"The Americans? We're going to smash them"

[MNAFETSC]

The US media made this up to increase the Americans' patriotic feeling in order to make the audience bigger since they paid big money to broadcast it at their local time.:cool:


Please most of us didn't even hear about this until right before the race started. Believe me American sport fans are focused on the playoff races in baseball and training camp in football and not about some French swimmer we've never heard of allegedly talking smack. The only reason anyone even cared about this race was because of the hype surrounding Phelps' quest for 8 golds. The quote just added a little pregame spice that most of us have already forgotten about.

[Pierre-Henri]

Heard another interview of Alain Bernard yesterday. Quiet, humble, thoughtful, polite. I just can't imagine this guy trash-talking.

[lefutur]

Please most of us didn't even hear about this until right before the race started. Believe me American sport fans are focused on the playoff races in baseball and training camp in football and not about some French swimmer we've never heard of allegedly talking smack. The only reason anyone even cared about this race was because of the hype surrounding Phelps' quest for 8 golds. The quote just added a little pregame spice that most of us have already forgotten about.


You just gave the motive for spreading a rumor right there. How do you make Americans interested in the Olympics? Give them an enemy. Its all politics. And about ratings.

How many billions of dollars did NBC spend getting the rights to air the Olympics? They probably need to justify the exorbitant prices they charge for commercials with ratings that will lure in the advertisers. So right at the start of the games they get people hooked with a sensationalized story about an arrogant Frenchie spouting off at the mouth about how the French swimmers were gonna "smash" the Americans. I'm sure they covered their tracks though. It wouldn't surprise me if Bernard did say something along the lines of "we're gonna go after the Americans" or "we're gonna attack the Americans" (which in French is an expressions meaning to compete against someone with a lot of intensity). But rather than translating the meaning they might have thought they would just spice it up a bit and use the word SMASH.

[MNAFETSC]

You just gave the motive for spreading a rumor right there. How do you make Americans interested in the Olympics? Give them an enemy. Its all politics. And about ratings.

How many billions of dollars did NBC spend getting the rights to air the Olympics? They probably need to justify the exorbitant prices they charge for commercials with ratings that will lure in the advertisers. So right at the start of the games they get people hooked with a sensationalized story about an arrogant Frenchie spouting off at the mouth about how the French swimmers were gonna "smash" the Americans. I'm sure they covered their tracks though. It wouldn't surprise me if Bernard did say something along the lines of "we're gonna go after the Americans" or "we're gonna attack the Americans" (which in French is an expressions meaning to compete against someone with a lot of intensity). But rather than translating the meaning they might have thought they would just spice it up a bit and use the word SMASH.


If this is some conspiracy by NBC to boost ratings then they did a crappy job because me and everyone I know didn't hear about these comments until the prerace studio show 10-15 minutes before the actual race, and our main reason for watching this wasn't to watch the French go down but to see if Phelps can go perfect. If Phelps hadn't been in this race no one here would have cared to watch it regardless of smack talking by other countries (swimming really isn't that popular, even less so with baseball races heating up and football around the corner as I've said before)

[guignol]

I am just kidding around guys. No harm meant. Sorry for the cheap [surrender monkey] shot.no offense taken, but i never pass up a chance to clear up the lies peddled by jonah goldberg/bill o'reilly etc. etc...

in the 6 weeks in 1940 when france was supposedly giving in without a fight, more french soldiers died than american ones did in europe in the whole war. and the french air force shot down more luftwaffe planes than the english did in the BOB. and then there was the resistance: sure it wasn't the whole nation who took part but it required great courage from the many who did.

the french lacked many things in 1940: organisation, preparation, skilled leadership... but not courage.

[guignol]

as for the real subject of this thread, what's most interesting is that a hearsay comment (don't bother youtubing, there's no record of AB actually saying this) has become a first class cause celebre in the english speaking world... with the rest of the planet being virtually unaware of it. no doubt about it, something about france still really strikes a nerve with us.

[YankBastard]

as for the real subject of this thread, what's most interesting is that a hearsay comment (don't bother youtubing, there's no record of AB actually saying this) has become a first class cause celebre in the english speaking world... with the rest of the planet being virtually unaware of it. no doubt about it, something about france still really strikes a nerve with us.

A little, maybe. But if there was another gold medal contender talking trash about us then we'd do the same to that country.

[guignol]

but did he actually talk that trash? the evidence presented is the same kind as for saddam's stockpiling WMD's for al-qaida.

[MNAFETSC]

but did he actually talk that trash? the evidence presented is the same kind as for saddam's stockpiling WMD's for al-qaida.

Guess want everyone in America who heard the story has already forgotten abut it. It was two weeks ago Phelps mania is over and everyone is focused on the playoff races in baseball and counting down till thursday when the football season starts.

[CutePuppy]

I can't locate France on the map! It doesn't exist anymore!