[cpbell0033944]

Really? If you frequent these forums, I guess it means you like female muscles. So according to your logic, all the ladies who spend 20 hours a week in the gym, training and building their bodies, are idiots too? Unless they win the Olympia of course, then they're all right… right?

Sorry, but I don't 'get' this kind of attitude. I train hard and I've been doing so for years. I'm also a personal trainer, so I know a bit about the discipline, the dedication and the sacrifices needed to achieve any kind of success in sports. It's friggin' hard.

There's plenty of idiots in this world. People who strive for greater level of achievements are not amongst them.

I can't say I understand the "idiots" viewpoint either.  I suspect that the Olympic Games are like some hobbies – you either "get" them in terms of liking them or understanding the appeal, or you don't.

[Michael Pouliot]

I don't think the Olympic spirit is that of rampant nationalism

You're apparently watching a different Olympics than I am.  In the Olympics I watch…

* Every other story is about China using the Olympics as a springboard for legitimizing their state as being worthy of sitting at the head table with other top nation states.
* Every summary of the Olympics includes a count of which nation states won how many medals.
* Every event highlights which nation states are competing against each other, where the athletes themselves are almost secondary to the nation states they represent.

This is of course true in most other forms of International competition, where the World Cup is the other most blatant example outside of the Olympics of extreme nationalism dominating the sport.

In all team sports, there is a level of "homerism", where loyalties to teams are based on regions.  With sports leagues that exist within a nation state, its mostly "my city is better than your city".  That level of loyalty doesn't rankle me anywhere near as much as patriotic nationalistic loyalty.  Why?  Well nationalistic loyalty is much more reflective of political realities than metropolitan loyalties, and the political crossover further segregates, not unites, disparate individuals.

None of this rant is meant to disparage individual accomplishments.  Only the stage on which those accomplishments are achieved.

[cpbell0033944]

You're apparently watching a different Olympics than I am.  In the Olympics I watch…

* Every other story is about China using the Olympics as a springboard for legitimizing their state as being worthy of sitting at the head table with other top nation states.
* Every summary of the Olympics includes a count of which nation states won how many medals.
* Every event highlights which nation states are competing against each other, where the athletes themselves are almost secondary to the nation states they represent.

This is of course true in most other forms of International competition, where the World Cup is the other most blatant example outside of the Olympics of extreme nationalism dominating the sport.

In all team sports, there is a level of "homerism", where loyalties to teams are based on regions.  With sports leagues that exist within a nation state, its mostly "my city is better than your city".  That level of loyalty doesn't rankle me anywhere near as much as patriotic nationalistic loyalty.  Why?  Well nationalistic loyalty is much more reflective of political realities than metropolitan loyalties, and the political crossover further segregates, not unites, disparate individuals.

None of this rant is meant to disparage individual accomplishments.  Only the stage on which those accomplishments are achieved.

I still say that national competition isn't the same as rampant, xenophobic nationalism to the point of political indoctrination.

[alex]

Let me get this straight.  People who like to watch sports , and enjoy rooting for their country's competitors in various sports activities are…xenophobic nationalists?

And what's this thing about the world cup? 

Seriously man! Get a clue!  You don't do war because your country lost in the world cup.  You don't start hating a nation or it's citizens because your country lost in freaking sports competition. You just get pissed for a day or two, then move on. 

Seems to me, some people only focus on the negative side of things. 

[TC2]

Let me get this straight.  People who like to watch sports , and enjoy rooting for their country's competitors in various sports activities are…xenophobic nationalists?

And what's this thing about the world cup?   

Seriously man! Get a clue!  You don't do war because your country lost in the world cup.  You don't start hating a nation or it's citizens because your country lost in freaking sports competition. You just get pissed for a day or two, then move on. 

Seems to me, some people only focus on the negative side of things. 

Agreed, too many people are looking at the negative side of things instead of just taking it for what it is.  A world wide event that allows countries to compete with each other for the hell of it.  A chance to put aside differences and just play games, that's it.

There's enough problems in the world, the Olympics do not need to be sullied by negative attitudes that tries to paint the Olympics as an excuse to be "nationalistic".

If anything Dara Torres shows how it's not xenophobic, by telling one of the other swimmers that her swimsuit was torn.  This was moments before the race was going to begin, she told the officials to stop the game because Sweden's swimsuit was ripped.

Incredible sportsmanship, and that's what the Olympics is really supposed to be about.

[Michael Pouliot]

Xenophobia is not the same as blind patriotism.  Xenophobia implies fear and is typically directed at immigrant culture.

And I didn't use that word, you did.  Nationalistic tendencies are just as strong between neighbors.

And the World Cup is identical.  It puts national honor ahead of sports.  If you want to argue my point, then argue it.

And my rant is not directed at the athletes themselves.  The sportsmanship that the athletes show is irrelevant to the argument.  It is how the athletes are heralded and embraced by their home nations as an example of how that nation is better than other nations is what I'm attacking.

[cpbell0033944]

Xenophobia is not the same as blind patriotism.  Xenophobia implies fear and is typically directed at immigrant culture.

Agreed, but the two are inextricably linked.  Show me a state or person who suffers from rampant nationalism, and I'll show you a xenophobe.

You're still saying that competing at an Olymic Games, World Cup or any other large sporting event makes a country excessively patriotic and dangerous to its neighbours.  Only despotic countries make the leap that you're referring to, i.e. "We gained more medals in Beijing than country X, therefore we are a greater nation than country X, plus this proves that we must be a better race of people than country X, so we should attack country X."

[Author]

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