Summer Olympics thread

[steve dave]

I like watching beach volleyball but hate watching indoor volleyball.  because of top gun?

[ednksu]

I hate how the US men refuse to do anything but hit outside.  I guess our middle hitters don't have arms.

[slobber]

I hate how the US men refuse to do anything but hit outside.  I guess our middle hitters don't have arms.

scheming

[Belvis Noland]

i think you're opening up a can of worms. are golfers world class atheletes? because i'm pretty sure lebron couldn't practice golf for a year and be a dominant golfer. what about divers? i mean they just climb up a ladder and jump into a pool. are they world class atheletes? could lebron practice their sport for a year and be one of the best?

I don't really know.  case by case basis, I guess?  I'd say athletic ability is combination of physical prowess and also skill.  To me, a gymnast is the gold standard.  then I work down from there.  I'd say that Tiger is a worldclass athlete b/c he's f'n jacked is also very skilled.  Is Phil bitch-tits Mickelson also world class, athletically?  I want to say no, because whiel incredibly skilled, he doesn't appear to be much more physically superior than the average guy on the street.  Divers are basically gymnasts + water, so I'd say they're world class. 

Looking at volleyball, though, I see the skill set as being very similar to basketball.  I think many NBA bballers could play volleyball professionally, not the other way around.  Therefore, as I consider NBAers world class athletes, I necessarily can't view volleyballers as world class too.  Clearly, one class is superior to the other class, IMO.     

[BMWWcat]

I have a hard time taking a sport seriously when teenagers win it...jmo.

[steve dave]

lotta haters in this thread all of a sudden

[michigancat]

What is up with the US gymnasts in Costas interviews.  I've only noticed this with gymnasts.  Most of the other athletes seem natural and candid.  The gymnasts almost seem to be reading off a teleprompter.  (im pretty sure they arent)

They are little tiny robots

I said the exact same thing watching the team try to hug each other after someone finished an event. It's like they were programmed to hug.

Those gymnast girls are rough ridin' cold blooded killers and that is not meant as an insult.

[felix rex]

Could Lebron take lessons for a year and be a world class pianist? No. Pianists = world class athletes.

[hemmy]

Men's volleyball,

[felix rex]

Could Lebron practice basketball for only one year and be MVP?

[felix rex]

I like watching beach volleyball but hate watching indoor volleyball.  because of top gun?

I think it's because one looks fun and the other looks like got picked on in high school.

[ednksu]

I hate how the US men refuse to do anything but hit outside.  I guess our middle hitters don't have arms.

scheming

just schemed themselves out of the rough ridin' tournament.  The last 2.5 sets against Russia and this match were exactly the same. 

[chum1]

http://mckaylaisnotimpressed.tumblr.com/

[Dr Rick Daris]

i think you're opening up a can of worms. are golfers world class atheletes? because i'm pretty sure lebron couldn't practice golf for a year and be a dominant golfer. what about divers? i mean they just climb up a ladder and jump into a pool. are they world class atheletes? could lebron practice their sport for a year and be one of the best?

I don't really know.  case by case basis, I guess?  I'd say athletic ability is combination of physical prowess and also skill.  To me, a gymnast is the gold standard.  then I work down from there.  I'd say that Tiger is a worldclass athlete b/c he's f'n jacked is also very skilled.  Is Phil bitch-tits Mickelson also world class, athletically?  I want to say no, because whiel incredibly skilled, he doesn't appear to be much more physically superior than the average guy on the street.  Divers are basically gymnasts + water, so I'd say they're world class. 

Looking at volleyball, though, I see the skill set as being very similar to basketball.  I think many NBA bballers could play volleyball professionally, not the other way around.  Therefore, as I consider NBAers world class athletes, I necessarily can't view volleyballers as world class too.  Clearly, one class is superior to the other class, IMO.     

lebron is the best basketball player to have ever lived. trying to suggest that he could stop playing basketball during the peak of his career and dedicate himself to volley ball (a sport with very similar but more limited skill sets) and be good at it, does not in any way lessen the athletic attributes/abilities of the volleyball players.

also, you're trying to say that some golfers are world class atheletes while others aren't. phil is one of the best at his sport ever.  ever. you're going to tell me that he isn't a world class athelete just because he isn't as ripped as other people in his sport. is a ripped golfer that hasn't won a major a world class athelete but phil isn't? gmafb. is prince fielder not a world class athelete, but johnny giavotella is?

also, i bet a lot of gymnasts could be divers but not the other way around, so you might want to rethink your philosophy on that. divers are not world class atheletes. sorry bub.

[Belvis Noland]

lebron is the best basketball player to have ever lived. trying to suggest that he could stop playing basketball during the peak of his career and dedicate himself to volley ball (a sport with very similar but more limited skill sets) and be good at it, does not in any way lessen the athletic attributes/abilities of the volleyball players.

also, you're trying to say that some golfers are world class atheletes while others aren't. phil is one of the best at his sport ever.  ever. you're going to tell me that he isn't a world class athelete just because he isn't as ripped as other people in his sport. is a ripped golfer that hasn't won a major a world class athelete but phil isn't? gmafb. is prince fielder not a world class athelete, but johnny giavotella is?

also, i bet a lot of gymnasts could be divers but not the other way around, so you might want to rethink your philosophy on that. divers are not world class atheletes. sorry bub.

admittedly, i wasn't prepared for the inquisition on this subject.  just saying, IMHO, that being an olympic athlete doesn't necessarily make one a world class athlete.  I think some participants in the games - archers, kayakers, ping pongers, syncro swimmers, etc. - are incredibly talented and skilled, but I hesitate to place them under the same "world-class" umbrella as participants such as the sprinters, gymnasts, basketballers.  I view it as a "you know it when you see it" type of thing. 

That's just me.   

[michigancat]

If it was so easy to jump from gymnastics to diving or basketball to volleyball, why doesn't anyone do it? You would think the USOC would recruit some fringe Olympic basketball players to play volleyball and kick ass if it was that easy.

[steve dave]

If it was so easy to jump from gymnastics to diving or basketball to volleyball, why doesn't anyone do it? You would think the USOC would recruit some fringe Olympic basketball players to play volleyball and kick ass if it was that easy.

nfl player bobsled, jamaican cool runnings bobsled

[Belvis Noland]

If it was so easy to jump from gymnastics to diving or basketball to volleyball, why doesn't anyone do it? You would think the USOC would recruit some fringe Olympic basketball players to play volleyball and kick ass if it was that easy.

i don't know about gymnastics or diving.  But, with basketball and volleyball, I think a lot of fringe basketball players would make the transition if there was money to be made.  I wikid Matt Anderson, one of our stars, and he left college early to play pro ball in Korea and Russia.  Just not a very big sport in the US.  No money in it for most guys. 

[mancattanite]

i don't know about gymnastics or diving.  But, with basketball and volleyball, I think a lot of fringe basketball players would make the transition if there was money to be made.  I wikid Matt Anderson, one of our stars, and he left college early to play pro ball in Korea and Russia.  Just not a very big sport in the US.  No money in it for most guys.

Agreed.  The talent pool is larger in basketball in the USA because the $$$ pool is larger.  I would guess that some players from basketball could make the transition to volleyball if they wanted to, but then again, look at how changing sports worked for MJ, one of the greatest athletes ever.  Granted baseball has a huge talent pool also, but I don't think it would be simple for anyone to transition between sports, especially at an olympic level.

But then I think of people like Destinee Hooker. Who could compete in either the high jump or volleyball at the olympics.

So basically we should just get Lebron to retire from the NBA and start playing volleyball so we can settle this argument. 

[Dr Rick Daris]

i don't know about gymnastics or diving.  But, with basketball and volleyball, I think a lot of fringe basketball players would make the transition if there was money to be made.  I wikid Matt Anderson, one of our stars, and he left college early to play pro ball in Korea and Russia.  Just not a very big sport in the US.  No money in it for most guys.

Agreed.  The talent pool is larger in basketball in the USA because the $$$ pool is larger.  I would guess that some players from basketball could make the transition to volleyball if they wanted to, but then again, look at how changing sports worked for MJ, one of the greatest athletes ever.  Granted baseball has a huge talent pool also, but I don't think it would be simple for anyone to transition between sports, especially at an olympic level.

But then I think of people like Destinee Hooker. Who could compete in either the high jump or volleyball at the olympics.

So basically we should just get Lebron to retire from the NBA and start playing volleyball so we can settle this argument. 

one thing is for sure though... if there ever was a basketball player that decided to transition to being a volleyball player, he would instantly lose his title of world class athelete. that we know.

[Belvis Noland]

meh, but me might wonder how "awesome" the volleyballers really are if a basketball player simply transitioned over and played in the olympics. 

i dunno, I guess I'm underselling the sport.  I just think a lot of 6'10 basketball players could transition into volleyball and be really, really good at spiking and blocking. 

[WillieWatanabe]

http://mckaylaisnotimpressed.tumblr.com/

i found this more entertaining than i should have.

[michigancat]

If it was so easy to jump from gymnastics to diving or basketball to volleyball, why doesn't anyone do it? You would think the USOC would recruit some fringe Olympic basketball players to play volleyball and kick ass if it was that easy.

nfl player bobsled, jamaican cool runnings bobsled

they weren't any good

[salcat]

Sidiki Sidibe = volleyball player to basketball player?...what could have been 

[felix rex]

I think we can all agree that if black people aren't doing it, it's not really a sport.