Ambivalent to the Paralympics - am I a bad person

The Game Room
1

My wife and I were discussing our ticket purchases for the 2012 London Olympics (we live just a short train ride away) and the subject of taking in some of the paralympic events came up.

It was a short discussion. Considering that we are both sports fans and fair-minded liberal (and liberated) 21st century adults. We both agreed that the paralympics holds little to no interest for either of us.

This seems slightly at odds with the amount of fervour that the media tries to instill in us every 4 years. Are we very much out of touch with popular opinion here?

It is remarkable what humans can achieve even when under severe restrictions but I confess the actual competition leaves me cold. I wonder if it is to do with the endless segmentations and classifications? Perhaps that is too reminiscent of the “everyone must win a prize” mentality of 70’s UK schooling.

I don’t know, I do know it isn’t a view I’m particularly proud of, and not one for polite dinner table conversation but I’d be interested to hear other opinions.

We’re not the only ones who feel this way are we?

2

If you were, the ticket sales and audience ratings wouldn’t be higher for the regular Olympics than the Paralympics: they are.

3

I feel bad about *enjoying *watching the paralympics. Part of the appeal for me is definitely watching people with physical disabilities be good at stuff. So I think if you are evil, I am more evil. You can’t really control how you feel about things, only how you act.

4

When they had the Olympics in Sydney I went out of my way to buy tickets to obscure sports that I thought would be poorly attended.

Paralympics - bought no tickets, even though they were cheaper.

You are a person.

5

Thanks for the replies,

On balance it looks like I am not being declared a monster. Encouraging.

Well, either that or we are all monsters together.

6

I am equally ambivalent about the Paralympics as I am about the Winter Olympics. But for me it’s more simple - I just find them boring.
And speaking as a Brit - I can’t help wondering exactly what form the inevitable complete-f**king-up-of the olympics will take.

7

Your weary cynicism does you credit…welcome aboard.

8

I’d have more interest in the Winter Paralympics than in the Summer ones, honestly. Sledge hockey is awesome, and I can imagine going to downhill skiing events. I’m not very interested in a lot of the summer sports anyways, though.

9

How do they do handicapped parking at the Paralympics? Is it just a sea of blue with a couple in the very back for the rest of us?

10

I think you’re actually feeling indifferent, rather than feeling ambivalent.

(Yes, I thought these meant the same thing until a few years ago.)

11

Media fervor for the Paralympics? I must have been out of town that day.

12

In the UK it does seem to be given a curiously high profile. (perhaps because historically we’ve done quite well…and we invented them!)

13

I too am highly indifferent. I love athletics, but can’t get too excited when at the last paralympics there were 13 men and 12 women winning a 100m gold!

14

In my lifetime (31 years) I can only remember one ‘good’ Olympics for the UK (The previous one, where we came fourth, and remained 3rd for a lot of the time before the end)
Any country that is hosting the Olympics is bound to get a bit exited about it - especially when it’s next year.

Personally I’m wondering how we’ll f**k it up. (It’ll either be the media’s fault, or lack of funding, or, ironically, British cynicism)

That’s not to say I won’t be pleased if we manage to pull it off. I’ve seen my first bit if ‘interesting’ news about it today (Apparently the velodrome has been built to be ‘the fastest in the world’)

15

I was wondering what you meant by this since I had the vague impression they were founded in the US by Eunice Shriver. It turns out that is the Special Olympics which has nothing to do with the Paralympics though I have always confused the two. The latter are indeed of British origin.

I wonder how many other people confuse the two.