|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2008 3:27 pm
 |
|
|
 |
So I decided to make the official Olympics thread here since (maybe) a lot of people will be talking about it.
So what I personally want to discuss, is when did the Olympics become about politics rather than about sport?? It seems that in ages past, the Olympics were all about competing, rooting on your fellow countrymen to victory, and seeing who got all the gold metals and what not.
Now is it me, or has this year, the fact that it's China changed everything? All the news seems to talk about is how much smog there is in China, which trust me, any city has smog! They can't expect a giant city to just get rid of it's pollution, it's ridiculous and if they feel that it's harmful to the athletes, they should not have chosen China to host the Olympics in the first place.
Not to mention, Americans seem to think that since a country does not have the same views as us, they can openly protest about it in that country, but then they complain when they get imprisoned! There's your sign?! D:< This makes about as much sense as being racist towards Africans (like the KKK maybe), but having a demonstration in AFRICA.
Now... I know that MANY people disagree with how the Chinese run things, such as limiting the internet, and the oppression of places like Tibet, or Taiwan, I personally don't agree with what they do either. HOWEVER, I feel that the Olympics is certainly not the place to make a political statement, the Olympics should be about sports, competition, coming together, and all that jazz. Since when did it become alright to ruin worldwide events with political issues?
Discuss:
1. The Olympics
2. Sports / Events you like / dislike
3. Anything I mentioned above
Ace Edit ~
If you want to keep on track with who has won what:
http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/beijing/medals
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2008 3:44 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2008 4:26 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2008 4:43 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2008 5:21 pm
|
|
|
|
Well, I feel like the Olympics have gone through periods where they have been very political, and periods where they haven't been nearly as bad. I mean, when Hitler was in power, they were held in Germany sometime in the 30's, and it ended up being a lot about Germany showing the might of their country through the competition, so on and so forth. Also, during the Cold War, many of the Olympic games were dominated by the struggle of Communism vs. Capitalism.
This isn't really the first time that politics have been a major deal in the games, it's just the first real time that many of us have experienced, thus it seems like this one has been the only one.
I find the opening ceremonies fascinating, I may not like the things that China does, but they can put on one hell of a ceremony. And the architecture of the buildings built solely for the games are just amazing to look at. It will be a very interesting Olympic games indeed.
Go US!!!!!
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2008 6:43 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2008 9:21 pm
|
|
|
|
i was pissed that taiwan had to be called something OTHER than taiwan.
oh, and that they weren't allowed to carry their own flags. wtf is up with that?
as far as the pollution in beijing, when they decided to host the olympics there, the pollution wasn't as bad. and its not like the smog of "any city". this is crazy a** "hey! we're industrializing!" pollution. think like, england circa 100 years ago.
they've had factories shut down for a month AND the government forced half the cars out of beijing in order to improve it to the gray cloud it is today.
when the HOST COUNTRY says "yes, we know its bad so we'll put a whole assload of people out of work for a month AND ban half of our commuters from using their cars!" you know its bad. sweatdrop
but, the ceremonies were beautiful and i actually teared up at that little earthquake survivor kid. heart
i will, of course, be cheering for america and only us, cause that's how i've always rolled. xd i hope we smoke the competition! xd
uh, in the spirit of good sportsmanship and whatnot, of course...
rofl
edit: also, i'm not a big fan of the mascots since one of them is deliberately used to try to make people believe that tibet is HAPPY with china right now. in case you didn't know, when the mascot was first unveiled, it caused a HUGE uproar...idk if anyone else really cares about foreign relations like i do though, so...yeah.
not that i don't acknowledge that tibet was a crazy-a** "i will kill you if you don't worship like we worship" kinda place BEFORE china took over, i just bristle at the idea of any country taking over another country without the wuss-country having a say in it...which is why i get miffed @ my own country and politicians so often. sweatdrop
edit^2: did anybody else think it was funny that other countries' athletes kept coming over for kobe bryant's autograph? reminded me of jordan and the dream team. 3nodding
edit^3: Since when did it become alright to ruin worldwide events with political issues?
dude, this has been going on since...well, since forever. and its not like we're all ganging up on china, they've done some ******** up stuff of their own...like not even PARTICIPATING in the olympics FOREVER...and the whole state-run athletic program that HURTS their athletes?
besides, we have people come over and protest over here all the damn time from other countries. know what we do? we say "oh hey, make sure you get a permit!" and yes, so long as the protest doesn't endanger the public ((ie: you can't set s**t on fire or fire guns into the air)), we allow it. silencing ALL forms of protest is...well, its just wrong. its wrong and fake.
besides, we don't want to ignore countries who don't like each other. we could have another olympic massacre that way and no one wants that. crying
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2008 9:47 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2008 9:54 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 09, 2008 3:24 am
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 09, 2008 3:57 am
|
|
|
|
About the smog comment; why do you think London has started charging people for entering the City with a vehicle? London 2012. They're trying to put on a pretty face, for the Olympics, to try and make up for the shitty weather. =) Come 2012, you'll start hearing people on the news saying, "Well, 2012 is definitely overshadowing China 2008 in terms of atmosphere." all because its in a country that is liked; at least mostly, anyway.
As for the Olympics, I don't actually really watch them, because I always seem to lose interest through all the commercials that go on, between each event. I don't know about other country's networks, but commercials are the bane of British Television. I might see if I can pay enough attention to the swimming and other water-related Olympic games.. and the Javelin. I wanna see if someone goes home looking like my Mule. XD
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 09, 2008 7:54 am
|
|
|
|
Kitsukage About the smog comment; why do you think London has started charging people for entering the City with a vehicle? London 2012. They're trying to put on a pretty face, for the Olympics, to try and make up for the shitty weather. =) Come 2012, you'll start hearing people on the news saying, "Well, 2012 is definitely overshadowing China 2008 in terms of atmosphere." all because its in a country that is liked; at least mostly, anyway.
As for the Olympics, I don't actually really watch them, because I always seem to lose interest through all the commercials that go on, between each event. I don't know about other country's networks, but commercials are the bane of British Television. I might see if I can pay enough attention to the swimming and other water-related Olympic games.. and the Javelin. I wanna see if someone goes home looking like my Mule. XD
Well not you bum you out, but the congestion charge has been here before we knew we were hosting the Olympics and I can't comment for other countries but I've been hearing the opposite; that England won't have a chance at putting on a better opening ceremony, which I agree so I don't think people will start saying saying that England's is better in 2012 because people prefer it as a country, atmosphere around it maybe as there won't be so much political tension.
Also Yeah commercial breaks suck...but they are worse in America!
Quote: not that i don't acknowledge that tibet was a crazy-a** "i will kill you if you don't worship like we worship" kinda place BEFORE china took over, i just bristle at the idea of any country taking over another country without the wuss-country having a say in it...which is why i get miffed @ my own country and politicians so often. sweatdrop
You do remember how you Americans were born? =p |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 09, 2008 8:02 am
|
|
|
|
Iconised Ghost Goddess Ace Omg - Thomas Daley is adorable >.< lol, he's 14 - that makes me a ***** D: Pretty sweet that the Czech Republic took home the first Gold xD ooo what was it in? ive mostly been watching the rowing heats
I think it was like Women's Rifiling.
GAWD - America has some of the worst coverage. I get tired of hearing these dudes' voices and only watching such generic events >.>
America took three medals in fencing - 1 gold, 1 silver, and 1 bronze.
China's got two gold medals though, one in weightlifting and the other in rifiling.
If you want to keep in track: http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/beijing/medals |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 09, 2008 8:08 am
|
|
|
|
Goddess Ace Iconised Ghost Goddess Ace Omg - Thomas Daley is adorable >.< lol, he's 14 - that makes me a ***** D: Pretty sweet that the Czech Republic took home the first Gold xD ooo what was it in? ive mostly been watching the rowing heats I think it was like Women's Rifiling. GAWD - America has some of the worst coverage. I get tired of hearing these dudes' voices and only watching such generic events >.> America took three medals in fencing - 1 gold, 1 silver, and 1 bronze. China's got two gold medals though, one in weightlifting and the other in rifiling. If you want to keep in track: http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/beijing/medals
Cool link cheers! I dunno how the coverage was like here in England... 'cos it was on in the middle of the night. stare |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
