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problem with olympics
THESPORTCAPITAL 143 Reviews 6841 reads
posted

we will never ever see a miracle like we did in 1980 when american amateurs upset the professional soviets in ice hockey. Ever since the soviet union was broken up it destroyed its dominance,look at medals they are even losing in figure skating. If there is no big underdog the olympics become boring. Now its all professionals , its really a joke,no one cares anymore. Even with germans, there is no dominance with germany and soviets. I am old school i am sorry snowboarding and short track speedskating does nothing for me. Speedskating is sport and they don't show sking events like they used to. Too many commercials, we will never ever see the passion of 1980 in lake placid, i am sorry the olympics are woth nothing, no one cares, they are overrated. You make all professionals compete you take away the thrill of young amateurs striving to be the best. This is age of xbox and internet, the younger generation has no interest, and jim mckay was best on abc with music, NBC doesnt impress me.

RonArtest7382 reads

It's very apparent that Americans don't really give a hoot about the Olympics as much as they do about football or basketball.

The typical excuse is who cares about curling or figure skating. Or I only see these people every four years.

My opinion on what's wrong with the Olympics is not the quality of the sport or the timing.... It's the lack of American pride!

I am a naturalized American so I have perspectives from both countries. The Olympics were big when it was a showdown between the Soviets and America to see who was better. That shows it was not the sports or the timing.

Following the Olympics in my home country and USA is completely night and day. On American broadcasts and in the news yes they are happy to see an American win. But they're also happy to see anybody win! I don't know if they are trying to be politically correct or what but this is the biggest difference. We are forcefed human interest stories about some Canadian athlete's tragic family story or the Chinese figure skating team's one last chance as old fogies. This is the USA you should be forcefeeding us US propaganda. This is why no one cares about the Olympics in America.

I don't blame the country or the people. It's obvious we are all proud of who we are and many of us are very arrogant and boastful about it.

But sometimes we need some guidance like canned laughter in a sitcom and the Olympics coverage is just complete bullshit which wants to make us have feelings for competitors from other countries instead of our own team.

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CYNIC7198 reads

every night, and I certainly want to see Americans win as much as they can (and in fact they've been doing very well in these Winter Olympics).  But I certainly don't begrudge athletes from other countries when they win.  That's what competition is all about.  Frankly, it would get boring very quickly if Americans won everything!  Now, admittedly, there are some sports (curling comes immediately to mind) that I couldn't care less about and don't watch, and I also think that many of those human interest stories are boring as hell and are simply used as time fillers.  

But to say that no-one cares about the Olympics in America is way off base.  Everybody I know has been watching it, at least in part.  Indeed, why do you think the networks pay so much money to broadcast the games?  Because nobody is watching?  

I can't wait for the ice dancing competition, and I don't really cares who wins because I think it's great to watch.  And the women's short track skating is always fun, particularly the way the South Koreans and the Chinese compete with one another.  That's another event I love to watch!  There are a number of other events that I have a keen interest in, and will enjoy watching no matter who wins.  Indeed, I don't think that the Olympic coverage is making any attempt to make us root for competitors from other countries as opposed to Americans.  Olympic coverage is simply covering the Olympics (and admittedly from an AMERICAN perspective at that), and that's what it's supposed to do.

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OSP6656 reads

I had to think about your post for awhile before answering it.

Let me begin with;

I have always been irritated when news programs report on the # of Americans who have been kidnapped,killed or injured within certain current events. Why do Americans(do we?) consider their lives more important than others? I hope that isn't the case.

The Olympics;

I do have a tendency to be interested in sporting events that i have/do participate in. In my youth I competed in Football,Track,Baseball,Volleyball(being my fav.),Basketball,Wrestling,Tennis...to name a few. You probably noticed the lack of cold-weather sports in the list.

While i do engage in cold-weather activities,I have never competed in any. My current favorite cold-weather sport would be the 'Horizontal Bop'. That being indoors of course. :-)

I don't lack American pride. What i do lack is American EXCLUSIVITY. The one time that i do exude American pride in excess is during WORLD CUP play.

BTW; I appreciate the post. Great conversation piece on a board suffering the effects of monosyllabic trollism. ;-)

-- Modified on 2/19/2010 7:01:51 AM

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CoachFollowme6437 reads

Very well said, I agree with you assessment.

As for winter sports, I very much enjoy ascending the twin peaks of Mount Ta-Ta and spending some time savoring the summit, then sliding my way to the  finish in Cooch Valley.

Curling up after we each complete our events is good too, love it when she gets the stones ready for the next event.


Thank you
2010 = 28

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THESPORTCAPITAL6842 reads

we will never ever see a miracle like we did in 1980 when american amateurs upset the professional soviets in ice hockey. Ever since the soviet union was broken up it destroyed its dominance,look at medals they are even losing in figure skating. If there is no big underdog the olympics become boring. Now its all professionals , its really a joke,no one cares anymore. Even with germans, there is no dominance with germany and soviets. I am old school i am sorry snowboarding and short track speedskating does nothing for me. Speedskating is sport and they don't show sking events like they used to. Too many commercials, we will never ever see the passion of 1980 in lake placid, i am sorry the olympics are woth nothing, no one cares, they are overrated. You make all professionals compete you take away the thrill of young amateurs striving to be the best. This is age of xbox and internet, the younger generation has no interest, and jim mckay was best on abc with music, NBC doesnt impress me.

ReplyQuoteReport
RonArtest4491 reads

And to address some of the posts yes I guess I made a sweeping generalization that no one cares about the Olympics. Sorry abou that.

What I mean is that it just seems the passion for the Olympics is lacking compared to what I see in other countries.

Again I blame this on the media. Instead of pumping up America and hyping up America we are subject to stories about other countries' athletes. Yes it is politically correct but it sure dillutes the sense of American pride in the Olympics.

I didn't see people losing interest in Chicago when the Bulls dominated nor in LA with the Lakers nor in New York or Boston with football and baseball.

As a dual citizen I feel I should be proud that America is kicking everyone's asses but it seems like in this day and age it's almost taboo to do so in case we might be viewed as an arrogant American.

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CYNIC6547 reads

need to be pumped up or hyped up to have pride in American performances at the Olympics.  Quite the contrary - I view all the hype and pumping up as FALSE pride.  To me, braggadocio in sports is a downer!

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CYNIC5797 reads

networks spend SO MUCH money to earn the rights to televise the games?  Because no-one is watching?

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