Does Anyone Care About the Olympics?
The 2020 Olympic Games begin on July 23rd.
Oops, make that the 2021 Olympic Games, since the start was delayed by a full year.
Now, the question is – does anyone care?
The Olympic Games are about to receive blanket media coverage. Over the next three weeks, the Games will dominate the sports news cycle, through August 8th. But this isn’t the test of “amateur” skills and genuine displays of pride we all once knew which once made the Olympic Games so great and so compelling to watch.
Unfortunately, the Olympics have become a disorganized debacle, a staged corporate platform for an assembly line of product placements, and a mishmash of obscure “sports” that no one plays (synchronized swimming, anyone?). The Games border on laughability, if not instant obscurity.
Quick – name just one Olympic athlete from a country you don’t live in?
Uhh. Umm. Well….
Blank stare. Deer in headlights. Bzzt. Time’s up.
See, that’s the problem. It’s hard to identify with the “stars.” Sorry, I can’t get excited about a skateboarder, or the second-baseman for the softball team.
I-DON’T-FREAKING-CARE.
Not only do Olympic Games bankrupt their host countries (check out the facilities in Rio de Janeiro and other former hosts which are now rusted and falling apart), they simply aren’t that interesting. There are many reasons for this.
Tiresome flag-waving, ceaseless jingoism, and overt manifestations of chest-beating nationalism aren’t appealing to billions of people caught up in global concerns about climate change, totalitarianism, terrorism, and growing economic discord. Sure, there are some great individual stories of incredible athletes overcoming adversity and doing remarkable things in competition. But it all gets lost in the collective obsession with medal counts and national anthems.
If I did care, I’m cheering against all the big countries and rooting for the underdog athletes from small countries.
The ghastly pall over this Olympiad is the very real threat of COVID, now resurging, which has already had a serious impact. Some athletes have been suspended due to positive tests. Speaking of positive tests, is there anything more ridiculous than the Olympics’ drug policy? Suspending a track and field star for marijuana use, which is now legal in many places? Seriously?
Finally, no live spectators in 2021 make these games as exciting as a state funeral. In years past, it was fun watching fans in the stands, weeping parents proud of their kids, and attendees in costumes – which all contributed to the Olympic Games being a festive occasion. Now, it’s a televised contest of signage. A competition of corporate ad agencies. Be prepared for a bombardment of banks and car logos and never-ending commercials so the television networks can try to recover the absurd amounts of money they overpaid for rights. Prediction: The amount of advertising will make many events unwatchable.
Will we tune in and follow the 2021 Tokyo Olympics? Probably not to the degree as in years past. But we will probably bet on it. In fact, I know I will bet on it.
UPDATE: AT THE 2022 WINTER OLYMPICS, 100 PERCENT OF THE SNOW IS FAKE
You’re definitely right about all the nonsense “sports”. And the fact that pretty much nobody cares any more.
Great article! What a waste of time and money! How Much suffering in the world could be abated if those resources were utilized differently
If your kid kept shouting, “look how high I can jump” you’d get annoyed and send them to their room. Yet a grown adult trains for years to show the world how high they can jump (or how long or how high using a pole etc), and wants the world to applaud them for their obsession. Send them to their rooms with no dinner.
Agreed, I have no interest whatsoever, barely knew it had started. Heck could not even name an Olympic athlete in the country I live in!
Skate boarding… yep. Makes you wonder why they skipped Cup Stacking.
You’re obviously not an athlete.