|
Post by longsuffering on Feb 13, 2022 21:41:50 GMT -5
I think there's a big difference between what Gu, as an elite athlete, did in renouncing her U.S. citizenship and what we always see in the Olympics where Italian-Americans , Jewish-Americans, and Irish-Americans (citing three common examples) who could not make the US Olympic baseball team play for the country where their parents or grandparents were born. No different with all the American and Canadians playing for China in hockey www.latimes.com/sports/olympics/story/2022-02-13/united-states-canada-hockey-players-china-olympic-rosterI believe Michael Vicens played in the 1976 Montreal Olympics for Puerto Rico.
|
|
|
Post by bfoley82 on Feb 14, 2022 3:28:49 GMT -5
I believe Michael Vicens played in the 1976 Montreal Olympics for Puerto Rico. San Antonio Spurs assistant Becky Hammon played for Russia at the Olympics because Geno wasn't picking her.
|
|
|
Post by newfieguy74 on Feb 14, 2022 8:15:08 GMT -5
I would hope that all of you who own stock in companies from China have sold in protest. Please don't shop at Walmart & Sams club since the Walton family has made billions selling China Junk to loyal proud Americans. Can you Two face The more interesting question is why you would be defending China. If I've ever shopped at Walmart I don't think that precludes me from criticizing a country that forcibly sterilizes and incarcerates hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs, that violates and threatens the sovereignty of Taiwan on a daily basis, that has brutally suppressed all dissent in Hong Kong, that blatantly steals American intellectual property, and whose navy regularly threatens other countries to claim rights over international waters in the South China Sea. I could go on. As others have pointed out, there have been instances of Americans playing for other countries when they couldn't make the American team. That's a different situation from Gu, a gold medalist who is simply playing for pay.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 14, 2022 8:39:26 GMT -5
I guess Gu is a true American. It's all about the $$.Sell your soul, just like any candidate for elective office. Just remember Dick Nixon opened the doors to China.He of the same party that blames said Country for our flu. It's all about the $$$
|
|
|
Post by Tom on Feb 14, 2022 8:49:41 GMT -5
I believe Michael Vicens played in the 1976 Montreal Olympics for Puerto Rico. That is my recollection as well. Kind of different though. First of all, I never understood the concept of Puerto Rico being different than the United States. Secondly, as long as Puerto Rico was getting their own team, that is where Mike called home, Not like Kevin Greaney playing for some non-Olympic Irish national team a few years later, when he called the United States home
|
|
|
Post by sader1970 on Feb 14, 2022 8:55:17 GMT -5
It's been my understanding my entire life that Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens but, like Vicens, can also play on the PR Olympic teams (or the U.S. teams). PRs who are born and live on the island and move to the U.S. are allowed to vote in U.S. elections the same as anyone who moved from one state to another. At the risk of turning this "political," I wish PR would just become a state rather than this territory/commonwealth/whatever twilight zone it's been in.
|
|
|
Post by KY Crusader 75 on Feb 14, 2022 10:52:51 GMT -5
There are lots of seemingly contradictory practices in international sports-- Scots compete on behalf of their country, the United Kingdom, in the Olympics but form a separate team (as do other parts of the UK) in other international sports, e.g. rugby and I think soccer as well.
|
|
|
Post by WCHC Sports on Feb 14, 2022 11:41:10 GMT -5
It's been my understanding my entire life that Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens but, like Vicens, can also play on the PR Olympic teams (or the U.S. teams). PRs who are born and live on the island and move to the U.S. are allowed to vote in U.S. elections the same as anyone who moved from one state to another. At the risk of turning this "political," I wish PR would just become a state rather than this territory/commonwealth/whatever twilight zone it's been in. PR isn't an independent country. I thought countries/nation-states are who are represented in the Olympics. Always somewhat odd to see them represented in the Olympics. My wife has PR heritage, she's ambivalent about it... loves both places.
As for athletes going to represent another country because their uncle lives there, or a great great grandmother once lived there, I always found it weak-- usually because they aren't good enough to play for the US team but leverage their talents to get on a lesser squad in that foreign country. Is it THAT important for YOU to be at the Olympics to try to compete "against" your "home" country? Furthermore, if you rep China or Russia, willingly, to bring some honor and glory to yourself-- and legitimize the terrible things those countries are doing in the present day-- I think it's a stain on your integrity.
|
|
|
Post by longsuffering on Feb 14, 2022 12:08:12 GMT -5
It's been my understanding my entire life that Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens but, like Vicens, can also play on the PR Olympic teams (or the U.S. teams). PRs who are born and live on the island and move to the U.S. are allowed to vote in U.S. elections the same as anyone who moved from one state to another. At the risk of turning this "political," I wish PR would just become a state rather than this territory/commonwealth/whatever twilight zone it's been in. PR isn't an independent country. I thought countries/nation-states are who are represented in the Olympics. Always somewhat odd to see them represented in the Olympics. My wife has PR heritage, she's ambivalent about it... loves both places.
As for athletes going to represent another country because their uncle lives there, or a great great grandmother once lived there, I always found it weak-- usually because they aren't good enough to play for the US team but leverage their talents to get on a lesser squad in that foreign country. Is it THAT important for YOU to be at the Olympics to try to compete "against" your "home" country? Furthermore, if you rep China or Russia, willingly, to bring some honor and glory to yourself-- and legitimize the terrible things those countries are doing in the present day-- I think it's a stain on your integrity.
I wouldn't play for China for less than $10 million. In reality, I'd take a million. But it's a commercial venture, it's not like joining the Red Army. In day to day life I put in real effort to avoid buying made in China goods, which isn't always possible.
|
|
|
Post by WCHC Sports on Feb 14, 2022 13:01:31 GMT -5
There's a difference between buying an electric shaver made in China, versus saying, "I will compete in a globally-televised event against my home country and wave the flag of this p-o-s communist nation."
|
|
|
Post by bfoley82 on Feb 14, 2022 14:01:24 GMT -5
It's been my understanding my entire life that Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens but, like Vicens, can also play on the PR Olympic teams (or the U.S. teams). PRs who are born and live on the island and move to the U.S. are allowed to vote in U.S. elections the same as anyone who moved from one state to another. At the risk of turning this "political," I wish PR would just become a state rather than this territory/commonwealth/whatever twilight zone it's been in. Or Curacao baseball players on the Kingdom of the Netherlands teams...
|
|
|
Post by Tom on Feb 14, 2022 16:09:53 GMT -5
There are lots of seemingly contradictory practices in international sports-- Scots compete on behalf of their country, the United Kingdom, in the Olympics but form a separate team (as do other parts of the UK) in other international sports, e.g. rugby and I think soccer as well. In a positive note, athletes from the northern Ireland compete on the Irish teams not UK. In a gesture of unity, the entire Irish team marches under a unique flag for sporting events, not the well known flag of the Republic of Ireland
|
|
|
Post by longsuffering on Feb 14, 2022 17:12:33 GMT -5
There are lots of seemingly contradictory practices in international sports-- Scots compete on behalf of their country, the United Kingdom, in the Olympics but form a separate team (as do other parts of the UK) in other international sports, e.g. rugby and I think soccer as well. In a positive note, athletes from the northern Ireland compete on the Irish teams not UK. In a gesture of unity, the entire Irish team marches under a unique flag for sporting events, not the well known flag of the Republic of Ireland My immediate reaction was this is an advantage for the North and a generous sacrifice by the South because Irish teams should be easier to make than UK teams for athletes from the North and they would supplant an athlete from the Republic. Then I thought that because in many sports a nation must qualify to send a team, it could be a sacrifice by athletes from the North in some sports as they could have been an Olympian if they played for the UK, but not for Ireland. Don't know which is the bigger sacrifice but it reminds of when a reporter was struggling to define golfer Rory McIlroy from Northern Ireland and asked him if Northern Irish or British was a better term to use. "I'm Irish" responded McIlroy.
|
|
|
Post by hcpride on Feb 15, 2022 6:40:18 GMT -5
One aspect of Eileen Gu’s situation that is unusual is that she has won a gold and a silver in her two events thus far. Clearly NOT a case of shifting ‘allegiance’ to win a spot on a team. Beyond that, China’s working assiduously to make the Californian THE face of their Olympic team and their Olympics in general. Don’t see that every day.
(The fact she is accent-less in English and Chinese, has an established and growing modeling/endorsing career, is heading to Stanford, and appears thoroughly unconcerned/unaware regarding China’s human rights issues only adds to the interest in Gu.)
|
|
|
Post by longsuffering on Feb 15, 2022 6:54:42 GMT -5
One aspect of Eileen Gu’s situation that is unusual is that she has won a gold and a silver in her two events thus far. Clearly NOT a case of shifting ‘allegiance’ to win a spot on a team. Beyond that, China’s working assiduously to make the Californian THE face of their Olympic team and their Olympics in general. Don’t see that every day. (The fact she is accent-less in English and Chinese, has an established and growing modeling/endorsing career, is heading to Stanford, and appears thoroughly unconcerned/unaware regarding China’s human rights issues only adds to the interest in Gu.) How much endorsement money can the Uyghurs pay? Also, if you are still pre-college age you could be up on world politics and human rights, but not surprising if you aren't.
|
|
|
Post by newfieguy74 on Feb 15, 2022 8:15:58 GMT -5
One aspect of Eileen Gu’s situation that is unusual is that she has won a gold and a silver in her two events thus far. Clearly NOT a case of shifting ‘allegiance’ to win a spot on a team. Beyond that, China’s working assiduously to make the Californian THE face of their Olympic team and their Olympics in general. Don’t see that every day. (The fact she is accent-less in English and Chinese, has an established and growing modeling/endorsing career, is heading to Stanford, and appears thoroughly unconcerned/unaware regarding China’s human rights issues only adds to the interest in Gu.) How much endorsement money can the Uyghurs pay? Also, if you are still pre-college age you could be up on world politics and human rights, but not surprising if you aren't. An 18 year old who's traveled widely because of her sport, who got 1580 on her SAT's, and who will be attending Stanford should have enough awareness to know of China's many transgressions. Interestingly, I read that she became indignant about tweets accusing China of censoring the internet and social media, so she tweeted (I'm paraphrasing) out that social media was readily available, and China pulled her tweet. I hope she at least has a sense of irony.
|
|
|
Post by alum on Feb 15, 2022 8:36:43 GMT -5
It appears that Ms. Gu's mother earns a living in finance at the intersection of the American and Chinese economies. I don't think we should be surprised that her daughter is essentially doing the same thing in the industries of sports, modeling and "being famous" in both countries as well.
Lots of celebrities look the other way about problems associated with their benefactors. Sadly, this young woman is doing the same thing.
I don't like to be too hard on kids, even world class athletes, but when a large part of the identity is celebrity as opposed to sports, unfortunately, I think it is fair to be critical at an earlier age.
|
|
|
Post by sader1970 on Feb 15, 2022 9:01:13 GMT -5
74 "nails it." It strains credulity that she doesn't know what's going on in China. Her mother's Chinese. She's 18 and going to Stanford. She's not a 13 or 14 year old kid.
That said, I have little doubt Mommy (and Daddy?), are pulling the levers here.
|
|
|
Post by ndgradbuthcfan on Feb 15, 2022 10:18:38 GMT -5
There are lots of seemingly contradictory practices in international sports-- Scots compete on behalf of their country, the United Kingdom, in the Olympics but form a separate team (as do other parts of the UK) in other international sports, e.g. rugby and I think soccer as well. In a positive note, athletes from the northern Ireland compete on the Irish teams not UK. In a gesture of unity, the entire Irish team marches under a unique flag for sporting events, not the well known flag of the Republic of Ireland A few for just the island of Ireland, not the Republic (rugby and golf) but also compete just for Northern Ireland (soccer) and for the UK in many others. I guess you could say it has it three ways.
|
|
|
Post by longsuffering on Feb 15, 2022 11:10:27 GMT -5
74 "nails it." It strains credulity that she doesn't know what's going on in China. Her mother's Chinese. She's 18 and going to Stanford. She's not a 13 or 14 year old kid. That said, I have little doubt Mommy (and Daddy?), are pulling the levers here. I'll concede the point that this 18 year old is up on world politics and human rights, but so isn't Tesla, Apple etc., who seek to sell to Chinese consumers as US retailers and maintain their image of preferred premium brands among the Chinese people and the U.S. public. Hard to place more responsibility on Ms. Gu to be a courageous bomb thrower than two of the world's most successful companies. It's a mine field to negotiate if your livelihood depends on staying in the good graces of the very proud Chinese public.
|
|
|
Post by sader1970 on Feb 15, 2022 11:17:58 GMT -5
I don’t think anyone wants her to be a bomb thrower. My guess is that she could make millions if she retained her representation of the U.S. instead of China especially with a gold medal.
|
|
|
Post by KY Crusader 75 on Feb 15, 2022 11:37:19 GMT -5
I'll bet China made her an extremely lucrative $$$ offer to make her move. Extremely lucrative. We're talking about a country with an unlimited budget. China also no doubt loves the PR of having Gu choose China over the USA
|
|
|
Post by rgs318 on Feb 15, 2022 15:53:49 GMT -5
I hope as a foreign citizen she encounters multiple issues when attending college.
|
|
|
Post by WCHC Sports on Feb 15, 2022 16:11:47 GMT -5
I hope as a foreign citizen she encounters multiple issues when attending college. I hope she gets a big fat 1099 from Uncle Sam for whatever China pays her
|
|
|
Post by longsuffering on Feb 15, 2022 23:41:23 GMT -5
|
|