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The Daily Dose/April 10, 2008
By Gaylon Kent
The Writer's Shack
   
More notes from around the Human Expereince, but let's face it, we're going to be pretty heavy on the Tibet deal for awhile. But there is some modest On This Date action, and, of course, The Column Four Foto: Chairman Mao!
SOMEBODY GET ME A DRINK: If International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge isn't drinking heavily right now, he may well be thinking about it. Four months before the Summer Olympics in Beijing are about to begin, he is still not sure they will go off without a hitch, or if everyone who RSVP's is going to show up.
More To Come: Not only that they are still entirely sure of the exact order of finish of the women's 100 and 200 meter races, the 1,600 and 400 meter relays, or the long jump at the 2000 Sydney Games.
But First, Let's Go To San Francisco: Chinese Olympic organizers got off easy in San Francisco, but only because the relay route went through some last minute changes to avoid possible confrontations. The route was cut in half and the closing ceremony moved from a waterfront location to the airport, the better to whisk the flame away.
To Review: There were 37 arrests in London and in Paris matters got so out of hand the torch was actually extinguished three times and the last leg cancelled and the torch transported in a bus.
History Lesson: The torch relay deserves to be protested. China brutally invaded a once-free Tibet in 1951 and has, also brutally, occupied it ever since, but the Chinese want this swept under the rug. Tibetans are pretty low key people and have more or less put up with it while peacefully trying to worm their way out from under the Chinese thumb. It hasn't worked, of course, and with China ascending to the top of the world's sporting stage, now is as good a time as any to let the world know that Tibet used to be free. China likes to make a lot of noise about how Tibet has always been a part of China. Arguments refuting this are long and beyond the scope of hack Internet columns like this one, but any serious reading into the matter - such as that done by your friends here at the Writer's Shack - shows Chinese claims to historical ownership of Tibet are utterly without merit.
FunFact: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced this week he will not attend the Opening Ceremonies, though it should be noted he had never committed to going to them and has always said he will be attending the Closing Ceremonies, in his role as head of state of the next host nation.
Home Of The Brave: President Bush, being urged from several sides not to attend the Beijing Games, has not made a decision either way yet.
Meanwhile, In Sports: The IOC must also decide what to do about the medals Marion Jones forfeited when she admitted to being steroids during the 2000 Sydney Games. Jones won the gold medal in the 100 and 200 meters, and the 1,600 meter relay, plus bronze medals in the 400 meter relay and the long jump. Though you might think the IOC's executive board would have better things to discuss at a two-day meeting beginning Thursday in Beijing, they are expected to address the matter.
This Will Surprise You: They are not expected to do much, however, preferring to wait until the BALCO steroid investigation in the US is completed, to see if any more medal winners from Sydney are implicated.
When they do get around to doing something, there will be a couple of headaches waiting for them.
On Your Mark: First off, Jones' teammates on the relays are getting snitty, refusing to return their medals on the not completely illogical theory that they weren't doped up and won the medals in good faith. This argument isn't chock full of merit, but it's not completely without merit, either, though when this ends up in the Court of Sports Arbitration they will probably lose.
Get Set: Another problem awaits the IOC should they decide to re-award medals. The IOC is not pleased that the silver medalist in the 100 meters is Greece's Katerina Thanou. Thanou is suspicious because she didn't bother to show up for her drug test prior to the 2004 Athens Games - which is tatamount to admitting you're doping - and withdrew from the Games. It doesn't matter that Thanou is under no suspicion for her performance in Sydney.
Go: The staff of the Writer's Shack is pleased to offer our usual, easy solution to this problem: legalize whatever the fuck athletes want to put into their bodies!
Apologies Are Issued: All right, we didn't need to swear. We're sorry. But we simply do not see the point. Athletes are doping up; as seen in track, cycling and major league baseball, and nobody's doing a really good job of catching anyone until way after the fact. Plus, it's not as if performances enhancers (PE's) bestow talent that isn't already there. They don't. If you don't have the talent, no amount of PE's are going to help you. PE's do, however, give those taking them an advantage, because they, well, enhance your performance, and help an athlete get the most out of their bodies.
Hey, Aren't These Dangerous: Perhaps. Perhaps not. Either way, it's an athlete's lookout and not ours. I've taken PE's - legal, over-the-counter PE's, but PE's nonetheless - while weight lifting. Before you take these you do your research. You also trust your instincts, because most times they will tell you when you are doing harmful to your body.
Yeah, But Isn't It Wrong To Tell Someone They Have To Take Potentially Harmful Drugs To Compete:Yeah, it probably is. We've never said that legalization would make everything sweetness and light with the ghost of Pierre de Coubertin playing the fife and leading athletes on their merry way. It won't.
But it would do three things. One, legalization means access for all, not just those who willing to break the rules, which would level the playing field far more than the current system does. Two, it eliminates a system which has never worked properly. Cheaters seldom get caught until after they've won and stood on the podium and heard the anthem, which, if you're of a mind to cheat, is all that matters to you anyway. Three, legalization would move the industry from the proverbial back alleys to the storefront, which would lead to safer, better quality PE's.
TOKEN ON THIS DATE ACTION: On this date, in 1865, and one day after surrendering his Army of Northern Virginia to General Grant at Appomattox Court House, General Robert E. Lee gave his farewell address to his troops.
Dry, Technical Matter: The final cease-fire was signed in June, and the final Confederate naval force surrendered in England in November.
Answer To The Last Trivia Question: Times Square was formerly named Longacre Square.
Today's Trivia Challenge: IOC President Jacques Rogge is himself a former Olympian. At what Olympics and in what events did he participate in? - Answer next time, whenever that is!
Threats? Recipes? Trivia question answers? Email The Writer's Shack Here!
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