While you stitch - who's watching the Olympics

says...

And in comparison (on the 'level playing field'), how much money do
competitors from less wealthy countries make? Athletes from the USA,
Australia, the UK, Canada, Holland etc etc have access to the finest
sports medicine, training methods and psychology in the world. Others
don't. Is that fair? (Just asking...)

As I previously said, I think the Olympics were more fun when the competitors
had to be amateurs and weren't allowed to endorse anything but the financial
strain on families, even if the athletes trained locally, was horrendous. I'm
sure that there were under the table sponsorships to help out but I'm also sure
that those were available mostly to those who had proven themselves in some
way.

One story about Phelps told how much he eats (10,000 + calories a day) and went
on to say he slept, he ate, he swam... not much of a life but he'll be
financially secure for life (if he's careful) when his swimming days are over.

p.s. confession time -- even though I love seeing everyone do their best, I
gotta admit that it's stirring when the USA takes a medal.

p.p.s. does anyone else wonder if the NBC 'journalists' and others have their
hands tied to some extent and are going out of their way to be 'nice' to the
host country?

--
another anne, add ingers to reply

On 8/11/08 9:06 AM, in article
, "anne"
wrote:

says...

And which sports are you watching. I'm watching the swimming, the gymnastics
and equestrian (when I can find it). I'll watch the track and field stuff
when that coverage starts.

I'm watching anything Olympic, although I miss the time when all but some
Communist teams were amateurs.

- I stayed up to watch the Men's 100M relay swim; I'm rooting for Phelps to
beat Mark Spitz record for gold medals in an Olympics even if I think Mark
Spitz is cuter

Don't you just love the cutaways to his mother in the stands? He might be an
arrogant SOB in the swimming world but at least he says his success wouldn't
have been possible without her.
I do

DS is making all sorts of comments about the Chinese female gymnasts -
mostly that none of them look 16 more like 10 or 11.

As the mother of a former gymnast, I can vouch for training routines that
might
stafe off development and puberty. When my daughter's hormones finally kicked
in, she grew 4 inches in a few months. Despite the possibility that their
training has delayed maturation, the very gifted Chinese girls, imnsho, are
definitely not 16.

I can even see that among some of the girls DD plays hockey with - not that
it is all hockey. But a number of them bounce from hockey to soccer to
lacrosse to dance to the pool or gymnastics and some times two or three of
them in a day.

Cheryl

On 8/12/08 8:02 AM, in article
, "anne"
wrote:

says...

And in comparison (on the 'level playing field'), how much money do
competitors from less wealthy countries make? Athletes from the USA,
Australia, the UK, Canada, Holland etc etc have access to the finest
sports medicine, training methods and psychology in the world. Others
don't. Is that fair? (Just asking...)

As I previously said, I think the Olympics were more fun when the competitors
had to be amateurs and weren't allowed to endorse anything but the financial
strain on families, even if the athletes trained locally, was horrendous. I'm
sure that there were under the table sponsorships to help out but I'm also
sure
that those were available mostly to those who had proven themselves in some
way.

One story about Phelps told how much he eats (10,000 + calories a day) and
went
on to say he slept, he ate, he swam... not much of a life but he'll be
financially secure for life (if he's careful) when his swimming days are over.
I do hope he's careful and finds the time to go to college and in 15 years,
he'll be coaching.

p.s. confession time -- even though I love seeing everyone do their best, I
gotta admit that it's stirring when the USA takes a medal.

p.p.s. does anyone else wonder if the NBC 'journalists' and others have their
hands tied to some extent and are going out of their way to be 'nice' to the
host country?
Of course their hands are tied. They want to get out of there alive after
all.

Cheryl

On 8/11/08 10:48 PM, "Jangchub" wrote:

On Tue, 12 Aug 2008 02:19:54 GMT, ellice wrote:


It's a shame in many respects. But, also a sign of the general times in
that how would these athletes even staying basically amateur be supported to
train, live while preparing without allowing them some financial support.
It varies from sport to sport with what the international federations allow,
within the limits of the IOC. I hate having pros in hockey in the winter -
it stinks. Oh, well - it's still great to watch - if you follow sports.
And to appreciate all those lesser paid skilled athletes.

Too bad - what paper. The papers here have the full medal counts - though
depending you may have to find details inside the sports section.

Ellice

How was it done in the past? How much money do you think Phelps makes
annually, by contract with his endorsements? Did you see some on the
Chinese swim team with duct tape covering the Nike Swoosh or the
Speedo logo?

In the way past athletes weren't allowed to accept virtually anything
monetarily. Then as time, and reason came, companies arranged products with
the various teams/federations. At one time they couldn't have logos - but
that went away. Essentially now athletes can have a stipend which covers
training and living expenses - usually not huge from the federation - then
there is some limit of how much additional income they can have from various
sources - it's complicated. With the very pricey swimming gear now, those
are generally arrangements with the federation - but for working up to get
to a national team - it's a big investment. Athletes cannot endorse in ads
their gear, etc - if they're still in amateur status. Which is really now a
kind of "semi-amatuer" situation. But, for the areas like Basketball,
Hockey, Skiing - where the competitors are pros - when they go to things
like the Olympics they cannot do endorsements for products, have to wear the
team gear, etc. Mast teams have multiple brands of equipment depending on
athleete preference, etc.

If you remmember, Jim Thorpe was stripped of his medals because he had been
paid a pittance to play baseball during a summer. In modern history, there
have been some athletes dismissed from games, etc for being paid. They can
have other jobs - just not get paid to do commerical endorsements, or be
paid to perform their sport - beyond an "honorarium" . Hence with figure
skaters - the question of who turns pro after an Olympics, or World
championships.

Phelps won't be making money from his endorsements until after the Olympics.
You haven't seen Michael Phelps commercials - yet. Just the promos from the
broadcasters. The actual numbers and particulars vary a bit for the
different oversight groups. The reason for those Home Depot commercials -
they're a company that pays employees their salary while they're training -
which is legal. Many won't. The team stipends, etc for living and training
aren't huge - and these athletes are training all the time. Not all manage
to get huge endorsements after the fact.

From my own personal experience, I was a sponsored tennis player when in my
teens. I got sneakers, rackets, balls, some expenses. That was it. I
worked my butt off to pay my coach. My SILs brother was a serious adult
player - scholarship to college (still keeps your amateur status) - didn't
make it long in the trying to get to the Olympics, so went pro. Our friends
that were swimmers - minimal support.

The IOC has its rules, the various international federations have defined
what is still amateur status, and then different countries have their own
subsets of rules within that. The Chinese covering a logo has more to do
with the Chinese government, I think, than anything else. As you could see,
Speedo or Tyr on many swimsuits.

Ellice

On 8/11/08 11:02 PM, "Trish Brown" wrote:

Jangchub wrote:
On Tue, 12 Aug 2008 02:19:54 GMT, ellice wrote:


It's a shame in many respects. But, also a sign of the general times in
that how would these athletes even staying basically amateur be supported to
train, live while preparing without allowing them some financial support.
It varies from sport to sport with what the international federations allow,
within the limits of the IOC. I hate having pros in hockey in the winter -
it stinks. Oh, well - it's still great to watch - if you follow sports.
And to appreciate all those lesser paid skilled athletes.

Too bad - what paper. The papers here have the full medal counts - though
depending you may have to find details inside the sports section.

Ellice

How was it done in the past? How much money do you think Phelps makes
annually, by contract with his endorsements? Did you see some on the
Chinese swim team with duct tape covering the Nike Swoosh or the
Speedo logo?


And in comparison (on the 'level playing field'), how much money do
competitors from less wealthy countries make? Athletes from the USA,
Australia, the UK, Canada, Holland etc etc have access to the finest
sports medicine, training methods and psychology in the world. Others
don't. Is that fair? (Just asking...)

Don't kid yourself. Have you actually noticed where many athletes train -
particularly those from smaller countries? Interantional swimmers are at
universities in the US training, and on scholarship for school. For many,
many of these sports the competitors are training globally - at schools,
training centers, etc. Up until the last couple of months, many of these
various team members are all mixed up. Then, depending, teams go to their
own camps, etc.

Ellice

On 8/12/08 9:03 AM, "lucretia borgia" wrote:

On Tue, 12 Aug 2008 08:42:54 -0400, Cheryl Isaak
opined:


p.p.s. does anyone else wonder if the NBC 'journalists' and others have
their
hands tied to some extent and are going out of their way to be 'nice' to the
host country?
Of course their hands are tied. They want to get out of there alive after
all.

Cheryl

What are you saying Cheryl ?? I sincerely trust you were joking,
rather than following a Bu****e type of thought.

Well, to be fair - the Chinese did take away Joey Cheek's visa - for no
reason except suspecting he would make human rights statements.

As I'm sure you've followed the news prior to the Olympics, you would know
that there was a rather large round-up of "subversive" journalists for
several months prior. There is one in particular that has been imprisoned
all year, and won I think a national book award or Pulitxer. Which the only
way that writer could be notified was by the monthly visit from some
relative. A union of writers here in the US wanted to make a statement and
protest to the Chinese government. Lots of coverage on the air, big
interview with Edward Albee on NPR. The writers took their petition to the
Chinese consulate in NY, and the Chinese refused to answer the door - so
Edward Albee shoved the petition essentioally under the door. Interesting.

I'm sure there is some guidance about what may be said by the media, lest
they have credentials rescinded.

But, certainly the Chinese athletes are doing themselves proud, and like all
the athletes deserve good reporting.

Ellice

says...

Should they not be nice to the host country ? Are you saying that
they should paint China out of the picture ?

I'm not advocating a return to jingoist journalism but I'm saying that the
coverage I've seen is imnsho overly polite, not just to the host country but
across the board. Some online print journalists have done a little better,
delving into the training regimes, government rewards for medals, etc. One has
to wonder why any place would want to host the Olympics other than showcasing a
country's attributes which are polished to the max given the vast sums of money
necessary that might or might not be recouped. It goes without saying that the
money could almost certainly be better spent elsewhere

--
another anne, add ingers to reply

On 8/12/08 9:03 AM, in article ,
"lucretia borgia" wrote:

On Tue, 12 Aug 2008 08:42:54 -0400, Cheryl Isaak
opined:


p.p.s. does anyone else wonder if the NBC 'journalists' and others have
their
hands tied to some extent and are going out of their way to be 'nice' to the
host country?
Of course their hands are tied. They want to get out of there alive after
all.

Cheryl

What are you saying Cheryl ?? I sincerely trust you were joking,
rather than following a Bu****e type of thought.


Only a partial joke. It is a country that regularly puts its own journalists
in jail.

C

On 8/12/08 10:04 AM, "lucretia borgia" wrote:

On Tue, 12 Aug 2008 13:41:01 GMT, ellice opined:


I'm sure there is some guidance about what may be said by the media, lest
they have credentials rescinded.

But, certainly the Chinese athletes are doing themselves proud, and like all
the athletes deserve good reporting.

Ellice

Indeed, if the Olympics are to try and retain any credibility.

It is China as it has been, more or less, for centuries and if the
west doesn't care for it, the IOC should never have agreed to having
the Olympics there, now that they have, suck it up ! I noted that
they simply deported several objectors, I have no problem with that.

Absolutely. But, supposedly as part of the Chinese proposal to host they
agreed to the more western open access for journalists, travel in for
sponsored persons. The issue is that end of the bargain hasn't been held
up. So while China gets great PR for most of this, the other side is their
active prevention of any potential negative by restricting some access or
entry. To be overly simple, in a huge place such as this, the ruling party
is doing what they can to present the image they wish to, and in this
instance, feel no compunction about stifling potential negatives - before
the fact.

Ellice

On 8/12/08 9:04 AM, in article ,
"Jangchub" wrote:

On Tue, 12 Aug 2008 08:01:34 -0400, Cheryl Isaak
wrote:

I ADORE RFD - it lets me give the DD a taste of "country life" that she
won't see other wise.

C

Oh good! Everybody laughs at me. Do you watch the horse training
shows and the Mule training shows? They also have some gardening
shows, too.

We started because Imus was there and DH likes Imus. (I'm not a fan, nor a
detractor).

I like the gardening and the Quilt in a Day show is entertaining.

C