1) if the olympics were in korea or brazil or italy, it wouldnt have the marketing benefits that it does in china, and im fairly certain that there is a lebron quote along the lines of "i knew i wanted to be in Beijing to fulfill my goal of becoming a global icon".
2) the chance to "redeem" past teams/players will bestow a lot of these guys glory and praise that players like vince carter or gary payton never got for their olympic success. furthermore, for some of these guys, this is the only tournament they have a chance at winning. Kobe bryant hasnt won jack in over 5 years, you think his marketing people are happy about that? (obviously kobe has chances to win a ship next year, but guys like bosh and howard, as young and as good as they are, may never get a chance as good as this)
so i think they are getting something out of it. obviously, they risk more than they stand to gain, but to say they get nothing is like the kid who celebrates every win, then says he wasnt trying when he lost.
as far as argentina, when these guys started playing together, winning tournaments and making the NBA was crazy talk. of course the result of their work was they got paid. but you cant say that they took up the NT for the money. quite the contrary, they probably had to pay for their own expenses as u-17 players in a country that had no bball history. now that they paved that road, the argentine basketball program is getting money and kids are thinking "hmm, those NBA contracts look a lot better than serie A or la liga." so we will see more talent, but also, more greed and less sacrifice.
the only way for an American to understand what this argie basketball team means to us, is for the US to have a soccer team beat Brazil, Italy and Germany on their way to World Cups, Olympic golds, and the core of that team featuring in dominant clubs like Milan and Barca.
and for those that might say "we would win in soccer if we tried/cared", well, i remember many concerted efforts to turn the US into a soccer power, and they've yet to produce a single first class player. (though they have had some results, i'll give you that)
--
and finally, a lot people are saying "this is all argentina has." Argentina has a lot of good sport success, from rugby to tennis to yachting to soccer to field hockey and on and on. this basketball team is just different, precisely because no one ever imagined we could be good at it.
Just a small correction
I bet almost everyone not in the USA still wants Argentina to win tomorrow, especially Lithuania and Spain.
Cheers
Most of the world probably doesn't give a rat's ass about either team.
We wouldn't give a . Soccer sucks and is boring.the only way for an American to understand what this argie basketball team means to us, is for the US to have a soccer team beat Brazil, Italy and Germany on their way to World Cups, Olympic golds, and the core of that team featuring in dominant clubs like Milan and Barca.
typical American arrogance
Yes because one person speaks for 300 million.
How is it arrogant to display a personal preference? In fact its ing arrogant to suggest that we have to like what you like or its arrogant. Not only that its also ing stupid.
If you don't understand what arrogant means then maybe you shouldn't use the word.
which is exactly what most argies would have said about bball before this team became successful, and exactly how most non-americans feel about baseball and football. (although maybe not baseball, how long is it since the US wins something there?
I love it, and if we were ever to beat a Brazil or Argentina in the WC I'd be ecstatic but I doubt the rest of the country would share my sentiments. You don't understand the United States. It's just not a soccer nation. We beat Portugal in 02 and it didn't do all that much for the sport.which is exactly what most argies would have said about bball before this team became successful, and exactly how most non-americans feel about baseball and football. (although maybe not baseball, how long is it since the US wins something there?
I understand you're proud of your team. Thats fine. But many Argentinians have grown y and have decided that my countries team has no heart. Well, my no heart team is going to beat the ever living crap out of Argentina tomorrow and konck you back down to your rightful place in the basketball hierarchy: Below - with everyone else - the United States.
PS - Pay attention bdictjames - THIS post is an example of American arrogance.
it is arrogant to attribute a personal preference to an entire group of people, particularly when it is easy to show that there are americans that care about soccer (hence, the existence of US soccer with both men and womens NT, the MLS, united leagues, WC94 attendance figures, etc.)
though im pretty sure chump was just kidding.
Its ok, some Americans feel that way about baseball!which is exactly what most argies would have said about bball before this team became successful, and exactly how most non-americans feel about baseball and football. (although maybe not baseball, how long is it since the US wins something there?
Soccer is very big here on the youth level, the interest seems to die out about high school.
I am glad anytime the US can win a World Cup game!
Thats not arrogant. And please, saying "typical american arrogance" is a crock of to begin with. Its ing ironic because its usually an incredibly ironic thing to say. What Chump said is correct. You guys simply don't understand how low soccer is on the professional sports totem pole here.
Please do not confuse your ignorance with our arrogance.
beating portugal is akin to beating puerto rico in basketball. a good team, but not a power by any means. portugal has won one eurocup, and that was about 40 years ago.
i grew up in the US, and lived there off and on for 40% of my life. two of my brothers are american born. i played baseball and football and basketball and soccer in public and private schools, in central park in NYC and intramurals in california and think i have a pretty good understanding of how most americans view sports (of course, it varies a lot from state to state and class level). most americans dont care about soccer. but there are many that do, just like there are "many" argentines grown y with the bball team. there are also many saying we dont stand a chance. the way that you choose which group outnumbers the other tells me all i need to know- you're just looking for a fight, a chance to talk trash. that wont change the fact that history books will show, that from 2002-2006, the dominant team in basketball wasnt team USA, it was argentina. when the US does the same in a team sport that other people care about- like soccer or rugby- then i might feel bad about being "below you"
good night
ignorance? from the guy talking up portugal???
i didnt say "typical american arrogance". i just pointed out that you yourself said that was a personal preference, but it was applied to an entire group of people, and it is arrogant, or better yet, presumptuous, to speak for others in that way. but like i said, i think chump was kidding around, not being arrogant.
how much did the LA galaxy pay for a washed up david beckham? 250M? for a sport that you have no success at and no interest in, that's a high price tag. And i'm willing to bet that a board like bigsoccer.com has just as much traffic as one like realgm. but yeah, i'm ignorant, and all the americans playing soccer in the US and abroad are really puerto rican, right?
LOL well no man! I started this thread. Look at the thread le. You gotta admit it was easy to get many Argies to oblige me. They're easy and entertaining targets. I will give you props for being smarter than the rabid pack, however.
I have no interest in taking away Argentina's past success. I'm just worried about them being denied the opportunity for more.
Yes but when you have had a little World Cup success as the US has had, beating Portugal is a big deal. They were fairly well ranked at the time, not the best but they were favored in the match.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/basket...553,full.story
Moment of truth for basketball's Team USA
The U.S., which faces Argentina next, is eager to redeem itself after the disappointment of the 2004 Athens Olympics. It would serve the team well to remember its comeuppance lessons.
By Mike Downey, Chicago Tribune
BEIJING -- In 1936, our basketball team kicked some serious Olympic butt.
A guy named Joe Fortenberry scored eight points in the gold-medal game. So did Canada.
Final score: USA 19, Canada 8.
After that, Canucks stuck pretty much to pucks.
We thought we were pretty hot stuff. But we got beat in 1972. (OK, so the German clock-keeper let the Russians rob us.) Then we lost again in 1988. (Danny Manning and David Robinson notwithstanding.)
So we sent for the big guns. Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Karl Malone, Charles Barkley . . . we rounded up every big-time basketball player we could think of except Meadowlark Lemon.
This strategy succeeded. We beat Cuba by 79 points. I think all five Cubans smoked cigars while they played.
We also beat Angola. I bet you can still remember where you were on that 1992 day when the news came that we beat Angola in a game of basketball. I mean, be still my heart.
We got pretty y again.
Comeuppance came in 2004. We were floored. We got Uncle Sam's hat handed to us.
Our basketball team went to Greece and hit the skids. Our defense had more holes than the Acropolis. I took one look at our offense and did exactly what Meryl Streep did years later when she got to Greece to make a movie. I shouted out: "Mamma mia!"
Our punks stunk.
I saw them take the court and said, wow, check out these names: Allen Iverson! Stephon Marbury! LeBron James! Tim Duncan!
About a week later, the only thing I wanted to check out was out of my hotel.
Jason Kidd of our 2008 team here in Beijing remembers the feeling pretty well.
"I stopped watching after we lost to Italy," he said.
Unfortunately, the feeling is about all Kidd remembers well. We didn't play Italy that year.
We did play Puerto Rico.
I always assumed we could beat Puerto Rico in basketball with any five guys of ours in shorts. I thought a Kansas Jayhawks junior-varsity could beat those guys. I felt we could win with Wesley Snipes, Woody Harrelson and the cast of "White Men Can't Jump."
Puerto Rico pounded us.
We lost by 19. We couldn't have made a shot that day if the Puerto Rican kids had left the gym and gone for a swim.
I'll never forget Julio Toro, the coach, saying how proud he was to have his Puerto Rico team beat "the big colossal from the North."
"I'm humiliated," said our coach, Larry Brown. I think he immediately began looking into other job offers from Cuba and Angola.
Well, we got by Greece, but by only six points and only because Lamar Odom blocked a last-minute shot by the immortal Dimitris Papanikolaou.
And we edged Australia, even though we were behind late in the game.
Then we lost to Lithuania, mainly because the great Iverson and Marbury and James and Duncan couldn't hold the immortal Sarunas Jasikevicius under 28 points.
Everybody was humiliated. I was humiliated. Larry Brown was re-humiliated.
"We beat the States," yawned Jasikevicius. "So what?"
The beatings didn't end there. Argentina also took a basketball net and tied up our arms and legs the way gauchos do rodeo calves.
I doubt our NBA stars could have defeated a team made up of any three Argentines, including descendants of Eva Peron. I doubt we could have beaten a France team that included Tony Parker and Eva Longoria. I doubt we could have beaten a Canada team that included Canadians.
Which brings us to Beijing.
It is payback time. Friday will be the night the United States of America, for which it stands, gets to see whether we once again get to be Best of the Best or whether we get to continue to be the laughingstock of Buenos Aires.
"We want to play the best, the defending champs," Kobe Bryant said before it was clear whether Team USA would meet Argentina or Greece.
"We ain't letting anyone down this time," teammate Carmelo Anthony said.
"If we don't treat every game as our last, we could lose," said teammate James.
Well said, fellas.
America's team rides again!
As for South America's team, aw, well, madre mio, do those poor guys even have a chance?
"We know they're by far the best team," poor-mouthed Manu Ginobili, the wild San Antonio Spur of the Pampas. "We know we'll have to play a perfect game and that's probably not enough. They'll have to play badly."
Yeah, right.
That's what Puerto Rico thought.
I bet you Chump was 100% serious in that post. If Chump was arrogant by saying what he did, then you were arrogant in the post he replied to because while you took a different side of things you said the same type of things:
So you say we'd care and Chump says we wouldn't. Yet because Chump is in disagreement then it is arrogant. Ok.the only way for an American to understand what this argie basketball team means to us, is for the US to have a soccer team beat Brazil, Italy and Germany on their way to World Cups, Olympic golds, and the core of that team featuring in dominant clubs like Milan and Barca.
If business ventures were a signal of interest you might have a point. Sadly, theirs a reason you haven't seen anymore of those contracts. It was a boondoggle and did not revolutionize interest in the sport in America anymore than any of past events which were supposed to do the same: Pele playing here, World Cup held here, 02 World Cup for example. The attendence, TV ratings, and merchendise sales of MLS still lag far behind every other major sport in the United States so whether or not internet traffic on a board (which I'm not even sure you're correct on - unlesss you have inside information on numbers for those sites you're basicaly pulling out of your ass) the fact is that the money isn't there and that is a far better indicator of true interest by the American public.how much did the LA galaxy pay for a washed up david beckham? 250M? for a sport that you have no success at and no interest in, that's a high price tag. And i'm willing to bet that a board like bigsoccer.com has just as much traffic as one like realgm. but yeah, i'm ignorant, and all the americans playing soccer in the US and abroad are really puerto rican, right?
As for your last statement, no one was ever arguing that the there is zero interset of Soccer in America and no one denies that is has grown in recent memory. What was challenged was your asseration that the US winning against a Brazil or Argentina in soccer on a big stage would illict the same type of response Argentina's success on the basketball court did.
Go ARgentina!!! But sadly it's going to be a blowout. I just hope yanquees don't showboat too much
again with the showboating.
I have to ask this once more...why is it when Team USA runs and dunks, its called showboating but if another country does it, its called beautiful basketball?
Question.
I'm sure the crowds of Chinese people who pay to get into the arena wold rather see layups.again with the showboating.
I have to ask this once more...why is it when Team USA runs and dunks, its called showboating but if another country does it, its called beautiful basketball?
Question.
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