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cvalue13
·I guess my point is, this is far more nuanced than what you are portraying here..
You mean 4 brief sentences skips nuance that could be covered better in a novella?
those who understand this don't question that the person who has the gold medal hanging on their neck has earned it without the use of an asterisk
You mean, all else being equal, world class competitors would not prefer to "win" against the known 800lb gorillas, than absent them?
This proves the point - they took the competition for granted, the US choked and paid the price because of it.
I don't understand what point you think this "proves." I would hope and expect the Argentine players have their own version of an asterisk that they're very proud of: "you bet your ass we're the only non-U.S. team in modern Olympics to win gold." (And as mentioned above, I'd expect many top competitors to feel the opposite asterisk, if the U.S. didn't field a team.)
this is no longer a sport where only US players are of the caliber required to win the Olympics
Now you're really stretching for ground to fight over. Of course being the 800lb gorilla never ensures a win, but it doesn't change the weight class:
And to be fair (to be faaaaaiiiiiirrrrr) to the 2004 team, they did not take the competition for granted except to the extent they didn't even join the team in the first place. In 2004 it was basically uncool to even bother with the Olympics, in part (you may remember) because there were at that time serious security threats around the Olympics: just a few examples of players who opted to stay home: Vince Carter, Kevin Garnett, McGrady, Ray Allen, and Jason Kidd, Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant's (trial for sexual assault was ongoing). As a result the U.S. fielded the youngest/least experienced team in its modern history, of essentially the nation's D-team (other than Iverson and Duncan).
Team USA (men's and women's) hasn't lost a basketball game in the Olympics since 2004.
But we digress...
