Quick Links
Categories
Calendar
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
XML/RSS Feed
Other Heathen Blogs and Journals
Caryatid's LiveJournal
Boars Heart's LiveJournal
Orn Ransom's LiveJournal
Thorolf's LiveJournal
Falki's LiveJournal
MacRaven
Seledréam
Vanatru's LiveJournal
Expanding Inward
Boars Heart's LiveJournal
Orn Ransom's LiveJournal
Thorolf's LiveJournal
Falki's LiveJournal
MacRaven
Seledréam
Vanatru's LiveJournal
Expanding Inward
Links of Heathen Interest
Other (non-heathen) Blogs
Subscribe
 |
 |
Technorati
Blog Value
My blog is worth $1,693.62.
How much is your blog worth?
Statistics
Total entries in this blog:
Total entries in this category:
Published On: Apr 26, 2006 10:02 PM
Total entries in this category:
Published On: Apr 26, 2006 10:02 PM
Gold Over Honor?
It's only a game, right? RIGHT?
For the first time in ages, to me at least, the
Olympics this year seem to be big news. The last time I remember it being at
all exciting or importantly newsworthy was in LA in 1980 (or was it 84?
whenever).
This year it seems to be almost exciting again. And so are the controversies.
Question for you: If you were in any contest of skill, and found out that you accidentally received a prize that you didn't actually earn, would you hold onto the prize or relinquish it?
I guess it depends on what winning means to you. Just to pick a random example (yeah. Ya'll believe, that right?), let's look at Paul Hamm, the gymnastics guy.
It was discovered after he was awarded a gold medal that the judges had been incorrect in their scoring, and he was not the actual winner; instead the gold medal should have gone to the individual who got the bronze medal (which, through some strange quirk of statistics, would put Hamm in the spot for the silver medal).
Now, the Olympic committee won't take away the medal for that reason. There has to be some demonstration of actual cheating before they'll strip a medal. Nonetheless, it seems to me that in the same situation, honor would dictate giving up the medal. After all, he didn't win it! But no. Hamm has stated he believes in his heart that he won the competition. Wow. That's fantastic. I hope every athlete who goes to the Olympics leaves feeling in their hearts that they won. They won just by going, which is a different kind of winning than actually winning the event, which is what Hamm claims he did. Too bad the judges' assessment didn't agree.
The Olympics used to be about the nations of the world coming together and having a civil competition regardless of politics. Now it just seems to be about "who won the most medals today?" Blech.
The president of the International Gymnastics Federation sent a letter to Hamm (or tried to; the US Olympic Committee refused to deliver it) suggesting he would be a true winner if he gave up the medal to the actual winner (I can hardly disagree with that assessment myself). You want to see what kind of media coverage this is getting? Read here . Yep, that's right; instead of looking at the merits or lack thereof of this suggestion, we're making fun of the guy's English.
I'm disappointed in the lack of honor we're showing as a country. I'm less surprised than usual that we're considered "Ugly Americans."
(I know this is a little different than most of my entries, but sometimes I need to rant too.)
This year it seems to be almost exciting again. And so are the controversies.
Question for you: If you were in any contest of skill, and found out that you accidentally received a prize that you didn't actually earn, would you hold onto the prize or relinquish it?
I guess it depends on what winning means to you. Just to pick a random example (yeah. Ya'll believe, that right?), let's look at Paul Hamm, the gymnastics guy.
It was discovered after he was awarded a gold medal that the judges had been incorrect in their scoring, and he was not the actual winner; instead the gold medal should have gone to the individual who got the bronze medal (which, through some strange quirk of statistics, would put Hamm in the spot for the silver medal).
Now, the Olympic committee won't take away the medal for that reason. There has to be some demonstration of actual cheating before they'll strip a medal. Nonetheless, it seems to me that in the same situation, honor would dictate giving up the medal. After all, he didn't win it! But no. Hamm has stated he believes in his heart that he won the competition. Wow. That's fantastic. I hope every athlete who goes to the Olympics leaves feeling in their hearts that they won. They won just by going, which is a different kind of winning than actually winning the event, which is what Hamm claims he did. Too bad the judges' assessment didn't agree.
The Olympics used to be about the nations of the world coming together and having a civil competition regardless of politics. Now it just seems to be about "who won the most medals today?" Blech.
The president of the International Gymnastics Federation sent a letter to Hamm (or tried to; the US Olympic Committee refused to deliver it) suggesting he would be a true winner if he gave up the medal to the actual winner (I can hardly disagree with that assessment myself). You want to see what kind of media coverage this is getting? Read here . Yep, that's right; instead of looking at the merits or lack thereof of this suggestion, we're making fun of the guy's English.
I'm disappointed in the lack of honor we're showing as a country. I'm less surprised than usual that we're considered "Ugly Americans."
(I know this is a little different than most of my entries, but sometimes I need to rant too.)
Posted: Sat - August 28, 2004 at 11:47 PM