America's Cup.......

I can't believe it! I gave up on Oracle a long time ago!

Really bummed I didn't make the effort to go this year, I was in LA in July, I could have hopped on up to SF and caught some of the Louis Vuitton Cup. Debated going back this month, but decided against it. Would have been great to see this week!

And not just catamarans, but catamarans with hydrofoils!   The technology behind these boats is unreal.  I've been loosely paying attention to the process the skippers are going through while learning to sail these boats.   Pretty unreal!

I remember this too.  Dennis Connor "ruined the integrity of sailing" or something along those lines when he took the cup back on a catamaran....

I've watched several qualifying races and a few of the cup and honestly without the TV graphics helping me understand where they're going and the lines showing the distance between them etc., I can't seem to follow...

The shots from overhead and on the boats really showcases the speeds these boats achieve....

Very cool..

Weeeehooooooooooooooooooooooo!

(apologies to our Kiwi friends)

That was awesome.  Second best comback (and maybe most impressive one) ever.

Congrats to New Zealand on a terrific season and some spectacular racing.  Congrats to the US team for redefining bearing down!

Matt

(Multi-generational Red Sox fan, or this would take the cake outright)

What constitutes it being an American victory, an American owner?

I was a little disappointed to read only one American was on the boat when it won the last race.  At least one American was replaced during the cup finals due to the initial poor performance.

I won't lose sleep over it but did laugh a bit reading there were some Aussie's and Kiwi's on board (among others)...

No chit.  Cracked me up just a bit to hear him after the race.  Definitely not a Boston accent.    Still a remarkable feat of performance, without regard to the team's "place of origin."

As an aside, I've always marveled at pro sports and how crazy people get about "their" team.  Unless you played on it, have a family member playing or have a financial interest in it, I just don't get why people get so bent about it.  Players, coaches, staff ALL move around - is it the uniform people really get into?  What?

OK - gotta go.  Sports radio has a show on the Sox comin' up and I don't want to miss it.  CRUSH Baltimore!

Matt

ETA:  I get people being into the competition on the field of play and appreciating the performance (as in the Cup example here), but don't get the rabid team identification part so much. 

I agree, I thought it funny when they would interview a Brit or an Aussie with a big USA on their cap.  But yeah, USA financed, so there ya go.  Guess it's no different than Beckham playing for Real Madrid.

Taped 19 to watch last night.  My heart has never pounded during a sporting event like that ever (that I was not partaking in)