The most (Blank) Olympics ever

Michael Phelps is the most dominant swimmer ever. Canada is having the worst Olympics ever. The opening ceremonies were the most fake ever. Etc, etc, etc.

Seems like these, the 2008 Summer Olympics, are the most (blank) Olympics ever.

No mattr where one looks, seeing or eharing about how dominant the Men’s swimming team is cannot be overlooked. And while they are doing exceptionally well, one wonders if the media – especially the US media – has gone more then a little overboard in their touting of Micael Phelps as the greatest ever.

Really, he is? Better then Jim Thorpe? How about Babe Dickerson? Are you telling me that because he has shattered records while wearing a swimsuit that dramatically cuts friction, because he has training regime that was unthinkable 20 years ago, because he has better dietary habits then any Olympic athlete before him…

Are you honestly saying with a straight face that he is the best ever?

True, he is shattering records. And yes, he has gone undefeated thus far in the Olympics. His team had a dramatic come-from-behind win over France a few nights ago.

But is it really fair to say he’s better then Jesse Owens? He succeeded in harsher times, with less training, less-advanceed equipement and under more pressure - the middle of Nazi Germany in 1936. A country where he couldn’t sit on a bus wherever he wanted? Where he was called an ape by the national press?

Did you really think that the US was under any kind of pressure when they beat the French a couple days ago? That’s not pressure. Jesse Owens winning in Nazi Germany was pressure. Mark Spitz competing in Munich after Israeli athletes were abducted and killed was pressure. If only they just had some trash talk directed at them.

A less pressing topic, Canada’s fruitless Olympics. No medals yet, behind countries such as China, the United States and the Netherlands. This could go down as Canada’s worst summer Olympics ever, one supposes.

But it’s not a huge deal. For a country of our size and population, competing with China or the US is entirely the wrong idea. They have more money, more people – more talent, if only by sheer numbers.

Besides. Canada has never been much of a summer games country. Only once has Canada won more then 20 medals (the 1984 Olympics don’t really count because of the Soviet boycott which resulted in over 400 people representing the country, a number that is rarely approached since then).

No, Canada should be comparing itself to countries like Morocco or Kenya, countries with similar populations. To Belgum or Austria, which have similar GDP. To Finland or the Netherlands, which have similar total medal counts. They should be the competition, if Canada really needs one.

A more superficial matter, the opening ceremonies and the seats. Two girls, one ceremony, as it were. Does it matter that one girl lipsynced and the other sang? Or that the firework display was a CGI production? Only about as much as the other falsehoods in China, and perhaps less.

The internet sites are blocked by the Chinese government are blocked because they make China look bad. Rules recently put into effect – no spitting, keep it quiet, etc – are to keep China from looking bad.

Basically, China is an insecure country with an image problem. All these creations from the opening ceremony, as well as the problem with nobody getting to the games, stem from this. China doesn’t ever want to look bad, espically not to it’s own people and espically when the whole world is watching.

But does it ultimately matter? One would assume that no, it does not. It means nothing at the end of the day. What does matter are actions of consequence – if their athletes are clean, of legal age and the like. That matters – it cheats people out of a medal.

You could say it’s the most pressing Olympic issue ever.

Is Farve to the jets nothing more then a PR move?

The temptation to keep playing is a strong one for some athletes, who linger on well past their time. Perhaps it derives from the same drive that propelled them to stardom; sometimes it comes from a need to make money.

If the athlete is lucky, his final years can be overlooked as people remember the glory days. Bobby Orr retired as a Blackhawk. Joe Namath as a Ram. Michael Jordan as a Wizard. They are almost never remembered as playing for these teams, but they are the lucky ones.

For every Jordan-like comeback, there is a shambling Ricky Williams in an Argos jersey or an Ali getting battered by Larry Holmes.

And now, since it looks like Brett Farve will retire as a New York Jet, I find myself wondering what the legacy will look like.

Now that Farve has found a home, replacing Chad Pennington, Farve seems to have jumped from the cheese pan into the fire.

IF he thought the media in Milwaukee was tough, he’s got another thing coming. If he found the Vikings or the Bears tough, he’ll have a hard time on weeks two and 13, when they play the Patriots? Or San Diego on week 3?

It’s not like he’s going to a contender, either. Offensively, the Jets are in the basement: 26th in total yards. 25th in passing yards and points scored. The Jets main back, Thomas Jones, didn’t score a rushing touchdown until week 13 last season. There was even a six game losing streak for the boys in green last year to boot.

Had it not been for the Miami Dolphins, a team that redefined the term “cataclysmically awful”, the Jets would have been the stinkers of the AFC.

Look, I’m not knocking the guy. He wants to play another season, fine, okay, go do it. It’s just that there had to have been a better, less played-out way to do this. There had to have been a better team that wanted him – The Vikings? Tampa Bay?

It just looks more and more like Farve will be heading into a no-win scenario. He’s going from a good team that was a score away from going to the Super Bowl, to a team that lost to Buffalo twice last year. He’s going to a team that needs his leadership, yes, but to a team that needs his publicity even more.

After all, the Giants won the Super Bowl last season. They’re not only riding on top of the NFL, but on the city of New York as well. And by bringing in a legend, the Jets can take back some of the Giants press. But is that all the Farve deal is? A PR move to siphon attention away from the Giants?

Look at what happened in the other comebacks: Jordan, for example, helped put the Wizards in the collective consciousness, something their NBA title couldn't do in the 1970s.

Hopefully, Farve will help the Jets to a decent finish this year.

Hopefully this is more then just a PR move by New York’s second-place football team.

Hopefully our last memory of Farve won’t be him overwhelmed by a bad team.

An open letter to Brett Farve

Brett Farve, I’m tired of you.

Granted, it’s not as if I was ever a big booster of yours; quite the opposite, actually. Normally I couldn’t have cared less about you. I don’t really follow the Packers, or any of the NFC North teams. I watched your last game, yes, but before that I can’t remember the last one of yours I watched.

So what? I can’t remember the last Tampa Bay I’ve watched, either. But it’s not the team you play for, Farve – I’d feel the same way if you played for the Steelers, the Raiders or the Toronto Argonauts.

See, the reason I’m so tired of you is that I’ve heard all this before, and it’s getting dumber and stupider and it keeps getting worse, much like Waynes brothers movie.

A couple years ago, when you cried on national TV, I assumed that was it. Here is his farewell tour, a chance to say goodbye to an icon of the 90s. I was okay with that, even if it was a bit trite.

But then you came back. Again, fine – a year of farewells, capped off with a dramatic overtime loss to the Giants in the snow. Not the best way to go out, sure, but a memorable one.

But now you want to come back once more, for the third time, by my count. You saw how close you were to another title, you saw how the only difference between you and the Lombardi trophy was the foot of Lawrence Tynes, splitting the uprights in a freezing cold Green Bay night. So close you could almost feel the trophy, couldn’t you.

Hate to burst your bubble, Brett, but that isn’t how it went down and that’s not likely to happen again.

If it wasn’t for a memorable catch, the one where David Tyree held the ball to his head, the Giants wouldn’t have won that game. They basically lucked out in that bowl. I’m not sure you would have.

The Packers are a team in transition. They’re moving on, rebuilding, and they don’t look to compete like they did last season.

But then again, Brett, I hear you don’t want to play for the Packers anymore. The Vikings, maybe. Or the Jets. Perhaps the Buccaneers. Makes no difference.

The Vikings are a possible threat: a weak division, an okay defence (20th overall, but first in the league against the run) and a great running back. You could work there. They wouldn’t need you to pass too often, just hand the pig to Purple Jesus. But would the Packers trade you to a division rival? I doubt it.

How about the Jets? Rumors had you going there for a while, although they’ve seemed to quiet down a little. But they’re a bad team, worst of the bunch. They already have two good quarterbacks and you don’t want to be a backup. If you think this is drama, Brett, just try this act with the New York press.

That leaves the Buccaneers. Like the Vikings, they’re a team built around a running back: in this case, Cadillac Williams. But he’s hurt and on the comeback trail. It’s a team where you’d have to throw the ball a lot, maybe take a few hits – Garcia was sacked 19 times last year while splitting duties. That’s as many sacks as the Packers took last year as a team.

Maybe that $20 million to retire was a pretty sweet deal after all.

Look Brett, I’m nobody to tell you if you should or shouldn’t come back. It doesn’t really matter to me. Frankly, I couldn’t care less. But I don’t want to see you tarnish your image either. That’s what all these comebacks can do.

Ali couldn’t pull off the comeback and he was the greatest. Magic Johnson was just a shadow of his former self the second time around. Roger Clemens’ comebacks – one or two, depends on how you count them, with the Astros and one with the Yankees – helped to ruin his image.

Just be careful Brett.

Canada needs to change Olympic priorities

Gearing up for the Olympic there seems to be a number of suprises: no smog, the USA basketball team hasn’t been upset (or even challenged) yet and there’s a slim, slim chance that Canada may win a medal of some kind.

In most countries, that would be seen as a disappointment; most would rather try and rake in the medals, to win as many as they could. But this is Canada, where the 2002 Olympics are fondly looked back upon, even with 17 total medals.

But this year, it looks like the current trend will continue: Canada has been winning less and less medals in the summer games since a high of 22 in the 1996 Atlanta games: in the last summer games, Canada won just 12 medals.

So this could be why Canada has all but thrown in the towel in some events. Only one boxer has made the cut, Adam Trupish. The women’s archery team only received a quota spot because the Netherlands pulled out. The women’s soccer team, perhaps the best Canadian team in the Olympics, is only ranked ninth in the world.

And those are the teams that qualified for the Olympics: the basketball team, for one, didn’t.

So perhaps the Canadian Olympic Committee should revamp their look at the Olympics. Maybe they should not worry about the summer games and instead focus on our specialty: the winter games. After all, the next winter games will be held here, in Vancouver, and the whole world will be watching, as it were.

It’s a point that has been increasingly raised lately, most vocally by Prime Time Sports. And it’s a point that makes more and more sense the more I think about it.

Up here it’s winter from November until April – if not longer. The national sport is hockey, a game best played on ice. We know cold, it’s in our collective wheelhouse. So why focus on it?

Add to that our population, about 33 million. That’s the same as that other Olympic powerhouse…

Nobody.

Canada’s population is about that of Morocco, Algeria and maybe Kenya. None of those countries are powerhouses: Algeria has won five medals this decade, Kenya four and Morocco eight. Compared, fair or not, Canada does well above the norm.

But there’s something to be learned from them: they don’t overextend themselves. Morocco hasn’t participated in a winter Olympics since 1992. They harbour no attempt to compete with powerhouse countries like China, Russia or the United States.

Those countries, with many more people and considerably more resources, always contend for medals and almost always deliver, as they should.

But Canada cannot. We don’t have the same money to pour into our Olympic programs and don’t have the same amount of raw talent to compete with. As a result, we overextend ourselves and as a result, disappoint.

Look up the last two Olympic games held by Canada. Look at the medal count: underwhelming, isn’t it? Look at the last time a Canadian team won a gold medal in the summer games. Sad, isn’t it?

Look at how much better Canada already is in the winter.

That’s why Canada needs to re-evaluate it’s Olympic programs and focus on what we do best – the winter sports. Because at the current rate, we’re already better at the winter games. Because the next games are in Canada.

Because it’s about time Canada started to contend.