It isn't sour grapes at all. The Olympics were always supposed to be for amatuer sportsmen and women and at one time they were. Years ago athletes could not even accept prize money for winning at various venues, and the money was placed in trust until they either retired or turned pro. Anyone who plays sport for a living should not be allowed to compete irrespective of the sport ( I include sports scholarships offered by Universities which are a form of payment to compete ). My sons team were fortunate to pick up dedicated sponsors over 4 yrs and spent close to $1/2m in that time travelling to compete with the best. When they won their Gold medal in Torino, they received a tad over $100,000 between the 4 of them which could only be used for training and sport related expenses which had to be accounted for. Sure we all want to see the best in the World compete at the Olympics, but when teams or individuals who work full time and earn a living from their sport, compete against teams who might play together once a week or month, it makes a mockery of the winning result.
Thank you for clarifying. Philosophically, we are in aggreement, and actually your views may be a little more stringent than mine. I have no particular qualms about seeing scholarship athletes from Universities at the Olympics, but absolutely feel that out-and-out professionals should be banned in all sports. I could absolutely bicker and say that having corporate sponsors isn't that far removed from having athletic scholarships, but it seems we are generally in aggreement. Irregardless of that, I think, unfortunately, that the world has largely passed-by people with our train of thought. Everybody wants to see the pros nowdays.
The basketball is a joke but nothing can be done about it. I don't know how Americans can get excited about watching or winning it though.
GB dominating so far. 10 behind America and China still 2 clear. I love you guys but when it comes to the Olympics, **** America.
Actually there are at least a few of us who don't. I don't actively root for the Men's and/or Ladies BB players to lose, but I have no interest in watching them either. Now, if it were like it used to be, with Collegiate players, then I absolutely would be far, far more supportive of them. (FWIW, I'd still take
odds on our best Collegians v. any other nation's pros in basketball
).
As far as the total medal counts and such..... that has always been a rigged race. The US enjoys a huge population from which to draw from and is an affleuent country so that athletes can get top-notch training. With the break-up of the Soviet Union, who used to be our main competitor in medal count, the only real competitor will be China. Other countries either lack the population-base from which to draw athletes, or are less affleuent nations where each athlete may not be able to reach his peak potential due to economic restraints, or both.
