Dirty Olympics

contentions ^ | 8.8.2007 | Gordon Chang

[GeorgeKant]

I wonder whose team Yao Ming will be on?

[discostu]

There’s a lot of things that have been playing into the general decline in interest in the Olympics. Certainly one is the timezone difference we’ve had with so many lately, combine that with the internet and people’s ability to get the results without putting up with NBC “live from tape” BS and you’ve got some serious hits. Then there’s the terrible way NBC does the presentation across the board, with the bad inter cutting of events. And finally there’s the fact that between the ESPN channels, Fox Sports, VS and whatever other minor sports TV there is out there you can see these types of sporting events all the time; it used to be a lot of the sport in the Olympics were only ever shown in America during the Olympics, not anymore. Also a lot of people lost interest when the games opened up to professionals.

Basically as far as TV entertainment goes the Olympics just don’t cut it anymore. It’s a 1960s show in a 21st century world.

[GeorgeKant]

What else is new?

That description of China today is exactly the same as Hong Kong during the 1970s. The thing is, countries grow out of it.

[subterfuge]

I bet you people in the US will watch and pay attention to the medal count.

I'll take that bet. People here don't really care much at all about the olympics. It's corrupt and so much of the judging is subjective.

[quark]

Democracies grow out it, not Marxist states (China), totalitarian regimes (Iran), or kleptocracies (Russia).

[Bookwoman]

ESPECIALLY not the beer! You DON’T want to know what’s in that!

[GeorgeKant]

Democracies grow out it, not Marxist states (China), totalitarian regimes (Iran), or kleptocracies (Russia).

Hong Kong and Singapore were and are not democracies. Try again.

[GeorgeKant]

People here don't really care much at all about the olympics. It's corrupt and so much of the judging is subjective.

So why do people like American Idol so much?

[Hegewisch Dupa]

I agree. I’ll watch a couple/three interesting individual’s events; but as for the medal count who the heck cares? That’s always been such a half-ass way to report Olympic results, IMO.

[subterfuge]

So why do people like American Idol so much?

Well I'm not a fan, but the few times I checked in on that "show" I only stayed for the horrendous joke-type contestants. It's kind of like watching NASCAR and hoping for a crash.

[quark]

I never said Hong Kong & Singapore were democracies. They are postage-stamp sized entities, one a free market appendage of of a Marxist state, the other an iron-fist-in-a-velvet-glove autocracy. In my not infrequent travels to both, I never found Hong Kong to be clean/honest/safe, but could roam freely and in safety the steam-cleaned sidewalks of Singapore. An island nation such as Singapore with a tiny area is not that difficult to keep on the straight & narrow. However, for a larger state it takes a representative form of government to adequately manage pollution, corruption, and crime. China will collapse of its Communism before it’s cleaned up.

[ichabod1]

We pw3n you.