Shawn Johnson is Golden
By John Amato Friday Aug 22, 2008 2:00pm
She wins on the balance beam, but I just love those "peace" earrings. You go Shawn.
Nastia Liukin was really Golden too...Yes, I love woman's gymnastics...
Looks like China are a bunch of crooks and liars on top of everything else.
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In a related story, 20 million conservatives went into epileptic convulsions after seeing a Cuban athlete kick a Chinese referee in the face. Apparently trying to comprehend why one Communist would drop kick another Communist was too much for them to comprehend.
She's pretty but, like most Olympic-level gymnasts, she's a midget. Reminds me of that tiny girl with the stumpy legs in "Heroes."
They're both darling -- in much different ways.
Yeah, dig those earrings, Shawn!
Olympic gymnasts are greta and all, but can we get a thread going on the Obama/Biden rally?
John Amato said, "Yes, I love women's gymnastics"
I do too John (stretching and flipping in tights is fun to watch!) but we had better be careful...Looks like some of the golden hot ones are jailbait...
Creepy. Stick to putting up political videos.
didnt know John Amato was a whiner. They lost, suck it up and move on buddy.
this is for your future shawn...Obama/Biden'08
Sorry, I just can't see this gesture of her wearing those earrings as having any significant meaning. To young women like her it's just fashion, and nothing else.
Bit surprised that they haven't shown up for sale, yet, in her online store, total missed opportunity, given the prices she's charging for the merchandise.
Skill wise these girls are clearly great, personality wise, I think that Barry Bonds is an easier sell for Madison Avenue to foist on to the American Public.
And of course the Chinese, as well as every other nation, including the good old US of A, cheats.
Name one country that doesn't and I'll show you a nation with no medals.
~Nyc
Dude, the Olympics sucks. No matter which country it takes place in.
I like womens' gymnastics, too...
prepubescent, little-girls' gymnastics, not so much...
at least have had menarche?
some of the things they get these little girls doing would, i suspect, be a lot harder if they had hips and tits and such...
Am I the only one sick of the Olympics?
It's on every news broadcast; its the lead story in every newspaper and magazines.
I'm more likely to know the name of an ancient Olympian than I am any of the current ones.
I'm sick up to here with the Olympics.
No, a little lower than that
I'm only 5'3".
womens gymnastics is great, but mens is unbelievable
what those guys do on pommel and rings is superhuman
and while it is cheating to lie about a gymnast's age, i wish they could explain why this is the only sport that has a minimum
diving doesnt...neither does swimming
but while these olympics were fun to watch, lets not forget that the world allowed china to show off its best face, while hiding what really goes on in that country
this is a country where most either couldnt afford to go to the games, or because of status, wouldnt even have been allowed in
nice commie system
9 constituent Says: this is for your future shawn…Obama/Biden’08
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Wasn't Biden pushed out of one presidential election race (maybe '92) because of plagiarism?
Additionally, wasn't Biden the one that caused a tempest in a teacup refering to how clean and well spoken Obama was early in the primary?
Shawn is the cutest kid I've ever seen since my own. The joy she expresses every time she gets on an apparatus is obvious and infectious. She's the best thing to happen to US gymnastics since Mary Lou.
ysbaddaden @ 15:
what's your point..... funny dude?
ysbaddaden @ 15:
Biden "plagiarized" a British politician once after he had given him acclamation more than thirty times prior to the speech. It's just another example of how good the GOP smear merchants are at taking a small gaffe and turning it into electoral gold. This will cut both ways, so I recommend not getting too smug.
As for Biden's remarks, I don't see how this hurts Obama in any way. He inoculated Biden by choosing him.
She probably thinks she's wearing BMW symbols on her ears.
She wants to ink a contract with them.
Does the BM stand for bowel movement?
17 Spiffarino Says: ysbaddaden @ 15:
9 constituent Says: this is for your future shawn…Obama/Biden’08
_________________________________________________________________
Wasn’t Biden pushed out of one presidential election race (maybe ‘92) because of plagiarism?
Additionally, wasn’t Biden the one that caused a tempest in a teacup refering to how clean and well spoken Obama was early in the primary?
Biden “plagiarized” a British politician once after he had given him acclamation more than thirty times prior to the speech. It’s just another example of how good the GOP smear merchants are at taking a small gaffe and turning it into electoral gold. This will cut both ways, so I recommend not getting too smug.
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Hmm...maybe it's no coincidence that they have the Olympics and Presidential Election cycles the same year every four years.
Frybread @ 2:
Their called "spinners" and a lot of men find shorter women attractive.
I'm wish that the Olympics were really about the world's greatest athletes at their top, without silly rules. Why should the girls have to wait till they are 16, if they are at top form at 14? Why shouldn't athletes be allowed to use whatever drugs they think will help them? I am glad we dropped much of the silly "must be amateur" thing...
I just wanna see the very best at their very best. If that means doing rails of cocaine before the 100 meter, just do it!
Miatch @ 21:
my understanding is they went from 14 to 16 yoa to protect these young women's potential bone/joint growth/health
Imagine those brazen Chi-a-nese.....sending a bunch of 12-14 yr. olds against them old fart Yankee broads.
At least these gals had the good manners to leave the'roids to the American ladie runers. Bringback Flo, Bring back Flo!!!
Quit crying for christ sakes. The USA isn't happy unless they have all the medals and have destroyed the opposition.
It's for that reason..the Japanese softball team was my olympics!
she's the best.
(and i like her earrings too!)
:)
Miatch @ 21:
Cheech and Chong in the two-man Dorito-eating relay. Go USA, Dude!
I like womens gymnastics because all the girls are very "limberal"
Biden makes minor mistake a thousand years ago and gets hammered by the weak-minded opposition. McPOW makes faux pas daily and nobody notices.
majicman @ 23:
this isnt about crying...its about rules
so its not ok to break the roids rule, but it is ok to break age rules that all countries agreed with?
look, nastia qualified for the 04 olympics...but because of her age, she couldnt go...so the usa stuck to the rules
and i too was happy for the japanese as well as the koreans, because it means that the sports of both baseball and softball are truly becoming universal
Milquetoast @ 26:
The other day they showed one of the girls in the warm up area stretching. She was doing the splits with her back foot on the floor and her front foot up on a chair. AAAAAHHH! I had to take a couple Ibuprofen just to watch.
She must've been having makeup withdrawl. You look fine without makeup. Don't overdo it :)
My daughter chose to do competitive gymnastics for 7 years when she was young. I'm glad she quit, due to shyness of all things, because the work, money, dedication are incredible.
Shawn is one of the few gymnasts who really looks like she's having fun at the same time she does those routines. All these adults picking on her have probably never worked as hard as she has. Quit adding your sour remarks about endorsements. And you can't get to those levels, in this country anyway, unless the gymnast wants to, it's not something you can force.
And she gave the peace sign several times while waiting for her scores.
I noticed the earrings too, and thought it was a nice touch. I'm glad that women's gymnastics was a success this year. Track and field? He... not so much...
Shawn is great, CONGRATULATIONS! I do hope she and all of us can have a better future with OBAMA/Biden at the helm, we have had 8 horrific years with mccain's party, we need a change. Bush can blame himself but of course never would for the catatrophic debt we have for a war he got us into under false, trumped up threats. There was a hidden agenda there by this administration which should have been charged with crimes.
You! China! Stop cheating.
You! Russia! Stop invading other countries.
High ground? Pffft! Who needs it when you've got a stupendous amount of hypocritical self-righteousness?
The peace earrings were great, but this doesn't surprise me. Shawn is a great kid, and what's even better about her is that she's not some robot gymnast raised by show-biz parents. She goes to a public school (the only one on the team who does) and comes from a middle class family in Iowa where her parents mortgaged their house twice to help pay for her training. Recently, she had People Magazine kicked out of her school while they were writing a feature on her because she was embarrassed by their presence. That's what Olympians should be all about, actual normal people who realize their dream and win a gold medal. As an Iowan who doesn't follow gymnastics, I'm very proud of her. Wow!
Joe: According to an article I read, they raised the age for gymnastics, because it was easy for younger athletes to get hurt.
Let Cheney have a go at He Kexin - he'll torture the truth about her age out of her.
Zenrage @ 1:
The referee he attacked is from Sweden.
i cried for alicia. her face.. my god that was heart wrenching. good for shawn. congrats
Frybread @ 2:
Hey, Frybread. Good things can come in small packages. My wife of 44 years is a perfect example! :-)
But my point is that, with China, the "face" presented to the world should never, ever be confused with the reality that lies behind. If you're an Olympics fan, remember the lip-synching singer and the underage gymnasts. If you're a movie fan, remember the rude surprise experienced by the Jeremy Irons character in M. Butterfly!
ldzppln @ 38:
That's right, the ref's from sweden. The Cuban Angel Valodia Matos and his coach Leudis Gonzalez got a lifetime ban.
You know what? I'm sick of 'Merica complaining every time something doesn't go its way! Tiny Chinese gymnasts were better than bigger tiny 'Merican gymnasts - so they MUST have cheated.
And when 'Merica produces a 12-year-old that is hands down the best in the world the so-called liberal 'Merican mainstream media will bitch and moan about how unfair it is that she isn't allowed to compete because those commies won't let her!
If we really wanted to honor the Olympic spirit, flags and anthems would be taken out and we'd focus on the athletes that come in first, second and third and the ones that break world records, instead of the idiotic medal counts... Do we have to make EVERYTHING on this planet about war, or substitutes for war or about just pure dominance over everyone and everything?
The dinosaurs were lucky they went extinct before they ruined their reputation. Too late for us. And we'll still go extinct and take everything with us.
She calls herself "a daredevil with a smile" and I love her and Nastia. They and their competitive deep friendship represent the best we have and I don't deny them anything. Better than the future some of our kids may have as hamburger flippers. They were gifted and worked hard and long. Shawn's parents had to mortgage their home twice to keep her in the gym.
Nice touch on the peace sign earrings. Several times during the competition she waved the peace sign too, so I am convinced she knows peace.
As Jon Steward said last week about the young (too?) Chinese competitors, "we just want to protect you from the gymnastic factories the Chinese subject you to so you can go work with your peers in the real factories and make shoes for our kids to compete in". I'm not mad at some kids.
i think she's shilling those earrings. doesnt she have a line of jewelry coming up?
you can see the difference of russian style of gymnastics in liukin. it's more elegant, aesthetic, graceful. the dancing ability is primus inter pares, which can be seen as well in figure skating, synchronised swimming and rhythmic gymnastics.
but the reality is they start early anyway. that age minimum is legal fiction and should be dispensed with. they have 14 year olds competing in diving which is arguably more dangerous.
nadia comenici was 14 when she earned the first 10s in olympic gymnastic history in montreal. age is not a big deal.
masha @ 44:
there is a vid on youtube that compares nastia's routines to her dad an moms
she got her athletic ability from dad, and the grace from her mom
and nastia could be a clone of her mom...they are almost identical
Symbols. A peace symbol a yellow ribbon around the oak tree
That is all they are.
Erase the symbol and what do you have?
I watch the whole Shawn Johnson competition and saw that she also flash the peace sign with her fingers several times. And then saw the earrings much later. I suspect that she wants to end the war, and most likely a liberal. Even though she has said nothing about her political views, but when you put the two together, it would seem to make sense.
She does seem more level headed and joyful on the competition, and could lose just as graceful as she wins. I think she would be a great role model for many young women all over.
John,
Like your site but your comments on China are unseemly.
Of course, no american athelete ever doped or did anything wrong?
Does that mean "americans are crooks and liars".
Really dissapointed, bud.
ok so now the chinese are breeding toward our national acceptance. this is like a bad dream. i feel like im in the wake of bullshitism.
So are you saying the Chinese Commies are Republicans? People's Republic[ans] of China.
China is ok to lie, kill and torture foreigners and their people, and restrict freedom of speech, but Cuba is very bad when doing the same. Because China at least fill Wal-Mart with products and take the jobs that Americans don't want to lose.
like chemist @ 50 said, really disappointed with this kind of comment. i don't expect it to come from a modern, well-informed, civilized human being with good judgment.
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These games were quite a spectacle -- I'll give it that. New shiny buildings. Lots of young happy smiling faces moving in lock step.
But I'm sorry, I cannot separate this spectacle from the propaganda and the failure of the Chinese government to live up to the promises that they made to the IOC in 2001. Not one application was approved for 3 "protest zones" that was part of the "change" that was promised. Of all of the protestors that showed guts to participate in "die-ins" at Tianamen Square -- all quickly scooped up and deported immediately. Foreign journalists were roughed up. Native journalists and protestors were taken to labour camps to have their behaviour "corrected". The politbureau denied an 8 year-old's presence (but used her voice) because she wasn't pretty enough.
Pollution levels will soon return to a Chinese standard that is 3 times the norm. And 1400+ missiles will still be pointed at the free democratic nation of Taiwan.
Forgive me if I don't share in the glee of the millions of brainwashed Chinese that are proud that their government spent billions on this spectacle for... what was it? Oh yeah. Peace and Harmony. LOL!
The Olympics are now officially a JOKE.
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THIS JUST IN!!!
Yessiree! Mr. Rogge is certainly showing his professional scrutiny, eh? Those documents that have been freshly printed as evidence to help let the Olympics and China save face certainly look good enough for Mr. Rogge.
Why would he make this sort of comment before the investigation has ended?
Hmm...let's see. We find that
1) Actual official registration documents used by the Chinese State-run Sports Organization has these girls registered as being 13 last year and 14 this year.
2) A Chinese gymnast that won bronze in the 2000 games has confessed to being 14 at those games.
3) Age changing is common practice in China.
But these documents given by the politbeauro are good enough for Mr. Rogge. Oh, but the Chinese sports officials are also saying that the other offical documents were "in error". Well, alrightee then. Enough said!
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