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“The Americans? We’re going to smash them"

stevestojan

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stevestojan

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Men's 4 x 100 relay.

 

One of the frogs was asked about the Americans...

 

“The Americans? We’re going to smash them. That’s what we came here for"

(http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26067251/)

 

The announcers stated the Americans were swimming for Silver for the most part. They (the US) were leading until the 3rd leg. Then the 4th leg (sorry, don't have names, just know that Phelps was first) and the French took a commanding lead. It looked hopeless. The guy going fourth needed a "miracle" swim -- got it... A comeback like I've never seen.

 

 

What now Frenchie???? WHAT NOW?

 

AWESOME!!!

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ieatcrayonz All Pro

ieatcrayonz

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Men's 4 x 100 relay.

 

One of the frogs was asked about the Americans...

 

“The Americans? We’re going to smash them. That’s what we came here for"

(http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26067251/)

 

The announcers stated the Americans were swimming for Silver for the most part. They (the US) were leading until the 3rd leg. Then the 4th leg (sorry, don't have names, just know that Phelps was first) and the French took a commanding lead. It looked hopeless. The guy going fourth needed a "miracle" swim -- got it... A comeback like I've never seen.

 

 

What now Frenchie???? WHAT NOW?

 

AWESOME!!!

I didn't see it but heard they only lost because the last French swimmer swam to the bottom of the pool to retrieve Jean Van de Velde's golf ball for him.

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OCinBuffalo All Pro

OCinBuffalo

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Men's 4 x 100 relay.

 

One of the frogs was asked about the Americans...

 

“The Americans? We’re going to smash them. That’s what we came here for"

(http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26067251/)

 

The announcers stated the Americans were swimming for Silver for the most part. They were leading until the 3rd leg. Then the 4th leg (sorry, don't have names, just know that Phelps was first) and it looked hopeless. The guy going fourth needed a "miracle" swim. A comeback like I've never seen.

 

 

What now Frenchie???? WHAT NOW?

 

AWESOME!!!

I posted to your other link. What did you delete it on me? :D

 

Anyway, that was unreal. What a finish! I haven't seen anything like that in a long time.

 

Ah, another reason to laugh at the French. Will it ever end? :D

 

But seriously, they put up one hell of a swim, but, so did our guys. Great competition. All the more meaningful win.

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stevestojan Hall of Famer

stevestojan

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I posted to your other link. What did you delete it on me? :D

 

Anyway, that was unreal. What a finish! I haven't seen anything like that in a long time.

 

Ah, another reason to laugh at the French. Will it ever end? :D

 

But seriously, they put up one hell of a swim, but, so did our guys. Great competition. All the more meaningful win.

 

I deleted it cause I knew someone would point it out :D

 

I guess my question was answered. The guys that got us to the finals were good, but these 4 were perfect.

 

Edit: I assumed you were talking about my thread questioning why the swimmers in the semi-final didn't get to swim in the finals... perhaps you were talking about my duplicate post... either way, screw the French... :D Carry on...

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Beerball Hall of Famer

Beerball

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Nice!!! I love how the guy that swam the second leg jumps in front of Phelps...amazing win...I believe that is the first time I've ever 'fist pumped' for swimming.

 

 

BTW--and only slightly off topic...did anyone goggle pics of the female French swimmer who had some nasty photos splashed on the internet? Not too shabby.

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Lori All Pro

Lori

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It gets better: http://olympicsblog.dallasnews.com/archive...-mens-4x10.html

The Americans had set the world record in Saturday night's prelim, but the French team had been talking trash in recent days. In addition to Bernard's comments, one of the French swimmers spat in the U.S. lane during warmups.

 

And I love me some Pat Forde: http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/summer08/col...&id=3529125

And Lezak swam the fastest 100-meter relay split in world history, a shocking 46.06 seconds. His split was faster than Bernard's by .67 seconds. Smashing.

 

When you're the world-record holder but you cannot hold a lead in your specialty, that's not good. When that happens after you've talked smack, that's worse. At least it took a superhuman swim to beat Bernard.

 

Afterward I asked the French technical team director, Claude Fauquet, about Bernard's prediction.

 

"Well," Fauquet said, "I think he got it wrong."

 

I think so.

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KD in CA Hall of Famer

KD in CA

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Holding the 100m free style world record: priceless

 

Representing your country in the Olympics as anchorman on the #1 ranked relay team in the world: priceless

 

Talking sh-- about the US team that has schooled you for decades: priceless

 

 

Blowing the big race by choking away a huge lead in the last 50 meters: :huh::P:lol:

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BarkLessWagMore RFA

BarkLessWagMore

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I didn't have much to contribute other than agreeing that it was one of the great races in any sport I will probably see in my life. That is, until I came across this little gem by a contributor at sportsbybrooks.com. Absolutely hilarious.

 

 

Although I always watch the Olympics, I never really get into them that much. Last night, though, as Lezak was chasing down Bernard I was out of my seat and cheering him on as though I was standing on the deck of the pool next to Phelps and Garret Weber-Gale. It was truly one of those moments that only the Olympics can bring, and was one of the greatest sporting events I’ve ever seen.

 

Also, I know that there will be plenty of Americans this morning giving the French a lot of crap over the way they blew the race last night after so much talk, but I’m not going to be one of them. I mean, they’re the French. The fact that they were able to complete the entire race without surrendering or having an American save one of them from drowning is a remarkable achievement for their country. They should be proud of themselves.

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Wraith RFA

Wraith

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True. But, there has to be a threshold... No? They can only go so fast... Can't keep on getting faster.

 

 

Maybe they just haven't reached it here yet? :huh:

 

Five teams is odd though.

You would think so.

 

There's a good article on SI.com regarding swimming records. The author has personally witnessed 8 records broken in track events during 22 years covering the Olympics. He witness 6 broken records this weekend in the pool.

 

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/olym...tml?eref=sircrc

 

Part of it is technology, I assume.

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The Poojer Hall of Famer

The Poojer

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"talking" to Mark Spitz a couple of weeks ago, he said the new techology and the new suits that are supposed to be space age, really are only effective for swimmers that can swim 6 mph and faster, and that there are only 2 swimmers that can do that in the world...one is phelps, don't know the other, so i dont know how much can really be attributed to the new technology as opposed to stronger swimmers

 

You would think so.

 

There's a good article on SI.com regarding swimming records. The author has personally witnessed 8 records broken in track events during 22 years covering the Olympics. He witness 6 broken records this weekend in the pool.

 

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/olym...tml?eref=sircrc

 

Part of it is technology, I assume.

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LongLiveRalph RFA

LongLiveRalph

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I love that people are using great discretion in hurrying to call this one of the "Greatest Moments in Olympic History." PLEASE!!! Great moments in Olympic history? We're talking Jesse Owens, Wilma Ruldolph, Bob Beamon, Miracle on Ice, etc.

 

Not Michael Phelps and three other guys we've never heard of and won't ever remember, who won a race they were favored to win anyways. How can it be one of the great Olympic moments if nobody will have any clue what you're talking about when you bring it up in December?

 

Some French dude talked shiit. He didn't back it up. Yawn.

 

I'm glad the US team battled hard and won the gold. But people and media are really reaching when describing the magnitude of this thing. I realize that whatever just happened is the greatest thing ever. It's similar to the calls after the Giants-Patriots Super Bowl that it was the greatest football championship game ever. It wasn't. The truth is, if Phelps wasn't involved it wouldn't be getting 1/10th of the attention.

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Wraith RFA

Wraith

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I love that people are using great discretion in hurrying to call this one of the "Greatest Moments in Olympic History." PLEASE!!! Great moments in Olympic history? We're talking Jesse Owens, Wilma Ruldolph, Bob Beamon, Miracle on Ice, etc.

 

Not Michael Phelps and three other guys we've never heard of and won't ever remember, who won a race they were favored to win anyways. How can it be one of the great Olympic moments if nobody will have any clue what you're talking about when you bring it up in December?

 

Some French dude talked shiit. He didn't back it up. Yawn.

 

I'm glad the US team battled hard and won the gold. But people and media are really reaching when describing the magnitude of this thing. I realize that whatever just happened is the greatest thing ever. It's similar to the calls after the Giants-Patriots Super Bowl that it was the greatest football championship game ever. It wasn't. The truth is, if Phelps wasn't involved it wouldn't be getting 1/10th of the attention.

The French were heavy favorites. If Phelps weren't involved, Lezak would be getting more attention, not less. Lezak did something amazing.

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LongLiveRalph RFA

LongLiveRalph

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fwiw they were not favored according to the announcers pre-race

 

I'd chalk it up to announcer fluff. Trying to build the drama. Any race that Phelps is in, he or his team is the favorite.

 

FWIW, I was on the can this morning looking at SI's Olympic Preview, and they had the US winning the gold in that event. French silver. I don't remember who was bronze. The footnote said something like, "Suprisingly fast French team will contend." That's pretty much what happened. Add in there that some Frog talked smack, and suddenly it is the most spectacular event ever.

 

I would liken this to Manu Ginobili saying Argentina was going to whoop the US in basketball. The US is down by 15 entering the 4th quarter, and win the gold on a buzzer beater by Dwayne Wade. Exciting? Most definitely. Unexpected victory? Not necessarily. Greatest Olympic moment? Not close.

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stevestojan Hall of Famer

stevestojan

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I love that people are using great discretion in hurrying to call this one of the "Greatest Moments in Olympic History." PLEASE!!! Great moments in Olympic history? We're talking Jesse Owens, Wilma Ruldolph, Bob Beamon, Miracle on Ice, etc.

 

Not Michael Phelps and three other guys we've never heard of and won't ever remember, who won a race they were favored to win anyways. How can it be one of the great Olympic moments if nobody will have any clue what you're talking about when you bring it up in December?

 

Some French dude talked shiit. He didn't back it up. Yawn.

 

I'm glad the US team battled hard and won the gold. But people and media are really reaching when describing the magnitude of this thing. I realize that whatever just happened is the greatest thing ever. It's similar to the calls after the Giants-Patriots Super Bowl that it was the greatest football championship game ever. It wasn't. The truth is, if Phelps wasn't involved it wouldn't be getting 1/10th of the attention.

 

Yeah.. that's what the Olympics are all about... big name competitors that are household names... Have fun watching "true Olympians" like LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Kobe Bryant.... I'll stick with watching guys who jump up and down with excitement when they win as this might be there only time to shine.

 

:wallbash:

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Golden Wheels Veteran

Golden Wheels

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I love that people are using great discretion in hurrying to call this one of the "Greatest Moments in Olympic History." PLEASE!!! Great moments in Olympic history? We're talking Jesse Owens, Wilma Ruldolph, Bob Beamon, Miracle on Ice, etc.

 

Not Michael Phelps and three other guys we've never heard of and won't ever remember,

 

:wallbash:

 

How do you think Jesse Owens, Wilma Ruldolph, Bob Beamon, and players on the 1980 US hockey team became household names in the first place? Performing above and beyond expectations in the olympics. What do you think Jason Lezak did when he came from behind and beat the world record holder in this race?

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olivier in france Veteran

olivier in france

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There's probably nothing i care less about than olympic swimming but reading those two pages of b S :wallbash:

 

Frankly guys it's not because a couple of frenchmen swimmers are stupid and arrogant that you should be the same. How classless are you?!!!

 

Remember guys you're Buffalo Bills fans... we all know a little about losing at the last second and the supid jokes that come with it...

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Chilly All Pro

Chilly

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There's probably nothing i care less about than olympic swimming but reading those two pages of b S :wallbash:

 

Frankly guys it's not because a couple of frenchmen swimmers are stupid and arrogant that you should be the same. How classless are you?!!!

 

Remember guys you're Buffalo Bills fans... we all know a little about losing at the last second and the supid jokes that come with it...

 

Poor Frenchie is mad. Let's all point and laugh.

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Pete Hall of Famer

Pete

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Here's a link to the entire race and "aftermath." I was jumping up and down screaming. What a fantasic race...what a great victory...made all that much sweeter by giving it back to the French in the best way possible.

 

http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/share.htm...HD_SWB_HL_L0194

 

And BTW...I've watched it like five times in a row now. :wallbash:

!@#$ing beautiful! God bless Jason Lesak! How does that crow taste Bernard? :lol:

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BuffOrange Veteran

BuffOrange

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I love that people are using great discretion in hurrying to call this one of the "Greatest Moments in Olympic History." PLEASE!!! Great moments in Olympic history? We're talking Jesse Owens, Wilma Ruldolph, Bob Beamon, Miracle on Ice, etc.

 

Not Michael Phelps and three other guys we've never heard of and won't ever remember, who won a race they were favored to win anyways. How can it be one of the great Olympic moments if nobody will have any clue what you're talking about when you bring it up in December?

 

Some French dude talked shiit. He didn't back it up. Yawn.

 

I'm glad the US team battled hard and won the gold. But people and media are really reaching when describing the magnitude of this thing. I realize that whatever just happened is the greatest thing ever. It's similar to the calls after the Giants-Patriots Super Bowl that it was the greatest football championship game ever. It wasn't. The truth is, if Phelps wasn't involved it wouldn't be getting 1/10th of the attention.

 

I'd chalk it up to announcer fluff. Trying to build the drama. Any race that Phelps is in, he or his team is the favorite.

 

FWIW, I was on the can this morning looking at SI's Olympic Preview, and they had the US winning the gold in that event. French silver. I don't remember who was bronze. The footnote said something like, "Suprisingly fast French team will contend." That's pretty much what happened. Add in there that some Frog talked smack, and suddenly it is the most spectacular event ever.

 

I would liken this to Manu Ginobili saying Argentina was going to whoop the US in basketball. The US is down by 15 entering the 4th quarter, and win the gold on a buzzer beater by Dwayne Wade. Exciting? Most definitely. Unexpected victory? Not necessarily. Greatest Olympic moment? Not close.

 

As I said after the Denver game last year, short-term memories among fans/announcers is a huge pet-peeve of mine; so yah the tendancy to call the most recent event "the most exciting/heartbreaking thing ever" is annoying...

But you just don't know what you're talking about here. France was favored, not debatable.

If you think these swimming announcers conspire to build drama, you're not watching the same coverage as me - they basically tell you who is going to win every race beforehand (notice they're almost always in lane 4 or 5). Any basketball analogy is insane because swimming is so much more mathematical than any other sport - the fastest sprinter in the world just doesn't get chased down by a 32yr old nobody who has choked in the previous 2 olympic games (in an event in which the US was previously undefeated in).

Owens & the Miracle were great and not even in the same league in terms of their larger impact; but for anyone under Age 35, it was the most exciting olympic event ever seen live and to me it's not particularly close.

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