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I am a sports guy. I like a LOT of different sports. I love watching gymnastics, swimming, track, wrestling (one I am mad they removed this year), rugby, beach volleyball and bmx racing during the Summer Olympics; and snowboard, speed skating, bobsleds, hockey, luge and even curling during the Winter Olympics. I kind of wish though that for the summer games they would add are BMX and Skateboard freestyle. They are FAR MORE international than most people realize and very relevant sports that deserve Olympic level credibility while cycling pursuit don't.
I watch it for nationalist pride, even if it is nations that I just have as heritage like say Canada.
As for the topic, I do think the problems with the Olympics are bribery and the WDO. We've seen the last few Olympics be in areas that are not set up for them or are beautified for the Olympics but then become as bad as they were before the beautification process was started (London, being a notable exception) only because of bribes (and this goes for the World Cup as well.) For me, the WDO standard of using any medication whether Aspirin for headache, Theraflu for flu-like symptoms, Benadryl for allergies or Bysmoth for stomach issues is a farce to say it is the gold standard for drug testing.
But only in America so many people do not care about the Olympic games at all. Do not assume it is the norm in the world.
Actually, America is one of the few countries in the world that actually cares more about the Olympics than the football/soccer World Cup! Google trends attests to that - just compare the searches for "FIFA" and "Olympics" and you'll understand
Anyway, if you thought the rest of the world cared about the Olympics, just wait till the FIFA World Cup rolls around! Whole countries totally shut down if they're playing in it, and many millions of people even those in countries whose teams are not in the tournament (people in many Asian countries will attest to this) will shuffle their schedules around and even happily sacrifice their sleep just to watch the World Cup! Countries embroiled in civil wars will literally stop fighting if their country is playing! There's a reason why Hollywood dreads releasing movies during the World Cup, and not so much during the Olympics! I don't see people in most of the world react that insanely for the sake of the Olympics!
Actually, America is one of the few countries in the world that actually cares more about the Olympics than the football/soccer World Cup! Google trends attests to that - just compare the searches for "FIFA" and "Olympics" and you'll understand
Anyway, if you thought the rest of the world cared about the Olympics, just wait till the FIFA World Cup rolls around! Whole countries totally shut down if they're playing in it, and many millions of people even those in countries whose teams are not in the tournament (people in many Asian countries will attest to this) will shuffle their schedules around and even happily sacrifice their sleep just to watch the World Cup! Countries embroiled in civil wars will literally stop fighting if their country is playing! There's a reason why Hollywood dreads releasing movies during the World Cup, and not so much during the Olympics! I don't see people in most of the world react that insanely for the sake of the Olympics!
Americans care about neither World Cup nor Olympics. The rest of the world often care about both. The logic here is, Americans care less than the rest of the world, NOT comparing Olympics with World Cup in America.
Many people do not like soccer at all, even in Europe and Asia, but some of them watch Olympics.
Americans care about neither World Cup nor Olympics. The rest of the world often care about both. The logic here is, Americans care less than the rest of the world, NOT comparing Olympics with World Cup in America.
Many people do not like soccer at all, even in Europe and Asia, but some of them watch Olympics.
Soccer is very big in Central and South America as well as Europe. U.S. Only slightly gets World Cup fever but gets more Olympic fever though it may not be as big as most countries get.
Americans care about neither World Cup nor Olympics. The rest of the world often care about both. The logic here is, Americans care less than the rest of the world, NOT comparing Olympics with World Cup in America.
Many people do not like soccer at all, even in Europe and Asia, but some of them watch Olympics.
Why are you grouping all Americans together? I am American and I care about the Olympics. So that throws your statement out the window.
(Last count there were 320,090,857 people in America, how many have you asked whether or not they care about the World Cup or the Olympics? )
The question was: "Do YOU think the Olympics are a waste?"
I enjoy watching the Olympics and rooting for the home team. But it's sad that Billions of dollars are being spent on just a two week event. Politicians sell the event to the host country by saying the venues can be re-purposed. But we can see, time and time again, that the venues usually turn into rubble.
Take a look a past Olympic sites such as Greece, China and Atlanta:
I enjoy watching the Olympics and rooting for the home team. But it's sad that Billions of dollars are being spent on just a two week event. Politicians sell the event to the host country by saying the venues can be re-purposed. But we can see, time and time again, that the venues usually turn into rubble.
Take a look a past Olympic sites such as Greece, China and Atlanta:
And even if they remain, they become "white elephants" that cost the host cities millions to maintain. Just look at Montreal's Olympic Stadium and velodrome.
This is one case where finishing second may make you the real winner.
No I certainly don't think it's a waste, but I think the country that hosts them should know what they are getting into and know before they bid that they can afford it.
What is wrong with having the BEST of the BEST going against each other? I think it is awesome and for an athlete to even qualify for the Olympics is a HUGE deal. Some work out their entire lives to get there. Hats off to them I say! They earned/deserve it even if they come away without a medal.
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