I abhor the Olympics.

[Darkmantle]

Physical competition is very entertaining. The work and dedication put in by athletes of that level should be humbling, you just come off as jealous. The problem is that you have distanced yourself to try and set yourself apart or above everyone.

The Olympics and sports in general speak to the natural competitiveness of the human race, the survival of the fittest drove our species to the top, it's natural we enjoy these sports.

You need to relax.

CAPTCHA: neckbeard

 

[Nautical Honors Society]

-snip-

I am not a sports person. I like to play the occasional game of kickball or basketball or wiffleball or whatever, but it is not really my jam.

I hardly ever watch sports.

But I love the Olympics.

You'll get a lot of cynical moviebob super-nerd responses to this saying that the Olympics is a stupid corporate sham that only serves to up the ego of certain nations and distract from real socioeconomic problems blah blah blah jocks are mean...

But the Olympics have been around since near the dawn of democracy and popularized civilization. It is a historical institution and a defining celebration of humanity, strength, perseverance, and unity.

Also you get to mindlessly root for your country in sports that you never even thought existed.

The Olympics are awesome. And can be appreciated whether or not you like sports.

 

[NightHawk21]

snip

Well ok. Firstly this is going to come from someone who doesn't care about sports and only watches the Olypics and other important sporting events to kill time and to be able to intelligently reply to people who actually follow them. Good now that that is out of the way lets get to business.

Just because someone spent an hour watching a hockey game, does not mean they wasted an hour of their life. You're on a videogame website writing a pretty long post. I could easily flip it and say that you playing videogames is a waste of time and you could be reading a book, learning something, doing excersie or something else beneficial. I won't obviously because much like you I enjoy video games and find them relaxing, much in the same way I'm sure those people enjoy hockey or whatever.

The Olympics are kind of a big deal. I mean they only come around once every 4 years (or 2 if you counting both games), and they are pretty good at solving political issues. For example here's some stuff you may not have known about these Olympics. At least 1 person has managed to escape some crazy dictator controlled state by coming to the Olympics and asylum. In addition at least 3 countries (from the middle east) have succumbed to political pressure and have allowed women to compete in sport and go to the Olympics, which in my opinion is a nice step for gender equality.

Here's the other thing about sport: its simple (not too preform obviously but to watch). Almost anyone can watch anything and within seconds understand whats going on. Try doing that to a breakthrough in science. I've spent years studying to understand an innovate in the field, and I'm reading some of these papers multiple times to understand what's going on. It isn't easy to get into and as such you won't see a lot popularity for scientists because most people can't fully appreciate what they did.

The money spent. Also not the best argument. The money invested in the Olympics is exactly that an investment. Countries that host the Olympics see lots of investment within them an overall increase in revenue. That much is fact. There are some instance where the funds are poorly managed and the country actually comes out in the negative (see Greece), but there's also a good chance the country will make money and increase its standing in the world. Like any investment there is some risk involved, but as far as investments go the Olympics is probably IMO one of the safer ones for seeing a return. A return which if you so pleased could be turned towards medicine, research or whatever. In addition you now have a lot of new infrastructure and which can then be made available to the public.

You are still free to hate the Olympics, and I'm not delusional enough to know that my post will change your mind but I hope you will at least see some of the positives they can do and try to look on the brightside of things instead of being miserable for the next 2 weeks.

 

[Bloodstain]

>People like things I don't like
>I'm the only sane person on the planet

Good for you. The sad thing is, nobody cares. I don't care about sports, either, but they don't annoy me as much as self-important hicks people like you do.
Get some real problems other than what some people enjoy, please.

[small]Mods, please be forgiving, I couldn't resist but be mad at this post.[/small]

 

[frizzlebyte]

I'm the only sane person on this whole goddamn planet.

Nah, that can't be true. You just think your opinion is the only one that matters.

And you're right: living with your mother isn't what invalidates everything you've said. In fact, you are absolutely correct: the Olympics are the biggest reality show on the planet, and we could all be using our time more effectively instead of watching other people play sports that we will never play ourselves, for whatever reason.

BUT, here's the problem: Every time you listen to music, watch a movie or tv show, read a book, play a board game, RPG, video game, or a sport, go drinking with your friends, go to school, perform an occupation, sleep, eat, build a robot with death-ray eye lasers, look at the clock, talk on the phone, or read this entire forum post of mine...you could have done something else that someone, somewhere on this planet thinks is more worthwhile for you to do.

We all have to find something that we enjoy, and that is worthwhile for us to do, and it will, most likely, be different from someone else's idea of a fun and worthwhile activity.

Why? Because they don't enjoy the same things you do. Surprise!

And guess what? By the size of that post Jailbird408, it seems you have found a more worthwhile activity for yourself than watching the Olympics. Congratulations!

 

[dimensional]

First of all I didnt read the whole thread *im sorry*because im short on time but like many others it seems, I to dont like the Olympics nor do I like sport in general especially watching it and as such I dont watch the Olympics also since I also dont watch TV at all or read the papers, listen to the radio or see the general public on regular basis (this makes it sound like im a complete shut in but its not that bad) it really just passes me by.

I didnt like all the reality TV shows so I stopped watching it in general I dont enjoy music so the radios out as well and newspapers bore the hell out of me so dont bother with them, thats not to say they are worthless though many people enjoy them and I let them do so I know how annoying it is when someone says I waste all my time studying or playing computer games.

What I can appreciate though is the effort the athletes put into being the best they can be and not just for the Olympics but all the time that takes a lot of dedication most of it I find very un-entertaining but its very impressive. I prefer to watch Video Game fighting tournaments which many will find indescribably dull but these are also people trying to be the best they can be and putting in the hard work to get there it just has the added benefit of being entertaining to watch for me.

Anyway in short im not to fond of Olympics so I just ignore it same with football and the world cup I just find it extremely dull and I despise the media frenzy that surrounds it (although as I have said I have largely rectified my exposure to such things now) but I cant hold anything against the participants themselves they have trained hard and deserve a place to showcase their skills and get rewarded if they are lucky. Balls to the national pride thing though never got that they put in the hard work those individuals deserve the praise not the country they should compete as individuals IMO not as a representative of a country, then you get people saying about how well or poorly we did bullshit you did nothing except sit on your arse and watch people this isnt a collective thing here each country isnt a unified entity. It just creates false pride which while handy politically in some instances can also spark conflict.

One good thing about the Olympic opening ceremony was that the pub was almost empty Friday night so no queuing for the bar, I think the TVs were showing it though but luckily I wasnt in eye sight of a tv 98% of the time.

 

[andrat]

You just badmouthed hockey. Canada is now your enemy.

I spit out my Tim Hortons while reading that (sad part is I'm actually drinking some).

I know the internet is everybody's personal soapbox, but that doesn't mean we have to give the time of day to everybody crying about how their interests differ from the majority, and how we're twits for enjoying sports.

I was going to type out a long rebuttal but OP seems to just be trying to spark discontent.

Edit:

Snip!

Basically, you read my mind,

 

[Zeraki]

I see no point in the Olympics, or any sport for that matter, whatsoever.

Yeah, I stopped taking you seriously there. Well I actually stopped at your warning, but then continued out of morbid curiosity.

Technically everything we do is pretty much pointless. Life is essentially a long series of distractions until we die(not a very popular philosophy, I know). Let people enjoy what they want, as long as it isn't hurting anyone I don't see a problem.

Wait... hang on a second. If you are so offended by people wasting their time watching sports on television instead of doing something more productive... why are you wasting your time ranting on an internet forum, on a video game website instead of doing something more productive yourself?

 

[Char-Nobyl]

Posting in troll thread. Oh well.

WARNING: Personal opinion of this user may plummet after reading this critique.
Ladies and gentlemen of the Escapist, now that we're knee-deep in the largest sports event in the world I have a question to ask.
WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?!

Ooh! I know this one! Because it's an ancient tradition of bringing together people from across the world to match skills in the spirit of friendly competition?

I see no point in the Olympics, or any sport for that matter, whatsoever. Take hockey, for example. You watch twenty or so burly blokes whack a puck around and MAYBE get it into the net for about an hour. What could you have done in that hour? Could you have cooked that recipe you always wanted to try? Could you go watch that movie you heard was pretty sweet? Could you perhaps, by any chance, exercise so that you would be fit enough to maybe play hockey yourself?

Putting aside the fact that you've outright assumed that A) everyone here likes cooking and B) out of shape to the point that they can't play any of the sports they watch, I can see already that your entire point is going to be, "I hate sports and don't understand why anyone could possibly think differently." I could replace 'hockey game' with 'movie' 'video game' 'TV show' or any number of other things (and adjust the alternatives fittingly) because you're just coming back to, "I think X is a waste of time, so why not do Y instead?" Probably because some people enjoy X, even if you don't, making your complaint moot.

No, you didn't. You watched the worst, least entertaining form of reality TV in existence.
That's right: I went there. Every competitive sporting match that has ever been broadcast over the internet is, by definition, in the same bracket as Big Brother, American Idol and Jersey Shore. And at least the characters in those irritating shows have some form of character development beyond "must win!"

Erm...what? "Reality TV" isn't the same as "broadcast of a live event." Like, at all. Do...do you actually think "reality TV" is broadcasted live and uncut? Wow.

But perhaps this sounds like the half-baked justifications of an alpha nerd who doesn't understand the appeal of sports.

Actually, it sounds more like you don't understand the concept of sports. Or the concept of television, for that matter. Or possibly the concept of personal enjoyment.

I've made this argument a dozen times, and every time I get the same answer: a sense of pride, that someone from YOUR hometown, home state or home country is the best of the best. The lesser scales do make sense to me, but I'm sorry: why should I care about some pumped-up athlete I've never met who probably has nothing in common with me?

And we're back to the "Not understanding the concept of fun" thing. See, different people enjoy different things. Are there things you enjoy? And do you think that, even maybe, there's a chance another person might not enjoy that thing, too?

Whenever an Olympic event comes on with an Australian in it, my mother just has to cheer "Come on, Aussie!" from her sofa. I have to resist the urge to remind her that the little people in the glowing box can't hear her, as if she was five years old.

Alright, here's a good example: during the filming of Casablanca, there's a scene where a radio announces the fall of Paris to the patrons of a bar. The small group of German officers start singing Deutschlandlied, the German national anthem. In response, the protagonist starts the rest of the predominantly French patrons singing La Marseillaise, France's national anthem. Several patrons are moved to tears. Now, you might not understand why they'd be so moved by something so 'trivial' as a show of national pride, but here's a fun fact: the movie was filmed in 1942. Quite a few of the extras were French citizens who had fled the country when the Nazis were taking over.

The point is that some people take more pride in their country than others, and there are sometimes outside factors that affect that. So if someone is behaving in a way you think is irrational, consider that possibility.

Yes, I live with my mother. (That shouldn't invalidate everything I've said.) She tells me to live with it. She tells me this is an exercise in acceptance. And I'd love to be able to hear my relatives cheer for the Australians and be happy for their joy.

You just said that you barely hold back the urge to insult her intelligence for enjoying an Olympic event with someone from her favored nation. You clearly don't want anyone to have fun watching sports.

And yes, it is an exercise in acceptance. An exercise which you seem to be failing as hard as physically possible right now.

Then I realise that the Olympics is just WAY more popular than it should be.

I'll pause right now to say that the original Olympic games were held a good two and a half thousand years ago. Somehow I doubt that you're about to make me smack my head with my hand and say, "You're right! This was a waste of time! Why didn't anyone see it sooner?"

The level to which people love this event is ludicrous. The Olympics are everywhere! I can't escape it! Everyone I meet is excited over the Olympics. Every paper I read dedicates front page space to the Olympics. The event itself is many times more popular and loved than any scientist, doctor or non-corrupt politician could ever hope to be.

It's almost as if it's a massive event involving most countries of the world that only takes place once every few years.

It's so popular that the distance London went to prepare for it is horribly ludicrous. Did anyone read that article Cracked wrote about that? You should be offended. A new lane on 39 kilometers of roadway reserved exclusively for Olympic workers, athletes and sponsors, NOT emergency services. A gigantic wall to protect Olympic buildings even larger than the Berlin Wall at its prime.

Yes, I read it. It was funny. Move past it. And emergency services can use the lane, provided, y'know, there's an emergency they're trying to get to/from.

The largest, smartest network of CCTV cameras, wasted on searching for counterfeit merchandise of that garish mascot Wenlock when they could be used to catch, I don't know, drug dealers and murderers!

Yeah. Because those cameras are totally linked to a Star Trek-esque command center where they can just command it to find murders and drug deals in progress.

All that money they spent on sports could have gone somewhere useful. Like the medical industry.

*sigh* Right, here's the thing: you can't just take all the money from something and dump it into something else. If problems in life were that simple, we'd have solved everything forever. So your plan is, "Hey, let's take all the money we were going to put into the Olympic games and spend it on medicine"? Alright, how? What are you going to do with that money? And no, you can't just "give it" to drug companies. It's billions of dollars. And then you get to deal with the international community getting pissed because you secretly pissed away all the Olympic-money on random shit instead of actually preparing for the Olympics. Congratulations! You've just blackballed an entire nation from the Olympics! Probably forever!

I don't know if my points were delivered well. I can't be sure if they support my beliefs or send them crumbling down. I KNOW that people are going to hate me for this. They'll read the subject and dive right in to call me a misery-guts and a party-pooper, if I'm lucky.

You presume too much of your worth if you think that people will dedicate valuable hatred to you.

Maybe I am just a misery-guts and a party-pooper. Maybe I'm too big-headed and self-sure to see the Olympics for what they are. But I don't want to. I want this whole useless event to go away forever. I want people to stop comparing positions to precious metals. I want the Olympics to stop!

That's exactly right, except replace "to see the Olympics for what they are" with "to acknowledge that other people might enjoy things I don't."

This opinion will almost certainly get me struck down. But I'm going to go down knowing I'm the only sane person on this whole goddamn planet.
...
By the way, if you spot an error in this post... do you really think I care?

Oh, look. Narcissism. Not only do you think that you're "the only sane person" in the world, you also think that you're going to be publically crucified for whining on the internet about not liking sports.

 

[TheAmokz]

the Olympics is all about who can use steroids and get away with it.

 

[somonels]

I prefer the real kind of Olympics. You know, the kind where random guys dope themselves up and compete for some body oil and leaves.

 

[Mau95]

I happened to be reading this and thought "Hey, this is kind of applicable!". So, here it is:
http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2674#comic

 

[funnydude6556]

I don't get that into the Olympics either but people are allowed to be excited by whatever they want, you had some great points and you are right with how Britain is overspending for the Olympics but it's hard to side with you when your talking like the guys who like the Olympics are stupid cretins for liking something you don't. Your the only sane person on the planet? Why? You hate something others like. I forgot the part where opinions were on national IQ tests.

I also want to be in a society where scientists and teachers are respected more and were we applaud hard work over petty earned fame but you have to respect that people like the Olympics and that no amount of shouting can change that. Surely the whole point of freedom is that nobody can dictate to you what you can and can't do. I like video games, I'm sure a lot of us here do but some people don't and they probably view E3 as a waste of money. Does that mean it's wasted money? Less people like E3 so they could easily say since less people like it that it means there's no point in having it since less people would be annoyed.

People like you and me who don't like the Olympics have no right to dictate about closing it just as much as guys who hate gaming have a right to try and get gaming closed and not one person can try telling me they wouldn't mind some guy badmouthing video games or did I forget the part where we gamers made Jack Thompson the video game equivalent of Satan, Hitler and Joseph Fritzel all wrapped up in one.

 

[frizzlebyte]

I happened to be reading this and thought "Hey, this is kind of applicable!". So, here it is:
http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2674#comic

Ha! Hahahahaha! I'd love to say that to people who hate on the space program.

Normally I just tell them how the space shuttle's o-rings allowed my grandfather to survive his heart valve replacement.

That usually gets them a little quieter, at least.

Captcha: "half done"

Wow, it must have read most of my writing projects.

 

[Dangit2019]

Look, I can get being annoyed by the overexposure the Olympics get (get ready to hear that theme song for the next 3 months), but they really aren't anything to get worked up about. Yes, sports are technically completely useless, but so are the majority of books with a few exceptions. Also, can us gamers really complain about people wasting their time on pointless activities that don't affect the world around them?

 

[Dangit2019]

Snip

I haven't seen you on here much before, Char-Nobyl, but you just made my day to a point where I'm sending a friend request as soon as I finish this post.

 

[frizzlebyte]

Look, I can get being annoyed by the overexposure the Olympics get (get ready to hear that theme song for the next 3 months)

I know... good thing I like the theme song (at least Leo Arnaud's portion of it [the first part]) Otherwise I'd tear my hair out.

 

[chadachada123]

But the Olympics aren't scripted. All of the shitty reality shows you listed are heavily scripted.

Not to mention, the reality shows show the worst of the worst of humanity. The Olympics show the best of the best, the most physically and mentally fit that this world has to offer.

These two differences alone, I feel, more than disprove you completely.

 

[likalaruku]

This is the only Olypic related thing I care to watch. It's weird yet somehow enthralling.
(For legal purposes, the only way you can get this legally is on a region 2 DVD or a secondhand VHS).

[/quote]

 

[Madman123456]

I don't like them taking over everything in media. Everyone is talking about it and when you normally don't like something, you don't watch it. Which is rather hard with some of the Omnipresent media events. Don't like a new Song? Well, you're going to hear it twenty times a day anyway.
Don't care about Olympics? If you don't want to hear about them, you better stop paying attention to any news outlet.

Also, the Olympic Games might have been a Symbol of Peace but they have been corrupted and abused to no end. Dictators have been hosting them to feign willingness for Peace while building an Army.

But then again, i can avoid most of the Information flood and the Games are still a "good" Symbol.

Also, it happens only every four Years, or two Years with the Wintergames.
I doubt there will be many Cars driving down the Street honking like Idiots when someone that carries the Flag of our Nation around won something. Like they do with soccer Championships around here.