Monzanator

Just now, heywoodu said:

 

Sure, sure, coming back from way behind in the last 50 meters to still take the win...by someone who only had one previous World Cup win (in a rather weak stage in Pyeongchang)  

I still don't have a clue what are you talking about. I don't watch cross country anymore like I mentioned before.

Just now, Olympian1010 said:

The fuck can I do! Our reps don’t listen and because of fucking uneducated half the country is, they keep electing these idiots. All I can do is use my voice. It’s all my generation has. There’s no opportunity, not enough jobs, when we speak out, we get pushed, we’re constantly dismissed by people completely out of touch with the hard realities of this country. I guess nothing matters anymore. Fuck laws, fuck morals, fuck civilization? Tell me what I’m supposed to do.

Brad Pitt tells it like it is   100% agree with that. People have adapted to all kinds of bullshit (hello, communism) so you still have a chance.

3 minutes ago, Olympian1010 said:

What she did to Osaka was shameful, but she also has a point. She has had to overcome extreme prejudice in the tennis world (and in the greater public eye). Also, dodging drug tests seems to be a new norm now so...

Serena came down as a very sore loser in that US final. She definitely lost the X factor she had in the 00s decade and let's be honest, if she wasn't one win away from Margaret Court's all-time GS record, she'd have retired already. She thinks she can still do it but with Osaka, Halep and Andreescu all beating her in GS final it's safe to say she's gone one bridge too far.

14 minutes ago, heywoodu said:

We can make fun of it all we want though, so far this year's Tour de Ski has already provided probably the finish (at least in terms of sprint) of the season in cross-country skiing.

I haven't heard about it so it probably wasn't any special

3 minutes ago, Olympian1010 said:

And until then thousands of American will continue to sit by idly and do nothing about one of the biggest issues in our nations history. It’s frustrating. I’m not safe at the movies, at university, going out to dinner with friends. The first thing I do when enter a building is look for the exits. In the richest nation in the world, with the most personal freedoms, that shouldn’t be a everyday reality. I shouldn’t have to constantly run through scenarios of what I do to survive in places of enjoyment. Our founding fathers had a vision to give everyone “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness”; and that simply isn’t the case with easy access to guns. The same people who claim to have guns to protect themselves from an autocratic government, are the same people who support the current government, which is one of the least democratic in our history. It’s also worth nothing that minorities are disproportionately affected by gun violence too. We are honestly the stupidest nation on the Earth. I mean that at this point. I mean how many issues to compound before we have serious problems in this country? 

The chase is more important than the catch. Too many politicians and activists on both sides of the fence would lose their fuel if the Second Amendment gets struck down. The non-stop arguments & winning the dispute is more important than human life. Poland is obviously dismissed as conservative trash country which doesn't support gay rights but hey, there's like one chance in a zillion we have a mass shooting anytime soon since it's extremely difficult to obtain a gun permit let alone buy a semi-automatic assault rifle. You'd basically have to be a member of organized crime to have access to this kind of weapons over here.

2 minutes ago, heywoodu said:

I am well aware of that. Same thing when you google for 'best sports comebacks ever' and such, all you'll get is ESPN-like lists with a host of MLB/NBA/NFL (and one or two NHL) players nobody outside diehard fans of those sports has heard of outside the US  

There's one obvious comeback I'd count here regardless. Probably the most impressive one since the 2005 UCL final:

Just now, heywoodu said:

 

Which is why Messi and C Ronaldo would have a chance....purely because football is the most known sport in the world and they're the best players (of the past decade, that is)  

It's USA. Mariano Rivera would stand a better chance of winning this poll than either Messi or Ronaldo

Until the Second Amendment gets revoked, it's a lost battle for all these twitter talking heads

22 minutes ago, Olympian1010 said:

That is literally the case in every sport in the United States currently. It’s another part of an insanely broken system. 
 

Serena‘s didn’t come from a lot. Her dad wasn’t poor, but he wasn’t rich either.

 

Yes, Messi and Ronaldo (more Ronaldo) would’ve been great candidates too (and are more deserving), but it’s worth noting that the AP is an American organization. I don’t think they’ve ever chosen non-American athletes for that honor. 

Yeah, that's why I pay little attention to ESPN or AP polls. You have to be a global icon like Bolt or Federer to be even considered over some baseball player nobody in Europe has even heard of.

Tennis is the rich man's sport like no other. It's not even close. And the funny thing is, it's the richest paying sport for women aka the rich are only getting richer. Megan Rapinoe should have played tennis, she'd be a billionaire by now instead of complaining about salary in soccer

2 minutes ago, Olympian1010 said:

Right, but still know him by name. That’s not an accident or mystery. He is definitely one of the most recognizable figures of the decade.

Social media impact is more important than actual sporting result. That's why Kim Kardashian is getting paid millions for "promoting brands". LeBron is a product of the social media generation, gone are the days with only one game on live TV over the weekend. Sports has become business more than anything in 21st century.

8 minutes ago, Olympian1010 said:

I don’t know. I mean Serena and LeBron have really defined the decade in my opinion. Most people know who both of them are. They have both incredible success. They’ve both used their voices to fight for social change. They both came from nothing to be the greatest in their sports. 

Tennis remains a sport for the privileged. You have to invest millions early on and then maybe your kid becomes a great player and you get all that money back. It's one sport I'd never bring up when talking about social changes. You'll never see orphans or homeless kids getting a career in tennis.

LeBron is LeBron but Roger Federer has had more success in this decade and I'm not even gonna mention people like Messi or C.Ronaldo which dominated the last decade. Then again, soccer is a second rate sport in USA so obviously they stood no chance of competing vs NBA star like James.

Stumbled upon the results sheet when browsing channels. 5 Norwegians inside Top 7. I see the National Championship drill is doing fine and well

30 minutes ago, Olympian1010 said:

Shooting inside a Texas church, two injured, gunman was then shot because it’s Texas there’s more idiots with guns inside the church .

I’m glad they shoot the guy before he killed anyone, but on the other hand, if we are to the point where (multiple) people have to bring guns into to churches and houses of worship for their own safety, we’re fucked as a nation.

Nobody cares about mass shootings anymore. Top story on CNN is Sharon Stone dating app profile getting blocked

13 minutes ago, Olympian1010 said:

I thought they were both good choices. Like it or not, they are athletes who defined the decade.

US sports media is guilty of tunnel vision. I'm pretty sure other than Federer and Bolt they'd ignore any non-US athlete possible.

3 minutes ago, Olympian1010 said:

*Sighs*, knowing that he’ll regret the next words to come out of his mouth because of the chaos they’ll bring: “I like the sprints and mass starts.”

You're too young to remember 50 km interval starts so I don't blame you. How can you like something you've never watched?

10 km mass start is utter bullshit, period.

Tour de Ski has completely lost its lore. Plus the Norwegian dominance doesn't attract new fans whatsoever. Obviously I'm not gonna watch even 5 secs of this crap this season.

I've been critical of mass starts since day one and 10km mass starts is the most stupid idea ever. However it's all down to TV and FIS tries to sell crap that "fans love mass starts". It's complete bullshit.

PS. Long individual races in Tour de Ski make no sense since half of the starters (and sprinters) would withdraw before that stage.

13 hours ago, heywoodu said:

I genuinely don't understand why someone who doesn't normally go to church would suddenly go on one of those days. But sure, 'what would family say'  So very happy I don't care much what my family would say  

It's simple. Do you have a favorite football club? You don't have to attend all its matches to be a fan. Hell, you can go to like one match per season and call yourself a fan

12 minutes ago, heywoodu said:

What do you guys all do in church suddenly?  And serious question: why specifically go on Christmas? If one believes in some sort of deity, wouldn't said deity be perfectly fine with a little chat at any moment of the year instead of that one day where half the world suddenly wants to talk to him?  

Just now, Vojthas said:

Even those who don't really believe go, because of "what would family say?" thing.

Plus a lot of people only attends the mass during Christmas & Easter.

Even heywoodu must realize Christmas is kinda more important than a casual Sunday during the year

Home Alone 3 is a long, long way behind the Caulkin double stunt. It's not even close. Joe Pesci alone makes it a no contest.

37 minutes ago, Agger said:

 

What did the second D stand for in DDR?

Putting Socialist (well Sozialistische) in the name doesn't make a party socialist. Hitler even left the party shortly due to them cooperating with the Socialists and he fought the people (The Strasser-brothers and others) who wanted the party to be more socialist.

They also imprisoned way more Socialists than other political officials.

No surprise here, KPD was outright communist party, SPD represented the Weimar Republic which Hitler hated. Obviously they both were doomed once Hilter became the Chancellor. Strasser was a victim of in-house NSDAP power struggle similar to Trockiy in Soviet Union.

28 minutes ago, Agger said:

 

I felt important when I had Tony Schaffer respond to my facts.  

Oh, the good old "The Nazis were Socialists" debate. We pretty much just had it in Denmark

Let's don't overthink the room here. What did the 'S' stand for in NSDAP name?

9 minutes ago, Agger said:

 

Nothing new there. Yankees is a massive brand and I wouldn't be surprised if half the Europeans (and most likely even more) wearing Yankees stuff can't mention a single player.

It's a bit of the same with Oakland Raiders (though I would guess that way more Europeans know them) ans St. Pauli. I most likely forget other teams.

It's a bit like a Ramones t-shirt. It's cool (to some people) though they know nothing about it.

Personally I only know Jeter by name. I couldn't recognize him if my life depended on it.

 

I'm a Raiders fan (due to Janikowski playing there for so long) but yeah, it's the most popular NFL cap in Poland even though gridiron itself isn't that popular by any means (I've seen Cowboys & Packers gear too). The Yankees logo is way more popular than Knicks for instance and it's a brand alright identified with USA in general rather than actual baseball club. Then again I remember how in the 90s Chicago Bulls was a popular cap theme (due to Jordan of course) but the second most popular was Charlotte Hornets who weren't all that good (and I'm sure nobody would recognize Alonzo Mourning that easily either). This was a social myth for a while why so many Hornets gear was there and the most common answer was that their logo was pretty cool and made up for a good marketing

PS. I probably wouldn't recognize Jeter without the cap either  

32 minutes ago, Olympian1010 said:

I focus on flags more than names . I should honestly know more names, but I just don’t. I don’t actually watch a lot of sport outside multi-sports games or world championships. I don’t really have one overall passion. I have a bunch of subjects/hobbies that I’m rather knowledgeable about. There’s also like 150 sports to follow, so it can be a lot. I really do need to get better at watching sports though. 

Reminds me of this: (Hint #1 everyone in Europe knows how Michael Jordan looks like ). All these LeBron vs Jordan debates you have in USA are moot, Europe votes for Jordan all the time. Hint #2 nobody over here knows a damn thing about baseball, even a guy wearing a Yankee cap can't recognize Jeter  

2 minutes ago, Olympian1010 said:

Yeah I could see that. I spent most life as a cynical person. I’ve always been an idealist (and probably will be, its just who I am), but recently, I’ve been trying out optimism. It’s worked so far, so I’m going to stick with it for a while. I think the idealist v. realist is a good explanation. 
 

Also figured I should wish you a great Christmas Eve since Vojthas told me that was the important day in Poland.

Oh, you can try optimism until life bites you in the ass   Don't tell me you're one of these who will be paying off student loans for the next 25 years or sth?

Yeah, Christmas Eve is effectively more cherished in Poland than Christmas Day itself

8 minutes ago, Olympian1010 said:

@Monzanator Do you have any theories as to why we seem to always be at a difference? It’s just so curious to me that it’s almost always you and me that find each in a debate. We have a rough past history, but I feel like a recent interactions haven’t been negative. They’ve been more actual debates I feel like. I’m just curious as to what your prospective on this is.

You're the idealist and I'm a cynical realist. That never matches well. I told you that once you reach a certain age, you'll drop the idealistic BS. I've crossed that river already