I get my kicks above the waistline sunshine

So its over.  Thank God.  All you minor sportsmen and women can go back to obscurity where you belong.  But before we move on lets reflect on one moment of sheer sport insanity.  It is certainly my highlight.  Its right up there with that dutchy tackling the ref and the wicky who impaled an umpire with a stump.

Angel Valodia Matos take a bow.  You did soemthing every frustrated sports fan has at one time or another wanted to do.  I just wish someone had rounhouse kicked Lyndon Bray in the face on Saturday afternoon.

Olympics…its just not cricket

Miming, pre-recorded firework displays, fake representation of ethnic groups…and thats just the opening ceremony.  Add to that a collection of the most boring minority sports in the universe, horses on drugs, and 1 pathetic medal for Team RSA.  I tell you, the closing ceremony on Sunday can’t come soon enough.

Now I’m an avid sports fan and I’ll watch just about anything.  But I have to draw the line at grown ups playing ping pong for national glory.  And as for Taekwondo, what the hell is that.  You jiggle around for 10 minutes, kick your opposition on his big girly chest pad once, and gold is yours.  If it wasn’t for women’s diving and beach volleyball this would have to be the greatest waste of time ever.  How anyone can devote their life to shooting a pellet gun at a target, prancing around on a horse that looks it likes having an epyleptic fit (must be the drugs) or twirling a ribbon is beyond me.

The Chinese have treated these games as the largest, most expensive PR campaign ever.  Having found a young girl to sing at the opening ceremony it was then decided she was too ugly to be on TV, so out she went.  In comes a prettier version who cant sing, so she mimes.  Ludicrous.  And since when did the Chinese sail, play beach volleyball or have the slightest interest in hockey.  But sure enough there they are competing for medals.  8 years ago when they were awarded the games they must have just pointed at people and said “hey you, you’re gonna be our windsurfer, here is an unlimited budget, go train”.  Did you see their women’s diver.  It looks like they’ve been starving her so she doesn’t make a big splash when she hits the water, “get a medal and you get fed”.

Just finished watching our men’s 4 x 100m relay.  We dropped the baton.  But then so did the US (men and women).  Our swimmers thought 7th was just great, our diver bellyflopped, our kayaker came stone last, we might get a medal for BMXing.  Our rider won his heat when the rest of the field crashed.  Awesome.  Its just been one great big disappointment.  I had a bad feeling the moment I saw them walk into the Bird’s Nest stadium in green crocs.  Which moron’s idea was that?

We have 3 days left to improve out medal count.  Think we have 4 women in a boat who are in a final somewhere, sometime.  Who am i kidding, I really dont give a shit.  Just come home and stop wasting money that could be used on finishing football stadia.  Oh God, we still have that debacle to look forward to.

The 2nd Coming

Has happened.  It was on 5 Feb 1985 in Madeira.  Now watch him in action.

And he’s staying, for another year at least.  Oh happy days!

Olympics and Social Media

Given my feelings on China’s human and animal rights track record and their arrogant attitude towards the rest of the world’s feelings on their handling of Tibet, I was of good mind to ignore the Olympics.  However, with the magnitude of the event and the anticipation of it, thats going to be impossible.  I just hope that its a disappointing medal tally for both China and the US.  Although there domination is almost a certainty.

Anyhoo, I’ve come across a few instances where the Olympics is embracing Social Media that is quite relevant to the industry I find myself in.  Firstly there’s the official Olympics YouTube channel as reported in this Guardian article.  It seems the former nemesis of copyright law is now its champion.  I have tried searching YouTube for this channel as it was supposed to go live today but I’m not finding anything official yet.

IOC rules say that no athletes may be involved in any form of journalistic role, however, ever since the Turin winter olympics 2006, blogging has been permitted.  The Mail and Guardian says the IOC seems to be embracing modern means of communication.  It took a different view in Barcelona 1992 when US athletes used cell phones to talk to the press during the opening ceremony.

Even the BBC is on the act. Not only can you follow their Olympic blog but you can chat to their reporters on the scene on Twitter.

What I am really excited about is the Opening Ceremony.  Its directed by fim director, Zhang Yimou (Hero and House of Flying Daggers).  If the visual spectacle of those movies is anything to go by then it should be immense.  The journalists who were at the dress rehearsal said the sheer ambition of it is staggering.  Tune in at 13h45 (Central African time) on SuperSport 6.  What you thought SABC would have it?  Dont joke!

From a South African medal perspective we are probably going to have to rely on our swimmers again.  Theres been a bit written about one of our fencing guys, Sello Maduna, but I think thats more from a human interest angle, him being our only black fencer and all that.  But I guess we’ll see.