FFS People

[cinema_babe]

I remember when the US began military missions shortly after September 11 that one of the big mantras was "hate the war but not the soldier". Can we adopt something similar with the Olympic coverage?

Here in the US, the network that handles the Olympics, NBC, can be Americo-centric and, dare I say it, a bit jingoistic. Most of their prime time coverage focuses obsessively on the American swimming and gymnastic teams. NBC even made the choice to omit the part of the Opening Ceremony because they felt the event being commemorated wouldn't matter much to Americans.

However, there is someone on my Family and Old Friends Facebook who has decided to make fun of the American athletes every time they lose or fall short of getting a Gold medal. You my dislike the coverage and the hype, criticize that. However, to get to London (or Bejing or Athens, etc) most of these young people were practicing and competing at an age when they could have been riding bikes with their friends. They have worked hard and if they fall short the majority of them show a very gracious face in public.

I find what he is doing very mean spirited and unnecessary.

Comments

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

Agreed. It's not their fault that the media is being so myopic and nationalistic. They're just athletes. They're there to work, to compete, and to do what they're damned good at doing.

[tisiphone.livejournal.com]

Completely agreed. The athletes have no culpability for the spectacle of the Olympics - they show up and put everything they've got into a few seconds of their lives, after training for years or decades. Even more than soldiers, they deserve respect, no matter what you think of the corporate superstructure that exploits them.

[silvester10528.livejournal.com]

I agree as well.

But I have to say...

I lost almost all interest in the Olympics back in the 1980's when the U.S. sent a team of professional basketball players because "the atheletes from other countries might as well be 'professionals' with all of the support they get from their respective governments"...

That just seemed to me like we were just being poor sports and telling all of our "ametuer" atheletes who had worked their butts off that if they couldn't gaurantee and win, then they weren't "good enough".

[cinema-babe.livejournal.com]

I sort of felt that way too until I heard an interview with these guys. You had some of the wealthiest, highest paid athletes in *the world* and they talked about how emotional they were when they won and heard the national anthem being played for their achievement.

I mean most all of the foreign basketball players go back home to play on their homeland's Olympic teams so why should our team be at a disadvantage. And even though we are generally heavily favored to win, anything can happen.