Sleight of hand

There's a lot of complaining going on about the Beijing Olympics. Since the Opening Ceremony, many have been outraged to learn that some of the fireworks in the television presentation were computer generated. Even more are up in arms over a nine-year-old lip-syncing to the voice of a seven-year-old.

A question for those who are angered by these events: Exactly how big is that rock that you've been under the last twenty years?

Computer generated images and lip-syncing have become staples of big-stage presentations. In the internet age where everyone is a critic, event organizers can't take chances on firework duds or child performers. Instead, they have to play it safe with computers and pre-recorded soundtracks, the smoke and mirrors of our modern world. Any talk of the "fake" Opening Ceremony being non-compliant with the Olympic Spirit is nonsense. The only mistake the Chinese officials made here was admitting that the real singer was replaced because she wasn't cute enough. (Who is their PR man, anyway? Why didn't they just say she was shy about performing in front of such a large audience?)

While most of the world is upset about the treatment of a future hopeful for Chinese Idol, we are missing the real issues at the Beijing Games:

• Hundreds of thousands of Beijing residents have lost their homes over the past five years to make room for Olympic venues. (The Guardian, New York Times)
  

• Peaceful protests have been suppressed. Three protest zones were set up by the government, but no one has actually been allowed to make use of them. Questions regarding this situation by foreign reporters have been ignored. (The Guardian)
  

• Despite assurances of media freedom, foreign journalists have been harassed by the police. At least one was arrested while attempting to cover a Free Tibet protest. (The Guardian) When questioned on these tactics, Chinese and IOC officials avoided giving a straight answer, later canceling daily press conferences to avoid the questions altogether. (Sydney Morning Herald) All media personnel were also inexplicably photographed by the Chinese officials after the press conference confrontation.

Thus far, these serious concerns are getting very little attention from Olympic viewers around the world. I'm not opposed to China hosting the Olympics, but I am opposed to human rights violations and government disinformation. I enjoyed the Opening Ceremony, with its portrayal of Chinese history and culture. I enjoyed seeing athletes from around the world enter the stadium, walking proud and tall. But the greater issues over the past few days have taken the thrill out of these Games for me, and I find it even more disturbing that it appears most people aren't even paying attention to it. As with any good movie, the majority of the general public is more concerned with the special effects in Beijing than looking for what is real.

110 Percent looking for new talent, Mavs reporter

You may have heard about the flap this month about bloggers and Dallas Mavericks. If not, here's the short version: Tim MacMahon, Mavs blogger with the Dallas Morning News, was ejected from the Mavs locker room by Cuban, and a policy banning all bloggers, regardless of affiliation, was implemented a few days later. According to this Friday article in the Dallas Morning News, the NBA has told the Mavs they must allow fully-credentialed full-time bloggers proper access. But the next part shows why it is important to read past the headlines.

Cuban has implemented a new policy that does not discriminate between professional bloggers and, well, us. So any blogger, and he even mentions Blogspot by name, can apply for a press credential and get in there. This is where you come in.

Since two of the three of us currently here aren't in Dallas, and the third isn't really an NBA guy, I want you to join our team. If you live in Dallas and have always wanted to interview the players, now is your chance. Send me an email and I'll get you hooked up with us, then you can apply for your credential. Act fast, though, because there are only four home games left:

Wed, Apr 2, Golden State
Tue, Apr 8, Seattle
Thu, Apr 10, Utah
Wed, Apr 16, New Orleans

I don't expect this policy to carry over to next year, and playoffs in Dallas are looking unlikely, so let's get in on this now. I look forward to your contributions to our team.

And another thing on Imus...

Don Imus has been ripped for his racist comments and has paid for it. But there is another suggestion in his comments that I haven't heard being mentioned that I also find disturbing.

Imus referred to the Tennessee team as 'cute' and the Rutgers team as, well, you know what he said. This seems to imply that Imus thinks women's athletics exists purely to be eye candy. This shows a blatant disrespect for the women on both teams, who were playing for the national championship.

Unfortunately, Imus is not alone in this opinion. There are many sports fans who were disgusted by the racist aspect of his comments, but feel the same way regarding women in athletics. Here are a few other examples of female athletes not being taken seriously:

• Anna Kournikova got attention despite never winning a tournament.
• Jennie Finch was a winner, but got much more attention for her looks.
• Some players on the LPGA feel the need to 'sell sex' to promote their tour.
• How often have you heard about Playboy offering a female athlete X dollars to pose?
• Sports news websites occasionally run lists or contests for the 'Sexiest Woman in the _______'.

Imus got what he deserved, but perhaps there are plenty of others who need to thing about how they view female athletes.

Finally, a confession of sorts: Before this situation, I had never heard of Don Imus. Maybe I've lived a sheltered life. I'm pretty sure I was happier not knowing him.

Rus's related note

Rus mentioned at the end of his Amaechi/Hardaway post athletes and honesty. This is something I have been thinking about for a week now since Tyrus Thomas was fined $10,000 by the Bulls for being honest, saying he was only participating in the dunk contest for the money. So here we have two examples of NBA (or former NBA) players being honest and being punished. As fans/media/team owners/league commissioners, what do we want: honesty or cliches?

Most people would say they hate it when players give the cliche answers. This blog's name is a mock tribute to these cliches. I love it when a player tells the truth, or a media member asks the tough question that can't be answered with 'we're gonna take it one game at a time' or any of the other meaningless responses.

Unfortunately, this doesn't happen very often because players get waxed when they do it. It's a classic no-win situation. Or is it?

Maybe it isn't so much a question of being honest or being evasive, but rather a question of timing. Most of the time, go with honesty, but be smart enough to filter yourself when necessary.

Of course, this requires the rest of us to have a similar sense of timing. Hardaway is being ripped by the general public and banned by the NBA, as he should be. But I don't understand the fine levied against Thomas. It's very simple: if I wasn't getting paid, I wouldn't go to work, either. Why is this worthy of a fine?

Having said that, I am admittedly having trouble distinguishing that situation from what happened to Nikolai Davydenko in Sydney a few weeks ago (he's the men's tennis world number three, in case you didn't know--I didn't either) when he said no one cared about the Medibank International tournament and was also fined ten grand--a fine I agreed with. Do I feel this way because the dunk contest is an exhibition and the Medibank is a real tourney? Or does Davydenko's comment show a little more disrespect to the fan?

Forget it. It's a no-win situation after all.