A case for KEEPING the Olympics

[comtec]

now that I have am well into my 5th year of exile, I have really gotten a broader perspective of the world.
I really encourage everyone who can scrape together 1000 dollars to leave the US at least ONCE in your life to see ANYWHERE else!
The Olympics does that.

The Olympic games, were held in the middle of the Trojan wars!

The great horse breakers of Troy, the great Myrmidons, they put it all aside to have fair games.

The modern games are no less beautiful, when you stop to look at THE GAMES, and not the games around them.

For so short a period of time, we get to see a bit of other cultures during the games. We see and hear stories of athletes from other countries, what they went through. We see AMAZING, Superhuman feats of skill and ability.

The Olympians, are athletes at the top of their game, the very best the current, modern word has to offer, and there is a real effort to keep drugs, and other un-natural influences out of the games.

for a brief flicker of time, the world shares an interest. The world shares one common - if not for different locations - hope.

The Olympics are a beast of politics, there is no way around it. And many things about it are just... wrong... but having it in different locations every 4 years is not one of those.

By changing the locations, you keep the Olympics as fresh as the young athletes who compete. You give a country the ability to shine (or not, as is the case with Beijing) to the entire world!

There is literally no way the Chinese government will be able to stop all the truths from coming out of their oppressive regime, hearing the stories of the REAL Chinese people! Maybe even sending some western influences back into China, "poisoning the well" as it were.

But this is one of the only things that the entire world can agree on, that we all WANT!

The idea that the Olympics has served it's purpose is such a vulgar, ill-informed, ignorant American idea, that it makes me ill to BE an American!

HOW Arrogant to think that WE, a MERE 330 Million people, should DANE to have the right to tell the other 6 BILLION + people on the PLANET what to do, and think, and life, is hubris so high that there are literally no words... aside from Typically American. (typisch Amerikaans)

The Olympics are what bind us, in even the hardest, cruelest of times.

The corruption that brought the Olympics to Beijing is so blatant, that I doubt that the IOC will be able to pull this kind of BS off again, in the near future. They will always have to face the shame of Beijing!

When corruption is shown again at the selecting of the next location (after 2012) there will be a cry of Beijing! and the corrupt deal will be dead.

So I think we should keep the Olympics, because most of the athletes, some the only, or one of a few athletes from their country, are there from hard work, dedication, and a drive most of use lost before we realized we had it, from the TV box.

[sentelle]

1. too many assumptions

First off, while true that the Olympics lasted through the trojan wars, the turks were never invited. When participants of those games did wage war, that's when it ended. By the peleponesian wars, it was not heard of. Therefore the modern olympic games, as we know them, are not the same animal. Second: We are not ancient Greece, or even Athens. We don't praise art for art's sake, athleticism for its sake, etc. We obsess about corporate sponsors, personal dramas, and other things that have little to do with the sport. The Olympics were viewed by free men (slaves and women weren't allowed in) and were performed nude. The only prise one got was a laurel wreath, and an attaboy from your hometown, not endorcement deals. The original olympics were honest, men were men, competing for love of sport. Let's look at 'women's Gymnastics' the olldest competitor is generally 16 years old. That's not a woman. In other circumastances, she'd be on tv as a victim of child rape, therefore she can't be a woman. And 16 is usually the maximum age, as puberty, for women works against gymnastics. So why not call it what it is: girls gymnastics. Then there is the so called parade of nations (and not nations). Yes, agreed you have nations there, china, greece, italy among them. What of Taiwan, whom is represented separately, but to many is not officially designated as a nation (the US has a 'one china' meaning the PRC, policy). And what of Puerto Rico? It is not a country, but rather a commonwealth of the US. Not a state, or a nation. Puerto Ricans are Americans, so they should fly under the US flag. Human Dramas: do we really need to know about some American's struggle to get to the Games, how they lost Three legs (two in a motocycle wreck, one in a car-crash), has two gay fathers, one single mother, works 5 jobs, and is competing in their first Olympics (in running)? Rather than that 5 minute montage, show us more events, and shut up while you do it. You'd think the olympics are like 15 events or something. I, For one will take this olympics as the second, that I will observe, by ignoring it entirely. There is no point to it. Records will be broken (due to technology or steroids, or whatever) and athletes will be tested (with the athletes always one step ahead of the testers, btw) and now with their labs (dog or otherwise) testing gender as well, it seems that even the ancient precepts of the Olympics have been irrevokably tarnished.it went from love of sport to "win by any means neccesary" and "winning isn't everything, its the only thing" truly about the endorsement deals. Just end the damned thing.

[Dreamer Tatum]

3. I guess "Pressing the Return Key" is no longer an Olympic sport

Heh.

[sentelle]

4. I'm sure

That if it were, there'd be some drug that someone would come up with to enhance it.

And could the US be competitive with those nations out there with low cost cell phone plans? Or those nations with cheap high speed internet?

Imagine the 'up close and personal' on that one. Some kid, texting their friends, 24 hours a day, taking drugs for the repetitive motion injuries they have, working 2 jobs, just to keep the cell phone on, just to pay to be able to text, and he's going for Beijing gold, and a chance to be on a Verizon Wireless commercial.

[RNdaSilva]

2. comtec,

Keep the faith.

[KharmaTrain]

5. I'm In A Possible 2016 City

I agree with your opening...my travels abroad when I was younger opened my eyes to a far wider world than others have...and an appreciation of different cultures and customs. The Olympics can spotlight those cultures and gives a spotlight to places and people that Americans don't even know exists. Sadly, we live in a country that has isolated itself...developed a myopia where all events are viewed as "how does it affect us". I always feel happy when an athlete from a small country medals...as I know all the pride and joy it will bring to his country.

There's the commercial angle of the games that have soured many on it. The billions the games generate have turned the games into an orgy of logos and endless commercial tie-ins...they are the ones who drive the politics that is a double-edged sword. The good side is it can force a repressive government to moderate to gain positive PR. Inversely, there's the dark underside where the corporations use these games as ways to influence these governments for cheap labor.

I'm in a city under consideration for 2016...Chicago...and I have mixed feelings about having the games here. I don't see it having a direct affect on my life and the city already has a lot of facilities in place that wouldn't be a major expenditure, unlike having it in a "developing" country. The biggest hassle would be the traffic...this city is well equipped to already host thousands of visitors. The other city under consideration is Rio...and may have an inside track since there hasn't been an Olympics held in South America.

[Booster]

6. When L.A. hosted the Olympics in l984, the traffic was wonderful.

Apparently most people stayed home if they didn't have to go out and what a difference that made. People were also friendlier and more tolerant that normal. It was a great experience for L.A. I worked for the network that broadcast the Olympics and got to meet a lot of the athletes when they would come to the studio at night. I even got to hold a gold medal. All in all, it was a wonderful experience so if it does end up that Chicago hosts the Olympics, try to get to even just one event and enjoy the Hell out of the experience.