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c_murphy86

Listed below are comments made by c_murphy86 between Wednesday, 13th August 2008 and Friday, 22nd August 2008.

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China delivers an Olympics like no other 5:34pm on 22 Aug 2008 2. At 4:21pm on 22 Aug 2008, LondonYC wrote:

Do companies ask their cleaners who should be come CEO? Not really, yet that isn't called dictatorship? It's simply common sense. Yet, the decisions of the leaders very much affect everyone in the company.

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While I agree wholeheartedly about most of the hypocisies you've listed it is still important to notice the gradations. A corrupt CEO is not above the reproach of the law nor is he above the reproach of his staff, staff can at least go on strike the same which cannot be said of the Chinese people, staff can lodge libel complaints, reveal abuses to the wider public and in general have a suprising ability to bring down a CEO with enough justification.

Most of the West's wealth has come from plundered wealth, enslavement and the genocide of native populations, not to mention extensive wasting of the world natural resources and China has as much right to turn round and demand reparations for the damage Western countries have done to the world as the West does to demand the cessation of similar abuses in China. That of course doesn't make it right.

The most important difference between China and America is that America atleast recognises its responsibilities to the wider world as a leading superpower even if it abuses those responsibilities and ignores them when it suits them. China has yet to fully accept its role in worldwide cooperation and as such it is questionable whether it deserves to hold an event which is the ultimate symbol of that cooperation.
China delivers an Olympics like no other 5:20pm on 22 Aug 2008 In taking this Olympics so seriously I do feel that China have slightly missed the point of the Olympics. At times it has felt like it is there to make a point rather than to be enjoyed in stark contrast to Sydney which remains for me the best games of my lifetime.

The Liu Xiang situation is a prime example, his being unable to compete should have been a disappointment not a tragedy and as a symbol of new China he should still have been celebrated. I doubt if Cathy Freeman had been unable to compete in 2000 it would have illicited such a grim response from the Aussies.

While the games has been exceptionally memorable for its sporting moments I can't recall many striking crowd scenes, except the protests that followed the torch and one poor bloke on the news saying that his life had no meaning since he'd been unable to get tickets, again all a bit grim and serious.

Its interesting to compare the Beijing Games with the World Cup in Japan and South Korea, while Beijing has been perfectly organised, a better sporting occasion, and has showcased an exceptionally strong national team, the World Cup was far more enjoyable for the fans, better use of technology as has been pointed out in a previous blog, better atmosphere, more individual, better character and a freeflowing exciting national team.

The games have been an awesome advert for sport and we've been blessed by some extraordinary performances but ultimately what have we learned about China?

We knew it was an economic powerhouse, we knew it was a nation of considerable political power, we knew it was an emerging sporting talent and its hard to see what more we've learned about them. Furthermore the games have hardly dispelled the old stereotypes of China being a characterless superstate obsessed with its own prestige and with little respect for individual human rights.
Britain's cycling success - is it cricket? 12:31pm on 19 Aug 2008 GB still have a long way to go. Domination in the track is superb but the next aim for the cycling team is to make an impact on the Pro Roadracing circuit where, Mark Cavandish, Dave Miller and Roger Hammond aside we are very much minor players. As the talent gets spread a little thinner and we concentrate on excellence in more areas inevitably our straight domination on the track will decrease slightly.

Take Cavandish as an example, his wins in the Tour de France have made him the biggest British name in World Cycling, but he only managed 8th in the Madison. Had he concentrated on the madison solely he probably would've won gold, which isn't a bad thing I'll take 4 Tour wins over an Olympic gold medal anyday. But the same thing will eventually happen to Geraint Thomas as he improves on the road especially with a Team GB road team in the works. That will effect our medal tally but will increase our standing in the world.
Let the great G.O.A.T debate commence! 8:45pm on 17 Aug 2008 For me the separating point of great athletes is innovation. There are those who are the biggest, best, fastest and strongest and there are those who change our perceptions of what is possible. For me in that respect Phelps tops Bolt. Bolt beat arguably the most important world record there is, however it is a record that has fallen consistently since it began and as an improvement in time is not as great as Maurice Greene's 1999 run. Also personally as a cyclist I think Jamaica's lacklustre and indeed at times confrontational approach to anti-doping casts a shadow over it.

Phelps decided to do something that people had thought was inconcievable and did it, its not even the fact that he could do it but the fact that he even aimed that high is what impresses me it puts him up with Tiger Woods in that respect.
Hoy the pick of GB's golden bunch 1:19pm on 17 Aug 2008 to give you some idea I went to use the swimming pool in Norwich about 4 years ago which claimed (to much fan fair) to be the 10th 50 meter pool in the UK. Although I am sure the situation has improved I think that speaks volumes

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I believe we have a total of 15 Olympic sized pools in England which still means a large percentage of the population don't have easy access, there is only a single one in Wales none in the South West of England, if you live even in large towns like Brighton, Cardiff, and Newcastle you have a massive round trip to your nearest Olympic pool.

Compare that to Australia which has around 47 which in terms of pools per people is massive and still more than the UK when the size of the country is taken into account.
Hoy the pick of GB's golden bunch 12:05pm on 17 Aug 2008 As far as funding is concerned , enough money should be made available to cascade the sucess and facilities down to grass roots level in ALL sports
Perhaps sacrificing a big chunk of the cash (in my opinion) wasted on the "Arts" would benefit the majority of people of this country by making sport (and healthy living) more accessible

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Problem with the arts is the same as the problem in sport. Money is flooded into labouring giants, Tennis and the National Theatre come to mind, which don't represent the needs of the nation. We need more Velodromes more swimming pools and easier access, just like we need better funded local theatres and youth arts projects.

Its not that spending money on the arts is a waste its just that like sports funding most of it is wasted.
Hoy the pick of GB's golden bunch 11:43am on 17 Aug 2008 If we're going to talk about knighthoods and damehoods we should really be talking about the likes of Peter Keen, Dave Brailsford and Chris Boardman what they have created with British Cycling is just astonishing.
Is Phelps really the greatest? 5:07pm on 13 Aug 2008 Steve Redgrave is the greatest olympian? oh please stop deluding yourself, yes I hear people talking about how wide spread redgrave won his medals but who cares, what about much physical exertion that Phelps has to put into 8 events, plus many has he World Record has Phelps set now in the last 2 Olympics.

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You have obviously never rowed, it is proven to be the most physically draining olympic sport above cycling, why do you think no rower in the history of the sport has ever won more than two medals at a single Olympics.

As for world records, the idea is virtually non existant in rowing as every course is different the water the current wind etc you can't measure performances against one another. Also how many other people have broken records in the pool this Olympics including the times they've been broken by multiple people at the same time? It seems they are easy enough to come by.

Incidentally I agree with you only because Elisabeta Lipa beats Redgrave with 5 Golds 2 silver 1 bronze in rowing.
Is Phelps really the greatest? 5:02pm on 13 Aug 2008 Isn't that 1 forward, 2 back Murphy?

then you'd have to start facing the wronf way, unless you did a very big first step then two short backward ones, suppose that could work too, I'd have to perfect my technique.
Is Phelps really the greatest? 4:53pm on 13 Aug 2008 I think it's ridiculous how many events there are in swimming, next thing they'll introduce multiple weight categories for the swimmers too.

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I'm waiting for the 100m 2-steps-forward-1-step-back event, I'd kick ass at that.

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