Re: post #1
 

I must confess my eyes didn't leave the suits to look at their faces. I feel stupid for not realizing who was in the photo.

priorities
 

:) LOL - know exactly what you mean !
(a gossip website called homorazzi can
sometimes have interesting little snippets)

I generally steer clear of the tabloid sites. All they cover now are the kardashiens (I could care less about them) and the latest drama bieber has committed ( I could care even less about him)

notoriety
 

Had to do some checking of the unknown (to me) there.

The Kardashians is apparently a regular reality tv show where the daily lives of these family members are updated for viewers.

The Beiber guy sure seems to be frequently in trouble but I guess there's no such thing as bad publicity as the saying goes - and Forbes designates him as the third most powerful musical celebrity.
Sounds like a most irritating little brat and had all the little girls crying on his recent tour where he turned up two hours late for his gig - by which time the mummies and daddies had been obliged to take kiddies home to bed.
His travelling monkey has been confiscated in Germany I believe.

its called commerce and marketing. The Chinese paid huge bucks -- more than Speedo, TYR or Arena were willing to pay--to have their suits on the Americans. Since US sports are largely funded by private donations, unlike many countries, the teams went for the bucks and not patriotism.

the bucks rule
 

Sad but true . Another example : GB swimmers take a £4m cut in funding now - punishment for not coming up with impressive medals in 2012.

What does this do to the morale of the sportsmen? - can they feel to be anything more than a product on a supermarket shelf ?

US athletes in all sports know starting from a young age that winning and money go hand in hand. I think the morale of athletes in the US is moot because they know winning equals money. Whether this line of rationale is right or wrong is another question.

rewards
 

:( Yes, just another branch of showbiz now I guess - I'd like to stick with Pierre De Coubertin but he's from a different century of course.

I think athletes from almost any country know winning equals money - even the old Socialist countries awarded winners with nice homes, cars, etc., while almost any winner today can count on lucrative endorsement deals and advertising gigs. But I still believe most athletes in 'amateur' sports such as swimming compete for the sheer joy of swimming, and of being part of their summer league, high school, or college team. Last summer, US swimmer Missy Franklin was offered huge endorsement sums, but said she wanted to at least swim on a college team for a few years before going 'professional', so she rejected the offers and signed to swim for Cal-Berkeley. Good for her!

Good for her
 

Yes indeed - a pity the poor Chinese guy didn't have the same option (the one on the rigourous state diving program who ended up in penury on the streets when it was decided he wouldn't make the grade).