2008 Woodie Awards
A plethora of Olympic oddities
Brandon McLeod
Contributing Writer
Issue date: 2/25/08 Section: Opinion
What do feral cats, spitting and pulling vehicles with one's teeth have in common?
The Olympics, of course.
If you didn't get that right away, you're obviously not a reader of my favorite news source: Reuters' Oddly Enough. Lately, there have been a few articles on the Olympics. And, being Oddly Enough, these are not typical looks at the Olympic Games: On Feb. 10, Kila Raipur, Punjab (India), hosted the 105th annual Rural Olympics. While a rural version of the Olympics in America might consist of cow-tipping, corn-shucking and mullet-tossing (the fish), these Olympics featured the traditional events and some non-traditional competitions as well.
Some of the more interesting events are having a large rock smashed while it rests on your chest, pulling a large vehicle with one's teeth and an over-75 only 100-meter dash.
India isn't the only place that cares about the Olympics. China, the host of the 2008 Olympics in August, is gearing up to play host to the world by cleaning up its manners. Queue-skipping and spitting in public have gone down considerably since China distributed millions of pamphlets on etiquette, declared the eleventh of every month "voluntarily wait in line" day, and has threatened detainment for fans that are too uncouth.
Not everything is dandy, however. Steven Spielberg recently quit as art adviser to China for the upcoming games, stating: "At this point, my time and energy must be spent not on Olympic ceremonies but on doing all I can to help bring an end to the unspeakable crimes against humanity that continue to be committed in Darfur." The move was to protest China's backing of the Sudanese government and their policies in Darfur.
Elsewhere in the world, U.K. athletes are being made to sign contracts stating that they will not make any political comments against the Chinese government while at the Olympics. Though being met with much protest, the compulsory contracts are still being enforced. No such documents, supposedly, will be forced upon American athletes.
Though they've been working excruciatingly hard to improve its world image, it seems that China may still not be ready to play host to the world.
China isn't the only place gearing up for the Olympics. The 2012 Olympic Games are being held in London and they don't want anything to spoil the fun. Recently over 160 feral cats and kittens were rescued from certain feline doom at the hands of a demolition crew preparing the site of the next Olympic Games. The cats were rescued by the Olympic Delivery Authority, which has also saved numerous other creatures such as newts, frogs and fish. The 168 cats are now in the care of Celia Hammond Animal Trust.
With the Rural Olympics starting us off and the standard Olympics being held in China, this is going to be an interesting athletic year.
As for me, I'm most interested in the kittens.
The Olympics, of course.
If you didn't get that right away, you're obviously not a reader of my favorite news source: Reuters' Oddly Enough. Lately, there have been a few articles on the Olympics. And, being Oddly Enough, these are not typical looks at the Olympic Games: On Feb. 10, Kila Raipur, Punjab (India), hosted the 105th annual Rural Olympics. While a rural version of the Olympics in America might consist of cow-tipping, corn-shucking and mullet-tossing (the fish), these Olympics featured the traditional events and some non-traditional competitions as well.
Some of the more interesting events are having a large rock smashed while it rests on your chest, pulling a large vehicle with one's teeth and an over-75 only 100-meter dash.
India isn't the only place that cares about the Olympics. China, the host of the 2008 Olympics in August, is gearing up to play host to the world by cleaning up its manners. Queue-skipping and spitting in public have gone down considerably since China distributed millions of pamphlets on etiquette, declared the eleventh of every month "voluntarily wait in line" day, and has threatened detainment for fans that are too uncouth.
Not everything is dandy, however. Steven Spielberg recently quit as art adviser to China for the upcoming games, stating: "At this point, my time and energy must be spent not on Olympic ceremonies but on doing all I can to help bring an end to the unspeakable crimes against humanity that continue to be committed in Darfur." The move was to protest China's backing of the Sudanese government and their policies in Darfur.
Elsewhere in the world, U.K. athletes are being made to sign contracts stating that they will not make any political comments against the Chinese government while at the Olympics. Though being met with much protest, the compulsory contracts are still being enforced. No such documents, supposedly, will be forced upon American athletes.
Though they've been working excruciatingly hard to improve its world image, it seems that China may still not be ready to play host to the world.
China isn't the only place gearing up for the Olympics. The 2012 Olympic Games are being held in London and they don't want anything to spoil the fun. Recently over 160 feral cats and kittens were rescued from certain feline doom at the hands of a demolition crew preparing the site of the next Olympic Games. The cats were rescued by the Olympic Delivery Authority, which has also saved numerous other creatures such as newts, frogs and fish. The 168 cats are now in the care of Celia Hammond Animal Trust.
With the Rural Olympics starting us off and the standard Olympics being held in China, this is going to be an interesting athletic year.
As for me, I'm most interested in the kittens.
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