Cheaters never prosper... unless they're the hosts

Amidst all of the hubbub and acclaim given to China for the spectacle and grandeur of the Opening Ceremonies, some disturbing trends are starting to be seen.

I sat and watched the ladies soccer match between China and Canada, doing my damnedest to find some shred of athleticism or excitement in the game. Instead, I saw a diving exhibition by the Chinese team that made Peter Forsberg look like the Great Wall. Every single time anyone made contact with a Chinese player, they threw their body to the ground and writhed like Lindsay Lohan at a pajama party. Now, soccer players diving is not news. But this was being done on such a wide scale, it was obviously part of the game plan. One would hope that a nation with over a billion people could find eleven soccer players that could finish a game without needing to resort to such flagrant attempts at cheating.

Then last night, the Chinese girls’ gymnastics team was performing. I wasn’t even aware of a minimum age limit to the gymnastics competition until the announcers mentioned it, but the Chinese girls were so obviously underaged (or grossly underdeveloped), it was a mockery. I have a thirteen year old daughter, so I probably know the age group better than most, and there is NO WAY that some of those gymnasts were even fourteen, let alone sixteen years old. My wife, who typically loves gymnastics was ranting the whole time about how the Chinese were cheating. Then the IOC inadvertently magnified the crime by saying that each one of the girls had a government-issued passport verifying their ages.

Well, as long as their government gave them a passport with a date on it, IT MUST BE TRUE!

Unless of course, that government is in the host country that is trying to show the world stage what a great place they are, and is willing to do virtually anything to make the entire Olympics a positive referendum on their totalitarian society.

At least they didn’t cheat during the Opening Ceremonies…

Unless you consider cutting to a computer-generated feed to enhance the fireworks to make the ceremonies look even bigger cheating.

So, even when the Chinese look like they got something right, they cheated.

Now I’m doubting whether that little boy with Yao really pulled other children from the rubble of their school. Or whether he just won a government sponsored “Cute kid to propagandize the world” contest.