All hail the Olympic $pirit

The Olympics begin today, and for the next 16 days you'll hear a lot about the "Olympic Spirit," for while the Games are about sport, they're also said to transcend it.

According to the Olympic Charter, "the goal of Olympism is to place sport at the service of the harmonious development of man, with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity."

Anyone this side Hugo Chávez ever associate the People's Republic of China with the preservation of human dignity?

Yet the Chinese have these Games, and why? Well, in awarding them to Beijing seven years ago, the IOC said the Olympics would promote a more open and benevolent China. No fool, the communist government played along, saying the Games would "enhance all social conditions, including education, health and human rights." Added was a promise to respect the freedom of the press.

How has that worked out?

Well, Chinese dissidents have been silenced through imprisonment and intimidation, and some, including Tibetan monks, have been subject to labor-camp "re-education."

Hundreds of thousands of Beijing residents have been evicted and their homes torn down to help "beautify" the city for the world's eyes and TV cameras.

Foreign journalists have been harassed, spied upon and prevented from accessing Web sites that the "People's Republic" finds objectionable.

At least the journalists have been allowed into the country. Not so for former Olympic speedskater Joey Cheek, who had his visa revoked hours before he was to leave for Beijing. His offense? He intended to publicly urge China to do something to stop the violence in Darfur.

Ah, but we mustn't have protests; it mars the image that the host police state — I mean host nation — is trying to present. The IOC, while paying lip service to freedom of expression, even has rules against political protest that dovetail nicely with Chinese desires.

"I've been pretty unimpressed with the IOC's efforts in protecting athletes, for giving them any options (to speak out)," Cheek said.

But why hasn't the IOC done something to protect the athletes' freedom of expression, if Olympism is about "the preservation of human dignity"?

It's because the Olympic Games are not about human dignity; they're about money.

As Sally Jenkins pointed out in Wednesday's Washington Post, 12 major corporations — six of them American — are paying $7 billion to sponsor the Games and gain a foothold into a market of 1.3 billion consumers.

NBC, owned by General Electric — one of the 12 — is televising the Games, so expect little talk of commercialism. And expect minimal coverage of protests.

Instead, expect a lot of talk about the "Olympic Spirit," which means the air in Beijing will be filled with as much hypocrisy as particulate matter.

So, human rights be damned, freedom of the press be damned, promises of reform be damned. Let the Game$ begin.

Plus, his eligibility might be used up ...

The myopic vision of your typical college coach was on display Thursday in Southern California head football coach Pete Carroll’s reaction to the guilty verdict against Maurice Simmons, a Trojans linebacking recruit.

Simmons, along co-defendant Lamont Lee Hall, robbed a man at gunpoint in Compton, Calif., and Simmons was charged with felony robbery, assault with a firearm — another felony — and a misdemeanor charge of allowing someone to bring a gun into his car. He was convicted on all three counts.

Carroll called it "the most unfortunate news we could get for Maurice and for his family. We feel sorry for everything they have to go through."

Hey, Pete, how about a word for the man your recruit robbed at gunpoint? Got a word for the victim? No? That’s OK; we understand — he probably doesn’t have a very good time in the 40.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-spw-simmons7-2008aug07,0,7804481.story

Let's hear it for private initiative

Seven members of the Russian track and field team are accused of tampering with their urine samples, and the head of the International Olympic Committee says, sadly, that it appears that “systematic doping” is still going on.

Do tell.

"I think it is just frustrating to find that such type of cheating — planned cheating — is still going on," Arne Ljungqvist said Tuesday. "That's very disappointing to find."

Arne, just wait till you get a good look at the Chinese.

But we’re with you Arne; Americans prefer individual doping, not this state-sponsored crap. It’s a freedom-of-expression thing with us and is — if I’m not greatly mistaken — protected by the First, Fourth and Fifth amendments to our Constitution and probably several others I’m only vaguely aware of …

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/summer08/trackandfield/news/story?id=3519823

Sorry to bother you, neighbor; can we borrow a can of whup-ass?

"It's not a big deal. For eight months a year, we're a family, and at times things happen. Tempers flare up. But it's within the family, and it's a little bit rude when your neighbors are fighting next door for you to go over and ask what happened. ... It's nobody's business what happened." — Milwaukee manager Ted Yost, after a shoving match between first baseman Prince Fielder and pitcher Manny Parra.

Ted, I understand your position — anything embarrassing that happens within, you’d like to keep it, well, within. But this happened in public, in front of fans — they’re the ones who pay the salaries of players and managers, Ted — and even in an incident as brief as this, they and the press, whom they read, have a right to ask about it and get some answers. Feel free to lie, though; players and managers do it all the all the time and we’re used to it.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=280804117

Regg-ie, Regg-ie, Regg-ie ...

Bad news for Reggie Bush.

His attorneys asked to settle a lawsuit against him through arbitration — confidential arbitration.

A judge in San Diego said nay, and the NCAA said yay! as its investigators are hoping to learn through the legal process if Bush did indeed — as wanna-be marketer Lloyd Lake alleges — get all sorts of illicit goodies while playing tailback for Southern Cal.

Bush has denied rule breaking, but at the same time has been less than cooperative with the NCAA and less than anxious to be deposed under oath, where that little thing called perjury hangs over one’s head.

If Bush is guilty — and five will get you 10 he is — he’s already falling into a familiar pattern: First, you do something scummy; then you lie to the press about it; then — and this is the next big step for him — you lie to a court or the feds about it.

Then you get indicted (see Barry Bonds, Marion Jones, Scooter Libby, among others).

Expect Bush’s lawyers — if they’ve got any brains — to move heaven and earth to avoid the depositions, which for Bush is scheduled for Sept. 9.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25972778/

You could try growing up ...

Displeased by an umpire’s decision Thursday night, Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire turned 3-year-old, arguing until ejected, storming off the field, punting his cap high over his head.

Thus inspired, the Twins faithful turned 2-year-old, throwing hats and baseballs onto the field, forcing the visiting White Sox to head for the dugout and leading the men in blue to halt the game for a few minutes.

"I don't like to see the game get stopped because of something like that," Gardenhire said. "I can't control it. What am I going to do? But my reaction out there led to something and I don't like it. I felt bad."

You ought to feel bad. As for what are you going to do? How about acting like an adult? No manager has to get ejected. Big league umps are pretty good about letting a manger blow off steam, and pretty good about letting them know when the line is about to be crossed.

Baseball has several, time-honored traditions that are great; managers throwing temper tantrums isn't one of them.

Thinking ruins everything

In this week’s New Yorker, a Sasha Frere-Jones piece on the British rock group Coldplay describes its type of music this way: “rock that respects the sea change of punk but still wants to be as chest-thumping and anthemic as the music of the seventies stadium gods. Translated, this means short pop songs that somehow summon utterly titanic emotions and require you to skip around in triumphant circles and pump your fist, even if it is not entirely clear what you are singing about.”

Frere-Jones says this type of rock was invented by U2, but I remember even that before the Age of Bono — you know, back in the day — I’d find myself really pumped up by a song, would excitedly read the lyrics and try to parse them … only to discover there was no there there.