Olympic Quick Hits - Hazelwood

-One event that's been a disappointment so far is boxing. The scoring system is vastly different than in professional boxing making it difficult to follow, and the quality of fighting has been surprisingly low. You've probably already seen the famous bite clip, but look at it again and don't just focus on the bite - instead, notice how immediately the fighters go into a wrestling hug at the beginning of the round, typical of the general sloppiness the fights.

-An interesting photo essay on China's very youthful female gymnastics team.

-Even with the sense of unfairness in the women's gymnastics event overall - not only from the underage controversy but a puzzling bronze for China's Cheng Fei over Alicia Sacramone in the vault despite a crash landing - gymnastics has been surprisingly fun to watch. While I can't completely shake the suspicion that I'm being tricked into watching ballet, the athletic feats are pretty mindblowing - especially on the suspended parallel rings.

-All other sporting events seem like they're being pushed to the back page, but in case you missed it, the Rays are now in first by 4.5 over Boston.

-Hazelwood

Thoughts on a China Olympics Boycott

We've discussed before on this site the controversy over China's hosting this year's Olympics. Recently there's been a lot of talk in the US and elsewhere about boycotting the Beijing games.



The problem with these boycotts is that they come at enormous cost to the athletes themselves. The intense training and short window of opportunity for athletes means that a boycott can effectively derail their life's efforts up to that point. Recently Canadian athletes spoke out against such a boycott - including some who are still pained by their country's boycotting of the 1980 Moscow Olympics over the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. This article from the SF Chronicle describes the fate of US athletes who missed their chance because of the 1980 boycott - although it goes too far in the other direction in overestimating the ability of the Olympics to change a host country for the better.



"If there is one thing more punitive for a repressive regime than an Olympic boycott, it is the Olympic spotlight. Adolf Hitler's twisted vision of Aryan superiority was shattered by the four-gold performance of Jesse Owens, an African American, in the 1936 Berlin Games. "

... leading Hitler, of course, to see the error of his ways and resulting in the peaceful, willing dissolution of the Nazi regime.



If ordinary Americans are upset about China's human rights practices and want to express their disapproval, here's an idea: instead of outsourcing the sacrifice to some track runners and swimmers, how about boycotting watching the games instead?

UPDATE: Clinton suggests, maybe just the Opening Ceremony (found on TheBigLead)

Links: China gets ready for Olympics

With 6 months to go until the Summer Olympics in Beijing, the coverage is starting to pick-up. Yet, most of it hasn't focused on the athletes or the competitions, but rather the host.

A brief compendium:
Since getting the games in 2001, China has been remodeling the look of their homes and streets, razing entire neighborhoods including large parts of the historic sector of Beijing. In their eagerness to appeal to the western world, the new new high rises that are being built in place of the old homes have names like "Greenwich" and "Upper East Side."

However, the intense modernization and urbanization has come at the expense of people's livelihoods and sometimes their lives. Thus, unfortunately, the hyper-modernization has been on the face only, as the country's long-condemned human rights record has yet to improve, despite the promises made when campaigning for the bid eight years back.

They've been educating their citizens in etiquette, teaching them how to queue and instituting a "give your seat up on the bus" day. At the same time, they're jailing citizens that have dared protest, and asking athletes (their own as well as everoyne else's) to keep their mouths shut. Throughout all this, the IOC has kept their own mouth shut without being asked.



*That second to-last link was found on thebiglead.

Update: China will resume human rights dialogue with US