Who Cares About the Olympics?

The last time I seriously watched TV coverage of the Olympics was in summer 2000. In Greco-Roman wrestling, the American Rulon Gardner was matched up against Russian Alexander Karelin in the gold medal match. I hadn't watched any Greco-Roman wrestling, and was curious to see what it was like. NBC spent hours hyping the match. They talked about the adversities that Rulon Gardner had suffered, and how the Russian had never lost. After several hours of hype, they showed the match. NBC broadcast the first few seconds, and then said "The American won in overtime."

My reaction was "WTF?" If you're going to spend that much time hyping it, you should at least show the actual event!

I don't bother watching the Olympics anymore.

Of course, there's another argument against the Olympics. If you realize that national boundaries are arbitrary, then such competition is irrelevant. For example, if you wanted to have a basketball tournament involving the world's best players, then the USA probably should send several teams. Currently, countries are limited to one entry in team sports and three entries in individual sports. The 4th best sprinter in the USA probably is 10th-20th worldwide. Is it fair to exclude him?

The Internet actually is a great means to promote the Olympics. You could focus on watching events that aren't normally covered. Regrettably, NBC has said that video of the Olympics may not be posted online. If you want to see the Olympics online, you have to go to NBC's website. That's a really stupid marketing decision.

There's nothing special about the Olympics. There's lots of sports coverage. Watching the Olympics is a waste of time, especially when they focus on propaganda over sports.