Greeks defeat team USA in Basketball World Cup...

[EagerMind]

Inca was just the name of the King, anyway, it would be like calling the British, the "Queens". 

I wonder if this was ever the case with the term "American." Obviously, everybody now takes it to mean "from the USA". But it seems like, technically, it should refer to anyone from North/South/Central America (much like "European" or "Asian"). I wonder if it ever meant that, or always just referred to the USA.

In five years laughter will be obsolete and officially replaced by the acronym "lol".

LOL! 

[Las Naranjas]

Or better examples, how "Germany" once refered to all of German speaking Europe, "India" to all of Britain's Indian possessions and "Australia" to what is now called Australasia. The terms became attatched to the first or largest federations in the region, so the likes of Austria, Bangladesh and New Zealand no longer fall under the term.

[ps, I believe that in Spanish "Americano" refers to all the Americas, and an American in the English sense is a United Statesean or such.

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

In five years laughter will be obsolete and officially replaced by the acronym "lol".

No!  If someone said 'lol' to me on the street I would have to hurt them.  It's ridiculous enough on a visual medium; to have someone actually say it to me in normal conversation would complete my transition into insanity.

Also:   Yes, it was the Mayans who are posthumously credited with discovering what would later become modern Basketball, though Aztecs were also found by Spanish Conquistadors to be playing a very similar game.  They used a massive, solid rubber ball and played in a closed court almost like an arena and larger than a football field. 

[Nikolas]

Well back to subject:

Greece was devasted by Spain!

Well done Spain! You deserved to win (although I didn't see the game of course... )

At least there won't be the thousands of sales of greek flags back in greece. Last time this kind of things happend (the Euro 200?) the sales of flags had gone up by 20,000000000000% or something. Ridiculous things.

Well we're the 2nd best in the world. That's something ain't it?

[Nacho]

And now WE ARE THE BEST Basketball players in the WORLD!!!

Which makes me feel weird, because I've never ever played a game... but that's what TV says, it must be true... 

[Paper Carnival]

The food was bad! The referee was paid! The ball was remote controlled! The ladies were distracting! The whole game was set up!

[Nacho]

The food was bad! The referee was paid! The ball was remote controlled! The ladies were distracting! The whole game was set up!

HAHAHAHA!!! That's been funny!!!

Wait... no.Ã,  :

[Nikolas]

The food was bad! The referee was paid! The ball was remote controlled! The ladies were distracting! The whole game was set up!

YES!

And even though all these things happened, the Spanish won! YAY! for Spain!

[aussie]

The food was bad! The referee was paid! The ball was remote controlled! The ladies were distracting! The whole game was set up!

YES!

And even though all these things happened, the Spanish won! YAY! for Spain!

Well, you Greeks are current European soccer and basketball champions. It's about time you left something for the others...Ã, 

Yay for Spain. They've finally won something. Luckily the basketball side has nothing to do with the soccer one. They've earned quite a few medals in the last few years and this is just the big bang they were missing.

[Kweepa]

Also:Ã,  Ã, Yes, it was the Mayans who are posthumously credited with discovering what would later become modern Basketball, though Aztecs were also found by Spanish Conquistadors to be playing a very similar game.Ã,  They used a massive, solid rubber ball and played in a closed court almost like an arena and larger than a football field.Ã, 

Pok-ta-pok (the Maya ballgame) is nothing like basketball. There are hoops but they are high up and above the sloped walls of the court, and the use of hands is disallowed. A "basket" is an instant win, like catching the Golden Snitch.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A830431
Here's a picture I took of the ball court at Chichen Itzà . The hoop (on the left) is 20 feet up. Imagine bouncing a ten pound rubber ball off your hip and into that. The courts varied in size but you get the idea.


/Maya bore mode off

[Helm]

Is this where the loser team got decapitated?

[Nacho]

Yus! As seen in the movie "The road to El Dorado" or something like that, by Miguel and Tulio!

Great animation movie, IMO, if you know what film I am talking about... It (The Pot-Ka-Pot) resembles to basketball as an egg does to a nut, but... hey!

And looks f*cking difficult, also...

[Kweepa]

Is this where the loser team got decapitated?

According to some scholars (eg Joseph Campbell in The Power of Myth) it was the winning captain that was decapitated - a great honour.

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

I would definitely argue that Mesoamerican ball has enough similarities to basketball for it to have served as a beginning.  All sports have evolved and been refined through the years, and it's not really that surprising to see the basketball of today not involving sacrifices/beheadings and people running around with solid rubber spheres; some even claim it marked the beginnings of soccer and even American football.  It's quite an interesting (though somewhat off-topic) discussion as I enjoy reading about the history of old cultures.

According to some scholars (eg Joseph Campbell in The Power of Myth) it was the winning captain that was decapitated - a great honour.

Actually that's rather contrary to what I've read/seen.  I checked wikipedia for some kind of judgement on this but apparently the jury is still out on whether it was the losers or winners who were sacrificed, though much of what I've seen seems to suggest the former.