Johnny Posts

In 2001, China was awarded the 2008 Olympics partly because they promised to give the media free reign to cover the Olympics. But now that the games are drawing closer China is kind of not cool with the whole censorship free thing.

Like most sports, you never know what the big story is going to be in the Olympics. Whether it be a surprise upset no one was expecting, or something beyond our worst nightmares, the coverage is dictated by the stories. While NBC can probably afford to have a full crew at every venue, I'm not so sure the rest of the world can. But even NBC will most likely want to do some shifting as the stories unfold. China, however, is making that pretty hard.

TV executives appear skeptical they will be able to deliver the kind of coverage they have in past games. Some say Chinese officials are requiring that forms be filled out specifying where satellite trucks will be each day of the games. The IOC says about 2,000 TV trucks usually go in and out of Olympic venues every day during the games.

These kind of restrictions could make it very difficult for TV crews to move quickly around the sprawling city to cover breaking news. Broadcasters also have been denied permits to record aerial views of Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City.

As much as it is a story, Tibet is not a story once the Olympics start. At least not pertaining to the events. Even if I don't like it, I can understand that Olympic coverage should be about the Olympics once it starts. So I can go along with Tibet being off limits. But any live coverage from Tiananmen Square or the the Forbidden City might be nixed. Those are two of the most iconic places in China. And if China, as a country, has a mood to capture, that is where you want to be. But the possibility of protests has the Chinese worried.

Several TV executives were upset there might be no live coverage from Tiananmen Square. This is a change from two months ago when IOC officials in Beijing said China had agreed to allow live coverage. Broadcasters also have been told there's unlikely to be live coverage from the Forbidden City. Chinese police fear both might be venues for activists' protests, which would be a public relations disaster if demonstrations - and police crackdowns - are beamed around the world.

But if it is something that effects the Olympics, something within the city, then I think it needs to be covered. While I don't think anyone believes the problems as they exist now are not fixable, the time before the Olympics start is shrinking fast. The networks need to make plans according to what they will be allowed to do and where they can go. And China seems to be trending farther away from what they promised as the games get closer. If that was the plan all along, it was very clever. But it will probably also cost them much more than whatever they try to hide.

(ht:Deadspin)

Before the recent Earthquake in China, it was very easy to take what ever pot shot you wanted to at China. But it becomes a very different subject when you are talking about individuals that have no say in world politics. And people that live so far away from you that they have absolutely no effect on you other than the story of their plight.

In these cases, you hope for some good news. And I'm very proud of the blogging community for making an effort to make a difference. Whether it be for Myanmar, China, or here in the United States. But when faced with the possibility of a dirty bomb being released at the Beijing Olympics you just have to wonder how possible it would be.

From a strategic point of view, what group would want to draw the ire of China, The United States, and all the countries that would surely join in? I really can't think of a worse place to be than the working end of those countries rage. I always thought the idea behind fourth generation warfare was to create a political divide. Not to unite countries that otherwise plan on a daily basis for war with the other.

Sure there is the possibility of someone would do it in the name of independence for Tibet. But the time it would take for most everyone that supports a free Tibet to distance themselves from that fight wouldn't require an egg timer.

I guess my point is that while someone could walk up behind me and set off a dirty bomb. The chances of it happening are far less than me slipping on a wet surface and breaking my neck. But still, the IAEA wants you be afraid. Very afraid! Even if they have no basis for wanting you to be afraid.

The IAEA said there is no specific information of an imminent attack on the Beijing games, but intelligence shows terrorists are trying to obtain nuclear materials."

To steal a line from a friend of mine, fear based thinking is never the answer. It just makes you worry about things that are not really relevant to your life. But it makes great headlines. So what is the terror alert level at because of this?

There's nothing quite as annoying as a reformed smoker. They always walk up to you while you're having that one cigarette you set aside in the day for me time. Telling you how to fix your life by quitting. I'm sure it's true, but there's a time and a place for that kind of talk. And this isn't it.

Oddly enough, the International Olympic Committee might be having these same exact feelings following reformed steroid peddler, Victor Conte's latest interview.

"The Olympics are a fraud. It's all about money," Conte told BBC Sport. "Those who control the money, control the anti-doping policies. They are still inept to this day."

Yup, this is the same guy that served jail time for conspiracy to distribute and money laundering. And to be honest, he sounds a lot like Jose Canseco if you watch the video portion of the interview. I'm not knocking the guy. If he's out to clean up drug testing in sports, I'm all for it.

He did meet with former Anti-doping Agency head,....wait for it....Dick Pound. And gave pointers on how his operation worked. And he isn't afraid to call out Olympic officials in general.

"I have been told by Olympic officials that there have been positive drug tests that have been covered up," he revealed. "They (the officials) have direct knowledge of this and at some point this information will come out

I hope, unlike Jose Canseco, he doesn't start dropping names (oops!). It's enough that he inform officials about how to get around their testing practices. Even if he is exaggerating just a little, Conte doesn't paint a pretty picture of the competence of drug testing in Olympic and professional sports. And given recent events in baseball, it's not hard to believe. It will be interesting to see a response from the IOC or any professional sports. Or if any respond at all. I would like to know the sports I follow are clean. Even if that meant a reduction in performance. And if you see me off smoking a cigarette by myself, how's bout you give me a few minutes peace.

Maybe like you, I go back and forth on what to make of these Olympics. Admittedly, it's fun to pile on China as the 2008 summer games approach, and more specifically, as the torch makes its way around the globe. There are a lot of truths about China that are coming to light that otherwise seem to have been ignored by the media and the public in general. And I think that's a good thing.

But at the same time, I have the feeling that maybe politics and national interests should be left behind. Maybe the focus should rest squarely on the competition of the best athletes in the world at their particular sport. And that everything else should be secondary. Then I run across a piece of history on what kind of signals you send when you allow a militaristic state host the Olympics. Like, let's say, Germany in 1936. Left unchecked, we found that they were capable of sending the world into chaos. And in that light, the protests surrounding the carrying of the Olympic torch are not only appropriate, I would argue that they are necessary.

But hey, I'm a sports blogger. I'm getting way outside my realm here. I'm supposed to point out the subtle ironies of life to everyone and stomp on the grave of the main stream media while typing away in my parents basement. Right? And to that end, I point out that the torch relay didn't start until the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

Never before had a lighted torch been relayed from a Greek temple in Olympia to an athletic competition, let alone by thousands of runners trying to keep it from being extinguished.

Hmmm ... if ever a propaganda machine was set in motion, it was the Nazi effort to show the world a united, technologically superior Germany. The first television broadcast was the opening ceremonies of the 1936 Olympics. I have no idea what China has in store for their opening ceremonies, but I'm sure it will be spectacular. Maybe no new technologies will be introduced, but I'm sure it will be choreographed down to the smallest detail imaginable.

Obviously the Nazi inauguration of the carrying of the torch need not besmirch this tradition of unity. But it is ironic that China would not be in nearly as intense a PR war if not for the German initiation of the torch carrying tradition. China has named the carrying of the torch the "Journey of Harmony." And to this point it has been anything but. And I can't help but laugh every time I think that they have the Nazis to thank for it.

Human rights violations, genocide in Darfur, poor air quality, these are just a couple reasons why China has come under scrutiny in the lead up to the Summer Olympics. And China is trying very hard to make the Beijing Olympics their coming out party. But with every step forward they make, they take two steps back.

So what did they do now? Yep, pirated video games on the Official Beijing Olympics website.

New York-based games developer Cadin Batrack claimed in a blog posting that "the Olympics stole my game". Batrack highlighted what he claims are strong similarities between his Snow Day game, and a game on the Olympics website titled Fuwa Fight the Winter Clouds.

A trip over to Mr. Batrack's blog post will give you a good idea as to the very minor differences between the two games. And really, if you're going to steal something you probably don't want to put it on what will probably be one of the more popular websites in the world as the games get closer. While the game was removed from the Olympics website this morning, there are still two other games Batrack claims are stolen from fellow game developer Ferry Halim. Yeah, in case you didn't know it software developers get mad when you steal their work.

And in a humorous twist of irony, the Beijing Olympic Committee is threatening severe penalties on anyone that pirates any of the "intellectual property" located on the site.

The Beijing Olympics Organizing Committee threatens harsh penalties under Chinese law for anybody who pirates its intellectual property, such as the official Olympics cartoon mascots that appear in the Fuwa game. These include confiscation of income generated by the illegal use, as well as a fine of $7,000 or up to five times any illegal income.

We'll let you know when the committee's trail date is set for. But please don't hold your breath.