Friday, August 20, 2004
All about the medal count: The Coalition of the Willing vs. the Unwilling
Brendan having a life and TigerHawk, er, not having a life, I decided to build on last night and post tonight's medal count sorted by "willingness," as in "Coalition of" and "Not." Here we go:
Coalition of the Willing:
United States - 40
Japan - 19
Australia - 21
Ukraine - 8
Italy - 14
South Korea - 15
Netherlands - 12
Romania - 4
Turkey - 4
Hungary - 6
Poland - 4
Slovakia - 5
Georgia - 2
Bulgaria - 3
Great Britain - 9
Czech Republic - 3
Portugal - 1
Spain - 2
Azerbaijan - 2
Colombia - 1
Denmark - 2
Mongolia - 1
Estonia - 1
TOTAL - 179
The Unwilling:
China - 36
Russia - 28
France - 16
Germany - 19
Greece - 3
South Africa - 3
Thailand - 4
Switzerland - 2
United Arab Emirates - 1
North Korea - 3
Cuba - 7
Belarus - 5
Zimbabwe - 3
India - 1
Indonesia - 2
Serbia - 1
Belgium - 2
Brazil - 2
Argentina - 1
Canada - 2
Spain - 2
Croatia - 3
Slovenia - 1
Taiwan - 1
Trinadad and Tobago - 1
Israel - 1
Eritrea - 1
Kazakhstan - 1
TOTAL - 152
The Coalition still has a significant lead over the Unwilling, but it has closed in both absolute and percentage terms since last night. Since I am not following the Olympics closely enough to make any predictions about medals yet to be awarded, I invite all interested readers to speculate on Coalition vs. Unwilling trends over the next week.
I do have a few observations. First, two-thirds of the Coalition advantage is attributable to the dominating Australians, who are crushing their Unwilling opposites (the Canadians, duh!) 21-2. Yet another reason to love Australia.
Second, the list is a bit dated, insofar as it no longer makes sense to include post-Aznar Spain in the Coalition. Then again, nobody thinks Israel is Unwilling -- we just kept them out of the Coalition for the usual reasons. For medals count purposes, though, I'm willing to trade Spain for Israel if that makes the exercise more palatable to the flower and chivalry of TigerHawk's readership.
Third, can you believe how unathletic the Indians are? You'd think that a billion people could scrape up more than a single medal.
Finally, if you are one of those timid souls who agrees with Kofi Annan that the Olympic spirit requires that "no nation is greater or smaller, stronger or weaker than any other," you still might agree that some nations are hotter than others.
UPDATE: Iraq is in contention for its first medal since 1960. At the risk of drawing snarky fire from the Left, I will include that medal, if won, in the Coalition category.
Coalition of the Willing:
United States - 40
Japan - 19
Australia - 21
Ukraine - 8
Italy - 14
South Korea - 15
Netherlands - 12
Romania - 4
Turkey - 4
Hungary - 6
Poland - 4
Slovakia - 5
Georgia - 2
Bulgaria - 3
Great Britain - 9
Czech Republic - 3
Portugal - 1
Spain - 2
Azerbaijan - 2
Colombia - 1
Denmark - 2
Mongolia - 1
Estonia - 1
TOTAL - 179
The Unwilling:
China - 36
Russia - 28
France - 16
Germany - 19
Greece - 3
South Africa - 3
Thailand - 4
Switzerland - 2
United Arab Emirates - 1
North Korea - 3
Cuba - 7
Belarus - 5
Zimbabwe - 3
India - 1
Indonesia - 2
Serbia - 1
Belgium - 2
Brazil - 2
Argentina - 1
Canada - 2
Spain - 2
Croatia - 3
Slovenia - 1
Taiwan - 1
Trinadad and Tobago - 1
Israel - 1
Eritrea - 1
Kazakhstan - 1
TOTAL - 152
The Coalition still has a significant lead over the Unwilling, but it has closed in both absolute and percentage terms since last night. Since I am not following the Olympics closely enough to make any predictions about medals yet to be awarded, I invite all interested readers to speculate on Coalition vs. Unwilling trends over the next week.
I do have a few observations. First, two-thirds of the Coalition advantage is attributable to the dominating Australians, who are crushing their Unwilling opposites (the Canadians, duh!) 21-2. Yet another reason to love Australia.
Second, the list is a bit dated, insofar as it no longer makes sense to include post-Aznar Spain in the Coalition. Then again, nobody thinks Israel is Unwilling -- we just kept them out of the Coalition for the usual reasons. For medals count purposes, though, I'm willing to trade Spain for Israel if that makes the exercise more palatable to the flower and chivalry of TigerHawk's readership.
Third, can you believe how unathletic the Indians are? You'd think that a billion people could scrape up more than a single medal.
Finally, if you are one of those timid souls who agrees with Kofi Annan that the Olympic spirit requires that "no nation is greater or smaller, stronger or weaker than any other," you still might agree that some nations are hotter than others.
UPDATE: Iraq is in contention for its first medal since 1960. At the risk of drawing snarky fire from the Left, I will include that medal, if won, in the Coalition category.
2 Comments:
By 
, at
Sat Aug 21, 03:03:00 PM:
I was thinking about which side the Iraq team would be in after they beat Australia today and are closer to the medal round. I'm with you, they're with the Willing if only because they wouldn't be there without them.(us.)
Rob A.
(Fine?WhyFine?)
By 
TigerHawk, at
Sat Aug 21, 11:57:00 PM:
I included Israel in today's updating post.
