In the last two weeks, several persons approached me by asking me as to
how and
where they could purchase a copy of the new CISS 2001 BOOK. Although I
referred
each of them to contact the CISS Home Office for such a book, I had
very uneasy
and mixed feelings to do so. By reading the below comments of mine, you
will
understand as to why I felt that way.
As a long time and ardent supporter of the CISS and deaf sports
movement, I
would like to share with you my own opinion related to the
recently-published
new book called CISS 2001 BOOK (or CISS 2001 REVIEW). You should know
that I
also had a part with this book because I contributed my exclusive
stories on the
20 deaf elite athletes of the world in these illustrious book pages.
Historically speaking, the CISS 2001 BOOK is the 7th book edition by
the CISS (
the first edition came out in 1934, second - in 1949, third - in 1958,
fourth -
in 1966, fifth - in 1974, sixth - in 1985). I must tell you that I
discovered
the new book to be an embarassment and a failure - to my much
unhappiness and
appalling, I spotted over 202 errors, highly-questionable facts,
omissions,
inaccuracies and name misspellings in the various book pages!
To give you an idea as to what was incorrectly written down in the
various book
pages, here are the ten randomly selected errors, misfacts and
inaccuracies
committed by the book authors as well as my comments, facts and
questions:
1.Page 13: "At the Congress held in Copenhagen, a proposal put
forward by
Mr. Heinz Prochazka of Austria to establish the International Winter
Games was
accepted". "The first ever International Winter Silent Games were
staged in
Seefeld between the 26th-30th of January 1949, and were attended by 33
competitors from 5 nations." These two different sentences provide a
conflicting
and confusing information related to timing, i.e., the Congress was
held on
August 15, 1949, while the Winter Games were inaugurated earlier, in
January of
1949. How could Mr. Prochazka's proposal be accepted at Copenhagen in
August of
1949, while the Winter Games were already over in January of 1949?
2. Page 88: Winter Games Davos, SUI 6-14 March 1999 18 ( nations )
273 (
competitors) - how and where was obtained the statistical information
on number
of nations and athletes competing at these Games? At Davos, there were,
in fact
, 17 nations competing , while the statistical number of athletes
competed there
- 273 - was substantially inflated by the book authors. According to my
research, there was an official total of 208 sportsmen and sportswomen
participating at the Davos Games: 29 male and 26 female alpine skiers.
21 male
and 18 female nordic skiers and 114 ice hockey players.
3. Pages 93 and 167: Vladimir Skomorokhov - there was no such
first name
for this world and Games record holder and Games winner in the 110 m
and 400 m
hurdling events. The fact is that it is Vyacheslav ( not Vladimir )
Skomorokhov.
4. Pages 94 and 168: Tatjana Goubar of CZE - why did not the
authors bother
to ask Voitech Volejnik, a CISS EC member from the Czech Republic to
verify the
fact if that person ever competed for his country under its famous
acronym of
CZE? The truth is that Miss Goubar comes from the Ukraine or UKR ( not
CZE ).
5. Pages 127 through 131: Shooting 1981 - there are seven medal
disciplines
mentioned in this sport held at the 1981 Games, but missing from these
pages is
the 8th event - 10 m air rifle, 60 shots, team - which also took place
at the
1981 Games and in which the placings were as follows: Austria ( gold
medal),
Italy ( silver medal) and Federal Republic of Germany ( bronze medal ).
6. Page 123: Football 1993 Czechoslovakia Silver Medal - it is an
inaccurate data as in 1993 on the world's political map there was no
longer a
country named Czechoslovakia. At the 1993 Games the football team was
composed
of players from the two separate countries - the Czech Republic and
Slovakia,
therefore, the book should have properly printed the names of the two
separate
countries - Czech Republic and Slovakia or Czech Republic/Slovakia -
playing as
one unified team and winning a silver medal.
7. Page 162: 1997 Nordic Skiing - there were no Winter Games held
in the
year of 1997 when Svenningsson of SWE (or Sweden ) won a gold medal in
10 km
nordic skiing event.
8. Page 165: Snowboarding - why was this sports included on the
list of
Deaflympics Medal Winners as this sports, in fact, was a demonstration
and
non-medal event in 1999?
9. Pages 176 and 177: CISS Member Nations - twice each time it
mentions the
nations of Romania, Hungary, Italy and Austria as members of the CISS;
these are
confusing and inaccurate. For example, Romania officially became a CISS
member
in 1939 ( not in 1924), later on, after the 1981 Games, this nation was
expelled
from the CISS, then in the latter part of 1991 Romania was re-admitted
as an
ordinary CISS member. Again, there is no mention in these pages that in
1991
Romania was re-admitted as a CISS member.
10. Page 194: Deaflypic - there is misspelling of this word
elsewhere in
that page.
As you may now guess that there were so many errors and typos printed
in this
book. The book was co-authored by the three English-speaking persons -
Lovett,
Terry Giansanti and Jordan Eickman. Both Giansanti and Eickman - the
debutantes
of the book authorship - did their best in making the book as an
interesting and
informative one. But there should be no excuse for the CISS "veteran"
Lovett,
who was, as I understand, a self-appointed lead co-author of the book.
Since the
last book edition some 16 years ago, i.e., in 1985, did not the authors
have
ample time to research and verify the facts, including obtaining the
correct
name spelling and statistical information, in order to prepare the book
in a
professionally accurate and justified manner, did they? Did anyone
thoroughly
and carefully proofread and diligently verify the facts in the book
before it
went into the hands of the Red Lizard Limited publishing company in
Great
Britain for publication?
Moreover, absent from the book pages are the names of all medal winners
in all
team sports. How will we recognize, honor and commemorate all medalists
in all
team sports? How will the present and future CISS researchers or deaf
/non-deaf
history scholars know that, for example, one sportsman from Finland,
Vesa Hannu,
in the span of 20 years won the two gold medals in the two different
sports -
long jump in 1969 and volleyball in 1989? And how will the book reader
or, let's
say, students at the Gallaudet University Department of Deaf Studies
course
learn of the feat made by an Afro-American basketball star from the
USA, David
Hamilton, who was the only multiple gold medal winner in the event
between the
years of 1981 and 2001? Why did not the authors attempt to include the
very
vital information like the names of all medalists in all team sports in
the book
pages?
Also, prominently missing in the book pages is very significant
information
related to the complete history of all world records set by various
sportsmen
and sportswomen since August of 1933 when the CISS officially
instituted its
World Records Commission in athletics and swimming. Were the book
authors simply
neglectful or incompetently able to dig further in order to obtain the
historically-relevant data ( for instance, the names of all world
record holders
and Deaflympic Games medalists in all team sports ) from various
sources,
including from the well-stocked and easily-accessible archives of the
CISS
Museum in Rome, Italy?
And who will know that the key person to supervise the book project was
Lovett,
the recipient of the CISS Gold Medal of Honor in 1993 and the author of
the
previous errors-filled 6th edition of CISS Book in 1985? As in 1985,
Jordan,
another recipient of the CISS Gold Medal of Honor in 1987, acted as
Lovett's
"top-rated and genial advisor" in formulating and preparing this year's
book
project. Jordan had considerable influence on Lovett in the book
preparations
since it is a known fact that Lovett is Jordan's long-time dependent
and crony (
"I am on the CISS because of Jerry Jordan; before I became the CISS
President I
worked under Jordan for 14 years as his Vice President; Jerald Jordan
is my
mentor and teacher; if I do a bad job or if I do anything wrong for the
CISS, do
blame him, Jerry Jordan," Lovett's speech at the Gallaudet University
Alumni
Association Luncheon, Gallaudet University, Washington, D.C., USA,
April 10,
1999 ).
Additionally, the book found no room in its pages for the list of the
names of
all former CISS Technical Directors ( or CISS TD ) in different sports.
The injustice and unfairness, for instance, done to the past CISS TDs
by the
chief book co-author and book project supervisor Lovett was that Lovett
made
available in the book pages to extollingly and gloriously showcase
himself and
his collaborant Jordan ( there are also several colorful pictures of
them placed
elsewhere in the book pages ) as the true CISS "heroes", while Lovett
was unable
to find a single book space line to recognize tremendous and
professional work
done by every CISS TD in the past. By witnessing 12 Deaflympic Games in
my
lifetime, I must state that every CISS TD unquestionably played a very
paramount
role in the build-up and progress of the CISS. How, where and when will
all
ex-CISS Technical Directors - many of them, by now, are deceased - get
due
credit, recognition and remembrance in the history books for the
voluntary and
difficult job each of them patriotically performed on the CISS behalf
in the
past?
Everybody knows that, to date, Jordan has served the CISS in different
positions
for 34 years ( since 1967 ), while Lovett began his official
involvement in the
CISS since 1981, which translates into a total of 20 years of his CISS
service
to this day. Sadly, by jointly failing to utilize their experience,
expertise,
prudency and all-around historical knowledge, these 54 combined years
of both
Jordan's and Lovett's "valuable and distinguished" service to the CISS
cause
were of no use, of no asset and of no assistance in making the new book
as an
error-free, informationally-accurate and statistically-reliable book!
In addition, although the book has its beautifully-designed front
cover, was it
worthwhile and wise for the constantly cash-starving CISS Treasury to
throw away
over $7,000 in order to publish this ill-prepared book? Now I pose
another
question to you: is it worth to encourage interested persons to pay $20
( USA
dollars ) to the CISS Home Office in order to buy a 196-page book,
which is
flooded with over 202 mistakes, questionable historical facts and
inaccuracies
in its pages? And how will the readers, including the officials of the
IOC, Deaf
History International, World Federation of the Deaf , potential
financial donors
or sponsors, view and rate the book when the book will be picked, let's
say, up
from the shelves in the famous libraries such as the Edward Miner
Gallaudet
Library in Washington, D.C., USA, the IOC Museum Library in Lausanne,
Switzerland, and the CISS Museum in Rome, Italy?
Overall, publishing such a book in the irresponsible and unprofessional
manner
is the disservice and disrespect to our 77 year-old CISS organization
in
particular and the insult and degradation to our rich and proud deaf
sports
world heritage in general!
By now, I hope, you will understand as to how I feel about this book -
the first
major and official book publication by the CISS in this new 21st
century and new
third millennium!
Finally, besides myself, let history itself judge the book!
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