A little history on the games Link. WARNING!! It is not for the faint hearted. It was extremly barbaric.

Michael The Fear of the Lord is the Beginning of Wisdom

@ Mee,

What did you see?

Life: No one gets out alive.

I forget the name, I think it was the biathalon, where they were skiing and then stopping for brief moments to shoot at targets. That was the only event I got to see, but it was an awesome experience.

"Guns don't kill people....I DO!!"

Kool. Ya, I wish I was alive when the games were in Montreal....maybe for 2010 for Vancover.

@ FD, Kool link.

Life: No one gets out alive.

RILMS said

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The Games are to show that we can put our petty differences aside and go for the purity of the games.

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I disagree. By it's very nature, the games split each country into independent entities, each of whom will do ANYTHING to win. Indeed, it is the "petty differences" that define the games. As for purity well, if the games were "pure", then we wouldn't need drug tests!

Mee said

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The reason the Olympics are good is because they bring people from all over the world for some friendly competition.

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That's the thing, it's not "friendly" competition, it's a cut-throat battle that depends upon who is "the best", and how much money the countries will spend on making their athletes the best.

Which probably is the reason why it makes sense to allow professional athletes to compete now. Why pretend over something that has become so transparently not "Olympic" in spirit

im not really a fan of watching athletics in any shape or form. i feel a bit lame sitting watching people who can run real fast, run real fast. i mean the sports are real no-brainers arent they? and what difference does it make anyway? you know america's gonna win pretty much everything because they have a "win or get lynched" mentality drilled into their citizens. I avoid most sporting events like the plague, it takes up FAR too much tv airspace and usually interrupts my favorite shows.

As for that rather humorous comment about the whole thing being marred by terrorists (ssjgarretjax) i just wondered what terrorists you meant? and isnt terrorists a bit of a vague term, considreing terrorism is a means of fighting, its like saying that the olympics will be marred by soldiers (thats what it sounds like to me, anyway) so which soldiers are thsese?


"If i told you a secret you wont tell a soul,
will you hold it and keep it alive"

Well it DID happen in Munich in 1972 but that turned out to be a massive public relations debacle for the Palestinians. They handled it so poorly, even though the German police also were relatively inept at the start ... no one expected it so everyone was caught unprepared ... except maybe the Israelis but even they
were caught by surprise.

After that, the Palestinian cause was trashed in image. No one sympathised for them and they all were branded as nothing more than cutthroat criminals with no sense of morals or decency. It took them another 20 years to regain some traction and credibility with non-Arab countries.

I'd dare say that if they were to terrorize the Athens Olympics for some political purpose, they would end up with the same backfiring result.

Where else can you see a country take pride in its ping pong players? --- VH16

Oh, sorry, I meant "table tennis"

I am Nobody; Nobody is Perfect; Therefore, I am Perfect

late at night on the news channels they show highlights of american news shows to get to see what you crazy yanks are regarding as news over there and by god you're SO scared of terrorists its untrue. not getting on the political or any other high horse but there was a huge special report about the terrorist fears that an attack is going to happen at the olympics. You're scared there's going to be one before the elections too, i find it incredible, i really do. You've all gotta stop being so scared, the chances of there being another terrorist attack are negligable, the continued news coverage of terrorists are solely to remind the american people that the "enemy" is still out there and it can attack the olympics because they hate freedom (god i love that phrase).

Watch the olympics if you like sport, dont expect or even pay any attention to the security situation because i guarantee you nothing's going to happen.

@Archie,

It's an election year. Do the math.

<Edit>

So the two greatest track athletes in Greece were riding a motorcycle together and had an accident? Who coincidentally seemed to be a little shy about competing in too many international events, who also failed to show up for their drug screening and then failed to show up at the IOC hearing to explain themselves ... because they had a motorcycle accident resulting in hospitalization for what appears to be minor injuries but of sufficient nature either to interfere with their performances or prevent them from competing

*pant pant pant*

Edited by - Indy11 on 8/13/2004 5:26:56 PM

Edited by - Indy11 on 8/13/2004 5:28:16 PM

i was just watching the opening, bits of it at least.
why do some countries have a very little crowd for representatives and some others, like taiwan, have a whole crowd?

My daughter asked me this same question not long ago....

There is something about watching atheletes elevated their performace to levels that defy explaination. To watch another human being do something that has never been done before is awesome. I remember a dialog in a movie once that sort of explained it. Vision quest, when the old man took a day off work to watch the main actor wrestle the stud state champ he said something to the effect of he remember watching Pele do a bicycle kick once in soccer and it brought him to tears. He said he'd never seen anything so amazing. It was as though he was watching perfection (or something like that). To see another human being jump up in the air like that and kick the ball over his head and into the goal. That was important to him to see that. As it was more important to him to take a day off work to watch this young kid go against the state champ was more important than working. Perfect example of the spirit of the event.

I'll be watching the Olympics in earnest. For the chance to see...perfection. I still get goose bump when I hear the theme music form the game. Not the new one, the old one.

Dum dum dee Dum dum...Dum dum dee Dum dum (que trupets)

Rob "Stinger" Lordier
Creator of the original Privateer FAQ
3+ years here and still lovin' every minute!
Favorite saying - Life is a journey, not a destination

Olympics? Whazzat?