The 29th Summer Universiade in Taipei will be held in coming weekend.  Mayor Ke P said the games will be a success, otherwise he might commit harakiri.  So let's hope such an event shall not turn out to be a flop.  But the box office of the games portends a pessimistic outcome.  A Taipei councilman said so far the number of the visitors from abroad for the games has only up to 2000 odds, or averagely every single person costs 100 thousand TW dollars spent in "international" propaganda, and only 20% of the VIP tickets have been sold up to date, according to some reports.  

Why hasn't such a sports event attracted a satisfactory audience from outside?  I think basically sports fans don't attach great importance to Summer Universiade, which absolutely pales in comparison with Summer Olympics, Summer Youth Olympics, or some popular single-item event like soccer and basketball world cups, grand slams, and so on.  Furthermore, under current circumstances of the stern relation across the strait, Taipei just can't expect any "claques" from China's Mainland.  Why should Mainlanders do to be treated as stupid punters or even "Chink Pigs" at Taipei, a city just at most as its second-tier counterparts in Mainland? 

Okay, enough said.  Let's just pray for no blackout happens during the gala.