They should end the Olympics. It's pretentious, and an unnecessary waste of money and ...

[Triana]

... the return on that investment isn't worth the cost and strife it causes hosting countries and their people. I can't stand China and their hosting it this time has caused them to show their true colors as a communist country to the rest of the world - a good thing, IMO.

But - I think it's time to scrap the damned Olympics every 4 years.

*** putting on fireproof suit ***

OK - FLAME away!

[elocs]

1. If we are going to label things an unnecessary waste of money,

where do we start and who gets to determine exactly what is a waste? The list would be diverse and nearly endless, not to mention extremely partisan.

[Growler]

47. Excellent point!! n/t

[Octafish]

56. If anything, I nominate the Military Industrial Complex

My reasoning is that it keeps the real government -- We the People -- under their hobnailed boot.

[TheFriendlyAnarchist]

69. You know, I came in this thread planning on agreeing with the OP

but this is actually a really interesting point. Carry on, good sir :thumbsup:

[saltpoint]

2. Respectfully disagree.

It's a flawed and over-politicized headache at times, but not at all times, and it does several things. It promotes athletic excellence as a global value, it allows non-athletic folks like me an opportunity to respect the elogance and beauty of the athlete on a diving board or what have you, and not least and maybe most important it offers a source of inspiration for very young children to hold high particular individual accomplishment.

I also like the "continent hoop" symbol, uniting the continents' peoples in one endeavor.

As political as they often are, the Olympics' real goal is that accomplishment and unity without the politics.

[Triana]

36. If they could do the individual accomplishment and unity sans the politics...(and drugs and...

..professional athletes) and give it a permanent home somewhere and end this rediculous bickering/competition every four years - that would be a great improvement.

[bdf]

46. It does not promote athletic excellence

It promotes being a professional athlete in all but name and pretending to be an amateur.

It promotes taking drugs to enhance performance.

It takes money that would be better spent eliminating poverty and ill-health and spends it on an ego trip.

But apart from those, the biggest sin of all is defining synchronized swimming to be a sport.

[MonkeyFunk]

49. are there a lot of professional

gymnasts, and marathoners, and greco-roman wrestlers, and archers, and shot-putters, and fencers, and slalom kayakers?

There are a lot of olympic sports that that don't have professional counterparts.

[bdf]

53. Professional meaning they get money to do it

In some countries (the ones that rarely get any medals) Olympic competitors may train in their spare time at their own expense. The ones that get serious numbers of medals tend to sponsor competitors in one way or another. If you get paid for doing it, you're a professional. If you get sponsored for doing it, you're a professional in all but name.

[gula]

60. synchronized swimming

You obviously never watched a competition. I would have agreed with you a 100% before doing so. The skills involved in this sport are way beyond most of the other olympic competitions.

[thewiseguy]

3. China has spent 40 billion dollars to host the Olympics

Thats 10 times more than what a country usually spends to host the Olympics.

[Politicalboi]

18. That's our money

It's probably the interest we pay China for our debt. We sure know how to throw a party. Just look at how much we spend in hosting in Iraq.

[redqueen]

4. "their true colors as a communist country"

That's funny.

Good luck with your flamebait. :eyes:

[PetrusMonsFormicarum]

5. Respectfully disagree

I think that the Olympics are still a positive world-community-building activity. As in any other endeavor, corruptors and opportunists lurk on all sides. But ultimately they are a celebration of spirit and an appreciation of human achievement.

[Fire Walk With Me]

6. I wonder if war would be more likely if we retired the olympics.

Ego needs to define itself somehow, and tournaments provide good boundaries for so doing.

[Democrats_win]

7. Every individual in these "games" will be forever tarnished as evil.

Almost everyone going to these games, are going, not as protestors, but as participants. This is despite the fact that EVERYONE knows that china abuses its own citizens, denies them human rights, and has encouraged the genocide in Sudan.

Woe to the participants. Don't cry when you are hurt. The participants in the genocide olympics will deserve the worst. The "athletes" attending the china olympics are, in fact, the worst individuals in the world.

[MonkeyFunk]

9. Wow

I thought the OP was the pinnacle of the dumbshittery I'd see today, but then you came along.

You get the gold medal! Rise for the anthem...

[aikoaiko]

30. You've got the protrayal of a maniacal anti-olympics ranter down pat.

But you should put the sarcasm tag in so that people don't think you're serious.

;)

[fishwax]

37. .

:rofl:

:shrug:

[cemaphonic]

67. Kinda like how everybody hates Jesse Owens, huh?

Oh wait, they don't.

[Bluebear]

75. Please "tell" me you're "kidding"

[Fovea]

8. Oddly enough

that is how I feel about the US military.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

10. Sure. Along with the NFL, NBA, NASCAR, and other pretentious games.

Not to mention pretentious displays of macho militarism staged by the American military at great, huge, unbelievable, expense.

[Triana]

33. You expect me to argue with that? I won't! Great idea, IMO. n/t

[kestrel91316]

11. I won't be flaming you over this. I agree.

Nobody needs to ban it. I, for one, simply won't be watching it (well maybe if I can catch some equestrian events....).

The coverage in the last few Olympics has been so jumpy and MTV-like, it's geared for ADD kids or people on speed, I swear. They never just settle in and COVER AN EVENT. Less fancy graphics and fewer inverviews with tilted cameras would help.

[Jim__]

12. Pretentious? Do you think these are not the best athletes in the world competing?

Personally, I think anything that brings the people of the world together to share a common interest is to our (people's) benefit. I wish there were a little less nationalism associated with the competition.

[Triana]

40. Well, they're the most professional and best-drugged ones, apparently. n/t

[Mika]

13. And the Tour de France too.

I mean... who wants to watch the best cyclists climb the steepest roads up the Alps and Pyrenees mountains over 21 days?

[Aristus]

14. I don't know. The Olympic Games have their moments.

After the ham-fisted celebration of Communism and the lame boycott of the Moscow Olympics in 1980, and the hyper-patriotic, fast-food commercial that was the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, the 1988 Seoul Olympics were a wonder to watch. I loved every minute of them, and they gave me hope for world unity someday. One of my favorite moments from the '88 Games was when the final torch relay runner entered the stadium for the Opening Ceremonies. He was a Korean national who had been forced by the occupying Japanese in the 30's and 40's to attend athletic events and compete for Japan under a Japanese name. But now, he jumped and twisted in wild, overjoyed celebration at being allowed to participate under his own name in a free country. I loved that.

There is still some good about the Olympics. :patriot:

[TlalocW]

15. There's no point to the Olympics anymore

All countries, not just the U.S., are just sending over professional athletes instead of amateurs. There's no bringing together of different people and cultures - it's all about winning supposed national glory (or shame). And as far as I'm concerned, a vast majority of the participants are probably doped. An interview with a doping scientist in a Sports Illustrated issue I read while waiting for a haircut talked about how doping technology is always at least one step ahead of the technology used to detect doping. I also feel this way about professional sports teams - a bunch of immature narcissist cry-babies all choking down or shooting up the latest performance-enhancing substances. Almost none of these people deserve our respect or our attention.

TlalocW

[MonkeyFunk]

24. For some sports, yes,

but not for all.

I think it's unfortunate that basketball, hockey and baseball now send the best pros, but MANY of the sports are still a chance for a dedicated, talented person with no extraordinary means to excel.

Many sports don't have a professional component.

[TlalocW]

66. I'll agree there, but on the realistic side of it

Those are for the sports that, while there are groups fiercely dedicated to them, are not viewed as important like whatever you call that dancing around with a large stream of cloth on a stick is called.

TlalocW

[Triana]

31. That's my take on it. n/t

[Mr. Blonde]

76. I think it is an overstatement to say that all athletes are doping

granted my experience with athletes is mostly in wrestling and I personally know 3 of the 7 members of the 2004 freestyle wrestling team, and 2 members of this years team. None of them were dopers. What they were/are is incredibly dedicated to being the best they can. I would suspect that this goes beyond just the ones I know to all of the wrestlers.

Here is a highlight reel of the best wrestler in the world. His singlet changes color, but he is always the one making the other guy look foolish.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4H4j9BbyfLw

He has won 6 world titles, and except for losing to an American in 2000 would be going for his 4 Olympic title this year. What drugs would you say he is on? Judging by his build I would say none. But he does have an incredible amount of natural ability, flawless technique and a burning competitive desire.

One of the few others you can make a case for being the best wrestler ever is American John Smith. If John can bench press more than 135 pounds I would be amazed.

Talent and work ethic are still the two overriding things that make great athletes. All the cheating in the world does not help.

[MiniMe]

79. Other countries were sending professional athletes long before the US was

The US was one of the last to use professionals instead of amatuers. It used to be college basketball and hockey players that competed for example.

[KharmaTrain]

16. It's Also A Place Where The Small Can Rise Above

I ignore the commercialism...and a lot of the nationalism that has made the Olympics nothing but a large commercial. But inside there's a chance to learn something about other countries and cultures...for a brief moment seeing that the world doesn't revolve around the United States and to get a rare glimpse outside our bubble.

[autorank]

17. Amen! k*r I'm just watching for the fireworks.

China is where they were invented, after all.

But the rest is just an overblown load of ceremonial you know what. And I used to go to "Relays"
as a kid and enjoy them greatly. Now they have all these odd ball sports, Busby Berkeley swimming
events as sport, etc.

They tried to screw the poor Iraq team. Give me a break!

And we'll have athletes choking and falling over from the pollution (which I do hope they get a
break from). Runners coming just for the race and flying out again. Damn, that's bad.

[Triana]

42. Should have never held it in freaking CHINA. I agree with others to give it a permanent home..

...in Greece and stop moving it every 4 freakin years.

[DangerDave921]

19. unnecessary

Other things that are unnecessary: Music, books, movies, art, sports.

If we're going to stop all unnecessary activities of life, then I guess we're going to be reduced to nothing but what we need to survive -- food and shelter. Pretty boring life.

I don't watch the Olympics, but I do love watching golf and baseball, both of which are entirely unnecessary.

[HooptieWagon]

59. Yep, we should all become Calvinists

and ban anything one person considers "fun", "unnecessary", or a "waste". Just labor and prayer will be allowed. Gee that sounds like such a wonderful and fulfilling life.

It's a good thing sarcasm hasn't been banned yet... but I'm sure OP is working on banning it (and humor). Some people should just fucking chill out and stop trying to tell people what they should do and believe...

[PBS Poll-435]

20. The Olympic Games give hope.

Hope to little girls. Hope to poor athletes in under-developed countries.

My only complaint is that they need to remove professional athletes.

[TankLV]

21. And so is baseball, football, NASCAR with all that wasted oil (I know it's not oil - but you get the

idea)...

What else don't you like - my drawing of nonsense buildings that will never get built in my free time is also a "waste of time"...

speaking of acting like a comunist dictator...

But I think I speak for all when we should ban the "sport" of people WATCHING other people FISHING!!! I mean, how lazy ass can you be?!?!

[Sal Minella]

22. I feel like the Olympics are now a contest between pharmaceutical manufacturers

in different countries, with results modified by whichever pharmaceutical companies have evolved the best "gotcha" tests.

[Posteritatis]

23. I'd just be happy if they got rid of the IOC (nt)

[Triana]

34. Oh yea. There's a useless bureaucracy. Pfft! n/t

[cherokeeprogressive]

25. Who cares what you think?

[Triana]

32. YOU must or you wouldn't have bothered responding to this thread.

If you don't care, don't respond. Obviously, you do. Gee. I'm so touched.

[cherokeeprogressive]

38. Wasn't me.

[Canuckistanian]

26. Build a permanent Olympic city in Greece

And stop this nonsense of countries competing to spend their citizen's wealth on these nationalistic spectacles.

The Olympics jumped the shark when they started letting professionals compete.

And the winners are only the ones who've figured out how to stay one step ahead of the drug testing.

[Triana]

28. That's a good idea. Agreed. It's become a caricature of what it was originally

intended to be. And, I think a permanent home would be a good thing.

[Angleae]

52. But who will pay for it?

Athens nearly went broke for the 2004 games.

[Canuckistanian]

55. All the member countries, of course

And a scheme should be worked out to subsidize the poorer countries. Hey, it works for the NFL, right?

AND a fund set up to help poorer athletes live and train for the games.

[Angleae]

57. Why would the member countries

pay to boost Greece's tourism industry and inflate Greece's national ego?

[Canuckistanian]

58. Funny, but I didn't think the Olympic ideal was so commercial

As for Greece, they could use the prestige and tourism money. They're not exactly a world financial superpower. AND the western world OWES them for the basis of our modern system of government,

And if it insults the "sensitivities" of a few countries, so what?

Let's place the emphasis on athletes, not nations.

[Angleae]

61. It would quickly degrade until it resembles the 1904 olympics

in St.Louis. Appx half the athletes were from the US.

[MiniMe]

80. There is a permanent olympic city in Greece

Its where the olympics started, Olympia.

[Retrograde]

27. When I rule the world...

I'd keep the Olympics, but hold them in Athens every 4 summers (the winter games can be in Nagano or Salt Lake City or some place that had them recently and has the facilities) to avoid more cities running up large debts building sports venues. And I'd limit the events: if it's a individual doing something under his/her own power that can be objectively measured - i.e., covering a certain amount of distance in the shortest time, jumping the highest, throwing something the farthest - it gets in. If it involves scoring- especially if it includes an "artistic" component - it's out: bye-bye synchronized swimming, ice dancing, and my favorite rhythmic gymnastics. Sequins and makeup will be banned, period.

As for media coverage, anyone wanting to broadcast the events will be required to watch Olympia. My official propaganda, um, information media will train their cameras on the events and show them with a minimum of commentary. No heart-burning personal stories of triumph over adversity, no asinine interviews with athletes.

I can dream, can't I?

[Triana]

29. Nice dream, IMO. n/t

[Posteritatis]

50. I dunno about the artistic part

A lot of the pan-Hellenic games (of which the Olympics was only one) included things like singing competitions. Hell, the Isthmaian games had poetry contests.

A lot of the scored events strike me as silly (I'm waiting for mime to show up on the damn things at this rate), but I can see some of them lining up with the original point of the things.

Can't really argue with the rest, though. About the only thing I'd add would be a complete ban on professional athletes (especially in the winter games - ugh!). I'd also make people actually broadcast the damned fencing events for a change.

[NashVegas]

35. Olympics Coverage Is Going the Way of the Music Industry

When the idea was to cover the sport and the excitement of the sport, they were great to watch.

When it got over-Hollywoodized for advertisers, it got boring. "Up Close and Personals" were great features until the networks decided the sport, itself, wasn't dramatic enough.

Now it seems like the only people the Olympics are relevant to are the participants.

[Triana]

41. I agree. I used to enjoy them. But they're SO way overdone now, I can't stomach it.

[Overseas]

39. They way they over-produce it in the USA is really gross.

And we have citizens who come from all over the globe but barely cover the events in which the USA does not have leading contenders. I'd like 24/7 coverage of the events with less of the grandiose idiotic human interest story segments.

If it is supposed to be an international event of friendship and goodwill, why not make it a requirement that all stations pitch in funding for the Olympics to be carried free on PBS ?

[SheilaT]

43. I'm inclined to agree

that the Olympics, along with pretty much all professional sports, are a waste of time. I simply don't watch or attend, and I don't care that others do. Just don't try to convince me that there's anything truly important about them.

Oh, and it's not as though the Olympics kept WWI or WWII or Korea or any of a host of other wars from happening, so the idea that someone upstream mentioned that we'd have wars (or was it more wars?) if we eliminated them, doesn't carry much weight.

[bdf]

44. I agree - let's scrap it every four years

OK, we only need to scrap it once to prevent it happening again, but we should still scrap it every four years to commemorate the fact that we got rid of such an expensive, boring waste of time.

[dems_rightnow]

45. They're fantastic.

In their simplest form, "I'm going to run from right here to...... right over there. I will accept all comers."

These athletes have worked all of their lives for this huge honor. Most of them care not a whit about politics. They merely want to answer the question that has chased mankind for all of its existence.

"Can I do this one thing better than anyone on the planet?"

[Sherman A1]

48. I have my own plan for this very issue

It is fairly simple in fact.........I don't bother watching them.

[BlooInBloo]

51. Yes - they should do away with everything that isnt working right, rather than fixing it.

EDIT: There IS another option besides "do away with it" and "keep it exactly like it is now", you know.

[Triana]

65. Yep. You're right. Some good ideas in this very thread in fact! n/t

[Firespirit]

54. I think there is far too much emphasis on sports in general,

from the junior high school level all the way to "professional" sports and the Olympics.

No bans, but we as a nation really need to reorder our priorities. This fixation on the feats of the body is, I think, contributing to the anti-intellectual trend in the U.S.

[Triana]

64. Um-hmm. I can agree with that. Thought so since Jr. High...

...seemed the whole jock mentality took precedence over getting decent grades - and other things. Sorta bassackwards, IMO.

[DutchLiberal]

62. I AGREE!

But I don't like sports anyway...

[Swede]

63. Yeah,meeting people from around the world is horrible.

What good could possibly come from that? :shrug:

[JCMach1]

68. Sports in general (outside of personal participation for exercise) is a waste of time and resources

[NeedleCast]

70. No

-1

[tuckessee]

71. I agree. My only worry is where are all the arrogant jocks going to go? n/t

[LeftyMom]

72. Nationalism is a poison.

I'm all for people competing in their own names for their own sake, but once you make some nationalistic statement out of it, keep track of medals, etc, you're just begging for abuses along the lines of what went on in East Germany. A lot of those women are still suffering. Some of them died. I'm not sure there's enough good to come from the competition to undo that.

Even without the drugs (I hope,) look at all those little female gymnasts who are on special diets to keep their growth stunted and puberty at bay. People do sick shit to each other in the name of winning, when prestige and national pride are on the line.

[dysfunctional press]

73. i just think that it shouldn't be awarded to countries with such harsh visa restrictions.

but then again...i would like to see chicago get the 2016 games.

[dendrobium]

74. Who should end the Olympics?

You are so accustomed to the packaged rubbish that NBC puts out you think that is what the Olympics is about. For athletes in other countries, the Olympic games are a once in a lifetime opportunity to perform at the top of their sport with the whole World watching. Some of these athletes come from very humble backgrounds and this is their moment. Some are able to go back to their own countries as heroes.

My own country is waiting with excitement for the start of the track and field events and the showdown between Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell and Tyson Gay for the title of fastest man in the World.

There is a whole World outside the United States and we love the Olympics.

[RNdaSilva]

77. No...

NO!

[Disturbed]

78. "They're SO way overdone now, I can't stomach it."

Yeah. :boring: