A friend of mine recently commented on Facebook about the possibly sexist attitude of the media when interviewing female athletes at the Olympics as well as the questionable benefits of the competition in general. I am generally inclined to agree with him on the first point. It might have been meant to contrast the always-unflattering photos of sports participants that appear when photojournalists attempt to capture the struggle for victory or the heat of the moment, but most likely it’s only indicative of how shallow parts of the media have become in recent years.
Regarding the second point, the Olympic games are certainly an enormous expense. Most host countries might put such funds to better use, given the total cost of the spectacle, even if they do end up with all the athletic venues and added housing for use afterwards. Then again, there’s the underlying nationalism. That often brings the sportsmanship of some participating countries into question and tends to tarnish the real value of the resulting medals along with the reputation of the whole affair. Yes, I’m talking about - RUSSIA - for one! And yes, there are others, but if those in the west are playing similar games they must know how to cheat with more effective and less detectable drugs.
As to the value of the Olympics overall, I have a passing interest as a Canadian regarding our place in the medal standings, but other than that my main question is how they will disrupt more important TV viewing (eg. Coronation Street - or almost anything else). And as for sporting events in general, I usually think that the best start for eliminating the questionable nonsense is with the fossil fuelled varieties. Take your pick; there are lots of them. Or all that aviation fuel being wasted getting fans to and from the Olympics for that matter.
P.S. This year of course, there’s the added bonus of the resulting Zika babies from cabbage-headed expectant parents who don’t know enough to stay away from a country where no regard is shown for safety or the environment. That’s a gift that’ll keep on giving for a whole lifetime and won’t even need to be explained to the recipient: they won’t have the capacity to understand anyway.
On a lighter note, don’t you wish you were making the money that the unshaven travel guy or the one in the tinfoil suit get in commercial royalties from TV ads? Hopefully they have good contracts because they’re likely going to be typecast forever if they don’t watch out. Someone should roundup all the actors seen in all the grossly overplayed commercials and create some silly reality show full of familiar faces for a change. It might work. Later, the goofiest one may think it’s a good idea to run for political office. It wouldn’t be the first time recently that some loser has tried it. And loser is the key word in that last sentence.
Regarding the second point, the Olympic games are certainly an enormous expense. Most host countries might put such funds to better use, given the total cost of the spectacle, even if they do end up with all the athletic venues and added housing for use afterwards. Then again, there’s the underlying nationalism. That often brings the sportsmanship of some participating countries into question and tends to tarnish the real value of the resulting medals along with the reputation of the whole affair. Yes, I’m talking about - RUSSIA - for one! And yes, there are others, but if those in the west are playing similar games they must know how to cheat with more effective and less detectable drugs.
As to the value of the Olympics overall, I have a passing interest as a Canadian regarding our place in the medal standings, but other than that my main question is how they will disrupt more important TV viewing (eg. Coronation Street - or almost anything else). And as for sporting events in general, I usually think that the best start for eliminating the questionable nonsense is with the fossil fuelled varieties. Take your pick; there are lots of them. Or all that aviation fuel being wasted getting fans to and from the Olympics for that matter.
P.S. This year of course, there’s the added bonus of the resulting Zika babies from cabbage-headed expectant parents who don’t know enough to stay away from a country where no regard is shown for safety or the environment. That’s a gift that’ll keep on giving for a whole lifetime and won’t even need to be explained to the recipient: they won’t have the capacity to understand anyway.
On a lighter note, don’t you wish you were making the money that the unshaven travel guy or the one in the tinfoil suit get in commercial royalties from TV ads? Hopefully they have good contracts because they’re likely going to be typecast forever if they don’t watch out. Someone should roundup all the actors seen in all the grossly overplayed commercials and create some silly reality show full of familiar faces for a change. It might work. Later, the goofiest one may think it’s a good idea to run for political office. It wouldn’t be the first time recently that some loser has tried it. And loser is the key word in that last sentence.
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