Beijing Opening Ceremonies

[dukie8]

here's the list (it's worse than i thought):

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Which_coun..._Olympic_Games

i mean us virgin islands??? hong kong??? palestine???????

the greeks have a way with their sprinters. you would have thought that they would have cleaned them up after the athens fiasco.

[Lavabe]

here's the list (it's worse than i thought):

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Which_coun..._Olympic_Games

i mean us virgin islands??? hong kong??? palestine???????

the greeks have a way with their sprinters. you would have thought that they would have cleaned them up after the athens fiasco.

Umm... who is the "Unified Team" this year?

Is this the last year for a distinct Hong Kong team?

What countries are NOT competing in the 2008 Beijing Olympics?

[dukie8]

Umm... who is the "Unified Team" this year?

Is this the last year for a distinct Hong Kong team?

What countries are NOT competing in the 2008 Beijing Olympics?

what pisses me off is that they are called "countries" by everyone from nbc to to china to the olympic committee when they clearly are not. why don't they just get honest with themselves and admit that numerous oddball associations are allowed to compete? i'm pretty sure that nbc skipped over palestine's entrance last night because i don't recall seeing it and that surely would generate serious ire from many in the us.

[YmoBeThere]

Uh-oh, some sort of media bias. Should we re-adjourn on the PPB?

[Bostondevil]

what pisses me off is that they are called "countries" by everyone from nbc to to china to the olympic committee when they clearly are not. why don't they just get honest with themselves and admit that numerous oddball associations are allowed to compete? i'm pretty sure that nbc skipped over palestine's entrance last night because i don't recall seeing it and that surely would generate serious ire from many in the us.

I saw the Palestinians. There weren't very many of them, 4 athletes, IIRC.

As far as letting these associations that aren't really countries compete, I'm of the opposite mind. Why not let them all compete? Sports can, at it's best, bring people together.

[YmoBeThere]

Hey, this isn't the LTE

[dukie8]

I saw the Palestinians. There weren't very many of them, 4 athletes, IIRC.

As far as letting these associations that aren't really countries compete, I'm of the opposite mind. Why not let them all compete? Sports can, at it's best, bring people together.

so why not let the duke basketball team in?

[dukie8]

is the kobe and the bodyguard rumor true?

[YmoBeThere]

so why not let the duke basketball team in?

Because we can't win an NCAA title...let alone, oh nevermind.

[Lavabe]

I saw the Palestinians. There weren't very many of them, 4 athletes, IIRC.

As far as letting these associations that aren't really countries compete, I'm of the opposite mind. Why not let them all compete? Sports can, at it's best, bring people together.

One of the Palestinians is a swimmer. Costas (or Lauer) remarked that there is no Olympic-sized pool in Palestine.

No idea about the "Unified Team?"

STILL wondering what countries aren't represented.

[blazindw]

Brunei is the only of the 205 IOC nations that are not represented at these Olympics.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/olympic...nt_6918214.htm

[dukie8]

Brunei is the only of the 205 IOC nations that are not represented at these Olympics.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/olympic...nt_6918214.htm

what is Brunei Darussalam?

[Lavabe]

what is Brunei Darussalam?

One of three countries on the island of Borneo. It used to include part of Sarawak (Bornean Malaysia), then lost land to Spain, became a British protectorate for about 100 years, and regained independence (from the UK) in 1984.

[throatybeard]

what is Brunei Darussalam?

Google is your friend.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brunei

A country on Borneo.

It looks like you're just looking for a fight to pick, D8.

[dukie8]

Google is your friend.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brunei

A country on Borneo.

It looks like you're just looking for a fight to pick, D8.

no. if brunei darussalam = brunei, then it is represented according to the wiki list. i've actually been to borneo and only knew brunei as brunei.

[Jarhead]

This morning I watched Kobe make his way into the stadium to watch the USA ladies play. He was by himself among a whole crowd of Chinese patting him on the back, taking pictures, and collecting hi fives. The crowd backed off when he got the the seats reserved for athletes. He had some difficulty, but he never stopped smiling.

Seems we are taking an insular attitude about the country member thing. We don't make the IOC rules as to what defines a country. If you don't like it, organize your own Olympics. Gee, that has a familiar ring to it.

[Exiled_Devil]

Seems we are taking an insular attitude about the country member thing. We don't make the IOC rules as to what defines a country. If you don't like it, organize your own Olympics. Gee, that has a familiar ring to it.

This may be PPB material, but I have to say that the "No flag for Taiwan (and we're calling Taipie) because the PRC will freak if we let it happen" is one of hte biggest frustrations for me in the Olympics. This is long-standing, not just this year.

[DevilAlumna]

no. if brunei darussalam = brunei, then it is represented according to the wiki list. i've actually been to borneo and only knew brunei as brunei.

They said during the telecast last night, that everyone was expecting Brunei to attend, but they didn't show up, and no-one, as of the Opening Ceremonies, knew why.

As for order of the entrance of countries, besides Greece (always first), and China (as host country, honor of being last), they were in order of number of strokes in the chinese symbols that make up the country name. There is no alphabet. (Again, this was all covered in the NBC telecast.)

[KBCrazie]

They said during the telecast last night, that everyone was expecting Brunei to attend, but they didn't show up, and no-one, as of the Opening Ceremonies, knew why.

Here's what I found in the international Herald Tribune vis-a-vis Brunei not attending:

The IOC excluded Brunei from participating in the opening ceremony of the Beijing Games on Friday because its national Olympic committee failed to register the country's two athletes by the required deadline.

Brunei had until midday Friday to register its two athletes — 15-year-old swimmer Maria Grace Koh and shot putter Mohammed Yazid Yatimi Yusof — with the International Olympic Committee, but missed the deadline.

Brunei's ruler, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, was one of many dignitaries slated to attend the opening, alongside U.S. President George W. Bush and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

[weezie]

California? What about Scotland and Wales?

What?! Didn't you hear the bagpipe music during the march of nations?

I thought the opening ceremonies were hilarious...that guy holding that pose as he whizzed around the stadium was a riot. Not to mention Lauer's, "WOW!"