Olympic Boycott Would Be A Huge Mistake

When the International Olympic Committee (IOC) awarded Beijing the 2008 Summer Olympics, the games were heralded as an opportunity for China to show the world all the great strides it has made to clean up its far-from-spotless human rights record.
Television networks dreamed of shooting live coverage of Tiananmen Square, the site where 21 years ago ago the Chinese government massacred hundreds of anti-government protesters. (The exact number of deaths is unknown: the Chinese government claims 200-300 casualties, less than half of the 400-800 reported by the New York Times, and thousands less than the 2,000-3,000 claimed by the Chinese Red Cross.)
But instead of allowing the media to broadcast live from Tianamen Square, the Chinese government has decided to ban all media from showing live shots from the square.
China is also under fire for continuing to deny independence to Tibet. In fact, China's recent crackdown on Tibetans and the government ordered "re-education" of Tibetans about the Dali Lama shows that the Chinese have taken steps in the opposite direction.
Many protesters have called for a boycott of the Beijing games. I realize I'm about to take the unpopular position here, but a boycott would be terrible.
The only other major Olympic boycotts came when the United States, and several other Western nations boycotted the Moscow games in 1980 over the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and when a Soviet-led group boycotted the 1984 Los Angeles games in retaliation.
Both of those boycotts, and the potential boycott of the Beijing games, are idiotic, naive, immature, and an altogether poor way of dealing with serious issues.
The whole point of the Olympics is, and has always been, to celebrate sport, to depart from politics if only for a fortnight. That point hasn't always been followed, but it has always been the goal.
First off, the IOC is at fault for making the Chinese Olympics a political forum. Secondly, as I've mentioned earlier a boycott is a ridiculous way to make a statement. A statement needs to be made, but an Olympic boycott is not the right statement.
Take a look down at your shoes, at the tag on your shirt or jacket. Chances are, your clothes were made in China. Also made in China are most of the other consumer goods used by the Westernized world.
Anybody who really wants to make a statement shouldn't boycott the Olympics, they should boycott Chinese goods.
That wouldn't be trendy, but it would be effective. It wouldn't be cheap, but it would be effective. It would be 100% effective. It would be a million times more effective than sending a message for two weeks and then not caring again.
Additionally, I find it odd so many people suddenly care about Tibet. Don't get me wrong, there has long been a popular "Free Tibet" movement for a long time, but far more people care about Tibet now, simply because the talk of a boycott in Beijing is making "Free Tibet" the "hip" movement.
One major instance where an Olympic boycott was arguably warranted was the 1936 Berlin Olympics. The Holocaust hadn't started yet, however Hitler's anti-Semitic policies were no secret. Also common knowledge was his love for the Aryan race. In fact, only Aryans could compete for German teams.
But did the US boycott? No! There was talk of a boycott, but there wasn't a boycott.
Instead of trying chastising Germany for their racism, the US competed in the Olympics.
As any sports historian can tell you, the star of the '36 games was Jesse Owens, a not quite 23-year-old black track star from Alabama. The son of a sharecropper and the grandson of a slave, Owens won four gold metals.
Needless to say, a black athlete taking gold in four events, beating out Hitler's supposedly-superior Aryan athletes was a far more significant way to condemn Hitler than boycotting the games and allowing the Aryan athletes to win.
Consider though that Owens wasn't trying to make a political message, he was trying to win, just like any other athlete.
Olympic boycotts always have been and always will be a slap in the face for the athletes.
A Venice parent, Jan Palchikoff was a member of the 1976 Olympic women's rowing team. She was supposed to be a member of the 1980 team as well, but the US-led boycott against the Soviets prevented her from competing on the world's stage a second time.
Owens and Palchikoff, like all athletes, dedicate their lives to training for the games.
Not only are Olympic boycotts poor ways to communicate an idea, they do a disservice to all the athletes by denying them the chance to compete.
If you really think the US should boycott the Beijing games, don’t buy things that are made in China. If you really think China needs to be taught a lesson, don’t simply ask for an Olympic boycott and then stop caring.
Boycotts don’t punish nations, they punish the athletes.

Goodbye Brett

I can’t believe I’m writing these words, but Brett Favre is officially the former starting quarterback of the Green Bay Packers.
In his illustrious career, Favre broke the NFL records for touchdown passes, passing yards, pass attempts, pass completions, wins by a starting quarterback, consecutive games started by a quarterback, most 3,000 yard seasons, most consecutive 3,000 yard seasons, most seasons with 30 or more touchdown passes, most consecutive playoff games with a touchdown, and finally, most MVP awards.
The record that Favre was identified with the most was the consecutive starts by a quarterback. Since Sept. 20, 1992, the date when Favre made the first of his 253 consecutive regular season starts, 212 players have started at least one game as a quarterback. To give some perspective, second place Peyton Manning, will have to play another five 16-game seasons, and the first 13 games of another, just to tie Favre’s record
But the number that defines Favre the most is not his 253 consecutive starts, it’s not his 160 regular season wins, nor is it his 442 touchdown passes, his 6,1655 yards or his 5,377 completions. It’s not his three MVP awards, his 63 three touchdown games, or his 16 consecutive 3,000 yard seasons.
The number that defines Favre, is simply “four,” the word that describes the legend best is simply “Favre.” He is the most unique individual to play the game.
From the time he took over the reins as the Packers quarterback, he has played the game with such a little-kid enthusiasm, sometimes a little reckless, sometimes a little careless, but always, always amazing.
No article about Favre is complete without mentioning that he also holds the record for interceptions with 288. But that’s really what makes Farve Favre.
It’s his unpredictable nature that sometimes made you cry, and sometimes cry tears of joy.
It’s also that unpredictable nature that makes Favre so special. He’s not perfect, he’s just a regular small town high school quarterback.
Favre was one of the most respected players throughout the league. When he broke the record for career touchdown passes, he did so in a road game against a rival team. The fan response however? A standing ovation.
A standing ovation from your rival? Thats the kind of stuff that’s unheard of, , but there’s nothing that counts as impossible with Favre.
The only word to describe Farve is “Farve.”
The word “Farve” is sort of like an expletive. It can be used as seemingly any part of speech. As a noun, a farve is a pass throw in a rush without necessarily thinking about the consequences. As an adjective, a farve pass is a pass thrown in that same manner. As an adverb, someone could farvely toss the ball down the field. As a verb, one could farve it down the field.
Now, I made all that up, but with the right visual aide, I’d be willing to bet many football fans would understand it if I referred to a reckless pass as a farve.
Farve’s eagerness to compete has always been there. Even in college, there seemed to be nothing that could slow him down. Less than one month before his senior season in college, Farve was in a car accident that eventually left him with 30 inches less small intestine than he had before the accident.
Farve had that surgery Aug. 8 1990, and returned to action one month later, 30 pounds lighter.
Two years later, on Sept. 13, 1992, Farve completed his first pass as a Packer, a “farve” that was deflected by a defender and caught by Farve himself.
A week later, Farve replaced Don Majkowski, the Packers quarterback at the time, after Majkowski injured a ligament in his ankle, and led the Packers to a come-from-behind-win capped off with a game-winning touchdown pass. with 13 seconds left in the game.
Seven days later, Farve started his first game as a Packer, and the rest, well the rest is history.

Clemmens McNamee Drama

In theory, the writers’ strike would mean that we’d be without soap operas this year, but (luckily?) the sports world has produced several juicy storylines that should make up for the lack of the episodic dramas we’ve been missing.
Sitting down to write my column this month, I felt like a kid in a candy store--both because I started on Valentines Day and was surrounded by candy--and because there are so many stories right now that are a columnist’s dream.
I ended up landing on two controversies currently being discussed on Capitol Hill. One: the fallout from former senator George Mitchell’s investigation on steroids in sports and the baseball great’s Roger Clemmens/Brian McNamee story that has officially replaced the Tonya Harding/Nancy Kerrigan debacle as sports’ greatest soap opera. (In 1994 Harding was behind an successful attack on Kerrigan’s knee) And two: Congress’s investigation into the NFL’s handling of Spygate.
The McNamee/Clemmens saga started last December when the much anticipated “Mitchell Report” about steroids in sports was released. One of the higher-profile athletes mentioned was Clemmens. According to the report, Clemmens had used HGH and anabolic steroids several times. Clemmens has repeatedly denied this. McNamee, who was Clemmens’s personal trainer at the time Clemmens was allegedly juicing, has said that Clemmens has used anabolic steroids and HGH.
The interesting thing here, is that they have given these contradictory views to congress, under oath. I’m not an expert in law, but if Clemmens told the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform that “I have not used steroids or growth hormone,” but McNamee has told that same committee that the he has injected Clemmens with anabolic steroids and HGH, somebody is committing perjury.
McNamee has evidence including bloody syringes and cotton balls, that he supposedly kept from the time when Clemmens was allegedly on steroids, from 2001 according to the report. I won’t lie. It’s really, really creepy to think that McNamee kept these syringes lying around all that time. But if they are truly syringes used on Clemmens to inject steroids, then however creepy, they’re still incriminating.
Bottom line, McNamee has evidence--Clemmens has only public opinion and his decreasingly good name to support him, but many, including me question why McNamee kept bloody syringes lying around for seven years.
Still, as more and more evidence begins to surface, it is becoming increasingly obvious to me that Clemmens is guilty.
The tip of the iceberg, was Clemmens’s teammate Andy Pettitte’s confirmation of McNamee’s testimony regarding Pettitte’s alleged steroid use. If McNamee was telling the truth about Pettitte, I’ve got to believe that he’s telling the truth about the Clemmens.
Perhaps the most interesting, and flat out weird, aspect of these hearings though, is that the opinion among Congress members falls largely among party lines. Now, we can expect there to be a partisan response to the war in Iraq, the economy, and other issues that should be discussed on capitol hill, but over a hearing on steroids in baseball? How can this possibly manage to fall among party lines?
And by the way, what in the world does congress think it’s doing investigating the Spygate scandal? It looks as if the government is more concerned about the way the NFL handled the situation than they were with the real Watergate, which is a very bad sign.
I guess I have to admit that I secretly want congress to unearth something that would make the Patriots seem more evil, and I definitely want steroid users to be brought to justice, but I really feel strongly that they should be spending more time on congressional issues than athletics.
The bottom line is that the government has more important things, much more important things, to deal with right now. Sports were created to be a distraction, but not to distract the government!

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Troubling News

I was on ESPN.com the other day, and I found that six workers have died working on the Bejing games. China's government, famous for cover ups, seems to be at work once more. It seems like a lot more than six people have died, judging from the reaction of the Chinese government. I'll post more info as a get it.