Fair Play
It’s something my Irish friends used to say when we played soccer. I was never too sure what it meant. One time Eoghin tackled Finn (names changed to protect the Welsh) dislocating his knee to somewhere in Venice. Eoghin apologized, “I just slipped, like.” Finn accepted it with “Fair play, buy.” They also said, “unlucky” quite a bit which for me translated into lacking potential. For instance, when a player would shoot the ball and it would just go ten yards to the right of the goal. They would say, “Unlucky, Seamus.” I’d think, “Seamus just sucks.” In any case, with the Olympics under way the idea of “fair play” seems to come up during the Women’s Gymnastics. (If they’re pre-pubescent, is it still considered “Women’s”?)
When the Chinese team came out for the first time, no amount of glitter could hide the fact that these tots were probably still suckling a teet prior to competition. Listen, China, just because these tweeners wear big girl underpants doesn’t mean they’re of legal driving age in this country. I’ve done extensive research concerning the issue. Check out my source material. (Link here.)
Personally, I don’t understand why there’s an age minimum to compete in the Olympics. I figure it’s country versus country. As long as they’re Chinese, they should be able to compete for Team China, whether they’re sixty or six. With that said, there is a rule, and rules is rules. (I know there’s a rule for smoking marijuana in public, to which I say, “Suck it.”) But this is athletic competition, and once one team starts breaking the rules, then others have to break them just to compete. This is why I’m against steroid use in professional sports. It lowers the bar for everyone. Until someone can tell me why there’s a rule that female gymnasts must be sixteen (I don’t know the rules for men’s or other sports), then I’m against it, but since there is a rule, then China should adhere to it. That is fair play.
