Not Curling Too

It's a disappointing thing to talk about.

Charges of cheating were all over the curling world during the recent Winter Olympics. And, I will say, it began to sound a lot like a political discussion. He cheated! I didn't! Followed by a litany of yes he did and here's why along with no he didn't and here's why. At the end of the day I don't know whether he did or not. I could not find a definite answer, quite honestly, because every he did-he didn't seemed to have at least some justification. 

Now there's talk about hiring and training curling umpires. All over a sport which has always taken pride in self policing.

I don't like it. It mars a game I've always loved. Yet it's not the game it was thirty years ago, at least at the highest levels. It's more than the honor system of calling your own violations by the way. At one point anyone could put a team into world and Olympic playdowns to potentially represent your country on those large stages. Now you have to be pretty much a professional curler to qualify. They've even changed the rules to support that. What's the difference between now and then?

Money. Curling is a money game now. Money changes things.

That isn't necessarily bad. Nor is it necessarily good. Yet it's happened, and curling will never be the same. The Milan Olympics have pretty much set that in concrete. 

Croquet Anyone?

The things which find their way onto my Facebook page can be interesting if sometimes trivial.

Did you that croquet was an Olympic sport? It's true. It was only once, and that was in the 1900 Paris games. All of the participants were French. And the kicker?

The event sold one ticket.

I have a feeling croquet will not find its way into any future Games. I bet they don't let Jarts in either.

Nolympics

I don't watch the Olympics anymore. It really has little to do with the wokeness which surrounds so much of it, although that's a factor. A big part of it is an increasing disinterest in sports in general. Baseball is the only game I pay more than scant attention to these days.

But with the Olympics in particular the lack of paying any serious attention began about 2008 with the Beijing Games. A great many folks seemed to marvel at the precision of the Chinese, and I will admit that the Opening Ceremonies were impressive on a certain level. Yet it must be said that that was simply Red China trying to show the world how great it is. We should not be impressed with the theatrics of an oppressive regime. Arguably it's only pigs with lipstick.

I know sports and politics can never be completely separated yet I feel they should be. I don't care to be lectured by rich and famous athletes about what a stupid little weasel I am or what a horrible country I live in (while those cowards kowtow to Beijing). I have zero interest in a communist nation being allowed to promote its system on a world stage. It only makes me want to say, and the horse you rode in on. 

So while I may linger on an Olympic broadcast as I channel surf the Games won't occupy my time like the once did. They don't deserve my time these days. It's that simple.

Canada vs. China

The Winter Olympic Games began yesterday, and the differences between the opening ceremonies in Vancouver and those in Beijing at the start of the 2008 Summer Olympics were telling. It was a stark contrast of East vs. West, and the way of the west offered a compelling story of how much better off we are here.

The Beijing event, though impressive, was one of precision. It was mechanical; it was a display of what can be done when an authority holds absolute power over a people. Further, it was done a point: to show the world what a marvel Red China has become.

Vancouver's ceremonies on the other hand contained a sense of awe. They were an attempt to display the human experience of wonder at those things greater than ourselves. It was as though Canada was not trying to bring attention to herself, but rather offering us, through unique symbolism, a perspective on what was really important: friends and friendly competition, but most of all, a glimpse at what unites everyone on Earth. It was compelling because it spoke to the soul. Beijing, on the other hand, spoke to power.

Canada addressed celebration; China addressed order. It is well and fitting that we have such good neighbors to the north.