I could joke that, as a Cubs fan, I’ve been through this before with the team’s perennial losing and failure to get a good farm club system going, but even in the bad old days when they’d go 65-97, they’d still come out and play as best they could and rejoice in the opportunity to get paid richly to play a child’s game.
From overpaid prima donnas to the governing organizations like the NCAA, IOC, and pro leagues, it seems that everybody’s forgotten why they’re there—for the game and for the athletes. Ick.
I have always been big fan of the Olympic games since I was a small child, and I’ve even attended one Summer and one Winter games. I too, found it depressing to see happening to the Olympics what has already been happening with other sports.
As big a fan as I have been, I’m still watching, though I have recalibrated some what makes me enjoy watching. I have always loved seeing an athlete proud to win (especially when they had almost no chance) and proud of their country. There are still plenty of those moments to be had, even though it seems this year that most of them are for other countries. Even if I don’t get to yell USA! USA!, some of the moments from this year’s games have been great.
In addition, I now really enjoy when woke and/or divisive, America-hating athletes lose. I’ve actually really loved hearing the news of the U.S. women’s soccer team losing games and now not being able to win gold. The track and field athlete that didn’t want to be associated with the national anthem or flag not only got nowhere near the medals platform, she was the last of the Americans. Another great moment in sports. That news almost made my morning. The NZ “woman” weightlifter failed to completely qualify. Oh darn. Now if the US basketball team fails to medal, and the soccer team loses the bronze medal match, my games will be pretty complete.
I can still enjoy the great moments in the games. It’s just that sadly, now some of the great moments involve cheering against the USA. It’s depressing to see, but unless politics completely takes over, I’m not going to let them ruin my enjoyment of something that used to transcend the differences within the USA and allowed us to come together as a country. The “Miracle on Ice” moment may never happen again, but I’m still hoping that we might see something like it some day.
Nothing stays the same in life, but we don’t have to let circumstances (or sports) get us down. I’m not a huge sports watcher, but if it gets to where I can no longer watch any sports (and each year there’s already less of anything worth watching, sports, news, or otherwise), then I’ll find something else to do. Maybe that will be an overall plus in my life.
Dave’s response to “woke” Olympians reminds me of my experience watching Notre Dame, USC, Michigan, the Vikings, or the 49ers….cheer for the opponents and try to suppress the desire to see injuries among their players. I’m mostly successful in this.
Really, I’ve been a bit down on sports for a while. You had a lot of colleges letting kids play four years without ever teaching them to read, rampant steroid abuse in the 1980s and 1990s (Tony Mandarich, Lyle Alzado, etc..), rampant criminality among athletes, and then in the past 20 years, it’s been competition to see what portion of an athlete’s skin can be covered in tattoos, and how well you could kneel during the National Anthem. It’s like lavish funding for scholarships, perks, salaries, and stadia makes guys feel entitled or something.
Dave’s response to “woke” Olympians reminds me of my experience watching Notre Dame, USC, Michigan, the Vikings, or the 49ers….cheer for the opponents and try to suppress the desire to see injuries among their players. I’m mostly successful in this.
It’s not like I’ve never had such thoughts, but I will say that over time, I’ve realized that 1. I don’t want to see people injured, even when I want them to be defeated, and 2. It’s way more satisfying to see clean, clear victories in conditions that are as fair and injury-free as possible. Even the athletes that I want to see lose during these Olympics, I want to see them lose fair and square (maybe due to spending more time on politics than practicing), not because they were injured.
As to your other points, yes sports have become in many ways too dependent on big money that has allowed (and even promulgated) the cheating, looking the other way from criminality, etc. I guess I’m still just enough of an optimist (tempered by realism) to believe that sometimes you can still see some good clean sport. I may be kidding myself, but I tend to hold on to my illusions until they are definitively shown to be false.
Check out the athlete in this article and the twitter video link there. This is the kind of athlete that is fun to watch at the olympics, and FAR from depressing!
Discussion
NewTrue
I could joke that, as a Cubs fan, I’ve been through this before with the team’s perennial losing and failure to get a good farm club system going, but even in the bad old days when they’d go 65-97, they’d still come out and play as best they could and rejoice in the opportunity to get paid richly to play a child’s game.
From overpaid prima donnas to the governing organizations like the NCAA, IOC, and pro leagues, it seems that everybody’s forgotten why they’re there—for the game and for the athletes. Ick.
Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.
NewCubs, Red Sox...
In my experience the Cubs fans I’ve known are a lot like the Red Sox fans I grew up with. The fans are loyal to their team, period. #dirtywater
Michael Osborne
Philadelphia, PA
NewDepressing sports
I have always been big fan of the Olympic games since I was a small child, and I’ve even attended one Summer and one Winter games. I too, found it depressing to see happening to the Olympics what has already been happening with other sports.
As big a fan as I have been, I’m still watching, though I have recalibrated some what makes me enjoy watching. I have always loved seeing an athlete proud to win (especially when they had almost no chance) and proud of their country. There are still plenty of those moments to be had, even though it seems this year that most of them are for other countries. Even if I don’t get to yell USA! USA!, some of the moments from this year’s games have been great.
In addition, I now really enjoy when woke and/or divisive, America-hating athletes lose. I’ve actually really loved hearing the news of the U.S. women’s soccer team losing games and now not being able to win gold. The track and field athlete that didn’t want to be associated with the national anthem or flag not only got nowhere near the medals platform, she was the last of the Americans. Another great moment in sports. That news almost made my morning. The NZ “woman” weightlifter failed to completely qualify. Oh darn. Now if the US basketball team fails to medal, and the soccer team loses the bronze medal match, my games will be pretty complete.
I can still enjoy the great moments in the games. It’s just that sadly, now some of the great moments involve cheering against the USA. It’s depressing to see, but unless politics completely takes over, I’m not going to let them ruin my enjoyment of something that used to transcend the differences within the USA and allowed us to come together as a country. The “Miracle on Ice” moment may never happen again, but I’m still hoping that we might see something like it some day.
Nothing stays the same in life, but we don’t have to let circumstances (or sports) get us down. I’m not a huge sports watcher, but if it gets to where I can no longer watch any sports (and each year there’s already less of anything worth watching, sports, news, or otherwise), then I’ll find something else to do. Maybe that will be an overall plus in my life.
Dave Barnhart
NewLike watching the Fighting Irish
Dave’s response to “woke” Olympians reminds me of my experience watching Notre Dame, USC, Michigan, the Vikings, or the 49ers….cheer for the opponents and try to suppress the desire to see injuries among their players. I’m mostly successful in this.
Really, I’ve been a bit down on sports for a while. You had a lot of colleges letting kids play four years without ever teaching them to read, rampant steroid abuse in the 1980s and 1990s (Tony Mandarich, Lyle Alzado, etc..), rampant criminality among athletes, and then in the past 20 years, it’s been competition to see what portion of an athlete’s skin can be covered in tattoos, and how well you could kneel during the National Anthem. It’s like lavish funding for scholarships, perks, salaries, and stadia makes guys feel entitled or something.
Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.
NewBert Perry wrote:
It’s not like I’ve never had such thoughts, but I will say that over time, I’ve realized that 1. I don’t want to see people injured, even when I want them to be defeated, and 2. It’s way more satisfying to see clean, clear victories in conditions that are as fair and injury-free as possible. Even the athletes that I want to see lose during these Olympics, I want to see them lose fair and square (maybe due to spending more time on politics than practicing), not because they were injured.
As to your other points, yes sports have become in many ways too dependent on big money that has allowed (and even promulgated) the cheating, looking the other way from criminality, etc. I guess I’m still just enough of an optimist (tempered by realism) to believe that sometimes you can still see some good clean sport. I may be kidding myself, but I tend to hold on to my illusions until they are definitively shown to be false.
Dave Barnhart
NewAthletes that are NOT depressing
Check out the athlete in this article and the twitter video link there. This is the kind of athlete that is fun to watch at the olympics, and FAR from depressing!
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/olympic-gold-medalist-wrestler-tamyra-me…
Dave Barnhart
NewMe and sports
Twitter
Jim's Doctrinal Statement
NewTamyra Mensah-Stock
“It’s obvious Olympic wrestler Tamyra Mensah-Stock has a relationship with the Father and her father”
Obviously, I can’t comment on whether she is a true Christian, but I sure enjoyed hearing her give thanks to God in her post-competition interview.
Dave Barnhart