…and a cast of thousands

On Aug 25, 4:55 am, Icono Clast wrote:
[Please note cross-posts.]
I have prepared a an adjusted ranking of the top 23 medal-winning
countries that might be available this time tomorrow. Jamaica is
Number One, the USA 19, and China last.

http://geocities.com/iconoc/Articles/Olymp08.pdf

On Mon, 25 Aug 2008 17:07:13 -0700 (PDT), Icono Clast
wrote:

On Aug 25, 4:55 am, Icono Clast wrote:
[Please note cross-posts.]
I have prepared a an adjusted ranking of the top 23 medal-winning
countries that might be available this time tomorrow. Jamaica is
Number One, the USA 19, and China last.

http://geocities.com/iconoc/Articles/Olymp08.pdf

Considering that I don't particularly want to live in the
Caribbean, and looking at #2, I think it's a great way of
listing the results:-)


Cheers, Alan, Australia
--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alan_s/
http://loraltravel.blogspot.com
Latest: Two Indian Hotels: to Sleep, Perchance...

"Alan S" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 25 Aug 2008 17:07:13 -0700 (PDT), Icono Clast
wrote:

On Aug 25, 4:55 am, Icono Clast wrote:
[Please note cross-posts.]
I have prepared a an adjusted ranking of the top 23 medal-winning
countries that might be available this time tomorrow. Jamaica is
Number One, the USA 19, and China last.

http://geocities.com/iconoc/Articles/Olymp08.pdf

Considering that I don't particularly want to live in the
Caribbean, and looking at #2, I think it's a great way of
listing the results:-)


What surprised me looking at medals won v population statistics, was that
Pakistan (who are quite a "sporty" nation - cricket, squash, hockey, etc.)
won no medals whatsoever.

Gerry

"Alan S" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 25 Aug 2008 17:07:13 -0700 (PDT), Icono Clast
wrote:

On Aug 25, 4:55 am, Icono Clast wrote:
[Please note cross-posts.]
I have prepared a an adjusted ranking of the top 23 medal-winning
countries that might be available this time tomorrow. Jamaica is
Number One, the USA 19, and China last.

http://geocities.com/iconoc/Articles/Olymp08.pdf

Considering that I don't particularly want to live in the
Caribbean, and looking at #2, I think it's a great way of
listing the results:-)


What surprised me looking at medals won v population statistics, was that
Pakistan (who are quite a "sporty" nation - cricket, squash, hockey, etc.)
with a poulation fast approaching 170 million,
won no medals whatsoever.

Gerry

On 8/25/2008 5:07 PM Icono Clast ignored two million years of human
evolution to write:

On Aug 25, 4:55 am, Icono Clast wrote:
[Please note cross-posts.]
I have prepared a an adjusted ranking of the top 23 medal-winning
countries that might be available this time tomorrow. Jamaica is
Number One, the USA 19, and China last.

http://geocities.com/iconoc/Articles/Olymp08.pdf

You're a ****ing loon. Not that this is any surprise, given
your lame-brained self-serving predilection for off-topic spam.

On Aug 25, 9:15*pm, "Gerald Oliver Swift" wrote:
"Alan S" wrote in message

...

On Mon, 25 Aug 2008 17:07:13 -0700 (PDT), Icono Clast
wrote:

On Aug 25, 4:55 am, Icono Clast wrote:
[Please note cross-posts.]
I have prepared a an adjusted ranking of the top 23 medal-winning
countries that might be available this time tomorrow. Jamaica is
Number One, the USA 19, and China last.

http://geocities.com/iconoc/Articles/Olymp08.pdf

Considering that I don't particularly want to live in the
Caribbean, and looking at #2, I think it's a great way of
listing the results:-)

What surprised me looking at medals won v population statistics, was that
Pakistan (who are quite a "sporty" nation - cricket, squash, hockey, etc.)
won no medals whatsoever.

Gerry

Only field hockey is in the Olympics. So only one sport for them.
And they are in some kind of war, I hear.

"Icono Clast" wrote in message
...
I have prepared a an adjusted ranking of the top 23 medal-winning
countries that might be available this time tomorrow. Jamaica is
Number One, the USA 19, and China last.

Except that doing your rating per capita handicaps any large Country. That
would only be fair IF we could send a far larger team that was a per capita
percentage comparable to the other Countries, but it isn't. Our team would
have to be 100 times the size of Jamaica's to start out comparably, but
Jamaica was allowed to field the same size teams as the US.

"John Wheaton" wrote in message
. ..

"Icono Clast" wrote in message
...
I have prepared a an adjusted ranking of the top 23 medal-winning
countries that might be available this time tomorrow. Jamaica is
Number One, the USA 19, and China last.

Except that doing your rating per capita handicaps any large Country. That
would only be fair IF we could send a far larger team that was a per
capita percentage comparable to the other Countries, but it isn't. Our
team would have to be 100 times the size of Jamaica's to start out
comparably, but Jamaica was allowed to field the same size teams as the
US.

I was under the impression that team sizes are dictated by how many people
have qualified in pre-Olympic events.

Cheers,
George W Russell
Bangalore

[Please note cross-posts.]

On Aug 25, 9:58 pm, Republicans Hate America wrote:
You're a ****ing loon.

Thank you.

Icono Clast said:
I have prepared a an adjusted ranking of the top 23 medal-winning
countries … Jamaica is Number One, the USA 19, and China last.

Alan, Australia said:
You're a little late, although you can argue about the
weighting given to gold, silver and bronze:
http://www.geocities.com/unclebryan/Polympic.html

That's excellent. A bit different in approach but more comprehensive.

http://geocities.com/iconoc/Articles/Olymp08.pdf

… looking at #2, I think it's a great way of listing the results:-)

Thank you.

I was watching all those incredibly disciplined dancers and
drummers in both ceremonies and wondering what will happen
ater to the very few unfortunates who stood out for missing
a step or a cue.

The same thought gnawed at me.

I felt the best real performers, apart from the athletes,
were taken away in Police vans after being arrested in "Free
Tibet" protests.

Now that journalists have gotten out of the country, we should start
seeing reports about what really went down.


Pat in TX said:
gymnasts' ages are important … the power to weight
ratio and the skeletal structure, etc.

The average weight of the female USA gymnasts was something like 106
pounds; the Chinese team was about thirty pounds lighter! Yeah, sure,
they were all of qualifying age.


Miki asked:
Why do you cross post? Does it serve a special
purpose other than saving you time?

I thought this particular subject to be of interest to the groups to
which it's cross-posted. I further thought that if there were any
comments, they, too, might be of interest. But you, and others, have
the option (that I notice you ignored) to change or eliminate the
groups you regard as "other" even though you know where you can find
me. That's why I make it a point to let you know what I've done.

It's interesting to note the differences with the same post being the
last in each group:
[Dance] 17 messages, 9 authors
[USA-Canada] 18 messages, 10 authors
[Europe] 21 messages, 11 authors

"James Silverton" wrote in message
news:5bCsk.749$w51.368@trnddc01...
Mike wrote on Mon, 25 Aug 2008 18:01:38 +0100:

Alan S wrote:
I'm afraid I was a little less impressed by the show; but I
must admit my bias against the regime has a bit to do with
that. I also dislike cheats, whether they cheat with
performance-enhancing drugs (time and technology on the
samples taken over the past fortnight could become a major
embarrassment in my opinion), lip-synching little girls who
are prettier than the real singer, or computer-enhanced TV
feeds of "live" light shows and fireworks.

You didn't mention the faking of birthdates for competitors, whose
documentation mysteriously disappears when their eligability is
questioned.
.
The "faking" of birthdates does seem suspiciously possible but I am not as
prone as many to raise spurious indignation about age limits that differ
among sports. Again, I find myself completely unmoved by the manipulation
of singers' images and the wearing of exotic costumers by Han Chinese that
seem to exercise the professional umbrage takers.

Is taking drugs that do not harm cheating or just an aspect of the war
between the nerds and the jocks? Throwing lawyers at ingenious methods is
the response of the disappointed jock. I have to admit that I sometimes
find myself hoping that Arnold Schwartzeger would show ill effects but
all that has happened to him is that he has appeared on an Austrian stamp
and been elected governor of California.

A lot of the original Olympic revival rules have gone. The elimination of
professionals to keep out those horrible lower classes using muscles
gained in manual labor has long gone. Money is a great incentive: the
first 4-minute mile was not run by Roger Bannister but by the professional
runner Richard Parrot in 1770.
--

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland


Actually it appears the guy's name was James Parrot.
See: http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/con...4/s1102711.htm