The Olympics have taken over my life, keeping me from accomplishing most normal tasks, including writing.
I can hear you saying, “Hey, wait a minute. Didn’t you previously post comments that said your interest in sports had taken a dive and money had driven out most of the enjoyment because of, among other things, lack of loyalty by the players.
Well, that’s true. And money certainly plays a big role at the Olympics. It costs France a fortune to supply all the venues. And it costs NBC a fortune to cover those venues with at least six different channels ranging over a variety of locations, including Tahiti. France gets some of that money back by charging large fees to attend events. NBC gets it back by broadcasting commercial after commercial after commercial. It’s discouraging to skip from channel to channel and almost always find a commercial, actually a seemingly unending series of. commercials.
And some of those commercials show well known gold medal winners hawking something, and I’m sure they are well reimbursed for their effort.
So yes, money always seems to rear its ugly head in connection with any major sports event.
But there is much much more to this meeting of athletes
For all the athletes making money there are the thousands who truly are amateurs. Even if they get assistance in living expenses while they train. They don’t have lack of loyalty makeups. Their loyalty is to their country, and they don’t hop around from one to the other.
I love that it isn’t just major sports involved. Sure, there’s basketball and volleyball and other familiar ones. But there are so many others that don’t hit the major stages between successive Olympics, but are interesting to learn about. Like archery. Or crew. Or badminton. Or fencing. Or kayaking. Or wall climbing. And, of course the ever popular gymnastics. Most athletes participating in them don’t rake in the money.
From my early days I would be interested in the country medal count. I learned from a recent op-ed that that goes against the principles of the Olympics. In fact, that op-ed said, the Olympic governing document specifically states the Olympics is not a competition between countries; it is a competition between athletes.
That makes sense, and those of us (including NBC and other media) who make a big deal out of country medal counts really are losing track of the real benefits of the competition. With shame framing my face I admit I still look at the country totals.
The athletes seem to be doing better at what it is all about. They quite naturally are fixated on their own performance, but they show interest and respect for what their competitors accomplish. And they seem quick to offer congratulations to those from other countries who do well (even when they beat them or are beaten by them) and sympathy to those who have a bad performance.
I may be off about this, but I have observed only brief instances when there has been communication with the Chinese team, which contains some wonderful athletes. I can’t help but wonder if there is fear among that team of having outside contacts. If that is indeed the case, I think it’s a shame. In some ways I think the world would be a better place if we could take our cues from the athletes.
I have pondered what is required to get a medal. Let’s consider the winner of the 100-meter dash. That person takes less than 10 seconds to complete the run. Throw in a couple of preliminary heats and the total run time is under 30 seconds. He or she probably also runs the 200-meter race involving, with preliminaries, less that 60 total seconds of running. So medal winners compete in two events for a total of about a minute and a half. Now consider a gold medalist in the bicycle race who must traverse a course that takes close to four hours to complete, a bit more than 90 seconds. Finally, think about a medalist playing water polo with a series of two hour matches over several days. I am sure all three types of winners train equally hard. It just amuses me that the amount of competition time varies so widely to get the same piece of medal.
I love seeing the joy on the competitors’ faces when they place. But even more, I love seeing it on the people who don’t do well. After all, the vast majority of the contestants don’t get anywhere near the podium. And they know that’s the case before they arrive. They may be near the best in their home countries, but not in the world. Think of the thrill it must be for them to just be at the Olympics.
So congratulations to all the athletes. The winners and the losers. Even the most unsuccessful of them have talents in their field that very few others can brag about.
I can hear you saying, “Hey, wait a minute. Didn’t you previously post comments that said your interest in sports had taken a dive and money had driven out most of the enjoyment because of, among other things, lack of loyalty by the players.
Well, that’s true. And money certainly plays a big role at the Olympics. It costs France a fortune to supply all the venues. And it costs NBC a fortune to cover those venues with at least six different channels ranging over a variety of locations, including Tahiti. France gets some of that money back by charging large fees to attend events. NBC gets it back by broadcasting commercial after commercial after commercial. It’s discouraging to skip from channel to channel and almost always find a commercial, actually a seemingly unending series of. commercials.
And some of those commercials show well known gold medal winners hawking something, and I’m sure they are well reimbursed for their effort.
So yes, money always seems to rear its ugly head in connection with any major sports event.
But there is much much more to this meeting of athletes
For all the athletes making money there are the thousands who truly are amateurs. Even if they get assistance in living expenses while they train. They don’t have lack of loyalty makeups. Their loyalty is to their country, and they don’t hop around from one to the other.
I love that it isn’t just major sports involved. Sure, there’s basketball and volleyball and other familiar ones. But there are so many others that don’t hit the major stages between successive Olympics, but are interesting to learn about. Like archery. Or crew. Or badminton. Or fencing. Or kayaking. Or wall climbing. And, of course the ever popular gymnastics. Most athletes participating in them don’t rake in the money.
From my early days I would be interested in the country medal count. I learned from a recent op-ed that that goes against the principles of the Olympics. In fact, that op-ed said, the Olympic governing document specifically states the Olympics is not a competition between countries; it is a competition between athletes.
That makes sense, and those of us (including NBC and other media) who make a big deal out of country medal counts really are losing track of the real benefits of the competition. With shame framing my face I admit I still look at the country totals.
The athletes seem to be doing better at what it is all about. They quite naturally are fixated on their own performance, but they show interest and respect for what their competitors accomplish. And they seem quick to offer congratulations to those from other countries who do well (even when they beat them or are beaten by them) and sympathy to those who have a bad performance.
I may be off about this, but I have observed only brief instances when there has been communication with the Chinese team, which contains some wonderful athletes. I can’t help but wonder if there is fear among that team of having outside contacts. If that is indeed the case, I think it’s a shame. In some ways I think the world would be a better place if we could take our cues from the athletes.
I have pondered what is required to get a medal. Let’s consider the winner of the 100-meter dash. That person takes less than 10 seconds to complete the run. Throw in a couple of preliminary heats and the total run time is under 30 seconds. He or she probably also runs the 200-meter race involving, with preliminaries, less that 60 total seconds of running. So medal winners compete in two events for a total of about a minute and a half. Now consider a gold medalist in the bicycle race who must traverse a course that takes close to four hours to complete, a bit more than 90 seconds. Finally, think about a medalist playing water polo with a series of two hour matches over several days. I am sure all three types of winners train equally hard. It just amuses me that the amount of competition time varies so widely to get the same piece of medal.
I love seeing the joy on the competitors’ faces when they place. But even more, I love seeing it on the people who don’t do well. After all, the vast majority of the contestants don’t get anywhere near the podium. And they know that’s the case before they arrive. They may be near the best in their home countries, but not in the world. Think of the thrill it must be for them to just be at the Olympics.
So congratulations to all the athletes. The winners and the losers. Even the most unsuccessful of them have talents in their field that very few others can brag about.
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