Sunday, August 22, 2004

I'm not the only one

Here's a columnist at MSNBC who agrees with me that Paul Hamm should just give up the medal.

Hamm, for his part, is standing firm.  He's sticking by the no-questioning-the-result-after-the-game-is-over rule.  Which is all well and good, and I can't blame him for taking that position.  Then again, if the situation had been reversed, and Hamm had been the one who earned but didn't receive a gold medal because of a judging mistake (which couldn't be corrected because US Gymnastics didn't complain on time) -- well, I guarantee there'd be an awful lot of complaining, protesting, calling for lopping off heads, throwing weight around, and general foot-stampiness coming from Hamm, the Gymnastics team, and the general population of the United States.  So why stand on the procedural rule and let an injustice happen when the sneaker is on the other foot?

Final note.  Hamm says, “I’m glad I’m able to clear the air here and make sure everyone in the U.S. understands that I’m not a silver medalist. I’m a gold medalist, and once the meet is over, it’s over.”

All of which may be true -- but I think everyone in the U.S. also understands that Yang is a gold medalist, who happens to have a bronze hanging around his neck, and you're the only one who can do something about it.

I do SO look like an athlete.

I happened to catch some of the midday coverage on Friday -- when you get to see sports that don't make it into prime time, like table tennis, kayaking, judo, and weighlifting.

The more sports I watch, the more I realize that there's a sport for every body type out there.  Them tall thin leggy women play indoor volleyball; the short ones are gymnasts; the huge muscular ones lift weights; people with developed upper bodies kayak; those with larger overall mass engage in judo; and people with no hair on their bodies swim.  OK, I kid on that last one, but you see my point.

So, I just need to find a sport where you don't have to have six-pack abs, can be under 5'2", and needn't wear sparkles in your hair.  Perhaps trap-shooting?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looks like Svelana will be standing in line to claim the US fixes things so we always come out on top. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/olympics/2004/gymnastics/08/22/bc.olympics.gymnastics.khorkina/index.html

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately, dwarf tossing probably won't be considered an Olympic sport anytime soon.

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/2020/2020/GMAB_020308_dwarftossing.html

Mrs. L