Posted by Chico:

Dude, "your" is a possesive, as in "your brain is bigger than mine, Chico." i imagine you meant to use the contraction "you're" which is short for you are...but after reading your posts over the past few months, you've given me no reason to assume you have any command of the english language or the ability to use it. When you insult someone's intelligence, at least don't make grammatical mistakes that start getting corrected in second grade. It really hurts your argument.

Posted by flyingvee:

It's ok to voice a concern, but in this case you should seek out the facts before you speak. They are spending 4 times the money for security in Athens than they did in 2000 in Sydney. The will have NATO patrolling along with Israeli special forces in addition to the massive security force in place. What happened in 72 in Munich was a tragedy and a wake up call. The Olympics were always a spiritual gathering where nations would stop their wars and go compete and celebrate. Obviously terrorists don't abide by this world spirit as shown by their barbaric actions (beheading prisoners).

Other than the putdown of Athens, which I can deal with as an adult, the one thing that really irks me about these statements is placing the loss of Marbury as a bigger tragedy. Yes of course, such a loss would be devasting anyway, but in what way? The loss of a player or revunue, OR the loss of a LIFE? Does that mean the life od Marbury is more important than the life of some cute pixie gymnanst thats been working her whole life to go to the Olympics? All these athletes have devoted their life to go to the games and represent their country, and Marbury himself has said what an honor it is for him to represent the US, and for that I salute him. Unlike the other un-named pussies in the league that are either afraid or too lazy to do so. Most other countries, an invite to the national team means a mandatory appearance or risking suspension. True we have the freedom here, but in retrospect, I guess it's ok for the kid down to street to volunteer and go get himself blown to bits in Iraq for his country for peanuts, while a spoiled overpaid superstar can't find it in him to go play some "supervised street-ball" with other all-stars for his country. And thats what it would have been to have Shaq, Kobe, T-Mac, KG, Duncan and others together. Right now, who the hell is the center on this team other than Duncan? Even Ben Wallace who sayed he'd play backed out now. Serbia is going to be looking to pound us on the boards, the guys will really have to give an all-out effort. So to Marbury and Iverson and Duncan, thanks for going. To the others, thanks nothing. By the way, I will be at the games working as a tech for NBC and I like my odds there better than walking in Manhattan, more likely to get shot in NY than get hit in Athens. Peace