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| The Olympic Games - A Brief (And Bizarre) History |
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Friday, January 4, 2008
According to Roman legend, the original Olympic Games were founded by none other than Heracles, the super human son of Zeus, no doubt as an opportunity to demonstrate his god like strength in front of the ladies. An alternative legend tells the story of Pelops, a Greek romantic, and father of the Olympics. In a desperate attempt to win the hand of his bride, Hippodamia, Pelops challenged her father, the King of Pisa, to a chariot race. To give himself the edge, Pelops replaced the king's linchpin with one made of wax, which melted during the race, throwing the king from his chariot and killing him. Upon winning the race, the girl, and the entire empire, Pelops declared this the first Olympic Games - forever instilling the qualities of cheating and deception upon the games. The ancient Olympics had their own version of celebrity appearances, including Homer, Socrates, Aristotle and Hippocrates. Even Plato got in on the games, winning not one but two gold medals in the pankration event. The original "games" really only entailed one game, a 192 meter dash known as "the stade" - which was run entirely in the nude (once again giving Heracles an excuse to strut his stuff). In fact, the word "gymnasium" comes from the Greek "gymnos", which literally means "school for naked exercise". Later additions to the Olympics included boxing, jumping, discus and javelin, which gladly did include clothing. The surprising exception to this events list is the marathon race. This famous run, including the torch, were never part of ancient Olympics, and were not added to the venue until over 1500 years later. The ancient games lasted nearly 1200 years, from at least 776 BC to 393 AD, when the Roman emperor Theodosius I, a Christian, abolished the games because he felt they were pagan and evil. And so the Olympic Games slept for over a thousand years until 1892, when a young Frenchman named Pierre de Coubertin proposed the idea at a meeting of the Union des Sports Athletiques in Paris. His pitch failed miserably. But ever the optimist, Pierre tried again two years later, this time in front a meeting of 79 delegates representing 9 countries. The delegates voted unanimously in favor of the revitalization, and so, in 1896 in the city of Athens, the Olympics were reborn. The 1896 games were a disaster. As the games were poorly publicized, they never received the international support needed. Contestants were not backed by their respective countries, and in fact were forced to travel to Greece at their own expense. Several of the contestants were tourists who just happened to be in Greece on holiday. Due to poor planning, the 1896 games was held in very cold weather, though it consisted entirely of "summer" events. In her book First to the Wall, 100 Years of Olympic Swimming, Kelly Gonsalves describes the first swimming event: "Not only did they battle 12-foot waves, but the weather in Greece was unusually cold and the water was a frigid 55 degrees Fahrenheit." The book goes on to tell the story of Garner Williams, an American Swimmer, who despite spending a fortune to train and travel to the Olympics, jumped out of the water after only a few moments into the race yelling "I'm freezing". Other athletes also had difficult experiences at the Olympic games. After traveling on foot from Rome to Athens, a one month journey, the Italian athlete Carlo Airoldi was banned from the games because he was a professional. As the book The Olympic's Strangest Moments describes, Dorando Pietri was denied his marathon gold because an over-anxious official helped him cross the finish line. The Olympics are typically thought of as an event of world unity, though history would have something else to say. The official Olympic flag, designed in 1914 by Pierre de Coubertin, contains five interconnected rings, the symbolize the "five significant continents of the world", leaving Africa completely off the map. 1936 brought the games to pre-war Germany, an opportunity to demonstrate the superiority of the "Aryan" race, or so thought Adolf Hitler, who campaigned heavily to secure the games. Of course, many will remember Jesse Owens, the African American runner who proudly taught the Germans a thing or two. The win of Luxembourg's Josef Barthel in 1952 was met with an embarrassed silence. As no one expected a Luxembourg athlete to win, the orchestra at the medals ceremony was without the score to Luxenbourg's national anthem. Over the years, several attempts have been made to improve the Olympics. Both motor-boat racing, and bicycle polo were introduced, and later removed from the games. Hollywood was literally brought in to add some pizzazz in the 1960 Winter Games. Walt Disney was elected head of the organizing committee over opening ceremonies, which included special effects, ice statues, and the releasing of 2,000 white doves. Scams, politics, wins and heartbreaks: these words apply equally as well to the modern day Olympics as to ancient. If the Olympic games have taught us anything, it's that society never changes, even after thousands of years. If Pelops could visit our games today, while he might be impressed with our bright fireworks and Hollywood illusions, I think he would feel quite at home with the true game on display: human nature. --- Jeff Beck is an entrepreneur and founder of several notable companies, including the Book Price Comparison website CompareBook.com. As a student of the world around him, Jeff seeks understanding through history and reasoning. Visit CompareBook.com to read reviews, find similar titles, and search for the lowest possible price for First to the Wall, 100 Years of Olympic Swimming, The Olympics' Strangest Moments and other great books. Squirrelly About Elk Hunting Part II Squirrelly About Elk Hunting Part IIBy J.S. JonesAfter lunch, we positioned our new creation about fifteen feetaway from an old hedge tree at a forty-five degree angle andsecured it to both the car jack and ground. It had been decidedthat the first shot should be into the tree so that we could testthe velocity and accuracy of the weapon and we chose a contrabandorange that was lifted at lunch as the test projectile. Next wepopped the top on the gun powder barrel and began pouring it in.It sure seemed like a long time before Jay said it was enough,but maybe it was just pouring slowly. Besides, you don't want apansy gun if you're going to try and shoot elk; we needed to knowwhat this thing could do.The dilemma of who would ignite the first shot then presenteditself. To ignite the gun, a match had to be stuck through asmall hole bored in the back of the pipe. This seemed easyenough, but the task required this person be directly behind thegun during the firing. Through an uncharacteristic show ofgraciousness, Jay offered me the privilege. However, I wasadamant that he should have the honor and glory that would comewith a successful first firing. We finally settled on taping amatch to a broken broom handle before lighting the powder. Thatwould give us some distance from the gun if anything went wrong,and for added protection, we decided to pull around Dad's lawntractor to hide behind during the operation.The moment of truth was upon us, it was time to see what thisbaby could do. As we crouched behind the lawn tractor, Jay tapeda match to the end of the broom handle and struck it on the boxto light it. It flared to life, and he quickly stretched thehandle towards the firing hole and stuck it in.For a second, nothing happened. Then the end of the pipe seemedto catch on fire as the last two feet of the gun barreldisintegrated and a fire ball the size of a round bale of hayerupted from where the end of the gun used to be. The sound wasdeafening and the hedge tree bent backward from the force of theblast, swaying as it snapped back. Bark and leaves were flyingeverywhere and the air was filled with the smell of burnt gunpowder and charred wood. The orange we had stuffed in the barrelmust have missed the tree entirely since we saw a projectile flyout the back side of the tree and keep sailing in the samegeneral trajectory as the blast.Jay and I looked at each other with astonishment for a second andthen he let out an enthusiastic, "WHOOO HOOO". At least I thinkthat's what he said; it was hard to hear over the ringing in myears. Then the magnitude of what we had just done overcame usboth and we began yelling, dancing and carrying on. That lasteduntil we saw my mom marching briskly towards us with a look onher face that did not encourage celebration.After Mom gave us both an earful about the dangers of playingwith gunpowder, and threatening me with the consequences thatwould be passed down when my father got home, she insisted thatwe both go the emergency room to have the doctor take a look atus. Although Jay and I were both sure that the burns would healand our hearing would return to normal, moms are just overlycareful like that.As we both sat in the waiting room, I was shocked and astonishedwhen my father walked through the emergency room entrance. If hehad come all the way to the hospital to give me a whoopin,' I wasin bigger trouble than I thought. Then I noticed he was halfcarrying a guy in a denim shirt and dirty jeans. As they gotcloser, I recognized him as the farm hand that had dropped offthe pipes earlier that day. He looked terrible, his face and lipswere red and swollen tight with deep, bloody scratches all overhis cheeks and scalp.Dad handed off the man to the doctor and nurses and then came tosit down by my mother. She said, "Good Lord, what happened tohim?""It's the strangest thing, I went to go check on him when I gothome from work and found him laying flat on his back out cold. Ithought he was sleeping with his hat shading his face, but I wentto go wake him up and there was a big old dead squirrel sort ofclamped onto his head like that thing in the movie Alien. When Ifinally woke him up, he just wouldn't make any sense. All he keptbabbling about was flying squirrels and every once in a whilehe'd point to the sky, scream "Look Out", and dive under thepickup. I don't know how it happened but that squirrel had adeath grip on his face like it was holding on for dear life. If Ihadn't of had to peel the squirrel off of his head, I'd fire himfor drinking on the job." Then he had a moment of realization andsaid, "Hey, what are you guys doing at the hospital?"After some serious interrogation, Jay and I had to admit thatwhat we had mistaken for our orange flying out of the tree wasreally an unsuspecting squirrel that was about to go on theflight of his life. The farm hand recovered nicely but rarelyever came by the house again. When he did come to pick up hispaycheck, he kept looking up into the sky and flinchingconstantly. It was distracting to carry on a conversation withhim.Despite all of the commotion, Jay and I considered our project asuccess. We had destroyed a perfectly good pipe, nearly killed atree, rendered a car jack unusable, burned a ten foot wide circlein the pasture, burned most of our hair off, killed a squirrel,scorched all the paint of one side of Dad's lawn tractor, damagedour hearing, and almost decapitated a man with a terminalvelocity squirrel. Aside from all of that, we set out to make agun for elk hunting, and based on the test run, I just know itwould have done the job.Copyright ® J. S. Jones 2004About the Author:J. S. Jones tells his hilarious stories at the web site of TheAmerican Outdoorsman, a Hunting & Fishing TV Show devoted tobringing the best in Outdoor Entertainment. Their site featureshunting & fishing tips, pictures, video clips & downloads,recipes, games, travel locations and guides, and more! Visitwww.theamericanoutdoorsman.com today! Stop Being a Paintball Newbie! Stop Being a Paintball Newbie! By Jo Blake, Paintball5.com Paintball is one of the fastest growing recreation sports in the world. At the tournament level, players require all the athletic prowess and skill of more traditional physical sports. In the US and Europe in particular, huge amounts of money are being invested in paintball athletes and teams. Pretty much everyone comes into paintball at the recreational level; it's a fun day out and a chance to outsmart the other side. If you are just getting into paintball, here are some ways to get the edge over other new players and even the odds with more experienced players. These tips aren't going to get you on to a professional paintball squad, but they should help get you beyond 'newbie' status. * Use cover effectively * So here's a tip from the army - don't look over obstacles or cover, look around them. The shape of a human head peering over a barricade is easily recognized. If possible, look around the base of the bush instead; it makes you much harder to spot. Sometimes you may want to be spotted, if paintballs are flying your way it helps your team locate the opposing players. If you do stick your head up, then, limit exposure to a maximum of two seconds. That advice is only useful, however, if the cover that you have selected is appropriate. Make sure that you are adequately hidden; a shot to the foot in paintball will still put you out of the game. A couple of roots are not enough cover and paintballs can still hit you through grass! * Identify Your Target First * If you have been on a paintball field a couple of times, you will most likely have: a) Shot at and probably hit a member of your own team. b) Been hit by a stray or deliberately aimed 'friendly' paintball. Everyone does it, but mostly when they first start playing. Most people react to the first scenario by pretending it wasn't them and the second situation with righteous indignation. It happens. You can reduce the incidents of friendly fire in a paintball game (at least the ones that you cause!), by making sure you have properly identified your target. It's difficult with paintball masks that steam up and an adrenaline high, but it's one of the essential skills that you need as a regular paintballer. Nobody wants a player on their team who has a reputation for removing their own team mates. And remember, just because a player is running towards you shouldn't just assume that they are on the other team. If you are playing a 'Capture the Flag' game, that might be your team mate trying to get back to your end of the field with the enemy flag. * Play With Your Team! * In casual, walk-on paintball games you will always find at least one self styled lone gun, determined to win the war on his own. Don't be that player! Paintball is a team sport and you can't win without supporting your side. If you want to move forward through the opposition, you can place a few paintballs near their cover to keep their heads down while your team mates move forward. They can then do the same for you. This is the paintball equivalent of passing the ball. Try getting all the way to an enemy flag on your own, if you must. Unless the other side has been almost eliminated, the closer you get to their flag, the closer you are to their defence squad. That means paintballs coming your way soon, Rambo! * Try To Stay Mobile * If you pick a barricade or any other type of cover that is difficult to leave, once the opposition figures out you location, you will become a paintball magnet. Try to select cover that has more than one line of retreat. Don't always shoot from the same spot; keep changing the location and angle you are firing from. Keep the opposition guessing where the next paintball is coming from. If a paintball comes past you in a near miss get moving, another one will be along soon and you want to be somewhere else. And whatever you do, don't try to climb a tree! I've seen people do it. You're not going to get down in a hurry, there usually isn't enough foliage to hide you and once you fire your paintball gun, everyone knows where you are. From then on it's a duck shoot until you are down from the tree and that usually isn't before you get at least 20 nice paintball sized bruises. * Don't Cheat * Wiping the evidence of a hit away is as low as you go in paintball. If you do it, you will eventually get caught. Analyse what happened and take the experience to the next game instead. Don't give anyone reason to doubt you. Remember - it's just a game! Jo Blake writes for Paintball5 (http://www.paintball5.com/). Subscribe to our paintball RSS feed and sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date with the latest in paintball! |
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