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| This threatens the Olympic brand. Honest. |
Wow, who knew that the United States Olympic Committee was just a bunch of bullies? Way to exhibit good sportsmanship, fellas,
picking on a bunch of knitters having a little fun with the Olympics. Does our dubbing a little knitting contest the "
Ravelympics" really threaten your brand? To the point that the USOC lawyers have to send a "cease and desist" letter to
Ravelry? Do you actually believe what you wrote in your letter?
We believe using the name "Ravelympics" for a competition that involves
an afghan marathon, scarf hockey and sweater triathlon, among others,
tends to denigrate the true nature of the Olympic Games. In a sense, it
is disrespectful to our country's finest athletes and fails to
recognize or appreciate their hard work.
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| Copyright infringement? Really? |
Methinks someone misplaced his sense of humor.
Afghan marathon,
scarf hockey,
sweater triathlon - these are all JOKES, you misanthropic knuckleheads. JOKES about KNITTERS - see, we are
pretending to be athletes, mostly to justify the irrational amount of time we spend making knots with pointy sticks. We aren't denigrating the Olympic sports, you dumpkopfs; we are attempting to venerate our knitting by linking it with your games. Haven't you ever heard that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery?
Sheesh. I hate to break this to you; but all over the US this summer, children at camp will be participating in "Olympic games." Shocking, eh? A threat to your brand, no? And worse yet, they will be denigrating your athletes by pretending that a 3-legged race is as difficult as, say, one of your track-and-field events. Also? They will be awarding fake medals that are disrespectful to the actual gold, silver, and bronze medals awarded during your Games.
I'm telling you, your lawyers are going to have a VERY busy summer.
sheesh! that's ridiculous. and btw, my daughter is spending the week representng china at field hockey camp in a mini-olympics.
ReplyDeleteGood grief! Of course, we all knew that knitters were criminal lawbreakers.
ReplyDeleteObviously, their attention was attracted by your birthday celebration. ♥Happy Birthday, SC♥
ReplyDeleteI explained the situation to my kids. My 10yo's comments--first, that USOC sound like bullies, and second, that his school is going to be in trouble too, then. There you have it. I think he summed up the two main points of contention we have with USOC.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I think Bob Costas's treacly, melodramatic intonations are far more denigrating to the hard work put in by athletes than anything I might knit. Also, I think it's disrespectful not to show events live if they don't occur during prime viewing time, because clearly the main point of the Olympics is to make money for NBC. Oh, wait, that's not the point? Coulda fooled me.
I wonder if they'll prosecute anyone waving a homemade Olympic flag or sign?
Delete"Methinks someone misplaced his sense of humor."
ReplyDeleteTotally! I heard about this this morning on FB from one of my knitting friends and I at first thought it was satire. It's definitely a "truth is stranger than fiction" thing.
Parody. Free speech. Not commercial competition. Wait till they get a court order before you cancel Ravelympics.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with Amy, it was probably NBC that put the USOC up to it. Seriously, this is definitely a case of bullying - bad as Disney World and the Atlanta Braves.
ReplyDeleteFor. The. Love. Of. God.
ReplyDeleteWell there goes my idea for holding a Mom-olympics.
ReplyDeleteWe could have had events such as Mopping marathon, Homework Hockey, and my personal favorite, "Being in 4 places at the same time."
Think of the possibilites!
And instead of medals, we could be awarded with naps.
I was just reading this from Ravelry to my husband last night and he was hooting with laughter. I think it's mostly just weird. Knitting scarves is disrespectful to the athletes? Really?
ReplyDeleteThree-legged hurdles while knitting a scarf. Now that's a contest I'd watch. Ooh, and if Bob Costas could be one of the knitting hurdlers, I'd pay money to see it.
ReplyDeleteMadness--the Olympic people need to lighten up!
ReplyDelete