 }})
Yeah, that's true - good point. But I understand what Mike is saying. Knowing that we won gold in ladies gymnastics will allow us to watch it tonight with no worries. The flip side of that is knowing we can turn off the TV if one of the teams or athletes fall short of the gold or a medal. Such is life with the internet.
USA women's soccer beats N. Korea, but only by a 1-0 margin.
USA men's volleyball sweeps Germany.
USA men's volleyball sweeps Germany.
Lanky Livingston
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Is women's soccer is still in group play?
Lanky Livingston
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Wow, Phelps loses to South African Chad Le Clos in the 200m butterfly. Still got silver though.
riggins44
The Franchise Player
With social media it is hard not to know the results before we see the event. Even heard the first weekend NBC showed 24 hours worth of Olympic events, which was 10 more than was shown the entire '64 Olympics. Technology is changing everything.
Saw on ESPN.com that Phelps won gold, his record setting 19th, in the 200 meter relay.
Saw on ESPN.com that Phelps won gold, his record setting 19th, in the 200 meter relay.
Lanky Livingston
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Yep, Phelps is now the greatest Olympian of all time.
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Elephant
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Such a subjective term don't you think? Most decorated of all time and one of the best, but it's too hard to determine the "greatest".
servumtuum
The Owner's Favorite
If we're discussing Olympic greatness how about Kimberly Rhode who became the first American to medal in five consecutive Olympics by winning the gold in women's skeet shooting. She also set the Olympic record of 99 out of 100 in the finals.
Previously she had won gold in double trap shooting in 1996 and 2004, and bronze in the event in 2000. That sport wasn't held for the 2008 Beijing Games, so Rhode moved over to skeet shooting. She captured silver in 2008 and of course the gold in 2012.
She said she is planning to compete in 2016 in Rio.
She overcame some difficulties in order to compete this time like a stolen shotgun and her puppy eating her plane ticket.
Interesting article about her: http://www.stltoday.com/sports/olympics/blogs/kimberly-rhode-st-american-to-medal-in-straight-olympics-sets/article_2e574ab7-359e-5221-8686-10f4f7128309.html
Previously she had won gold in double trap shooting in 1996 and 2004, and bronze in the event in 2000. That sport wasn't held for the 2008 Beijing Games, so Rhode moved over to skeet shooting. She captured silver in 2008 and of course the gold in 2012.
She said she is planning to compete in 2016 in Rio.
She overcame some difficulties in order to compete this time like a stolen shotgun and her puppy eating her plane ticket.
Interesting article about her: http://www.stltoday.com/sports/olympics/blogs/kimberly-rhode-st-american-to-medal-in-straight-olympics-sets/article_2e574ab7-359e-5221-8686-10f4f7128309.html
Lanky Livingston
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I personally don't think its subjective at all. The measure of an Olympic athlete literally is the number of medals they win. An argument could be made about where swimming ranks in terms of difficulty, but IMO swimming is one of the more demanding & competitive sports in the world. Phelps has dominated the sport. 22 Olympic races he has entered, and he's finished in the top 3 in all but 3 of them. He could finish with an astounding 88% medal rate when its all said and done, if he medals in his last 3 races of these games (I've only been able to find 2 more for him - 200m individual medley and 100m butterfly, so maybe he's only got two more races?).
And its not like he was eeking out victories - in 2008 he set new world records in 7 of 8 events. That's incredible! He broke Mark Spitz's 36 year-old record of 7 gold medals in one games. With his 19th medal yesterday, he broke Larisa Latynina's 48 year old record (the only other athlete in the conversation, IMO - her 14 individual medals are better than Phelps' 11, but his 15 gold medals are the most of any athlete ever).
Serv's skeet shooter could be entered into the argument, but skeet shooting is a sport that lends itself to longevity - swimming is not. There's no chance a swimmer could medal in 5 straight games - they'd be in their 40's by the 5th games.
I'm not sure if this was directed at me, but my position has been pretty consistent.
He has not prepared for these games like he did in 2008 - that much is clear. However, its amazing to me that he can mail it in and still keep medaling in these events, that's how natural of a swimmer he is.
19 medals is something we may never see again!
Elephant
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I disagree. Are you going to say he was a better Olympian than Carl Lewis because there were more events for him to participate in? Jesse Owens? The 1980 Men's Hockey team? What about the Australian Speed Skater, Colin Coates, who participated in a record 6 Olympics in Speed Skating with no training or money offered by the Australian Olympic committee for most of those games because they didn't think it was worth there effort for him to go?
See, you are measuring the term "greatest" by the amount of medals one wins, and it is not a factor that should eliminate any Olympian as a great. He is definitely the winningest Olympian and his name should be considered as the greatest, but winning medals is not the only measure of greatness in the Olympics.
Not directed toward you. It's clear in this thread you and I both agree he was being judged harshly. I think the last few days has been harder on Lochte than Phelps.
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Lanky Livingston
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I agree with that - we are using different measures to describe greatness. In that manner its very subjective. I'm sure we can both agree that Phelps is one of the greatest of all time!
Not totally undeserved - Lochte blew the huge lead given to him by Phelps.
Elephant
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Without a doubt!
Lanky Livingston
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London Olympic director Sebastian Coe says Phelps "probably not the greatest."
I will agree with this: The question of who is the greatest, Coe said, remains part of a "global pub game.'' And will add message boards to that.
I will agree with this: The question of who is the greatest, Coe said, remains part of a "global pub game.'' And will add message boards to that.
Lanky Livingston
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Those numbers are shady.
1) Put out by the questionable ATR
2) Assumes top tax-bracket of 35%
3) Includes the $25,000 prize money that comes with a gold medal, which counts as income.
Its not really that big of a deal.
Lanky Livingston
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Its income, and therefore is taxed. If we start giving "hard work" and "patriotism" exemptions, pretty sure the country would go bankrupt.
Could be a good discussion, but 5 O'Clock is probably not the venue. Feel free to start a PA thread if you want to discuss further.
Lanky Livingston
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Well, outside of noting the absurdity of comparing an Olympic athlete to a soldier who fights for this country, I will say I'm not discussing this anymore in this forum. Have a nice day!
Lanky Livingston
Guest
Interesting - my buddy on the Hill tells me that Congress is going to introduce a bill in the next few days to make Olympic athletes' medals and prize money exempt from income tax.
Elephant
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Yeah, Marco Rubio drafted or is a major sponsor of the bill.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinion-la/la-ol-rubio-taxes-olympians-20120801,0,6061536.story
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