101 replies to this topic

[koufax32]

So who else was tempted to choose Pitcairn Islands? Furthermore, why doesn't the Vatican have an Olympic team? They already have the best uniforms. Would the Swiss Guard play for them or for Switzerland? If someone beat the Vatican team in an event would they be excommunicated? Would Dan Brown write a book about a possible conspiracy by the papacy to ruin the games?

[MarkInLondon]

Though your anti-American selection (along with johnMD and MarkinLondon, whose Britishness is no excuse to be anti-American) in the Super Power catagory is most distressing.

Just recognition that Chinese officials and judges are going to make the South Koreans look like paragons of virtue and neutrality.

[DJnVa]

Quick question---how and when will the standings be updated? No rush, just wondering.

[jkempa]

Quick question---how and when will the standings be updated? No rush, just wondering.

I will update it tomorrow morning probably and each morning after that.

[johnmd20]

Though your anti-American selection (along with johnMD and MarkinLondon, whose Britishness is no excuse to be anti-American) in the Super Power catagory is most distressing.

I figured, correctly, that most people would take the USA. So if China did better, that would give me a big leg up versus the competition. And if the USA dominates, then I'm happy because USA USA USA! It was a sound strategy, I stand by it despite the fact that I am no fan of China.

[bsj]

China will probably get 4-5 more golds at the end of the day, but I bet the USA gets 12-14 more medals overall...so I bet it events out for the most part.

[URI]

I figured, correctly, that most people would take the USA. So if China did better, that would give me a big leg up versus the competition. And if the USA dominates, then I'm happy because USA USA USA! It was a sound strategy, I stand by it despite the fact that I am no fan of China.

Don't justify your communist sympathies to me, Pinko.

[jkempa]

I've just sent updated standings. I allowed Koufax32 in as a late entry on Friday afternoon.

Here are the current standings for all to see:

sibpin 94
Cannonball 1729 94
Mark in London 90
Doug Beerabeilli 88
johnmd20 81
Hendu's Gait 69
URISoxFan 64
jkempa 62
DJnVA 62
Morgans Magic Snowplow 58
BSJ 58
Mascho 58
Cuzittt 58
Jmanny 24 57
Warning Track Speed 56
grantb 55
Sea Bass Neely 52
Koufax32 51
Fo' Rheal 44
Razor Shines 28

[bsj]

I gotta say...the Chinese are KILLING the US in golds...I figured when all was said and done they would take that mark, but didnt think it would be THIS much of a blowout...

[DJnVa]

That's because diving happens before track and field.

[johnmd20]

Don't justify your communist sympathies to me, Pinko.

5th place thus far. The strategy is working. Then, when Germany and Greece start amassing medals later in the Olympics, I'll make my push for the title, with the commies leading the way!

[MarkInLondon]

That's because diving happens before track and field.

Don't under-estimate home advantage.

[DJnVa]

Don't under-estimate home advantage.

Oh, I'm not, but I just don't think the Chinese track and field team is as deep as the US team. They were expected to get these medals in sports like diving. The US *should* close the gap on the track.

Next thing you'll be telling me the UK team will be #1 in 4 years.

[favreauk]

The U.S. has always won the majority of its medals in "Athletics."
We're going to trail in medals until track & field opens and then it will be on, bitches.

Of our 2,177 Olympic Medals, the US has won 714 of them in Athletics, followed by 458 in Swimming. Of the 714 medals, 305 have been Gold.

Edited by favreauk, 11 August 2008 - 01:32 PM.

[URI]

5th place thus far. The strategy is working. Then, when Germany and Greece start amassing medals later in the Olympics, I'll make my push for the title, with the commies leading the way!

I have Germany too. And the US is going to murder in track, until the Jamaicans beat them (I have them too).

And you forget how the Latvians are going to bring this in for team URI.

Meanwhile, all you'll have is a little red book and an admittedly handsome silkscreen of Mao.

[johnmd20]

Meanwhile, all you'll have is a little red book and an admittedly handsome silkscreen of Mao.

Just trying to reinvent The Great Leap forward. It worked so well the first time.

[jkempa]

Current Standings

sibpin 144
Cannonball 1729 138
Mark in London 136
Doug Beerabeilli 132
johnmd20 109
Hendu's Gait 103
URISoxFan 98
jkempa 96
DJnVA 96
Morgans Magic Snowplow 92
BSJ 92
Mascho 92
Cuzittt 92
grantb 92
Jmanny 24 89
Warning Track Speed 85
Sea Bass Neely 84
Koufax32 83
Fo' Rheal 76
Razor Shines 41

[Razor Shines]

Oy vey.

[sibpin]

Cannonball's big problem? Bulgarian weightlifters.

[jkempa]

Current Standings

sibpin 181
Mark in London 176
Cannonball 1729 175
Doug Beerabeilli 163
johnmd20 155
jkempa 149
Hendu's Gait 146
URISoxFan 137
Morgans Magic Snowplow 133
BSJ 133
Mascho 133
DJnVA 133
Cuzittt 133
Warning Track Speed 126
Jmanny 24 124
Koufax32 118
grantb 117
Sea Bass Neely 117
Fo' Rheal 113
Razor Shines 54


Razor Shines: Rough start, man. I'm running the same pool at work with 36 players in that. Your score is 41 points below the even the lowest one in that pool. But you've got Latvia, so you have that going for you, which is nice.

[jkempa]

Current Standings

Mark in London 239
sibpin 235
Cannonball 1729 227
johnmd20 217
Doug Beerabeilli 205
jkempa 204
Hendu's Gait 195
Morgans Magic Snowplow 180
BSJ 180
Mascho 180
URISoxFan 180
Cuzittt 176
DJnVA 168
Warning Track Speed 161
Jmanny 24 159
Fo' Rheal 158
Koufax32 155
Sea Bass Neely 152
grantb 141
Razor Shines 72

Mark in London and sibpin would be in the lead in my office pool as well. Great picks so far guys.

[johnmd20]

Mark in London and sibpin would be in the lead in my office pool as well. Great picks so far guys.

Slovakia has been the pick of the pool. I thought taking South Korea would eat up too many population points, but they are doing a decent job. Zee Germans and Greece have to pick it up if johnmd20 is going to make a run.

Stupid Greeks.

[jkempa]

Last update until Monday:

Mark in London 307
sibpin 290
Cannonball 1729 278
johnmd20 261
jkempa 255
Hendu's Gait 250
Doug Beerabeilli 248
Morgans Magic Snowplow 235
BSJ 235
Mascho 231
URISoxFan 231
Cuzittt 227
DJnVA 212
Warning Track Speed 204
Fo' Rheal 201
Jmanny 24 198
Koufax32 198
Sea Bass Neely 195
grantb 175
Razor Shines 82

Slovakia has been the best pick of the pool so far. Masters of Canoeing!

[Doug Beerabelli]

Good thing track and field hasn't kicked in yet. Come back with golds, Jamaica!

[Razor Shines]

Great picks so far guys.

Thanks!

Any minute now, Russia should start winning some medals. As soon as the "Freestyle Drinking" and "Synchronized Breadline Forming" events start.

[MarkInLondon]

Last update until Monday:

Mark in London 307
sibpin 290
Cannonball 1729 278
johnmd20 261
jkempa 255
Hendu's Gait 250
Doug Beerabeilli 248
Morgans Magic Snowplow 235
BSJ 235
Mascho 231
URISoxFan 231
Cuzittt 227
DJnVA 212
Warning Track Speed 204
Fo' Rheal 201
Jmanny 24 198
Koufax32 198
Sea Bass Neely 195
grantb 175
Razor Shines 82

Slovakia has been the best pick of the pool so far. Masters of Canoeing!

Blimey- nose bleed altitude.

Go Godless Commies!!

[jkempa]

Updated Standings

Mark in London 523
jkempa 469
sibpin 452
Cannonball 1729 450
URISoxFan 447
Warning Track Speed 444
Doug Beerabeilli 434
Morgans Magic Snowplow 433
BSJ 433
Hendu's Gait 430
johnmd20 423
Cuzittt 417
Sea Bass Neely 412
DJnVA 410
Mascho 401
Fo' Rheal 398
Koufax32 361
grantb 354
Jmanny 24 331
Razor Shines 158

Mark In London : This Pool :: Michael Phelps : Swimming

[jkempa]

Hopefully USA and Jamaica track performances can help me catch up with Mark...


Mark in London 565
jkempa 520
Cannonball 1729 503
sibpin 501
URISoxFan 500
Warning Track Speed 498
Doug Beerabeilli 487
Hendu's Gait 485
BSJ 484
Morgans Magic Snowplow 484
Cuzittt 470
Sea Bass Neely 469
DJnVA 467
Fo' Rheal 460
Mascho 458
johnmd20 456
Koufax32 423
grantb 407
Jmanny 24 372
Razor Shines 193

[jkempa]

Mark in London 608
jkempa 571
URISoxFan 545
Warning Track Speed 537
Cannonball 1729 526
sibpin 520
Sea Bass Neely 515
Doug Beerabeilli 513
Hendu's Gait 512
Morgans Magic Snowplow 511
BSJ 511
Cuzittt 506
Fo' Rheal 501
Mascho 491
johnmd20 487
DJnVA 485
grantb 445
Koufax32 444
Jmanny 24 391
Razor Shines 216

[shawnrbu]

Is Razor Shines playing the same game as the rest of you guys?

[Cuzittt]

Is Razor Shines playing the same game as the rest of you guys?

Razor Shines choose 4 countries that NO ONE else picked... Russia, Argentina, Puerto Rico and South Africa. The 3 non-Superpowers have garnered RS 6 points. Russia has garnered him 72 points fewer than those with the US... and 97 points fewer than those with China.

His highest non-superpower score is Jamaica's 48... everyone else's highest non-superpower score is Australia with 70 (with the exception of a couple of people who have the UK, who has 78 points).

So, the answer is no... he is playing a different game.

[sibpin]

I'm pretty much relying on a big performance from the Kazakhs and the Italians in boxing... but looks like I'm pretty weak in canoeing. I also think it looks like we may get the US edging out China in points - the US is still alive in a lot of the team games, and I expect they'll do well enough in the T&F events also.

[jkempa]

The times, they are a changin'

jkempa 665
Mark in London 630
URISoxFan 625
Warning Track Speed 612
Doug Beerabeilli 593
Sea Bass Neely 586
Cuzittt 584
sibpin 572
Cannonball 1729 572
Mascho 569
Fo' Rheal 561
Hendu's Gait 558
Morgans Magic Snowplow 549
BSJ 549
johnmd20 519
DJnVA 517
Koufax32 512
grantb 510
Jmanny 24 412
Razor Shines 267

[bsj]

Ouch...goin the wrong way...

[jkempa]

Last update until Monday...URI overtakes Mark In London.

jkempa 746
URISoxFan 714
Mark in London 707
Warning Track Speed 686
Doug Beerabeilli 675
Cuzittt 673
sibpin 666
Cannonball 1729 666
Mascho 662
Sea Bass Neely 661
Hendu's Gait 647
Morgans Magic Snowplow 638
BSJ 638
Fo' Rheal 638
DJnVA 599
Koufax32 581
johnmd20 573
grantb 558
Jmanny 24 467
Razor Shines 307

[Warning Track Speed]

Thanks for the updates. I'm looking for a HUGE weekend out of Switzerland to pull this thing out at the last minute... are there any good Swiss marathoners?

[URI]

Thanks for the updates. I'm looking for a HUGE weekend out of Switzerland to pull this thing out at the last minute... are there any good Swiss marathoners?

Everyone knows the best marathoners are Latvian.

This will bury you.

[Razor Shines]

So, the answer is no... he is playing a different game.

I hate to make excuses, but I will here.

I spotted this thread and thought it might be interesting, and then noticed it was about 5 minutes after jkempa's deadline. So, I scrambled together a list, with zero research and really zero knowledge of the Olympic favorites.

Picking Russia was stupid, and I don't really know what I was thinking when I did it. Ditto with South Africa. Argentina is good at basketball and soccer, so I assumed (incorrectly) that they'd be good at other things.

Meh. Your asses are mine in 2010.

[Doug Beerabelli]

Oh, Canada...I need more medals from you

And Bahamas--I could use more from you too

I've the States, and the Jamaics

And Australia in the pool

The Koreans South and Norwegians stout

The Guineas, Dikes and Cub(a)s

Oh, Canada, glorious and free

Oh, Canada, I need more medals from thee

Oh, Canada, please win more medals....for...me!

Edited by Doug Beerabelli, 22 August 2008 - 10:11 AM.

[bsj]

Not that it matters, but curious to see how close I get to the American Gold medal total. I said 36....
right now the US is at 31...

if the US can somehow win the basketball titles for men and women, and can manage the men's volleyball title...thats 34...

Can the US nail down 2 more golds on the track? They are favored (slightly) in the men's and women's 4X400 relays (if they can hold the batons)....and they have good medal chances (although arent necessarily favored in) a number of other T&F events still to go.

Will they hit 36? I say 50/50....

EDIT- Well too bad I'm 100 points back cause I nailed the 36

Edited by bsj, 24 August 2008 - 05:38 AM.

[jkempa]

Final Standings

jkempa 862
URISoxFan 858
Doug Beerabeilli 811
sibpin 810
Mark in London 806
Cannonball 1729 800
Cuzittt 795
Sea Bass Neely 793
Mascho 788
Warning Track Speed 785
Hendu's Gait 779
Fo' Rheal 757
Morgans Magic Snowplow 742
BSJ 742
Koufax32 720
johnmd20 706
DJnVA 696
grantb 637
Jmanny 24 527
Razor Shines 404

Best possible score would have been 944 by picking China followed by Jamaica, UK, Australia, Norway, Cuba, France, Netherlands, Belarus and New Zealand.

[URI]

Goddamnit.

If I only went with the UK over Germany...

[johnmd20]

Goddamnit.

If I only went with the UK over Germany...

Nicely done, regardless.

My two main mistakes were:

1) Picking Greece, forgetting their inflated 2004 medal totals were due to home field advantage.
2) Not picking Jamaica, which was a guaranteed loss if you didn't pick them.

[bsj]

Nicely done, regardless.

My two main mistakes were:

1) Picking Greece, forgetting their inflated 2004 medal totals were due to home field advantage.
2) Not picking Jamaica, which was a guaranteed loss if you didn't pick them.

you know...I factored that in...but they actually did fairly well in 2000 too, so I figured they would still be worth the pick...

Nicely done jkempa...

FYI, anyone who still has the fantasy itch, I have spaces avail in my fantasy football league drafting Saturday night (in case you missed me pimping it on the fantasy board lol)

[URI]

Nicely done, regardless.

My two main mistakes were:

1) Picking Greece, forgetting their inflated 2004 medal totals were due to home field advantage.
2) Not picking Jamaica, which was a guaranteed loss if you didn't pick them.

I accept no good words from you, commie.

[johnmd20]

I accept no good words from you, commie.

No worries, you didn't win anyway.

[URI]

Not a great card for you to play there, Comrade 16th place.

[grantb]

Thanks for doing this, jkempa. It certainly made it more interesting than just rooting for Americans all the time.

[johnmd20]

Not a great card for you to play there, Comrade 16th place.

It turns out picking China or the US really didn't make a difference. So not only am I a commie, but turning red didn't help anyway. And now I have to do my time in the labor camp.

And thanks to Jkempa for doing this, it was cool to have some rooting interest in the entire games

[jkempa]

Glad you guys had fun with it. It was fun for me to do as well. I'll try to come up with something for Vancouver!