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Now this is some bullshit.
Take it back from the kid or don't. He has heard the suggestion that he give it up voluntarily, and he has said no. To make an official but non-binding request is absurd. If you want that to be the resolution, take it back from him. When your judges fuck up, it's on you to be the bad guys if that's your plan.
Because Hamm is exactly right not to give it back. Sure, he could have given it back in a magnanimous gesture. But where does that end? Would the South Korean then be obligated to give it back-back after reviewing the tape and seeing -- clear as day, just as Hamm says -- that he's got four holds in his routine when you're only allowed three, and he should have had a two-tenths deduction that would have again put him behind Hamm? Are we going to review the tapes of all the performances for weeks after the Olympics, and if you can find something that would have won it for you that was judged incorrectly, you can demand the medal?
It's insanity. You can't go in that diretcion. This is why there's no provision allowing for the review that they did in the first place. You can't leave a judged event open like that for people to beg for new scoring later. It doesn't matter whether the mistake is math or the fact that the judge CLEARLY missed the problem with the holds. You cannot leave it open like that, because if you do, just as Hamm says, it can't be selectively open for one thing. You should open the entire competition. Not just that event, either -- you should reopen every routine that every guy did, and Hamm should have the opportunity to challenge any deduction he believes should have been made that wasn't made.
And for them to ignore the issue with the holds and imply to him that there's no question that had it been scored properly, the South Korean would have won? That's crap, and it's utterly unfair. For them to make the kid look like a bad sport for not giving back a gold medal that, when you look at the entire competition, he appears to have won fair and square? That is low.
And, just as the USOC says, it's the IOC trying to get Hamm to make this pile of shit they've stepped into go away, and that's not his job. He won that sucker, and I wouldn't give it back, either.
Fuck 'em in the ear. He's right. Leave the kid alone.
I'm so glad you wrote this, because all of the constant "requests" for him to give it back were making me start to think maybe he should. Now I'm back thinking he shouldn't, though, thanks to your influence.
I swear I'm not normally this flaky. I guess this is something I don't care about all that much since I'm being somewhat of a flip-flopper.
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at 12:53 PM on 08.27.04
[ link ]Miss Alli there is not enough WORD in the world for this. Furthermore, it makes me sick that there will forever be an asterisk beside his gold medal in the history books (if not an actual asterisk for sure one that every broadcaster from here on in will feel the need to add) "Paul Hamm who won the controversial gold medal in Athens..." Yuck!
at 12:53 PM on 08.27.04
[ link ]Ugh, I could go on forever about how ridiculous this is. What irritates me even more is that both the FIG and the majority of the media are ignoring the issue of the four holds completely. Some of the editorials out there are beyond infuriating. Many of the authors do not seem to have even a cusory knowledge of the rules in play here, let alone the reasons behind them.
The fact that the Koreans can't admit that they didn't really win is also irritating, but I feel their gymnasts are in sort of the same position. It's up to the FIG to say, "Sorry dude, but you lost."
at 12:53 PM on 08.27.04
[ link ]Right on, Miss Alli. It's all just poor sportsmanship and ass-covering, and they need to give it up.
at 12:53 PM on 08.27.04
[ link ]Dude, and it's about the freaking medal only! The FIG even said they can't change the scores of the competition, so even if Paul gave up his medal, he's still the actual winner of the meet! So he's the "official" winner but shouldn't have a medal while the other Korean gets a bronze AND a gold? How is that supposed to work exactly? Does the silver medalist give up his medal to Paul, then?
ARGH!
WORD to Miss Alli! Keep the medal, Paul!
at 12:53 PM on 08.27.04
[ link ]You are sooo right about this. I mean, how is another point of view tenable, really? If you are deemed to win the event, you get the medal. If they re-score it after the fact (which would be a horrible thing, and in fact they have no precedent or procedure for it, and no intention of doing it), then you would have to yield the medal. But not unless and until that happens. The situation is just absurd, and Hamm is handling it superbly under the reprehensible pressure he's being put under.
at 12:53 PM on 08.27.04
[ link ]I posted this ... hey this live preview thing is cool...
anyway, I posted this on another blog a couple of days ago.
In an MSNBC article recently the author tried to guilt the kid into giving back the medal because "America's global profile was at such a low-point..."
Well boo fucking hoo! How is that Hamm's fault?
While the press was busy letting Bush and company steal the election and piss all over the Constitution, this guy was training his ass off to win some gold for his country.
Which he did.
at 12:53 PM on 08.27.04
[ link ]I definitely agree, but to be fair, the IOC is on the side of right here, and, as other posters have noted, it's the FIG that is being both cowardly and inappropriate.
What especially irked me about the FIG's behavior is that after a mistake made by their judges, they not only have tried to make Paul Hamm feel bad and fix it for them, they have also claimed IOC said it sure would appreciate it if Hamm gave the medal back, despite the IOC claiming to have said no such thing and considering the matter closed. The FIG is clearly trying to deflect from the whole mess of scoring criticisms they received during the games.
It's just sad that Hamm's Olympic experience had to be marred by this nonsense and the crowd reaction after Alexei Nemov's scores on his high bar routine. It can't be fun to be in the midst of controversies created by others.
at 12:53 PM on 08.27.04
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