Why basketball should be banned from the next Olympics after US crushed Nigeria -- Running up the score against Third World country not the Olympic spirit
By: Niall O'Dowd | Published Friday, August 3, 2012, 9:16 AM | Updated Friday, August 3, 2012, 9:16 AM
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Team USA's Kobe Bryant, left, controls the ball in front of Nigeria's Derrick Obasohan
(Photo: LA Times) |
The US basketball team smashed Nigeria 156 to 73 or was it 6,784 to 2?
Who cares?
That bunch of overpaid, overblown, egomaniacs on the US team have as much to do with the Olympics as I do.
Where is the Olympic spirit in hammering a Third World country into total submission and taunting them by running up a massive score along the way?
Whose bright idea was it to blaze this “victory” across many of the major newspapers on line in the US including the New York Post?
At least the IOC had the decency to remove softball from the Olympics given that it was so much a one-country sport.
Basketball is in the same position. It is not an Olympic sport when you have the likes of Lebron James playing against teams he could probably beat single handedly.
Where’s the Olympic sport in that?
You might as well have American football included with Peyton Manning lining up against some hapless foreigner who can hardly throw a ball.
It is that ridiculous.
And as I’m at it, women’s sand volleyball or whatever they call it is another Olympic ‘sport’ I find ridiculous.
Lots of pictures of tight bikinis and svelte bodies does not make an Olympic sport -- but NBC cannot stop filming it.
We know why -- so every dirty old man in Peoria Illinois can stay up watching it – excuse the pun.
Seriously, much of what the Olympics has become is a charade, a necessary clown show in order to keep viewers watching.
NBC has had some superb coverage but much of their nightly show is for the circus atmosphere and has nothing to do with real ability.
Back in the days of the Roman Empire they had sideshows all over the arena before the main acts, the gladiators, began to compete.
It is not dissimilar today.
Thank goodness the track and field, the equivalent of the gladiators, where real talent comes to the fore, is finally starting.
This Olympics has had many heroic moments so far with many more to come.
But NBC and America needs to realize there is a massive difference between spectacle and achievement, between good-looking women and real female athletes, between multi-millionaire egomaniacs winning phony victories and ordinary competitors.
The difference seems to have escaped many.
29 Comments
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.weeknocky | Aug 10, 2012, 10:22 AM EDT
How about going back to amateur athletes?
tundish45 | Aug 05, 2012, 11:35 AM EDT
@ ellisk26 posting on Aug 03, 2012, 08:40 PM EDT ... you have it exactly right.
bogsidebunny | Aug 05, 2012, 07:41 AM EDT
More Irish begrudgery and Sanctimoneous babble. Two qualities never lacking in the Irish when referring to America. Well, except if your a high-tipping member of the "blue rinse" brigade.
aobrien1 | Aug 04, 2012, 10:51 AM EDT
Honestly, what are the Americans supposed to do? They have to shoot the ball every 24 seconds or be penalized. They were making their shots that night. By the way, several of the Nigerian players were former NBA players, so they aren't exactly amateurs themselves. I would prefer to see amateur players only, but that isn't going to happen if they're going to be slaughtered as has happened in the past.
BrianO | Aug 04, 2012, 10:40 AM EDT
Ban football soccer because ireland doesn't stand a chance, wha wha wha. The Olympics are won by the larger countries, with a few good stories from the smaller ones.
citizen69 | Aug 04, 2012, 05:25 AM EDT
Yep, they should ban swimming too as Phelps is winning way too many medals! :-/ Another nonsense article from O'Dowd.
GhostRider | Aug 03, 2012, 10:04 PM EDT
WOW! This guy is an Idiot! Each country is supposed to send their BEST. Hello Bonehead! This guy got up this morning and had a big bowl of Stupid! Hell, the Nigerian players were getting autographs from the U.S. pro's. It's a Game and that's all it is. As was mentioned below, the U.S. does not win every event they have athletes in. That is no reason to write a column full of B.S. Softball should be in the olympics as it is a sport and a tough one at that. As for Volleyball, The U.S. Beach Volleyball Female Team was clad in long sleeve T-shirts and drawers that covered their "fannies". Very conservative! So you should get an Un-Bias view of American athletes and watch the games as a whole. Enjoy! P.M.Reiley
ellisk26 | Aug 03, 2012, 08:40 PM EDT
Niall has a few things wrong here. First, the major factor in baseball and softball being removed from the Olympics was the fact that we would NOT send our best players to compete. The Olympic committee wants the money, pure and simple. Best players equals better television ratings, which equals higher fees paid by NBC and other worldwide networks for the television rights. It seems strange that you omitted the Ice Hockey in the winter games from this discussion, there, every country has professional players on its roster. To be fair, the NHL takes a 2 week break during the games to accomodate them.
garbo55 | Aug 03, 2012, 08:27 PM EDT
Kevin Longan is right, you can blame Pro-Athletes in the Olympics on the Russian. Everyone of their athletes where paid to do nothing but train, which made them Professionals.So if you want to bane Professionals from the olympics you have to bane all Russians.
1661996usmc | Aug 03, 2012, 07:52 PM EDT
They can't put themselves in the same class as the "Dream Team". Magic, Bird and company were true athletes in the Olympic Tradition.
aloistmartin | Aug 03, 2012, 06:30 PM EDT
LOL ! The "Pay Per View" Esprit of International Fraternity ! Battle for the Basketball Silver and Bronze Medal`s should prove worth watching. More than I. can say about U.S. "Dominanc"e in the Pool and Sandbox Arena`s ?(N.B.C.) Olympic emphasis should be on Inter-National Participation and Patriotism. Like the Old Amateur ethic better ~
Kevin Longan | Aug 03, 2012, 01:31 PM EDT
It's ironic because basketball isn't even a summer sport but late fall/winter. Regardless I did see a bit of rancor spewed at America (again) but won't address that except to say that pro athletes were admitted into the Olympics due to the Russians incessantly using highly skilled non-amateurs. Hence, I'm not from Peoria and don't even watch Beach Volleyball, by the way..
Dompedro | Aug 03, 2012, 01:08 PM EDT
I always understood that the Olympics were for the best athletes in the world (sans drugs, some would say), but it does't have to be that way. We could bar all pros or good players, but then France wouldn't have a B'ball team either. Note that when they lined up against the US, all ten on the floor were from the NBA. We could ban LeBron and Phelps and the American woman who hit 99 out of 100 skeets, and Russian weight lifters and French and :Italian down hill skiers; we'd be left with Niall (and maybe Cahir), but presumably no unfair advantages; or give the medals to last rather than first
trigger | Aug 03, 2012, 12:23 PM EDT
I would be against a ban of basketball but it should limited to under 20s or something same which could be applied to soccer,tennis or cycling. The Olympics really is a money making fest, nothing more or less and thats why they will keep taking drugs to smash records. By the way it is wrong that one athlete can win 20 golds like Phelps, having so many variations of 50, 100, 200, 400 metres swimming plus relay is a joke, is Phelps 20 times better than an athlete that wins the decathlon? or the marathon?
jamieLM | Aug 03, 2012, 12:03 PM EDT
Oh, boo hoo. @ TisEyerish, rgray222, BrendanDunphy - Very Well Said! If you can't compete in a sport - don't - or train harder and improve your skills. The U.S. gets consistently beaten in other events, especially in the Winter Olympics. I don't expect other athletes to do less than their best in order to make the U.S. look and feel better.
DaddyMac22 | Aug 03, 2012, 12:00 PM EDT
Well said Niall, well said.
Nicomax | Aug 03, 2012, 11:25 AM EDT
There are some sports in which the USA does poorly, primarily since very few Americans ever heard of them, let alone engage in them. Some nations do quite well with these arcane sports and thus win a bunch of medals. Why did they drop baseball and softball by the way?
PhlutiePhan | Aug 03, 2012, 11:24 AM EDT
O'Dowd says it about right! In fact, he nailed it! Strangely, Coach K stated that they did not run up the score since Kobie and LeBron both only played ten minutes. There is even some truth to that. Nigeria does not have that bad a team. The Ameicans are actually competing against the ghost of the '92 "Dream Team". This is an endorsement run. The multi-millionaires are "prowling the Village" looking for conquests. News reports documented that one of the swimmers "shot down" LeBron. Oh Boo Hoo! NBC took a hit! No live sex!
Towngate | Aug 03, 2012, 11:07 AM EDT
We should just be grateful that the American version of Rounders ( a.k.a. baseball) is not an Olympic event. Btw: the correct name for ladies sand volleyball in "Peach Volleyball"!, so leave poor old Pull-man Pete of Peoria alone to enjoy his Games from Glorious London 2012!
TisEyerish | Aug 03, 2012, 10:50 AM EDT
I agree with banning professional athletes from competing in Olympic games 100%. However, since this is allowed, what this article suggests is that the game should have been thrown in order to not embarrass the Nigerians. How about this...if they knew they had a poor team, perhaps they should not have participated in that particular event? To suggest that an athlete should withhold their talent because an opponent is not as talented is ludicrous and certainly does not portray what sports are all about. You missed the mark with both your article and your point of view, Mr. O'Dowd.
judiron | Aug 03, 2012, 10:45 AM EDT
I agree the basket ball score should not have been run up but why not just put an end to the game when one team scores so many points. How about a slatter rule. Better yet stop letting inferior teams into the Olympics. Some people would like to see the USA not allowed if they tend to win to much. Look at girls soft ball. you're poor sports, not the USA.
BBinRIC | Aug 03, 2012, 10:35 AM EDT
I agree with oonafitz ... Lets just drop professional athletes all together from the Olympics. Keep it strictly amateurs....if you get paid for playing a sport you don’t go to the Olympics.
Pathfindr | Aug 03, 2012, 10:31 AM EDT
Although it was much more fun watching an American amateur hockey team beat the "professional" Soviet team in 1980, it is what it is, and maybe O'Dowd should stick to the Badminton matches where teams tank it to get more advantageous seedings.
sunspotter5 | Aug 03, 2012, 10:16 AM EDT
Oh, stop crying, How much you joined the men of Peoria? In any event, if no one wants to play the US anymore because they'll be crushed, then the sport will discontinue. Watching half nekkid folks running round an oval ain't much different, now is it?
crny925 | Aug 03, 2012, 10:15 AM EDT
Niall O'Dowd, you are just spewing your anti-American hatred again... you don't think there's Irishmen or other pervs in the world looking at the same women? Get off your high horse and go back to bad-mouthing the Catholic Church and GOP!
rgray222 | Aug 03, 2012, 09:48 AM EDT
Sports did not start in a vacuum nor did they start in every country in the world at the same time. Should we ban skiing or hockey because some countries never have snow. Should be ban swimming because some poor countries do not have access to swimming pools. Basketball has become a international sport, just because some countries are developing their organizations should we ban the entire program. Get over it, the Olympics is not a cure all for the world. It is a sporting event. Many people think because it brings countries together it is going to solve all our problems. Very nice way to think but history has shown us that it is not true.
BrendanDunphy | Aug 03, 2012, 09:42 AM EDT
They say that the four badminton teams that did not play up to their full potential was not in Olympic spirit. Now you have a team that DOES play up to their full potential and that too is not in the Olympic spirit??? I could not disagree more. And not quite sure what Nigeria being a "third world" country has to do with the price of tea in China. Congrats Team USA. Keep collecting those medals!
jflanagan | Aug 03, 2012, 09:40 AM EDT
They were probably getting even for all the emails from Nigeria's Minister of the Treasury ;-)
oonafitz | Aug 03, 2012, 09:39 AM EDT
I don't think basketball necessarily needs to be eliminated, but professional NBA athletes should not be allowed to participate. I understand they get special treatment, for example not having to stay in the Olympic Village with the other athletes. Of course, 99% of the athletes can be considered professional, so the entire spirit of the Olympics died a long time ago. A lot of the athletes leave as soon as their competitions are over. It's just get in there, win my medals and leave with big endorsements. In addition, the networks have killed it for me. It's gymnastics, swimming, gymnastics, swimming,basketball, gymnastics, swimming, beach volleyball, gymnastics, swimming, basketball. I think beach volleyball is a legitimate sport, requiring players to be in great shape and develop skills, although I agree most people are watching to look at their bodies. They must have been quite disappointed to see the Americans all covered up! It was also nice to see them have to fight for the win.