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Figured we could use an Olympics thread. Here's a (somewhat complete) list of Minnesota associated athletes in Beijing:

Kara Goucher, Track & Field Born in Queens, NY but her home town is Duluth. Kara makes her Olympic debut after an impressive performance in the Olympic trials. She'll be competing in the 5,000m and the 10,000m.

Shani Marks, Track and Field Shani graduated from the University of Minnesota, and lives and trains in the Twin Cities. She's a two time indoor and outdoor US champion in the triple jump, so we hope she'll add another medal in Beijing.

Matt Schnobrich, Rowing Matt was born and raised in St. Paul, and rowed with the Minneapolis Rowing Club before moving to Philadelphia. He will be rowing in the men's eight in Beijing.

Micah Boyd, Rowing Another St. Paul native who trained with the Minneapolis Rowing Club, Micah will be rowing in the Men's Eight with Matt Schnobrich. He's the one who will be wearing a Minnesota Twins baseball cap.

Ali Bernard, Wrestling Ali beat several veteran athletes to gain her place on the Olympic team. The New Ulm, MN native will be competing in the women's freestyle wrestling, 72kg/158.5 lbs.

Jake Deitchler, Wrestling Our second Minnesotan wrestler just graduated from Anoka High School, here in the Twin Cities. At just 18 years old, he's only the third high school wrestler to compete on the Olympic team. He'll be competing in Greco-Roman wrestling, 66kg/145.5 lbs

Becky Holder, Equestrian Another Twin Cities resident to cheer for: Becky runs a farm in Hugo, and lives in Mendota Heights. She and her 12-year-old thoroughbred horse, Courageous Comet, will be eventing in Beijing.

Sada Jacobson, Fencing was born in Rochester, MN although she now lives in Georgia. An Olympic veteran, she competed in the 2004 games, and will be returning to Beijing to fence in the individual sabre and team sabre.

Megan Kalmoe, Rowing Born in Minneapolis, and raised just across the state line in St. Croix Falls, WI, Megan. She'll be rowing in the women's double sculls.

Chris Reitsma, Baseball While Chris will be playing for the Canadian baseball team, he was born in Minneapolis. He is a right handed pitcher.

Seimone Augustus, basketball Minnesota Lynx

Al Jefferson, Basketball Oh wait, im a couple years early

Have the opening ceremonies been on tv yet?

I went to high school with Megan Kalmoe. Had no clue she was rowing until the story came out about her qualifying for the olympics. She didn't even start rowing until college. I'll definitely be cheering her on, it'll be cool to see her represent the country.

Lindsey Bird, the old setter from the U of M, just saved the women's volleyball team in their third set against Japan. The US Women are ranked 5th in the world, Japan 6th.

^^^^yea Its a heart breaker for japanese. Im in Japan for the month and was watching live, they really wanted that one. A double whammy after finishing 3rd in Judo, a sport they invented.

but luckily badminton is coming along nicely for jpn

Is Peckovic playing for somebody?

he's not listed on the serbian national team

I know he played for the U20 team though

Devilzsidewalk wrote:he's not listed on the serbian national team

is Serbia even qualified?

im not sure but their roster listed on wikipedia doesnt have him. the centers listed are darko, krstic, kosta perovic, and boban marjanovic

He's on the national team of Montenegro, who didn't qualify for the Olympics.

Nice to see USA dominate in game 1, Both Women and Men.

GO USA

so Montenegro is independent now, you learn something new everyday. And in my case forget 3 new things everyday as well. (I have that Memento disease)

TheYounGunz wrote:Nice to see USA dominate in game 1, Both Women and Men.

GO USA

I wasnt too impressed, USA looks vulnerable. They still cant shoot since they dont play Redd. Against any half decent backcourt that doesnt freakout by ball pressure that can continue to hit their outside shots for 4 quarters, they can easily lose. The difference hopefully is defense.

Carmelo looked like crap. Hes not playing up to the speed of the rest of the team. Give Redd or Tayshaun his starting spot imo.

I'd be more worried about a team like Germany that's going to slow it down and pound it down low. It boggles the mind that Team USA might not have an answer fro Chris Kaman.

The Redeem Team needs a guy like Kevin Garnett who is arguably the best team player of all time who can play outstanding defense and get everyone involved. This team has the greatest collection of one-on-one players, including the two very best in Kobe and LeBron. Throw in Carmelo and there's another great one-on-one player. It's a shame the best players in the league won't play in the Olympics but that's they're decision.

That Men's 4x100 free relay was absolutely bananas.

TheFranchise21 wrote:The Redeem Team needs a guy like Kevin Garnett

Every team needs a guy like Kevin Garnett. The men's volleyball team could use a guy like Kevin Garnett. I'm pretty sure the 4 x 400 squad would improve upon Kevin's addition.

deeney0 wrote:I'd be more worried about a team like Germany that's going to slow it down and pound it down low. It boggles the mind that Team USA might not have an answer fro Chris Kaman.

there's no need to be worried. all you have to do is to play physical against our guards. though I didn't see the game I knew Greece would kick our a$$ because their guards have our number and since your guards are even better talentwise than the greece guards you shouldn't have that many troubles facing the german NT. play full court press and you'll have a field day. in the olympic qualifier tournament we even had troubles bringing the ball up vs New Zealand...

They lost that Greece game because they were so incredibly undisciplined against the pick and roll, it was sad.

I think everyone is overblowing the whole struggles element. This is 2008 now, teams are better than ever. The USA will not blow out every opponent right from the gun. Yes, they will look bad at moments, and that is because they're playing respectable teams who can at the very least put up some fight. China rode the adrenaline for a while, but then the US wore them down. That is unlikely to happen against better teams. If they do win gold, there will be probably a couple games where they will have to absolutely just grind it out.