Looking at the lives of these three young gymnasts, it would be hard pressed not to become inspired by the bleak odds each overcame in order to fulfill their dreams of traveling to the 2012 Olympics. It’s not only their skills that brought them to London, but their heart. Each of these young men have this in common. The Olympics. To these young men, the path to creating a better life is by competing in the Olympic games. Continue reading
olympics
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Today’s highlights will feature, swimming, cycling, beach volleyball, indoor volleyball, basketball, rowing, and GYMNASTICS! The US Women’s Volleyball team is top ranked. Continue reading
My childhood is filled with fond memories of watching Dorothy Hamill do the “Hamill Camel;” in fact I had my hair cut just like her. Bart Conner awed me on his parallel bars. I was enthralled watching Bonnie Blair zipping across the ice. I loved watching Bruce Jenner and “Flo-Jo” running their hearts out. Who can forget the 1980 Miracle on Ice hockey team? The Olympics were a time that I, along with everyone else I knew, were transfixed in front of the television set trying to discover what happened and what was up next. Times are different now. I still look forward to the Olympic Games, but it isn’t quite the same. Continue reading
There’s a lot to talk about regarding this year’s Olympics. Male athletes are being flown first or business class and women are traveling in cargo coach. G4S fucked up the security royally and still demands a huge payoffday. In the right light, the London 2012 logo kinda looks like Lisa giving Bart a blowie. And there’s sports, of course. Lots and lots of sports that only get attention once every four years, like badminton and the canoe slalom.
Let’s talk about what really interests Crass, though. Sex. Continue reading
In the 1930s, there was a shortage (read: a total absence) of track teams for black women in Albany, Alabama. So Alice Coachman, the first woman to win a gold medal in the Summer Olympics (1948), spent her childhood dreaming up clever ways to begin training to become a record-breaking high jumper. Continue reading
Many reasons have been given for why we like sport so much. Tribalism. Throwbacks to our fight-or-flight reflexes. Vicariously living through the talents of others. Freudian reactions to balls and big bats and sticks. Beer.
But what causes some sporting moments to become not merely great, but forever etched in our memories? Continue reading
Perception is a tricky thing, no? Seems like we’re always looking at things and applying our personal prejudices to whatever we see.
Take this thing at left, for example. This is the logo for the 2012 Summer Olympics to be held in London.
It’s a little blocky, sure. The colors? Kinda garish. For people who read things left to right, it looks like a person getting ready to run, or the numbers 2 0 1 2 with a little dash thrown in there just to be visually confusing. Why not?
So, let’s say you’re someone who reads things vertically. Or maybe you read right to left. What does this look like to you? Bahram Afsharzadeh, the secretary-general of Iran’s National Olympic Committee, says it spells Z I O N, a biblical term for Jerusalem.
How very dare they (the IOC) select a logo that so blatantly supports Zionism? How very dare they. “There is no doubt that negligence of the issue from your side may affect the presence of some countries in the games, especially Iran, which abides by commitment to the values and principles,” Afsharzadeh said in the letter to International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge.
For their part, the IOC, and the London organizers of next year’s event, put their thumbtips together and raised their index fingers in a big W for “whateverr, mister crazypants” gesture. The official response, as reported by the BBC and the Los Angeles Times, went like this: “Our response is as follows: The London 2012 logo represents the figure 2012, nothing else.”
Let’s hope Afsharzadeh gets over his tizz real soon now, shall we?
Fake logo via.
Real logo via.
Hilarious remix of the real logo via.