NEW YORK, Aug. 3, 2012 — Being that I was 38,000 feet in the air, enjoying the comforts of the business class cabin of a KLM 747 when the United States was rewriting the record book against Nigeria, I set out to watch the streaming replay before dawn this morning on NBCSports online. Black screen. Nothing would play. Nothing. Tried it four times, logging out, logging in, changing my Internet provider password, etc. Can I have the last 45 minutes of my
I am going to give you a Team USA gold-or-not prediction in this column, and I promise you a prediction that goes against the grain. That’s all I’ll say about that … for now. First, I’ll hand over the podium and relay a quote that could be the defining declaration concerning the London Olympics: “Let’s no longer beat about the bush. This summer’s Olympics Games are going to be a catalog of disasters. Not everything that can go wrong will go wrong.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Barack Obama was on Kiss Cam, smooching his wife Michelle, when the outcome was no longer in doubt. The First Family’s date night had a happy ending, but it was perilous along the way as Obama and vice president Joe Biden watched from courtside seats across from the Brazilian bench. The home team struggled coming out of the gate, was outsized and outcrafted and trailed by 10 points at the end of the first quarter. Even when Obama was in
LAS VEGAS — In their continual quest to keep up with American talent, the serious basketball countries in the world have relied on fundamentals, intelligence and, well, Yankee stupidity. The U.S. has always had better basketball players and more of them than any other country. Sometimes, however, talent doesn’t translate to gold. International teams have proven that experienced teams playing with skilled unselfish players can cause problems for the U.S. The 2012 U.S. Olympic team is aware of history – losses in
Kostas Papanikolau of Greece, the 2nd-round draft pick of the New York Knicks in 2012 Olympic basketball begins today … sort of. And all those New York Knicks fans who are wondering about their new draft pick, Kostas Papanikolau, will likely get a chance to see him later this summer against Team USA. Greece is one of the favorites in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament that begins today in Venezuela, and there are more familiar faces for NBA fans
By Chris Sheridan And the first pertinent sub-question on that topic: Who will the big guys be? As in big and tall. Dwight Howard is the first name on that list, because like most of the 2008 Redeem Team, he has earned the right to defend the gold medal he won in Beijing. Ditto Chris Bosh. The same goes for Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Kobe Bryant, and maybe to a slightly lesser degree to Chris Paul and Deron Williams. You can also set aside
KAUNAS, Lithuania — There is only one thing that is ultimately relevant for Americans about the team that just won EuroBasket: One year from now, will Spain have what it takes to defeat Team USA in the gold medal game of the London Olympics? Because let’s face it, this Spanish team showed it is clearly the second-best team in the world right now, just as they were three years ago in Beijing when they put 107 points on the board (in a
By Chris Sheridan KAUNAS, Lithuania — Historically, when the French have played the Greeks, the script has so often played out the same way: It would be a close game in the fourth quarter, and the French would then fall apart like they were mimicking the recent Greek economy. So when Thursday’s quarterfinal was a two-point game with 2:01 left, the French should have been predisposed to expect the worst. Who would make the crucial mistake? Who would commit a stupid foul? Who would let