03 June 2008

Can't Wait for That 'Up Close and Personal' Segment . . .

. . . NBC Sports lurrrvvvs them some 'up close and personal' segments during their Olympics coverage. ABC started it all, I think in 76 (but I could be wrong, might not have gotten really, really bad till 84).

Well, if they decide to do Chinese sprinter Fan Meizhong, they'll have some interesting challenges. He's a literature teacher, and he teaches in the region hit by the earthquake, here's a bit on him from the Telegraph,
In an act of moral foolhardiness, Fan Meizhong set out on a blog his guiding principle: in matters of life and death, it's every man for himself.

When the quake struck, rather than overseeing an orderly evacuation, he said he just shouted "Stay calm, it's an earthquake!" and ran for it without looking back to see if his pupils were following.

"I ran towards the stairs so fast that I stumbled and fell as I went. When I reached the centre of the football pitch, I found I was the first to escape. None of my pupils was with me," wrote the man now known across China as 'Runner Fan'.

Wow.

Just.

Wow.

Never experienced a big quake while in class, just a few shudders and judders, but if the instructor had bolted like a scared rabbit, don't think most people would be pleased.

Also, love this bit from the same article,
One commentator in a state newspaper, the Shanghai Daily, described Mr Fan as a "courageous coward" for admitting what happened - but added that his courage was not sufficient to exonerate his cowardice.

I suspect if that happened here, he might have gotten an endorsement deal with some 'edgy' company (like Steve-O and Sneaux Shoes)

(via Tim Blair)

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