Two truths:

1. According to Wikipedia, the cockney accent represents “working-class Londoners, particularly those in the East End”. According to most Americans, “white people” is an accent representing wherever you live, and everyone else in the world sounds weird and can’t speak English.

2. Unless somebody suddenly brings Rex Harrison back from the dead, our 2012 Olympic athletes are not going to sound like gentlemen and ladies.

A brief synopsis, courtesy of YouTube:

As the London 2012 Olympic Games get closer, we thought you might like to see a different side to some of the athletes of the U.S. Olympic Team. Everyone has been busy preparing for the Games on the sporting field but what about off it? The athletes of Team USA want to be good guests and say thank you to Britain for hosting the Games. To get to know their London hosts, watch how they get on in a challenge to learn to speak proper ‘Cockney.’.

For those of you who might not know the translation of the phrase, it means: “You can go mad in celebration if you win a medal!” Fingers crossed for Team GB and Team USA athletes to win lots!

The best part is watching their brains try to process “different accent” and shifting to their default accent voice, be it Asian (probably because of the word “oriental”), John Wayne (good job, Debbie Capozzi) or my favorite, Logan Tom’s “aggressive urban”. You can go chicken oriental MY SON~!

Next up in the headphones: learning to speak respectfully when visiting foreign lands!

[h/t to the dastardly Chris Chase at Fourth-Place Medal]

Just when you thought American soccer was about to turn a corner and make a run for the World Cup, they fell 2-1 to Ghana. Allowing early goals was the team’s biggest problem throughout the tournament, and those troubles continued against the Ghanaians. Kevin Prince-Boateng scored in the fifth minute, forcing the USMNT to play from behind for a majority of the game. But the US once again proved they could rise to the challenge when Landon Donovan scored his third goal of the tournament on a penalty kick in the 62nd minute. That goal would force extra time, but the Ghanaians would once again take advantage of an early goal, when Asamoah Gyan scored in the 93rd minute. It proved to be the final nail in the coffin for the American squad. Who’s excited for the MLS season? That’s right, no one.

“A stinging, tough defeat,” said Bob Bradley, who faces an uncertain future as U.S. coach. –ESPN

Stinging, indeed. Had the Americans won, they would have faced a beatable Uruguay team in the quarterfinals. A win there would have put them in the tournament’s final four. The door was open for the USMNT to spike interest in a country that notoriously couldn’t care less. Sunil Gulati, president of the U.S. Soccer Federation wasn’t pleased with the performance, and heads may roll. Specifically, the head of coach Bob Bradley. Read the rest of this entry »