The Olympics were in my opinion badly damaged when the requirement of amateur status was removed. Now that money is involved, you have things like the paid-off French judge from last time around. At least the athletics are more real than those of commercial TV sports.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/olympics/2545387/Beijing-Olympics-Faking-scandal-over-girl-who-sang-in-opening-ceremony.html

While the world was initially wowed by the performance, closer scrutiny has forced the government to admit that some of it was a sham. The latest news is that the little girl who sang their national anthem was actually lip-syncing because the real singer “wasn’t cute enough.”

Can you imagine if this happened in the U.S.? We would immediately be accused of being superficial and shallow, and such accusations would be justified. When China does it however, it’s about “national interest,” and “image.”

Lip-syncing a song may be a trifle in the grand scheme of things, but it is just further proof of the relativistic reasoning an oppressive regime will use to paint its every action in a positive light. I’m sure underage athletes are in China’s “national interest” as well. I think you’re right however; no one will dare raise the question.

Visa has these commercials celebrating the Olympic games, with good music and inspiring montages, that conclude with “Go World.” But I don’t want to say “Go World.” I want to say “Go ‘Merica! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!” Sometimes, when there’s no America to cheer for, I choose the most cooperative nation on America’s foreign policy radar and pull for the Ally. That’s what I found myself doing in the Great Britain vs. Pakistan Field Hockey match. Although field hockey looks like the dumbest sport on earth, this was an opportunity to take out my frustration of the sinister motives of the Pakistani ISI. No rooting before reform!

This is nationalism at its best.

I had explained what the French swimmer had said about smashing the US and she frowned, “That’s ugly.”

When the flag was being raised to the anthem, she remarked, “I wonder what the French team is thinking?”

A simple method is the same thing that female distance runners (10k and up) have been inadvertently doing for decades; don’t carry enough fat, and a woman’s body naturally shuts down normal menses. It was said that Norwegian distance marvel Grete Waitz had at least a 13 year period in her adult life when this did not happen, and her desire to have children may have been thwarted by this.

Regarding the opening ceremonies, did anyone else catch the commentators romantic view of the performers common Chinese spirituality which, as they narrated, was helping the performers maintain the perfect spacial relationship around them in order to create a massive form of concentric circles with incredible precision. They maintained that the performers had no reference marks on the floor upon which to guide themselves, but were instead relying on some sort of inner peace that each performer had in relationship to everyone else. First of all I don’t believe the commentators know anything about the beliefs of all the participants, and secondly, as one who enjoyed marching band maneuvers back in the day, I know that it simply takes hard work to make the maneuvers work with or without reference marks on the field. After they made those comments though I was watching the actual field pretty closely and contrary to what the commentators said, I think the performers had reference marks laid down in order to make those circles. Whatever the case, I doubt the unity of spirituality in China is the reality that the media dreams it is.

I was also impressed by the classy behavior of the team after their win, considering the trash that the French team had dished out in the papers.