You have got to be kidding me...

What is with all this controvery swirling around the men's gymnastics? As soon as the all-around comp ended, people were pretty much fuming about how the korean guy got jacked and how paul hamm is a sore stuck-up loser and how rigged everything is... etc. ad nauseum. To illustrate my point, here's a little excerpt from someone who doesn't think it's fair...

i am furious.


i am furious about the judges' lazy/ignorant/corrupt scoring in the men's gymnastics competition. everything about this whole situation is incredibly ridiculous and unheard of. watching paul hamm telling the news lady, "i believe I AM THE TRUE OLYMPIC CHAMPION" when he himself knows quite well that he really doesn't deserve it utterly disgusts me. i'm sure he's secretly embarassed at the fact that he may not even be the all around gold medalist, after all the tear shedding glory and the standing ovation he received that night. i'm beginning to think there's some really shady business going on when it comes to anything American... i feel like the whole world is rigged.

Uh, sorry to be such a sore thumb, but who cares? Do I care about the korean dude? No. Do I care about the american? Not any more than the korean guy. But think about the whole situation before you make some brash judgement about who got screwed. Gymnastics is judged by people, not a computer. Did the judges make mistakes? Sure. We're human. But in the end, who did a better job? It's not about who did the harder routine, but the person who did their routine with less mistakes. Period. "Oh, but the judges screwed up and jacked the korean". Sure, the judges made a mistake in the starting score, but they also didn't tell people that they missed some more deductions. So if they had actually gone back and rescored the routine, he would have gotten an extra 2/10 of a deduction. So, in the end of things, he would have actually done worse than his original score. And why is everyone hating on Paul Hamm? That guy WAS really good. "But he's such a whiner..." Wouldn't you? You just won the top honors of the sport. The first american to win that honor is who knows how long. And all you hear is "you're a fake, you're not the real winner". What would you do? It's not like was handed the medal for doing a ho-hum performance. It's like Lance Armstrong being told "you don't get the victory for the Tour de France because you're the favorite and we didn't score one section correctly". Paul Hamm went out there and performed. Just like everyone else. Only he got high scores for routines that were performed with less mistakes than his competitors. And once it's over, it's OVER. Fin. Done. If you lost, suck it up. You did your best, but someone else did better. Move on, you're still a winner. You're in the olympics competing among the best. But apparently for some, because the winner is american and the favorite, it's foul play. And then the next day, the korean judge happens to score him a whole 1/10 point lower than the rest of the judges. Hmmm... makes you wonder.

And to all of you who are huffin' and puffin' about how I'm not a korean supporter, that i'm such a scumbag for not supporting my country, keep spewing. Why should I root for Korea? Not that I don't feel a connection or anything, but I'm an American. I was born and raised here. Given amazing opportunities. Provided the means to excel, to grow. I'm an American first. I'm an American with Korean ancestry. I'm proud to be korean, and proud to be american. But to all of you out there who think "that's just jacked up, you're a hater, you're not a korean", you're right. I'm an American. I carry an American Passport. I'm sorry that I make up my own mind after looking at the facts. Try to get as much information and then make a decision. I'm sorry I don't just jump up and be all pissed off because of some small and petty thing like a korean being misjudged. Would you jump up and down and be pissed off if that person being jacked was chinese? Russian? Afghani? I don't think so. Just because he was korean, everyone's feathers are ruffled. But why? Honestly, why? Because he's korean? Then in all fairness, I should just call you racist and elitist. That kind of attitude is exactly what causes all this ethnic genocide. People thinking one race/ethnicity is inherintly better than another.

But why all the flared tempers? It's just a sport. It's gymnastics. Nobody's life is at stake. No one is going to get killed for this mishap. Just somebody's pride. Your pride because a korean didn't win gold. Because you think that it's not fair. And what about the american? The gold medal winner, who should be basking in the glory because he put up a performance to be envied, is now enduring hell because of one little mistake which HE DIDN'T MAKE. Is it his fault? The least you can do is place the blame where it needs to be placed. Blame not one, not two, but three judges who messed up. Blame the korean for not doing a better performance. And blame yourself for getting so worked up for something that doesn't affect you, except your pride.

What's the point of all of this? Just let it slide. Worry about something real which affects you, something that truly demands attention, like if you're wearing clean underwear. Or if you have a chive in your teeth from lunch. Or what to eat for dinner. And if you're at work reading this, shame on you. Get back to work you lazy bum...