When it came time to select the site for the 2016 Olympics, I think there was something else, something bigger at work than whether or not our president was part of America's bid to host the event.
In the wake of the International Olympic Committee's decision to send the 2016 Summer Games to Brazil, some of the criticism that's been directed at President Obama has been funny, to say the least ... especially some of the elephantasmagorical concoctions created by punditz from the right side of the commentary spectrum.
However, one of the better analyses of the IOC's decision came from one of those debauched harlots of the mainstream media ... (pausing here to give the boos and catcalls a chance to subside) ... NBC News. Their world map, marking the location of cities that have hosted the modern Olympics, showed a large swath of the world that has been neglected, with an emphasis upon Europe and North America way out of proportion to their population.
NOW, IT IS TRUE that these same parts of the world had the greater ability to host such an event and - even more important - build the infrastructure needed for the event. But if a country from the southern hemisphere can make a serious and realistic bid ... then it's time to give that bid some serious and realistic consideration.
And THAT is one item, I think, that came into play when the IOC announced that Rio de Janeiro would host the the Olympics ... the first time the Olympics will take place in South America, and only the third time in the entire southern hemisphere (Australia's had the Olympics twice).
If the personality of those who came to Denmark to endorse their country's bid, DID indeed come into play, then America's entourage was at a handicap, judging by one of the faces I saw in the Brazialian entourage as they celebrated the IOC's announcement. It was none other than Edison Arantes do Nascimento, named as one of the "100 Most Important People of the 20th Century" by Time Magazine, and "Athlete of the Century" by none other than the International Olympic Committee. This is the same guy that had such worldwide renown, we're told, that in 1967, the two factions involved in the Nigerian Civil War agreed to a 48-hour ceasefire so they could watch him play an exhibition soccer game in Lagos.
Most of us know him better by his nickname ... Pelé.
With someone like that endorsing Brazil's claim, I don't see what President Obama - or even Oprah Winfrey, for that matter - could have accomplished for the U.S.
In the wake of the International Olympic Committee's decision to send the 2016 Summer Games to Brazil, some of the criticism that's been directed at President Obama has been funny, to say the least ... especially some of the elephantasmagorical concoctions created by punditz from the right side of the commentary spectrum.
However, one of the better analyses of the IOC's decision came from one of those debauched harlots of the mainstream media ... (pausing here to give the boos and catcalls a chance to subside) ... NBC News. Their world map, marking the location of cities that have hosted the modern Olympics, showed a large swath of the world that has been neglected, with an emphasis upon Europe and North America way out of proportion to their population.
NOW, IT IS TRUE that these same parts of the world had the greater ability to host such an event and - even more important - build the infrastructure needed for the event. But if a country from the southern hemisphere can make a serious and realistic bid ... then it's time to give that bid some serious and realistic consideration.
And THAT is one item, I think, that came into play when the IOC announced that Rio de Janeiro would host the the Olympics ... the first time the Olympics will take place in South America, and only the third time in the entire southern hemisphere (Australia's had the Olympics twice).
If the personality of those who came to Denmark to endorse their country's bid, DID indeed come into play, then America's entourage was at a handicap, judging by one of the faces I saw in the Brazialian entourage as they celebrated the IOC's announcement. It was none other than Edison Arantes do Nascimento, named as one of the "100 Most Important People of the 20th Century" by Time Magazine, and "Athlete of the Century" by none other than the International Olympic Committee. This is the same guy that had such worldwide renown, we're told, that in 1967, the two factions involved in the Nigerian Civil War agreed to a 48-hour ceasefire so they could watch him play an exhibition soccer game in Lagos.
Most of us know him better by his nickname ... Pelé.
With someone like that endorsing Brazil's claim, I don't see what President Obama - or even Oprah Winfrey, for that matter - could have accomplished for the U.S.
No comments:
Post a Comment