Comments on: Meandering Thoughts on the Games http://www.chinahearsay.com/meandering-thoughts-on-the-games/ China law, business and economics commentary Fri, 12 Mar 2010 03:44:01 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Thinking about China lately « buddha said knock you out http://www.chinahearsay.com/meandering-thoughts-on-the-games/comment-page-1/#comment-30374 Thinking about China lately « buddha said knock you out Fri, 28 Mar 2008 10:45:15 +0000 http://www.chinahearsay.com/?p=510#comment-30374 [...] The Olympics in China is, to the Chinese government, about convincing the world of Chinese greatness. Above all else. This is very petty, but the Olympics are so mired in hubris anyway that it’s odd to expect anything else from China of all countries. In the event of an Olympic boycott, the only people I would feel sorry for are the athletes, who might miss their only chance for greatness. [...] [...] The Olympics in China is, to the Chinese government, about convincing the world of Chinese greatness. Above all else. This is very petty, but the Olympics are so mired in hubris anyway that it’s odd to expect anything else from China of all countries. In the event of an Olympic boycott, the only people I would feel sorry for are the athletes, who might miss their only chance for greatness. [...]

]]> By: China Law Blog http://www.chinahearsay.com/meandering-thoughts-on-the-games/comment-page-1/#comment-29556 China Law Blog Fri, 21 Mar 2008 14:05:32 +0000 http://www.chinahearsay.com/?p=510#comment-29556 Rudy Chapa went to law school with me. Rudy is a great guy. Rudy also is a world class runner. Rudy missed the 1980 Olympics because of the boycott. He missed the 1984 Olympics because of injury and, if my memory serves me well, he just missed the 1988 Olympics because his time was 4th best and it needed to be 3rd best. In other words, the one year he made it, he never got to go. Rudy is absolutely the last person in the world who would be bitter about this sort of thing and he has gone on to great things since then (Check out SPARQ at Nike), but I am bitter about such a great guy having missed out on such an opportunity after having worked so hard at his sport. I mention the above not to say a boycott is NEVER justified, but to say that we all should think long and hard before calling for such a thing as though it is easy. I also think we should ask what the goals of a boycott would be and whether a boycott will get us closer to those goals or farther away. Rudy Chapa went to law school with me. Rudy is a great guy. Rudy also is a world class runner. Rudy missed the 1980 Olympics because of the boycott. He missed the 1984 Olympics because of injury and, if my memory serves me well, he just missed the 1988 Olympics because his time was 4th best and it needed to be 3rd best. In other words, the one year he made it, he never got to go. Rudy is absolutely the last person in the world who would be bitter about this sort of thing and he has gone on to great things since then (Check out SPARQ at Nike), but I am bitter about such a great guy having missed out on such an opportunity after having worked so hard at his sport.

I mention the above not to say a boycott is NEVER justified, but to say that we all should think long and hard before calling for such a thing as though it is easy. I also think we should ask what the goals of a boycott would be and whether a boycott will get us closer to those goals or farther away.

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