US Olympians told to tone down patriotism

[KingPK 0]

I'll ship this to CE if you want, but I saw this in today's Boston Herald

 

America's image around the world is so low that U.S. athletes have been told not to wave the flag at this summer's Olympic Games in Athens, according to a published report.

 

    U.S. Olympic officials have told American athletes to show restraint and avoid any jingoistic behavior - such as strutting with the flag or waving it excessively - that might be seen by other nations as confrontational or insulting, the London Telegraph reported.

 

    ``What I am telling the athletes is, `Don't run over and grab a flag and take it round the track with you,' '' said Mike Moran, a former USOC spokesman retained to advise athletes how to behave.

 

    ``It's not business as usual for American athletes. If a Kenyan or a Russian grabs their national flag and runs round the track or holds it high over their heads, it might not be viewed as confrontational. Where we are in the world right now, an American athlete doing that might be viewed in another manner,'' Moran told the newspaper.

 

    U.S. officials fear a repeat of the scene four years ago at the Sydney Olympics, where members of the victorious 400-meter relay team were widely condemned for strutting with the U.S. flag after their gold medal presentation.

 

    ``We're not the favorite kid in the world right now,'' conceded Bill Martin, the USOC's acting president. ``We are sensitive not only to the security issue, but to jingoism in its raw sense. That is why we are sending people around to educate the athletes as to the appropriate behavior.''

 

I agree that the display in Sydney was a bit too much, but this is going too far the other way. I thought the Olympic games were supposed to be a reprieve from anything political and a place where people from all over the world meet and watch the best athletes compete? They can't even take a minature flag and wave it around the track because people might be offended? So when a Canadian, or a Frenchman, or a Spaniard does it, it's ok, but when an American does it, it's "confrontational"? Give me a break.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Fuck a bunch of the Olympic Committee. I hope every athlete paints themselves red white and blue. Who do they think they are, anyway?

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

Heard about this yesterday. I wonder if Uncle Ted will blame some terrorist attack on an American Olympic athlete that displays a case of nationalism during a medal presentation?...

[starvenger 0]

Gotta agree with Kingpk, it's a huge overreaction. Although frankly it's not surprising considering how people overreacted to Nipplegate.

 

I mean, yes, the relay team incident was a bit much, but I don't see this as a common incident. It's not as if the US is sending Terrell Owens and Joe Horn to compete. If the athletes want to celebrate, let them.

[Guest Museite]

How about not having the Olympics in the US for the next 50 years, that might be a better thing than waving a flag in celebration.

[starvenger 0]

How about not having the Olympics in the US for the next 50 years, that might be a better thing than waving a flag in celebration.

I wouldn't hold my breath, but Vancouver holding the 2010 Winter Olympics pretty much guarantee that there won't be one until 2016 at the earliest...

[Guest Vitamin X]

New York is in the running for the 2012 games..

[Guest Museite]

yeah but everyone knows Paris or (very unlikely) London will get it. NO-one will vote for New York & London I think cos of the world opinion, and Moscow had it in 1980 and it sucks so it leaves Paris as the only place with its nation not currently under potential terroist attack. This is exactly why I think it is extremley unlikely Athens 2004 will be attacked. All public opinion will be anti-terroist desparate for revenge just like after Sept 11. The only reason why world opinion turned on the US was because of the way it went about getting said revenge.

[teke184 0]

yeah but everyone knows Paris or (very unlikely) London will get it. NO-one will vote for New York & London I think cos of the world opinion, and Moscow had it in 1980 and it sucks so it leaves Paris as the only place with its nation not currently under potential terroist attack. This is exactly why I think it is extremley unlikely Athens 2004 will be attacked. All public opinion will be anti-terroist desparate for revenge just like after Sept 11. The only reason why world opinion turned on the US was because of the way it went about getting said revenge.

Of the choices, I'd go with London.

 

Paris may seem like a good choice but the city is a hell-hole and overcrowded, the people who live there don't even like their own countrymen, and I'm sure that the Islamic minorities (mainly Algerians) will make their presence known.

 

London, OTOH, has friendly people, a good mass transit system, lots of places to stay, and the fact that it's isolated from the European mainland makes it easier to manage the influx of people into the country as compared to the relative lax borders within the EU.

 

 

I'm sure the London games were also handled very well, as opposed to the 1900 Paris Games, which were the bastard stepchild to the French authorities because the International Expo was in town at the same time. The 1900 Games have their own entry in the Sports Hall of Shame series of books.

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

Of the choices, I'd go with London.

 

Paris may seem like a good choice but the city is a hell-hole and overcrowded, the people who live there don't even like their own countrymen, and I'm sure that the Islamic minorities (mainly Algerians) will make their presence known.

Islam; now Allah tells us to ruin the Olympics too~!

 

Normally I wouldn't have to add this, but if you couldn't tell, it sounds stupid for a reason, as in it IS stupid.

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

Remembering the disaster that was Albertville, I don't want to see France with another Games.

[teke184 0]

Of the choices, I'd go with London.

 

Paris may seem like a good choice but the city is a hell-hole and overcrowded, the people who live there don't even like their own countrymen, and I'm sure that the Islamic minorities (mainly Algerians) will make their presence known.

Islam; now Allah tells us to ruin the Olympics too~!

 

Normally I wouldn't have to add this, but if you couldn't tell, it sounds stupid for a reason, as in it IS stupid.

Eat me. The point being that the Algerians and other minorities in France have been pissed off for a long time and something like that would allow them to make their troubles known. This isn't "ALLAH AKBAR WE MUST KILL ALL THE INFIDELS ON PRIMETIME TV!!!!!" like you thought I meant. Think of it being more like the World Trade Organization meetings in Seattle a few years back, except substitute loony hippie activists with a pissed-off minority group and a couple of guys from CNN with the entire world press.

[Vern Gagne 0]

...it leaves Paris as the only place with its nation not currently under potential terroist attack.

 

This is exactly why I think it is extremley unlikely Athens 2004 will be attacked. All public opinion will be anti-terroist desparate for revenge just like after Sept 11.

Not under potential attack? Every country is at risk. Terrorists just threatened Canada and Kofi Anan. Not exactly two die hard allies of the U.S.

 

Terrorists don't care about public opinion. If they can pull of some huge attack at Athens don't think for a second they won't do it.

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

Heard about this yesterday. I wonder if Uncle Ted will blame some terrorist attack on an American Olympic athlete that displays a case of nationalism during a medal presentation?...

Probobly not.

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

Of the choices, I'd go with London.

 

Paris may seem like a good choice but the city is a hell-hole and overcrowded, the people who live there don't even like their own countrymen, and I'm sure that the Islamic minorities (mainly Algerians) will make their presence known.

Islam; now Allah tells us to ruin the Olympics too~!

 

Normally I wouldn't have to add this, but if you couldn't tell, it sounds stupid for a reason, as in it IS stupid.

Eat me. The point being that the Algerians and other minorities in France have been pissed off for a long time and something like that would allow them to make their troubles known. This isn't "ALLAH AKBAR WE MUST KILL ALL THE INFIDELS ON PRIMETIME TV!!!!!" like you thought I meant. Think of it being more like the World Trade Organization meetings in Seattle a few years back, except substitute loony hippie activists with a pissed-off minority group and a couple of guys from CNN with the entire world press.

Of course you didn't mean bombing; I knew that.

 

You meant that they would speak up or something, like become activists or complain or some shit. That's not a good reason not to hold it there, and also it's not guaranteed they'd do that.

[starvenger 0]

New York is in the running for the 2012 games..

New York is the token candidate from North America. And the IOC is loathe to give North America 2 consecutive Olympics, you can draw your own conclusions.