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What the f!*k should I make of the Opening Ceremony? New York Times describes it aptly as a " Bollywood version of a sixth-grade play. " I call it -excuse me for not being humble- an overblown, self-congratulatory,condescending, revisionist, provincial Eurovision show. New York Times describes my prime discomfort far better than I can: "Britain offered a display of humor and humbleness that can only stem from a deep-rooted sense of superiority." But there were three things that made me write this post, rather than ignoring the opening ceremony like the Eurovisions. First and foremost: The elephants in the room, which go by the name of Colonialism and Imperialism. They define the celebrated "achievements" of UK as much as Industrial Revolution. At least in Sydney the Aborigines played an important part. In London, it was as if the hardworking people of the Great Britain achieved everything by their bare hands... Sorry, but placing some actors of Afric...

Please, please, please watch the Olympics. Watch Alpine skiing, if you wanna see athletic abilities couple with courage... Watch Ski Jumping, if you wanna see how mankind invented to fly without motors... Watch Skeleton, if you wanna see jet fighter pilots maneuvering without their jets... Watch Ski Cross, if you wanna see motor cross riders racing neck to neck without their bikes... Watch Biathlon, if you are into guns and ammunition... But most of all, watch Olympics to experience sportsmanship. The sportsmanship which makes the one who comes second runs to the first to share their joy... Professional sports? They can -at least during Olympics- kiss my a..

The stars of these Olympics are Bolt and Phelps for sure. Their dominance in their respective disciplines have raised questions, and the most selling answer I came across is the "freak of nature" explanation, which tries to explain their dominance by stressing the suitability of different features of their bodies to their disciplines. Phelps is "like a boat" and so "flexible" that he cannot jog, Usain has the "legs of a kangaroo." I not only do not disagree with these explanations, but also think that these explanations which are easier to sell for the media is against the Olympic spirit. Let me try to explain why. I do not deny that some certain features bring competitive advantages in certain sports. However, this only explains why they are better than the average runner or swimmer, but not why they are so good among the best of the best, against whom they are competing. Those guys have the same advantageous features. So whats the source of t...

Luciana Aymar, the Maradona of womans' field hockey. Hope Argentina wins gold. Yelena Isinbayeva. The only queen of pole vault. Her world record in the Olympics is her 24th! I think Phelps is everyone's hero. Earlier, I had asked what the factors behind the swimming records are. Thanks for Yigit for this article , which links the records to the professionalization of the sports(the swimmers can swim longer and mature), the equipment, the deeper pool which allows more under water times, and advanced pools that minimize turbulence. There is also this interesting article from Scientific American , which links Phelps' success not to his "freak of nature" body, but his ability to sense the water and coordinate his strokes accordingly. Usain Bolt's unbeliveable performance in the 100 meters final gave me the same thrills, when I watched Floyd Landis came from behind in a mountain stage to take the lead. I hope he is really dope free.

Olympics is underway in Bejing -running parallel with the most stupid war in my lifetime. The records in swimming are unbelievable, and for sure has to do with the technological advances in the swimming suits -or maybe also in the drugs, who knows? Looking at all the different sport types in Olympics, an old interest of mine has resurfaced again. I have been always interested in not so well-known sport types. I had already written about Gaelic Football on this blog. I intend to write about some interesting sports during the Olympics. First of these sport types is called Kabaddi . The game is very interesting as it is a team sport played without any balls or related accessories. It may thought of as group wrestling. At each round one team sends a raider player to the other side. This raider's task is to wrestle down one opponent player and run back to his own half. During this time, the defending team tries to make a ring around the raider by holding each others arms. Originated in...