After a totally not-an-apology, the USOC has apologized for its language. Which was what most of us were upset about.

And, honestly, I totally understand their defense of the trademark. Trademark law is bizarre. If you don’t ALWAYS defend it (or appear to) then you are not allowed to EVER defend it. Which is bizarre, but true. So I understand that, especially now that Ravelry is so large.

And apparently the horrible language really is their boilerplate for a cease and desist. Which is… stupid. And saps still more respect for the organization. But it means they probably really weren’t trying to be so insulting to knitters, they’re just always that insulting and crude.

So, yeah. We got more than anyone probably ever has. Yay!

So we have a real apology. For the most part. The problem is, of course, that it’s coerced. Not just coerced like the first not-apology, but even more so. And will any of it change their behavior in the future? Probably not. If I was a devotee of the Olympics, this would likely be enough. If it had been the *first* apology, instead of the second, it probably still would be enough for me now.

But I was already drifting away from the olympics. And the USOC is largely responsible for this. When I was a kid, I watched avidly. But it was shown constantly on multiple networks. They showed the whole of all the events, not just what they thought would get ratings. They didn’t hold it all until they knew who won so they could spoon feed us only the winning athletes. I miss that olympics. This new one was already uninspiring.

I watched sculling for hours once when it was possible. It was fascinating. When they had to fill all that time they would get experts and former athletes and they’d talk about the actual sport. The terminology and the methods, the ways the boats were built or the difficulty of performing a Shushunova. But that’s gone, and has been for a while.

So I was already drifting. The Ravelympics was almost the only thing still holding me to the event. A social reason to get my stuff together, get some projects done, and watch the games.

So yeah, we’ve finally got a real apology, but given that it only came after rudeness followed by dismissal… I think my last ties have finally been cut. Which is sad. But that’s part of wise PR. Apologies cannot feel coerced or they’re ineffective. And the USOC has made it clear that they have completely lost the spirit of the Olympics by showing that that rudeness is boilerplate.

And since they’re the only lens through which to view them from here… I think it’s time for me personally to say, “So long Olympics. It’s been real.” Best of luck to the athletes, especially the ones lacking multimillion dollar training and equipment budgets. I’m rooting for you. Really.

This is by no means an encouragement for others to do the same, or a call to arms to boycott anything or anyone. As the Yarn Harlot so eloquently points out, whether you like the USOC or not, they are the ones that allow U.S. athletes to go to the Olympics.

So, yeah. I didn’t feel like I could leave it open as if nothing had changed. I know my readership isn’t near that of the Yarn Harlot, but I nonetheless felt like I had to acknowledge that they had apologized, if under duress, and I understand the legal point they’re coming from.

Now, back to knitting. I’m 44 rows from finishing the second (and by second I mean sixth) sleeve for the sweater I’ve been designing for a year. Holy crap, I might have a sweater by spring 2020!

That’s all for now!
~The Gnome

So this happened (Ravelry link)

Which, surprisingly enough led to a lot of people saying, “WTF?” and that’s just a small sample of them

And a twitter campaign

Basically, the USOC has decided that a group of people, VAGUELY organized by a non-profit, getting together in a spirit of friendly competition and togetherness to celebrate the spirit of olympics (and the olympics themselves) with their hard earned crafts is “denigrating” to “real athletes.” (yes, direct quotes). ::blinks::

Yeah.

So there’s that.

For those unfamiliar with the “Ravelympics” it’s a three time tradition now. People get together into very loose teams (which can be any size you want, and you can be on as many as you want). Teams can be organized however you like, via Ravelry groups, location, interest, whatever. Then during the Olympics, they “compete” in whatever team/individual events they like.

From 2008, the event list:
Afghan Marathon
Amigurumi-n-Toys Toss
Baby Dressage
Bag-n-Tote Backstroke
Balance Beads
Cable Steeplechase
Colorwork Cross-Country
Cowl Jump
Designers Discus
Fantasy DecKnitathalon
Felted Freestyle
Free-For-All Freestyle
Fleece to Finished Fencing
Glove Decathlon
Gift Knits Pentathlon
Hand-Dyed Hurdles
Handspun Heptathalon
Hat Dash
Holiday Handball
Home-Stuff Hammerthrow
Itsy Bitsy Bikini Breaststroke
Laceweight Long Jump
Mitten Medley
Pets Pommel Horse
Scarf Stroke
Shawl Relay
Sock Put
Sweater Sprint
Synchronized Flirty Skirts
Vest Vault
WIPs Wrestling

Basically they’re classes of projects you try to finish during the olympics. People have parties to get together and watch the Olympics while knitting/crocheting/spinning. Very denigrating as you can see.

Really.

Ravelry is (predictably and understandably) caving and changing the name, as ridiculous as it is. Because really, it’s way too stupid to spend money and time fighting in court. I wonder how they feel about Science Olympiad, where I got a silver medal for physics problems? I wonder what the IOC has to say about the USOC driving people away from watching the event and alienating as many as 2 million people (that’s how many are on Ravelry these days).

Insanity.

When I was a kid, I watched all of every Olympics. I recorded things so I could see them. This was before the delays, and before the “we’re not going to report on anything until after its over so we can already know who won and thus who to show” days. Basically the Olympics were on most of every day, and whole events were shown on multiple channels until the Olympics were over. I thought it was amazing.

Since then, I’ve drifted further and further away from the Olympics. The parts they show (because they’re popular! or something) interest me less and less. For me, this is likely to be more or less the end point. If they’re going to be dicks about the one thing that still got me together with friends to watch, then I really have no interest in watching at all. I still respect the athletes, but I have other things to spend my energy on than something that takes itself that… “seriously” is the wrong word, “self-importantly” perhaps.

That’s all for now.
~The Gnome