This is not a propos of anything customarily dealt with at The Continuum, and would certainly be rejected if submitted as a comment to another thread. But I am exercising my droit du segnieur as owner of this blog to ensure that my name goes down in Olympic history.
I have been following the antics surrounding the running of the Olympic torch through the streets of various major cities in the world, and am amazed at the speed at which they run -- leaving Paris yesterday to reach San Francisco today or tomorrow.
But as I contemplated the scrums that materialised in London and Paris, it occurred to me that perhaps Torch Running could become the next Olympic event.
Golds would be awarded to the country with the fewest "snuffs" (instances in which members of the opposing team forced the extinguishing of the flame) and "downs" (instances where the runner was put on the ground), adjusted by the number of "yellow cards" (instances where members of the opposing team are arrested). For purposes of fairness, only foreigners would be allowed to compete against the national team.
These are just the bare bones of the new sport, and I welcome suggestions on how to round it out, remembering always the rule that sport is not politics.
But sports ARE politics and always have been, and especially is this true of the Olympics. Their modern revival was inspired by a political objective, a worthy one, but no less political, just as, apparently, were the original Olympic Games in Greece: sport seen as an alternate way of resolving international political disputes. The Games are not primarily a contest of individual athletes, but of national teams, and the Games themselves have consistently been used to promote the political objectives of the host nation. There is still something thrilling about the Olympics, bit the constant attempt to claim a nonpolitical nature fpr them has long struck me as a form of hypocrisy.
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My idea for a new Olympic sport was the Petard Hoist.
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