2024 Paris Olympics

[jesmu84]

Our men's ⚽️ team is a steaming/unmitigated disaster Tower.  And I don't buy this bshiiite that it's because our best athletes play other sports.   I would do more than tweak the entire system.  Morocco??  WTF?  We're not preserving lemons, nor is this a tagine chicken contest with homemade harissa and couscous.   Are we even among the top 15 teams in the world?  Ridiculous.

You have demonstrated, multiple times, you have no idea what you're talking about concerning US soccer.

Please stop.

[The Sultan]

Tonight I'm watching the Chinese synchronized divers Long and Wang.

[lawdog77]

Tonight I'm watching the Chinese synchronized divers Long and Wang.

racist

[jutaw22mu]

https://x.com/media2fe/status/1819407103234118042?s=46&t=FQOaur63YjPmfJcSNttjhQ

But also, how it felt being a MU basketball fan during the Wojo era.

[lawdog77]

The baddest man on the planet, Teddy Riner, wins judo gold for France.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

If there's one thing I know about teenage boys, they love for people to think they're queer when they aren't. No doubt the boys locker rooms are empty because so many of them are falling all over each other to claim a trans identity for themselves in the hopes of seeing a boob, which is famously not a thing that teenage boys can find in any other way save for the scenario you've imagined in your head.

I've always wondered this when people bring up boys pretending to be trans to get into locker rooms.  I know boys sneaking into the girls locker room is common trope in cartoons, but Ive never met someone who actually aspired to do that in real life. Were boys so boob starved pre 1990 that breaking into locker rooms was the only way they could see a boob?

[ATL MU Warrior]

I've always wondered this when people bring up boys pretending to be trans to get into locker rooms.  I know boys sneaking into the girls locker room is common trope in cartoons, but Ive never met someone who actually aspired to do that in real life. Were boys so boob starved pre 1990 that breaking into locker rooms was the only way they could see a boob?

Haven't you ever seen Porkys?

[jficke13]

Haven't you ever seen Porkys?

But the central conceit of Porky's and all of the pre-90s sexploitation comedy tropes did not include "redefine one's social and personal identity to pass as a woman." They were basically like "let's go to crazy contrived rube goldberg-esque shenanigans to cut a peephole in a shower room." I actually do wonder if one of the reasons why this is no longer a ripe subject matter for hollywood is the ready availability of sexual material as easy as breathing. What once took shenanigans is now just a click away on every cell phone in the high school. This is more of a musing on the nature of what cultural zeitgeists inform story telling conventions...

but as type this I wonder if I can talk my way back into understanding the origin of the unhinged right wing trope of "boys are pretending to be girls to get into girls locker rooms" thing:

In the late 70s urban decay led to the raft of Dirty Harry/Charles Bronson type movies. As urban decay became less and less of a cultural concern, that style of movie became less prevalent. That is to say that the perception of reality informs the stories we tell to each other. I wonder if among the facebook-curdled minds of the fighting JKRowlings/Rockets of the world they marinate in a world where "all the kids are turning gay or gender fluid or trans" such that they believe there is no social stigma associated with identifying as trans anymore among young people. If that's the case, then sure, "why not say you're a girl to try to peep on the cheerleaders for a lark" doesn't sound as freaking insane as it sounds to anyone with one foot in reality.

Their perception of the world has made them see urban decay in every corner, so of course now they're inventing the Dirty Harry that goes along with it.

[ATL MU Warrior]

But the central conceit of Porky's and all of the pre-90s sexploitation comedy tropes did not include "redefine one's social and personal identity to pass as a woman." They were basically like "let's go to crazy contrived rube goldberg-esque shenanigans to cut a peephole in a shower room." I actually do wonder if one of the reasons why this is no longer a ripe subject matter for hollywood is the ready availability of sexual material as easy as breathing. What once took shenanigans is now just a click away on every cell phone in the high school. This is more of a musing on the nature of what cultural zeitgeists inform story telling conventions...

but as type this I wonder if I can talk my way back into understanding the origin of the unhinged right wing trope of "boys are pretending to be girls to get into girls locker rooms" thing:

In the late 70s urban decay led to the raft of Dirty Harry/Charles Bronson type movies. As urban decay became less and less of a cultural concern, that style of movie became less prevalent. That is to say that the perception of reality informs the stories we tell to each other. I wonder if among the facebook-curdled minds of the fighting JKRowlings/Rockets of the world they marinate in a world where "all the kids are turning gay or gender fluid or trans" such that they believe there is no social stigma associated with identifying as trans anymore among young people. If that's the case, then sure, "why not say you're a girl to try to peep on the cheerleaders for a lark" doesn't sound as freaking insane as it sounds to anyone with one foot in reality.

Their perception of the world has made them see urban decay in every corner, so of course now they're inventing the Dirty Harry that goes along with it.

Wow, all I was trying to address was the last sentence. 

[MU1in77]

If Bobby Finke does not win gold in the men's 1500 free on Sunday it will be the first time in 124 years that the US men have not won an individual gold in swimming at the summer games.

[MuggsyB]

If Bobby Finke does not win gold in the men's 1500 free on Sunday it will be the first time in 124 years that the US men have not won an individual gold in swimming at the summer games.

Sweet Jesus. 

[The Sultan]

So are having the Olympics in Europe the best for American viewing?

**In the morning, we can watch "daytime" and preliminary events.

**In the afternoon, we can see live medal competitions in high profile events like swimming and track and field.

**In the evening, NBC can curate a prime time episode for those who don't have the opportunity to view the above. Or want to watch them again.

This might be a better viewing opportunity than when they'll be in LA in four years.  Regardless, this is very much a welcome change from when NBC wouldn't treat the Olympics like it was actually a live sporting event.

[MuggsyB]

You have demonstrated, multiple times, you have no idea what you're talking about concerning US soccer.

Please stop.

Okay.  Enlighten me.  Why are we nowhere remotely near close to the level of the best teams in the world?  And like clockwork we're told "this is the year" and we don't do diddly squat? 

[The Sultan]

Okay.  Enlighten me.  Why are we nowhere remotely near close to the level of the best teams in the world?  And like clockwork we're told "this is the year" and we don't do diddly squat? 

As has been explained to you before, our youth development systems in many sports is fractured and substandard and weighted toward those with the resources to participate.

In soccer, there is not enough effort devoted to skill development, and simply making the sport "fun" at the younger levels. You already have 10 year olds on travel teams where they spend most of their time playing games of questionable quality. And of course, those with resources are the ones who can afford to travel. Furthermore, the quality of coaching in general is nothing like in Europe, which has made huge strides in how you teach and play the game.

We get away with this in basketball because of the sheer number of youth who play the game, and the quality of coaching is significantly better than what you see in soccer.  In baseball and football we get away with it because many countries care little about those sports.

And I don't think the soccer situation is fixable in the US. We will be good because of the huge population, but I think smaller countries have an advantage because they can install and perfect coaching and playing systems country wide.  That will simply never happen here.

[MuggsyB]

As has been explained to you before, our youth development systems in many sports is fractured and substandard and weighted toward those with the resources to participate.

In soccer, there is not enough effort devoted to skill development, and simply making the sport "fun" at the younger levels. You already have 10 year olds on travel teams where they spend most of their time playing games of questionable quality. And of course, those with resources are the ones who can afford to travel. Furthermore, the quality of coaching in general is nothing like in Europe, which has made huge strides in how you teach and play the game.

We get away with this in basketball because of the sheer number of youth who play the game, and the quality of coaching is significantly better than what you see in soccer.  In baseball and football we get away with it because many countries care little about those sports.

And I don't think the soccer situation is fixable in the US. We will be good because of the huge population, but I think smaller countries have an advantage because they can install and perfect coaching and playing systems country wide.  That will simply never happen here.

So it's not fixable because we have to stick with our shiiiiiiity system?  Can we not improve our basic fundamentals and coaching?

[The Sultan]

So it's not fixable because we have to stick with our shiiiiiiity system?  Can we not improve our basic fundamentals and coaching?

Its unfixable because our youth development systems are all decentralized. There aren't common understandings of what skills should be taught and how and when to teach them.  So our main advantages is the sheer number of people we have, and that we are a wealthy country.  So as I said, we will always be good.  But there will always be countries that are just better.

[Marquettepoop]

Satan brings up some some valid tropes regarding development however the present issues are much more concrete than an overhaul of the entire youth system in the country.

The world football market shows time and time our players are valued on the international stage. Our starting 11 is young however most if not all have been bought and sold to clubs in big leagues thusly proving their value. We're a half step away from competing (not winning) at international competitions purely based off of individual talent at the club level.

Looking at previous iterations of this national team, I would say the international program has severely regressed in the last six years. Previously, there was a belief that we could go out and beat anyone, even with much less talent. And we did! There are countless examples of us punching well above our weight. Much of that had to do with a strong level of leadership and accountability from the players. Tim Howard, Michael Bradley, Clint Dempsey each come to mind as natural born leaders who were hard nosed and led from the front.

I don't see any of those types in this pool and to boot, we had an absolutely pathetic manager who enabled lots of young players to develop a soft mentality when putting on the shirt. On top of that, we have opposing managers laughing at the managers tactical naivety. His imprint of mismanagement is all over this program after six years at the helm and will take some time to reverse. Hopefully the right hire at the top will change the weak mentality Berhalter allowed.

So Muggsy - I do believe the fix is easier than "developing better players" although that will certainly help. We need a stronger, more competent manager running the program to get the most out of our talented group.

[pbiflyer]

A few years ago, we spent spring break in a cold London, staying in a north side neighborhood. Walked to the tube on a very crowded sidewalk. A kid was easily threading through the crowd dribbling a soccer ball. It seemed he was doing it just to pass time.
I equate our soccer program to the suburban city league youth basketball leagues that taught very structured offense and defense. Our soccer kids don't just play free flowing pick up soccer like they do basketball.
- signed a guy who knows very little about soccer.

[MuggsyB]

Satan brings up some some valid tropes regarding development however the present issues are much more concrete than an overhaul of the entire youth system in the country.

The world football market shows time and time our players are valued on the international stage. Our starting 11 is young however most if not all have been bought and sold to clubs in big leagues thusly proving their value. We're a half step away from competing (not winning) at international competitions purely based off of individual talent at the club level.

Looking at previous iterations of this national team, I would say the international program has severely regressed in the last six years. Previously, there was a belief that we could go out and beat anyone, even with much less talent. And we did! There are countless examples of us punching well above our weight. Much of that had to do with a strong level of leadership and accountability from the players. Tim Howard, Michael Bradley, Clint Dempsey each come to mind as natural born leaders who were hard nosed and led from the front.

I don't see any of those types in this pool and to boot, we had an absolutely pathetic manager who enabled lots of young players to develop a soft mentality when putting on the shirt. On top of that, we have opposing managers laughing at the managers tactical naivety. His imprint of mismanagement is all over this program after six years at the helm and will take some time to reverse. Hopefully the right hire at the top will change the weak mentality Berhalter allowed.

So Muggsy - I do believe the fix is easier than "developing better players" although that will certainly help. We need a stronger, more competent manager running the program to get the most out of our talented group.

Ty, M-Poop.  This seems like very reasonable analysis.  It sounds like our coaching on a myriad of levels is somewhat of a disaster. 

[MuggsyB]

KABOOM!!!  Beautiful goal from Trinity Rodman!!!!

[brewcity77]

KABOOM!!!  Beautiful goal from Trinity Rodman!!!!

I was starting to think we were going to lose on a counter or penalties. Our attack has looked pretty anemic other than the last 5 minutes of regulation, but that was a thing of beauty.

[jutaw22mu]

Great goal by Rodman and gutty performance from the USWNT.

[Tyler COLEk]

Fun to hear Dwyane Wade on the mic for these USA basketball games. He's a natural.

[MuggsyB]

I was starting to think we were going to lose on a counter or penalties. Our attack has looked pretty anemic other than the last 5 minutes of regulation, but that was a thing of beauty.

That was freaking sweet.  Is her left foot her strong foot?  She zipped that in the top corner of the net with tremendous velocity. 

[MU82]

From Yahoo Sports:

The Italian boxer who after 46 seconds abandoned her bout against Algeria's Imane Khelif says she regrets not shaking Khelif's hand before leaving the ring and is "sad" about the gender controversy that has engulfed the Games.

"It wasn't something I intended to do," Angela Carini told Italian sports daily La Gazzetta dello Sport. "Actually, I want to apologize to her and everyone else. I was angry because my Olympics had gone up in smoke." Carini added that if she and Khelif met again, she would "embrace her."

‌"All this controversy makes me sad," Carini told the Italian paper. "If the IOC said she can fight, I respect that decision."

‌