Olympics. Good idea, bad idea?

POSTED BY: Wishimay
UPDATED: Thursday, January 30, 2025 21:38
VIEWED: 5107
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WISHIMAY

Thursday, February 6, 2014 8:44 AM

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/charles-lane-the-olympics-shoul
d-be-on-their-way-out/2014/01/20/cb610d62-820b-11e3-bbe5-6a2a3141e3a9_story.html

I admit it. I've come to dislike the Olympics. Besides draining countries of incomes and resources, there are far too many "sports" that aren't really "sports". Not to mention there isn't much to be gained in many of these actual sports because they are at the limits of what humans are capable of (ohh he finished a tenth of a second faster, wow). I agree they used to have a purpose, but where they WERE a uniting forces, I think they are more divisive than anything now and that that is going to get worse.

Also, we have a little thing called the internet now, I don't think traveling to the other side of the world when you can compete just as well in the country you are from and compare scores just as easily on a computer makes sense. But then people generally don't to me....

AURAPTOR

Thursday, February 6, 2014 9:22 AM

The stories coming from Sochi are beyond anything I can recall in terms of a city NOT being ready for their games. As if the Russians didn't' have enough problems w/ the Muslim terrorists already now they have to deal w/ this PR nightmare.

It's almost like someone is TRYING to put and end to the games, and this is the blue print in how to do it. Spend ungodly amounts of money to then have a shoddy , underwhelming and ill prepared stage.

The place is ripe for all manner of shenanigans, or worse.

Fathom the hypocrisy of a government that requires every citizen to prove they are insured... but not everyone must prove they are a citizen

I'm just a red pill guy in a room full of blue pill addicts.

" AU, that was great, LOL!! " - Chrisisall

BYTEMITE

Thursday, February 6, 2014 9:32 AM

Allow me to answer with twitter images from the athletes accommodations in Sochi.

http://cheezburger.com/179717?ref=whatspopularvotes

On one hand, the olympics does give an economic boost to the country it's happening in. It's also symbolic of peace and unity between nations.

On the other hand, yet more nonsensical athlete worship that doesn't actually put anything back into society.

AURAPTOR

Thursday, February 6, 2014 9:39 AM

Athlete worship ?

So, years of training and sacrifice on their part, to earn a chance to compete against the best in the world means nothing to you ?

That's a rather dismal view of life.

As for Sochi, at least the honey is 'fresh'.

( Actual formerly live bee included. Yum ! )

Fathom the hypocrisy of a government that requires every citizen to prove they are insured... but not everyone must prove they are a citizen

I'm just a red pill guy in a room full of blue pill addicts.

" AU, that was great, LOL!! " - Chrisisall

WISHIMAY

Thursday, February 6, 2014 10:24 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by AURaptor:

So, years of training and sacrifice on their part, to earn a chance to compete against the best in the world means nothing to you ?

I'm with her. Most of these people have already hit the physical genetic lottery...We should worship them too? Don't they have enough going for them? I should mention physical competition means absolutely nothing to me. It's akin to having televised exercise... BORING!!!! Any sport with a ball in it is like watching someone else play Pong. Doink, doink, doink. Snooooze.

BYTEMITE

Thursday, February 6, 2014 11:01 AM

Being an athlete is kind of an inherently selfish proposition, in that it's a focus on improving yourself and your physical condition, and getting accolades for it.

Doctors improve their minds, and save people's lives, but we don't see fans swarming around doctors.

Athleticism is actually a pretty shallow, meaningless thing. Sure, be healthy for yourself, but earning money for being extra healthy kinda seems like a whole lotta bullshit.

Frankly, I have similar problems with the worship towards actors. And models.

AURAPTOR

Thursday, February 6, 2014 4:09 PM

How about less 'worship' and more appreciation for what they've sacrificed. Or least some basic acknowledgement ? I think what's on display here is a great deal of ignorance and baseless animosity.

Doctors ? Not in it for the money, or with ANY sort of a god complex. Naww. They're just in it for the good will.

Fathom the hypocrisy of a government that requires every citizen to prove they are insured... but not everyone must prove they are a citizen

I'm just a red pill guy in a room full of blue pill addicts.

" AU, that was great, LOL!! " - Chrisisall

BYTEMITE

Thursday, February 6, 2014 8:04 PM

Doctors are totally in it for the money. In fact, they're some of the most greedy people when it comes right down to it and they're a little bit like vultures because they basically profit from people suffering.

I don't have any problem with earning money. The difference is, at the end of the day, a doctor actually does something that has a long term effect on people's lives, even if it's more as a peripheral to their basic goal of sometimes literally making a killing.

An architect designs a building that might last long after they're dead. A construction worker helps build that building. A scientist makes a discovery. An engineer makes a robot. A song is preserved by pop-culture and it's relevance after it's popularity has faded. A good businessman might make a revolutionary invention that's still around a hundred years later.

What the fuck legacy does an ATHLETE have? You think two years from now I'm going to remember that the Seahawks won the Superbowl? You think I'm going to remember the names of any of the athletes that compete in these Olympics?

The only legacy an athlete has, just like with a model or any other profession based on the body, is a monument to living in the present and their ego. It will be gone someday, sometimes as soon as five years.

What I'm saying is, it doesn't MATTER, and yet we act like they're the best of us even though they don't actually DO anything important. Also, they cheat like hell, doping is ubiquitous in most sports, so it's not really even legitimately them.

Sacrifices? What a joke. Even the kids from the rough neighborhoods who go into sports eventually just skate on scholarships then they get endorsements from corporations. It's like it's not even a real life, it's detached from reality. And it fades away in time.

So no, I don't respect them, I don't "appreciate" them, or their "sacrifices". Animosity it is, but baseless and ignorant it isn't. I see people trying to live up to other people's examples, living vicariously through them, instead of living their own lives and seeing their own worth and having confidence in themselves. I hate the celebrity worship, and I hate that it's over something so POINTLESS and MEANINGLESS.

If they deserve respect, it's only when they've done something with their time and money BESIDES BEING A CELEBRITY.

AURAPTOR

Thursday, February 6, 2014 10:54 PM

Quote:
Sacrifices? What a joke. Even the kids from the rough neighborhoods who go into sports eventually just skate on scholarships then they get endorsements from corporations. It's like it's not even a real life, it's detached from reality. And it fades away in time.

Not all athletes earn scholarships, or big fat pro contracts. In swimming, many actually step AWAY from the NCAA, because that limits the # of hours they can practice. So hell yes there's sacrifice. More than you know, it seems.

Quote:

So no, I don't respect them, I don't "appreciate" them, or their "sacrifices". Animosity it is, but baseless and ignorant it isn't. I see people trying to live up to other people's examples, living vicariously through them, instead of living their own lives and seeing their own worth and having confidence in themselves. I hate the celebrity worship, and I hate that it's over something so POINTLESS and MEANINGLESS.

You're confused. Most Olympic athletes live in obscurity and well outside of the public eye. They're not in it for the fat Nike contracts or to appear in Subway ads

Quote:

If they deserve respect, it's only when they've done something with their time and money BESIDES BEING A CELEBRITY.

So, as long as they lose, and stay out of the limelight, it's ok with you ?

Fathom the hypocrisy of a government that requires every citizen to prove they are insured... but not everyone must prove they are a citizen

I'm just a red pill guy in a room full of blue pill addicts.

" AU, that was great, LOL!! " - Chrisisall

BYTEMITE

Thursday, February 6, 2014 11:08 PM

Quote:
In swimming, many actually step AWAY from the NCAA, because that limits the # of hours they can practice.

Oh gee, so I should think that their obsessively pursuing training in a manner of recreation, such as swimming, is a "sacrifice," much as the lunkheads who spend all their time at a gym have "sacrificed."

I am speaking of moderation in all things, and of imbalances.

Quote:
So, as long as they lose, and stay out of the limelight, it's ok with you ?

You really don't get it. No. That wasn't what I was saying at all.

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