Never.
There's only one sport in which I am happy to cheer on Europe, and that's Ryder Cup golf. If we got subsumed into an EU team in the Olympics it would sound the death knell for the games, I suspect. Sport is about tribalism and tribal emotions. An EU team just wouldn't work in the Olympics.
England OUT of the EUSSR!!!
ReplyDeleteTo be fair, it seems like it's listing superpower blocs instead of listing the EU as a 'single country'. However, if it were to do it more accurately without Euro-centric bias, it'd be better to put the USA and Canada into a single bloc, Australia and NZ in the same bloc, Japan and South Korea in the same bloc, etc.
ReplyDeleteThere is a continent list further down the page.
I think you're confusing the media and medals. Medals are what good athletes get for winning. The media is where athletes who used to win but have got old and slow go on to work in.
ReplyDeleteBut while we're talking about made up countries, considering how much US debt China holds, maybe we should count them together and that "Sino-American Federation" would have 43 medals, trumping the "Europeon Union's" tally...
ReplyDelete"EU medal tracker is created by Euro-Informationen, Berlin, Germany. The communication company is a content provider in the area of consumer-oriented communications"
ReplyDeleteIf this is an example of what they think consumers are oriented by then they will not be in business for long.
Unless of course it is an EU front or unless it is one of those lobby groups the EU give money to so that they can lobby the EU.
Tables like this are what make me want to abolish the olympics.
Look, there you go again - just don't get me started.
Let's not forget that each country can only enter a limited number of competitors into each event, so this statistics are not even a fair comparison of what it would look like.
ReplyDeleteThe UK is doing very well on its own in the medal table thank you very much and it does need lumping in to the EU.... as indeed is the case in just about every other social, political and economic aspect of our life.
ReplyDeleteIain, with all due respect, one imagined community is as good as another. What matters isn't really where they come from, it's whether we feel like they're 'our girls' or 'our boys'. And frankly, if (say) the Italians were wearing an EU shirt to face China or the United States, I'd be cheering pretty hard, and I don't think I'd be the only one.
ReplyDeleteI think your Euroscepticism is blinding you here. When Tevez kept you up, were you singing softer because he's an Argie?
As a Brit, I always support America in the Ryder Cup.
ReplyDeleteI can think of nothing better than all international football being played by a unified EU team, and these "divisive" and "nationalistic" national teams being abolished. There would of course have to be a 6-month rotating captaincy, and strict arrangements for proportional representation of nations' players.
ReplyDeleteIf THAT does not bring home to the average Joe what the EU is really all about, then nothing would.
Alan Douglas
Matthew said...
ReplyDeletefrankly, if (say) the Italians were wearing an EU shirt to face China or the United States, I'd be cheering pretty hard, and I don't think I'd be the only one.
I'd be cheering hard too - for the Americans.
"And frankly, if (say) the Italians were wearing an EU shirt to face China or the United States"
ReplyDeleteyou'ld be one of a few. For myself if at any time I can betray the EU or its secrets to the US. I'll do it. If it seriously harms the EU even better
Personally I would list the UK together with Australia, New Zealand and Canada. That way you get 17 Gold medals, 13 silver and 20 Bronze- after all, these four countries do have the same head of state.
I reckon the Anglosphere has an advantage over the EU as a political grouping. The former is likely to engage my natural support. The latter is an institutionally corrupt alliance of my natural enemies.
ReplyDeleteThe Italian in an EU shirt is symbol of the vainglorious aspirations of the 900 odd members of the ruling class in the EU who have voted to ratify the Lisbon Treaty.
May the EU-enthusiasts be numbered and mocked as traitors on their individual deaths.
Of course what you and your kind will never admit is that the Labour Government's financial support (and Gordon specifically when Chancellor) of Sport UK's elite sports programme which has helped us so much in Beijing.
ReplyDeleteNope, for you and your kind the best you can do is snipe at the EU.
Same old Tories!
So "sport is about tribalism and tribal emotions". Are you suggesting someone can only belong to one tribe? How then to explain the various loyalties in six-nations rugby or seperate Scots, Welsh, NI and English football whose supporters might all feel a loyalty to "team GB" at the Olympics? (even though "GB" strictly speaking excludes NI)
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid your falling into an England=Britain position here. If the smaller nations of the UK can shout for "GB" why do the English find it so hard to shout for Europe? Is it that some English people are happy to be the big-boys but never the junior partner?
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteLabour Matters said...
ReplyDelete"Of course what you and your kind will never admit is that the Labour Government's financial support (and Gordon specifically when Chancellor) of Sport UK's elite sports programme which has helped us so much in Beijing."
Err, no it is the National Lottery, as far as I recall, an innovation of the last Conservative Government. But then New Labour has never let the truth get in the way...
And I understand that our outstanding 19 year old double gold medal winning swimmer has been given the grand sum of £160 a week because she is such an elite athlete. Hardly something of which to be proud.
If it went by official or recognised langauges per states/teams it would go like this:
ReplyDeleteRank - Country - Gold - Silver - Bronze - TOTAL
1 - English - 36 - 33 - 42 - 111
2 - Chinese - 27 - 13 - 8 - 48
3 - Russian - 10 - 15 - 23 - 48
4 - German - 10 - 6 - 10 - 26
5 - Korean - 8 - 10 - 7 - 25
6 - Italian - 8 - 5 - 8 - 21
7 - Gaelic 8 4 8 20
8 - Japanese - 7 - 5 - 5 - 17
9 - Welsh 7 3 8 18
10 - Scots 7 3 7 17
11 - French - 6 - 11 - 16 - 33
12 - Ukrainian - 5 - 2 - 5 - 12
13 - Spanish - 3 - 5 - 8 - 16
14 - Slovakian - 3 - 1 - 0 - 4
15 - Lapp - 2 - 5 - 2 - 9
16 - Czech - 2 - 3 - 0 - 5
17 - Romanian - 2 - 1 - 2 - 5
18 - Georgian - 2 - 0 - 1 - 3
19 - Shona - 1 - 3 - 0 - 4
20 - Sindebele - 1 - 3 - 0 - 4
21 - Dutch - 1 - 2 - 4 - 7
22 - Azerbaijani - 1 - 2 - 2 - 5
23 - Norwegian - 1 - 2 - 1 - 4
24 - Mongolian - 1 - 1 - 0 - 2
25 - Polish - 1 - 1 - 0 - 2
26 - Portuguese - 1 - 0 - 4 - 5
27 - Bahasa Indonesia - 1 - 0 - 3 - 4
28 - Bulgarian - 1 - 0 - 1 - 2
29 - Finnish - 1 - 0 - 1 - 2
30 - Amharic - 1 - 0 - 0 - 1
31 - Hindi - 1 - 0 - 0 - 1
32 - Thai - 1 - 0 - 0 - 1
33 - Hungarian - 0 - 4 - 1 - 5
34 - Kazakh - 0 - 3 - 3 - 6
35 - Swedish - 0 - 3 - 0 - 3
36 - Belarussian - 0 - 2 - 6 - 8
37 - Turkish - 0 - 2 - 1 - 3
38 - Arabic - 0 - 1 - 2 - 3
39 - Kyrgyz - 0 - 1 - 1 - 2
40 - Slovenian - 0 - 1 - 1 - 2
41 - Uzbek - 0 - 1 - 1 - 2
42 - Serbo-Croat - 0 - 1 - 1 - 2
43 - Berber 0 1 1 2
44 - Estonian - 0 - 1 - 0 - 1
45 - Vietnamese - 0 - 1 - 0 - 1
46 - Armenian - 0 - 0 - 5 - 5
47 - Danish - 0 - 0 - 2 - 2
48 - Lithuanian - 0 - 0 - 1 - 1
49 - Tajik - 0 - 0 - 1 - 1
And if we had shown a bit more fortitude in keeping the Empire together this is how we would have done.
ReplyDeleteRank - Country - Gold - Silver - Bronze - TOTAL
1 - British Empire - 36 - 33 - 43 - 112
2 - China - 27 - 13 - 6 - 46
3 - Germany - 8 - 5 - 5 - 18
4 - South Korea - 7 - 9 - 4 - 20
5 - Japan - 7 - 5 - 5 - 17
6 - Italy - 6 - 5 - 5 - 16
7 - Russia - 5 - 8 - 8 - 21
8 - Ukraine - 5 - 2 - 5 - 12
9 - France - 3 - 9 - 10 - 22
10 - Slovakia - 3 - 1 - 0 - 4
11 - Czech Republic - 2 - 3 - 0 - 5
12 - Romania - 2 - 1 - 2 - 5
13 - Switzerland - 2 - 0 - 3 - 5
14 - Georgia - 2 - 0 - 1 - 3
15 - Spain - 2 - 0 - 1 - 3
16 - Cuba - 1 - 3 - 4 - 8
17 - Netherlands - 1 - 2 - 4 - 7
18 - Azerbaijan - 1 - 2 - 2 - 5
19 - Norway - 1 - 2 - 1 - 4
20 - DPR Korea - 1 - 1 - 3 - 5
21 - Mongolia - 1 - 1 - 0 - 2
22 - Poland - 1 - 1 - 0 - 2
23 - Brazil - 1 - 0 - 4 - 5
24 - Indonesia - 1 - 0 - 3 - 4
25 - Bulgaria - 1 - 0 - 1 - 2
26 - Finland - 1 - 0 - 1 - 2
27 - Ethiopia - 1 - 0 - 0 - 1
28 - Thailand - 1 - 0 - 0 - 1
29 - Hungary - 0 - 4 - 1 - 5
30 - Kazakhstan - 0 - 3 - 3 - 6
31 - Sweden - 0 - 3 - 0 - 3
32 - Belarus - 0 - 2 - 6 - 8
33 - Turkey - 0 - 2 - 1 - 3
34 - Austria - 0 - 1 - 2 - 3
35 - Algeria - 0 - 1 - 1 - 2
36 - Colombia - 0 - 1 - 1 - 2
37 - Kyrgyzstan - 0 - 1 - 1 - 2
38 - Slovenia - 0 - 1 - 1 - 2
39 - Uzbekistan - 0 - 1 - 1 - 2
40 - Ecuador - 0 - 1 - 0 - 1
41 - Estonia - 0 - 1 - 0 - 1
42 - Serbia - 0 - 1 - 0 - 1
43 - Vietnam - 0 - 1 - 0 - 1
44 - Armenia - 0 - 0 - 5 - 5
45 - Chinese Taipei - 0 - 0 - 2 - 2
46 - Denmark - 0 - 0 - 2 - 2
47 - Argentina - 0 - 0 - 1 - 1
48 - Croatia - 0 - 0 - 1 - 1
49 - Lithuania - 0 - 0 - 1 - 1
50 - Mexico - 0 - 0 - 1 - 1
51 - Tajikistan - 0 - 0 - 1 - 1
52 - Togo - 0 - 0 - 1 - 1
Fewer European athletes would be allowed to compete if there was just one team for the EU - reducing the likelihood of European wins. This site is completely wrongheaded (not exactly unusual for EU integrationalists, admittedly).
ReplyDeleteMind you the Mongols beat us along with the Japanese in the imperial stakes.
ReplyDeleteRank Country Gold Silver Bronze TOTAL
1 - Mongol Empire - 52 - 47 - 50 - 149
2 - Japanese Empire - 43 - 29 - 23 - 95
3 - British Empire - 36 - 33 - 43 - 112
4 - Third Reich - 24 - 34 - 38 - 96
5 - Roman Empire - 15 - 18 - 26 - 59
6 - USSR - 13 - 20 - 34 - 67
7 - Habsburg Empire - 13 - 14 - 15 - 42
8 - Spanish Empire - 4 - 7 - 12 - 23
9 - French Empire - 3 - 11 - 13 - 27
10 - Ottoman Empire - 3 - 4 - 5 - 12
11 - Imperial Sweden - 1 - 3 - 1 - 5
12 - Portuguese Empire - 1 - 0 - 4 - 5
13 - Ethiopia - 1 - 0 - 0 - 1
14 - Siam - 1 - 0 - 0 - 1
Surely linguistically you should have listed Hungarian and Finnish together ? That would give the 7 total medals !
ReplyDeleteAlan Douglas
@just for a bit of fun: great work! Don't forget about the Chinese empire, though. And I'd like to point out that the 'Dutch Empire' once included Indonesia, South Africa (sort of), part of Brazil and New York!
ReplyDeleteIain, have you seen the terrible flooding in Northern Ireland?
ReplyDeleteif David Cameron really wants to care about events in Northern Ireland, he should go out there and show his support for the people of the province.
now that really WOULD be something different.
In the Ryder Cup I always cheer for the yanks for two reasons.
ReplyDelete1. Linguistic and cultural links
2. The Ryder Cup team is part of the thin end of the Europhile wedge.
All Europeanisation should be fought tooth and nail
mmm said...
ReplyDelete"May the EU-enthusiasts be numbered and mocked as traitors on their individual deaths."
And may that be soon.
just for a bit of fun said...
"3 - British Empire - 36 - 33 - 43 - 112
5 - Roman Empire - 15 - 18 - 26 - 59"
You're dividing my loyalties now.
lol This thread tells me all I need to know about how 'modern' tories are facing up the real world: same old eu-hatred, dreaming of anglo-spheres, monarchic blocs and wishing for the empire ...
ReplyDeleteI'll go back to the LDs now, flawed, yes, but at least looking forward rather than back.
Labour Matters has told us what Brown and his incompetents will be telling us..It was Labour That did it"
ReplyDeleteBrown will be in the Team UK Track Suit when he gets to Bejing! The BBC and Sky News will give him as much publicity as possible. The Young, Fit, Athletic Brown Honed to perfection. A man of courage and ready for the big decisions!
Iain, If we are in the EU -as you want, and we demand of the USA one football team - then in the World Cup the EU will get only one team allocated!
If that is what you want carry on supporting this venture.
And Norther Ireland tops the current flood table, though is it any wonder given that:
ReplyDeleteNorthern Ireland's National Development plan: Flood risk strategy
"The strategy seeks to address the needs of a wide range of stakeholders, having diverse needs; ranging from:
government bodies
local government
insurance industry, developers
the general public.
As always, the people's interests come last, after that of all the snouts in the trough.
actually an eu olympic team would fit in perfectly with the modern olympic movement
ReplyDeleteit would fail to win anything while being corrupt, secretive,ego driven smug,elitist,ineffectual,cripplingly expensive, answerable to no-one but very defensive when questioned,self -perpetuating and overburdened with officials and administrators whose roles would never be defined except to make very iffie expense claims
Iain, Congratulations on showing that eurosceptics have even less of a sense of humour than Germans. You should add the Webber Cup (ten-pin bowling) to the Ryder Cup as sports where the US plays Europe. I wouldn't mind seeing a football match between Europe and South America.
ReplyDeleteWhat happens if you have a British Commonwealth total instead? :)
ReplyDeleteTypical, when we fail to be good Europeans it's the bloody British, but when they need our medals to top the table we're EU to the core.
ReplyDeleteI didn't cheer on those rowers, swimmers, sailors and cyclists to victory on the off chance of standing proudly to Ode to sodding Joy.
Anglo-Saxon world (USA-UK-AUS-NZ-CAN) is currently beating the EU 42 Golds to 26 (minus 11 from UK).
ReplyDeleteSo you can take whatever you want (politically) from this table as you like.
the people that run that "EU medals" site also run this
ReplyDeletehttp://www.eu-info.de/
more than likely funded and supported by the Eurocrats.
Auntie Flo' said...
ReplyDelete"And Norther Ireland tops the current flood table, though is it any wonder given that:"
What has that got to do with the Olympics?
There is also a Euro/US 9-ball snooker(?) tournament to add to the mix.
ReplyDeletenot nearly a tory any more! said...
ReplyDelete"I'll go back to the LDs now"
Good. Sod off and prepare for derision.
If the EU entered there is NO WAY it would have won as many as a group of independent states competing amongst themselves for the top spot.
ReplyDeleteA lesson NEVER learnt by Federasts.
I don't know what the person who brought up Northern Ireland floods THOUGHT it had to do with the Olympics, but what it DOES have to do with it is that the name "Team GB" is a bloody insult both to Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom.
ReplyDeleteI once wrote to Kate Hoey (as she is sports mad and a strong Ulster unionist) asking the reason for this and got a totally incoherant answer.
It means those of us who hate the Olympics can say that our country doesn't really have a team there anyway.
P.S. In view of us being no. 3 in this morning's medals table, I am prepared to say we do have a team. But only so long as we continue to beat Australia and Germany (LOL)!!
This reminds me of a method employed by Dawkins in The God Delusion; take a particularly insignificant and unimportant example of something to launch a slur against the entirety of something. Probably not well expressed, but I'm sure you get the idea
ReplyDelete