Who Else Despises The Olympics

[Parche]

It is nothing but a waste of time and money, $$ that could be spent on better things......
:grr: :grr: :grr: :grr:

:hi:

[graywarrior]

1. I find them boring.

[DarkTirade]

2. I like skating.

That's about it. :shrug:

[datasuspect]

3. i'd like it better if the participants competed in the nude

in the greco-roman tradition.

[Book Lover]

4. The modern Olympics are a sham

Do we sacrifice to Zeus? No.

Do we let women watch and participate? Yes.

Have we expanded the number and kind of games despite there being no directive from Zeus to do so? Yes.

Do participating nations also participate in the Olympic Truce? No (OK, OK, neither did the Eleans, but that was just that one time...)

I know you posted your OP as snark, but this actually bugs me.

[AngryAmish]

7. Why?

Some things change for the better. For example that whole Helot thing...they would not be so happy with that.

[Book Lover]

11. Because I am an old crab

I have no logical reason to offer up: I just like being a crabby classicist/mediaevalist.

[AngryAmish]

12. Ha!!! I love it!

[hellbound-liberal]

5. I have no use for the Olympics. I agree that the money could be better spent elsewhere

We spend WAY too much time and energy on GAMES and I am not that impressed with people who excel at them.

[kentauros]

6. I don't despise them...

but would rather see them strip all the commercialism out and make all member countries simply pool their money so that any country could host instead of only the richest ones. How long before an African country is able to "compete" in the "bidding" process? (not counting South Africa or Egypt, that is...)

The other thing I would rather see is a kind of C-SPAN style of showing the games without all the cheesy bios and voice-overs. I know what I'm looking at for the events; I don't need commentary. And set up several channels so as to show all events taking place as they happen; repeats later that night/day.

[Ptah]

8. That's some bad brew.

[siligut]

14. Man that stuff was crap. nt

[NJmaverick]

9. I can't stand them

watching a bunch of chemical soaked people performing. No thank you. Plus so many sports are about the technology, instead of the athletes. A huge waste, in my opinion.

[Mojambo]

10. I'd watch if everyone who didn't finish in the top 3 was killed and eaten at the medal ceremony. n/t

[Oeditpus Rex]

13. I quite like the Olympics

What I despise is the way the American media present them.

Ergo, I do not watch.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

31. Agree about U.S. media. I watch them on CBC

Canadian media shows more events, not as much "human interest" junk.

They are only slightly nationalistic, compared to the U.S. So they show curling, canoeing, tree-felling, beer-drinking, and sometimes hockey.

[ashling]

15. They're not any fun without those

wacky East German judges.
:rofl:

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

30. We'll always have Bulgaria

with their brilliant judging of boxing matches.

:rofl:

edit - spleling

[ghostsofgiants]

16. Word.

[Brigid]

17. I won't be watching this time.

I like some of the skating events, but that's about it. I'll certainly be boycotting an Olympics set in China, of all places. And if I were an athlete, I don't think I would participate.

[Shine]

18. There's very little I despise

"intense dislike", maybe. :P

I don't agree with your sentiments about the Olympics, though. I think it's inspiring to see how accomplished some of these athletes are. It makes me sad to see how politicized they have become. I have mixed feelings about the call to boycott them b/c they were originally intended to transcend politics...but that's sadly not what's happened.

:(

[supernova]

19. I enjoy the Olympics

mostly because I enjoy individual sports like track & field and gymnastics. So I get to indulge that every four years.

I think international activities like the Olympics are important for international good will and community, even if they come off imperfectly.

Whatever the diplomatic fallout from this time around, I really hope they don't punish the athaletes by cancelling the games. For so many of them, it's a one shot deal.

I think it's already happended and continues to that China won't get its PR Gold Star out of it. Whatever they decide to do, they now know that people all over the world, everyday people, not just governments and heads of state they can get pissy with, don't approve of their actions on the world stage. They have the choice of either moderating, or closing off again. We'll see which they choose to do in the months and years ahead.

I do deplore that the games have become soo BIG. That the host nations now have to pony up so much money to pour into new facilities. You shouldn't have to run up a deficit that will take a generation to pay off just to host the games. And I agree it's a disincentive for poorer nations to want to try to host.

I like the idea of the C-Span like coverage. With the american coverage there is way too much face time for the hosts/spokesmodels, and not nearly enough of the competitions. I want to see it live. We all have Tivo or something like it now, no reason to delay coverage to prime time.

[SoxFan]

20. Disagree

It gives some exposure to oddball sports like curling, bobsled, archery, and hammer-tossing.

I do admit, though, that I hate the idea of pro athletes competing in the marquee sports like basketball and hockey. The 1980 Miracle on Ice was miraculous because the American team was made up of a bunch of no-name college kids from Mass and Minnesota.

[Iggo]

21. The Olympics ended in '72.

They've sucked balls ever since.

[Fox Mulder]

22. Agreed.

The Olympics, and every other sport that's out there.

[pokerfan]

23. I prefer the winter olympics

[begin_within]

24. The fireworks are going to be freakingly awesome.

Otherwise, who cares about it.

[Blue_In_AK]

25. I love the winter Olympics but am bored to tears by the summer...

My husband is just the opposite, but he used to run track, so I guess that explains it.

[kineneb]

38. slalom, giant slalom, bobsled- yes!

love watching down-hill racing (just as long as I don't have to do it)...something about snow and my northern European ancestry, I guess...

[LeftyMom]

26. The Olympics are a conspiracy to divert wealth to the the Spandex-Sequin Complex.

I'm morally opposed to anything that consists of three weeks of wall to wall Coca-Cola advertisements, saccharine competitor profiles, sports nobody gives a flying fuck about ("Ooh look, it's the table tennis competition! I'm glad we stayed home to watch this!") and close-ups of sweaty foreign people with spandex-clad cameltoes.

[DarkTirade]

42. ... but the cameltoes are half the reason people watch!

:P

[MissHoneychurch]

27. I would like them better

if all the doping would stop and the athletes would compete with their own strength not with a strength that isn't possible in normal life. The doping and the joke of the doping testing making a farce out of the Olympics.

[elleng]

28. I'm getting there,

for political reasons. I enjoy watching competitive athletic events.

[Connonym]

29. Imagine what could happen if that kind of energy was focused on intellect instead

Especially when you consider how they take small children with talent and groom them their entire lives for one thing, then what? They win a medal and get on a box of Wheaties? Woop-de-doo. Strength of body is a good thing but devoting one's entire life to a sport or worse, forcing a child to devote its entire life to training, is nothing but a huge waste. One small injury and everything is gone. Macho posturing bullshit that accomplishes nothing. I guess nobody would want to watch an intellectual Olympics, it's way more fun to watch and hope that some skier lands in a heap or the runner tests positive for steroids...we keep coming closer to the day when "Ow my balls" is the #1 TV show and there's Gatoraid in every drinking fountain.

[Orsino]

32. Most of it is dull, but occasionally it's thrilling.

The team sports don't do much for me, and I could do without most of the skating, equestrian events and rhythmic gymnastics, but I feel no urgent need to do away with any of it. Even in these categories without much appeal for me, there have been some standout performances. When I bother to tune in, there's usually something to appreciate.

[bigwillq]

33. I like the summer ones

I like the track, baseball, softball

I don't like winter sports so I don't like them as much

[Jamastiene]

34. *raises hand*

I don't like sports anyhow. Back when I could play, I did, but not watching. Watching is no fun. Ask any Olympics participant, would they rather watch or do. They would rather be doing it rather than just watching. We all would, would we not. :evilgrin: :P

[skygazer]

35. Sports for the most part don't much interest me anyway

And I prefer cooperation to competition any day, as shockingly non-capitalistic as that sounds.

The other day we had a meeting at work and it was all about how our district is close to the top in a bunch of stupid and arbitrary measurements of "success" and how those who are on top feel its a fluke and how we need to "beat" them and "top their numbers" and "show them" that we're in it for the long run.... blah, blah, blah....

And I'm thinking to myself, how stupid is this? We're competing with our own company. :wtf:

[Rabrrrrrr]

36. I think they're a goddamned shame and a waste of humanity, but at the same time

they are a perfect symbol for why this world doesn't work, and why we continue to be at war.

What we need is to get rid of the sports-based olympics, and replace them with an Olympics that would actually help generate a better world - an arts Olympics, where the finest orchestras, composers, dancers, ballet companies, painters, writers, poets, duets, octets, chamber orchestras, quartets, perhaps even rock bands, would all compete, but not for their "home" countries. We'd get rid of the nationalistic bullshit.

[last_texas_dem]

37. I don't really "despise" them, I just have absolutely no interest in them.

[Blue_Tires]

39. they lost their way a decade or two ago

[FloridaJudy]

40. Borrrrrring!

I'd say I'm boycotting them because of China's recent crack-down in Tibet, and its support of the criminal regimes in Burma and the Sudan, but I probably wouldn't watch them anyway. Even if I had a working television.

[Awsi Dooger]

41. Greatest gathering on the planet

And by far the best sporting event. And yes, I know all about the World Cup, a poor man's version with only one sport.

I've been to several Olympiads, here and abroad, and it's an experience like no other. Sports we never hear about are prioritized beyond description in other countries. Just listening to their fans talk about it, the local hero athletes, is phenomenal. I think I smile more at an Olympiad than the typical month or two, let alone two weeks. There are celebrations everywhere, and not stuffy costly ones. Outdoors and impromptu. You can talk to people at the venues and secure tickets for very little cost, if not free. Everyone goes out of their way to help you. And that carries over to housing. My favorite was in Barcelona in '92, a little upstairs room with air conditioning (!, unheard of that year)about 20 miles north of the city, into the mountains, and for the equivalent of $20 bucks per night. I completely stumbled upon it while visiting a mosque and off hand inquiring about available rooms, certain they would laugh at me. That little ride to and from Barcelona each day, and all the people I'd talk to through the language barrier on the bus, made the trip memorable and cherished.

I'm trying to be more accommodating of different opinions. Like fans who love baseball, which I can't stand. But disliking the Olympics is frankly stupid. It basically screams you have no clue what the Olympics are.

Granted, the American TV coverage is inept, and that may play a huge role. ABC did a wonderful job of capturing the soul of the Games, but CBS and particularly NBC are ratings paranoid and the coverage is limited focus, and pathetic, as a result. I've taped some of it when gone and come home to watch a depiction on NBC that didn't threaten what I viewed in person, or on TV in the local country.

The only aspect I despise are pro athletes in team sports like basketball and hockey.

[noonwitch]

43. I liked it better before the US allowed professional athletes on their teams

Remember the cold war, and how the USSR and its satellites always used pro athletes, and we always had amatuers and college athletes? We criticized the other countries for this.

Then, in 1992, we decided to use professional basketball players and create a dream team. No other nation can compete against our NBA players, that is just not right. There were future professional hockey players on the victorious US team from 1980 (or was it 84?), but none were professionals at the time they played on the Olympic team.