Despite the news, I think the risk of being involved in a terrorist attack is pretty low - both because the likelihood of an attack is low, and the fact that any attack that does happen is likely to involve a very small percentage of the people attending the games.
I wonder how many people there will be killed in traffic accidents during the same time period.
Going to football games stopped being fun for me when I wasn’t in the marching band anymore. The Olympics would be the same sort of thing, so despite the low risk of terrorism to the individual, I’d rather stay at home and watch it on a big-ass TV. The network cameras, equipped with amazing zoom lenses and operated by professionals, get far better views than I ever would when seated in the bleachers or standing behind a snow fence, and I can skip the boring parts as I see fit.
I didn’t even go to the London games and my office is less than a mile from the Olympic stadium. I can see that stupid Orbit thing looking out my window right now. So no, I probably wouldn’t go to the Olympics even if it were free.
I’m not overly worried about terrorists but I do have a deep dislike of the current Russian government so that’s even less reason to go.
I’d finagle some way to sell it to somebody who gives a damn about sports, doesn’t have anything better to do, and doesn’t consider foreign travel to be an adventure (i.e. a nasty unpleasant thing that makes you late for dinner).
Well, I got into town and my computer was hacked, my cell phone no longer turns on, my hotel room has two toilets but no shower, and I spent the last two hours consoling my daughter who thought she saw “those poor doggies” get shot.
I’ve gotten free tickets to a sub-par night of stand-up comedy; I’ve gotten free tickets to a lousy play put on by the drama department at a community college; I’d say those were worth the price. But the Winter Olympics? You’re gonna have to pay me.
I’d like to visit Russia some day. Heck, I’d like to visit everywhere. But I’m not interested in live anything sporting events. Crowded, uncomfortable and you get a better view on TV anyway. I don’t see the point.
Reading about the conditions there, I don’t think I’d want to go after all. Too bad, I’d love to see the Winter Olympics in person. Seriously, why did they choose Sochi? Why not say, St. Petersburg? (I know Moscow has already held them once)
Not doubting you – and my knowledge about, and interest in, this stuff is zero – but aren’t mountains necessary, for some kinds of winter sports? (ISTR that there are no mountains near St. P. and Moscow.)
Don’t like crowds. Don’t really like Winter. Don’t like sports.
If I could VIP into an indoor Winter Olympics event - ala the Royal Family in London last year, where I wouldn’t be worried about crowds - I’d do it for the experience. But standing outside in the cold in a crowd watching the luge isn’t my idea of a good time even if I get to go back to a hotel where hot water is guarenteed.
I read yesterday in the mad rush to get the important things finished, the journalists’ Mountain Resort or whatever it is, was a lower priority. And really, are these quickly erected McHotels going to see any use after the game? Journalists whining about their accommodations not being plush enough kind of makes me a little happy.
Not that things don’t suck in other ways. Teh gays, the dogs, the captured Orcas being held in a little concrete pool somewhere and then the authorities deciding to not even display them, etc.
Speaking of gays, everyone is talking about the German team’s rainbow uniforms. Really? Not much of a rainbow, but if that’s how the world wants to take it and Germany is cool with it, I don’t mind. They should have gone with purple pants and red caps. Just sayin’.
There’s “not plush enough” and then there’s “the water in the shower, when it eventually works, will dissolve your face”. I think the latter deserves a little “whining”.
