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After an Olympic lull, Beijing makes Games interesting again

By Jim Caple
ESPN.com

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

At initial glance, you might think the International Olympic Committee blundered by awarding the 2008 Games to a city in a totalitarian country that aids Darfur's thugs but considers the Dalai Lama a menace, and that censors political debate but can't silence the hacking coughs from some of the planet's most polluted cities. Actually, it was an inspired decision. Beijing is just what the Olympics need. There was a time when the Olympics were an eagerly awaited quadrennial spectacle, the ult ...

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