Does anyone pay attention to the Olympic Games anymore?

[RDK]

http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/beijing/t...s&leadstory

Rogge rips the wrong guy

By Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports

Aug 21, 10:40 am EDT

BEIJING — Jacques Rogge is so bought, so compromised, the president of the IOC doesn’t have the courage to criticize China for telling a decade of lies to land itself these Olympic Games.

All the promises made to get these Games — on Tibet, Darfur, pollution, worker safety, freedom of expression, dissident rights — turned out to be phony, perhaps as phony as the Chinese gymnasts’ birthdates Rogge was way too slow to investigate.

One of the most powerful men in sports turned the world away from his complicity. Instead, he has flexed his muscles by unloading on a powerless sprinter from a small island nation.

Rogge’s ripping of Usain Bolt’s supposed showboating in two of the most electrifying gold-medal performances of these Games has to be one of the most ill-timed and gutless acts in the modern history of the Olympics.

“That’s not the way we perceive being a champion,” Rogge said of the Jamaican sprinter. “I have no problem with him doing a show. I think he should show more respect for his competitors and shake hands, give a tap on the shoulder to the other ones immediately after the finish and not make gestures like the one he made in the 100 meters.”

Oh, this is richer than those bribes and kickbacks the IOC got caught taking.

All the powerful nations — including the United States — have carte blanche at the Games. They can pout and preen, cheat, throw bean balls, file wild complaints, break promises that got them a host bid, whatever they want. They can take turns slapping Rogge and his cronies around like rag dolls as long as the dinner with a good wine list gets paid.

A single individual sprinter? Even if you don’t like his manner, that’s whom Rogge deems it necessary to attack, to issue a worldwide condemnation?

“I understand the joy,” Rogge said. “He might have interpreted that in another way, but the way it was perceived was ‘catch me if you can.’ You don’t do that. But he’ll learn. He’s still a young man.”

Perceived by whom? Old fat cats making billions of Olympic dollars on the backs of athletes like Bolt for a century now? They get to define this? They get to lecture about learning?

Bolt is everything the Olympics are supposed to be about. He isn’t the product of some rich country, some elaborate training program that churns out gold medals by any means necessary.

He’s a breath of fresh air, a guy who came out of nowhere to enrapture the world with his athletic performance and colorful personality. This is no dead-eye product of some massive machine.

He was himself, and the world loved him for it.

On his own force of will, Bolt has become the break-out star of these Games. He saved the post-Michael Phelps Olympics. It wasn’t so much his world-record times, but the flair, the fun.

No one at the track had a problem with this guy; they understood he is everything the sport needs to recover from an era of extreme doping. The Lightning Bolt made people care about track again, something that seemed impossible two weeks ago.

“I don’t feel like he’s being disrespectful,” American Shawn Crawford told the Associated Press. “He deserves to dance.”

Apparently, Rogge would prefer 12-year-old gymnasts too frightened to crack a smile.

It got better when, in the same press conference, he pretended to forget all the lies China told him to get this bid, all the troubles, all the challenges, and praised the host nation. Yes, these have been an exceptionally well-run Games from a tactical standpoint, and the Chinese people have displayed otherworldly kindness.

None of which denies the promises broken, the innocent jailed, the freedoms denied — the kind of issues someone with Jacques Rogge’s standing should be talking about.

He has no spine for that. Not for China. Not for any big country. He had to criticize someone, he had to make headlines, he had to show he was a tough guy. So who better than someone from somewhere that can’t ever touch him back?

Yes, Usain Bolt is the problem of the Olympics. He’s the embarrassment. He’s the one who needs to learn.

Sure, Jacques, sure.

[JSngry]

I think most of the world paid significantly more attention to Bolt than they did to Rogue, or Rug, or whatever his name is.

Rogge is the reason people hate the Olympics. Bolt is the reason is the reason people love them.

Put me down for Bolt.

[Van Basten II]

I have on my computer all the semi-finals from boxing, think i'll stop watching rhem, judging is a farce just saw Hernandez-Purevdorj, the fact that they ended up with the score tie was absurd and they all together recorded more landing blows by the counter-punching Mongolian than the offensive minded Cuban is a disgrace and an insult to theintelligence of boxing people.

[Van Basten II]

By the way, to answer the original question of this thread, 228 posts later , i think it proves that people still care about the Olympics. I don't give a hoot about the pageantry surrounding it but i still enjoy the thrill of a sporting competition, too bad that i had to limit myself to one sport.

[JSngry]

Great, gutsy race by the women's 4x400 for the gold. I was yelling at the tv like I was there in person, full volume, and I usually don't do that.

Oh, btw: Allyson Felix is just plain beautiful. And I mean that in the purest way.

[rachel]

Great, gutsy race by the women's 4x400 for the gold. I was yelling at the tv like I was there in person, full volume, and I usually don't do that.

Oh, btw: Allyson Felix is just plain beautiful. And I mean that in the purest way.

[JSngry]

Also had to chuckle at the announcer for the men's marathon, who was just so sure that the rapid pace set by the Kenyans, etc. wouldn't hold up, that there would be "damage" by the race's end, and that the US runners, who stayed in the middle of the pack from the git-go, would be well positioned to move up once this insane pace imploded on itself.

OOOOPS!

I got co-workers from Kenya, groovy people all. Gotta say i felt just fine watching a Kenyan runner win his country's first Olympic marathon gold, and in Olympic record time at that.

Oh, the Americans? 10th & 11th, I believe, pretty much where they stayed the entire race.

A metaphor for Americans underestimating foreign competition in non-athletic arenas leading to America being left behind? You tell me.

Either way, splendid race.

[RDK]

Great, gutsy race by the women's 4x400 for the gold. I was yelling at the tv like I was there in person, full volume, and I usually don't do that.

Yeah, was watching the race with my girls (7 yrs) and they'd never seen a relay before. After explaining what was going on, they really got into cheering for the U.S. girls and were thrilled when they had a come-from-behind victory. Sweet!

[Jazzmoose]

We already know what a cracker jack bunch of gum shoes they can let loose to look into this, so it should be an interesting few days.

[Jazzmoose]

Speaking of the warm fuzzies, I read somewhere yesterday that the athletes village (at this, and virtually every Olympics) is the biggest erogenous zone going. Young, taut bodies from every corner of the globe bouncing into one another all over the place ... Who'd a thunk? I guess love is in the air after all. ...

And remember...the Chinese gymnasts are fair game!

[JSngry]

How 'bout them Spains makin' them Americas work they asses off, eh?

I saw a side of Kobe Bryant that I'd never seen before. It looked like he had genuinely/finally found something bigger than himself to believe in. I found myself...feeling happy for the guy.

Weird. But right.

[Cali]

Great, gutsy race by the women's 4x400 for the gold. I was yelling at the tv like I was there in person, full volume, and I usually don't do that.

Oh, btw: Allyson Felix is just plain beautiful. And I mean that in the purest way.

What a race!

BTW I met Allyson a few years ago at the California State High School Track and Field Championships where she broke several records. She's a very polite, classy (almost regal) and humble young lady.

[sidewinder]

After the precision and splendour of the Chinese host nation closing ceremony, this ..

Is it just me or was this 8-minute fiasco devised on the back of a cigarette packet in between pints by some 'trendy' London wannabees? London bus with blacked out chav windows - tick. Dancing hoodies - tick. Female singer who nobody knows miming with Jimmy Page - tick. Beckham with his ball - tick.

And that bl***dy logo !

Jeez...

Edited August 24, 2008 by sidewinder

[Aggie87]

And that bl***dy logo !

Jeez...

Still looks like somebody doing something to somebody else!

[Aggie87]

I think something like this would have been better - using a symbol that's identified worldwide with London.

Edited August 24, 2008 by Aggie87

[sidewinder]

And that bl***dy logo !

Jeez...

Still looks like somebody doing something to somebody else!

Certainly does. When that flag with the logo on it went up into the roof of the stadium I nearly fell off my seat laughing !

[Stefan Wood]

I think something like this would have been better - using a symbol that's identified worldwide with London.

Nice!

[jostber]

Tibet was once an independent kingdom:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibet

[Jazzmoose]

The Apache once controlled vast areas of the North American continent...

[JSngry]

Sometimes the first step to winning the next one is admitting that you've lost this one.

[Indestructible!]

How 'bout them Spains makin' them Americas work they asses off, eh?

Not to take too much away from Spain, but... I've seen more defense in the NBA All Star game than the Americans played last night. That was just appalling defense. When he's teaching defensive fundamentals, I'm sure Coach K won't be showing the video of this game to his players at Duke!

But anyway... congrats to the US men for the win. And especially to the US men's volleyball team for their big win!

Cheers,

Shane

[7/4]

After the precision and splendour of the Chinese host nation closing ceremony, this ..

Is it just me or was this 8-minute fiasco devised on the back of a cigarette packet in between pints by some 'trendy' London wannabees?

London bus with blacked out chav windows - tick. Dancing hoodies - tick. Female singer who nobody knows miming with Jimmy Page - tick. Beckham with his ball - tick.

And that bl***dy logo !

Jeez...

Leona Lewis is purdy!

[Tim McG]

I have but one request for the American Olympic Team for 2012:

[ahem]

Hold on to the damn baton, fer crissakes!!!

Thank you.

Edited August 24, 2008 by GoodSpeak

[Neal Pomea]

I thought the last event was traditionally the men's marathon. I think that is the most dramatic and moving event of them all, and the women's marathon is equal to it. I completely missed it this year. Glad I caught the women's marathon last Sunday morning.

[Jazzmoose]

I must admit, all I ended up watching was women's badmitton and white water kayaking...

I'm really more of a winter olympics type anyway.