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Olympic Thoughts
I
hope someone
took lots of
pictures of
Iranian flag-bearer
Arash Miresmaeili
during the opening
ceremonies of the
2004 Summer
Olympics in
HARRY Athens.
KIRS BAUM With the exception
of photographing his
Columnist
weigh-in on Sunday
morning, those are
the only official photographs that
could have been taken of the reigning
judo champion.
Miresmaeili purposely failed to
make weight in the under-66 kg (145-
pound) division because, if he quali-
fied, he would have been forced to
compete against an Israeli, Udi Vaks.
"Even though I trained for months,
and even though I am in good shape,
I refused to compete against the Israeli
opponent in order to express my sym-
pathy with the suffering of the occu-
pied Palestinian people, and the occu-
pied Iraqi people," he said, according
to the Islamic Republic News Agency.
"I do not regret my decision."
Iran has forbidden any contact with
Israeli citizens since the Islamic revo-
lution began 25 years ago.
As of press time, the International
Judo Federation is still deciding on
what sanctions, if any, should be
meted out to Iran.
Miresmaeili still might be awarded
the $115,000 offered by the Iranian
Olympic Committee to any gold
medal winner.
He might use the money in search
of just one Israeli occupier of Iraq.
Iranian President Mohammed
Khatami was positively giddy with the
news.
"The move by the world judo
champion in protest to the massacre
of the Palestinian people by the
Zionist regime will be recorded in the
history of Iranian glories," he said,
according to IRNA.
Vaks felt bad for Miresmaeili.
"I know that it was not up to him,
because this decision was made for
him," he told the Jerusalem Post. 'As a
sportsman to another sportsman, I
understand him."
Harry Kirsbaum's e-mail address is
hkirsbaum@thejewishnews.com
Ironically, Vaks was defeated in the
second round by Algerian Amax
Meridja — a Muslim.
I understand that politics will never
be separated from the Olympics, but
I'll never understand how a country
can send a team, then refuse to com-
pete against another team for any rea-
son.
If Israel is such a menace, why
doesn't Iran just boycott the Olympics?
The Dreaming Team
The United State's basketball "more-
like-a-nightmare-than-a-dream" team
took a drubbing against Puerto Rico
on Sunday, losing in a first-round bas-
ketball game, 92-73, sending the
crowd onto a frenzy, and sending poor
Coach Larry Brown into depression.
"I'm humiliated," said Brown. "I
had a job to do as a coach, to get us to
understand how we're supposed to
play as a team and act as a team, and I
don't think we did that."
Most of the star NBA players reject-
ed the offer to join the U.S. Olympic
team, leaving Coach Brown with a
roster of 12 highly paid, extremely
young individuals with no concept of
teamwork."
The team might still take the gold
medal (they only have to finish in
fourth place in their six-team group to
make the quarter-finals), but it could
all be so much easier.
Why not allow an entire NBA team
to enter the Olympics?
Since the NBA is a league filled
with the best players in the world, one
can also assume that the worst NBA
team could probably beat any other
team in the world.
Why can't the U.S. Olympic
Committee offer the job to an NBA
team — start with the championship
team, then work down?
The 2004 NBA champion Detroit
Pistons and the second-place Los
Angeles Lakers would probably pass
because their season lasted the longest,
but it might be an incentive to some
other NBA team.
What better way could there be for
a team on the way up to get some
early practice and a great chance of
bringing home a gold medal?
The international game is different,
but even a lousy NBA team, whose
teammates already play together,
shouldn't have a problem adjusting. ❑
"
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8/20
2004
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