*whew* A new game to take my mind off Fantasy Bass Fishing ending!

This looks like a set-it and forget-it game. Pick 5 countries who you think will do the best. (Uber, baby!)

http://games.espn.go.com/olympics/frontpage

Group: Gangster BB
Pass: corleone

Olympics start Friday the 13th

Put me down for $500 on Cameroon!

I'm in like Flynn. Whoever Flynn is.

Bethie heard something about "GREEK STYLE" and she came a running!

I second MaryCas' bet, I'll piggyback and add $3.09, which is the exact amount in my wallet.

That seems funny coming from the Master Baitor. :p

We have to pay for this game? I still have that $1000 bounty on Plaw. I don't know if I can afford it.

Don't forget I had the HOT POLE too!

It was a FLUKE, trust me :p

This game is up and running - I edited my first post - come join the "excitement"!

I'm in.

As a sidenote, a childhood friend of mine is actually going to Athens for taekwondo. I don't want to jinx him, but he's the favorite to win gold in his weight class. In 2000, he became the U.S.'s first and only Olympic gold medal winner in TKD.

I'm only a little bit jealous that he's gone on to such fame (gold medal, People Magazine's 50 hottest bachelors, etc...) I'm only kidding, of course. Man, if I continued training, I could have been in People Magazine!

So if you see his name, cheer for Steven Lopez!

Let's go Stephen. Its a shame we don't get to see the "lesser" sports. Too much track and swimming and Up-close-and-personal. I was in England during the last Summer Olympics, I got to see equestrian because England had some top riders. The telecasts were very low key (boring), but refreshingly without the over-hype of the US telecasts.

Go Djibooti!

How about a little pre-Olympic chatter here?!

How about that "all-star, Pro" USA basketball team getting crushed by Italy and then squeaking out a win over a German team that didn't even qualify. Good thing these are warm-ups.

One of the tie breakers on the challenge should have been: Guess how many atheletes will test positive for illegal substances?

Are you ready for some swimming?????

Come on. Show a little love for your fellow country men. Root them on in the olympics. May they do their family and country proud.

And may they win me a gold medal in fantasy olympics. :p Greek style of course.

I know I'll be watching. I've always been a big fan of the Olympics (ever since I had Olympic dreams of my own.) Too bad college, age, injuries, and professional career got in the way.

I always liked when the crowd, in a slow way, "U-S-A, U-S-A".

Other thoughts...
- I think Team USA in basketball will win the gold medal - barely. When things get close, Larry Brown will just get the team to trap and zone the full length of the court. They have the best athletes on that team - they'll run the other teams ragged.

- I think it's unfair how Marion Jones is being treated. If she's had a positive test, don't you think the people who've figuratively placed a scarlet "C" (for cheater) on her chest would have released the results to the eager media by now.

- I hope the television coveage covers the minor sports as well.

Let the drug-fest begin!!!!

Drug fest! Hah! Dont' you know it. It'll be better then watching the junkies on the corner peddle their goods.

Baltimore is all a buzz with Michael Phelps. He's on the news every night. He's hoping to break Mark Spitz' record for gold medals. It gives our city something positive to focus on I guess. If he loses I'll wonder if they'll be violence in the streets and looting like their is after basketball tournaments.

I used to be a huge fan of the Olympics, but sadly I can't take them seriously anymore. It's almost got to the stage where I try to guess who's NOT taking performance enhancing drugs rather than the other way round. The events surrounding the Greek sprinters overnight have done much to change my mind.

Regarding Marion Jones, I don't think I would hang a "C" for cheat round her neck just yet, but maybe a huge "?". It might help if she picked a husband who wasn't drugged up to his armpits!

I was in the USA during the 1996 Olympics and was surprised to find that for USA TV networks the Olympics consist of those events that the USA wins

I was in London during the 2000 and found the same thing; lots of equestrian events with U.K. participants. They did show the relay sprint team drop the baton in the qualifying rounds.

Basically our prime time TV shows the glamour sports; track, swimming, gymnastics and we do see the US medalist. This year I believe the subsidiary networks of NBC will be showing a lot of the less popular sports like cycling, rowing, kyaking, etc.

Philadelphia's own Dawn Staley will be the flag bearer tonight at the opening ceremonies.

I haven't watched any of the Olympics, but know through media buzz that our hometown boy Michael Phelps has a Gold Medal. Way to go!!

Ok guys. What's wrong with the USA Basketball team? They have the largest 1st half defecit in Olympics history? Are they just overly confident and cocky that they didn't really feel like they had any competition? How embarrassing. The Dream Team they're not.

Is This-A-Dream-Team? Probably the key word is "team", not look at me on Sport Center.

Can those divers get smaller suits?

Olympic politics rears its head. The men's gymnastics got wacked with an evaluation change made by the head JAPANESE judge. It screwed up the high bar routine for two of our guys. Moves they were doing for the past year just got downgraded. Thanks for the notice!

Wow! Team USA basketball loses to Puerto Rico. Maybe if they stopped worrying about finalizing their million dollar contracts and treating this event like it was more then just an all star game they would have done better. What a bunch of putzes. :rolleyes:

I'm off to watch some diving.

You took the words right out of my mouth. The US Basketball team played like crap today. Yes, they did show some signs of life in the final minutes of the 4th quarter, but come on, it's too late by then. There was no effort or fire in their game whatsoever. They shot 3/25 from downtown, and the 3-pt line is about 3 feet CLOSER than NBA regulations!!

I belive this is a 2-game elimination deal. The US cannot afford to lose again, and this was just the 1st game of the tournament. They have to get their entire act straight NOW. Puerto Rico wasn't even expected to qualify for a medal....was supposed to be a "warm-up" match for the US. I don't even know what to think right now. This is just a huge disappointment in every aspect basketball-wise.

I see that Phelps' dreams of 8 golds are over following the USA bronze in the 4x100 freestyle. The TV here suggested that he was "parachuted" into this team in order to facilitate an attempt at 8 golds. Is this true? If Phelps is not considered an out and out 100m specialist did his pursuit of personal glory cost the other three guys a gold medal??? Any swimming experts out there??

The way I understand it, some of the other swimmers felt it was unfair that Phelps got put on the relay team because he didn't swim the 100 meter freestyle during the Olympic trials (top swimmers in the event at the Trials make up the relay team).

Although Phelps has faster times in the 100 than most of the guys and all things considered, SHOULD be on the team if the criteria is putting together the best team, one can surmise he was put on the team because of media pressure and more publicity for US swimming.

Thorpe has pretty much put Phelps in the shade so far.

It's a shame, Phelps could still win 5 or 6 golds and be classed a failure because he didn't win 7 or 8. I wonder how much the decision to go for 8 golds was Phelps' own or how much it was influenced by the "money men" and media?? The swimming analysts on UK & Irish TV all said that Phelps was never really a contender for gold in the 200m freestyle. Thorpe has been pretty clever in concentrating on the events he knew he could win. Early days, but so far it's paying off.

I just love to watch men's gymnastics. The Japanese men were unbelievable on the high bar. They deserve the gold. The US was very good except for a few minor goofs.

The Queen Crustacean pulls down 69 points with North Korea. How appropriate. Waydago Crab!!

Great comeback by Phelps in the 4x200 relay. His swim vs. Hackett was the difference between USA and Aus. But someone please tell him those earphones look ridiculous!

Kenteris and Thanou withdraw themselves from the Olympics...presumably before they're thrown out. It now appears the Greek athletic authorities didn't enter Thanou for the 100m.