Far far away CITY

 

National mourning began as Liu Xiang rubbed his left leg, signaling the source of his pain, telling 1.3 billion Chinese citizens that he would not be crossing even one hurdle this day.

 

The sadness radiated outward to fans and officials and journalists, who immediately wept at the downfall of their national hero. All over China, people felt the collective sting of failure, concentrated in one athlete, which is always a risky business.

 

The spectators wanted no more of the morning heats at the National Stadium. They staggered out of the stadium as if in shock after witnessing a car crash.

Liu's body had failed, which, in the eyes of many Chinese people, meant they had failed, too.

 

A visitor to China wanted to hug the horrified fans and say:

It's all right. Your athletes are leading the Olympics in gold medals by a huge margin. Your young people are the sweetest, most prepared volunteers any Olympics has ever seen. Your government has organized an efficient Olympic Games.

 

Such words would not have given solace to fans like the 27-year-old man who gave his family name as Chu: "This is such a disgrace for China," he said, adding, "He must have been through a lot of pressure from the press. Both the media and Liu Xiang himself should take the responsibility."

 

Feng Gang, 33, who came with four friends from the city of Chongqing to see Liu compete, called the injury "a pity," but added: "In the end, it really matters only to himself. We are just the audience. I am sure he is the one that regrets this the most, not anyone else. We feel disappointed, of course, but we still like him as a person."

 

It is always dangerous to put faith in one person, be it dictator or elected official, singer or actor. Everybody is flawed, particularly athletes, whose Achilles' tendons or hamstrings can go at any time.

 

China had personified its hopes for the 2008 Summer Games in Liu, a 25-year-old hurdler, who by definition was fragile. All athletes are fragile. Witness the way Yao Ming hobbled off the court while playing for faraway Houston last winter. Witness the way Mickey Mantle, the great Yankees hitter, blew a hamstring running to first base one night in the early '60's — like a deer being shot in mid-stride, somebody wrote.

 

But Liu is different. He is even more central to the Chinese persona than Yao, who at 7 feet, 6 inches is beyond imagination. Liu was the outer possibility of the Chinese psyche, the chance that a 6-foot, 2-inch hurdler could compete with athletes from around the world.

 

That prospect intrigued Liu. Chinese athletes are trained to keep a low profile, and not get grandiose, but Liu once speculated on the impact of his world record of 12.91 seconds in the Athens Games in 2004, when he was four years younger.

"It is kind of a miracle," Liu said. "It is unbelievable — a Chinese, an Asian, has won this event. It is a proud moment not only for China but for Asia and all people who share the same yellow skin color."

 

Please note these are not the ravings of a Western journalist. These are the words of Liu — reasonable enough, since he had just become the first Chinese male ever to win a gold medal in Olympic track and field.

 

 

 

Liu touched a nerve in the Chinese people. Huge corporations that are lighting up the Beijing night with their neon advertisements put their money on him. Not allowed to have a driver's license, Liu endorses Cadillac. He was the new Chinese man, their Tiger, their Federer, their Jordan, their Beckham.

 

With Liu as the example, China upgraded its sports system after 2004, bringing more prospects into isolated training camps. "Let a Hundred Flowers Bloom," was one transient slogan of Chairman Mao. China dreamed of a hundred Lius.

 

Many other great athletes have aged between Olympics, lost their muscle tone. Sometime this spring, Liu stopped competing, went behind the screen. On June 12, Dayron Robles from Cuba, one of the last national true believers, set a world record of 12.87 seconds.

 

It happens that fast in sports. China was caught with its gigantic investment in Liu. Tickets for Thursday's hurdles final were going at 10 or 20 times the original price.

 

That final will take place as scheduled, but the market price has fallen a trifle. Welcome to the capitalism of scalping. More important, China is left without the athlete who was expected to take on the world,

 

埃蒙斯必将留名AY史，这是好友MSN签名里的话。历史上的瞬间总是要重演，人怎么可以惨成这样呢？我非常想去安慰他，我更想知道他在打最后一枪之前在想什么。我宁许相信，他是在没有准备好的时候，一激动扣动了扳机。

在林子里看到，有人说：

 

可能很多人跟我一样的感觉，AY的魅力就在于此，那种戏剧性的不可预知。尽管有无数的人通过网络舆论在谈避Y，可是嘴上这么说，还是不自觉地卷入这个氛围当中。

 

我从来都没有体会这么深，觉得AY离我这么近。

 

FOR，我也因AY有关的种种而身心俱疲。

 

甚至在一个月前，我会否想到这一切呢？

 

如题，如戏。

是的，BB就是一个小偷，居然在我毫不知情的情况下，偷我的流量啊！我的心，那是一个痛啊，那是相当地痛。我上个月底把号换到BB里，顺便充值五十块钱，可是刚刚不到十天，就收到了10086的余额不到十元的提示短信。在进入八月之后的今天，我才想到上网看一下细目，一看着实被吓到了，每个小时，注意，是每个小时，它就自动连最少一次网络，每次最少一分钟，最长十分钟。我的钱啊，我的心痛啊。下个月是不得不办GPRS包月了。

 

就在我写这篇博客之前，就因为我上了动感的网站查了下细目，就不得不把今天博客的题目换成了这个，其实，我今天真正想说的是关于今天在豆瓣的北京地下铁小组看到的八月来的几则帖子，那是相当搞笑，摘录如下：

 

安检的警察很装逼的说

2008-08-01 16:41:38 　　来自: XXXX

　　一个个跟爷似的

　　装大一尾狼

　　其实就是个小jb，被骂几句就老实了

 

我的瑞士军刀被没收了~~

 2008-08-01 09:35:11 　　来自: XX (XX)

　　做10号线 知春里上车~~~死活不让带~~~~警察都来了~~500多呢！！！！

 

有没有可能奥运之后地铁收费方式要变呀？

 2008-07-30 22:15:56 　　来自: XXXXX (XX)

　　现在改成进出各刷一次了，明摆着要按里程收费了

 

强烈要求10号线安公用电话

 2008-07-31 21:17:58 　　来自: xxxx

　　没有信号是事先说的

　　可是事先没说没有公用电话啊……

　　翘了……

　　前天坐10号线，跟同学约在知春路，然后就悲惨了

　　找了半小时才通过眼睛找到……

　　 　　在配套设施不健全的情况下，可不可以先每个站台弄个IC卡电话啊，哪怕钢崩的也成啊，进了10号线，完全就是隔离人世了

 

奥运让北京地铁很不爽

 2008-08-04 08:20:56 　　来自: XX (XX)

　　今天到西直门，发现C口换了个门，跑得远了不说，那么长，那么高的台阶竟然没有电梯。nnd，旁边3个电梯呢，开一个怎么了！还不如原来呢。强烈鄙视

 

金台夕照原来叫光华路呀

 2008-07-31 22:24:24 　　来自: xxxx

　　原来这名字多好多直观

 

听说北京站正常了？！

 2008-08-02 23:48:57 　　来自: XXXX (XX)

　　听说北京站正常了？！

 

地铁里还有爬行动物和半兽人么？

 2008-07-30 13:06:26 　　来自: Xxxxx (XX)

　　弱弱的问下，现在地铁里还有爬行动物么？我长久以来就惧怕坐地铁，由于只有周末才会坐地铁，所以毫无例外地每次都在地铁上碰见那帮行乞者。拖着烂腿在地上爬啊爬，更有甚者去拽我的腿，于是我有了心理阴影。除了爬行动物，半兽人也很可怕，扭曲的脸在身边晃来晃去，一般还是成群结队的，什么“大火无情人有情”唱个没完。我就是再有情，也不能被惊吓后还给你们钱啊！

　　于是，想问下，这些人现在还在地铁活动么？周末又要坐地铁了。

 

显示器能上地铁么？

 2008-07-30 09:15:50 　　来自: XXXXX

　　问下，现在显示器能上地铁么？买个二手，打车太远不值当的

 

十号线你敢不那么冷吗

 2008-07-27 19:09:55 　　来自: XXXXXX (XX)

　　好不容易这是通车了,这会儿坐车特别的冷不管是车厢里还是车站里,给人一种到了放猪肉的冷库的感觉,十号线管空调的人真冷酷!

　　 　　我打算去地铁口卖羽绒服去了.

 

 

我昨天被个大叔让座了。。。

 2008-07-31 10:22:06 　　来自: XXXXXXXX (XX)

　　昨晚下班的时候在距离慧新换十号线还有两站地的时候

　　有位三十来岁的大叔拍拍我示意我背后有个空座~~

　　我长的像祖国未来的花朵还是像花朵他家长呢~~~

 

公交和地铁要全面安检了，于是乎我想到一个问题！

 2008-07-31 13:41:10 　　来自: XX (XX)

　　你说，如果全面开始安检。

　　 　　我的JJ如果起来的话，警察看到下面有一个“包”，那怎么办啊？

　　 　　不会让我自己摸？

　　 　　女警察来摸？

　　 　　当场验货？

　　 　　直接“销毁”？