This metal thing has become like performance enhancement drugs. I forget the number of metals we won in Greece. I make it a point to never watch the Olympics, since money has ruined them. I see enough marketing. I hate seeing athletes reduced to spam. American won the most metals.

What I did, was compared the USA to Australia in metal counts. I normalized for the difference in the two nation's populations: compare apples to apples. I wanted an objective view and not a view colored by red, white and blue.

The Aussies faired much better than the USA. We had more metals than Australia because we draw from a larger population.

How we draft player from other counties to further stack our deck. What happens when the Olympics meets money? The idea of sportsmanship places third.

m.e.d.a.l. Medal. As in award.

Ira Mehlman of FAIR said "foreign-born Olympians merit public support — but should be viewed as exceptions in a system fraught with flaws and unfairness."

Why should they be treated differently. I don't care about athletes. Sports are dumb and those who enjoy them are dumb people.

Ira also said "Not everybody coming into the U.S. is an Olympic athlete or a Nobel Prize winner....Maybe this ought to be a wake-up call that we ought to design an immigration policy that seeks out exceptional people."

I think I understand Ira's reasoning. She wants one of her kind to immigrate but wants to deny those who she considers her inferior and not to be exceptional to BE KEPT OUT OF THE COUNTRY THAT SHE OWNS.

"Now, most of it is based on extended families. ... you don't have a policy designed to bring in people who fit the needs of this country."

How do Olympic athletes fit our needs? In fact, how does Ira fit our needs? It seems to me this lady and those who agree with her are unexceptional and if we keep people out for being unexceptional we might want to consider deporting the entire Mehlman family.

It is spelled MEDAL. I was confused at the first sentence. They are Olympic medals.

Nice entry - too bad you don't know how to spell. Metal is what the medals are made from. The award itself is a medal.

Am I missing something? Do the Olympic teams no longer represent NATIONS? During the awards ceremonies, are flags displayed and anthems played? Which flag, which anthem? Honoring the country of birth or the "adopted" one?

The Olympic Games may soon perish. Too much hype, too much politics, too much controversy, too many drugs, too few amateurs. There was a time when the Olympic Games were enjoyable - and a source of pride for Americans.

Still are for me!

point 1 : go back to the nation you were born into and have some pride in your own country!

point 2: at least in the summer games we dont have a bunch of punk snowboard kids who dont understand the history or importance of the games standing in front of the cameras saying, "dude,cool,etc.." to describe the games.

point 3: at least we dont have to put up with the stupid "flying tomato" for two years. snowboarding has ruined the olympics.

Seems to me it's a good thing that people want to come to America--better that than being a place everyone wants to escape.

Immigration isn't as big a problem as it's made out to be. If a foreign-born person is serious enough about being here to become a citizen, and a good enough athlete to compete for us in the Olympics, I say welcome.

Bob Carlisle, go back to the hole you crawled out of and have some pride in staying there...dude.

One of the many horrible things about life in California, is you have too many options in the summer to watch TV.

I've known people who were engineers that it took years to get a visa. If you toss a ball it's easy.

What is this thing we have for watching spherical objects? If you curse cancer you would make a friction of a illiterate ball thrower.

You're a fan of a university's team who had to bribe people to play for them.

If you are in football or basketball, rules don't apply to you. If a Dallas Cowboy gets caught with cocaine he won't see court. Many universities look the other way with their player break the rules.

Money ruins everything is touches. Without money, life is dismal.

Who will get gold in bowling?

Bob Carlisle,

One of the runners mentioned in the article is Lopez Lomong. He is from Sudan, his parents were killed by the government in his country, he stayed in a refugee camp for 10 years. He made it to this country, earned a scholarship to Northern Arizona University, graduated, became a U.S. citizen, and while training for the olympics he is a volunteer coach for the United States Air Force Academy. I think you should retract your "point 1". You need to find out a little bit more about these exceptional people before you say anything. Your statement is idiotic.

I don't see the problem. We have a certain number of immigrants, and that produces a certain number of athletes, sometimes in events that are not as popular in the US, sometimes in events that are thought to be American specialties. Too much nationalism, commercialism, drugs? Yes, yes, and yes, but it takes lots of cash to put these games on, as Utahns should know. Just sit back, enjoy and have a Coke.