I am really, really excited about the Olympics right now. And I am always really, really excited about basketball, and quoting Chris Sheridan in the article linked to below, “it’ll be the best Olympic basketball competition ever.” I totally agree.
Read the article linked to here at espn.com to hear the reasoning behind the above statement from someone who knows what they are talking about, but I will tell you why Sheridan is right.
Part of me (the ethnocentric American part) wants to see team USA win every game by 30. No, most games by 30, some by 40 and I would love to see one 60+ point win. The other part of me (globalist, underdog sympathizer) wants to see some good, close games. We will see what version of me steps up in the next two weeks. (I think I already know.) Go USA:
Three reasons team USA will return with gold:
1) They have to. They have to. They have to. No really, they have to win the gold medal. Team USA has been nothing short of a national disgrace for the last 4 years. On top of that, our apparent “problems” have been diagnosed and treated. If we don’t win now there is no room for excuses like, “NBA ball is different than FIBA,” or “USA players don’t have the opportunity to play together as often as other national teams. These problems have supposedly been remedied. So if USA does not achieve gold, they achieve shame. (At least from me.)
2) This time around team USA is one thing that it was not last time around; Prepared. Team USA is also cocky, brash and confident, (all-three perfected and proudly made in the USA,) but those are not new. Preparation is a new. This years team USA has been in it for three years. Not as long as some other national teams, but 2 years and 9 months longer than previous teams.
3) Uber embarrassment. Team USA has been mired in embarrassment for the past four years, but this year it feels even heavier. No excuses. The best America has. But no matter what anyone says, and no matter how cocky team USA is, they are reigning losers. No one can argue that, because it is a fact. That is embarrassing. The entire world expects team USA to win, because they should, but that was the case four years ago, and we all know how that turned out. Embarrassing. Like I heard Kobe jokingly say, “if we don’t bring home the gold, I will have to become an Italian citizen and all the other guys will have to pick another country.”
GO USA!!! (Please, please, please don’t bring home bronze!)
Source: ESPN.com, Chris Sheridan
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