y'know this is really about the USOC, not anyone else. peter ueberroth, as president, speaks on behalf of the USOC. is anyone here a MEMBER of the USOC?
y'know this is really about the USOC, not anyone else. peter ueberroth, as president, speaks on behalf of the USOC. is anyone here a MEMBER of the USOC?
This statement was made by the USOC. If the USOC says that Kwan may mean more to THEM than any other athlete, who are we to challenge the USOC's statement about themselves? It is kind of like saying that someone is your favorite athlete and being told that you are "wrong" because they think another athlete was better/more accomplished.
To say that Ueberroth's statement is "ridiculous" because Kwan never won gold also seems to miss the point of what he was tryng to say. Ueberroth's statement seemed to be mostly about career longevity and intangibles.
truancy officer wrote:
y'know this is really about the USOC, not anyone else. peter ueberroth, as president, speaks on behalf of the USOC. is anyone here a MEMBER of the USOC?
Looks like "truancy officer" beat me to the point.
trt wrote:
Looks like "truancy officer" beat me to the point.
yeah, it's not like he said "kwan means more to the world than any other athlete." his very specific worded statement referred to the USOC TWICE.
if your mother says you mean more to her than any of your siblings, who am i to question your mother?
Michelle Kwan is the greatest Olympian daughter of a Chinese Restaurant owner in Torrance, Cal.
But not the greatest Olympian.
Fortune Cookie wrote:
Michelle Kwan is the greatest Olympian daughter of a Chinese Restaurant owner in Torrance, Cal.
But not the greatest Olympian.
of course not. mary decker is the greatest olympian.
comenici wrote:
she doesnt create drama, she isnt glamourous, she doesnt shoot her mouth off. she's really actually kind of boring. she doesnt give NBC anything salacious to work with to create a dramatic tabloid story. the only thing she offers is her athleticism and desire to compete--and to bring this to the olympics in 1994, 1998, 2002, and 2006 means alot to any athlete and the USOC which represents them.
people are watching her to compete. not to see what she's gonna say next, what she's gonna wear, who her boyfriend is, etc, etc.
She has created drama, un-necessarily I might add.
She does not have what it takes to compete in 2006. The younger girls are doing more daring routines that she can't do. Plus, she's less than 100%...
Her skating federation gave her a bye into the games because of her history, not because of her ability to get a medal. If she had competed...even fully healthy, I don't think she would've been a medalist (my opinion).
...people aren't watching ice skating for the "competition" - they're watching it because they like watching ice skating. There isn't any competition going on. It's subjective.
Now, get two ice skaters on the rink at the same time...now THAT would be a competition. I can see it now....
Kwan bodychecks Hughes into the wall on that triple axel attempt....big points there....
PDX Track wrote:
Now, get two ice skaters on the rink at the same time...now THAT would be a competition. I can see it now....
Kwan bodychecks Hughes into the wall on that triple axel attempt....big points there....
Hughes comes back, fuming mad, and pulls a double salchow jump kick spin that hurls kwan across the rink......unimpressed, kwan does some fancy footwork down the ice and gets ready to move into her trademark spiral than releases four continuous backflips before knocking hughes out cold with a triple lutz quintuple toe loop. and there you have your gold medal champion.
The whole figure skating federation is a joke. Why have an "Olympic Team Trials" when you are not going to use the "Trials" to select the Olympic Team?????
Kwan decides not to skate in the Trials 'cause she knows she will probably not make the team on her merit. So, she sucks up to her federation and their quirky rules that say she may displace a qualifier if the federation thinks it would be a good idea. (Guess you got to be blowin' the right folks!!!!)
Then, she takes the spot from a young lady who worked hard, competed hard, and made the team. She goes to Turin, enjoys the ceremonies and limelight, then "graciously" bows out, so the young lady who qualified may now scramble something together, try to get out of a snowstorm, travel across the ocean without the team, miss all the ceremonies, come in at the last minute, and compete. Wow, Michelle, you are quite the hero!
Michelle Kwan is, and always has been a first class piece of crap!!!!!
The whole figure skating federation is a joke. Why have an "Olympic Team Trials" when you are not going to use the "Trials" to select the Olympic Team?????
Kwan decides not to skate in the Trials 'cause she knows she will probably not make the team on her merit. So, she sucks up to her federation and their quirky rules that say she may displace a qualifier if the federation thinks it would be a good idea. (Guess you got to be blowin' the right folks!!!!)
Then, she takes the spot from a young lady who worked hard, competed hard, and made the team. She goes to Turin, enjoys the ceremonies and limelight, then "graciously" bows out, so the young lady who qualified may now scramble something together, try to get out of a snowstorm, travel across the ocean without the team, miss all the ceremonies, come in at the last minute, and compete. Wow, Michelle, you are quite the hero!
Michelle Kwan is, and always has been a first class piece of crap!!!!!
TonyaHarding wrote:
The whole figure skating federation is a joke. Why have an "Olympic Team Trials" when you are not going to use the "Trials" to select the Olympic Team?????
if webb were to have come down sick on the day of his trials, if joan benoit could not have made it to the trials to to her knee surgery, if michael phelps got injured and couldnt make the trials, you think they would not have deserved to be considered for the team?
the current system is all or nothing and ridiculous.
Michell should get a ribbon ... just like all the rest deserve.
I think all Judged sports are ribbon sports.
They should recognize great athletes, give them all participation ribbons and send them home.
Let's face it ... politics, media, hype ALL get in the way of judging fairly.
Gymnastics, diving, ICE SKATING, synchronized swimming ... for that matter ... synchronized anything, etc.
Kodak wrote:
Gymnastics, diving, ICE SKATING, synchronized swimming ... for that matter ... synchronized anything, etc.
snowboarding, moguls, ski jump, boxing (if there's no KO), baseball (ie calling strikes when it's a ball), football (calling it out when it's in, but the rules dont allow for new referee calls), basketball, etc.
all require human judgement that can affect the outcome of the game.
snowboarding, moguls, ski jump, boxing (if there's no KO), baseball (ie calling strikes when it's a ball), football (calling it out when it's in, but the rules dont allow for new referee calls), basketball, etc.
all require human judgement that can affect the outcome of the game.
now you are starting to get it ... there is a difference between Partially subjective (i.e. refereeing & meddling) and fully subjective.
RIBBONS FOR ALL
This statement was clearly made in the heat of the moment and should not carry as much weight as we have allowed it. Imagine you are putting on a spectacle when all of the sudden your headliner drops out. I think I too would hastily say something like this to continue to draw media attention while also trying to figure out who to shift focus to (i.e. shaun white and bode miller... until he wiped out)
RunThis wrote:
This statement was clearly made in the heat of the moment and should not carry as much weight as we have allowed it. Imagine you are putting on a spectacle when all of the sudden your headliner drops out. I think I too would hastily say something like this to continue to draw media attention while also trying to figure out who to shift focus to (i.e. shaun white and bode miller... until he wiped out)
This might be plausible, if not for the fact that people have been saying things like this of Michelle Kwan for years now.