Dumb and Dumber

The wise accumulate wisdom;

fools get stupider by the day.

Proverbs 14:24

Putting on a sporting event like the Olympics is a herculean task.  I cannot even imagine what it must be like on a day-to-day basis to be the One In Charge of such an endeavor.  I can go nuts planning a 5-day Vacation Bible School Program for 50 kids.  How in the world does one coordinate so many different events at so many different venues?  The details have to be staggering; one would have to delegate to top associates, who would need to delegate to their top associates, and on down the line.  And all it takes to have a complete disaster is one seemingly insignificant person who doesn't do their homework.  Mind you, there will always be mistakes, and events that won't quite go the way you had hoped.  But somewhere in London tonight, there is a person who I suspect is no longer employed by the London Olympic Committee - an individual who is now a pariah because of careless, mindless stupidity.

Just four hours after the beginning of the London Games, Hampden Park in Glasgow, Scotland, hosted a women's football game - North Korea vs. Columbia.  The gigantic screens above the field began announcing the various team members, with a photo of each individual player displayed next to the flag of their country.  The display was spectacular and must have taken a great deal of time to organize and produce; apparently, however, not quite enough time was taken to insure that what was broadcast was, in fact, correct.  The blunder that literally stopped the introductions, and delayed the game, was not the misspelling of a player's name nor the wrong picture for a team member, but the displaying of the South Korean flag next to the pictures of each of the North Korean players.  The looks of horror on the crowds of North Korean fans matched that of the players.  The entire team walked off the pitch in protest, and the game finally started over an hour late.

How could someone have possibly made such a gaffe?  Although similar in coloring, the two flags look nothing alike.  There are many, many different nations competing this summer in London - from huge superpowers to tiny kingdoms few are familiar with.  North Korea, however, does not fall in the latter category.  Somewhere in the hustle and bustle of preparation for these events, someone grabbed the first Korean flag that popped up (are there really adults on this planet who don't know that there are two separate nations who are bitter enemies?), and literally hundreds of other "someones" didn't catch the mistake.  There will be many moments of triumph and tragedy at the London Olympics, some of which will change the history books, but the event that has overshadowed the start of these games has nothing to do with athletic prowess and everything to do with human incompetence.