If I am reading this right, Swiminfo.com is reporting that Craig Stevens is indeed going to back out of the 400 and leave it up to Australia Swimming to "pick another member of the Olympic Team" to swim that race in Athens. If I am ANY other country, swimmer, the 3rd place finisher at the Trials or an organization interested in ethics, then I am raising a stink on this one!!!! Thorpe DQ'd and the Aussies are going to skirt the rule and get him in anyway. They would be relegated to the status of Ben Johnson, Rosie Ruiz, and the 60+% of MLB who are on steriods! This is FREAKIN' UNBELIEVABLE. I have no respect for any of the aforementioned and if this happens, none for Ian Thorpe and the Australian swim federation (or whatever official name they hide behind) are in that seeming, stinking pile.
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Former Member
Hey, check for the breaking of the 2nd seal, I am totally down with everything Aquageek says on this subject.
For openers, the right-side, lawyer, totally laconic "just the facts, ma'am" side of my brain says what rule is broken by the Aussies taking Thorpe? The Olympic rules, the only ones that we Americans have any stake in or standing to assert, say Australia can chose its athletes any way it pleases. High stakes Olympic trial meets, super-secret selection committee of coaches scratching each others' backs, random lottery, or any combination thereof. There is only one rule being overlooked, a rule Australia has imposed on itself because the Australians feel that high stakes Olympic trial meets give them the best chance to select their best team. If they decide THEIR rule is no longer serving THEIR interests, THEY chose when and how to modify it. It's none of our dang business, and we have no standing to object.
Moreover, the left-side, peace-love-chlorine, it's the vibe of the thing part of my brain says golly, I'd love to see Thorpe have another chance to break the World Record on the biggest stage in the sport. I want to know if Grant Hackett might finally crack through and get him, or if there is some young gun out there who can take down the Master when all the pressure is on. Or, is this guy really the final word in the event, and he has a chance to repeat, threepeat, or who knows, pull an Edwin Moses domination of the event. It seems to me that all the folks hollerin' about "the right thing" are hiding the fact they would like to see Thorpe out of the event so someone else (some American) will have a shot. What are the ethics of people who hide their own self-interest behind a facade of virtue, especially when it's a rule that is none of their dang business.
Well, it is just a race; no sense getting all worked up...
Matt
Hey, check for the breaking of the 2nd seal, I am totally down with everything Aquageek says on this subject.
For openers, the right-side, lawyer, totally laconic "just the facts, ma'am" side of my brain says what rule is broken by the Aussies taking Thorpe? The Olympic rules, the only ones that we Americans have any stake in or standing to assert, say Australia can chose its athletes any way it pleases. High stakes Olympic trial meets, super-secret selection committee of coaches scratching each others' backs, random lottery, or any combination thereof. There is only one rule being overlooked, a rule Australia has imposed on itself because the Australians feel that high stakes Olympic trial meets give them the best chance to select their best team. If they decide THEIR rule is no longer serving THEIR interests, THEY chose when and how to modify it. It's none of our dang business, and we have no standing to object.
Moreover, the left-side, peace-love-chlorine, it's the vibe of the thing part of my brain says golly, I'd love to see Thorpe have another chance to break the World Record on the biggest stage in the sport. I want to know if Grant Hackett might finally crack through and get him, or if there is some young gun out there who can take down the Master when all the pressure is on. Or, is this guy really the final word in the event, and he has a chance to repeat, threepeat, or who knows, pull an Edwin Moses domination of the event. It seems to me that all the folks hollerin' about "the right thing" are hiding the fact they would like to see Thorpe out of the event so someone else (some American) will have a shot. What are the ethics of people who hide their own self-interest behind a facade of virtue, especially when it's a rule that is none of their dang business.
Well, it is just a race; no sense getting all worked up...
Matt
