Glad the Chinese WBB team is out ...

[Wonkster]

..... NO GOLD MEDAL FOR YOO!!!

 

[HuskyNan]

Stay classy, Wonkster.

 

[Wonkster]

Stay classy, Wonkster.

Nicely ambiguous post, Nan.

The thought that the Chinese WBB team might get a bronze and balance out the likely US gold in the medal count irked the hell out of me.

 

[msf22b]

Why is that Wonk?

 

[vtcwbuff]

We've had this discussion before. Some board members actually root for Team USA and that includes total medal count. According to some, it's a scoundrel thing.

 

[Wonkster]

Why is that Wonk?

Thanks for playing straight man, pal!

Just like other non-democratic tyrannies in the past (e.g. the USSR, East Germany) the Chinese are using the Olympics to prove the 'superiority' of their system largely by gaming the oddities of the various 'sports' and their medal counts. Thus we have medals in Men's Left-Handed 14-Meter Popgun, Men's Left-Handed 26-Meter Popgun Doubles, ad nauseam, and the Chinese clean up in such dreck 'sports' that nobody in the world plays, except people trying to win a medal every four years.

Then, when a real team sport that people actually play in large numbers comes along to the medaling stage after days of effort in the preliminaries, when there is only one gold medal at stake, and when there might be some dramatic difference between truly top-level teams and the also-rans, China nearly made it to the medal podium with a pretty inferior product. Even though they'd probably get shunned by their relatives back home as failures for not getting a gold, I'll bet the Chinese Olympic officialdom would be thrilled to get a bronze in Men's or Women's Basketball and neutralize their American competitor's medal count in those sports where the US has such a strong presence.

There's only one way to counter such BS. I say we have more real sports next time, like Poker and Scrabble.

 

[tennfanatic00]

China? Inferior product? I've never heard of such a thing! The people at WalMart tell me their Chinese products are the best on the market!

 

[OneTrickPony]

Thanks for playing straight man, pal!

Just like other non-democratic tyrannies in the past (e.g. the USSR, East Germany) the Chinese are using the Olympics to prove the 'superiority' of their system largely by gaming the oddities of the various 'sports' and their medal counts. Thus we have medals in Men's Left-Handed 14-Meter Popgun, Men's Left-Handed 26-Meter Popgun Doubles, ad nauseam, and the Chinese clean up in such dreck 'sports' that nobody in the world plays, except people trying to win a medal every four years.

Then, when a real team sport that people actually play in large numbers comes along to the medaling stage after days of effort in the preliminaries, when there is only one gold medal at stake, and when there might be some dramatic difference between truly top-level teams and the also-rans, China nearly made it to the medal podium with a pretty inferior product. Even though they'd probably get shunned by their relatives back home as failures for not getting a gold, I'll bet the Chinese Olympic officialdom would be thrilled to get a bronze in Men's or Women's Basketball and neutralize their American competitor's medal count in those sports where the US has such a strong presence.

There's only one way to counter such BS. I say we have more real sports next time, like Poker and Scrabble.

Call me when they start selecting the foosball team...!

 

[Ozzie Nelson]

Insider Socialist News Reports suggest that Men’s and Women's Jump Rope(including both 10 and 20 ft twine competitions, individual and team) are a Particular Party Priority…

 

[Replicant]

Stay thirsty, Wonkster!

 

[EricLA]

Stay thirsty, Wonkster!

not to get too far OT, those are the worst commercials on TV. I don't know why but i seriuosly can't stand them. I thought the first few were clever - but even if i'm away from the tv, if i hear that commercial, i'll go and instantly change the channel.

 

[uconn_nyc]

Thanks for playing straight man, pal!

Just like other non-democratic tyrannies in the past (e.g. the USSR, East Germany) the Chinese are using the Olympics to prove the 'superiority' of their system largely by gaming the oddities of the various 'sports' and their medal counts. Thus we have medals in Men's Left-Handed 14-Meter Popgun, Men's Left-Handed 26-Meter Popgun Doubles, ad nauseam, and the Chinese clean up in such dreck 'sports' that nobody in the world plays, except people trying to win a medal every four years.

Then, when a real team sport that people actually play in large numbers comes along to the medaling stage after days of effort in the preliminaries, when there is only one gold medal at stake, and when there might be some dramatic difference between truly top-level teams and the also-rans, China nearly made it to the medal podium with a pretty inferior product. Even though they'd probably get shunned by their relatives back home as failures for not getting a gold, I'll bet the Chinese Olympic officialdom would be thrilled to get a bronze in Men's or Women's Basketball and neutralize their American competitor's medal count in those sports where the US has such a strong presence.

There's only one way to counter such BS. I say we have more real sports next time, like Poker and Scrabble.

Was it necessary to post all this?
I've Chinese friends and your words are insulting.
In any case, Wonkster, you're one of the sacred cows in the Boneyard, so I'm not expecting anyone to agree with me.
Enjoy the rest of the Olympics.

 

[JimGunther]

I have NOTHING against the Chinese people.

They (unfortunately) live in a tyranical fascist state. Their system in NOT superior to ours and is doomed to fall of its own weight. Man does best when he lives free. The Chinese people are not free.

Was it necessary to post all this?
I've Chinese friends and your words are insulting.
In any case, Wonkster, you're one of the sacred cows in the Boneyard, so I'm not expecting anyone to agree with me.
Enjoy the rest of the Olympics.

 

[OneTrickPony]

I'm new here, but I sorta had the idea Wonkster was responsible for most of the Sacred Bull...where'd the Cow come in...?

 

[Replicant]

Just like other non-democratic tyrannies in the past (e.g. the USSR, East Germany) the Chinese are using the Olympics to prove the 'superiority' of their system...

Child abuse masquerading as Olympic training:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...lised-future-Olympians.html?printingPage=true

 

[OneTrickPony]

Child abuse masquerading as Olympic training:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...lised-future-Olympians.html?printingPage=true

Spare the rod and spoil the gymnast...

My first wife was a competitive figure skater and her coach used to follow her around the rink with a long pin and stick her if she was doing things correctly...that was in the Socialist Republic of New Jersey!

 

[alexrgct]

Was it necessary to post all this?
I've Chinese friends and your words are insulting.
In any case, Wonkster, you're one of the sacred cows in the Boneyard, so I'm not expecting anyone to agree with me.
Enjoy the rest of the Olympics.

Wonkster certainly isn't someone who's likely to be appointed ambassador to anywhere, but I don't think it's too controversial to point out:

• China is an authoritarian state with a ton of human rights violations, and its program for developing athletes is questionable at best.
• China absolutely does focus on sports that dole out a high number of medals for the express purpose of trying to win medal counts. Whether these sports are "real" is of course a separate debate.

 

[Vowelguy]

Nicely ambiguous post, Nan.

Not ambiguous to me.
"No medal for Yoo!" Hardy har har, you stuck in (made fun of) a Chinese name. Hilarious.

 

[Wonkster]

Was it necessary to post all this? I've Chinese friends and your words are insulting...

You have Chinese friends? That's pretty impressive. Why do I suspect you didn't actually poll them on this matter, but just went ahead and made the claim anyway? Did your Asian Indian friends give you permission to use the phrase "sacred cow?" Wouldn't want to offend another billion people, would we?

One thing I've never been impressed with, however, is people who are offended on someone else's behalf. I also despise political correctness, the coward's way of attempting to control speech.

Your response is that of a too-large effete class of easily-offended people in this country. So sorry to have offended you, effendi!

NOT!

 

[Wonkster]

Not ambiguous to me.
"No medal for Yoo!" Hardy har har, you stuck in (made fun of) a Chinese name. Hilarious.

My, aren't you a little touchy today! I used the name Yoo; it was done as part of a famous quote, slightly revised. It was humorous, but you apparently can't tell the difference between having fun with and making fun of a name.

By the way, you misappropriated my use of the word "ambiguous," which I used to characterize Nan's response to my OP, not my OP itself. Try to follow the logic flow better next time.

 

[Ozzie Nelson]

Well, I am offended by any attempt to use bovine nomenclature to characterize a BoneYarder…well, most posters anyways.

 

[Vowelguy]

My, aren't you a little touchy today! I used the name Yoo; it was done as part of a famous quote, slightly revised. It was humorous, but you apparently can't tell the difference between having fun with and making fun of a name.

By the way, you misappropriated my use of the word "ambiguous," which I used to characterize Nan's response to my OP, not my OP itself. Try to follow the logic flow better next time.

Like I said, hilarious. Can't stop laughing. Just as funny now as it was in 1957.

Got any dumb Pollock jokes too?

 

[rjp172]

Lot's of generalizations in this thread. It wasn't long ago that the United States witnessed Kent State and the Chicago National Convention....not to mention the Occupy demonstrations. That's all in the land of the free...not a communist country. China has plenty of room to grow, but deserve some recognition of where they have grown. As far as sport is concerned I've noticed over the past couple Olympics it's been Chinese athletes that seem to act more "western" and "American" than our so-called Western European friends. I don't think the difference between "us" and "them" when it comes to sports is all that different.

 

[vtcwbuff]

How can anyone confuse a comment against an authoritarian regime in China as somehow being a racist remark.

Ranks right up there with Monday.

 

[Wonkster]

... Got any dumb Pollock jokes too?

Interesting that you bring up the Polack jokes. Do you know where they originated, and why? According to a famous Chicago-based writer, liberals started using Polack jokes in Chicago in the 1960's, where there apparently are/were a lot of Poles, to replace the rampant jokes against Blacks, which habit was no longer PC.

There are other earlier attributions, focused around Leftist Hollywood and their hatred for Catholic Poland. http://tinyurl.com/cwjzvwo

Nice company you keep!