Which is more highly regarded, WBC or Olympics?

[Gyroscope]

I think it's obvious that the Olympics are more prestigious than the WC, considering the number of teams participating. It seems obvious that only the best of the best participate in the Olympics.

Should it be like that? No. If you ask me, Olympics should be canceled altogether. Sorry any fencing, canoe-kayak, or judo fans out there (yeah, I mean all 5 of you), but Olympics is just an excuse for overspending extravaganza.

Here's all the planet really needs:
- Basketball WC
- Football (yeah, I mean "soccer" my American friends) WC
- Hockey WC (so that us Finns can also have something to participate in )
- Volley WC
- Track & Field WC

All the rest are hobbies

[Perseus]

and pagration

[Franz]

If you ask me, Olympics should be canceled

The Greeks might not like that.

[g.g]

and pagration

Recently i watched an interesting program (late night TV in UK)....basically two US special forces guys were talking about martial arts. They said that all known martial arts including the well known far east ones originate from pangratio that was practised a lot in Alexander the great army and was passed to several Asian nations including monks in Tibet!!!

[mohsena2631]

Olympics by far

[Dtown]

FIBA WBC is more important than Olympic Games(basketball tournament). The rankings from FIBA really matters than winning medals in Olympics.

The Olympic and World Champs are considered equal by FIBA rankings. They're both worth 250 pts.

[Adon]

For me,Olympics and WBC are the same.Every 2 years there is an international tournament and one team is the best team in the world.

In Greece I think that all bb fans are equally interested for both tournaments.Perhaps bb is gaining some watchers in Olympics which they are not traditional fans (some of them they'll watch also judo,handball,badminton etc -some of them for the first time in their lives)

I dare to say that WBC 2010 is more undecided than Olympics 2008 so WBC will be more interesting if not "highly regarded"

[Khalid80]

Those look like reasonable prices. Do you know how many tickets are zones 4/5 versus zones 1/2/3?

In Indianapolis at least, the ticket prices for the later stages were way too high and it killed the crowds. Good to see a more sensible approach here.

No man I wish.
I do have a pic of the court (This is the court from the second round in Istanbul) with the different zones available in different colors. It's clear that Zone 3 is the largest in terms of capacity.

[Delibasic]

Here in the U.S. we always hear that winning the World Championships is considered a higher honor than winning the Olympics in most countries.
Is that true?

yes, it's true. winning olympics is ok, but winning world cups is the best.

[dxjayrock2008]

It is better give equal importance to FIBA WC and Olympic Basketball Tournaments.

[JGX]

From Ettore Messina's blog (via TrueHoop):

Another factor that somewhat diminishes the glamour of World Championships is that only the winner qualifies for the Olympics. And make no mistake here – Olympic tournament remains the highest-rated and most prestigious international basketball event. Just look how players flock to participate in Eurobaskets where those Olympic spots are filled.

He also says the WC should be held in July.

http://www.sports.ru/tribuna/blogs/messina/108624.html

[chrisfiss]

for me they are probably equal. WC is 100% pure basketball with more teams and more games. The Olympics are the Olympics and that by itself is something big. Every athlete in every sport has a dream of participating in the Olympics.

As far as the attendance is concerned usually the Olympics have biggest attendance due to the fact that people want to go and watch as many sports as possible. you end up watching fencing just because you found cheap tickets and because you'll never watch it again in your life. it doesnt mean that fencing is the most popular sport on earth.

[UMUT_FB_LAL]

They're the same with different names and different amounts of teams

And that women's 2008 pic says nothing, every event was filled and it's actually China, the hosts playing!!!

[Carick235]

The only difference betwen FIBA WC and OC are that USA sends their best team to OC and not to WC, thats all! But I prefer the WC because I can see how USA in the end gets only bronze medal or gets embarassed in quarterfinals, it's priceless!

And to add that in Serbia WC is much more important than the Olympics, mostly because we were more successful at the World Championships.

[Franz]

From Ettore Messina's blog (via TrueHoop):



He also says the WC should be held in July.

http://www.sports.ru/tribuna/blogs/messina/108624.html

What has Italy done in the WC? Nothing.

His answer is to be expected.