Imagethief

Take a tip from Indonesia: when in doubt, separate yourself from the pack and go with the one that sounds most intelligent, but really doesn't mean anything at all (lauds, that is).

good one ...

Revealed: Sydney Olympics faked it too

http://www.smh.com.au/news/arts/revealed-sydney-olympics-faked-it-too/2008/08/26/1219516425771.html

Whether one thinks the BOG is great or not depends on whether one's agenda is the same as that of the IOC.

It would be wonderful if China began addressing the question: why weren't we afforded the accolade of 'best Games ever'?

'Truly exceptional' was the limit of Rogge's courage. He waited until the Games' dying breath to give those CCP boys a public rebuke. It was still more of a tap on the shoulder than a kick up the arse, though.

And by that stage Beijing didn't give a damn. Mission accomplished.

Somewhere in all this would be a great Mel Brooks movie...

"Best Games Ever" was simply a Samaranch tradition. Until Atlanta, where he notably (and correctly, considering the problems that beset that games) left his traditional closing remark out.

Co-incidentally, that was also the first games where China was watching as a country that was pretty keen on hosting (they'd just been knocked back for 2000, remember?)

So when he restored the tradition for Sydney, it became this sort of silly windmill against which China chose to tilt -- because they thought it was a genuine accolade (not so, it just meant in "Samaranchese" that you hadn't f***ed up) and China genuinely thought it had something to do with the job you'd done as a host.

So Rogge, no doubt under considerable BOCOG pressure to continue the tradition, chose the politician's "exceptional" (which is simply a superlative and not a descriptor --- exceptionally what?) because he knew he'd be ridiculed into early retirement by the western media if he "went Samaranch".

So, at best, it's a light breeze in a teacup. Doesn't even qualify as a "storm". Amusing that China took it all so seriously, of course, but such is their wont.

As for me, I am neither hailing, praising, or lauding.

Most of the quintessential "Olympic ingredients" were indeed produced (and of the highest quality) by BOCOG.

But some were conspicuously absent. A sense of youthful irreverence being one of those, alongside audiences championing wonderful performances even if local stars missed out...

@Downunder:More Olympics fakes discovered here. The IOC probably has got the full list of olympic fakes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fca-MbAKOV0

http://www.neonbubble.com/games/fake-olympic-games

The Chinese media addressed the "best games ever" question last week when it came out that Rogge wasn't going to use that formulation. But the translation they used for "exceptional" still makes it sound pretty good: 无与伦比, well deserving of a hail.

If Xinhua were a person, there would be some sort of DSM-IV diagnosis for that kind of relentless quest for self praise. Hi, my name's China and I'm a complementaholic.

@AnW

It is all Greek (or Spanish) to me until I saw the last bit of the video ... is it true that the arrow hit the crowd ? Nowadays you just cant believe anything anymore

good timing for the Aussies to reveal the fakery of the Sydney Olympics isn't it ... a full orchestra , 8 years later.

I guess one of those highly paid Aussie consultants (ex-Sydney Olympic organisor) for the BJ Olympics had a bit too much to drink to celebrate the end of their fat and juicy contract and spilled the beans !!!

Don't expect those bloody alcoholics to keep a secret .

Isn't the aim of every conuntry achieving  greatness and to brag about it? I wonder which country aims the other way round. Politicians everywhere  who do not know how to say the right thing wouldn't last.

Sounds like a lot of foreign hail fell on the Olympics- were the cloud seeders asleep at the switch or something?

@downunder: I believed the fireball was guided along a wire. I trust the Spaniards knew how to stop it from hitting people outside the stadium. The  Aussies were probably wondering what the hysteria was about.

When I see a headline like "World media hails olympics" I get really nervous. Everyone knows that foreign media outlets exist to slander China and bring about her downfall. So they're either lying or plotting something. And since the Beijing Olympics were the most amazing ever, neo-imperialistic plots are obviously afoot.

@Rhys there was a better explanation in one of Gou-Rou's headlines - "foreign media accurate when positive".

Turtlewind

Hahaha nice. I like.

@ Shannon

"But some were conspicuously absent. A sense of youthful irreverence being one of those, alongside audiences championing wonderful performances even if local stars missed out..."

Yes. I've just tried to make that point, on another blog as well as my own, but not nearly so succinctly.

And you're right about that Samaranch thing. CCTV, of course, were busy giving themselves the accolade 'best ever' weeks before the Games even began. I think they need to review their criteria.

@TC: New Zealand, or at least its political and business leadership, is on a madcap race to mediocrity, and bragging about it. Fortunately we have plenty of artists, musicians, writers, scientists and tech entrepreneurs to remind us our country does produce excellence, too.

I thought NZ was 80% Chinese immigrants already??? Vancouver got too small so they went down under...

@Hunxuer: That'd be Auckland. South of the Bombay Hills (i.e. in New Zealand) there's still a bit more variety.

I say "praise."  "Hail" sounds kind of old-fashioned and is too close to heil.  

@Will: I supposed you and many others here and elsewhere are from the very private sectors.

@chriswaugh_bj:But someones else need to run the country so that the artists, musicians, writers, scientists and tech entrepreneurs can continue their excellence.

@Hunxuer: The Maoris are the natives of NZ. The rest are either colonisers or immigrants. The same for Canada except that the natives are Indians.

Imagethief, being an arrogant son of a bitch and a bona-fide member of the Ivory Tower Elite, is seldom