# Yep, this is the real spirit of the Games all right **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 14, 2004, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yep-this-is-the-real-spirit-of-the-games-all-right/259821 "2004-08-14T12:17:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lockz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Lockz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lockz)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2004, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yep-this-is-the-real-spirit-of-the-games-all-right/259821/1 "2004-08-14T12:17:52Z")
[http://www.cbc.ca/story/olympics/national/2004/08/14/Sports/iranian-judo040814.html](http://www.cbc.ca/story/olympics/national/2004/08/14/Sports/iranian-judo040814.html) What the fuck?? :wally ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2004, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yep-this-is-the-real-spirit-of-the-games-all-right/259821/2 "2004-08-14T12:27:42Z")
Woulda looked pretty bad symbolically had he lost to an Israeli. Almost like Allah didn’t support fundamentalist nutjobs. I wonder why Iran even showed up–did they not realize those goddamned Jews were gonna be there? I’m glad the US & USSR never let their rivalry get in the way of the Olympics. This world is FULL of jackasses. ---
**Author:** ![Necro\_Romancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/50afbb/32.png) [@Necro\_Romancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Necro_Romancer)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2004, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yep-this-is-the-real-spirit-of-the-games-all-right/259821/3 "2004-08-14T13:00:20Z")
So, what was he doing during Jacques Rogge’s speech? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2004, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yep-this-is-the-real-spirit-of-the-games-all-right/259821/4 "2004-08-14T14:12:22Z")
The guy’s an ass and/or asses run his country. What else is there to say? > [@](#): > > Woulda looked pretty bad symbolically had he lost to an Israeli. > Almost like Allah didn’t support fundamentalist nutjobs. And he’s described as a two-time world champion, so you’d think they wouldn’t be too worried about that. I guess he’s never run into an Israeli fighter in that time? Anyway, it sucks. ---
**Author:** ![imthjckaz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/imthjckaz/32/3223_2.png) [@imthjckaz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/imthjckaz)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2004, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yep-this-is-the-real-spirit-of-the-games-all-right/259821/5 "2004-08-14T14:24:39Z")
> [@Inigo Montoya](#): > > I’m glad the US & USSR never let their rivalry get in the way of the Olympics. This was meant to be sarcastic, right? The USA and USSR didn’t compete against each other in Moscow, 1980 and Los Angeles, 1984, because of their respective boycotts. But it wasn’t due to rivalry, but politics. As usual. ---
**Author:** ![Abbie\_Carmichael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@Abbie\_Carmichael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abbie_Carmichael)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2004, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yep-this-is-the-real-spirit-of-the-games-all-right/259821/6 "2004-08-14T15:49:19Z")
I sure hope the door didn’t hit his ass on the way out. Anyone notice the lack of cheering when Iran’s athletes came out? ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2004, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yep-this-is-the-real-spirit-of-the-games-all-right/259821/7 "2004-08-14T16:00:27Z")
You’d think he’d welcome the opportunity to kick some Israeli ass. It’s not like he was competing in beach volleyball or anything–it was Judo. Fuck him. And fuck anybody else who tries to bring their politics into the games. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yep-this-is-the-real-spirit-of-the-games-all-right/259821/8 "2004-08-15T05:46:53Z")
> [@](#): > > Iran has a strict sanctions policy against Israel, forbidding contact with Israeli citizens. What, they’re afraid of catching Jewish Cooties or something? ---
**Author:** ![PaulFitzroy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/2acd7d/32.png) [@PaulFitzroy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulFitzroy)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yep-this-is-the-real-spirit-of-the-games-all-right/259821/9 "2004-08-15T06:55:59Z")
> [@](#): > > ou’d think he’d welcome the opportunity to kick some Israeli ass. In his dreams. He’d get his ass handed to him just like every Arab country has gotten its ass handed to it trying to fight Israel in war. I guess Allah was asleep all those times the brave Muslim warriors lost to the infidel. ---
**Author:** ![PaulFitzroy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/2acd7d/32.png) [@PaulFitzroy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulFitzroy)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yep-this-is-the-real-spirit-of-the-games-all-right/259821/10 "2004-08-15T06:57:30Z")
And yes, I know the Iranians aren’t Arabs. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yep-this-is-the-real-spirit-of-the-games-all-right/259821/11 "2004-08-15T07:22:11Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > What, they’re afraid of catching Jewish Cooties or something? Jewties are a very serious health problem in the Middle East. ---
**Author:** ![Dignan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@Dignan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dignan)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yep-this-is-the-real-spirit-of-the-games-all-right/259821/12 "2004-08-15T07:36:06Z")
> [@vibrotronica](#): > > You’d think he’d welcome the opportunity to kick some Israeli ass. It’s not like he was competing in beach volleyball or anything–it was Judo. > > Fuck him. And fuck anybody else who tries to bring their politics into the games. No kidding. Wouldn’t this be a perfect opportunity for propaganda either way? If he wins, then it shows how much better Iran is compared to the inferior Israel. If he loses, then obviously it would have been an example of the Great Zionist Conspiracy cheating Muslims. It could have been played up big time about how the match was faked and really filmed in a Hollywood sound stage (because You Know Who runs Hollywood). ---
**Author:** ![Asteroide](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@Asteroide](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asteroide)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yep-this-is-the-real-spirit-of-the-games-all-right/259821/13 "2004-08-15T10:02:25Z")
Maybe he was afraid of government sanctions ? [http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/08/02/japan.fischer.reut/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/08/02/japan.fischer.reut/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yep-this-is-the-real-spirit-of-the-games-all-right/259821/14 "2004-08-15T10:50:52Z")
> [@vibrotronica](#): > > Fuck him. And fuck anybody else who tries to bring their politics into the games. Well, yeah, I agree. I guess. But is that clear cut? Are the atheltes who refused to compete against the Apartheid regeme automatically fuckheads? Would snubbing Iraq or Afganistan a couple of years ago not be understandable, if not excusable? Admittedly, those are good reasons and this isn’t, but not everyone can set government policy. ---
**Author:** ![InvidiousCourgette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47c2d/32.png) [@InvidiousCourgette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InvidiousCourgette)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yep-this-is-the-real-spirit-of-the-games-all-right/259821/15 "2004-08-15T11:01:36Z")
> [@vibrotronica](#): > > Fuck him. And fuck anybody else who tries to bring their politics into the games. Sport has a long history of being used as a political weapon. The international boycott of apartheid SA. The previously mentioned boycotts of Moscow by the US and of Los Angeles by the Soviets. It is hypocrisy to condemn a specific country’s political boycott unless you condemn all boycotts. In that case lets fuck: the international community, the US, the USSR and now Iran. Or is OK to boycott if it suits your political agenda? WTF? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yep-this-is-the-real-spirit-of-the-games-all-right/259821/16 "2004-08-15T11:04:24Z")
[What now?](http://my.aol.com/news/news_story.psp?type=1&cat=0600&id=2004081504140002236784) ATHENS (Reuters) - A diplomatic wrangle of Olympic proportions was avoided Sunday when Iranian world judo champion Arash Miresmaeili failed to make the weight for his clash with an Israeli opponent. Since its 1979 Islamic revolution, Iran has refused to recognize Israel’s right to exist and has allied itself to the Palestinian cause. Rumors had been rife that Miresmaeili, who carried Iran’s flag in the opening ceremony, would withdraw rather than face Israeli Ehud Vaks. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yep-this-is-the-real-spirit-of-the-games-all-right/259821/17 "2004-08-15T15:14:50Z")
> [@Shade](#): > > Well, yeah, I agree. I guess. But is that clear cut? Are the atheltes who refused to compete against the Apartheid regeme automatically fuckheads? Would snubbing Iraq or Afganistan a couple of years ago not be understandable, if not excusable? > > Admittedly, those are good reasons and this isn’t, but not everyone can set government policy. No. Not excusable. The games are GAMES. Contests between athletes pitting strength against strength, skill against skill. Anything else is baggage and not relevant. The US & USSR were wrong to allow politics to interfere in the 80s and it’s wrong for Iran to pull this. It shouldn’t really even matter if the Iranian didn’t recognize the legitemacy of the Jew’s presence in the competition–the IOC _did_, and the Iranian is participating in the IOC event. He knew that going into it and chose to use this venue as a soapbox for his cause. It’s fucking disgusting. The jocks need to leave politics to the politicians and just run the fucking race. ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yep-this-is-the-real-spirit-of-the-games-all-right/259821/18 "2004-08-15T17:46:30Z")
I stand by what I said earlier. I’m against all Olympic boycotts. The games are about our common humanity. We set aside our differences and play games together. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yep-this-is-the-real-spirit-of-the-games-all-right/259821/19 "2004-08-15T18:51:13Z")
> [@Inigo Montoya](#): > > No. Not excusable. The games are GAMES. Contests between athletes pitting strength against strength, skill against skill. Anything else is baggage and not relevant. I think you’ve got that backwards. It’s the Olympics that are the irrelevent baggage. Like you said, it’s a game: there’s no end to the list of things that are more important. And I wouldn’t be so quick to jump down the throat of the Iranian athlete, here. I wouldn’t be surprised if he had absolutely no choice in the matter, and this decision was handed down to him by his government. Now if someone wants to Pit the Iranian government, go ahead, but I suspect that there are better reasons for pitting them then one lousy judo match. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Cid_Viscoso)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yep-this-is-the-real-spirit-of-the-games-all-right/259821/20 "2004-08-15T19:14:39Z")
> [@](#): > > _by Inigo Montoya_ > > This world is FULL of jackasses. And apparently, so is this thread. > [@](#): > > \*\*A Long-Standing Practice \*\* > The incident [is not the first time](http://www.islamonline.org/English/News/2004-08/14/article07.shtm) for Iranian judokas to decline to fight against Israeli opponents. > > At the 2001 world championships, Mahed Malekmohammdi refused to face Yoel Razvozov while Asian champion Masoud Haji Akhoundzade also pulled out of a planned clash with Israeli lightweight Zvi Shafran, AFP said. > > At the 2003 world table tennis championships in Paris, Israel lodged an official protest after [Yemeni and Saudi players refused](http://www.islamonline.net/English/News/2003-05/21/article16.shtml) to play against one of its team members. > > Yemeni player Hani Al-Hammadi had been due to face Israel’s Gay Elensky but turned and left when he saw his opponent was Israeli. > > One day later, Elensky was due to meet Saudi player Nabeel Al-Magahwi - but the Saudi player refused to come to the table. > > Al-Magahwi was banned for a year for his action and became a national hero in his homeland. > “What I did in Paris was the right thing and I feel proud of it,” he said. > > “It is natural for an Arab or a Muslim not to want to face an Israeli, because of our protest against the Israeli aggression in Palestine.” Some people simply don’t recognize Israel, while others are just plain disgusted with the Zionist practices of the Jewish state. Ariel Sharon is tarred with a bribery and corruption scandal, The Mossad’s Sword of Gideon is wreaking havoc across the globe, the IDF conducts regular commando raids and sorties into Lebanon and Syria, and Israel’s Human Rights-Violating Wall is ghettoizing an already desperate and increasingly destitute group of people who have been systematically denied a nation of their own. All of that is happening, right now, as we speak. And some of you expect people will just set aside these current events for the artifice, the outright sham that is the Olympics. One look at the stands should show you it’s not just athletes who are boycotting the games. > [@](#): > > _by Dignan_ > > If he loses, then obviously it would have been an example of the Great Zionist Conspiracy cheating Muslims. Excuse me for interrupting your Orientalist daydreams, but Iran, like the pre-war Iraq, is actually a lot like America: a cauldron of faiths stirred by a fanatical majority, widespread voter disenfranchisement and a burgeoning, secular student movement with its eyes on peace and reconciliation. And this may not amount to much, but > [@](#): > > At the firing line in the Olympic shooting centre in Markopoulo, Nassim Hassanpur clearly stands apart from her rivals. > > Not only because she is respectfully dressed in a headscarf and a long garment in accordance with Islamic law, but because [she is the only female athlete to represent Iran](http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/22661C8E-F00D-469E-A9C6-814779BAAC56.htm) at the 2004 Athens Olympics. it’s definitely a start. > [@](#): > > _by Paul Fitzroy_ > > I guess Allah was asleep all those times the brave Muslim warriors lost to the infidel. You are a total idiot and an utter disgrace. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yep-this-is-the-real-spirit-of-the-games-all-right/259821.md?page=2)