It’s still more than a year until the 2012 London Olympics, but people are already levying disgust against it.

Specifically, the Iranian Olympic Committee hates the logo being used. Granted, it is awfully ugly, weird and very pointy. Maybe you like points, but even the multitude of point-enthusiasts out there won’t like the design.

It is supposed to read “2012,” but that can only be made out with a healthy amount of squinting and a willingness to forego all previous knowledge of what a number should look like. You can make it out, but it isn’t the most obvious.

So it isn’t the greatest looking thing, but this isn’t what Iran is all riled up about.

They believe that it actually spells out “Zion,” which is another term for Jerusalem or, more broadly, what is now Israel. The Iranian Olympic Committee therefore believes that it is racist because in their eyes the logo is favoring the Israelis.

They are threatening to boycott unless it is changed.

I believe that this is a stretch. Apparently there is video showing the numbers being rearranged so that it looks somewhat like “Zion.” Much like interpreting the logo as 2012, one will need to erase prior knowledge about what a letter should look to truly see “Zion” amidst the shape vomit that is the Olympic logo.

Now, if you happen to agree with the Iranians here and think that they definitely covertly spelled out “Zion,” I’m worried about you. I think that maybe you should stop reading Dan Brown novels and eject “National Treasure” from the DVD player before it’s too late. Maybe consume less caffeine while you are at it.

I definitely agree that you can rearrange these letters and get something that resembles “Zion,” but this is purely by coincidence just because the “numbers” used can look like letters. A “z” and the number two can look alike, and the same goes for a zero and an “o” as well as one and “i.”

Making a two look like an “n” takes a bit more work, but by using a rotation tool you can get it too look like it.

What I’m getting at is that if it looks like Zion, it definitely is not intentional.

This brings me to my next point, which is that it is insane to think that this is some ploy to favor Israel and to be racist.

Thinking that this is some Zionist ploy to show their superiority or whatever the Iranians think is going on here is quite certifiable. If they really wanted to do that, they probably wouldn’t choose something as innocuous as an Olympic logo.

Honestly, if Iran didn’t say they thought it was racist, who would be talking about this logo? Maybe those point-enthusiasts I spoke of earlier, but even they have gotten sick of it after look at it for almost four years.

That’s the other thing: This logo was revealed in 2007!

Was the committee asleep for the whole time? Did they put it in a to-do list and then just leave it at home on the way to work? I’d understand, because I do that all the time, but my to-do list doesn’t usually involve calling the London Olympics racist. That’s something you may want to mention as soon as you can.

If the Iranians end up boycotting, it’ll be the first time since 1984 and though they don’t have the largest contingent, they have found some success.

They had around 55 athletes in China, depending on what list you look at, and had two medals. That isn’t much, but in Athens in 2004, they sent just 38 athletes and took home six medals including two golds. These are pretty good percentages if you ask me.

I honestly hope they go, so that their athletes and citizens can get a chance at another gold. If they boycott because of this, that’d be a shame because the logo is just not offensive. If it’s upsetting at all, it is to our eyes.