Re: choosing comfort over common sense

[Kim <kimmalo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Er, it's not that I totally disagree with your general principal, but in point of fact the basketball venue *IS* on the coast, where a luxury liner would put them much closer than in the Olympic village. That's over 36km away, inland to the northeast,  and even further from Athens Center. It also bypasses some security issues and lets them ignore other stuff like the ever present possibility of service strikes. I've been in Athens for a couple of those. Fortunately I love the country regardless and tend to stay and eat in the sorts of places that aren't targeting American tourists or anything else 'luxury class' and therefore most in need of utilities. 

That being said, yes I agree that you either particpate or you don't and that you send bad messages this way. Citing terrorism risks and highly visible targets, which seem to be thought sufficient excuse for everything else, would at least go over better.
Kim

-----Original Message-----
From: Snoopy the Celtics Beagle <snoopy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Feb 3, 2004 7:38 PM
To: celtics@xxxxxxxx, Celticsstuffgroup@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: choosing comfort over common sense

<sni>
Today, USA Basketball announced--and I'm quoting from ESPN.com--it was 
"working with Athens organizers and US Olympic committee officials to 
determine whether the team should stay on a luxury liner that will be used 
for athlete's housing."

"At this point, probably the most prominent reason would be better 
performance conditions in terms of being closer to our venue," USA 
Basketball spokesman Craig Miller said. "There's less traffic, it's near 
our practice site and our preliminary round venue."

Less traffic?  Near the practice site?

In January, one stretch for the Celtics:  on the 13th at Milwaukee, on the 
14th at home vs. Houston, on the 16th at Orlando, on the 18th at home vs. 
San Antonio, on the 20th, back to Florida against Miami, on the 23rd at 
home against Washington, and on the 25th at New Jersey.  Seven games 
between the 13th and the 25th, no consecutive games at home, and a back to 
back away and home.

You'd think people would be thrilled to play the games at the same place 
with no flights in between.  They drive from the village to the court--most 
likely in a bus, not individual cars.  And I doubt they'll be required to 
suffer the normal rigors of Athens traffic--which, I might add, is not as 
bad as Boston, according to a friend who's driven in both cities.

But no, the Olympic village is not good enough.  They want to stay on a 
boat, a "luxury liner" no less.

I don't honestly know who is responsible for this idiocy--be it the 
officials at USA Basketball, the USOC, or the players themselves.  Whomever 
it is, this is utterly stupid.  The athletes should stay at the village and 
hand with their fellow athletes.   Not only is it simpler logistically, 
it's also safer to stay where several countries worth of protection can 
keep en eye on things.  Theres also the fact that it shows you're not above 
everyone else.  Whatever you may think of some of the other basketball 
teams, some of the fastest, strongest and most agile athletes on the planet 
are there.  Go say hello, hang out.  Maybe play a pickup game with the 
Canadian Curling team.

But stop acting like you're all that.  There's no Gold Medal for vanity, 
stop competing for it.

Snoopy the Celtics Beagle
Please visit the <http://www.celticsbeagle.net/>Celtics Beagle Website