Why I don’t hate the Olympics

July 8th, 2008 | Posted by PostmanR

I have not been combing the sports blogosphere anywhere near the frequency I usually do as of late, something I hope corrects itself in the coming weeks. (I’m really getting sick of the shakes.) But from what I’ve seen, the general sentiment on the Olympics — and please correct me if I’m wrong on this — has been it sucks balls. It sucks balls because as Will Leitch wrote in God Save the Fan:

“I’m not sure any real sports fan like the Olympics anymore … Why is it that we have to pretend to care about the discus throw every four years? Never mind the fact that no team sport has anything  resembling the motivation Olympians bring to injecting his/her body with every undetectable performance enhancer. Olympic sports appeal only to those single-minded enough to devote their entire lives to them. Have you ever attended a track meet in person? There are thirty events going on at any time.”

Now, I think there is a ton of validity to Leitch’s overall thesis on the Olympics: there’s a lot that isn’t very appealing or exciting or jaw dropping about fencing, and Americans just latch on to whatever athlete is on their screen and start putting every ounce of energy into cheering for that athlete without having any real good reason. (Other than that is what we are supposed to do. I suppose these are the people that are not “real fans.”)

This is a theory Chuck Klosterman largely backed up in a 2004 Esquire article:

“… the Olympics are designed for people who want to care about something without considering why. In order to enjoy the Olympics, you can’t think critically about anything; you have to root for America (of whatever country you’re from) and assume that your feelings are inherently correct.)

Again, these are not outlandish claims: they make a considerable amount of sense and I agree with them … to a point. Because they are generalizations and observations; they obviously have exceptions and people that don’t quite tie in with the overall argument. I am one of these exceptions.

Get this, I happen to follow competetive running. And I’m excited to see it on its grandest stage in Beijing. I know Bernard Lagat is America’s best hope to medal in the 1500 and 5000 — though I’m not sure how legit I’ll equate a victory, considering he was a Kenyan citizen till 2004  — and I’ve enjoyed the human interest pieces the New York Times has been rolling out on a consistent basis leading up to the games. I’m by no means a hardcore follower of the sport, but the Olympics give me a reason to get swept up in it all for a few months.

For me, the Olympics — particularly the running — reminds me of my past, of the miles upon miles spent on the track and out on the path during my high school years. Following names I remember from five years ago — Alan Webb, for instance — is fun for me. Sure, I may be rooting blindly with some events I watch — actually, I doubt I’ll watch too much other than the running events, maybe the figure skating, that’s always fun –but setting aside that and focusing on the nostalgia that competitve running brings out in me: I don’t think it makes me single-minded or a faux sports fan. I don’t think it makes me someone devoid of critical thinking skills.

It just makes me human. And I am more than comfortable with that.

USOC president has mad hate for the Chi

April 17th, 2008 | Posted by PostmanE

Chicago. Great city? Or the greatest city? Neither, according to USOC president Peter Ueberroth, who, for whatever reason, is not impressed with Chi-city’s Olympic prospects just yet:

While Peter Ueberroth refused to say where he thinks Chicago currently ranks in the race for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games, the U.S. Olympic Committee chairman bluntly said the city is “certainly not” the front-runner to host the international spectacle.

When he was in town last fall, Ueberroth said Chicago — the United States’ applicant city — stood “third or fourth place” behind Rio de Janeiro, Madrid and Tokyo, and needed to recruit more help from the private sector.

Ueberroth said Tuesday Chicago residents should be “proud” of the ongoing efforts to bring the Olympics here, but added that the city still has to work on a “handful” of issues, which he would not disclose.

Chicago’s greatest strength is its ethnic diversity, and the city must keep pressing that asset to the International Olympic Committee to stay in the game, he said. “Chicago is a rookie in this [Olympic] arena,” Ueberroth said.

We just got Ueber-pwned.

There are plenty of flaws in Chicago’s Olympic bid, namely that it’s hard for me to imagine how I am going to get to work in the midst of an extra however many hundreds of thousands of people swiping cabs and seats on the El. Also, Soldier Field probably isn’t an ideal Opening Ceremonies venue. Also, protecting tourists from errant Lance Briggs-piloted sports cars is a concern.

Still, SbB’s Tuffy raises a good point: Ueber-jerk over here is probably just fishing for more private investment in the USOC. So Olympics-starved Chicago residents should take this Ueber-hate with an Ueber-grain of Ueber-salt. Ueber-settled, then.

Chicago is uber-pumped for 2016 Olympics

April 15th, 2008 | Posted by PostmanR

It’s still yet to be seen if Chicago is going to wrangle in the 2016 Summer Olympics — fingers crossed! — but if nothing else, the idea of it is certainly warming up to the city and its surrounding locales. For realz. Check out the results from this poll via Phil Hersh at the Trib:

The poll, taken during the peak of the Olympic torch relay protests April 7-9, showed 84 percent of respondents “supported” or “somewhat supported” having the Summer Olympic Games and Paralympic Games in Chicago. The poll respondents were from 16 counties in the Chicago metropolitan area as far away from the city center as Kankakee and northern Indiana.

When the United States Olympic Committee commissioned the same poll a year ago to determine levels of support in the two finalist cities, Chicago and Los Angeles, 76 percent were in favor.

There are obviously many positives here: top-notch athletic competition at your doorstep, exposure for the city, increased revenue streams, and the freaking Olympics would be here. Pretty neat. But, there are negatives. Crowded places become more crowded. Threat of terrorist attacks. Construction. People. Everywhere.

By the summer of 2016 I’ll be 31 years of age — it hurts just to type that number — so I’ll hopefully be covering the games from my hovercraft on my iPhone XXVI. Will we even know what basketball is by then? Perhaps Slamball will finally get the pub it deserves?

Stay tuned for the future!

Globalization’s next victim: Chinese toilets

February 25th, 2008 | Posted by PostmanE

It’s a conundrum Tom Friedman would love: At the upcoming 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, lots of people are going to need to use the restroom. Many of these people will be from Western countries and Japan. Many of these people will be used to the customs in their countries, which involve sit-down toilets and the flushing of used toilet paper. These are not the Chinese customs.

Instead, Chinese people squat, and use toilet paper too thick for flushing purposes. When silly Westeners get their hands on these toilets, well, a quick glimpse at any communal bathroom in the U.S. will give you an idea of the potential for destruction. Gross.

Will the Westerners adjust? Or will China ditch its toilets and ass sandpaper and absorb yet another tenet of Western life? In either case, there have to be more sanitary ways to learn about globalization.

DO NOT WATCH THIS OR YOU WILL DIE

June 7th, 2007 | Posted by PostmanR

OK, well not really. However, if you have epilepsy or any other condition that is sensitive to an overload of colors moving rapidly, you may want to steer clear of this clip. It’s the famed 2012 London Olympic logo video. You know, the one that was pulled after it caused 10 epileptic seizures.

I’m not really sure who had the foresight to think this was a good idea — seizures or otherwise. Seriously, after watching this for 10 seconds I wanted to vomit all over the place.

UPDATE: That’s only part of the video and includes a Lisa Simpson reference. Below is another clip. It’s still not the full thing, but, you know, I just wanted to torture you more.