Russian Team
- Thread starter goethe14
- Start date
At Fargo, Sandy announced that they might come to a decision on Sunday in a conference call or something like that.
Message board or article? I know at first they were tweeting all (heard it in the Fargo broadcast) than they were saying just T and F. F*ck em...any medal they win might as well be tin because of their reputation for corruption from the top down.
Well, dailymail thinks they're banned... Take that for what it's worth.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...red-doping-programme.html?ito=social-facebook
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...red-doping-programme.html?ito=social-facebook
Apparently the corrupt IOC couldn't bring themselves to ban the corrupt Russians. I wonder what the final negotiated payoff was per vote?
http://espn.go.com/olympics/story/_...mmittee-decides-full-olympic-games-ban-russia
http://espn.go.com/olympics/story/_...mmittee-decides-full-olympic-games-ban-russia
That's a chickensh**, no-decision decision that reeks of no leadership at the IOC.
But Ivan isn't out of the woods yet. Each sport's governing body may still choose to ban.
From a quick glance at the UWW board: 2 of the 7 executive committee members are Russians. If a vote is taken at the bureau level, then it's 2 of 23 being Russians. Hard to say how the vote would go -- no members from countries which would obviously vote against Ivan (such as Poland, Ukraine, or Estonia).
Brief summary from Deadspin with expansive links regarding the systemic doping in Russia.
Also, the Russocentric May/June issue of Foreign Affairs delves into the Russian psyche and its deep insecurity. Even if you aren't a geopolitical nerd, it's still a good read.
In summary, Russians pride themselves on three things: The deterrence of the world's second largest doomsday arsenal, a permanent seat on the UN Security Council (from which they thwart Western interests), and athletic achievement at any cost.
As for banning them completely, I see both sides. Villains make for better stories. The Miracle on Ice wouldn't have been nearly as sweet had our amateurs and college kids not beaten the Russians (not in anyway amateur) in the medal round.
However, the playing field should be leveled for the "clean" athletes. It is simply the right thing to do. Just bear in mind how anticlimactic the '84 Olympics were without the doped-up Russians, East Germans, and Eastern Bloc countries. Rio would be similar if the IOC had banned the Russians full stop.
The IOC is concerned with dollars and cents, not fairness. That's why they evaded accountability by kicking the can to the individual athletic federations. Weak but shrewd.
Also, the Russocentric May/June issue of Foreign Affairs delves into the Russian psyche and its deep insecurity. Even if you aren't a geopolitical nerd, it's still a good read.
In summary, Russians pride themselves on three things: The deterrence of the world's second largest doomsday arsenal, a permanent seat on the UN Security Council (from which they thwart Western interests), and athletic achievement at any cost.
As for banning them completely, I see both sides. Villains make for better stories. The Miracle on Ice wouldn't have been nearly as sweet had our amateurs and college kids not beaten the Russians (not in anyway amateur) in the medal round.
However, the playing field should be leveled for the "clean" athletes. It is simply the right thing to do. Just bear in mind how anticlimactic the '84 Olympics were without the doped-up Russians, East Germans, and Eastern Bloc countries. Rio would be similar if the IOC had banned the Russians full stop.
The IOC is concerned with dollars and cents, not fairness. That's why they evaded accountability by kicking the can to the individual athletic federations. Weak but shrewd.
The athletes have no choice. Like Borat said to Pamela Anderson, "agreement not necessary".
