The Olympics.... Just

Whenever one of my students can't answer a question about why something is, either through lack of English or because they don't know but won't admit it they answer with "just."

Me - "Sarah, why didn't you do you homework?"
Sarah - "Just"

I think it is the best answer possible to the question, why do we have the Olympics in the 21st century?Why do cities divert millions of dollars from infrastructure to pay for security, stadium upkeeps and organizing their city for a mass of tourists knowing that the short term gains will get blown out by the long term losses? Just.

So before this rant starts, I am pro-sports. At a youth level I support their funding wholeheartedly. If a sport can draw fans, TV and internet viewers then as far as I'm concerned if the organization in charge of it wants to pay their athletes $20 million a season then go for it. The NHL, NBA, MLB etc. are all funded exclusively by fans. Occasionally a city will chip in to build a new stadium, but only if it is guaranteed that it will get revenue back (the NBA will probably succeed). This is not the Olympics.

It is a silly idea for several reasons:

First the cost. Few cities actually make money on these deals. Sydney did okay but it already had everything they needed as they are home to rugby teams, Aussie Rules teams, the National Swimming Championship etc.  But what about Athens (bet they wish they had that cash back now?), Copenhagen, Nagano, Montreal and most recently Vancouver? I know for a fact that Vancouver is not expected to pay back the debt accumulated for the Olympics in the next 30 years. Admittedly highway improvements and a subway line to the airport were a part of that and were needed anyway, but three ice-skating rinks in Richmond? The fact is that money was diverted from things like education to pay for us to see who can skate in circles the fastest. Why? just. Though many would call you unpatriotic for not supporting the Olympics which brings me right in to point number two:

The petty nationalism. The Olympics are one of the best indicators of how seriously we as a species still take our tribalism (excuse me, nationalism). Already north Korea has delayed a soccer game because their players were shown with a south Korean flag and the Taiwanese flag has been taken down at the request of the PRC despite the fact that Taiwan is allowed to compete as Chinese Taipei. It's pathetic. How about we have the athletes represent themselves? Or, how about the athletes can choose which flag they want to represent? The Taiwanese can have their nationalist flag and the U.S swimming team can have a giant Ziggy Marley marijuana leaf flag. Nothing dumbs down a group of people faster than patriotism (with the possible exception of religion) and the Olympics exemplifies that. So why play to humanities most childish us vs. them behaviour? Why does anyone take pride in the fact that they grew up 200 miles from someone who can go down a mountain faster than anyone else in the world, or in fact take pride in anyone else's accomplishments instead of their own? Just.

Third. Do you really care about these sports? Really?

Olympic sports are divided in to sports that no one would ever care about if they weren't in the Olympics and sports that already have better venues. You want to see the best basketball players in the world? The NBA season starts in October. The best baseball (softball) players. Well they aren't there, go re-watch the MLB All-Star game. Best soccer players? Champions League in Europe. Then there are the ones that nobody would care about if not for the Olympics. 100 meter dash, bobsled racing, archery, synchronized swimming... synchronized f^cking swimming. So why have an unnecessary venue for popular sports and a venue at all for ones that wouldn't exist without said venue? Just.


You want to judge what makes a people, country or region great. How about literacy and education rates? Cost of living? pollution? Crime stats? Amount of expendable income per person? Suicide rates? Homelessness? Access to healthcare? Average life expectancy? If I were to rate Vancouver on this scale the health and cleanliness part would be top of the world but the affordability and cost of living part would be an abysmal failure. I'd rather have houses be $250,000 (and a HOUSE, not a tri-plex) and never host another sporting event again. London would rate very comparably to Vancouver, ask Londoners what they would prefer as well?

To boil it down.

Person A-

INSERT COUNTRY HERE has 26 gold medals. INSERT COUNTRY HERE is the greatest Olympic country of all. Of course housing is unaffordable and and I hope I don't get sick cause I can't ever afford to see a doctor. I'm so proud to be from INSERT COUNTRY HERE.


OR


Person B-

I am from INSERT COUNTRY HERE. Every citizen of INSERT COUNTRY HERE has access to healthcare, basic housing and education. But we only won 2 medals. I'm so proud to be from INSERT COUNTRY HERE.


Which person's country sounds better? Which person's country has everyone waving flags and acting like they are from the greatest place on earth? Why is that? Just.