The Faux-Olympics

Hi:

I have really enjoied watching the Olympics. Generally, I catch a little of it, but this year I have caught quite a bit. The games have been a lot of fun, and I have seen some great performances.

Last night during the Beach Volleyball Final, the Chinese team took a medical timeout when they were losing. The announcers indicated that this was not the first time that the Chinese team had used a medical time out to slow down the match, and that they were known for that. They said that the lady from China may be hurt, or she may not. I did not see any evidence that she was hurt before or after that time. I believe that she was losing and was faking in order to stall and slow down the Americans. The best part...it did not work.

In my opinion, that was the latest example of how the Chinese have lied and cheated their way through the games.

No one seems to be very concerned about the fact that they have put on fake performances in the ceremonies, treated their people horribly, and outright lied about the ages of their Gold Medal winning gymnasts, in the face of damming evidence. I, however, am concerned. This is why the victories by Nastia Lukin and Shawn Johnson are the greatest story out of the Olympics. Down get me wrong, Michael Phelps is AWESOME, and he belongs in the ranks of Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods. However, the USA feamle gymnasts won their medals while competing against blatant cheating. The other team (China) had an illegal and unfair advantage, and still got defeated in those events. Winning in that situation is the pinnacle of the Olympic Spirit.

Congrats Ladies!!


Finally, someone at ESPN has acknowledged what is going on.

Read his article here for a good list of the things perpetrated by China: http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3542649

It is sad that a host country has to act this way, I am just glad someone has the guts to say so.

-Cliff