In the IOC's defense, their choice was made out of hope that China's hosting of the Olympics would inspire them to improve themselves. The Olympics had that effect in both Japan and South Korea, where the games are still cherished as an important milestone in their national history. (Incidentally, I'm just paraphrasing here an article I read somewhere. Probably the New York Times, but I forget.)
Meanwhile, the current situation with China is still far from the IOC's biggest misstep. At the risk of Godwinning this thread, anyone know where the Olympics were held in 1936?
Good point. I really hope it does improve the country and give them something to be proud about. I just kind of want people to stop whining about all the things going wrong because of the country it's in, but really, I'm sure it will change something. I forgot that the Olympics had gone on in Nazi Germany, but I should have, because that's the first speech I remember hearing of Hitler's in school.
Also, not all of these sports are obscure. Football (the real football) is part of it and that's a huge sport. Basketball, from my understanding and I may be wrong, isn't really an international sport. I mean, the only summer sports I watch every 4 years are swimming and gymnastics, and I'm particularly excited about swimming, and those aren't that obscure either. (Well, not to me.) I'll watch other events sometimes, like field events and volleyball, but that's about all I can stand of watching sports. I still love the idea, though, of having athletes from all around the world compete with one another.