The Olympic Games were first held in 776 BC and were later closed down by the Roman emperor Theodosius I. Later the first modern Olympic games were held in Athens in April 1896 and since then there is nothing stopping them. Lots of countries like Paris, Berlin, Moscow, Sydney and many more have played host to the Olympics.
The 2008 Summer Olympics will be celebrated from August 8, 2008, to August 24, 2008.The Beijing National Stadium will play host to the opening ceremony. The International Olympic Committee held an extensive meticulous ballot on July 13, 2001, and it was after that, that Beijing was awarded the Olympic games.The opening ceremony consists of traditional elements and artistic display of dance and theatre which represent the host nation. The first event to take place is the hosting of the country’s flag and presentation of its national anthem. After that there is a parade of the nations in which all the athletes who are participants march in the stadium. Usually, Greece marches in first as it was here that Olympics originated, and the nation playing host that is Beijing would march in last. All the other nations would march between the two nations that is Greece and Beijing.

Beijing’s top artists and engineers and the participants of the cultural programmes are working very hard to make this an unforgettable event. Beijing has its main elements all set. The mascots, the torch, the medals and the theme slogan. Beijing has Fuwa which mean ‘good-luck’ dolls as their mascots for the Olympic games. The Fuwa takes inspiration from the five Olympic rings and carries a message of friendship, peace and good wishes to all the children in the world. It embodies the natural characteristics of China’s most popular animals- the Fish, the Panda, the Tibetan antelope, the Swallow and the Olympic Flame. The chinese use signs and symbols to spread good wishes. This is more of an ancient culture that they still imbibe by. The Fuwa carries the invitation of Beijing Olympic Games 2008 to every part of the world to spread prosperity, happiness, health and luck. It is the Olympic spirit that unites the whole world in peace and friendship. The mascot represents the cultural heritage of the nation it belongs to. Then we have the theme slogan of the Olympic Games; “One World One Dream”. The slogan expresses the soul and the values of the Olympic spirit which are- Unity, Harmony, Friendship and Progress. The most interesting part of the Beijing Olympics is the emblem. It is a dancing Chinese Seal with a calliagraphic word for “jing”-the national capital. The “seal” has its arms wide open as it invites the world to the Olympics to celebrate peace and friendship.

Another very important element of The 2008 Beijing Olympics are the Medals. The inspiration for its design is taken from China’s ancient jade piece “bi” which is inscribed with dragon pattern. The medal is symbolic of nobleness and personifies honor and ethics. It is made up of gold and jade. These medals will be awarded to the sportsmen who are best in their respective fields of sports. A lot of partcipation in lots of events is going to take place. There will be events like fencing, rowing, sailing, hockey, handball and many more. There are a total of 302 events out of which 165 will be men’s events and 127 women’s events. Each sport icon is very tastefully designed and is called the ‘beauty of seal characters’. The Olympic Games are now divided into summer and winter sporting events. They are each held every four years (an Olympiad). They were held in the same year till 1992. Since then, they have been separated two years apart.

source:goarticles.com

I despise Fox.

There are a million reasons as to why I despise Fox - their incessant need to emblazon their logo on almost fricken’ everything, their need to cut away from an instant replay review in the first quarter to show yet another Pontiac commercial and then return and explain what happened - it can go on and on.

The awfulness of Fox’s broadcasts cannot be adequately explained in print. It is almost as though Fox’s senior executive producers are plucked straight from high-school AV classes across the country, given advanced cameras, and told to shoot a football broadcast.

Their pre-games are terrible in collegiate football. I like Fran Tarkenton, but he has no business participating in a round-table prior to the start of a major BCS bowl game. My grandmother - drunk - could give a better synopsis of the game than Fran could.

I cannot in good conscience start off with an explanation of the outstanding game that Georgia just played tonight. I am, however, forced to respond to the absolute abomination of a broadcast that Fox just conducted during the 2008 Sugar Bowl.

Where to begin? Oh, let’s count the ways:

As already mentioned, Fox broke away from an instant replay review involving a Hawai’i catch in the first quarter to show a Pontiac commercial. They returned from this commercial with Brennan lining up and explaining that the ruling had been upheld, all without ever showing an actual replay of the play in question. If you had any question as to whether Fox actually cares about college football, or merely cashing a check from advertisers who would like to advertise during college football, well - there’s your answer.

Thom Brennaman and Charles Davies were the two worst possible announcers I could imagine calling this game. Their Fiesta Bowl experience last year has apparently turned them both in to the biggest WAC homers on the face of the planet. I believe they were in tears during the latter half of the third quarter because of the fact that Hawai’i had been exposed as a fraud of a team - as Kyle said, a team that should have come close to New Orleans only if they were there to play in the New Orleans Bowl.

Davies - a Tennessee grad - made asinine remarks, such as “I think America is terribly disappointed that they haven’t got to to see Hawai’i firing on all cylinders tonight”, a statement that was constructed in such a way as to imply that Georgia should somehow apologize for smacking Hawai’i all over the field like a used pinata.

My girlfriend, sitting next to me during this whole thing, turns to me and says “Well, it would have helped if Hawaii didn’t suck so much.”

Brennaman referred to Georgia as “The Gators” at the line of scrimmage in the third quarter. I’m not making this up. I’m sure this will show up on YouTube sometime soon - it’s on my TiVO, I just might post the damn thing myself to show the heinous incompetence of Brennaman. If someone referred to USC as “The Bruins” during a national telecast of the Rose Bowl, I’m sure they would be certain to never be calling said bowl game ever again on account of complete blindness, incompetence, or both.

By the middle of the fourth quarter, Richt had emptied the benches and had started to play Joe Cox and some of the other backups, clearly trying to get some catches and touchdowns for the backup seniors in the bowl game. Brennaman - for about the full five minutes remaining, began to openly question the class of Mark Richt. I will posit this: if Pete Carroll had gone for it on 4th down during the fourth quarter and tried to score a touchdown while up by a significant margin, I’m sure the announcers wouldn’t have questioned him then.

Oh, wait….you mean that actually happened this year?

4-4-NE27    (8:10) John David Booty passed to Fred Davis for 10 yards.
1-10-NE17    (7:40) Chauncey Washington rushed for no gain.
2-10-NE17    (7:00) John David Booty passed to Fred Davis for 11 yards.
1-0-NE6    (6:45) Touchdown. Allen Bradford rushed for 6 yards.
(6:45) David Buehler made the extra point.
USC 49 NE 17, Plays: 12 Yards: 80 Possession: 05:16.

Huh. Funny that. I might also add that when Georgia did get the ball back again, they kneeled down three times to end the game.

Georgia played a statement game tonight - they absolutely torched a team that played well this year, and while they clearly did not belong in the Sugar Bowl, Georgia played them head and shoulders above any other opponent during the course of the year.

And still, we get no respect. Apparently, according to Charles Davies, we’re supposed to apologize to America for playing good defense.

Are you serious?

Random PoP Query(ies)

The other day I saw a guy on the metro, in the middle of the day, who was snoring so loudly it surely could wake the dead. Now, the guy obviously had been working very hard and was completely out. But the snoring was so loud and painful it made the sound of fingernails scratching a blackboard sound pleasant. So my question is you can’t wake the guy right? I mean I tried the fake coughing but that was as far as I was willing to go. So what’s the etiquette here?

For those who saw the pregame to the Georgia-Hawaii game: Don’t you think Fran Tarkenton looks exactly like a cast member from Monty Python?

A reader writes: “I was wondering: I have a 27-inch regular television (not high def or anything like that, though it still works perfectly fine, has remote and manual) sitting in the middle of my living room floor, unused. I know that as people move to high-def sets, these TVs aren’t as valuable anymore, but I was wondering if there might be a neighborhood charitable organization that might be willing to accept it. Perhaps for a waiting room, or to hook up to a game system for some kids?” So if you know of a charitable group that needs a tv leave your contact info in the comments and the reader will get in touch with you.

The career of Martina Hingis has ended in disgrace after the five-time grand slam winner retired after testing positive for cocaine.

In an inglorious finale to a story that captivated world tennis for more than a decade, Hingis admitted she had tested positive for the drug during this year’s Wimbledon championships. But the Swiss, the youngest world No.1 in history when she was 16, maintained her innocence, claiming she had never used cocaine.

At an emotional press conference in Zurich, the 27-year-old announced her decision to quit for a second time was partly because of the failed test at the All England Club. Hingis originally retired from the tour in 2002, but returned at the start of last season.

“I have tested positive, but I have never taken drugs and I feel 100 per cent innocent,” said Hingis, who was also the youngest Wimbledon champion in the professional era when she won as a 16-year-old in 1997.

“The reason I have come out with this is because I do not want to have a fight with anti-doping authorities. Because of my age and my health problems, I have also decided to retire from professional tennis.”

Her management company later put out a statement explaining that Hingis viewed the allegation against her as “so horrendous, so monstrous that I have decided to confront it head-on by talking to the press. I would personally be terrified of taking drugs. When I was informed, I was shocked and appalled”.

Hingis also revealed that, after being told she had tested positive for cocaine, she decided to have a dope test done privately. Hingis said that test was negative, and so she has taken legal advice about how to clear her name.

“The attorney and his experts discovered various inconsistencies with the urine sample taken during Wimbledon. He is also convinced that the doping officials mishandled the process and would not be able to prove that the urine that was tested for cocaine actually came from me,” Hingis said.

“I have no desire to spend the next several years of my life reduced to fighting against the doping officials. I am frustrated and angry. The fact is that it is more and more difficult for me, physically, to keep playing at the top of the game. And frankly, accusations such as these don’t exactly provide me with motivation to even make another attempt to do so.”

The International Tennis Federation is responsible for all drugs testing. Larry Scott, the chief executive of the WTA Tour, admitted that he had not “received any official information regarding the positive doping test result referred to by Hingis in her press conference”.