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Olympics Xing
Xing (pronounced shing or sing) means journey in Chinese — fitting for this blog, which is all about the journey of the U.S. men's basketball team and N&O staff writer Luciana Chavez at the 2008 Beijing Games. She is covering her first Olympics and making her first trip to China. Check in here for Olympic news and for Luci's impressions getting to and being at the Games.
Earning the Dream Team tag
Submitted by lchavez on 07/23/2008 - 06:00
When the U.S. men's team captured a gold medal and qualified for next month's Olympics last summer by winning the 2007 FIBA Americas tournament, they prematurely and inaccurately were called the next "Dream Team."
That sound you hear is the wheels of my car screeching to a halt as I slam on the brakes. Not so fast. To me, there is the "Dream Team before the Dream Team" and the actual Dream Team.
The first? The 1960 gold medal-winning team of amateurs led by future NBA Hall of Famers Oscar Robertson, Jerry Lucas and Jerry West. The second? The first group of NBA stars that won gold in Barcelona in 1992.
To earn the "Dream Team" tag, this Jason Kidd-, Kobe Bryant-, LeBron James-led U.S. Olympic team must (1) win big, (2) win gold, and (3) win the press conference.
Win the press conference? Yes. The world will be watching for any signs that the Americans, currently the top-ranked team in the world, are just moving air around when they say they respect international opponents, that the Olympic field is a tough one, and that winning gold will be a tough assignment.
Do that and this team can earn a cooler tag: The We Reclaimed the Dream Team.
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Comments
luci  are you in
Thu, 07/24/2008 - 00:11 — dick freier (not verified)luci
are you in vegas?
What are melo and kidd doing on this team?
df
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