20060202
olimpiyada
friends of friends are dreaming of going to beijing for the 2008 games. that reminded me of why everyone should try to go to a big, commercial sporting event like the olympics at least once in their life.
the most meaningful olympics for me was of course the only one i've been to - salt lake city 2002 - but mascotwise, it's athens.
the last report on the athens olympics i heard is that the country had gone over $20 million in debt, the bulk of it incurred in and around the athens area. i think that's debt they owe foreign banks that they have to pay with interest. it sounds like a whole generation will end up paying for that debt, and that's if they all want to work to pay for it.
but when i remember the exhuberant faces of the young greek athletes as they trooped around the oval on opening night, i think it's worth it.
(it's a sharp contrast to the u.s. athletes, who had to march around the same enormous stadium, and there were many more unhappy shoulders than bouncing ones, waving, ahaha. the war in iraq had just started. there was not too many things to be happy about.)
the greeks prize youth above all things. it's no wonder they chose two ancient dolls found in ruins as models for their olympic mascots.
greek officials from the city to national level all unanimously agreed that the olympics should return to its city of origins. they did it for the history.
too rare right now are there events celebrated that commemorate primarily an event's nondollar amount. the athens games hosted one of the highest number of olympic games, in one of the smallest countries of the world - among other landmarks. for the history aspect alone, in that athletes sometimes threw shotput from the same exact spots their predeceesors did 2,000 years ago - that alone is unmatched. ¶ 2/02/2006 11:24:00 PM
friends of friends are dreaming of going to beijing for the 2008 games. that reminded me of why everyone should try to go to a big, commercial sporting event like the olympics at least once in their life.
the most meaningful olympics for me was of course the only one i've been to - salt lake city 2002 - but mascotwise, it's athens.
the last report on the athens olympics i heard is that the country had gone over $20 million in debt, the bulk of it incurred in and around the athens area. i think that's debt they owe foreign banks that they have to pay with interest. it sounds like a whole generation will end up paying for that debt, and that's if they all want to work to pay for it.
but when i remember the exhuberant faces of the young greek athletes as they trooped around the oval on opening night, i think it's worth it.
(it's a sharp contrast to the u.s. athletes, who had to march around the same enormous stadium, and there were many more unhappy shoulders than bouncing ones, waving, ahaha. the war in iraq had just started. there was not too many things to be happy about.)
the greeks prize youth above all things. it's no wonder they chose two ancient dolls found in ruins as models for their olympic mascots.
 | which is a lot better than the 1996 atlanta olympics mascot, izzy. designers named it such because no one knew just exactly what he is. i think they ran out of ideas. i dunno about you, but if this creature came out to wave and greet me and cheer me on after a charged game of biathlon or archery, i would totally cry and run away. |  |
greek officials from the city to national level all unanimously agreed that the olympics should return to its city of origins. they did it for the history.
too rare right now are there events celebrated that commemorate primarily an event's nondollar amount. the athens games hosted one of the highest number of olympic games, in one of the smallest countries of the world - among other landmarks. for the history aspect alone, in that athletes sometimes threw shotput from the same exact spots their predeceesors did 2,000 years ago - that alone is unmatched. ¶ 2/02/2006 11:24:00 PM
