The Olympics.....

[JPickettIII]

I was watching the news this morning and saw something that made me go what the f%**!  9 News was doing a piece on the Olympics, and they were covering Trampoline competitions.  TRAMPOLINES!  What is up with this, I thought that the Olympic Committee was on drugs when the allowed Curling and Synchronized swimming in.  (I will admit, that Synchronized Swimming is more of a sport that Curling and bouncing on a Trampoline.)  I personally think that I will boycot the Olympics.  I understand that the REAL athletes work hard to prove that they are the best of the best, but with having the Olympics in a country that has a huge pollution problem, lets products out of their borders that could potentially kill kids and then evicting some (I think the number is) 1.5 million people so they could build the Olympic grounds is just something that I do not feel encompasses the Olympic Spirit.  Also with the addition of Trampoline events, (god knows what else they will allow in, maybe walking or going down a slide, or maybe swinging on swings!) just puts the icing on the cake.  If I upset some people  with my little rant, I apologize, I just feel that the Olympics could be so much more.

Just my two cents.....

John

[AndyC]

You should probably add "I never pay any attention to the Olympics" to the poll.

[Patient7]

I don't really pay attention.

But they have Olympic trampolining and not Olympic bowling!!!!   Ludicrous.

[Trevor]

I would love to see cricket at the Olympics: yes, I know it can be boring sometimes but the new 20/20 version of the game where each side faces 120 balls (all done in less than two hours) and you have to clobber the ball like in baseball is undeniably exciting. 

[Jack]

I think some of the events are just plain stupid, like snowboarding.  A bunch of stoners doing what they do every weekend, and getting Olympic medals for it.  Why don't they have skateboarding?  Every single thing they do in snowboarding is ripped off from skateboarding.  Why is it an Olympic sport?  Because market research shows that it attracts the all important under 18 and 18 - 24 demographics, and they can charge more for advertising time.
 
Or mogul skiing, good grief.  Wouldn't you love to get a medal for being able to ski over bumps? 

My main gripe with the Olympics is that you'll be watching some event, and the announcer will say something like"See this guy?  He's probably going to finish in 80th place, out of 92 competitors.  But he had a real hard life growing up.  His brother had a rare disease, and we'll tell you all about in in the next 30 minutes.  The event itself, by the way, is 32 minutes long."

[Mr. DS]

Growing up I'd always watch the Olympics with my father.  Nowadays, I have no clue when its on.  If anyone should celebrate 15 minutes of fame its many of the Olympians.  I vaguely recall reading a story a long time ago about former Olympians selling their medals to pawn shops. 

Jack, I gave you karma for the snowboarding commentary.  It basically mirrors my feelings on it. Same thing with the curling competition which I've yet to figure out.  Back when old Hercules and his buddies supposedly started the event they kept it simple.  Nowadays, anything is a sport. Here are some other things the Olympic committee should consider.

Hopscotch
Jacks
Jumprope (I heard on the radio the other day some schools are making this a sport)
Four Corners
Dodgeball
Tag
Guitar Hero
Limbo
Hot Dog Eating Competitions
Table Hockey
Ski Ball
Dance Dance Revolution

Anything else you guys can think of?  I'm sure theres plenty. 

[AndyC]

Trivial Pursuit
X-Box
Monopoly
Lighting Farts
Lawn Mowing
Scrabble
Beer Drinking
Bar Fighting
Dwarf Tossing
Cat Juggling
Belly Bucking
and that carnival game where you use a water gun to fill a balloon.

Come to think of it, that Olympics would be more fun than the real one.

[Mr. DS]

Whack-A-Mole...I'd participate in that one. 
The Birthday Game (where you put a quarter on a month and if it is rolled you win)
Poker (don't say I didn't call it)
The Biggest Bowel Movement
Bad Movie Reviewing (hehe)

[JPickettIII]

You should probably add "I never pay any attention to the Olympics" to the poll.

Karama to AndyC for the suggestion for the poll.  I will try and change that now.  Plus the great suggestions like Darksider. 

[JPickettIII]

Growing up I'd always watch the Olympics with my father.  Nowadays, I have no clue when its on.  If anyone should celebrate 15 minutes of fame its many of the Olympians.  I vaguely recall reading a story a long time ago about former Olympians selling their medals to pawn shops. 

Jack, I gave you karma for the snowboarding commentary.  It basically mirrors my feelings on it. Same thing with the curling competition which I've yet to figure out.  Back when old Hercules and his buddies supposedly started the event they kept it simple.  Nowadays, anything is a sport. Here are some other things the Olympic committee should consider.

Hopscotch
Jacks
Jumprope (I heard on the radio the other day some schools are making this a sport)
Four Corners
Dodgeball
Tag
Guitar Hero
Limbo
Hot Dog Eating Competitions
Table Hockey
Ski Ball
Dance Dance Revolution

Anything else you guys can think of?  I'm sure theres plenty. 

Karma for the Darksider for some great suggestions.

[AndyC]

Can't forget Olympic Bingo. I can just see those old grannies, dressed in their countries' colours, smoking away as they dab at a few dozen cards each. It would add a whole new dimension to the games.

Amazing what you can do in a couple of minutes with GIMP and a graphic tablet 

[Mr. DS]

Andy C, love the bingo idea.  Although most competitors would be in danger of breaking a hip. 

How about...
Stratego
Frisbee
Paddle Ball
Beat Boxing/Free Style Rapping
Paper Scissors Rock
One Potato, Two Potato, Three Potato Four
Odds Or Evens

[AndyC]

Olympic Idol!

Or maybe Olympic sport fishing. That would be another one that would open the Olympics up to less conventionally athletic athletes.

Other potential Olympic sports are:

Tobacco Spitting
Tractor Pulling
Cow Tipping
Graffiti
Freestyle Cursing
Masturbation
Standup Comedy
and Telemarketing

[Mr. DS]

Or maybe Olympic sport fishing.

Yes, Olympic bass fishing...I can see it clearly now.  Perhaps you could parlay that into Olympic hunting.  Which would parlay into fish fillet and wild game prepping competitions. 

[ulthar]

I have a few gripes with the Olympics in the modern era.

First, the biggest, is that they changed the 'rule' and started letting professional athletes enter.  I remember a time when you had to be an amateur, just some shmo who ran, or high jumped or swam or whatever.  Nowadays, it is people who 'what they do' is their sport to the point of the NBA sending a team a few years ago.

In my opinion, that single rule change completely destroyed the spirit of the "Games."

Second, when they changed it to every two years - summer/winter cycle.  When I was a young, I remember the Olympics being "special" because it only came every four years, and it was on/talked about pretty much from January through the summer.

Third, all the yacking.  JUST SHUT UP and let me watch some (the few that are left) otherwise ordinary people achieve greatness in what they love to do.  Man, I just don't really care about ALL this backstory...some, a comment or two, is cool.

Fourth, and I'll stop here, I get aggravated that the programmers decide NOT to show certain sports that I like and DO show, ad nauseum, the same stuff over and over.  We'll see EVERY conceivable swimming event and gymnastics and fair amount of track and field.  Sculling, sailing, archery, shooting, etc won't get any air time.  Too "slow," not "MTV" enough.

So, to sum up: I really got into the Olympics when I was younger; now, I really could not care less (about the coverage, at least).