Kaman the German

[surferskin 30]

BEIJING -- Half a world away, Kamanhaus is divided.

 

Actually, LeRoy Kaman would probably take issue with calling his home Kamanhaus. He'd prefer "the Kamans' house."

 

And if LeRoy Kaman turns on the television in Grand Rapids, Mich., on Monday morning to watch his son Chris play basketball, he'll be cheering against him.

 

"My dad is not so thrilled," Kaman said. "My mom has always supported me, she's great. My dad is kind of negative about it. He's like: 'You're not German, you're an American citizen.'"

 

But the Los Angeles Clippers center is not only an American citizen, he's a German citizen now, too, in possession of a freshly minted Deutschland passport that was processed earlier this summer, allowing him to join the German national team for the Beijing Olympics.

 

So when Germany takes the court against Team USA on Monday at 8 a.m. ET for its final game of this tournament, the man in the middle playing opposite Dwight Howard and Chris Bosh will be Chris Kaman. A red-blooded, born-and-bred American, three generations removed from the great-grandparents who decades ago first set foot on U.S. soil at Ellis Island in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/summer08/bas...nfeature-080817

 

So this focker is 3 generations removed from having any German roots but he can just up and play for the German Olympic team? What a messed up system.

[KSB2424 3,086]

It is his only chance at the Olympic experience. No big deal. Good for him.

[GettnHuge 1]

The USA has over 30 foreign born athletes, where's your outrage about that?

[surferskin 30]

The USA has over 30 foreign born athletes, where's your outrage about that?

I don't think that's cool either. I'm consistent.

 

ETA: There's also a difference between being born some where else, moving to another country, then one day playing for that country in the Olympics and going to a country for the first time ever to pick up your citizenship papers right before the games.

[Voice_Of_Reason 0]

Watching last night, some 33 year old chick from another country played for Germany just so her kid could move to Germany to get treatment for Lukimea. She end up taking silver in the vault.

 

Thought it was a cool story.

[MisanthropicAnthropoid 0]

ETA: There's also a difference between being born some where else, moving to another country, then one day playing for that country in the Olympics and going to a country for the first time ever to pick up your citizenship papers right before the games.

 

Freddy Adu is cool (he was like 8). Chris Kaman, not so much.

[MisanthropicAnthropoid 0]

Watching last night, some 33 year old chick from another country played for Germany just so her kid could move to Germany to get treatment for Lukimea. She end up taking silver in the vault.

 

Thought it was a cool story.

 

There are always exceptions.

[surferskin 30]

His own dad says it's a doosh move. How could you argue with that?

[frank 2,160]

His own dad says it's a doosh move. How could you argue with that?

 

His dad is a doosh for rooting against his own son.

 

Family>>>>>Olympics.

[highlight66 0]

I think Chris Kaman realized there weren't any honkies gonna be playin' for the U.S.....where's the outrage? Sieg Heil!!!!

[Vikings4ever 496]

Definitely a dovche move.

 

The only ways an athlete should be able to compete for a country is to have been born there, or resided there for at least the last 5-10 years.

[Me_2006 14]

just be glad he's not an exploited 12 year old. If he wants to play for Germany and has German roots, fine. If athletes that go elsewhere were good enough to matter or make a difference, they'd be on the Olympic squad for their home country in the first place.

[KSB2424 3,086]

Kaman isn't a doosh. He is playing by the rules and it's not like Germany was gonna beat the USA anyway. He got his Olympic experience.

 

With that said the IOC needs to change the rules (qualifying status) for these countries. They need draw a defined line and set some parameters like: 1. If born in said country then you can play. 2. If decendent of said country and lived there for greater than 2 years then yes. 3. If not a decendent but lived there for greater than 7 years then yes. ect. ect.