My father was a collegete tennis player and played on the semi-pro circuit. It may be hard for kids to believe but "The Two Jimmys" were like fucking rock stars and exhibited the worst aspects of macho alpha male behavior. Connors would hump his racket and act like it was his dick. They drank bars dry, did cocaine and dated super models. And to young kids like me they were cool but at the same time, I look back now and think "what a bunch of assholes!" Modern athletes would be crucified for acting like that. But then it's a different time with a gazillion ways for you to be embarrased. I try to be objective but I hate the "social media" gang tackle mentality.... I usually defend the athlete. Just the way I am.
I graduated from college in 81'. The late 70's -to the mid 80's were out of control for coke. It was hard to avoid it at parties. It certainly rocked the NBA as well. It obviously is still around, but it seems to be more hidden. It just does not seem as "trendy" as it was back then.
Forget gold silver and bronze. Everyone should get blue participation ribbons. It's not about proving to be the best in the world, its about trying your best even if you fucking suck.
No. Haven't you heard? They melt down all the Gold Medals into little trophies of participation. It's an award of mediocrity.
My guess as to USA dominance: The Communist and East European countries have fallen off, largely due to the decentralization of the Soviet State and the abandonment of their obsession with proving their dominance through athletic competition; and because of better drug testing. I don't think the Soviet block countries maintain the same type of single-focus athletic training camp system for children that they used to. Also, when I was a kid it was obvious the Eastern European athletes were all on drugs, especially the women, and even recently the Chinese were abusing drugs like crazy. Just my guess, but since I don't watch the Olympics anymore since NBC ruined the experience for me years ago with their constant human interest soap opera coverage, I really don't know.
Thanks for everyone contributing to this thread. Based on my own insights and those here, I'm thinking that we get more medals than everyone else is... 1) We are a very large country with an affluent society, and sports is a large part of our culture. (This alone separates us from most all other countries.) 2) Many of our athletes no longer need to work at Home Depot or wherever. They can concentrate on their sport. 3) Title IX has made women's sports boom, and our women in particular seem to be killing it. Contrast this to some countries where women still have to wear head coverings! 4) The breakup of the USSR has destroyed our biggest rival. They tried competing against us in space technology, then Olympic sports (among other things). Now, they're fragmented, and have bigger worries than competing with us.
Some of us like rooting for Rocky over Ivan Drago. No shame in rooting for Drago, it's just not our first option.
usa has a lot of dominance in the sports where 1 superstar can compete in many events within the one banner, swimming, track, etc - the count really starts to rack up then. nz always seems to do well on a per capita base, i think were 2nd with like 16 medals or something, with like 4.5m people, grenada or someshit is first as they have 100k people things i enjoy the most are the track and gymnastics, all that other shit like golf etc yawn.
One thing I've never understood is just because exist why are we automatically expected to compete in them? I mean Cal Berkeley is well known for its Rugby team. But are countries seriously thinking we can compete in cricket?! There are like three test grounds in the entire country?! It's like America is Bo Jackson commercial where he just keeps playing more and more sports.
