What's Bryant Gumbel saying today?
"So try not to laugh when someone says these are the world’s greatest athletes, despite a paucity of blacks that makes the Winter Games look like a GOP convention."
Who's fault is that, Bryant? I don't see you getting out there and skiing the downhill.
GOP Convention. Jerk.
Talk about racist. Jerk.
He doesn't warrant a photo. Jerk.
Who's fault is that, Bryant? I don't see you getting out there and skiing the downhill.
GOP Convention. Jerk.
Talk about racist. Jerk.
He doesn't warrant a photo. Jerk.
posted by Lauren | 6:15 PM
17 Comments:
I rode the train with the coolest guy today. He had never watched the Winter Olympics before, but started this year out of curiosity. He thought it made sense that the majority of the competitors in the Winter Olympics were white people from Northern Eurasian nations, because in general white people live in colder climates. He proudly stated that while Russians and Finns might have the edge when it came to ice-and-snow related sports, his brothers from Africa (and even the white people from Australia) were champions of the Summer Olympics. He even discussed how the Jamaican bobsled team (made famous in the film "Cool Runnings") showed it was less a matter of race and more a matter of climate. He talked about an Ethiopian competitor in the Winter Olympics who had to go to the US and Canada to train; it's inconvenient, this man argued, and rather pointless since there are plenty of events he could train for right in his own backyard. I thought that was really an interesting way of looking at it. I wonder if he was responding to Mr. Gumbel's comment?
I have a couple of things to say about that comment, the first being: You had this entire conversation with a stranger on a train, but it took us months to get you to take off those stupid headphones?!? Wow. You've come a long way, Ian. :)
The second is: I think Mr. Gumbel was referring to a lack black American athletes in the Winter Games. I don't know if the climate argument holds up too well in our country alone. I mean, Detroit for example, is really cold, but has a relatively high African-American population. But interestingly enough, Shauni Davis, the African-American speed skater, is from Chicago, so that fits into the climate argument.
Overall though, in the entire world, I think you're right. It's about climate.
I figured Gumbel's argument was about African Americans. But I also figured that this conversation was too interesting and too apropo to leave unmentioned.
I was actually wearing my headphones (well, one of them) throughout the entire conversation. I was listening to The Cranberries. He simply started talking to me and I felt it impolite to ignore him. I did put my book away though.
Yeah, I love (or used to love) talking (or listening) to people on the subway or bus. So interesting.
And, hey, I listened to The Cranberries today, too. Weird. I haven't listened to them in years. (Jung would've called that "syncronicity".)
Oops. Sorry, I misspelled it. Synchronicity.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syncronicity
Read this book now:
"Sync: the Emerging Science of Spontaneous Order" by Steven Strogatz.
My life is full of synchronicity. That book sounds interesting!
I would like to see more Brazilians in the olympics. You'd think they might at least field a couple ice dancers!! Can you imagine a carnival style ice dancing programme. That would give those stuffy judges something to think about!
i've met bryant gumbel. he was very nice. i gave him and his daughter a private tour of my school.
re: blacks & olympics
i think nephi said it pretty well, "the guilty taketh the truth to be hard"
So...wait. Is Lauren guilty of keeping African American competitors out of the Winter Olympics? Or is Bryant Gumbel guilty since he is not competing? ;D
which school? uni or boarding school? I ask because everyone at my middle school in Saudi had to go on to boarding school so I'm always curious/nosey about that.
Yeah. Damn those 24-year-old, white, middle-class girls for keeping the black man down!
university of colorado.
I went to school in Colorado as well! In Colorado Springs. I made it up to CSU in Fort Collins, but never to Boulder. I was invited to spend a long weekend there at my boyfriend's house, but I wasn't falling for any of that kinda nonsense! He was called Ivan and he wanted to be like that builder/biker guy in Erin Brockovich when he grew up.
bilaeva,
boulder is a tiny piece of heaven on earth. it is so lovely there.
did you go to colorado college? i wish i could say i share strong emotions towards the springs... but... that place kind of creeps me out.
Is the Garden of the Gods around Colorado Springs? Because I took a horseback ride through the Garden of the Gods and mine was the lead horse. And, let's just say, my horse had serious stomach problems. The rest of the riders were subject to watching for the whole ride. I don't think they enjoyed the scenery that much.
mr. p - You're not wrong about Colorado Springs. I didn't really care for the place either. I didn't go to the college, I got stuck in boarding school there for two years.
About the only nice thing there is the Garden of the Gods. I'm glad our visit was on foot!
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