Love Those Olympic Games

mmm4444bot

mmm4444bot

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Cameron Cardow is the editorial cartoonist for the Ottawa Citizen, and a two-time winner of the National Newspaper Award, Canada's top award for editorial cartooning.

By the way, what's the current count? No, not medals. I meant, how many Olympians have been kicked out so far?
 
So I know that I am probably in the minority here, but did those badminton players really deserve to have been disqualified? Yes, I understand that they were trying to lose which is obvioulsy not in the spirit of any sport, even one that is typically played in the slanted front yard of a house usually while drunk. But their attempt to lose was a strategy that they were using in order to maximize their chance of winning gold. If anything, the quirky way that the round-robin format or whatever kind of format it is called that would allow for a loss to be better for the team the following round needs to be addressed. Again, I am no badminton expert, though I can brag to have won my fair share of badminton contests, showing no mercy on my competitor, even though my competitor was my 11 year old daughter :), but those 8 women should raise cain. I would have! :p
 
I'm not very informed, but I heard about it.

If this sort of strategy has precedence, and the teams involved thus had some expectation of being allowed to use it -- OR -- if the ruling is a somewhat subjective call (i.e., specific behaviors that so seriously violate the spirit of the game are not clearly defined in the rules), then immediate banishment seems somewhat harsh.

On the other hand, if my teammates and I were in the competition, and (by virtue of how the matches are set up) we could not gain a similar opportunity -- or worse, we end up playing more of the better teams, while those who employ the strategy play more of the weaker teams -- then my perspective toward appropriate punishment would probably be different.

It must be a crushing experience, for any Olympian to be sent home after so much preparation and hope, but even more so if those involved do not fully understand why. I'm confident that the sport will examine how they match up the teams.

I do love watching the Games. The white-water kayaking course made for some great competition. I enjoy the volleyball and gymnastics, too. Oh, and I saw an awesome wrestling move (was it judo wrestling, perhaps?) where an athlete while lying on his back twirled with his legs the opponent into position where he was able to fling the opponent to the mat and rotate onto him for a pin.
 
So, I just saw a headline: "US gold medalists booted".

Journalists ought to be more careful, particularly so in these current Games. I immediately thought, "Here we go again -- more Olympians kicked out of the Games".

A clearer headline, as it turns out, would have been something like: "Italy beats defending US medalists".
 
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My, my. More revelations, now feeding off of one another.

The mainstream media and the social media most-certainly comprise a symbiotic relationship.

The Games will be forever changed, I think.
 
The Games are over. :sad:

But, wow, what Games they were! :D


  • For the first time in Olympics' history, every competing country fielded female athletes
  • For the first time in Olympics' history, a double-amputee sprinter competed
  • 104 Olympic records (and 38 world records) were broken at these Games
  • Michael Phelps is now the most-decorated Olympian in history (22 total medals, of which 18 are gold)
 
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