Olympics

What caught my attention yesterday was something that was odd just on the face of it.

A top Chinese women's badminton doubles team lost unexpectedly early in the tournament. As a result FOUR other teams (8 total players) decided to play poorly and lose so that they could be placed in an easier bracket in the next round.

They actually played poorly so that they would deliberately LOSE. The fans were booing at the matches and the officials were outraged because a mockery was made of every single point.

The official result? ALL 8 players were disqualfied from the competition because "wanting to lose" goes against the very spirit of the Olympic games.

My Take:

I look at this completely differently. They weren't trying to lose the tournament, they were doing their absolute BEST to make sure that they could win medals. These 8 players represented some of the absolute BEST players in the whole world.

I blame the tournament set-up itself. What kind of tournament is set up in such a way that it ENCOURAGES players to lose so that they actually GAIN an advantage?

I don't think the players did anything wrong at all. If anyone is to be blamed it's got to be the officials who set this tournament up. The sport has been around for thousands of years, and the goal has always been clear. IF you win you advance. Setting it up in such away that losing HELPS your chances is absolutely asinine.

The wrong people were punished. The officials should all be fired and the players should be reinstated. And then change the rules for the next tournament so the problem will never happen again.

Either way, I'm guessing the rules WILL be changed for next time. And the same stupid officials will still be around. And idiotic people will still think the players got what they deserved.