Olympics 2012, in Londontown

Wow, I didn't realize Brazil gave up a goal less than a minute into the soccer game today.

 

Yeah, damn druggies:

<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m8ebu1Bf1C1rpfk9qo1_400.jpg">

 

Oh, look! It's the season finale of "Screwing Around With Mary Carillo!"

 

That's great, spike.

 

The hoops pic is like a high school team winning a state championship and taking seven great shots and then mom says — ok now the funny pic — and in this case it's the one everyone is using.

 

OK, now you're just being a dick.

I don't know any media outlet, US or otherwise, who gets huffy about the US winning anything. What a lot of people object to is media outlets like NBC going all USA!USA! on the rest of the world. Of course, in NBC's case, the chant is about two days after the actual event.

And any championship team whether it's in the Olympics or a weekend hockey tournament should behave with some class when they win any event.

Taunting the people you beat is classless.

 

This. I personally am greatly enjoying every last thing about the Usain Bolt show, but there's not doubt his whole posing, strutting, boastin "I'm a greatest ever legend" act would be interpreted by the world entirely differently if he was wearing USA colors.

The world looks for excuses to jump on American athletes for this shit every four years, but when athletes from a non-threatening fun little country like Jamaica do the same sort of thing (except even more obnoxiously) it suddenly becomes "entertaining, charismatic refreshing, etc."

 

I don't get criticizing NBC for being US-centric during international sporting events. It's not an international network, and it doesn't make any pretense as such. To me, that's like criticizing TSN/CBC for being Canadian-centric, the BBC for being British-centric or Telemundo for focusing on the Latin American countries.

I do get criticizing NBC for the lack of quality announcers on things like gymnastics and swimming or some of the dumb tape-delay decisions. But to say they're too enthusiastic about US champions is a little inane.

As far as the celebration goes, as long as they aren't very publicly the local laws (like, say, underage drinking), then I don't have much of a problem with them. If there's ever a result that deserves a huge celebration, it's an Olympic gold medal. Yes, you shouldn't try to taunt your opponents, but you are allowed to be overjoyed and silly and giddy in the moment. That's only human. We try to remove too much joy from sports as it is.

 

Where is either team taunting their opponents?

Did the soccer team say "Japan sucks" or the basketball team, "up yours, France?"



And there are already plenty of media outlets getting all huffy about it.

The huge majority, of course, grouchy old men.

 

Heck, if we're talking about taunting, I think the South Korean soccer player after the bronze medal game against the Japanese takes the cake.

http://sports.nationalpost.com/2012/08/11/south-korean-soccer-player-out-of-olympic-medal-ceremony-over-political-slogan/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

 

Who is forcing you to watch the NBC feed? I'm quite certain you have a Canuckistani network alternative with skewed coverage toward Canada's successes (although you'll have to remind me what those are), so why don't you watch that instead? Every nation's network coverage disproportionately skews toward the home team, why should NBC not do the same?

I'm detecting a distinct petty old guy smell in your USA bitchin here. Have any american athletes done anything as gauche as guzzlin booze and smoking up on the playing field? I don't recall us raisin a big storm over Canadian athletes doing that a couple years ago, yet I'm sure you would if U.S. athletes had done it, just as you're now up in arms over some piddlin T-shirts.

 

The NFL must leave you bawling, then. Unless of course you are fine with the likely 100% drug use in the league.