No, No, Kosovo
The AP recently reported that it is unlikely the newly independent nation of Kosovo will be able to send a team of athletes to the Beijing Olympics.
International Olympic Committee spokeswoman Emmanuelle Moreau said Kosovo needs to be recognized by the United Nations as an independent state and meet various sports requirements before gaining Olympic status. […]
With Beijing just months away, Moreau said that completing this process in time seems “unlikely.” Upon reading this, I felt acute sympathy for those Athletes-Formerly-Fnown-as-Serbian who wouldn’t get to compete. But I read on and, thankfully, as it turns out, the IOC can allow qualified Kosovar athletes to compete independently under the Olympic banner. Good news.
WRONG - bad news. Does anyone else smell conspiracy? Think about it - surely the IOC would like nothing better than for the medal ticker to scroll along like so:
………. 3. RUSSIA: 6g, 10s, 3b ………. 2. UNITED STATES: 8g, 10s, 5b ………. 1. THE OLYMPICS - MAYBE YOU’VE HEARD OF THEM: 12g, 9s, 10b ……
Don’t think they don’t know what a marketing coup that would be. Nevertheless, I’m still glad that the good folks from Kosovo might yet get the chance to take part in Beijing 2K8.
Oh, while we’re on the subject — In more wholesome Olympic news, the Pacific island nation of Tuvalu will be competing in the Games for the first time this summer. You may remember Tuvalu from the hit Social Studies project I did in 6th grade, for which I chose Tuvalu because I just had to be different. But, in case you’re wondering, farming and fishing remain the primary economic activities of the island, and the Church of Tuvalu is still the #1 religion on the block.
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