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Exiled in a kilt

Olympics

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by
kilted exile
, 04-06-2008 at 05:33 PM (1081 Views)
I can remember when I was 6yo and I cared about the olympics. It was 1988, Seoul & one of my earliest memories of sport. I distinctly remeber being allowed to stay up to watch the infamous 100m final & Ben Johnson's shattering perfomance, however at that age I was too young to comprehend the shocking reverberations. I understood as much as Ben Johnson was bad, thats it. As a result I continued through my fascination for the "higher, stronger, faster" every 4 years.

Over the years however, I have begun to get extremely disillusioned with the whole charade. probably beginning with the bribery allegations attached to the awarding of the Salt Lake games. From there I started to see the IOC for what they truly must be: Fatcats waiting on the gravy train.

Of course, now I am older I understand the whole doping stuff as well & that makes it nigh impossible to look on these supposed "amatuers" devoting their life for 10 seconds of glory.

As a result of this I find it impossible to get worked up in any way whatsoever regarding the Olympics being held in China. The Olympics are not to do with social injustices, they are a venue for the elite to skim more off the top. I dont care about the Dalai Lama (btw check out his views on homosexuality, so much for the "accepting" religion). None of this has anything to do with the true olympic ideals, only the lies they made us want to believe in.

Anyway, my love affair with the Olympics is over, not for any socio-political reason, but because higher, stronger & faster has been replaced with PED's, kickbacks & lies
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  1. 's Avatar
    I agree. My favorite part of the Olympics has always been the parade of nations. I loved that part seeing all the countries and their flags. It used to be about amatures and kids being there for the first time now professional sports stars are involved and it's just not the same.
  2. Shalot's Avatar
    A few months ago, I kept hearing this news story about the latest doping scandel in baseball. I kept wondering, what is the big deal and why do they keep reporting about it? If mankind can come up with a way to make the body work better, then what is the big deal? You have a person's inherent athletic ability and you enhance it with a drug, and you have a superstar on the playing field. How is that bad? Why doesn't everyone use the drugs? If you're doing something that really matters to you, you will do whatever it takes and use whatever is available to succeed. How is sports any different? I guess it is because you have a game, and you have the rules, and you have to figure out how to win the game within those contraints. I guess, those idiot baseball players should have been more careful to make sure they didn't get caught. Then again, maybe they didn't do anything and the media is just making more of it to sell papers. What a world we live in. Can't trust anyone.
  3. Virgil's Avatar
    I see all the reasons why one feels cynacism towards the olympics. But it's still a great event. I enjoy watching the athletes and the competition. These are sporting events that I wuldn't normally watch, but are worth watching every four years. Frankly there is plenty to be cynical about all sports, professional and ameteur. Frankly there is plenty to be cynical about all aspects of life. One either attributes it to human nature or one gets pissed off at the world.