While there's a lot of politics going on in Bejing, there's also a gold medal love story.

The Olympics opened today, 08 08 08, which is suppose to be good luck numbers for the Chinese, but not for me as I got stuck in a traffic jam in Chinatown in Philly when they had a parade to celebrate.

I live in a pretty small town in the Jersey Pine Barrons, Browns Mills, New Jersey, which is also home to Matt Emmons, a world class marksman whose father is responsible for the rifle range at nearby Fort Dix. Though Matt never served in the military, he is an avid hunter and fisherman, a real Piney.

Matt Emmons won a gold medal in Athens in 2002 and was going for a second gold when he shot at the wrong target and was disqualified, allowing a Chinese shooter to win the gold.

One of first to offer condolenses was Katerina Kurkova, who won a medal shooting for the Czech Republic, where her father is the coach of the Czech team. The next time they crossed paths, at an international world cup event, Matt and Katerina talked some more, and then hit it off. Last June they were married in Katerina's hometown and some of my friends went over for the wedding.

My inside sources tell me Katerina's father will be coach of the Australian shooting team after these Olympics are over.

Now in Bejing, Katerina won the first gold of the Olympics, shooting a perfect round, and beating out the favored Chinese shooter, who had won the gold in Athens.

Here's some good pix:

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-08/...ent_9085555.htm


My Browns Mills Blog:

http://whitedeercafe.blogspot.com/

Here's my favorite pic from the Olympics:

http://www.ronaldecker.com/bush.htm

Ron, you're a very bad man.

"Lampooning Bush" should be a presentation sport at the next Olympics (you may laugh, but Art Competitions were held in London in the 1948 Olympics).

I prefer this image.



He was clearly getting revenge after being spanked by this rather stern looking woman. She looks vaguely familiar, but I can't quite place her.

Thanks, Bill.

I was hoping to see some shooting event coverage by NBC.

Chicks with guns is, of course, my favorite genre.

Chris

Across their various channels (NBC, CNBC, MSNBC, Telemundo, USA, Oxygen, Universal HD) NBC is supposedly showing all sports with US competition.
If you click on "TV schedule" in the olymipcs section on the front page of Yahoo you'll get here
http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/beijing/schedule/television
and hopefully you can catch some of that shooting.

Faking The Beijing Olympics

Footprint fireworks faked



Olympic Child Singing Star Revealed As Fake



In the grand scheme of things, this doesn't really matter a great deal. So why am I left with a sour taste in my mouth? Shame, because at the time I was hugely impressed with the opening ceremony as a spectacle (although the Bird's Nest designer thought the total opposite). Now I feel thoroughly bemused, whereas previously I felt astonished. What else wasn't as it seemed at the time?

The second one with the girl is terrible but the fireworks I don't see as a big deal. The fireworks were really there, they just couldn't be assured they would be able to film them live from a helicopter so tv audiences saw the CGI while the real fireworks happened.

I understand what you're saying, and you're probably right. I'd rather just see whatever shots they could get of the real thing, rather than all of a CGI recreation. I feel robbed and cheated of part of what was otherwise an incredible spectacle.

I'm uncomfortable with this for another reason. 2025, China lands a man on the moon. We sit and watch it live in all it's technicolour (CGI?) glory.

There are certain HB proponents who are already suggesting that NASA are perfecting their CGI for the next round of moon landings.

See where I'm coming from?

Is it just coincidence that China is leading in gold medals so far? Just wondering. I hate coincidences.

I would say "mostly" coincidence. They do have some superb athletes. But, there are allegations in women's gymnastics that they are skirting the age rules. The women have to be turning 16 this year (other events are 14 I believe), mostly for safety reasons. Supposedly some of their athletes when competing in previous events had provided documentation that showed they were as young as 14. The only verification of age for the olympics is a state issued passport. I'm sure anyone could see how easy that would be to fake if the competing country wanted to. Karolyi one of the US coaches, says the Chinese women look too yound and are way too small. They have the smallest average team in the competition (4 foot 9 inches and 77 pounds).
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/be...hina-ages_N.htm
http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/node/9491
http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/summer08/gym...tory?id=3527997
They also look much younger than the US competitors, or for that matter most of the competitors on most other teams.

Ron

I presume that the drug testing and judges referees are appointed by the IOC so cheating would be difficult unless people were being paid off but I wouldn’t discount some sort of chicanery. In the 1978 World Cup Argentina, the host played Peru in the semi or quarter-finals. Argentina was expected to win and make it to the final but the devil was in the details or rather the winning margin. The system was more complicated than today, if they won more than 4 points Brazil would be knocked out and the hosts would face a weaker opponent. The score was 6 - 0 (or so) and it was long suspected that the Peruvians were bought off. A few years ago some of the team’s top players admitted to Brazilian journalists that they indeed received money to loose my the requisite margin. Many people suspect that Brazil was paid to lose to France, the hosts of 1998 cup, during the final.

On the other hand it seems to fit a pattern - The PRC and Olympic Gold medals(source Wikipedia):

1952 - 1st appearance - No medals.

1956 - 1980 - boycotted games.

1984 4th place, but 16 countries including every Soviet bloc nation other than Rumania boycotted.

1988 11th place, 4 countries ahead of it in the table were not at the 1984 Games

1992 4th place

1996 4th place

2000 3rd place 9 golds behind the US

2004 2nd place 4 golds behind US

2008 1st place (so far) 7 golds ahead of US.

I wouldn’t discount home court advantage and perhaps some luck. It is also quite possible that events China are stronger in have been scheduled for the begining of the Games.

Thank, Matthew, I will check this out later tonight.

Chicks with guns indeed. Matt and Kate are the love story of Bejing.
And its not over yet.

Love and guns attrack attention:
http://citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/art...ID=200880815156

Silver Lining:
http://www.kansascity.com/495/story/751105.html

[u]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/olympics/cs-080823-london-olympics-2012-beijing,0,3597792.story?page=1[/u]


BEIJING - Now, the Olympic hot seat moves to London.

Its Games will be in 2012, but the official moment of gaining possession will take place here during Sunday night's closing ceremony.

They call it the Handover. It is an eight-minute segment when the next Olympiad period begins for the host city. That city usually uses it to keynote a theme for its Games, but London organizers cautioned against digging too deeply for significance into a show that will feature a galaxy of stars, including soccer's David Beckham, singer Fiona Lewis and Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page.

"Don't be tempted to analyze," said Bill Morris, director of culture, ceremonies and education for the London Games. "Just enjoy it."


also said his eight minutes will be "athletic loud and proud, like London."

Members of the London Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG), have taken a high profile during these Beijing Games, enjoying, analyzing and answering lots of questions about measuring up to this China extravaganza.

Can they? Do they want to? Does it matter?

Paul Deighton, chief executive of LOCOG, answered all three here Friday during different stages of a press briefing.

First quote: "How can we compete with them? London will be great in its own way. The Games will light up the city."

Later: "After China, everybody gets the power of the Games. Everybody gets it."

And later still: "London is a world in a city. We'll be fine."

If any of that sounds defensive, it should not. London organizers know that Beijing ran these Olympics like Germans run trains. They know that China spent $40 billion on fabulous sports structures and went to extremes to satisfy every detail.

They also know that the perception of these Games has become one of soul-less efficiency and robotic lockstep.

When asked Friday about working toward bringing "more fun" to the London Games, since, the questioner said, there wasn't much of it going on in Beijing, LOCOG officials furrowed their brows in attempts to hide the twinkle in their eyes.

"I strongly disagree with that premise," said Sebastian Coe, chairman of LOCOG. "Once the track and field began in the second week, I walked around a lot, outside. I thought things got rather buzzy."

Coe is the face, voice and heart of the London Committee. He is ideal on several fronts.

He is the only man to win the 1,500 meters in two Olympic Games, his gold medals coming in 1980 in Moscow and '84 in Los Angeles. He is a former member of Parliament and a likely candidate for higher political office if things go well in 2012.

He is 51, good-looking, well-spoken, personable and impenetrable. He is critical of no other Olympic movement, nor effort, and articulate about his own.

"We will deliver a spectacular Games," he said.

He said that Olympics, after all is said and done, are about athletes. "The DNA in me says that we must take care of them first," Coe said.

And for anyone who thinks that life in the Olympic Village is all work and practice, check out the folowing link for a summary of recreation in the village:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/oly...icle4582421.ece

To Dave,

Firstly, thus far I have always respected what you have written/posted in this forum, but for the life of me I cannot understand why you felt a need to post these comments. Out of all the many fantastic examples of both visual and physical achievement at these historic games, you chose two negative and somewhat petty points (presumably) to highlight your overall ‘view’ of the games.

Please do not bother to reiterate that as an 'arm chair' viewer you felt 'robbed' of some of the 'live' experience. Does it not appear to you that in the interest of ‘everyone’ (armchair and attendees) that the organisers did not want you to miss out on what they had spent months/years planning?

Steve

PS: I have been living in China for nearly four years and get sick of hearing 'western' criticism from people (whom many) have not even visited this country and have no firsthand experience of the people and culture.
"What you write is a direct reflection of your character" - Steve Mcdonagh: 2008

Western critics have made a lot of how China used a body double for the child singing in the opening ceremony of the Bejing Olympics because she was not attractive enough. Boris Johnson went as far to say this sort of thing would not happen in London in 2012. However, it did happen the last time the Olympics were held in London. In the 1948 Olympics, Sydney Wooderson, who had set world records for the 800 metres, 880 yards and the mile, was told he would be the final bearer of the Olympic torch into the stadium and would light the Olympic flame. At the last moment it was decided that the bald, bespectacled and skinny Wooderson was not the right image and replaced him with John Mack, who had no real sporting achievements but was tall, blond and of athletic build.

Maybe it's the old cynic in me Maybe I didn't feel happy because I like to think I can spot a fake a mile off, and this one had me reeled in.

For the record, I've been totally amazed by both the opening and closing ceremonies, which have raised the bar and blown out of the water what has gone before. The organisers and participants should be rightly proud of the incredible spectacle they put on. I can't think of enough superlatives to describe it. The memory tower in particular was a work of no small genius.

As with all things the passing of time sometimes helps to put things in their context. The little girl miming? Not really such a huge issue is it?

However, the CGI graphics I still think are a mistake, and I would have been quite happy to miss out on them in favour of a slighty less spectacular "real McCoy" any day. If the footprint fireworks hadn't been quite as spectacular as planned, I wouldn't have been sat in my armchair saying "But why didn't they have CGI backups ready to enhance my viewing experience!" During some of the closing ceremony I was trying to figure out whether the fireworks were real or not, which I don't think was the organisers' intention.

But it goes a bit deeper than that as I touched on in my previous post. One of my main areas of interest is the Apollo moon landings, especially in relation to the conspiracy theories surrounding them. China have a space programme which they hope will culminate with manned moon landings. I can already hear the arguments that some people will put forth, "Well, they didn't think twice about fooling the world in back in 2008 with a few CGI fireworks that they spent months preparing in secret. They obviously did the same with their moon landings in 2020, because they knew it was impossible to get through the Van Allen belts". I know this because I've already heard the argument that NASA's proposed new moon landings will be CGI fakes.

Hopefully that's balanced out my views on the issue, without being overly negative. I can understand that as someone living in China you have an innate affection for the country and it's people that only comes from first hand experience (I still feel the same about Abu Dhabi, despite having left there back in 1986). My opinion wasn't intended as a criticism either of China or it's people, so I'm happy to put the record straight.

Hi Dave,

Thanks for explaining your meaning and concerns in a more positive light and in turn, I can of course sympathise with you.

As far as the moon landings go, I just hope they ensure real time non fabricated images regardless of how they look. This would definitely be something where the visual emphasis must focus on the ‘real’ and ‘live’ aspects of such an historical event - entertainment concerns should have very little relevance - and I am sure that the Chinese goverment will take heed of the lessons learnt in the past.

Thanks - Steve

I have also spent time in China. I loved the people but I found the system of mind control frightening.