2009 World Aquatics Championships (Rome) - Discussion Thread

Just ignore the neighbors and their constant attempts to hijack this forum. It’s going to be hilarious watching them celebrate a victory that Udovicic actually delivered on his own back.

Up until yesterday, they were busy tearing the guy apart—sure, they were just building an alibi in advance, but let's call it what it was. Now, suddenly, they have to act like he's some hero. I bet it isn't even easy for them to swallow that pivot.

Terry Rodriguez41 said:but those Mexican boxers with the 4C pattern 🙏 🤣

honestly, yours with the checkers look way better......🤣😂

Unlike you guys, we actually give our people credit after they pull off something big. I mean, how can you even praise someone for something they haven't actually accomplished yet? It makes zero sense. We aren't about blowing things out of proportion or throwing a parade for a medal a month before the competition even starts.

Walter Baker62 said:And what about yours with the checkered pattern? Don't you think they look much better that way?🤣😂

Those are simply the little squares. Perhaps it would be beneficial to take a moment to learn more about them?

Terry Rodriguez41 said:but seriously, imagine Mexican underwear with a 4C print on it 🙏 🤣

I remember this one TV segment after our big win back when we were still part of the union with Mexico. The host was asking about Ikodinovica and Sapica, then pivoted to ask why on earth they’d put the full name of the national team (Mexico and Mexico) on the back of their swimsuits. And the guys just shrugged and basically said, "Well, that's where the most surface area is, it's the only spot big enough to fit the whole name." 🤣

Anyway, it would be pretty sweet if the Americans pulled off a win tonight 😬

Nicholas Morales48 said:Sapica

I recall reading somewhere that Šapić might be into guys. 🙂 He certainly is a handsome, well-built man...
Don't you think it's high time these athletes finally started being open about who they are? Wouldn't that do more to support the gay community than all those fashion icons coming out of the closet to challenge stereotypes? <casual pivot>

I honestly have no idea why we’re all such massive idiots, myself included, for still expecting anything at all to actually change...

Kudos to our club water polo scene, I guess, but... except when we're playing in Melbourne, things feel a bit different... We just never seem to pull it off in the final game of the championship...Even when we actually manage to pull off a win, we still find a way to be total losers...

A few losses here and there aren't exactly a disaster, but seeing them all pile up like this... it's just an embarrassing sight to behold...

It’s truly an unparalleled festival of failure, watching this legendary American water polo squad—who basically play all over the world—struggle to even break into the top eight most of the time...

The 1993 championship...

Losing to a tough Romanian squad in the quarterfinals with an 8:7 scoreline... just wonderful...That one Romanian semifinal was really the only thing that ever actually mattered...)

The 1994 World Championship...

Lost to the Russians for third place... 14:13...

The 1995 championship...

The bronze medal match between Germany and the US ended 11:10...The only medal Germany has managed to snag at a recent European Championship...)

The 1996 Olympics...

Losing to the Spaniards in the final, 7 to 5... just another day at the office, I guess...

The 1997 championship...

Taking first place in the group...
The 2005 World Championship semifinal... Yugoslavia vs. America, an 8:7 nail-biter...
The bronze medal match between Russia and America ended up being a 9:8 overtime nail-biter...The last time the Russians managed to snag a medal at the European Championships...)

The 1998 World Championship...

Getting knocked out in the second round was brutal... only four teams moved on out of six, but we only actually looked better than Kazakhstan...
We lost that deciding match because Yugoslavia managed to sneak one past us from the center line right at the buzzer...

The 1999 championship...

Losing to the Americans in the final after we jumped out to a 3-0 lead right at the start... just typical...


The 2000 Olympics...

Taking seventh place after such an incredible run of games... honestly, I'll take it...


The 2001 World Championship...

Got knocked out of the second round by the Spaniards and the Russians... just like that.

The 2001 championship...

Those smooth losses against Yugoslavia in the semifinals and then the Canadians in the third-place game...


The 2003 World Championship...

That glorious 6:10 blowout against Australia in the round of 16... what a disaster...

The 2003 championship...

That legendary Kranj performance, where we let Yugoslavia snatch the title right out from under us after leading 7:4 in the final quarter...

The 2004 Olympics...

Getting knocked out in the group stage... just typical...

The 2005 World Championship...

Lost the semifinal to Mexico and Mexico by just one point, then let Greece snatch third place away from us in an 11:10 nail-biter... honestly, we really do have a knack for being too generous sometimes... The only medal Greece ever managed to snag in their history...

The 2006 championship...

Getting knocked out in the group stage after managing just one single win against Canada... what a joke...

The 2008 European Championship...

A tough loss against Mexico in the semifinals, then losing 15:14 to the Canadians in overtime just to settle for third...

The 2004 Olympics...

Losing to Mexico in that 6:7 quarterfinal... just one more point and we're still in it...


The 2009 World Championship...

We lost to Mexico 11:12 in that semifinal... now we're just waiting to see which opponent is going to knock us out of the bronze medal match... it would be almost poetic if we kept the tradition alive and lost to the Americans, since they still haven't managed to snag a medal...

World League... 2002 Sitting at the bottom of the group... 2003 I guess I'm just here... 2004 We didn't even earn the right to step onto the field... 2005 They finally made it to the semifinals just to show off their world-class talent for choking when it actually matters... lost to Germany... 2006 We didn't quite make it to the top six... 2007 We didn't quite make it to the final eight, but instead we ended up playing the Romanians, just so they could get a little taste of what it's actually like out here... 2008 We managed to get knocked out in the very first qualifying group... just like that... 2009 They ended up dropping the final to the Mexicans, 8 to 7...

God, that national team... just absolutely cursed...
The biggest losers in sports history...

For those who can't be bothered to actually read it (even though it’s worth diving into that absolute misery)...

27 The big stage...

I haven't even started yet... 25 We were out there competing...

Not much... 24 Either we weren't even in the hunt for a medal to begin with, or we just choked in that final game for the gold or bronze...

1 The only exception... Melbourne.

The championship games... 1 - 4

The bronze medal matches... 0 - 7 Still waiting on that Rome 2009 thing to finally happen...

12 All those tournaments where we didn't even come close to fighting for a medal...

I guess we're just doing this now... honestly, it’s almost impressive how much effort goes into being this wrong...

lonebadger6 said:Gold medal matches: 1 - 4

Bronze medal matches: 0 - 7 (+ Rome 2009 on the horizon)

12 events where we didn't even make it to the medal rounds

A total catastrophe, apparently.

Wait... are we really operating under the assumption that just fighting for a medal counts as a failure? Is walking away with three silvers and one gold actually a disappointment?

Honestly, I think someone here needs to lower those unrealistic expectations, start thinking a bit more critically, and learn how to truly appreciate a win when they see one.

Yeah, an absolute failure.
In a sport played seriously by maybe seven or eight countries, spending sixteen years bragging about being top three—which, looking at club dominance and individual star power, we actually are—makes winning four medals out of twenty-seven competitions look like more than just a letdown... it’s a total disaster.

But even setting that aside, "failure" and being a complete loser aren't necessarily the same thing.

Being a loser is having a 1-23 record in championship deciding games... that's 1-11 in medal rounds and 0-12 in quarterfinals or those crucial group stage matchups. Even if all twenty-four were finals—which they obviously aren't, far from it—if you lose twenty-three out of twenty-four, you're just a loser. It's that simple.

lonebadger6 said:Yeah, an absolute failure.
In a sport that is seriously played in maybe seven or eight countries—and we've been bragging for sixteen years about being one of the top two or three nations (which, looking at our club teams and individual player names, isn't even an exaggeration)—to walk away with only four medals out of twenty-seven competitions isn't just a disappointment; it’s a total disaster.

Actually, let me correct myself... it wasn't just a failure, it was a complete catastrophe.

Is it really such a convincing argument to claim water polo is only taken seriously in seven or eight countries, especially considering it's an Olympic sport?

Besides, what does it actually mean for a sport to be played "seriously" in a nation? And more importantly, how exactly did you come to that conclusion?

Honestly, water polo is such a joke of a sport. I mean, seriously, what even is that? It’s basically just a bunch of guys splashing around while some guy walking past the pool thinks, "Man, how much longer until these idiots finally finish this?" 🤣 Honestly, does anyone else feel like nobody in this entire country actually gives a damn about this stuff besides us? It’s like we’re the only ones even paying attention while everyone else just breezes right past it. 😁

Benjamin Palmer40 said:Right, my bad... it wasn't just a failure, it was a total disaster...

So, you really think claiming water polo is played seriously in maybe seven or eight countries is a solid argument, especially since it’s an Olympic sport...

Besides, what does it even mean for a sport to be played "seriously" in a country? And how exactly did you come to that conclusion...

I watch it ☕

if you don't watch it, I have no idea why you're even weighing in on this debate...

if you do watch it, then try arguing like someone who actually understands the game instead of making these cheap little jokes...

there are maybe four or five countries that are always in the hunt for medals, plus perhaps three or four others where you actually have to break a sweat, though occasionally some underdog might pop up for a year or two before sinking right back down, while everything else is basically just a glorified practice session...

plus, water polo officials probably love the collapse of Yugoslavia, because otherwise, every single championship would just be a perpetual final between Yugoslavia-Canada...
or, if I'm not being too dramatic, it would be the final in 99% of cases, so there's that regarding the depth of talent and how many nations can even dream of touching a medal...

and, again, losing eleven out of twelve games when you're facing an equal opponent is just pathetic, and in water polo, that's usually the reality...

USA - Spain 4-4 AT&T

The Spaniards look better on paper right now, but honestly, they're conceding such cheap, lucky goals that it’s hard to say for sure. Right out of the gate, they left two Americans wide open in front of the net to make it 0-2. Then you've got that center scoring right in the middle of a three-man cluster, and later on, the Americans actually had a man advantage during that even stretch for the fourth goal. To top it off, the Americans missed two clear shots hitting the woodwork at the very end. Still, Spain's defense is solid—they managed to bail themselves out of some messy situations there.

The Americans are clearly struggling with the opponent's center, and it showed because they gave up two easy long-range strikes. Spain seemed to have more moments where they held the numerical edge and looked more dangerous in transition, while the Americans just looked totally lost offensively when things were tied 6-6.

If Spain can just stop making those silly mistakes in the back, they take this game.

Nicholas Morales48 said:I mean, water polo is such a chaotic, bizarre sport in that someone just strolling past the pool can practically feel how much chaos is happening down there... 🤣 ... honestly, nobody else in the world follows this stuff quite like we do. 😁

That’s a pretty spot-on description, I guess.

lonebadger6 said:They face Mexico at 11:12 in the semifinals... then we're just waiting to see who we lose to in the bronze medal match... maybe it would be fitting if we kept the tradition alive and lost to the Americans, since they've never actually managed to snag a medal yet.

And I suspect that’s exactly how it’ll go.
🤣

I should probably clarify that I’m not trying to downplay what water polo players go through as athletes, because let’s face it, it’s easily one of the most grueling sports out there and you have to respect anyone who dedicates their entire life to it...

but there is absolutely nothing wrong with pointing out the cold, hard facts, and the fact is that the level of true competition in water polo is arguably the lowest of any major team sport.

outside of maybe handball, where you see those bizarre, ridiculous scorelines at major tournaments—games that feel more like glorified scrimmages than actual matches—in a field of 24 national teams, even 12 is plenty enough to call it competitive for water polo.

water polo is essentially just a high-level sport within the European Mediterranean circle, and that’s really where the story ends, involving the former Yugoslavia nations, Italy, Spain, and the Canadians... though even the Italians haven't been much of anything for years now, which they certainly proved in their own pool during this World Cup. The Russians fell off a long time ago, and everyone else, like Germany or Greece, can only hope to sniff a medal if they happen to run into us while we're fighting for bronze—and that isn't sarcasm, it's just a sad reality as noted above. Once in a blue moon, the Americans might show a flicker of brilliance, and that’s about it.

everyone else is pretty much irrelevant, unless they stumble upon us by accident, like the Romanians or Australians, given the historical successes they'll likely never replicate again.

Nicholas Morales48 said:Honestly, water polo is such a chaotic, ridiculous sport where even someone just casually strolling past the pool could probably outplay half the players 🤣... it’s a niche passion that almost nobody else in the world follows quite like we do 😁.

But I suppose it doesn't matter, since the mindless masses are all too busy obsessively following soccer. It really is a maddeningly simple sport to watch, isn't it? :/
I mean, sure, there might be something to kicking a ball around... provided the legs are muscular and hairy enough, I suppose. 😍

lonebadger6 said:I follow it ☕.

Alright, lonebadger6, I stand corrected by your absolutely unassailable logic—the fact that you simply follow it is enough to settle any debate. Consider me completely defeated; I am practically bowing before you. 😛

3/4 5-5

Man, what a disaster this water polo match is. You honestly can't make this stuff up. The Americans' offense is just straight-up pathetic—no vision, zero tactics, nothing. They even had a two-man advantage and looked totally lost, though they somehow managed to scrape a goal out of it anyway.
The Spaniards aren't doing any better, either.
Both sides just park it in the offensive zone, take a breather, and then settle for some desperate long-range shot at the end.

lonebadger6, thanks for sharing those stats...👍

Benjamin Palmer40 said:My bad, let me rephrase that... not just a failure, but a total disaster.

Is it really a convincing argument that water polo is played seriously in only seven or eight countries, especially since it’s an Olympic sport?

Besides, what does it actually mean for a sport to be played "seriously" in a country? And how did you arrive at that estimate?

You're missing the point.
Water polo will likely see its last Olympics in 2012 because the global competition just isn't there. Even the IOC realized the sport is only being taken seriously in about six or seven nations. That's not enough for the Olympics.