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Olympics - (Spoiler Alert!)

One of the first things I noticed when I moved here is that for the most part Iowans can't handle fame very well. I am not talking about the people who actually make it in to the limelight, but the rest of us. I don't know why we adhere to famous people who are from our state, or famous people visiting our state so tenaciously. It's as if we set the bar so low that no one ever expects someone from Iowa to succeed, or some one of success to never want to be here.

Perhaps we vicariously feel redeemed from our perceived inadequacy as a state.
 
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Broodwich said:
One of the first things I noticed when I moved here is that for the most part Iowans can't handle fame very well. I am not talking about the people who actually make it in to the limelight, but the rest of us. I don't know why we adhere to famous people who are from our state, or famous people visiting our state so tenaciously. It's as if we set the bar so low that no one ever expects someone from Iowa to succeed, or some one of success to never want to be here.

Perhaps we vicariously feel redeemed from our perceived inadequacy as a state.
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This is so true. You know it's bad when we brag that Tom Arnold is from Iowa.

I think it's a midwest short man syndrome thing.
 
Broodwich said:
One of the first things I noticed when I moved here is that for the most part Iowans can't handle fame very well. I am not talking about the people who actually make it in to the limelight, but the rest of us. I don't know why we adhere to famous people who are from our state, or famous people visiting our state so tenaciously. It's as if we set the bar so low that no one ever expects someone from Iowa to succeed, or some one of success to never want to be here.

Perhaps we vicariously feel redeemed from our perceived inadequacy as a state.
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It's not hard to see that some place like Iowa gets far less recognition on the national stage then say Florida, California New York, etc. So when someone from Iowa gets national coverage and attention you're damn right people in Iowa are going to gravitate to that person, I see nothing wrong with that.
 
Broodwich said:
One of the first things I noticed when I moved here is that for the most part Iowans can't handle fame very well. I am not talking about the people who actually make it in to the limelight, but the rest of us. I don't know why we adhere to famous people who are from our state, or famous people visiting our state so tenaciously. It's as if we set the bar so low that no one ever expects someone from Iowa to succeed, or some one of success to never want to be here.

Perhaps we vicariously feel redeemed from our perceived inadequacy as a state.
Click to expand...

This is an interesting comment. I lived in Southern Cal for about five years and have traveled extensively to most of the major US cities in a previous job. The "inferiority" complex is clearly there, but the flipside is that the "superiority" complex is also there on behalf of the people that live in other states.

I remember doing an audit in Santa Ana (Los Angeles) and listening to the accounting manager taking cracks at Iowa and about not understanding how the company could be headquartered in Des Moines. I finally asked her what she does every evening, and she replied that she "could" go to a Dodgers game or she "could" go to the beach or she "could" go see the Raiders (this was a long time ago). But I stopped her and said "that's not what I asked. What I asked is what you do". She reticently admitted that she went home, made supper, and took care of her kids.

I said "ME TOO, and I don't spend three hours in traffic to do it". We don't realize how good we have it here - continental climate notwithstanding. Or the fact that I actually did spend time in the mountains and on the beach and at Dodger games.

I digress. Des Moines is coming of age, and the fact is that people like Shawn Johnson, Lolo Jones, Zach Johnson, Bobby Hansen, and many many others - not to mention some of our companies - is showcasing this to the rest of the country and world.
 
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Wrestling Spoiler:
BEIJING — "I'm living the American dream," Henry Cejudo shouted for all to hear.
Cejudo had just defeated Tomohiro Matsunaga of Japan, 2-2, 3-0, in the men's 55kg freestyle competition to win the gold medal. A two-time Colorado state high school champion, Cejudo, 21, won three morning matches to advance to the championship mat, then put away Matsunaga to win gold, capping an incredible rise on the American wrestling scene.
Cejudo won two state championships in Arizona before moving to Colorado as a junior in high school. Upon graduation two years ago, he stayed in Colorado Springs to train at the United States Olympic Committee headquarters and set his sights on Beijing.
 
djkent01 said:
This is an interesting comment. I lived on Southern Cal for about five years and have traveled extensively to most of the major US cities in a previous job. The "inferiority" complex is clearly there, but the flipside is that the "superiority" complex is also there on behalf of the people that live in other states.
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I am not talking about quality of life issues or proximity to pro-sports, I am talking about fame and how the people of Iowa handle high-profile people in our state or from our state.

Harrison Ford eating BBQ in Denver once would not become an integral or important part of their local lore for 20 years as it has in central Iowa.
 
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Stormin said:
I think it is pretty BIG news that someone wins 8 Gold Medals in one Olympics. I also think it is pretty BIG news when our gymnasts come home with the great success that they had. Mary Lou Retton certainly got as much or more hype than Shawn Johnson had. Bruce Jenner turned his Decathlon win into a career. So did Mark Spitz. These are pretty unique accomplishments. They only come along once in a while every decade or two or three. I for one am thrilled that Shawn Johnson is getting such great press. Will it make people want to live here? Probably not. But it might show our next great prodigy that they don't have to move from here to realize their dreams. Why diss the young girl for such an amazing accomplishment? And why diss the DMR for printing all they can about her? It is better than writing about our wonderful economy or the upcoming elections and the candidates.
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Winning 8 gold medals in one Olympics is big news. It's never been done before. Mary Lou Retton was the first gymnast from outside eastern Europe to win the all-around gymnastics gold medal. Mark Spitz won 7 gold medals in one olympics, which was a record at that point. Not to put down her accomplishments, but Shawn Johnson has one one gold and 3 silvers. I don't think you can compare the two. Shawn Johnson this year is Shannon Miller in 1992. People will remember her name, but will probably not remember what she did in 10 years. Nastia Luikin has just as many medals (albeit one is a bronze instead of a silver), and her gold is in the all-around, and I don't see the DMR getting all googly eyed over her accomplishments, despite them being arguably more impressive.

NOBODY IS DISSING SJ. That's been repeated over and over by countless people.

And we diss the DMR because it's a newspaper, not a celebrity gossip column. It's not better than writing about the economy or the elections of the candidates. Those are far more important things than the arguably rigged Olympics.

It's a matter of perspective.
 
And we diss the DMR because it's a newspaper, not a celebrity gossip column. It's not better than writing about the economy or the elections of the candidates. Those are far more important things than the arguably rigged Olympics.

It's a matter of perspective.[/quote]


Your perspective is to look to the local paper for information.

The register's perspective is sales.
 
chrishull14 said:
And we diss the DMR because it's a newspaper, not a celebrity gossip column. It's not better than writing about the economy or the elections of the candidates. Those are far more important things than the arguably rigged Olympics.

It's a matter of perspective.
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Your perspective is to look to the local paper for information.

The register's perspective is sales.[/QUOTE]

And that's why the DMR, and major news outlets in general, are a terrible source of information.

The Olympics is not much more than a human interest story.
 
Jeremy said:
I'm not saying that at all. I think we can celebrate her and we should be proud of her, but most of the replies in the threads about her have stated that certain things should be dedicated to her or that we should all stop our lives to bow down to her. I'm just asking for it to be put into perspective and for people to realize that in a month, nobody outside of Iowa or the hard-core gymnastics world is going to remember her name, let alone where she grew up.

She should be celebrated, just in moderation and with some sanity and rationale.
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Have you ever heard of just a feel good story? Sometimes people go over-board with these type of stories. But it's just a nice story about a nice girl who is in the top 2 in the ENTIRE WORLD in her sport.

And I think what a lot of you guys need to remember is that most people on here are hard-core sports fans. So you might think that this is not a huge deal and the state needs a little perspective. Some of you are stupid enough to think that pre-season football is a bigger story. But women's gymnastics at the Olymipics appeals to a lot of people that don't know anything about any other sports.....kids and women, so to them this is the biggest sports story.
 
jsb said:
Have you ever heard of just a feel good story? Sometimes people go over-board with these type of stories. But it's just a nice story about a nice girl who is in the top 2 in the ENTIRE WORLD in her sport.

And I think what a lot of you guys need to remember is that most people on here are hard-core sports fans. So you might think that this is not a huge deal and the state needs a little perspective. Some of you are stupid enough to think that pre-season football is a bigger story. But women's gymnastics at the Olymipics appeals to a lot of people that don't know anything about any other sports.....kids and women, so to them this is the biggest sports story.
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Pre-season football is likely a bigger story for the majority of sports fans.

The front page of ESPN.com right now is a baseball story. The front page of sportsline.com is NFL, NCAAF and NASCAR. Foxsports.com is NFL and MLB with SJ the third story down.

In my opinion, the NFL, College football, MLB and debatably NASCAR are all bigger stories in the sports world right now.
 
Wesley said:
Shawn handled the runner up role better than Nastia did just from watching their faces. Smiley poker face Shawn should be in some good ads in the future.
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If you are talking about Nastia's runner-up on the uneven bars, I can understand her look. From what I heard, they offer multiple medals in 'normal' gymnastic meets, but the tiebreaker was added for the Olympics. Since she is not in Olympic competition all of the time, I can understand her dismay. But her remarks afterwards in the media seemed genuinely gracious and sportsman-like.

Although, I do agree that Shawn just flat out looks like she is enjoying herself out there no matter what. What a great spirit.
 
jumbopackage said:
Pre-season football is likely a bigger story for the majority of sports fans.

The front page of ESPN.com right now is a baseball story. The front page of sportsline.com is NFL, NCAAF and NASCAR. Foxsports.com is NFL and MLB with SJ the third story down.

In my opinion, the NFL, College football, MLB and debatably NASCAR are all bigger stories in the sports world right now.
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Unfortunately for LoLo, this is also on the front page of ESPN.com



ESPN - Don't think the Olympics can be cruel? Just ask Richards, Jones - Olympics
 
I'm with you Palmer. Felt like a punch in the gut when I first heard the news - then seeing that picture. Can't imagine how she feels.
 
This picture is worse...

oly_a_jones1_134.jpg


I felt sick to my stomache when I heard as well...
 
So should the DMR and other Iowa outlets not cover the Iowa Caucuses except for the week of the event?? The Caucuses were covered nonstop for 6 months, no one seemed to have a problem with that.

And if you think that the US will forget about Shawn Johnson next week, you are wrong. Shawn trails only Mary Lou Retton, Shannon Miller, and now Nastia in total limetime gymnastics medals...the other 2 names are still recognizable many, many years after they competed.
 
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