# Why should I care about the Olympics **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [July 17, 2012, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-care-about-the-olympics/628560 "2012-07-17T21:25:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**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:** [July 18, 2012, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-care-about-the-olympics/628560/41 "2012-07-18T15:52:28Z")
> [@BwanaBob](#): > > Maybe that’s the litmus test; you have to have a day job that is your primary source of income and it cannot be a no-show position. Training hours cannot exceed work hours. (I’m presuming 8 hours sleep). If you’re a minor, school hours must be greater than training hours; school cannot be sports based. The original amateur rules were specifically designed to exclude the working class, in favor of the leisure classes that didn’t need to work. ---
**Author:** ![Molesworth\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9dc877/32.png) [@Molesworth\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Molesworth_2)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-care-about-the-olympics/628560/42 "2012-07-18T16:08:13Z")
> [@tellthetruth](#): > > who cares about the Olympics? I do. If you don’t, then simply don’t watch. Nobody is forcing you to do so. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-care-about-the-olympics/628560/43 "2012-07-18T16:26:13Z")
I’m guessing that the OP does NOT believe in miracles. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-care-about-the-olympics/628560/44 "2012-07-18T16:53:14Z")
A lot of the female athletes are rather hot. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-care-about-the-olympics/628560/45 "2012-07-18T17:26:01Z")
> [@The\_Hamster\_King](#): > > I love curling. It was the only part of the last winter Olympics that I watched. I think it’s time to petition the IOC to let curling be a summer sport too. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-care-about-the-olympics/628560/46 "2012-07-18T17:49:11Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > I think it’s time to petition the IOC to let curling be a summer sport too. The teams issued with mops rather than brooms, presumably. I sometimes wonder if curling shouldn’t try to make the jump to a major sport. It obviously has some appeal - when the Winter Olympics comes round, it always seems to be one of the most popular events. Anyway, back on topic, much of the point of the Olympics is to see sports that you wouldn’t otherwise watch. That’s why it seems wrong to have the likes of tennis and soccer in it, which already have established championships that are watched by hundreds of millions around the world. Minor sports don’t have that, so for them this is the big showcase. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-care-about-the-olympics/628560/47 "2012-07-18T18:02:03Z")
> [@Ximenean](#): > > Anyway, back on topic, much of the point of the Olympics is to see sports that you wouldn’t otherwise watch. That’s why it seems wrong to have the likes of tennis and soccer in it, which already have established championships that are watched by hundreds of millions around the world. Minor sports don’t have that, so for them this is the big showcase. I generally don’t watch sports–I just don’t have any interest in the commonly televised ones. I will, however, occasionally watch gymnastics, figure skating, and the like in the Olympics. I don’t care about the competitive aspect; it’s more about marveling at the cool (and sometimes bizarre) things the athletes can do with their bodies. I like things that make me think, “Wait…humans can _do_ that?!” ---
**Author:** ![willthekittensurvive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@willthekittensurvive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/willthekittensurvive)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-care-about-the-olympics/628560/48 "2012-07-18T18:51:17Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > I have to admit that my interest in the Summer Olympics went from “none” to “some” when they added women’s beach volleyball. Go figure. maybe you should start following [Women’s 100 metres hurdles](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cl95pPAHkHk&feature=player_embedded) ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-care-about-the-olympics/628560/49 "2012-07-18T18:54:27Z")
Who is making us watch the Olympics? Seriously? I don’t have any interest in them at all and have hardly noticed they are happening. Who is twisting our arm to make us watch it? ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-care-about-the-olympics/628560/50 "2012-07-18T18:55:47Z")
> [@fiddlesticks](#): > > A DVR gets you past all the human interest bits, I’m presuming NBC will be showing the major events on tape delay so its not as if you are missing the “live-ness” of seeing who wins between Lochte and Phelps or Bolt and Blake if you watch it that way. NBC is showing every event live online. Presumably, each event will be available online for a certain amount of time afterwards as well. Note that the online coverage usually does not include commentators. > [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Actually, one of the things I like best about the Olympics is the chance to see some sports that I usually never get to see. Olympic basketball annoys me; anybody can watch these guys play the whole rest of the year. This is my one chance every four years to see fencing, sailing, archery, judo, etc. If I read the TV schedule right, the only event not planned to be aired by NBC (other than online) at all is sailing. However, there is only one judo match scheduled, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s in a weight class where an American is favored, and it ends up being pulled if she doesn’t make it to the final. On the other hand, CNBC and Bravo will be boxing-only and tennis-only, and NBC will also make available basketball-only and soccer-only channels. > [@BwanaBob](#): > > I also agree that the shifting of the Winter Olympic Games was incredibly stupid. That, and allowing professionals. I disagree on both of those. The only reason the Winter and Summer Olympics were in the same year in the first place was, they were also in the same country until WWII. Having them both in the same year turns the Olympics into 3 1/2 years of silence followed by six months or so of hype overload. As for professionals, the best athletes should be present - otherwise, why bother? What they should get rid of is, country designations and limitations. Okay, most teams would still be country-based, as national governments would be paying for them, but at least there’s the option of forming multinational teams - it doesn’t hurt the UEFA Champions League any. > [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > I think it’s time to petition the IOC to let curling be a summer sport too. There is a “summer” version of curling - bocce. The problem is, not nearly enough countries play it to make it viable. The standards are lower for winter sports - how many competitive athletes in _any_ winter sports are there in South America or Africa? ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-care-about-the-olympics/628560/51 "2012-07-19T21:50:28Z")
So instead of incredible hype every four years, we get the same amount of hype but every two years. Real win-win there.:rolleyes: And only three of the four pre-WWII Winter & Summer Olympics shared the same host country. ---
**Author:** ![DKW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dkw/32/3118_2.png) [@DKW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DKW)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-care-about-the-olympics/628560/52 "2012-07-20T05:36:12Z")
tellthetruth - I don’t know. Are you forced to endure the hype (someone’s always has sports on the radio at home, your company just inked a sponsorship deal, something like that)? Do you have a lingering bad personal memory? Seems to me that unless you’re in a really unfortunate situation, it’s pretty easy to not have to deal with the Summer Olympics. I didn’t even know when the first day was until yesterday. As for what would make _me_ care again: Own up to the corruption and officiating botchery and end the craven, morally bankrupt hiding behind “controversy”. Admit to the colossal screwups and **wrong** decisions which have shattered the hopes of countless athletes. That’s all. You don’t even have to give any restitution whatsoever (which is going to be hopelessly complicated anyway), just acknowledge that the event is not a pure, unblemished, holy sacrament and that sometimes horrible things happen for no good reason. I’d gain a LOT of respect for the whole spectacle if this were to happen. End medal counts. It’s ludicrous to think that a medal in an inherently unfair and hopelessly biased “sport” like gymnastics or boxing (and that’s when there isn’t outright corruption) is worth the same as one in a largely fair contest like archery or pole vault. For that matter, certain fields like swimming, running, and rowing are medal-heavy due to varying skills and lengths. The cold war is over, and we’re all global citizens now, so honor the athletes, not pieces of cloth. Better coverage. Again, we can watch basketball anytime, but how many judo tournaments does ESPN ever show? Show a plethora of sports, show the unusual sports, and don’t get hung up on national pride (trust me, no one’s going to be impressed if Korea dominates in taekwondo or China cleans up at table tennis). Dial back the rah-rah hype and let _us_ decide what the storyline is. But y’know, that ship left the station ages ago, so…what can you do? It’s only 16 days. Watch baseball or golf or something until it’s over. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-care-about-the-olympics/628560/53 "2012-07-20T06:03:26Z")
> [@DKW](#): > > Own up to the corruption and officiating botchery and end the craven, morally bankrupt hiding behind “controversy”. Admit to the colossal screwups and **wrong** decisions which have shattered the hopes of countless athletes. That’s all. You don’t even have to give any restitution whatsoever (which is going to be hopelessly complicated anyway), just acknowledge that the event is not a pure, unblemished, holy sacrament and that sometimes horrible things happen for no good reason. I’d gain a LOT of respect for the whole spectacle if this were to happen. I’m not quite sure how that would work. Does the head of the IOC call a press conference after the games and say “Roy Jones, Jr., sorry dude, we fucked up.” They just stay silent on past decisions that I’ve seen. The only admitted screw up I can remember was the pairs ice skating where they gave two gold medals. (Four medals, actually, to two pairs.) Even that was laughable. Only the French judge got called out for vote rigging, but four others voted for the same team. That seemed to me to be a tacit admission of bias. > [@](#): > > End medal counts. It’s ludicrous to think that a medal in an inherently unfair and hopelessly biased “sport” like gymnastics or boxing (and that’s when there isn’t outright corruption) is worth the same as one in a largely fair contest like archery or pole vault. For that matter, certain fields like swimming, running, and rowing are medal-heavy due to varying skills and lengths. The cold war is over, and we’re all global citizens now, so honor the athletes, not pieces of cloth. You’ll have to take that up with the networks that cover the games. I don’t think there’s any official recognition of which country wins the most; and if the broadcasters want to make that part of the narrative they can count the medals themselves. On the subject of coverage, though, go back to the [music](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwqE1QeyxM8) that ABC used to use when I was a kid. > [@](#): > > Better coverage. Again, we can watch basketball anytime, but how many judo tournaments does ESPN ever show? Show a plethora of sports, show the unusual sports, and don’t get hung up on national pride (trust me, no one’s going to be impressed if Korea dominates in taekwondo or China cleans up at table tennis). Dial back the rah-rah hype and let _us_ decide what the storyline is. I’m the one who brought this up, and I think there are some sports that must be very difficult to cover. The scoring touches in fencing happen very quickly. Slow-mo replays will be great, but it will be frustrating to watch it and constantly say “what just happened?” ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-care-about-the-olympics/628560/54 "2012-07-20T11:45:26Z")
The Olympics? Nah. But I’d watch the hell out of the [Paralympics](http://thechive.com/2012/07/19/everyones-talking-about-the-olympics-but-the-paralympics-are-just-as-inspiring-video/). Wheelchair rugby is _crazy_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-care-about-the-olympics/628560.md?page=2)