• 24Aug 08

  The Olympic Games

  Ni hao, this is Ian, cosmowanda522, with the Olympics on my mind.
  
  It happens once every four years, always in an even year, when the world comes together as one. It is a particular event, you may have heard of it, called the Olympic Games. The Olympic Games is essentially a two-week carnival of color, cultures and competition. Thousands of athletes representing hundreds of different countries compete in a certain metropolis. The opening ceremonies feature the host country showing off a sampler of what its art and culture are like. Then the athletes enter, Greek athletes first, and host country's athletes always last.
  The Olympic Flag is raised, and eventually, the Olympic torch enters the stadium after a very long journey, passing it on to a special person who lights the cauldron. The events that follow depend on the year and season. During leap years, the Summer Olympics occur; in even non-leap years, the Winter Olympics occur. But my focus is on the Summer Olympics, which, this year, were held in Beijing, China.
  
  There are hundreds of events in many sports, but the "big three" are track and field, swimming, and gymnastics.
  Track and field is the sport where the world's fastest athletes are determined; there are also the field events including jumping, pole vault and the throwing of projectiles like the javelin, hammer, shot put and discus. This is the sport that exemplifies all three parts of the Olympic motto, "Citius, Altius, Fortius" (Faster, Higher, Stronger), especially in the decathlon. Many stars in the event have included Jim Thorpe, Jesse Owens, Bruce Jenner, Carl Lewis and Michael Johnson on the male side, and Babe Zaharias, Wilma Rudolph, Florence Griffith Joyner and Jackie Joyner Kersee on the female side.
  Swimming is essentially a water-based version of track, where its athletes try to swim a certain number of laps faster than anyone else. Famous swimmers include Mark Spitz, Janet Evans and Michael Phelps.
  And then you have gymnastics, which is not just a sport; it is, IMO, a fine art. Its athletes try to perform acrobatic stunts on various apparatus, including bars, the vault, and the floor; male gymnasts also use the pommel horse and suspended rings, and female gymnasts use the balance beam. The female gymnasts are best known in this sport; the best-known ones include the cute and adorable Olga Korbut, the perfect Nadia Comaneci, the talented Mary Lou Retton and the Magnificent Seven of Atlanta. And I personally think that of all the Olympic athletes that compete, the female gymnasts are the cutest of them all.
  People who don't usually follow those sports wait for the Olympics to absorb those events.
  The Olympic Games is also an event where you get to hear other countries' anthems. But the most familiar anthem could very well be the one from your native country, depending on where you live. But even if you don't live there, you certainly have heard other anthems, such as Great Britain's "God Save the Queen", France's "La Marseillaise", Germany's "Deutschland Uber Ailles" song, Australia's "Advance, Australia Fair", Japan's "Kimi ga yo", China's "March of the Volunteers", Russia's anthem, and the United States' "Star-Spangled Banner".
  
  The Olympics often don't go without controversy, such as the 1972 gold medal basketball fiasco and the 2002 pairs figure skating incident, both were initially decided, IMO, by means of prejudice. There is also the eligibility issue; examples include Jim Thorpe being stripped of his Olympic medals when it was found that he previously played professional baseball (then, pros weren't allowed in the Games), every athlete who was ever caught using drugs, and the (as of this moment) ongoing issue of the ages of the Chinese gymnasts. Regarding that issue, I don't care what they do about it; I still think those girls are cute. Other issues include involvement in the Games themselves for political reasons; in 1980, the United States boycotted the Moscow Olympics after the Soviets invaded Afghanistan, which led to the Soviet boycott of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. There's also the complications of being the host city; Montreal spent too much money on building facilities for the 1976 Olympics; Atlanta relied too much on corporate funding for the 1996 Olympics; Athens did not build to schedule for the 2004 Olympics. And then, there are the events that transcend an entire Olympics; they included the 1972 Munich massacre, and the pipe bomb in Atlanta.
  
  Once again, this year's Olympics were shown in the United States on NBC.
  When NBC's Olympic tradition began with the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, Korea, the network actually had a daytime schedule. This particular schedule consisted of three hours of game shows, followed by three hours of soap operas.
  The game shows were:
  $ale of the Century, with host Jim Perry, Concentration, with Alex Trebek, Wheel of Fortune, with Pat Sajak and Vanna White, the daytime version of Win, Lose or Draw, hosted by Vicki Lawrence, and produced by Richard S. Kline in association with movie legend Burt Reynolds and nighttime host Bert Convy, who also hosted Super Password, which followed; that was followed by Scrabble, with host Chuck Woolery.
  What followed were three soap operas: the long-running Days of Our Lives and Another World, and the short-lived but highly acclaimed Santa Barbara.
  Nowadays, NBC's daytime schedule only consists of Days of Our Lives, and even that show might leave NBC soon. That could be possible, especially considering that the Today Show keeps expanding.
  
  The closing ceremonies of all Olympics, summer and winter, feature the athletes coming in as one. Then, three flags are raised as their anthems play: the Greek flag, symbolizing Olympic past, the current host country's flag, symbolizing Olympic present, and the next host country's flag, symbolizing Olympic future. Then, a special Olympic flag is passed on from the mayor of the current host city to the mayor of the next host city, and the next host country displays its art and culture. After the IOC president closes the games, the cauldron is doused, and the Olympic Flag is lowered and removed, thus ending the games.
  
  I think that the Olympic Games are like a quadrennial world holiday, where many nations that are in conflict with other nations try to put their differences aside and let their athletes do the dirty work.
  
  Well, the Beijing Olympics have concluded, and so has this blog. This is Ian, cosmowanda522, saying zai jian.
  • Posted Aug 24, 2008 10:29 am PT
  • Category: Sports
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• 9Jun 08

  Remembering a Television Olympian

  Good day, this is Ian, cosmowanda522, with the passing of a TV legend on my mind.

  "Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sport... The thrill of victory... and the agony of defeat... The human drama of athletic competition... This is ABC's Wide World of Sports."

  Those were the famous words of Jim McKay, the legendary host of ABC's Wide World of Sports anthology series who, as of the time of this posting, recently died at the age of 86. Everyone in the wide world of sports is saddened to hear of his passing.

  Back in the 1960s, the young ABC network was experimenting with all sorts of different programming, something characteristic of all fledgling TV networks, such as the Fox network. In 1960, ABC started airing a sports show focusing on sporting events in other countries, not just those in the United States. Jim McKay was there and he was able to host WWOS with a little bravery and a lot of class. At a time where satellite television was scarce, and not many other people were able to see the world in person, Jim McKay brought the world to his TV viewers, and showed all of America that there is indeed a "sports world". In four decades and all those miles of traveling, it would be very, very difficult to think of a sport that McKay hadn't covered in this wide world.

  But in the wide world of sports, perhaps McKay's greatest triumphs were his work on the Olympic Games. Of the 12 Olympic Games he did, perhaps his most memorable moment was his handling of the massacre of the 1972 Munich games (which had lots of other memorable moments as well) that saw 11 Israeli athletes taken hostage and killed. When he said, "They're all gone." it became one of the most memorable lines in sports broadcasting history.

  He was one of the most important figures of American television, let alone sports television. Jim McKay, a true television Olympian, was 86, and he will sorely be missed, not just by yours truly, but by sports fans everywhere, all around the wide world of sports. This is Ian (cosmowanda522) signing off.

  • Posted Jun 9, 2008 2:15 pm PT
  • Category: Sports
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• 23Aug 07

  Fan Behavior

  Let's go, ready? From the top...

  Hello, this is Ian, cosmowanda522, with fan behavior on my mind. Well, it's that time of year again, time for the high school football season to begin, and for the fans of each high school team to get behind their favorite team. Now, one thing that they shouldn't be doing is insulting, gesturing, and cheering against the opposing team. In basketball season, it seems to be more acceptable, especially considering that the opposing fans are closer to each other than at a football stadium. I am from North Ridgeville, Ohio, and the team from my alma mater, the North Ridgeville Rangers, at one time faced dangerous opponents in the "how-did-the-Rangers-get-in-here-in-the-first-place" Pioneer Conference. Several schools were known for their cheering sections with great support for their team, and a nasty attitude toward the opposition. The most dangerous fans in the league were those of Brunswick High School, and I wouldn't want to mess with them, or the fans at Medina High School. Outside of Medina County, there are the fans of Midpark High School, and their neighbors, Berea High. The fans of North Royalton never gave me any issues, and as for Strongsville and Brecksville-Broadview Heights, it kinda depended on their mood.

  Now, giving chants of "Sit Down Shut Up", "Watch That Scoreboard", "Why So Quiet", etc. may not be the best behavior at a high school sporting event, it sure seems okay at a basketball game, but at a football game... well, that's where it gets to be too taboo, so to speak. There are several schools' fan sections who do that sort of thing during football games, one of them is the student section at Midpark High School. I believe that the "Orange Crush", as they're called, thinks it's always basketball season! But Midpark's certainly not the only school whose fan section does that stuff; others do it a lot, and I don't think it's tolerable. In the words of the horse from "Ren & Stimpy", "No, sir. I don't like it." In the words of the guys from Baseball Tonight, "That's nasty!" In the words of Stephanie Tanner, "How rude!" And, of course, in the immortal words of the one and only William Shatner... "I CAN'T GET BEHIND THAT!"

  Now, I'm not trying to take anything away from the schools I mentioned, their support for their team is great, and they can do anything they want to the opposition, but I'm just not crazy about dissing the opposition at football games. This applies to football games only. If things keep up, I have a funny feeling that at least one student section will be cleared from their side of the stadium if things keep getting out of hand. And if there's one thing I really, really, really hate more than fans acting rudely at football games, it's fans being ejected from games. So if you want to stay for the whole game, be sure to be on your best behavior. And if you don't feel comfortable about what's going on, "Sit down, shut up!" And if the other team's fans ask you, "Why so quiet?" you will have good reason to be that way.

  Well, I hope you enjoy the football season, and if anyone is offended by my rant, please accept my apologies. This is Ian (cosmowanda522) signing off, ready for football season. And hopefully, you won't have to hear me say...

  "I CAN'T GET BEHIND THAT!"

  • Posted Aug 23, 2007 10:33 am PT
  • Category: Rant
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