# I don't care about the Olympics **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 8, 2012, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-about-the-olympics/630856 "2012-08-08T14:16:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-about-the-olympics/630856/41 "2012-08-08T18:48:27Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Wait, _football_ is an olympic event? How? Why? I thought basketball was bad enough! Football as in soccer, not American football. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-about-the-olympics/630856/42 "2012-08-08T18:53:00Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Football as in soccer, not American football. Slightly better but not much. ---
**Author:** ![jayrey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/47e85d/32.png) [@jayrey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayrey)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-about-the-olympics/630856/43 "2012-08-08T22:35:49Z")
Actually, I’m really glad I took the time to read this thread. I was feeling a bit unpatriotic about not giving a damn about the Olympics, summer or winter. I appreciate the hard work of these athletes but have no desire to have it constantly broadcast into my home/onto my phone. ---
**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 8, 2012, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-about-the-olympics/630856/44 "2012-08-08T22:44:02Z")
> [@Dr.Love](#): > > I see people say this online once in a while and I always wonder, how old are you? The first winter Olympics was in [1924](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_Olympic_Games). So to actually have lost interest when the alternating 2 year cycle started you’d have to be at least 100 years old. So, can one presume you are too young to remember when they were held in the same year? ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-about-the-olympics/630856/45 "2012-08-08T23:09:36Z")
Yeah, I don’t really care all that much either. When I was younger, I really liked the gymnastics events, mostly because I was a gymnast (though more interested in boys, so not all that dedicated) in high school. Nowadays I’m not interested in any of it. My family is sure I was switched at birth, they’ve gone to events in person (equestrian events) and record just about everything from diving to soccer. They don’t get why I’m not interested. ---
**Author:** ![oreally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7ab992/32.png) [@oreally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oreally)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-about-the-olympics/630856/46 "2012-08-08T23:22:57Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > It’s perfectly fine to not care about the Olympics. We all have our interests. > > I happen to love the Olympics, but have no interest at all in the Superbowl. I think that makes me even more rare among Americans. Pardon a sidetrack but I think interest in the NFL is starting to wane, although still incredibly popular. But people are (finally) tiring of all the circus antics, players committing all kinds of crimes from “minor” to some of the worst imaginable and still being allowed to get rich playing a game, the silly big money involved and then players and owners crying about it etc etc etc. I love football but would not mind seeing it go away tomorrow, frankly. ---
**Author:** ![computergeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e56c9b/32.png) [@computergeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/computergeek)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-about-the-olympics/630856/47 "2012-08-08T23:29:03Z")
I’m not particularly interested in sports and I’m not always interested in the Olympics (my interest has waxed and waned over the years), but I am watching some of the events this year. I’ve always liked the gymnastic events and I tend to enjoy events where at least one of the participants is well-known, like Bolt with running. I don’t like the Olympics enough to try to watch them live online though. ---
**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 8, 2012, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-about-the-olympics/630856/48 "2012-08-08T23:29:55Z")
I guess the thing which turned me off is the commercial packaging of Special and Wonderful and the manufactured stories. It’s too bad, because there are a number of wonderful stories, but it seems that they want to turn everything into a fairy tale with either a Happy or a Tragic ending. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-about-the-olympics/630856/49 "2012-08-08T23:43:16Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > You’re right, but it really seemed like we hardly heard about the winter olympics until the last several. Before that it was almost a non-event. Not even remotely true. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Love](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Dr.Love](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Love)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-about-the-olympics/630856/50 "2012-08-09T02:21:35Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > So, can one presume you are too young to remember when they were held in the same year? Since **CalMeacham** pointed out the year, I see that I was 7 the last time they were held in the same year. So, yes, I have no specific memory of them being held in the same year. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-about-the-olympics/630856/51 "2012-08-09T02:45:04Z")
My god no, you’re not alone. All I want is my fucking cable news back. :mad: Fuck some Olympics. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-about-the-olympics/630856/52 "2012-08-09T02:59:08Z")
Count me as one with no interest. If it weren’t for BBC reporting on it, especially heavy since the games are right there in London, I wouldn’t have a clue as to what was going on. And would be no worse for it either. Side note: Sorry if this has been mentioned upthread, but how can people like Roger Federer compete? Whatever happened to the amateur angle? A bunch of bullshit is what it is. Yes, I know pros have been in previous games. That’s my point. Whay allow them at all? Defeats the purpose, in my view. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-about-the-olympics/630856/53 "2012-08-09T03:26:11Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Count me as one with no interest. If it weren’t for BBC reporting on it, especially heavy since the games are right there in London, I wouldn’t have a clue as to what was going on. And would be no worse for it either. > > Side note: Sorry if this has been mentioned upthread, but how can people like Roger Federer compete? Whatever happened to the amateur angle? A bunch of bullshit is what it is. Yes, I know pros have been in previous games. That’s my point. Whay allow them at all? Defeats the purpose, in my view. Define amateur: that’s the problem. Countries like the previous USSR would send their elite Red Army hockey team to the Olympics; they weren’t professionals, they were army officers who dabbled in hockey. Ch’yeah, right. So, you had the west playing by the rules, and a lot of countries circumventing the rules to make themselves look grandiose on the world stage. We finally said, “you know what, enough of that bullshit, let’s send our best too.” I am in complete agreement with this. Otherwise some countries would find ways to bypass the rules anyway in order to win gold. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-about-the-olympics/630856/54 "2012-08-09T03:27:32Z")
I am sure there could be some gray areas between amateur and pro in many instances. But Roger Federer?? And many of the pro basketball players present and past?? Seriously??? ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-about-the-olympics/630856/55 "2012-08-09T03:31:11Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > All I want is my fucking cable news back. I don’t mind the Olympics, and I’ve enjoyed a lot of the TV coverage; but I can get behind **Ambivalid** ’s idea. I’d like to see the news at the times when the news is supposed to be on, regardless of the opportunity for the network to show live coverage. ---
**Author:** ![LC\_Strawhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@LC\_Strawhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LC_Strawhouse)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-about-the-olympics/630856/56 "2012-08-09T03:42:23Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > (Unless you’re talking hockey at the winter Olympics, and then I need to see every game possible!) What for? The Leafs don’t send players to the Olympics, except for Phil Kessel so he can underperform. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-about-the-olympics/630856/57 "2012-08-09T03:43:01Z")
I’ve heard it pointed out (no, I’m not inventing this myself) that one (meaning an American in this case) _ought_ to be far more interested in following the Olympics than paying attention to the presidential election campaigns. After all, the Olympics only happens once every 4 years! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-about-the-olympics/630856/58 "2012-08-09T03:50:34Z")
> [@LC\_Strawhouse](#): > > What for? The Leafs don’t send players to the Olympics, except for Phil Kessel so he can underperform. So what? Kessel is American. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![LC\_Strawhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@LC\_Strawhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LC_Strawhouse)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-about-the-olympics/630856/59 "2012-08-09T04:19:27Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > So what? Kessel is American. 😛 Of course he is - the Leafs have purged all their Ontario players to make room for Americans (Don Cherry was right). So it must feel weird for a Leafs fan to watch Olympic hockey. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-about-the-olympics/630856/60 "2012-08-09T04:23:39Z")
> [@LC\_Strawhouse](#): > > Of course he is - the Leafs have purged all their Ontario players to make room for Americans (Don Cherry was right). So it must feel weird for a Leafs fan to watch Olympic hockey. 🙂 No. It’s actually nice to see my team win, for a change. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-about-the-olympics/630856.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-about-the-olympics/630856.md?page=4)