On What Propaganda is Condemned and Countenanced at Pyeongchang Winter Olympics

The 23rd Winter Olympiad in Pyeongchang, South Korea had a reoccurring theme of Peace, as was evident from the Opening Ceremonies.  It was well known that athletes from North and South Korea would march as a unified team into Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium.  

One of the draws for casual sports fans to watch the Olympics is the Opening Ceremonies. The pageantry of the Opening Ceremonies, as expressed through artistic expression as well as thematic choice sets the mood for the Olympic Games.  Afterwards, there is the Parade of Nations, when all of the competitors gather in a gesture of unity and good will.  During this long march of nations, television viewers often have to endure commentary from NBC announcers to add color and context to the visuals.  Often this dialogue is pap or seems scripted.

However, when the Japanese team made their debut at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, NBC Asia correspondent Joshua Cooper Ramos offered an incredible generalization.  Ramos claimed that Koreans looked with admiration to Japan as an important example of cultural, economic and technological transformation.




Several hours after uttering this insensitive and insulting insinuation, NBC Sports issued a hasty apology.

NBC paid $967 million for broadcast rights for the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, and it would seem that they did not want to insult their hosts.

With that in mind, one wonders why NBC keeps pushing North Korean propaganda while covering the Winter Olympics.  No doubt that a unified Korean team marching during the Parade of Nations was a big story.  It epitomizes the international aspiration of brotherhood and exemplifies the Pyeongchang Game's theme of Peace.  

[Front Center] Vice President Mike Pence [Back Center] Kim Yo Jung, sister of DPRK dictator Kim Jun Un

It is understandable that an Olympic broadcaster would want to capitalize on controversy by showing how close Vice President Mike Pence was seated to North Korean Kim Jong Un's sister Kim Yo Jong during the Opening Ceremonies.




The coverage of the North Korea cheerleaders during the womens' hockey game between Korea and Switzerland does raise eyebrows.  It was a cute featurette to have a piece about the some of the 200 woman squad of  the North Korean "Army of Beauty" cheerleaders leading chants during the 0-8 rout of Korea.  Some say that the synchronized chants of the North Korea Beauty Cheerleaders stole the show. But what what telling is what they chanted and how they performed.  These NPDK cheerleaders chanted "Unity" waving "neutral" flags of a unified Korea. After each goal by their opponent, they chanted: "Cheer up!".  Perhaps that exemplifies a cultural trait.  


What has been shown but little explored are instances in which the female Beauty Squad use big heads of a Korean man.  Hmm.  Who could this be?  


It is dubious that it was an everyman Korean.  The Big Head looks rather like an idealized image of North Korea dictator Kim Jong Un. What does it say about the consequences of  "Unity".  Is that something that all Koreans also believe?

UPDATE 02/12/2018  BBC News quotes Korean media that the DPRK Army of Beauties cheerleaders were holding up big heads of Kim Il-sung, the grandfather of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un (the first of the Hermit Kingdom's Juche post World War II dictators).  Yet the South Korean Unification Ministry insists that the cheerleaders were just holding up cut outs of "a good looking man". 

Lord Mancroft on Skiing

Being At Peace With Different Measures of Glory

Athletes from Unified North & South Korean Team at Winter Olympics

The 23rd Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea are themed to be the games of peace.  This was accentuated by athletes of the Republic of Korea (South Korea) marching with their Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (North Korea) counterparts under a unified flag.

Olympic Athletes from Russia for 2018 Winter Olympics 

Due the doping ban on Russian Federation, the 169 clean Russian athletes marched as neutrals in red and grey uniforms as neutrals.  Any gold medal winning "Olympic Athletes of Russia"  will be feted with the raising of the Olympic flag and anthem. 

While the  2,952 athletes participating in the Pyeongchang games are the best winter sport athletes in the world, but only a few make it up to the medal stand to receive their glory. For most, marching in the Winter Olympics opening ceremony is the highlight of their careers. 



This makes Eric Liddell's admonition about glory all the more poignant. 



What is particularly noteworthy of Eric Liddell is not that he was the the Flying Scotsman was the first  British Gold Medal winner in track from 1924, or that he was the basis of the film Chariots of Fire (1981), or his steadfast Sabbath keeping, but for dying as a missionary in a Japanese internment camp in China in 1945. 

We should all be inspired to run a good race in life and doing our best.

LeBron James on Equality

Vice President Mike Pence on the Winter Olympics

Pope Francis Cheers on Team Refugees at Rio Olympics

Lula da Silva on Rio Olympics

RIP Mr. Hockey Gordie Howe

Gordie Howe, a.k.a. Mr. Hockey, died at the age of 88. He had been in failing health for years, struggling with Alzheimer's and was debilitated after a massive stroke in October 2014.  But at Gordie Howe's passing, it is worthwhile to remember his remarkable achievements and motivation to play the sport which he loved.

Howe played 32 seasons in professional hockey-- 26 seasons for the NHL and six seasons for the WHA.  Howe played for the Detroit Red Wings from 1946 to 1971. As a Red Wing, Howe led the team to four Stanley Cup championships, was the NHL's MVP six times and was the league's leading scorer six times. In fact, Howe was in top ten scorers for 21 seasons.  Howe retired in 1971 and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of fame.

However, two years after retiring from the NHL, Howe came back in his mid 40s to join sons Mark and Marty Howe to play for the Houston Aeros in the upstart World Hockey Association.  This stint was not just a marquee trick as Gordie Howe managed to rack up 100 points during his six seasons with the Aeros.  

Howe briefly made a comeback in the NHL during the 1979-80 season at age 52 with the Hartford Whalers.  In 1980, Howe make the starting team for his 23rd NHL All Star Game.  The welcome which greeted Gordie at the All Star Game in Detroit that year was astounding.





The new International Bridge over the Detroit River between Ontario and Michigan will be named for Gordie Howe.

RIP Muhammad Ali

Rory McIlroy's Slice at Trump

After placing third in the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Trump Doral National Golf Course, Rory McIlroy took an indirect political shot at presumptive Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump.



Last year at Doral, McIlroy threw his three iron into the drink.  Club owner Donald Trump dryly returned the club to complete the pro's club set. 




Now, it is dubious that the Donald would repeat the gesture after McIlroy's immigration slice. 

Rivaldo Rebukes Rio Olympics Attendance

With less than three months before the XXXI Summer Olympics are set to begin in Rio de Janeiro, Brazilian soccer star Rivaldo warned fans against attending because of unchecked violence on the streets.



This is not the only logistical and public relations challenge Rio has needed to overcome in hosting the Olympics.  Rio was awarded the Summer Olympics in 2009 and had reason to ramp up the infrastructure hosting the Catholic World Youth Day in 2013 and the 2014 World Cup.  Yet in March, only 90-95 percent of the infrastructure was complete.  Rio organizing officials held a press conference to announce that they were ahead of schedule a couple of days after two workers were killed when a coastal bike path associated with green transportation between Olympic venues.

Of course, racing to complete infrastructure is nothing new for Olympic host cities.  What is more rarified is that the state government is broke so it failed to pay public workers like policemen, firefighters, doctors and nurses.  Thus a half million of them went on strike which shut down hospitals across the state.

Pollution still mires the Rio Olympics.  Last year, there was a study which revealed that Guanabara Bay are so polluted with fecal matter and other contaminants that  water Olympic athletes risked becoming ill rowing and sailing around the Copacabana.  It is dubious if the bankrupt state government can achieve what they have promised to fix for years.

Then there is the risk of the Zika virus from mosquito bites, especially to pregnant women and their unborn children. Some public health doctors have advised that the Olympics ought to be moved to protect the 16,000 athletes and expected 600,000 sports fans. Since that is unlikely, people will need to mitigate their feared risks.  The US Olympic committee has advised athletes that if they are concerned for their own health, they ought to skip the Rio games.  US Womens soccer star Hope Solo has publicly proclaimed that she won't go to Rio unless the situation changes. Several prominent pro golfers are also dropping out of competing in the Rio Games, but most cite a hectic summer PGA tour schedule  .

 South Korean athletes will wear tracksuits infused with insect repellent and will wear long pants and blazers for the opening and closing ceremonies to minimize Zika infections.

Ticket sales have been less than robust for the Rio games.  In early April, only 50% of the Olympic tickets have been sold, and just 12% of the Paralympic events.  The government has suggested that it might buy unsold tickets and distribute them to school children to fill the seats. 

ESPN Cans Curt Schilling Over Transgender Bathroom Tweet

ESPN fired former Major League Baseball star pitcher and TV Color Commentator Curt Schilling because of sharing a meme on transgender bathrooms on Twitter.

Disney owned ESPN insisted that the company was dedicated to inclusiveness, so it terminated someone with a view which different from the current politically correct line.  It is intriguing that Disney owned ABC Good Morning America report blurred out the image of a transvestite who would have been eligible to use whatever bathroom which he/she/zei felt like using.  It seems that the ideals of diversity and inclusiveness can not be particularized in a reductio ad abusurdum.


This was not Schilling's first run in with social media PR challenges.  A couple of years ago, Schilling went on attack mode against a Twitter troll who sexually harassed his daughter  sparked by congratulations over admission to Salve Regina University.

Later in 2015, Schilling was suspended from covering the Little League World Series for sharing a controversial tweet which compared Muslim "population infiltration" with Nazis.

There seems to be an academic and corporate corporate push to be intolerant towards "ciscentrism" and those who do not acquiesce to "the new normal" regarding self designated transgendered bathroom fluidity. It is dubious if ESPN would punish an employee for sharing progressive political memes.

Bruce Springsteen, et ali, have forgone concerts in North Carolina while the Bathroom Law is in effect. The NBA has threatened to pull the All Star game unless the Tar Heel State relents on traditional notions that those with male genetalia should not evacuate their excrement around little girls. During a NBC Today Townhall meeting, Manhattan mogul Donald Trump insisted that just not worrying about transgenders using whatever bathroom they like is no problem.

From its inception, DC-Jockularity recognized the convergence of sports and public policy.  ESPN's aggressive application of standards reinforces the idea that ABC/Disney/ESPN is a progressive entity which pushes its agenda even unto sports coverage and will not brook dissent.

Jackie Robinson on Respect

Donald Trump on Joe Paterno

While at a campaign event in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,  Republican Presidential front-runner Donald Trump confused the crowd of 8,000 by suggesting to bring Joe Paterno back.

Many mock Trump's entreaty, implying that the Manhattan mogul did not know that the legendary former Penn State football coach had been dead for nearly four years, after being ousted in the wake of the Assistant Coach Sandusky pedophilia scandal.  What was more likely is that Trump was referring to the statue of Paterno, which was unceremoniously removed from exterior of Beaver Stadium in University Park.

What was remarkable was how disjointed and desultory that Donald Trump sounded even when reading from prepared remarks. In addition, Trump types are proud that their leader would be beholden to no special interest.  Yet the pathetic Paterno pleading before Keystone voters right before the Pennsylvania primary belies that brag. 

Tarheel State Must Jump Thru LGBTQQ? Hoops to Host NBA All-Star Game

Reacting the North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory (R-NC) signing HB2 "The Bathroom Bill", the National Basketball Association has threatened the Tar Heel State that Charlotte is in jeopardy because the law discriminates against transgendered persons from using whatever bathroom they feel like visiting at that time.



Other sports leagues have threatened to boycott places to pressure governments to change their laws, like the NCAA's 15 year ban on South Carolina hosting sporting events over the Confederate battle flag flying on state capitol grounds in Columbia, or the NFL threatening to move a Super Bowl from Arizona over the state enforcing federal law on illegal immigration.

It is curious to see how the NBA is going to great lengths to protest this "discrimination" of people having different genitalia using separate waste evacuation facilities which has been in place for generations and is rife for confusion and abuse. 

This sort of progressive pressure again demonstrates that sports has been politicized by the tyranny of liberal fascism.

Walter Hagen on Second Place

On Leaders, Liars and Links

As Anthony Anderson intimated on Late Night with Seth Meyers, it is not unexpected that golf course Landlords get better lies. Yet Trump thinks that it has something to do with his...hands.




You know what they say about guys who cheat at golf.

Dispensing Controversy in Mile High Naming Rights

Controversy has long surrounded what to call the Denver Bronco's home.  Many fans wanted to continue to call the new stadium "Mile High" since it was immediately adjacent to the old complex.  But the facility was mostly paid for by local taxpayers and officials wanted to re-cooperate some monies from the big business of sports so naming rights were sold.

When the Bronco's new home was inaugurated in 2001, it was officially known as Invesco Field at Mile High.  The Denver Post did not want to include corporate advertising in their sports coverage, so they would just call it "Mile High Field".  After several years, the local newspaper relented and included the Invesco name.  Nevertheless, Investco transferred the naming rights to the stadium to the Sports Authority in 2011, with the Sports Authority paying the Metropolitan Stadium District $6 million a year.



Things may change with the Sports Authority in the process of Chapter 11 bankruptcy. If the Sports Authority is unable to pony up their payment, naming rights may be up for grabs.  On April 1st, the news broke that one of the earnest aspirants to buy naming rights is a Colorado cannabis dispensary, Native Roots.

As apropos as it may seem to have a marijuana dispensary label slapped on the "Mile High" complex, it may be mooted by federal law.  The federal government considers marijuana a Schedule 1 Controlled Substance under the Controlled Substances Act (84 Stat. 1236), thus advertising would be prohibited. Even though states such as Colorado and Washington (and the District of Calamity) have loosened laws prohibiting recreational use of cannabis, federal laws are still on the books.  State laws also put limits on the outdoor advertising of medical marijuana.

Additionally, the NFL Commissioner Roger Goddell has reaffirmed a League policy which bans marijuana . Considering how the NFL has a reputation problem with so many athletes getting into trouble that it has been facetiously called "The National Felons League" that it is dubious if the league wants to further agitate straight laced fans by having a stadium named the Native Roots Field at Mile High.

Joe Garagiola on Baseball

Joe Garagiola, a major league baseball player who evolved into a long broadcasting career at the age of 90.  Garagiola was a journeyman catcher who played for nine seasons in the majors for the St. Louis Cardinals, Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs and the New York Giants.  After his retirement from baseball, Garagiola wrote the book "Baseball is a Funny Game" (1960).  That helped launch his broadcast career.

But Garagiola was better known as the backstop panelist for NBC's Today show from 1967 to 1982 and 1990 to 1992. Garagiola also did play by play and color commentary  for NBC Sports baseball telecasts from 1974 to 1988.  Garagiola then spent a season doing cable commentary for the California Angels.  Afterwards, Garagiola did part time commentary for the Arizona Diamondbacks from 1998-2012 while his son was general manager for the Diamondbacks.  

All together, Garagiola broadcast for 35 years over seven decades.  No wonder why Garagiola was honored with the Ford Frick Award and inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown New York in 1991.

Keeping to his lighthearted take on life, Garagiola quipped that the only way that he could get into Cooperstown was as a broadcaster.

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ESPN Sports Cuban Propaganda

One of the reasons why sports is a popular pastime among Americans is because it has tended to be non-partisan. It is news which mentally reconnects aged athletes back to their glory days, while stoking local loyalties and friendly rivalries and forgetting the tumult of news from the "real world".

Unfortunately, the trend in the media has been to politicize everything, including sports news.  More than seeing sports through a lens of political correctness, the sports media has segued into political propaganda. 

A case in point was a ESPN Sportscenter social media sharing in regards to President Barack Obama's visit to Cuba after 55 years of bilateral hostility.

ESPN authorized a Tweet which whitewashed the brutality of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro's communist regime by promoting propaganda that Fidel was a sports fan. 

After a couple of hours of consternation, ESPN withdrew the post, but the damage was done by humanizing the despot. One of the reasons that Cubans believe that they won their long standoff with the United States is because of Fidel's romancing the American press. 

It may be true that Fidel is a big sports fan.  Fidel even yearned to play for the Yanquis in his youth. But ESPN featuring such factoids during a controversial trip to Cuba by President Barack Obama amounts to propaganda. 

To give a truer picture of the sporting Castro, it is important to understand how Fidel Castro used sports as a weapon to enforce his communist ideology.



A more accurate picture of Fidel Castro's sporting sense is captured by hitting the links with the bloody revolutionary Che Guevara. 

[L] Che Guevara [R] Cuban Dictator Fidel Castro

It is dubious that Che's favorite sport was golf.  More likely it was coaching firing squads.