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mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: retired
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 Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2008 7:19 pm Post subject: Time to pull the plug on the Olympics |
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(for arguments sake I have put in bold the key points)
http://blogs.ft.com/maverecon/2008/04/time-to-pull-the-plug-on-the-olympics/
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The Olympic games have become a joke. A bad joke. It is time to put the event out of its misery. There was about a 1500 year gap between the last of the Olympic Games in Ancient Greece, and the first of the Games in the new Olympic era. Let�s have another 1500 years without Olympics. Then we can see again. There are three arguments that support this recommendation.
(1) Who wants to watch a contest between pharmacological labs?
I won�t be watching the Olympics this year. A sufficient reason for this decision is that the spectacle is just not interesting anymore, because most of the time I don�t know what I am watching. Is it a competition between athletes or some convolution of a competition between athletes and a contest between pharmaceutical labs trying to find the optimal combination of illegal performance enhancement and likelihood of detection?
I would certainly be interested in following a competition between different teams of researchers to find new performance-enhancing drugs. But I would not want to watch this live on television. The competition would involve studying the ranking of academic departments in the fields of pharmacology, chemistry and associated bio-medical sciences, the evaluation of peer-reviewed research papers and of replicable lab results, and reviewing market analysts� assessments of the leading biomedical and drugs companies.
This does not make for good spectator sport, however. Only the sad individuals who get a buzz out of watching chess, darts or golf on television could could find live broadcasts of competitive pharmacological research exciting.
I would also be interested in watching on television an athletic competition where any and all forms of performance enhancement are allowed, as long as the information about who uses what is in the public domain: �In lane 4 we have Marion Jones, fresh out of jail after doing six months for lying to federal prosecutors about her steroid use and cheque fraud - a one-time poster child of American track and field, now exposed as a career-long performance-enhancing drugs cheat. Next to her in lane 5 is Ben Johnson, steroid-assisted former world record holder over 100 meters and Olympic 100 meter Gold Medal winner at the 1988 Olympics (both short-lived), ��. The full list of performance-enhancing drugs each of the competitors will be using can be found on our website: http://www.withalittlehelpfrommyfriends/olympics.org .�
These fallen idols are, unfortunately, but two names in a long line of top athletes, in track and field and in other sports � cycling, tennis, swimming and many others - who have cheated their clean competitors and the public. Surely, this must be the final nail in the coffin of the Olympics? The only competitive sport that appears to be clean is darts � a sport played by unfit fat slobs without the benefit of performance-enhancing drugs other than beer and cigarettes, and both are out in the open.
(2) Today�s Olympics desecrate the Olympic ideals; it is an exercise in collective hypocracy
It is difficult to read the Olympic creed - �The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.�- and keep a straight face. The Olympic creed may ring true for Eddie �the Eagle� Edwards, the worst ski-jumper ever, and for the Eric �the Eel� Moussambani, the slowest swimmer ever. It is a lie for most of the prominent participants in most events. Winning, winning at all cost, winning ugly, winning dirty, winning winning winning is the only thing that matters. The hypocrisy of the Olympic creed is staggering. Why not be honest and replace it with �Winning isn�t everything; it�s the only thing�.
In classical times, a truce was announced before, during and following the Olympic festivals, to allow visitors to travel safely to and from Olympia. During the truce, wars were suspended and armies were prohibited from entering Elis, the area where Olympia was located, or from threatening the Games. More to the point for the 2008 Olympics, legal disputes and the carrying out of the death penalty were forbidden.
In 2006 China admitted to just over 1000 executions, out of a global total number of just under 1600 executions reported by 25 countries. Admittedly, when you express the execution figures in per capita terms, the Chinese execution figure doesn�t look so big (nor does anything else; e.g. carbon emissions per capita in China are quite low even through China is now the biggest emitter of green house gases; the low per capita number is little comfort for the rest of us, because the damage done by carbon emissions depends on its quantity, not on its per capita quantity). Iran leads the world in per capita executions. Will China get into the Olympic spirit and suspend executions for the duration of the Games? What about a giant step for mankind: abolishing the death penalty altogether?
Last, the Olympics have become hothouses of toe-curlingly embarrassing nationalism. The national medal counts, total, per capita, per square meter or what not are the exact antithesis of what the Games ought to be about. Abolishing national teams and scrapping the playing of national anthems would help. Admitting, say, just 200 club teams, each of which was located in an area containing roughtly 0.5 percent of the world�s population, and none of wich could discriminate as regards membership on the basis of nationality, would be a positive alternative. Playing the Archers� theme instead of the various national anthems would save money and lower the jingoistic cholesterol count.
(3) The Olympics are at risk of being hijacked by totalitarian political regimes and turned into mass-political propaganda events. The 1936 summer Olympics in Berlin and the 1936 Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen were used by the Nazis to showcase the strengh of their New Order, for the benefit of domestic and foreign observers. The Soviet Union used the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics to extol the virtues and merits of Soviet Communism. The 2008 Summer Olympics in China will be used by the Chinese authorities to showcase the arrival of China on the global scene as a financial, economic and political superpower. As indeed it is.
But I refuse to watch the organised spontaneous exhibition of self-realisation-in-the-harmony-of-pan-Chinese-unity that will be staged by the 55 happy ethnic minorities officially recognized by the Beijing authorities (including the happiest minorities of them all, the Tibetan, Uyghur and Mongol ethnic groups). No doubt the ethnic minorities will feature in the opening and closing ceremonies, all dressed in cute folkloristically correct outfits and singing the appropriate ethnic songs. They will be followed by the happy religious minorities (members of the underground Roman Catholic Church and of the many protestant �house churches�, Muslims associated with unregistered Muslim religious activity in Xinjiang province, Tibetan Buddhists, followers of Falun Gong and many others).
Conclusion
The Olympics are a hypocritical, dishonest, corrupt and wasteful event. One of the positive side effects of global warming could be that it kills off the Winter Olympics, because there won�t be winters any longer. To get rid of the summer Olympics, a concerted effort is required.
It is possible, perhaps even likely, that the Beijing Olympics will turn out to be such an athletic, human rights and political debacle, that the Olympic Movement will not recover.
The following calamities are quite likely, severally and jointly:
1. Athletes in endurance events dropping like flies because of intolerable atmospheric pollution;
2. Foreign and domestic demonstrators protesting human rights violations in China, China�s deplorable environmental record, its alledged complicity in the Darfur massacres and its general neo-colonialist policies in Africa and other vulnerable developing countries, or whatever else rings their bell disrupting the opening and closing ceremonies and possibly the sporting events as well.
3. The demonstrators getting arrested, manhandled and expelled (in the case of foreigners) or locked up for indefinite periods (in the case of Chinese residents).
4. Clashes between young Chinese whose nationalistic fervour cup floweth over and demonstrators against political, cultural and religious repression.
5. Journalists getting neither the access to people and sites nor the freedom to report that they expect and creating a massive fuss and stink.
I believe that the Chinese authorities have no idea as to what they are about to bring upon themselves with these Olympics and the inevitable temporary opening up of the country this implies. Recalcitrant domestic demonstrators can perhaps be given the Tiananmen Square treatment again. It would not be as costless to the authorities if they meted out similar treatment to foreign demonstrators. If they are genuinely interested in the survival of their regime, they would find some excuse for cancelling the Olympics as yet. A public health scare, say SARS or something like it, would do nicely. But this is, unfortunately, unlikely.
Here is an opportunity for Gordon Brown to regain the moral high ground. After the Beijing Olympics have degenerated into farce and mayhem, he should stand up and inform an attentive, respectful and soon-to-be-admiring public that the 2012 London Olympics are off. The infrastructure improvements for Greater London planned for the Games should, of course, be implemented regardless, as the ambition to move London from third class to second class infrastructure status ought to survive the cancellation of the Olympics.
The Olympics: just don�t do it. |
I'm 50% in agreement with this. Better a compeition without national teams and nation anthems. Make it about the individual and not the state. I'm sick of nationalist nonsense.
Also, the pharmacological issues are, I think, insurmountable.
Lastly, the games are going to be a political lightening rod now. Who will want to hold them??
Vancouver is having massive economic problems too:
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CBCNews is reporting Vancouver residential property tax up 3 per cent in 2008.
Vancouver city council approved a one per cent property tax increase for 2008 on Tuesday evening, but homeowners will pay a three percent increase following a tax redistribution from businesses to homeowners.
Opposition councillors were quick to point out the tax increase for 2009 could be much higher.
Vision Vancouver Coun. Raymond Louie said last year's municipal strike saved the city millions of dollars, and the full cost of expanding Vancouver's police force won't be felt until next year.
"We're talking about potentially an 11 per cent tax increase right out of the gates [in 2009]," said Louie.
This year's modest one per cent overall tax increase is part of the governing Non-Partisan Association's campaign to get re-elected in November, while keeping the bigger increase for 2009, said Louie.
Some of the comments are pretty funny. Here is one from Sandy who writes:
Let's not forget the additional windfall they get from the inflated property values in Vancouver, where a dump of a house which should be worth $300,000 has an assessed value of $1,500,000 (but where the homeowner's income hasn't gone up by a factor of five to match). Throw in the savings from the strike last year, and it's another City of Vancouver rip-off.
If this "moderate" tax increase is supposed to encourage us to vote for the NPA, I don't think it will work. However, people in Vancouver will believe anything and vote for anyone - like the gullible idiots who obediently "backed the bid" when our corporate masters bought that fake Olympic referendum a few years back. Truly, anything is possible in the Most Liveable City on Earth.
Olympic Casualty
Matt pinged me with this email about a casualty of the 2010 Olympics.
Hi Mish,
Thought I'd pass on this new little juicy tidbit of info from Vancouver, BC.
I was just in Rona, which the big competition for Home Depot here in Canada. This is a brand new store in a brand new commercial development that opened in late 2005, and is now closing at the end of June. Why? Because property taxes have skyrocketed over four hundred percent. Yes that's right over 400%! Why so much of an increase? To pay for the brand new Olympic Speed Skating Oval less than a mile down the road!
After talking to a few of the employees, who were concerned about where they were going to be working, some told me that there are more stores closing in the area due to the increase in tax as well.
Oh well, I guess the City of Richmond can just increase taxes on the remaining businesses again to make up for the shortfall.
Anyways here's a link to their Grand Opening Flyer:
Oh yeah, and perhaps the most ironic thing is, they are a "Proud Sponsor of the 2010 Olympic Games!" See page 4 in the above link. I wonder if they are still proud 2 1/2 years later?
Matt
Vancouver, BC
Forced Out By Property Taxes
With that tip from Matt it did not take long to find this article: Rona store owner Forced out by the Olympics.
Two years ago Mack Foster faced a huge decision. His 20-year lease on the building of his Rona store at 7111 Elmbridge Way was about to expire.
He could shut down his longtime business, move to a new Rona store in Bridgeport or renew his lease. He encouraged his two sons to take greater control of the business and to give it stability, he signed a new 10-year lease for what he believed to be a superior location.
�Let me tell you, if I had forward sight, if I had realized this, I would have never re-signed my lease,� said Foster, 64. Like dozens of other businesses in a light industrial zone near the oval, Foster is facing massive property tax hikes resulting from skyrocketing real estate values.
As a leaseholder and not a landowner, Foster is on the hook for rising property taxes each year and will never see a benefit in the rising price of real estate. And with a lease that�s locked until 2015, he�s stuck between �a rock and a hard place.�
Last year, his tax increase was $29,951, but this year, the increase is $207,029. Foster is trying to stay positive and cut expenses wherever he can to stay in business.
�It�s almost so bad there has to be a solution. No business can sustain this kind of situation,� he said. �Some of the businesses will disappear this year, some will disappear next year. But all of them will disappear in three years.�
Michael Bailey, owner of Lang�s Glass at 5871 Minoru Blvd., said he�s expecting his tax bill to inflate from approximately $8,000 to $24,000 this year.
Roy Van Hest owns the Art Knapp Plantland on Minoru Boulevard at Alderbridge Way with his family. When his store opened in 2005, his tax bill was $59,625. He estimates his 2008 bill will be $269,070.
�There�s no way that we can stomach it. Basically my taxes will be 400 per cent greater than they were three years ago.�
Robert McCullough, senior property manager for properties in the area owned by Richmond Holdings Ltd., said it�s not unusual to see 100 to 200 per cent increases in taxes this year. McCullough predicts the neighbourhood will become �an empty industrial ghetto� before 2010 on the doorstep to the Olympic oval, made worse by criminals arriving by Canada Line.
Fallout from the Olympic crash is going to be enormous and it's starting already. What an incredible waste of money for a onetime event. Legitimate businesses and taxpayers are getting the shaft, while concessionaires selling corn dogs, trinkets and other Olympic junk will likely make out like bandits. |
Maybe just junk the games. The are not economically viable and may just be corporate welfare for property developers and major advertisers. |
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wannago
Joined: 16 Apr 2004
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| Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2008 8:19 pm Post subject: |
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Oh, I get it. Because the powers that be in Vancouver aren't intelligent enough to finance the building of infrastructure to handle the Olympics properly, the Games should be scrapped. Can you say overreaction?
Also, you do realize the its the media that hypes medal counts per country and so forth. Now, I don't particularly care for that sort of thing myself, but there are people that do...so let them. You don't have to read it or listen to it. I get the most pleasure in watching Olympic sports (like Freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling) that I don't get a lot of opportunities to watch at any other time. I enjoy the stories of the athletes and the immense amount of dedication that it takes to excel to that level in any sport. If some people want to make it a nationalistic spectacle so they can take pride in their country, so what?
Performance enhancing substances: There always have been and always will be cheaters in sports. Is this really a late-breaking story for you? While I never condone cheating in sports, it certainly isn't a reason to stop holding the Olympic Games. There will always be a side industry devoted to finding and punishing those that don't play by the rules.
My guess is that you have never competed in a serious way athletically. To say that everyone is a drugged out pharmaceutical lab is naive at best. Most athletes dedicate their lives to reach an international level of performance for their sport. And why is this bad again? |
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mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: retired
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| Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2008 8:26 pm Post subject: |
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It was just an article to start discussion. Chill out.
I held a local record for the 100meter freestyle. Surgery ended my dreams.
Anyways, here we go!
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Oh, I get it. Because the powers that be in Vancouver aren't intelligent enough to finance the building of infrastructure to handle the Olympics properly, the Games should be scrapped. Can you say overreaction?
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The only games that broke even were the LA games, and those because very little new infrastructure was built.
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Also, you do realize the its the media that hypes medal counts per country and so forth. |
Yes. I don't write for the FT either.
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Performance enhancing substances: There always have been and always will be cheaters in sports. Is this really a late-breaking story for you?
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Sure. The nature of the cheating now favors the scientifically advanced nations who have athletes and their dr's that can afford cutting edge drugs. This is unfair and can't be fixed.
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| To say that everyone is a drugged out pharmaceutical lab is naive at best. |
I said that?
Are you an angry person day to day? |
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wannago
Joined: 16 Apr 2004
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| Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2008 9:46 pm Post subject: |
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| mises wrote: |
| It was just an article to start discussion. Chill out. |
Wow, you got that I was angry from my response to the article? Sorry if I hurt your tender feelings.  Are you one of those that peel emotion off a written page?
My response was more toward the article than you. Wait, you did say you agreed with 50% of it so I guess my response was half to you. Feel better now?
OK, on to your response to my "angry" reply.
| mises wrote: |
| I held a local record for the 100meter freestyle. Surgery ended my dreams. |
OK. Good for you.
| mises wrote: |
| The only games that broke even were the LA games, and those because very little new infrastructure was built. |
Am I supposed to respond to you here or some article that you don't name? I don't want to make you cry again... 
Something like the Olympics never makes money from just the Games themselves. With the new infrastructure built, I'm thinking that the use of that stuff will go on for years to come. Also, the whole hyping of the host city will attract tourism. But, I suspect you're correct, the revenue from the Olympics themselves do not match the funds spent to hold it.
| mises wrote: |
| Sure. The nature of the cheating now favors the scientifically advanced nations who have athletes and their dr's that can afford cutting edge drugs. This is unfair and can't be fixed. |
Fixed? Not now, but I think the cutting edge isn't so far ahead of the regulators. They catch cheaters at every major competition so I believe the gap is narrowing. Will they catch every cheater every time? No way, but that doesn't make for valueless competition.
| mises wrote: |
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| To say that everyone is a drugged out pharmaceutical lab is naive at best. |
I said that? |
Now quit crying. I didn't say you said that, but the article you posted sure seems to:
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| These fallen idols are, unfortunately, but two names in a long line of top athletes, in track and field and in other sports � cycling, tennis, swimming and many others - who have cheated their clean competitors and the public. Surely, this must be the final nail in the coffin of the Olympics? The only competitive sport that appears to be clean is darts � a sport played by unfit fat slobs without the benefit of performance-enhancing drugs other than beer and cigarettes, and both are out in the open. |
But wait, they give the dart players a pass. The article only refers to them as unfit fat slobs. How nice.
| mises wrote: |
| Are you an angry person day to day? |
No, actually I'm a very nice guy. I just call BS when I see it. Sorry you have a problem with that. |
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JMO
Joined: 18 Jul 2006
Location: Daegu
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| Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 1:09 am Post subject: |
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Are you one of those that peel emotion off a written page?
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Yikes. Sorry Wannago, but you do come across as an angry, angry man. In all your posts. I'm assuming your small or something.
Anyway I think the Olympics should be abolished because it is boring as hell. All these sports, that no-one in their right mind would watch normally. Bring on the next world cup I say. |
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wannago
Joined: 16 Apr 2004
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| Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 3:04 am Post subject: |
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| JMO wrote: |
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Are you one of those that peel emotion off a written page?
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Yikes. Sorry Wannago, but you do come across as an angry, angry man. In all your posts. I'm assuming your small or something.
Anyway I think the Olympics should be abolished because it is boring as hell. All these sports, that no-one in their right mind would watch normally. Bring on the next world cup I say. |
Oh I see. Because I disagree with you, I am angry. You come across as stupid in all your posts. I'm assuming you're......well.......stupid.
C'mon that was funny.
Seriously, I find soccer (I refuse to call it football, mainly to piss off the British) boring, boring, boring. Hell, I'd rather watch curling. At least they're athletes.....
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JMO
Joined: 18 Jul 2006
Location: Daegu
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| Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 3:21 am Post subject: |
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| wannago wrote: |
| JMO wrote: |
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Are you one of those that peel emotion off a written page?
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Yikes. Sorry Wannago, but you do come across as an angry, angry man. In all your posts. I'm assuming your small or something.
Anyway I think the Olympics should be abolished because it is boring as hell. All these sports, that no-one in their right mind would watch normally. Bring on the next world cup I say. |
Oh I see. Because I disagree with you, I am angry. You come across as stupid in all your posts. I'm assuming you're......well.......stupid.
C'mon that was funny.
Seriously, I find soccer (I refuse to call it football, mainly to piss off the British) boring, boring, boring. Hell, I'd rather watch curling. At least they're athletes.....
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You come across as angry. You are an aggressive, presumably little man. I don't necessarily disagree with you however. Just thought I'd point out the glaringly obvious.
Is curling the one on ice? I don't watch ice related sports.
Calling soccer, soccer doesn't piss off the Brits, it pisses off pretty much every other country, as that is what everybody calls it.
Except north America and parts of Ireland. I generally say soccer. Football is this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YLqd8ubFlE
I don't like the olympics as i don;t watch most of those sports. The sports that I do watch, that are in the Olympics are watered down versions. The soccer is under-23, the basketball is international rules. I'd rather watch the world cup or the NBA. |
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JMO
Joined: 18 Jul 2006
Location: Daegu
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| Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 4:49 am Post subject: |
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| wannago wrote: |
| JMO wrote: |
| You come across as angry. You are an aggressive, presumably little man. I don't necessarily disagree with you however. Just thought I'd point out the glaringly obvious. |
Sorry, you hadn't shown up on my radar until now. Now I understand why you're acting like the little snipping dog. Its the religion thing. You're an Irishman that doesn't believe in God. How quaint. An Irishman calling me little...humorous.
Truth is this, bucko: You know nothing about me. If you want to insult me, I couldn't give a rat's ass, but this thread is about the Olympics. There are plenty of other threads where we are polar opposites. Let's go argue there. |
nope..this line just stuck out at me.
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| Are you one of those that peel emotion off a written page? |
I have nothing against Christians. Most of my family are Christian. You come across as angry. Thats all I was pointing out. No need to try to do the Christian victim thing.
Read my first post. I made a comment about the Olympics, which is as you said, what this thread is about. I also mentioned that you come across as angry. In this thread and many others. Go have a look. Know thyself^^
Last edited by JMO on Wed Apr 30, 2008 4:53 am; edited 1 time in total |
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wannago
Joined: 16 Apr 2004
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| Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 4:52 am Post subject: |
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| JMO wrote: |
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| Are you one of those that peel emotion off a written page? |
I have nothing against Christians. Most of my family are Christians. You come across as angry. Thats all I was pointing out. No need to try to do the Christian victim thing. |
No victim here. So, tell me, how does my line about emotion come across as angry? You haven't explained yourself and I fail to see any anger in that statement, which leads me to think there's more to it than what you say. |
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JMO
Joined: 18 Jul 2006
Location: Daegu
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| Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 5:00 am Post subject: |
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| wannago wrote: |
| JMO wrote: |
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| Are you one of those that peel emotion off a written page? |
I have nothing against Christians. Most of my family are Christians. You come across as angry. Thats all I was pointing out. No need to try to do the Christian victim thing. |
No victim here. So, tell me, how does my line about emotion come across as angry? You haven't explained yourself and I fail to see any anger in that statement, which leads me to think there's more to it than what you say. |
Oh, victim screams off you.
There is just something very wierd about the usage of the word peel that stood out to me. And the general tone of your posts are angry. That could be just your online persona. You attack. Nothing wrong with that, i do the same sometimes. Nothing wrong in pointing it out. |
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wannago
Joined: 16 Apr 2004
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| Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 5:35 am Post subject: |
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| JMO wrote: |
| wannago wrote: |
| No victim here. So, tell me, how does my line about emotion come across as angry? You haven't explained yourself and I fail to see any anger in that statement, which leads me to think there's more to it than what you say. |
Oh, victim screams off you. |
No, I think you WANT victim to scream off me. It makes it much easier to pigeon-hole me, much like you presuming and calling me small. I'm 6'1", 220 lbs. The reason why I like the Olympics is I tried to make the U.S. Freestyle wrestling team (a long time ago and a lot of pounds ago) and go the Olympics. I didn't make it, but I got reasonably close. I'm not really a victim of anything, but I don't mind expressing my opinion. I'm sorry that bothers you.
| JMO wrote: |
| There is just something very wierd about the usage of the word peel that stood out to me. And the general tone of your posts are angry. That could be just your online persona. You attack. Nothing wrong with that, i do the same sometimes. Nothing wrong in pointing it out. |
You're right. Nothing wrong with pointing out your observations. Just like there's nothing wrong with me telling you that you're wrong. Although "peel" isn't a word I use on this board often, I hardly think its weird. I'm not angry when I type my posts and, although I dont post as much as I used to, I do believe what I write (most of the time). Maybe you are mistaking confidence for anger? |
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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
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| Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 5:50 am Post subject: |
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My question: When haven't the Olympics been about more than just sports? They've always been about nationalism, sweat and jock itch.
Yes, wannago, anger just pours off your posts. |
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wannago
Joined: 16 Apr 2004
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| Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 5:52 am Post subject: |
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| Ya-ta Boy wrote: |
| Yes, wannago, anger just pours off your posts. |
Hi Pot, this is Kettle.
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Nowhere Man
Joined: 08 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 6:12 am Post subject: |
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Who wants to watch a contest between pharmacological labs?
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The OP goes on to say she doesn't consider all olympic athletes to be drugged. Good, but still not sure why one would post an article that suggests as much.
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| Today�s Olympics desecrate the Olympic ideals; it is an exercise in collective hypocracy |
True. The original Olympians competed naked. A return to such ideals would clearly boost audience levels. Speaking of ideals: hypocracy. Maybe there should be a spelling bee.
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| Last, the Olympics have become hothouses of toe-curlingly embarrassing nationalism. The national medal counts, total, per capita, per square meter or what not are the exact antithesis of what the Games ought to be about. |
OK. I'm totally down with you here. Population + money = high medal count.
But I gotta go a bit off-topic here and point out what I see as more important: TV. So, you got the Americans watching swimming, basketball, and gymnastics while the Koreans watch archery, Tae Kwan Do, and speed skating while the Canadians watch curling, hockey, and (insert the sport) while the Chinese watch table tennis, platform diving, and (insert the sport). The Olympics actually succeeds in the sense that most countries can watch and get their jollies about how well they do in the sports they like, and only a handful give an angus's behind about the medal count. What would truly revolutionalize (is that a word?) the Olympics would be for each country to field one athlete to compete in ALL individual events. Oh yeah. I'm talking people at one moment rhythmically dancing and at the next lifting weights and Roman-Greco wrestling. Hell yeah! I wanna see one dude who can shot that put and then get up and swing around on the uneven parallel bars. That would kick so much ass that even Zeus would be smiling in his overlooked omnipotence.
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| The Olympics are at risk of being hijacked by totalitarian political regimes and turned into mass-political propaganda events |
That's the funny thing I see about people getting all worked up about Olympic protests. The US boycotted the Moscow Olympics. The USSR boycotted the LA Olympics. There's really no reason any country can't boycott (and no, I'm not talking the half-assed opening ceremonies boycott) this Olympics. They're not going to for financial reasons. This, I insist, is more a sign of the times than it is any reason to think the Olympic concept is bad.
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| I believe that the Chinese authorities have no idea as to what they are about to bring upon themselves with these Olympics and the inevitable temporary opening up of the country this implies. Recalcitrant domestic demonstrators can perhaps be given the Tiananmen Square treatment again |
Well, based on recent events, I'm not sure it's gonna play out quite the way you expect it to.
You are suggesting there's gonna be another Tiannenman-like incident, no?
I don't think there will be.
Further, I'm very skeptical of your statements about LA being the only Olympics that broke even. Do you live in Korea? Are you aware of the role attributed to the games being held in Korea? It was part of the "Miracle on the Han". I'll admit I don't know much about the exact profits from Korea's Olympics, but I've never heard a Korean say they regretted having them in any way. |
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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
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| Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 6:50 am Post subject: |
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| but I've never heard a Korean say they regretted having them in any way. |
You might be asking the wrong people. I arrived in '94 and one of the questions that came up in our book was 'What is the most important historical event in the last 10 years?'. Wholly ignoring the fall of the Berlin Wall, every one of my students said 'the '88 Olympics'.  While that was certainly important to Korea, it was not exactly the most important thing to have happened internationally. |
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