Tag: olympics

  • Teenagers are incapable… until they aren’t

    Gabrielle Douglas is 16 years old. This week she won 2 gold medals at the London Olympic games. She will be a junior in high school this year.

    Missy Franklin is 17 years old. She also won 2 gold medals in London and owns 2 world records. She’s entering her senior year in high school.

    If you want to see a few more stories about teenagers in the Olympics, The New York Times has a page dedicated to the endeavor.

    The Capability vs. Expectations Gap

    As a lover of teenagers universal and an often observer of their amazing capabilities— I enjoy the irony that America will celebrate Gabby and Missy’s victories as if they were their own daughters…

    • We acknowledge their physical prowess.
    • We acknowledge their dedication.
    • We admire the grace at which they handle their athletic events and the pressure of the world stage.
    • We admire the maturity in their handling sudden fame.

    We each easily attribute downright adult descriptions on teenage Olympiads. 

    This is ironic because from a societal perspective we don’t expect teenagers to be capable of such adult-like qualities. I mean… they can’t possibly be adults at 15-16-17, can they?

    3 examples of this irony…

    Raise expectations, friends. Most teenagers can do just about everything you can do… maybe better than you can. Let’s not just celebrate teenagers who hoist gold medals, let’s celebrate the capabilities of the teenagers in our lives.

    And let’s kill agism, OK? Let’s judge people by what they can do instead.

    Discover what their coaches know: When you expect someone’s very best, you’ll get it. When you expect nothing, you’ll get it.  

  • 10 Ways to Make Olympic Sports More Interesting to Watch

    The commercials have begun. The summer games are coming and we have a moral obligation to care. Soon you will know what the official toilet paper and sports drink is of the 2012 Olympic Games.

    But let’s be real. For 3 weeks NBC is going to pretend like these are sports the average American cares about. Seriously? Sailing is must-see TV? Are you going to watch a preliminary field hockey match between Slovenia & Finland at 3:20 AM?

    Not unless they can make it interesting.

    Here’s 10 ways to tweak Olympic sports to make them interesting TV:

    1. Move the equestrian events around to other random events. Nothing would spice up round 3 of fencing event like some horses in the background. And think about how much fun water polo would be with a couple horses in the water?
    2. Put archery and shooting in the rough of the golf course. You want to see some golfers sweat? If a dude slices into the rough he should have to time his shot to avoid getting shot with an arrow. “It’s going to be a tough up and down, especially after he lost his sand wedge over on the shooting range.“
    3. Have all the discus, javelin, and hammer throw people go at the same time. (Not each discipline, mind you, each of those separately) If you survive a round and your object goes the furthest… we will crown you champion. Think of the international incident possibilities? “Well, Jack. The real interesting thing here is that the Russian threw his hammer the furthest, but the Turk accidentally hit him in the head with his, so it looks like the Russian will fail to advance.”
    4. Badminton and table tennis should be played on the roof of Canary Warf. At 771 feet above street level and with some of London’s notorious drizzle, this should make both of these event worth watching.
    5. Several modifications to soccer would make it more fun to watch. I appreciate the toughness, but let’s bank the sidelines so that the ball flows into the middle better. And a motte at the half line would be appropriate for London. Also, when a team scores a goal they should lose a player until they can score another goal so the other team is advantaged to score. Go up by 3 goals and you lose your goalie for 10 minutes.
    6. Track would be better with more chaos and less stretching. Time the 100 meter to go at the same time and in the opposite direction as the 400 meter and you’ll have some TV worth watching. Combine the 100 meter final and pole vaulting? Dang, I’d get a Tivo for that.
    7. Distance running should include some chase scenes. Who wants to watch some poor dude run 26 miles? Not this guy. But add a dog or some bulls every once in a while and I’m IN!
    8. Field hockey needs some checking. No doubt it’s a fun game to play. But we need some hits! Also, change the time on the quarters to say… 5 minutes. We need to pick up the pace.
    9. Combine weightlifting and the canoe/kayaking events. I’d love to see those big bulky dudes wedge themselves into a tiny little kayak, then beach it to try to pull-n-jerk 450 pounds on a little raft in the middle of the Thames. Are you kidding? With the clock running? This is amazing TV.
    10. Gymnastics, swimming, and diving need some defense. How about some gladiators during the floor competition? Or what if swimming included some goons in the middle of the pool? “Did you see Michael Phelps, he swam right underneath the Italian defense. Unbelievable!” 

    Do some of that stuff and I’m all in. That would even make the closing ceremonies worth watching as it’d be a parade of survivors and unlimited montages of great hits and unforgettable moments.

  • President Bush is the Man

    George Bush Checks out Volleyball Players ButtOK, so I’ve firmly established that I am writing GW Bush in as my vote in November. Patti pointed this out to me over at the NBC Olympic site, you’ll probably be seeing this on Jon Stewart for sure on Monday.

    Quick reminder about why we love the President. He’s all dude. The kind of guy you’d invite over for a BBQ.

    Check out more pictures of Mr. Bush in China.

  • Boycott the Olympics?

    olympicsIn the next few weeks there will be a growing public outcry for the United States and many other major nations to boycott the Olympic Games in Beijing.

    It bears refreshing our memory that China is, indeed, one of the worst human rights violators on the planet. Up until 2008 China was on the State Departments list of 10 worst human rights violators in the world.

    Obviously, the Tibet issue is front page news today. But let’s not forget about the other continued violations. Organ harvesting. No political freedom. No freedom of the press. No freedom of speech. No freedom of movement. No freedom to work. No religious freedom. And of course the one-child policy which has led to female infanticide, forced abortions, selective abortion, and abandonment.

    There is little doubt that the last 10 years has seen lots of reform in China. But I think it is worth thinking through… should the United States support an Olympic Games in a nation with such widespread human rights problems? How can we sit idly, pretend everything is OK, watch coverage on NBC and do nothing? Of course, the Olympic Team from our country will go. A boycott is not plausible. It’s all about money and everyone would say that a boycott would be bad for the economy. And it would be bad for US/China business relationships. There are a lot of palms to be greased, a lot of hospitality tents to fill, and a lot of complimentary freebies to give to one another in the name of the Olympics.

    If we don’t come up with an answer, expect to see a lot more stuff like this…