I'm talking Team USA - Total Medal Count. It's in my nature, as it is with other Blazer fans, and maybe other Americans to root for the underdog. We seem to be the opposite of that now. In the past, Team USA has had stiff competition from the USSR, the huge-population China, and others. No more. Here is the total medal count, as of today: http://www.nbcolympics.com/medals Team USA has 77 medals. The next highest is China (47), Great Britain (41), Russia (36). We're killing the world. We have more gold medals than any other country, more silver medals than any other country, and more bronze than any other country. Years ago, we were only good at swimming and terrible at gymnastics - sports where lots of medals are awarded. Now, we kick ass in both. So, again, I ask. Are we bullies? Is it fun for you to root for Team USA? What can the world do? (They already stopped softball, which we dominated.) Are there events coming up that we'll get killed in?
Think the track and field stuff will even out some of the medal counts. For me anyway, there is no sense of patriotism in rooting for Team USA. I just want to watch these maniacal physical specimens do work--- don't care one bit if they come from USA or Uzbekistan. Also... if Team USA wins in bball, do they get 12 medals to the count or 1?
Are the Canadians bullies for beating everyone's ass in hockey? Do Germany and Brazilians apologize for tuning people up in international soccer? Also people that hate our guts take GREAT pleasure in our failures. So I don't think we should discourage individual achievement over worries of global domination. I'm happy for the individuals who win and represent this country. If anything, we force them to step their game up. We'll help them next time by not making it easy for them.
Also, in my 40 years of life, the US has never been terrible at gymnastics. What are you talking about?
1976: 1 bronze medal, total in gymnastics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gymnastics_at_the_1976_Summer_Olympics I picked that year at random. Looking more recently, "terrible" may have been overstated.
It's actually really simple and interesting. Title IX http://www.npr.org/sections/thetorc...l-rule-at-the-olympics-you-can-thank-title-ix
Did you even read my post? I said in my 40 years. Do the math. I was born in 76'. My birthday is on the 26th of this month.
We been dominanting in swimming every Olympic and I don't think that will change. Track everyone pretty even.
'88 was probably our worst year in your lifetime: we got one bronze, and that was a tie for third on the balance beam. 2000 was very weak as well. Bronze in the team competition, but no individual medals. In '92, we had Shannon Miller, and nothing else. She willed our team to the bronze, and she won 4 individual medals. The rest of the team was weak, and Kim Zmeskal was a complete disappointment. Really, between Mary Lou Retton's '84 squad and Carly Patterson's 2004 squad, we only had one good year (Atlanta '96). And of course, we generally suck at men's gymnastics, but nobody pays any attention to them.
Given that our "superstar" team has barely won its last two games, is this even a question? This is going to be known as a chump team if they lose.
On top of having sporting culture, our country is effing rich, and has a huge population. If we take any sport seriously we're gonna kick ass in it. I do find it hard to be all hoorah about the US in the Olympics, when we have so many competitive advantages over the other countries, but I definitely root for the Americans, unless they are known to be assholes or cheaters.
Cant root for Hope Solo. She disgraced our country something fierce with her lack of class and maturity in her post game interview after losing to the Swed's.
There's a reason Usain Bolt is the biggest (worldwide) figure in the Olympics three times running: it's not just that he's so dominant, it's that he's not American. It used to be that the sprints BELONGED to the US. Now Jamaica is at least as dominant as a tiny poor country. And actually, I don't think the US is being as dominant as it used to be. You want dominance, check out 1984. As a Brit, I'm kind of amazed how well we're doing. Second in Golds. We used to be way down below the Australias and the Koreas. The success from London seems to have carried over.
