I saw a minute of the Basketball game between the USA and China today. Gosh Basketball is dull. Look at all the things I thought about in that minute to try to avoid engaging with the game
a) Is giganticism a kind of disability (door frames too low etc)? Hence shouldn’t basketball be in the Paralympics. Or maybe there should be a special division for people under five foot six playing basketball.
b) Basketball is a perfect example of a sport which humans have out-evolved to an extent that the game is completely different to the one originally intended.
c) In retrospect it was probably kind of dumb for the USA to have lobbied for certain sports that they were particularly good at to be involved in the Olympics. In the Baseball and Basketball they really are setting themselves up for a fall if they don’t win. (I know I am probably wrong in this, but the only way to get our Olympic loving statisticians to post is by deliberately provoking them!)
d) How do the US pick their national team (in this and the baseball)? Its kind of related to “how does anyone pick their national team” but in a professional sport where club competitions are paramount, is there an easy way to do this?
e) Whilst I have been told (three times in that minute) that basketball is massively popular in China, and Yao Ming is like the Chinese David Beckham, its still a bit odd that he was chosen to light the Olympic torch. Don’t you give that honour to someone who is a genuine gold medal prospect, which as far as I can see, is not the case with the Chinese basketball team no matter how much they like the game?
f) Actually, once a seven foot six bloke has got hold of the Olympic torch, its probably quite hard to get it off of him, so maybe that’s the explaination.
ONCE BOUNCY MINUTE. THREE OLYMPIC MINUTES IN TOTAL.