http://www.loe.org/shows/
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
After Salt Lake, Athens, and Beijing, we know that we can't count on the Olympics for integrity, fiscal resp., and principles - but they've outdone themselves this year. These games will cost over $50B (what is reported to the public at least)... that is more than the combined value of all NBA teams, or the GDP of Bulgaria. Just for a month of sports that only about 10% of the world cares about (or knows how to play, or can even afford to play). Studies have shown that it's very hard to achieve positive ROI on a major modern sporting event, but that price tag is just ludicrous. It's like Iraq with less murder and torture - fat gov't contracts handed out to political pals to build bridges to nowhere with no durable value to the country. Abused Russian people deserve better - from their homophobic, megalomaniac leader especially, but from us too.
Maybe the best thing we can do is boycott such travesties, and petition our leaders to protest. That might send a message to the event organizers/int'l orgs that their "customers" won't tolerate their horrible choice of host nations (and the social-environmental implications). Same goes for Brazil this summer for the World Cup.
After Salt Lake, Athens, and Beijing, we know that we can't count on the Olympics for integrity, fiscal resp., and principles - but they've outdone themselves this year. These games will cost over $50B (what is reported to the public at least)... that is more than the combined value of all NBA teams, or the GDP of Bulgaria. Just for a month of sports that only about 10% of the world cares about (or knows how to play, or can even afford to play). Studies have shown that it's very hard to achieve positive ROI on a major modern sporting event, but that price tag is just ludicrous. It's like Iraq with less murder and torture - fat gov't contracts handed out to political pals to build bridges to nowhere with no durable value to the country. Abused Russian people deserve better - from their homophobic, megalomaniac leader especially, but from us too.
Maybe the best thing we can do is boycott such travesties, and petition our leaders to protest. That might send a message to the event organizers/int'l orgs that their "customers" won't tolerate their horrible choice of host nations (and the social-environmental implications). Same goes for Brazil this summer for the World Cup.
I would hope the celebrity athletes and coaches would
boycott as well, but I understand that their careers are short and they
don't have many chances to medal. Even Jesse Owens went to compete in
Nazi Germany (but at least by winning, he made a social statement - it's
not like Shaun White winning another medal will do anything for gay
rights or anti-corruption). I know there is no chance that NBC and other
media companies would boycott, because they lust after the ad revenue.
Forget moral principles, they would probably love to buy the rights to
broadcast the hunger games (hosted by the Donald of course) if the
audience was big enough.
Sochi is just Putin pissing on a tree trunk like a
junkyard dog, or a spoiled brat on a global reality TV show. We
shouldn't indulge him any more. We boycotted Soviet games in the past
when that nation had more moral leaders than Putin.
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