Jump to content

Why I Hate the Olympics


Recommended Posts

First, I hate this idea of national flags, and national flag-bearers. I hate this idea of sports people competing under their national colours. I hate to hear them claim to be proud to carry their nation's flag into the arena. They're hypocrites. They're not proud to carry a flag - they are there to compete to win, and they would change the flag, carry any flag, if it gave them an advantage. I hate to hear people (ie. Canadians) claim to be proud because someone, wearing their flag, won a prize.

IMV, if we must have the Olympics, and we must identify sports people, they should compete by continent. Let everyone from Germany, France and Poland be identified as "European". Let Canadians, Mexicans, Americans be identified as "North American".

Second, I hate wasteful competition designed merely to determine a winner. And the Olympics are exactly that - they are designed to decide who gets the Gold medal. They do nothing else. After a sports match, there are many tired sports people. The sole purpose of the exercise was to determine a winner. (Please don't claim that there is artistry to sports - there is none. Without the competition to win the Gold Medal, an Olympic sport would lose its interest.)

Wars are like the wasteful competition of the Olympics. In a war, two countries or two regions fight one another merely to decide who is the winner. At the end, everyone is in fact a loser.

----

I prefer co-operation. And if competition is an individual instinct, I would prefer to glorify individual competition that leads to global co-operation. I'm an optimist and I believe that in the future, that is what we will do. The Olympics don't do that.

Every time I see the Olympics, I think of Jesse Owens in Berlin in 1936.

Edited by August1991
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 130
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

First, I hate this idea of national flags, and national flag-bearers. I hate this idea of sports people competing under their national colours.
So do I - especially since the winners are largely a function of each country's willingness to fund the infrastructure that produces these athletes.
IMV, if we must have the Olympics, and we must identify sports people, they should compete by continent.
Why? That is just as bad. If you want to change something then identify the athletes by name without reference origin at all. More importantly, stop playing the national anthems and raising the nation flags at the medal ceremonies. During the opening ceremonies have athletes enter according to the sports they complete in - not by the country they are from. Lastly, the IOC should stop publishing medal counts by country (although one can't stop third parties from doing that).

That said, that would never happen because none of those atheletes would be there if their respective governments did not spend a lot of money to make it possible and, like any other corporate sponser, governments want to get something in return for their spending.

Second, I hate wasteful competition designed merely to determine a winner.
That's life in a capitalist society. I have no issue with it.
I prefer co-operation. And if competition is an individual instinct, I would prefer to glorify individual competition that leads to global co-operation. I'm an optimist and I believe that in the future, that is what we will do. The Olympics don't do that.
GW and Toyota don't cooperate - if anything they are out to completely eliminate the other. Competition is what pushes humans to succeed. Cooperation leads to stagnation and the preservation of the status quo. That said, there is a difference between healthy and unheathy competition. War is extremely unhealthy - sports without drugs is fairly healthy.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's life in a capitalist society. I have no issue with it.
There are several issues here but I'll pick this one.

Capitalist society? Markets with prices allow anonymous people to co-operate - assuming the markets work. There are other ways to co-operate too.

GW and Toyota don't cooperate - if anything they are out to completely eliminate the other. Competition is what pushes humans to succeed. Cooperation leads to stagnation and the preservation of the status quo. That said, there is a difference between healthy and unheathy competition. War is extremely unhealthy - sports without drugs is fairly healthy.
Riverwind, you don't get it. You see competition in Nazi/Soviet/socialist (hockey) terms: "it makes us stronger".

I see price competition differently. For example, I see "price competition to the bottom" as good for consumers/buyers. Of course, it could also be "price competition to the top" (such as an auction) which is good for sellers.

Riverwind, did you mean "competition" or "price competition"?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

First, I hate this idea of national flags, and national flag-bearers. I hate this idea of sports people competing under their national colours. I hate to hear them claim to be proud to carry their nation's flag into the arena. They're hypocrites. They're not proud to carry a flag - they are there to compete to win, and they would change the flag, carry any flag, if it gave them an advantage. I hate to hear people claim to be proud because someone, wearing their flag, won a prize.

And I love this post !

So much delicious hate at a time of Olympics boosterism - thanks for the laugh...

I prefer co-operation. And if competition is an individual instinct, I would prefer to glorify individual competition that leads to global co-operation. I'm an optimist and I believe that in the future, that is what we will do. The Olympics don't do that.

Good luck selling your vision of co-operative football, baseball and hockey. Everybody wins, and nobody gets hurt ! High fives everyone !

Actually, for all of your commendable non-nationalism this sounds like the most Canadian idea we've had on these boards for years.

How about a sport with all referees next ! And all the teams are from Ottawa ! Go Go Canada Go !

Link to comment
Share on other sites

First, I hate this idea of national flags, and national flag-bearers. I hate this idea of sports people competing under their national colours. I hate to hear them claim to be proud to carry their nation's flag into the arena. They're hypocrites. They're not proud to carry a flag - they are there to compete to win, and they would change the flag, carry any flag, if it gave them an advantage. I hate to hear people (ie. Canadians) claim to be proud because someone, wearing their flag, won a prize.

Gee, I didn't get any of that from Clara Hughes when she was chosen to carry the flag today. A winner in every way.

Link

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Capitalist society? Markets with prices allow anonymous people to co-operate - assuming the markets work.
Your are playing with semantics. Markets work if there is healthy competition between suppliers. If there is no competition there are no markets. The only thing you need for healthy competition is a set of rules and a way to punish violators.
I see price competition differently. For example, I see "price competition to the bottom" as good for consumers/buyers. Of course, it could also be "price competition to the top" (such as an auction) which is good for sellers.
Again semantics. Sports competitions are good for the consumer that derives entertainment from them. With no competetion there would be no entertainment value. They are also good for the atheletes that seek fame and money by winning them.
Riverwind, did you mean "competition" or "price competition"?
Market competition is much more than a matter of price. Companies use service, quality, branding and other things to sell their products.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

First, I hate this idea of national flags, and national flag-bearers. I hate this idea of sports people competing under their national colours. I hate to hear them claim to be proud to carry their nation's flag into the arena. They're hypocrites. They're not proud to carry a flag - they are there to compete to win, and they would change the flag, carry any flag, if it gave them an advantage. I hate to hear people (ie. Canadians) claim to be proud because someone, wearing their flag, won a prize.

IMV, if we must have the Olympics, and we must identify sports people, they should compete by continent. Let everyone from Germany, France and Poland be identified as "European". Let Canadians, Mexicans, Americans be identified as "North American".

Second, I hate wasteful competition designed merely to determine a winner. And the Olympics are exactly that - they are designed to decide who gets the Gold medal. They do nothing else. After a sports match, there are many tired sports people. The sole purpose of the exercise was to determine a winner. (Please don't claim that there is artistry to sports - there is none. Without the competition to win the Gold Medal, an Olympic sport would lose its interest.)

Wars are like the wasteful competition of the Olympics. In a war, two countries or two regions fight one another merely to decide who is the winner. At the end, everyone is in fact a loser.

----

I prefer co-operation. And if competition is an individual instinct, I would prefer to glorify individual competition that leads to global co-operation. I'm an optimist and I believe that in the future, that is what we will do. The Olympics don't do that.

Every time I see the Olympics, I think of Jesse Owens in Berlin in 1936.

well this is rare day, I can relate to a post by you, huh...could be awhile before that happens again

I officially said goodbye to the olympics when it went to China something that the IOC would change China's human rights issues, China just gave the world the finger...while China occupies Tibet our athletes selfishly went on their sports holiday, I can understand they say they don't want to be involved in politics but the Bejing O's were all about politics...at the very least they could have boycotted the opening ceremonies and sent a message to the Chinese publicly that would have really hurt them...

I passed on the last olympics and I'll do so with this one as well,after Bejing the olympics and olympians don't deserve any respect imo...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Gee, I didn't get any of that from Clara Hughes when she was chosen to carry the flag today. A winner in every way. Link

Wilber, I'll set aside how someone could exploit your honest, naive emotion. (Don't be ashamed. Kimmy seems also naive on this point.)

Rather Wilber, I dispute this whole idea of a fight to the finish and "Victory" or "Gold Medal". I prefer co-operation. If competition there must be, let it be a competition to the top.

----

The Olympics, typical of 19th century thinking, remind me of World War I. There were no winners.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wilber, I'll set aside how someone could exploit your honest, naive emotion. (Don't be ashamed. Kimmy seems also naive on this point.)

Rather Wilber, I dispute this whole idea of a fight to the finish and "Victory" or "Gold Medal". I prefer co-operation. If competition there must be, let it be a competition to the top.

----

The Olympics, typical of 19th century thinking, remind me of World War I. There were no winners.

Four years ago in Turin, she donated $10,000 of her own money to the humanitarian group Right to Play, well before the Canadian Olympic Committee began handing out cash prizes for medals. She urged others to follow her lead, and some $400,000 was raised.

"I was in awe," said Scott, who is also involved with Right to Play. "It's really indicative of the kind of person she is. She kicked off one of the biggest fundraising efforts that Right to Play has had in its history, and ... at the same time moved Canadians to look inward and be inspired to give and be conscious of people who don't have the same opportunities and who do live in incredibly disadvantaged areas."

Hughes did more than simply write a cheque. She went on trips to Africa and the Middle East to do some of the organization's actual outreach work, which aims to use sport as way to improve the lives of children in poor and troubled areas.

Later in 2006, Hughes also began working with Nature Conservancy of Canada, Quebec Region to help raise funds for the preservation of the Sutton Mountain Range.

Unlike some athletes who shun the chance to act as a role model, Hughes has embraced it. Underlining that is her recent revelations of a trouble-filled childhood marked by underage drinking and soft drug use.

"I want young people to realize that when they look at us as Olympic athletes, sometimes we look larger than life, but many of us have histories," she said. "Many of us have gone in bad directions and had lives that aren't storybook beginnings. They might look like a storybook ending but the beginnings can be pretty rough.

"For me it's really important to show young people you can turn your life around. It's just the most crucial thing is to look for some kind of inspiration, something that means something to you that you can focus on. When you have that gift, and you have that mind set, you can do anything."

As I said, a winner in every way. Considering their relative earnings, that would be the equivelent of Tiger Woods donating well over two million.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The only thing that I hate about the Olympics are the cheaters, the drug users, and the ones who win and don't get caught because of a new drug that doesn't have a test for yet.

C'mon....don't be hatin' on the Olympics. Far from hating, I just love it when the fancy pants figure skaters are gliding about the rink with dramatic background music only to crash and burn on their asses...while the world watches....priceless! :P

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The only thing that I hate about the Olympics are the cheaters, the drug users, and the ones who win and don't get caught because of a new drug that doesn't have a test for yet.
Only the cheaters and drug users?

Consider this photo.

As I said, a winner in every way. Considering their relative earnings, that would be the equivelent of Tiger Woods donating well over two million.
Winner? I suspect that Clara Hughes (and Tiger Woods) would do anything to win.
C'mon....don't be hatin' on the Olympics. Far from hating, I just love it when the fancy pants figure skaters are gliding about the rink with dramatic background music only to crash and burn on their asses...while the world watches....priceless! :P
Typical American. Everything is light and easy. Life has no weight at all. Edited by August1991
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I hate the winter Olympics because it's still winter and when they're held in Canada I bitch at the cost.

I look at the medal counts not only to check Canada's standing but also whether a nondescript country beat the odds. Like B_C I watch figure skating to witness embarrassing falls and for added entertainment I check out the judges for eyebrow lifting scores. Chinese and Russian judges are my primary focus and they seldom disappoint me. Ghoulishly, reports of suspected doping and injuries to competitors from other countries perk my curiosity and cheer me up. Pretty well run of the mill stuff plus it's a diversion from the daily wintery grind.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The thrill of victory...and the agony of defeat!
Victory and defeat? In modern America, this is a football phenomenon. (Americans prefer to avoid discussions of the Civil War, or they dismiss this episode as a response to slavery.)

Kundera said it best: The Unbearable Lightness of Being. Americans are light and easy. They are Mozart to Beethoven; Tchaikovski to Dostoievski. When left wing Europeans claim that Americans are fat, I laugh. Such irony.

Americans are light.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

$1 billion plus spent on security alone! That amount of money could have used in many ways that had a more lasting impact on the country.

Now you've done it. I'm tearing my hair out. Seriously, you're quite right. For what? A few medals and the singing of the national anthem. As if hosting the Olympics would foster pride in our nation or whatever other nationalistic objective. A pipe dream in the minds of the most gullible.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A few medals and the singing of the national anthem. As if hosting the Olympics would foster pride in our nation or whatever other nationalistic objective. A pipe dream in the minds of the most gullible.

Maybe you shouldn't pretend to speak for all of us. The crowds that greeted the torch seem to prove you very wrong, as do polls showing that an overwhelming majority of Canadians support the games and think they will be of benefit.

Edited by Smallc
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Maybe you shouldn't pretend to speak for all of us. The crowds that greeted the torch seem to prove you very wrong, as do polls showing that an overwhelming majority of Canadians support the games and think they will be of benefit.

I never said I spoke for all Canadians. You're on board with the Olympics? Good for you smallc. You pay for it, may as well enjoy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I never said I spoke for all Canadians. You're on board with the Olympics? Good for you smallc. You pay for it, may as well enjoy.

I pay for a l great many things, but I don't judge things simply on their monetary value. I don't even like sports, but I like Canada, and I want Canada to do well at the event which we are hosting (a great honour in my opinion). Canadian's (outside of BC) seem genuinely excited and optimistic (they're split in BC). I can think of no greater outcome. The olympics along with so many things that we've done lately have seemed to invigorate the soul of the nation, whether it be the work of our troops in Afghanistan and Haiti, a large international sporting event, or, the simple celebration of Canada.

I remember hearing so many times when I was growing up that Canada had no identity, that it had lost its way, and that Canadians just didn't care. That simply isn't true now. Canadian's have come together as a proud energetic people on many fronts, and that's why I support things like the olympics...because my country is more....so much more...than money, and I want to see it succeed. This is Canada's year on the world stage, from the Olympics to the G8 to the G20. There are also many important national events such as the Centennial of the Canadian Forces Maritime Command and the visit of our Head of State, including a trip to Ottawa on Canada. All of these things seem to excite and invigorate the nation, like I've never seen (and I'll grant you, I'm not that old). Through all of this, I'd have to say that right now, we're succeeding, and it feels like nothing can stop that success.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


  • Tell a friend

    Love Repolitics.com - Political Discussion Forums? Tell a friend!
  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      10,712
    • Most Online
      1,403

    Newest Member
    nyralucas
    Joined
  • Recent Achievements

    • Jeary earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Venandi went up a rank
      Apprentice
    • Gaétan earned a badge
      Very Popular
    • Dictatords earned a badge
      First Post
    • babetteteets earned a badge
      One Year In
  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...