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Piling Pixels For The People
Sometimes “swift justice” is more the former than the latter:
An Athens court on Monday slapped a 3,000-euro fine on the Irish-born former priest who disrupted the Olympic men’s marathon by pushing the race leader into the crowd.
The flagrant crimes court convening in Athens also barred Cornelius Horan, 57, from attending any sport events in Greece for three months.
A 12-month prison sentence against Horan was suspended for three years. He paid the fine and was released.
Horan told the court he wanted to announce the Second Coming of Jesus and did not intend to obstruct the marathon’s Brazilian race leader Vanderlei de Lima.
The Irishman, who now lives in London and has staged a number of demonstrations at high profile events, apologised for the incident and said he would not repeat it again.
Sunday Times: Irishman fined for marathon stunt
I hate to say this even about a former priest, but that’s a sack of lies. Or perhaps more properly, delusions.
If he claims he “did not intend to obstruct … de Lima,” then what exactly did he intend to do dressed like an Irish dancer with signs containing strange religious statements? Why did his arms appear to wrap around de Lima and push him into the crowd? Did Mr. Horan have a sudden epileptic seizure, or was he simply momentarily possessed by demons? Because the obvious answer I saw in that race does not jibe with the one Horan gave in court.
But the biggest lie is his claim he will not repeat such an act. Because it’s a lie he’s made before (emphasis mine):
The 56-year-old former priest who ran on to the track at this season’s British Grand Prix has walked free from jail, insisting he has no regrets over his actions.
Cornelius Horan left court after being given a two-month jail sentence for aggravated trespass at Silverstone. He had served more than two-thirds of the sentence on remand.
Millions of television viewers world-wide saw Horan breach security and get in front of cars wearing a tam-o’shanter and kilt and carrying religious-themed placards.
“It was done on the spur of the moment. I didn’t come up intending on going on to the track.”
He said he was not planning any more stunts and would not break the law again.
BBC: ”’No regrets’ for Grand Prix protester”
Less than one year later, Horan hopped on a flight to Athens that arrived at 4:40am the morning of the marathon. With clear premeditation, he committed another “stunt,” and broke the law again.
The man does not need the slap on the wrist of a suspended sentence, a fine, and a laughable three month ban from Greek sporting events. He needs psychiatric care. He has a behavior pattern that is escalating. If the “justice system” gives such token attention to his obvious problem, we should hardly be surprised when we see his name in the news again. And next time, someone may really get hurt.
Thankfully, part of his behavior pattern seems to be that wacky getup. I hate to encourage profiling, but I’m afraid Irish dancers are going to get some extra scrutiny at future sporting events. People are going to want to look up their kilts, for sure.
Each time the Olympics come around, I have to reacquaint myself with the fact that the Games mean something quite different to me than to most people. I’ve written a bit before about my own background with the Olympics, and try to see it like those who grew up playing baseball, and are enraptured with the World Series (which moves me little). To a lot of people, these Games primarily meant they didn’t get to watch their soap operas, day time talk shows, or prime time reruns.
But these Games haven’t just provided me with a 16 day respite from stories of Swift Boats and Slow Candidates (though that has been refreshingly welcome). They recharge me. They literally refill me with hope for the human race.
And I will take as much of that as I can soak up. I need every drop of it. I briefly noted each quiet tear I unexpectedly shed while watching some small event in the past 16 days, because they reminded me there’s still a human somewhere inside this cynical curmudgeon. One who can still be quickly moved by the simplest things.
Yes, I’m a total sap over these Games. Gladly. Offer me an alternative that brings every nation of the world together in the same place, people of every shape, size, color, religion, and ethnicity, all to celebrate the marvel of human capability.
Name one.
Yes, I deliberately tune out much of the parasitic dreck, from the Costas-Couric verbal garroting of the Opening Ceremonies (notice they were both absent at the Closing Ceremonies?), to the sometimes excessive commercialism and nationalism, to the ever present pomposity of the IOC, and even the occasional athlete who just … doesn’t ... get it (I’m talkin’ to you, LeBron James). I try to filter out the irrelevant, and focus on the performances. The faces of the athletes. It can be that simple.
Because that’s where I feel some strange empathy. I see the joy on their face, often in the form of tears, and I absorb a tiny piece of it. That’s the only way I can describe it. From the other side of the world, through a tiny TV screen, on tape delay … a little piece of that goes into my heart, and often into my throat. Not every time, not even most of the time. It’s most precious when their joy is from a third place finish, or even fourth … the obvious satisfaction you see on the face of someone who has completed a life long dream. To have competed against the best in the world, to have done your best, and to be happy with the outcome, no matter what it might be. That kind of genuine unfakable joy, I genuinely feel that in a way I can’t quite describe.
There were so many concerns leading up to these Games in Athens, so many who were worried they would be a disaster, or, at best, an embarrassment. Perhaps those concerns and worries seemed justified at the time, but in the end, the Greeks once again brought us Olympic Magic, as only the Greeks could do. If the Games could have a permanent location, this is where they truly belong.
So efharisto to the people of Athens and Greece, and the over 35,000 volunteers … Efharisto to the over 10,000 athletes … Thank You for refilling this old curmudgeon.
I was definitely a quart low.
The Olympic motto is “Citius, Altius, Fortius,” Latin for “Swifter, Higher, Stronger.” And of the 10,864 athletes from 202 nations who competed in 301 medal events from 28 different sports, 99.8% of them did their best to live up to that motto. But about 24 of them (at last count) had a different motto: “Decipio, Deludo, Circumvenio.”
Cheaters. These Olympics were sadly littered with egregious offenders. I think it’s time to get medieval on them, and restore another ancient Olympic tradition.
» Read the Full Article (1523 words) »
How could the Olympics be complete without the traditional drunken Irish priest bear hugging the leader of the marathon at the 23 mile point?
The defrocked Irish priest who bolted from the crowd and tackled the marathon leader about three miles from the finish Sunday has been arrested before for disrupting sporting events.
Cornelius Horan, 57, was wearing a green beret, a red kilt and knee-high green socks when he attacked Brazilian runner Vanderlei Lima, knocking him into the crowd. Lima was able to recover and finish, but had to settle for the bronze medal.
“I was scared, because I didn’t know what could happen to me, whether he was armed with a knife, a revolver or something and whether he was going to kill me,” Lima said. “That’s what cost me the gold medal.” [...] “I’m not going to cry forever about the incident, although it broke my concentration,” Lima said, “but I managed to finish and the bronze medal in such a difficult marathon is also a great achievement.”
In July 2003, Horan, in a costume similar to Sunday’s, ran onto the track at the British Grand Prix in the middle of the race and stayed there for more than 20 seconds, forcing Formula One racers traveling at more than 200 mph to swerve around him. He was carrying a sign that said: “Read the Bible the Bible is always right.”
British authorities said Horan also attempted a protest on Wimbledon’s Center Court during a rain break, and tried to disrupt cricket and rugby matches.
ABC News: “Brazilian Attacked During Men’s Marathon”
It would appear the only thing he accomplished was to give police spokespeople a chance for odd quotes: “‘We asked him why he did this,’ she said. ‘He said he is preparing for the Second Coming and other such things like that.’” “Other such things like that” being The Rapture, plague, famine, pestilence, war, the fiery deaths of billions, etc. But my guess is he doesn’t truly believe the Second Coming is imminent, because who would want to meet Jesus looking like this?
Then there’s my favorite quote: “A police source said: ‘The man says he is Irish, he is also drunk.’”
But if the worst security violation during these Olympics was a religious nutball wearing a green beret, a red kilt and knee-high green socks, who thought he could best announce the Second Coming by getting drunk and tackling a Brazilian, well, these Games have been a vast security success.
They managed to scare off everyone except for him, and the guy wearing the tutu and clown shoes.
Efharisto, Athens!
I wrote This Team’s No Dream a week and a half ago, because this outcome seemed all but certain, even then: “Argentina ends U.S.’ chances at gold with ease.”
Beaten by a team that’s never won a medal. Beaten by eight points, never closer than six behind, not even fouling at the end to slow the clock and give them even a slim chance of comeback. Beaten like they had no heart.
Simply beaten.
I’m reminded of a recent quote from Chuck Klosterman: “I don’t care if ‘the world is catching up,’ or if Del Harris is coaching China, or if the best point guard in the NBA is often a Canadian who resembles the second guitar player from a Drive-By Trucker tribute band. This is just about the only thing we have left, and now we clearly don’t even have this. Even if we somehow bounce back and win the gold, it’s over for us as a nation; this is like when the Spanish Armada got iced in 1588. We might as well start caring about soccer.”
Soccer, indeed. The ladies on the USA soccer team wanted the gold, bad, and they got it. When they were passing out “heart” for these Games, the NBA players must’ve been busy talking on their cell phone with their agents, and the women’s soccer team doubled up.
“Dream Team 2004” has been a disaster, and a lot of ink will be expended on their autopsy. But this team was obviously flawed in its composition from the beginning. When many of the “big stars” of the NBA turned down invitations from USA Basketball to play in these Games, they didn’t handle it wisely. Like they wanted to win. Apparently, they wanted to market, so they looked at who their young rising stars were in the NBA, and filled the remaining slots with them. This resulted in an overly young team with too many small forwards who excel at slash-and-dash street ball that doesn’t translate well to international rules, no real point guard, and no effective perimeter shooters.
And looked at what they’ve ended up “marketing”: the end of US dominance of international basketball.
A team like that could possibly have overcome their shortcomings given enough time and some good coaching, but instead they had a handful of practice sessions and a handful of exhibition games during a couple of weeks in Europe. And it seemed clear in the game with Argentina, this was not a well coached team, or maybe even a coachable team. I sure don’t put all the blame on Larry Brown, but he never seemed to connect with his players with much other than anger, so he may not have been the right choice.
Others will use this as occasion to call for a return to the days of “amateurs only.” Amateurs who would have been beaten just as badly, as this wasn’t the result of just a flawed team of pros, it is also clear the level of “World Basketball” has risen considerably.
I place the blame at the feet of USA Basketball, for two reasons. One, they did not do enough to establish that playing for the US in the Olympics is an honor, and a proud tradition to be upheld by the best we have to offer. They did not create an environment where the players might feel some obligation to contribute (and clearly, someone like Shaq isn’t going to be motivated by money, you’ve got to appeal to pride).
Perhaps this ugly debacle has insured it will be different next time, when the Olympics come calling. USA Basketball damn well ought to be able to motivate the best of 2008 to go get back the gold. And they should have done a better job of convincing our best to retain it, this time around.
But they didn’t. And then they filled the empty slots without regard to building a real team, composed with a real chance at winning. They figured even with the second choices, it would be a cakewalk. That attitude trickled down in the players. Back on August 2, “Carmelo Anthony has already boldly predicted a gold medal, while James said he isn’t concerned about upholding the American’s 24-0 mark.” I just watched LeBron James add in a post-game interview, “No, I’m not disappointed … that’s a strong word.”
And that’s just the problem. They weren’t “concerned.” They’re “not disappointed.” This team turned that “0” into a “3,” and they’re not done yet.
Early on in these Games, I said “One of the sideline sports at every Olympics is the ‘IOC idIOCy Competition.’ And I think we have an early favorite…”
I was referring then to the fact the IOC was trying to ban blogging, which, though stupid, didn’t really impact the Games themselves. Well, we seem to have a new contender from slightly outside the IOC, in the form of a letter from Bruno Grandi, President of the international gymnastics association, “FIG.” They want Paul Hamm to give his gold medal to another guy out of the goodness of his heart, because their judges screwed up. The letter ends, if “you would return your medal to the Korean if the FIG requested it, then such an action would be recognised as the ultimate demonstration of Fairplay by the whole world. The FIG and the IOC would highly appreciate the magnitude of this gesture. At this moment in time, you are the only one who can make this decision.”
Jim Scherr of the USOC got appropriately apoplectic in response, and flat out refused to forward the letter to Hamm:
The USOC finds this request to be improper, outrageous and so far beyond the bounds of what is acceptable that we refuse to transmit it to Mr. Hamm.
The fact is, Mr. Hamm did exactly what an Olympic champion should do: he performed to the best of his ability, he competed within the rules of his sport and he accepted his gold medal with pride, honor and dignity.
Your letter states “the IOC would highly appreciate the magnitude of this gesture.” You should know that upon receipt of your letter, we immediately contacted the International Olympic Committee and its President, Dr. Jacques Rogge, which expressed its displeasure over the fact the FIG would even consider placing an athlete in such an untenable position and strongly stated they do not support the letter or its contents.
IOC president Dr. Jacques Rogge said “In sport you have to deal with the human error. People make errors, but they are honest and they make errors in good faith, and you have to accept that. In this case there was a genuine and in-good-faith error by the judges, and there was no ground to have a second medal.”
The IOC has refused to consider issuing a “second gold” (and an immediate oxymoron), since they see this as a mistake, not malfeasance or corruption. It’s just the breaks of the game. The FIG admitted it was a scoring error made by three judges they later suspended, but they said they couldn’t go back and change the results after the competition was over. No more than you can change the outcome of the World Series when a videotape later shows the ball that was called “foul” was actually “fair.” Baseball has no “instant replay” for umpires. Or do-overs. Or give-backs. And neither do the Olympics.
Paul Hamm’s gold medal will forever have an asterisk by it. Not through any fault of his own, but because of the errors of others. One might ask, then why not give it back? Why not do what’s fair?
Because in Olympic sports that are judged on a subjective basis, “fair” is a moving target. Call them the Subjective Sports, the ones where there is a standard to meet, and you are judged on how closely you match it. Or sports that have a large aesthetic component where humans must discern small differences among the best in the world. It’s a recipe for robbery, for someone, every four years.
Early in these Games, several US gymnasts were told by one judge that their routines … the ones they’d been working on for months ... weren’t going to score well for some arcane reason, so they needed to change them. Stunned, and caught by surprise, they improvised to do what they had to do to stay in the competition.
Was that fair? No, but those were the breaks, and you took them. Just as you do when the breaks go your way. That’s the nature of the Subjective Sports.
The calendar confluence of the Olympics and the 2004 Election has created yet another forum for polarization, another vacuum to be abhorred, another void to be filled as quickly as crack-heads take over an abandoned house.
Olympic officials are seething at a campaign ad for President George W. Bush which, they say, hijacks the Olympic brand. “We are following what is happening and hope this campaign will stop,” said Gerhard Heiberg, head of the International Olympic Committee’s Marketing Commission.
But while Heiberg was diplomatic, other IOC members were blunt.
“This is quite amazing,” one member said on condition of anonymity. “The arrogance is unbelievable. To use the Olympic name like this, without permission… it’s just incredible.”
Another said: “That anyone should do this is just astonishing.”
MSNBC: “Games chiefs want Bush campaign to back off”
Simply astonishing! Four years may pass, but some things never change, like the IOC’s assertive protectionism. It’s so easy to poke at their pomposity, when they have a history of tactics like threatening litigation against a Greek restaurant owner here in Atlanta. He’d dared to use the word “Olympia” in his business name. It hadn’t been a problem for decades … until the IOC came to town.
I understand the problems of ambush marketing, having seen Nike plaster Atlanta with billboards and events during the Games they didn’t sponsor. I understand that the Olympic rings are a trademark just as surely as the Apple logo, and you can’t just toss those rings around without some repercussions. But it has always been hard for me to see how the Olympic brand is damaged when others simply use the word “Olympics” ... unless they’re specifically trying to profit from it via using it in advertising.
Which seems to be exactly what is happening here.
Bush campaign aides contend that the law in question gives the committee exclusive rights only to use the Olympics name to sell goods or services or to promote athletic competition. The campaign avoided using the symbol of five rings in the ad, the aides said.
The brand and concept of the Olympics belong to the International Olympic Committee in general and to the USOC in the United States.
An act of Congress, last revised in 1999, grants the USOC exclusive rights to such terms as “Olympic,” derivatives such as “Olympiad” and the five interlocking rings. It also specifically says the organization “shall be nonpolitical and may not promote the candidacy of an individual seeking public office.”
ESPN: “USOC decries Bush ad using Olympic name”
Like it or not, an Act of Congress gives the USOC exclusive rights to the term “Olympics.” Not just some silly IOC declaration, a Congressional Law. The IOC is “seething,” and there are Iraqi soccer players upset about Bush campaign ads, too. All have stated the ads should stop.
And still …”[Bush campaign spokesman Scott] Stanzel said the ad will continue to run for the last two weeks of August.”
I can’t tell you how it pains me to side with the pompous clowns at the IOC. It’s very counter-intuitive for me, as you can almost reflexively take the opposing position, and be right over 95% of the time. So let me put it another way.
When the IOC can make you look bad, you’ve got some real image problems.
Forget about the law. Forget about trademarks and exclusive rights. When you put people and things (the Iraqi soccer team and the “Olympics”) into a political ad without their permission (and in potential violation of Congressional law), you deserve every harsh word they publicly lambaste you with in response.
When you go even further and state you will continue running the ads despite their heated opposition, you make it clear you weren’t really trying to celebrate their accomplishments. You’re just trying to use others to hype your own. And even if they object, you’ll continue.
One of Bush’s “positive attributes” they try to emphasize is his “consistency,” or what some would call his stubbornness.
But sometimes, you have to show some grace, when the alternative is to look defiantly petty over such a miniscule matter.
#1610 Rose Hill 10
