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Western Carolinian Volume 65 (66) Number 06

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  • September 27, 2000 NEWS WESTERN CAROLINIAN 2000 Olympics Lose to Sitcoms in Ratings Races Commentary by Carol Rhinehart Staff Writer NBC's coverage of the 2000 games in Sydney is not doing well at all in ratings. It seems that America would rather watch Dharma and Greg fight, or watch old comedies that everyone has seen before than to watch the Olympic games. It is intriguing to me that we have become such a sitcom-crazed society that we would rather watch a re-run than see history in the making. So maybe no one takes this as seriously as I do, and perhaps some of you may think it rather corny of me to be alarmed that no one is watching. This is a fast paced society — we are fast talkers and fast workers who lead fast lives. We have watched so many things disappear that used to be important to families and nations. In my opinion, we can't see the forest for the trees. We put so many things in our lives that we forget to do the important things like spending time with our families. The Olympics, to me, are a very important part of history; they have been going on forever. The athletes that compete there have spent most of their whole lives trying to get ready for the events they will be competing in. Chinese athletes leave their families at an early age to train and are only allowed to see them once a year. US Olympian Dara Torres has returned to the women's swim team after a seven-year retirement and has won several gold medals. Brook Bennet has broken quite a few world and American records in her time in Sydney, not to mention the upset she caused in the women's 800 free-style when she beat the favorite Australia's "Madame Butterfly" Susie O'Neill. Runner Marion Jones from Ra leigh is the picked favorite in two events and won the gold Saturday night in the women's 100m. She is running in five events, and is trying Venus and Serena Williams photo by Stephan JansenJ AFP to take home gold in all of them. If her performance Saturday is anything to go by, she will have no problems. Her husband, however, is having a lot of problems. The federation just got back test results that read positive for steroid use. The gymnastic trials have been very entertaining this year. Gymnasts from every country have been falling off of beams, missing vaults and almost completely shattering the image I had of a good gymnast. The way these people are competing, I feel like I had a good chance to go to the Olympics. The Romanians won the all around team gold in women's gymnastics, which was a first for their country. However, the most recent news is a rather interesting scandal involving the women's best all- around gold medal winner: Andreea Rudacan, a newcomer from Romania, has tested positive for drug use. No wonder she was the only one that could stick her landings. There is more controversy over the best all-around gold; it seems that the vault was five inches lower than federation standard. This problem was noted and fixed before the competition was over, but after three gymnasts had gone. All three girls missed their vaults, one missing it completely and the others landing on their knees. The girls were allowed to attempt the vault again, but after a fall it is difficult to regain a good mindset. The famous tennis sisters, Venus and Serena Williams, have advanced to the finals in doubles terfnis, and Venus will also advance to the finals in singles. Maurice Greene, "the world's fastest man," won the men's 100m, his first gold in Sydney but surely not his last. The United States women's basketball team beat Poland yesterday 76-57. The United States is in the lead in medal status with 58 total, followed by China with 48. Russia is just behind holding 47, Australia has won 43 medals on their home turf, and France is next with 31. The United States is also ahead in gold medal wins with 23. 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