Disrespectful Refusal to Cooperate

With the opening act of the marketing charade that is the Beijing Olympics just a day or so away, there will be many, many blog posts for and against the games. On the against side are the people who find it an affront to all that is decent and right and good in the world to award the Olympics to China in the first place. China's a nation that routinely tramples human rights, routinely belches toxic exhaust into the air, routinely engages in animal abuses, has had its foot on the throat of Tibet for, what seems like, ever and seemingly has no shame in doing any of these things.

The Olympic Games are supposed to represent the highest ideals of international sportsmanship. The games are supposed to be a gathering of the greatest amateur athletes from around the world to compete on a level playing field for all the world to watch and appreciate and laud their heroes.

Instead it is a sham. The spirit of the games has been extinguished by greed, politics and the almighty dollar (or rather euro since the dollar ain't so almight these days, thanks and heckuva job, Georgie).

My friend, Jack, details his objections much more eloquently than I am doing.

Close to 1.5 million people were evicted from their homes in order to make way for Olympic venues and stores from which multinational corporations can hawk their wares. Freedom of speech and expression, never a hallmark of the Chinese experience under the best of circumstance, has been repressed to degree unprecedented even by Chinese standards. The Chinese occupation and repression of Tibet continues unchecked, and their support for the Sudanese genocide in Darfur is not exactly a state secret. Human rights abuses are rife within China as well. The Chinese government has denied visas to individuals and groups that they've deemed to be threatening (usually because they intend to speak openly and truthfully about human rights violations and Chinese involvement and complicity into the ongoing tragedy in Darfur). THIS is what the Olympic movement is about?

He is boycotting the games in spite of his love of them growing up. I am boycotting the games as well.

One of my other reasons for boycotting them is because of asshats like Kobe Bryant, a PROFESSIONAL basketball player, playing for Team USA. All of the players for Team USA Basketball make their living playing basketball. This is not the spirit of the games, this is the spirit of must-win-at-all-costs-regardless.

But if the games were going to be held in a free nation then this would be my main problem. With the games being held in China, this is much less of an issue and the greater issue of awarding the games to a repressive nation like China takes center stage.

There is, of course, the other side of the coin. That boycotting the games hurts our athletes by not cheering them on to victory. And I can't say that I disagree with that sentiment. But I would cheer ever more loudly for athletes who qualified for the games publicly refusing to attend because of the location and policies of the host nation.

Where do you stand? Will you watch? Does the political aspect of the games affect your interest? What about professional players taking part?

For my own part, I will be doing my best to avoid any knowledge of or interest in this Olympic Games. It won't make a lick of difference to the IOC and their sponsors but it will make a world of difference to me.

The Chinese Olympics T-Shirts Are In

Discovered via The (displaced) People's Republic of Seabrook

Marion Jones: Cheater and Fraud

Marion Jones Admits Doping for 2000 Olympics and Olympic winner Marion Jones now loser after doping plea

Which, effectively, deletes her life in professional sports. She's an admitted cheater, she should lose her medals, lose her endorsements and be subject to lawsuits for fraud. Oh yeah, and all of her race results should be voided.

I watched her admission, apology and retirement and felt some pangs of sympathy for her as she basically came as clean as she could. And then I remembered that she was one of the loudest deniers of steroid use back when it was alleged, she swore up and down that she was clean, she profited wildly from her lies and fraud and then any sympathy I had for her is gone.

The worst part isn't the fact that she cheated and won, well maybe it is, but it is intensified by her loud and vociferous denials. Her public outrage at being accused even! And now we learn the truth that she was just another cheater all the time.

I hope the winners who got cheated out of their medals in 2000 sue her for damages and lost opportunities. I hope her life becomes a cautionary tale of what not to do. I hope someone somewhere, who's wavering on the fence about doping to win, sees her personal agony and public humiliation and says no to the needle and the cream. And just tries harder.

History will not and should not be kind to Marion Jones and her deceit.

Why I Hate the Olympics

Three simple little words explain why I hate the Olympics, they are: The Dream Team.

There is absolutely no argument that I've heard or read that justifies the use of professional basketball players in a what is billed as an amateur sports competition.

None.

These are professional players who make millions and millions of dollars playing basketball. How, by any stretch of logic, could they be considered amateur? I think its an insult to the spirit of the games that we send pros to play against amateurs. I think its an insult to the spirit of competition and, as a result, my overall interest level in the Olympics registers just above bass fishing competitions. And that's unfair to the other athletes who are truly amateur, who have truly focused their lives on getting to the Olympics and who deserve admiration and respect for their hard work.

For the professional basketball player, its a break from the normal schedule, its another tournament with a new team, its not the culmination of their life's focus, its just another set of games. It diminishes the competition for everyone by having professionals, and easily identifiable and known professionals, playing against amateurs.

I'm sure my point of view isn't helped that I dislike basketball as a sport. But I'd feel the same way if the Olympic Baseball Team was comprised of All-Stars from the MLB. What's the point of an amateur competition when all the players aren't amateurs?

And it isn't like there aren't an absolute legion of college players that could play. There are millions of players to draw from who are also getting shorted of an opportunity to play at the Olympics. So that a bunch of pros can take their spots. How lame.

If the Olympics can return to a truly amateur competition then I'll be alot more likely to pay attention, embrace and enjoy it. But until then, it'll be background noise every couple of years. I like the Winter Olympics though, except for the figure skating which I find tedious to watch. And, so far as I know, there aren't teams being fielded of all professional multimillionaire athletes.

If a professional basketball player wants to go to the Olympics, let him buy a ticket or qualify in another sport. Otherwise, he's just taking a big old ego-sized dump on the games and the spirit they were founded upon.