Tag: Olympics

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NHL players should play in the Olympics

The NHL is making waves and statements at this Olympics that they may not allow their players to play in the next Olympics in Sochi.
Excuse me? The NHL players in these Olympics has made it one of the best hockey tournaments ever and has turned on a bunch of people to hockey.

When has NBC ever got over 10 million people to watch a hockey game and that is when they buried it on MSNBC? The answer is never.

Brian Burke, the GM of the USA Team and GM of the Toronto Maple Leaves seems to be against having NHL players represent their countries.

Imagine some of our markets where we’re challenged attendance wise. You get into a situation in Atlanta or Florida that are fighting for a playoff spot, actually generating interest and people are following their teams in the standings and then close their doors for 2 ½ weeks and say, ‘Thanks for your patronage but come back in 2 ½ weeks.’

I would have to argue that watching the best play in the Olympics generates more interest that having monotonous NHL games on. The world’s focus is on the Olympics and this hockey tournament. You will get more exposure and people interested in the sport and that will help the NHL in the long-term.

Growing up in northern California, we only were able to watch hockey once every four years when the Olympics were on. Watching the 1980 hockey team win in Lake Placid peaked my interest and I became a hockey fan.

The best of the world were playing then except for the U.S and probably Canada because the NHL didn’t play. But the best of the world should play and that includes the NHL players.

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IOC’s Rogge employing ‘silent diplomacy’ with China-Tibet protests

ESPN – IOC’s Rogge employing ‘silent diplomacy’ with China-Tibet protests – Olympics
The pressure is beginning to build on China, but they are not relenting and are again telling lies to the world and their citizens.

“Beijing’s official death toll from the rioting is 22, but the Dalai Lama’s government-in-exile has said 99 Tibetans have been killed.” To me, China does not want to admit that they are the reason for this problem. The are trying to blame the Dalai Lama for this problem, but it is China’s intolerance to anything that challenges their belief.

This is why they Olympics should never had been awarded to them until they clean up their human rights abuses. They do not tolerate any dissent in their country, they jail and kidnap anyone who disagrees with them, and they encourage genocide in other countries (see Sudan and Darfur).

Even the Olympic organization was putting down protests today by not allowing protesters at the lighting of the Olympic Flame today in Greece.

Protestor stopped at Olympic Flame Lighting for Beijing Games.

China should get their act together soon or the games won’t go as smoothly as they want. The world will see that it is not all roses in a country that will see more dissent and controversy as the years go by.