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"Red Heart Moon" a WEST MEETS EAST China Weblog -- by Kevin Hart
Cross-cultural musings about life straddling the Pacific.
last modified Jun 16, 2004 at 17:43
Yao Ming says he is 80% ready, US swimmers are in for a gold medal bonanza, Canadian athletes will be overjoyed to get a few bronzes.... These are some of the stories I will be following next month. I hope all the bad luck from over use of the number 8 and the effect of the sinister Fu Wa (lucky dolls) will have played themselves out, all Tibet and Hollywood protesters will take a brake, and we can all get down to some good old-fashioned sports.
I can't see China finishing in the top 8 (oh oh, that number again), regardless of what kind of shape Ming Dynasty is in. Their guard play sucks and they have weak forwards only capable of making a few long range bombs now and again. Sorry Yao. Argentina and US will be a great game, hope it is the gold medal match. US should take the most gold again, but China should be right on their heels in the gold medal count. Overall, China may take it, just for the sheer number of participants and the feverish pitch at which they have been training for 15 years. I look for the big stars (all of them) to fall flat and some no-name athletes in China to strike it big with unexpected and inspiring victories. Mark my words! The big names like Liu Xiang, Guo Jing Jing and others have enough money to retire on already, so I can't see much motivation for them. Sorry about the bout of cynicism again! I also look for lesser-names to win both men and women's tennis, and think the Chinese will be shut out. Of course they will dominate ping pong, when have they not? If they fall short of winning every gold in the sport, the country is going to come down on their heads. Ouch.
The competition in weightlifting will be fierce but it is too obscure a sport for most people to pay much attention. Gymnastics may once again define the Olympics because so many teams and so many individuals are performing at such a high level, anyone could take it.
Here in Hong Kong, they will have the equestrian events, you know, the one where they put little ballerina suits on the horses, make them trot sideways, shake a paw, that kind of thing. The jumping events are better, and seeing as they are not short of volunteers here, I heard they won't use artificial fences but actually rows of local people of various heights wearing bright yellow construction hats just in case they get hoofed as the mares fly by. The Jockey Club will be delighted; more interest in horses means more income from betting at the local tracks, you scratch my mane, I will scratch yours!
More Olympic observations to come, blogging is fun again!
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