Well, I'm thoroughly enjoying the Olympics. I'm normally a lukewarm fan: let my wife tell me when something interesting happens, watch highlights, etc. I'm not watching a lot more this year, but I'm following it more closely (like watching the medal count page), and I'm highly interested in girls' gymnastics (I think Kerri Strugs act of heroism at the 1996 games turned me into a fan video) and for the first time interested in swimming (amazing finish, as everyone has heard).
In my opinion, incidentally, China is winning the medal count. I assign three points for each gold, two for a silver, and one for a bronze. With that formula, China has 43 points and the U.S. has 41.
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Finally, someone has fired a shot against the crying game men have been playing. Judith Woods at The Telegraph: [W]itnessing a man breaking down is hugely empowering. To me, not him, obviously. But even as I am comforting him, tenderly stroking his wobbly chin, and congratulating him for not being an emotional cripple, I am despising him for his weakness.
Amen to that. I love the saying, "He's comfortable enough with his manhood to let himself cry in public." Really? So, you're basically saying: "He's so manly, he's a woman."
"He's so manly, he likes men, and he wears a bra."
Don't get me wrong, I don't like to see women cry in public, either. I give them a little more leeway, though. I think there's something in their constitution that makes them more tearfully emotional, just as there's something in the man's constitution that makes him more anger prone. Displays of either emotion in public are contemptible, but whereas the man who loses his temper in public is a spectacle, the woman who does so is usually a skanky hag. The woman who cries in public is weak. The "man" who does so is a joke.
I especially despise the ritualistic emoting: Let's get together and cry about X. It's a favorite among teens, and they can be forgiven: they're still learning their emotions (which is why they shouldn't have sex, but that's another story). But full-grown adults? Dry up.
