Friday, October 1, 2010

Too Much Too Soon?

So after a lengthy stint away from my blog, I thought it would be a good idea to return to confront the issue that just won't go away in Australia sporting news at the moment: The Commonwealth Games.
Everywhere you look within the media has been a huge Western-world smear campaign disguised as straight journalism and news.
It isn't hard to see that the media enjoy picking on a country that doesn't have the same standards of living that Australia does. I like to call it "Border Bullying" - Australian media simply disguises its own insecurities by pointing out the flaws in others.
Yes, it's pretty pathetic.
I can understand the media's viewpoint on some of the issues, however. Last week, a suspended walkway collapsed and part of the weightlifting arena complex fell in.
Imagine if these incidents had occurred during the event itself? There's only so much room you can give for 'ironing out' structural issues.
Not to mention the, albeit overhyped, terrorist bombing threats.
Fine, since everyone - including myself - has some critcism, why not walk back to the beginning of the story and ask ourselves a seemingly simple question: Why was Delhi awarded the Commonwealth Games?
Delhi's not the first Asian nation to come under fire during an international sporting event.
Beijing hosted the Olympics in 2008 and that was no smooth ride.
For some unknown reason, the media wasted no time criticising this event.
For Beijing, journalists used a 'poor human rights record' as a target for their media shooting range. Apparently, because China has policies which seems to conflict with that of the Western world, they are unfit to host a sporting event which aims to put differences aside and bring people together.
Doesn't make much sense, doesn't it?
Then the air was apparently impossible to breathe in. Last time I checked, no-one has sufferred any permanent damage from the deadly Beijing atmosphere.
Delhi hasn't had it much easier. Their media targets, however, are constructed of building and cleaning concerns along with terrorist fears.
Oh God it's the "T" word again!

Pick your daily Issue! Fever/Overpopulation/Terrorists/Poverty/Construction SOURCE: http://www.state.gov/p/sca/ci/in/


And don't even mention the snakes, mosquitoes and monkeys in the athletes village. God forbid!
If all you had been indulging in was newspapers and television, then Delhi looks like hell to you sitting in your comfy lounge chair.
What if I told you that Delhi had hosted the Asian games? Not once, but twice. And that both times went as smoothly as possible? This included having both North and South Korea in the one place, with less security and less resources than today.
It kind of makes us look like spoilt brats, doesn't it?
But then, of course, you say 'where's the line drawn?'
And fair enough for asking. The sanitary conditions of the athletes village is not of an acceptable standard for athletes trying to maintain peak health.
But it won't kill them, and neither will Dengue Fever, because no-one will catch it.
So should Delhi have been awarded the Commonwealth Games? Of course.
Was the construction and overseeing of preparations carried out effectively? No, not really.
But is it worth the "Border Bullying?" Not one bit.
Although we can't guarantee the safety of all people in such a religiously unstable popualtion, nothing in life can be guaranteed.
The media should put down the bow and arrow and stop taking cheap shots at countries, like India, that actually do have the capacity to run an international sporting event.
So what if they don't run it in the utopian fashion that we pictured it?
How about we just watch Australia carve up every other country and be happy?

No comments:

Post a Comment