# Anyone else have zero interest in the Olympics this year? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 14, 2016, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-zero-interest-in-the-olympics-this-year/762804 "2016-08-14T18:02:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Tabby\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tabby\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabby_Cat)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-zero-interest-in-the-olympics-this-year/762804/41 "2016-08-15T02:33:50Z")
Well, my country finally won something, so there’s that. But otherwise, no. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-zero-interest-in-the-olympics-this-year/762804/42 "2016-08-15T02:58:08Z")
I generally don’t have much interest in the Summer Olympics. Too hot and sweaty. I think I just watched the opening ceremonies of London and Beijing. Didn’t even do that for Rio. I normally watch the Winter Olympics. I’m more interested in the winter sports, having skied and curled myself. But someone from Mrs Piper’s home town won a medal today or yesterday, which stirred my interest somewhat. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-zero-interest-in-the-olympics-this-year/762804/43 "2016-08-15T03:03:58Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > I could care less about the olympics. So you care somewhat? ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-zero-interest-in-the-olympics-this-year/762804/44 "2016-08-15T04:27:29Z")
> [@standingwave](#): > > So you care somewhat? Yep. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-zero-interest-in-the-olympics-this-year/762804/45 "2016-08-15T05:30:34Z")
Now I live in Taiwan where the whole country couldn’t care less, then my apathy finally hit rock bottom. Just from glancing past the headlines I know that there were some concerns about the location, but don’t know any details, that it started but I’m not sure when and a swimming pool turned green. Oh, and that there is something about Russia and doping. Don’t ask what because I can’t tell you. While I still lived in Japan there was enough interest that I’d be at least passingly familiar with the events that the Japanese participated so that I could have a conversation with my clients. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-zero-interest-in-the-olympics-this-year/762804/46 "2016-08-15T05:42:59Z")
Never been interested. Never watched. I don’t care how other people are doing in their competitions. I would be happy to play a sport or compete with others, for my own amusement and health, but why would I give a rat’s scrotum about what others are doing in that regard? I’m happy that they’re able to do something that they enjoy, and excel at it, but watching a person run in a circle is only slightly more interesting than watching grass grow, and far less interesting than even your average talent show or school play. I could spend the same time watching a play, reading a book, chatting with friends, playing a sport, playing a game, or basically doing anything else that isn’t watching someone else doing something fun, while not doing something fun myself. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-zero-interest-in-the-olympics-this-year/762804/47 "2016-08-15T10:27:25Z")
I have zero interest in almost all sports and the Olympics inspires just slightly more than that. -If I see a news headline that says Canada has won a medal, I think “Good for you”. -It’s sometimes fun to complain about phony sports like synchronized diving and race walking. -My wife and I went out for Korean food and the Korean cable sports channel was showing the women’s individual archery semi-finals and finals. It was mildly entertaining as a background for my bibimbap. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-zero-interest-in-the-olympics-this-year/762804/48 "2016-08-15T10:36:00Z")
The Olympics could not possibly be of less interest to me. But I also wouldn’t care if there were never any sporting events at all. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-zero-interest-in-the-olympics-this-year/762804/49 "2016-08-15T10:36:51Z")
I usually have it on, but this year circumstances have made it more difficult. Also, timezone-wise, everything happens during my sleepytime. But the negative buzz leading up to the shebang kind of soured me on it all anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-zero-interest-in-the-olympics-this-year/762804/50 "2016-08-15T11:09:28Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > The Olympics could not possibly be of less interest to me. But I also wouldn’t care if there were never any sporting events at all. My sentiments exactly. I’ve tried for a weak pun along the lines of “Olympics? Isn’t that what film critics say about offerings which they feel don’t make the cut? [O, limp pics]” ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-zero-interest-in-the-olympics-this-year/762804/51 "2016-08-15T14:15:39Z")
We watched none of it… until last night. I never miss the 100 metre race, and we were not disappointed. In waiting for it we also saw the 400 metre final, which was worth the accident of seeing. We’ll watch not a minute more. The interminable parade of swimming and beach volleyball is of absolutely no interest to me, but the 100-meter dash is just about as perfect an athletic event as there is. I simply love it. My fiancée loves it. The simplest sport you can possibly come up with; run there as fast as you can go. The purest demonstration of human fitness, No equipment, no judging, no complexity of rules, just eight men or women lined up. Total gut check; there’s a billion people watching around the world and 80,000 screaming fans, and your rivals are right next to you and trying to psyche you out, and you’ve got ten seconds to make years and years and years of training matter. One wrong move, one misstep, one wrong breath, and you lost two tenths of a second of speed and you have lost. Win, and you’re on the cover of half the newspapers in the world. You can take or leave the rest of it, but I do NOT miss that. ---
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-zero-interest-in-the-olympics-this-year/762804/52 "2016-08-15T14:26:47Z")
The television ad fest that is put on every few years by quite possibly THE most corrupt international organization interests me not a bit. It is so incredibly far from the olympic vision of amatuer athletes representing their country. In this thread, I just spent more time on the olympics than I have otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Brodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cc9497/32.png) [@Brodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brodi)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-zero-interest-in-the-olympics-this-year/762804/53 "2016-08-15T15:10:26Z")
The only thing I’ve paid attention too is the female rower(?) who was sickened by the polluted water, the technicolor pool(s), and all the robberies/pick pocketing going on. ---
**Author:** ![quiltguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e47774/32.png) [@quiltguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quiltguy)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-zero-interest-in-the-olympics-this-year/762804/54 "2016-08-15T15:16:56Z")
I’m old enough to remember when mailmen and janitors and barbers and schoolteachers and all manner of the workaday public would/could lay aside their mundane pursuits to compete in the Olympics. Real people who practiced on their own(after or before their jobs), sacrificed a lot, did their best, competed, then went back home to their jobs. I have zero interest in seeing pampered professionals competing at THEIR “everyday” jobs, you know, the ones where they get bundles of bucks, are on magazine covers, and have their butts kissed. I also remember when the IOC acted as though they were unaware that pros were infiltrating the competitions, and they tried to make us believe otherwise. They should be ashamed to call it The Olympics. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-zero-interest-in-the-olympics-this-year/762804/55 "2016-08-15T20:41:30Z")
Not sure when I lost interest, maybe when they blurred the distinction between amateur and professionals to invisibility. Maybe when I realized how host locations are being fleeced in the process of building the facilities. Maybe when I realized it was this big cheerfest for nationalism. Maybe when I realized it was all about delivering audiences to consumer product companies. Somewhere in there. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-zero-interest-in-the-olympics-this-year/762804/56 "2016-08-15T21:08:28Z")
I would not say I have zero interest, but it ranks pretty low on the priority list. We ditched cable this year and the DVR that accompanied it. I probably cared more when it was convenient to watch on my own schedule, but now we are beholden to when NBC decides to show whatever American they are solely focused on. So, if the TV is on while I am washing the dishes, sure, I will keep an eye on it, but otherwise no. And I agree with the above sentiment that NBC’s formulaic, “feel good”, over commercialized coverage is the absolute worst - trying to watch it is frustrating so we are not really bothering. ---
**Author:** ![Periwinkle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Periwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Periwinkle)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-zero-interest-in-the-olympics-this-year/762804/57 "2016-08-15T23:01:12Z")
I haven’t watched it at all this time, i don’t care about sports. But if someone did switch on the Olympics and it was something like gymnastics or figure skating (I know that’s in the winter one), I might get engaged in watching it. I admire the tenacity and skill it takes to perform at that level. I’m saddened when cheating comes to light because it’s much nicer for fans and kids who see great athletes as role models when the victories actually mean something. ---
**Author:** ![spamforbrains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@spamforbrains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spamforbrains)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-zero-interest-in-the-olympics-this-year/762804/58 "2016-08-16T01:53:22Z")
Never watched it, never will. Watching people doing sports is boring. And the nasty country vs country invented rivalry the Olympics creates is just yucky. Not to mention that a lot of my friends have been complaining about the incredibly sexist media coverage this year, which I cannot confirm since I haven’t watched a single second of it. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-zero-interest-in-the-olympics-this-year/762804/59 "2016-08-16T02:02:24Z")
I watch lots of the Olympics. Love it, there are always great stories and performances. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-zero-interest-in-the-olympics-this-year/762804/60 "2016-08-16T04:21:18Z")
I’ll be the dissenter on this thread. I love the Olympics. Love, love, love it. Watch as much as I can. For me it’s far more important than the Super Bowl, for example. Caught team handball on MSNBC this afternoon. Fascinating game. I’ve been an obsessive fan like that for 40 years or so, not going to change now… I’ve been to Olympic events several times. I even collect books about Olympic statistics. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-zero-interest-in-the-olympics-this-year/762804.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-zero-interest-in-the-olympics-this-year/762804.md?page=4)