Ok, I know I'll be a distinct minority, and that's ok, but a bit of back story, bear with me. My first memory of the Olympics was in 1968, winter, Grenoble France? I think it was Jean Claude Keely that won big time or was the most popular skier. After that, every 4 years, twice a year, I was GLUED to the TV for 2 weeks. I knew every big name, and some of the lesser names, watched Peggy Fleming, Janet Lynn, Dorothy Hamill, Olga Korbet, Mark Spitz, Nadia Comeneche, Bruce Jenner, Franz Klamer, Alexsiev, Carl Lewis, Eric Heiden, 1980 Hockey, Munich, Jim McKay etc... I watched them all live as they made history, I still have the newspaper clippings. I was the most exciting thing to a kid growing up then, well, to me it was. I know the Eastern Bloc countries used professional athletes, that's what made winning by others so special. It was the Cold War by proxy. But, I loved the sports where there was no judging, you either won, or you didn't. It was by the clock or whoever got to the finish line first. Now, well, now we all have professional athletes. And they can make big money before and after. OK, understandable, training 25 years for a  2 minute game every 4 years is a lot to pay for, and , they need income after they retire. That why we have athletes going 4 and 5 games, and switching to another sport, that, and they are just competitive. For me, its lost its magic, ratings, which equals money has taken over. OK, understandable, NBC is not there to entertain us, its there to make money, but I won't watch it. Contrived drama, hyping athletes who did nothing, over saturation and repeating of personal stories and trooping out the retired summer athletes as commentators, did I mention non-stop commercials, is just too much for me. As I said, I'm certainly in the minority here and for those who watched, good for you, hope it was good, I'll never know as now I couldn't care less. They've lost the original intent and magic, its become political, well, more political now and more money generated. Sad, but true for me.

Cannot stand NBC's "coverage" of the Olympics; it's one of the reasons the event has lost its appeal for me.

And I have never cared much for any competition where part of the scoring is subjective to style points.  (Don't get me started on anything figure skating.)  Slalom, GS, downhill - have the fastest time and you win, period.  I am entertained by the ski cross and board cross; it reminds of the free for all with friends when we were all much younger.     Still like the skiing and shooting competition too!  But as I said at the start, the lame coverage has pretty much ruined it for me. 

Man, I sound like a curmudgeon, and I'm not old enough yet!   

Not sure if I'd say we were curmudgeons, just not liking what they are becoming, but the Olympics are changing to attract younger athletes and viewers. Its the tail wagging the dog. Changing to attract more viewers, more money. Why have them? I'm sure the host countries can use the money for better reasons other than showing the world how they are. I think Rio is the next summer games? Rio? I'm sure they can use the millions needed to improve that countries standard of living, especially right outside resorts borders. That's another threads folks.

The voiceover of "Herb Brooks" (being played by Kurt Russel) at the end of Miracle sums it up pretty well for me:

Two days later the miracle was made complete. My boys defeated Finland to win the gold medal, coming from behind once again. As I watched them out there, celebrating on the ice, I realized that Patti had been right. It was a lot more than a hockey game, not only for those who watched it, but for those who played in it. I've often been asked in the years since Lake Placid what was the best moment for me. Well, it was here - the sight of 20 young men of such differing backgrounds now standing as one. Young men willing to sacrifice so much of themselves all for an unknown. A few years later, the U.S. began using professional athletes at the Games - Dream Teams. I always found that term ironic because now that we have Dream Teams, we seldom ever get to dream. But on one weekend, as America and the world watched, a group of remarkable young men gave the nation what it needed most - a chance, for one night, not only to dream, but a chance, once again, to believe.

They still dream now, the young athletes, but its a dream of money and fame, famous or infamous. Getting on the current news cycle, going on Letterman or CNN or The Today Show, getting your numerous different shots of you mugging for the camera like the female figure skater, jeez, just go away. In the past, the best they could dream of was winning and Wheaties boxes. But then, wasn't that more than enough?

Wait a second for me to don my flame suit...........OK, now I'm ready for my rant.

I HATE SPORTS.  I HATE PROFESSIONAL SPORTS.  I HATE SPORTS ON TV.

I HATE THAT PROFESSIONAL PLAYERS GET MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR CONTRACTS FOR MOVING A BALL AROUND IN A SMALL AREA, BUT WE CAN'T AFFORD TO PAY OUR TEACHERS AND BUY TEXTBOOKS.

I HATE THAT OUR WORLD SPENDS BILLIONS OF DOLLARS EVERY TWO YEARS (SUMMER, THEN WINTER) FOR OLYMPIC VENUES.  If we're going to do this, all participating countries should chip in to build ONE place to keep doing it year after year.  What a waste of resources.

Just when we who make up the non-sports-crazed minority in Seattle got over the Stooper Bowl, then we had to put up with the Old-limp-picks.  When will I get my black and white reruns back??

Theys my opinions and I'm sticking to them.  Flame away.

Maybe like me, you just hate what they've become? Money fueled ratings wars.

Dumped my TV well before the infamous "OJ chase" in CA.  Miss it at times, but can get any/all pertinent news I need from here, FakeBook, Yew-Toob, Faux Newz, ...

My blood pressure probably appreciates it too.

Rick

Maybe like me, you just hate what they've become? Money fueled ratings wars.

Yes, that says it pretty well.  I don't hate the players, they are just doing what they were hired to do.  It is the commercialization, the industry, etc., the pervasiveness of the industry in our society.  The movie "Rollerball" (the original) touched on this a little, but the message wasn't that clear.  I can't go anywhere without seeing wanna-be's in their fake football jersies, or baseball shirts, and at my work "the game" is the constant Monday discussion, to the exclusion of virtually all else.

Some years ago at the last aviation shop in which I worked, we had a gentleman who was sort of....uummmm..."challenged" as they say.  (He was a dullard, but we can't say that.)  One day he got involved with another fellow discussing sports.  The other fellow was even more anti-organized sports than I am.  He viewed today's system as little more than the Roman gladiators, except nothing is (intentionally) fatal.  Then he said something to the effect that if we weren't careful, as a society, that we'd soon actually HAVE gladiators, who would fight lions to the death.  The dullard's face lit up, he grinned a big grin and said, "Oh, hell, yeah!  I'd pay to see THAT!"  I have often wondered if he is in the minority or majority.  I am sort of afraid to know the answer to that.

People are certainly welcome and entitled to their enjoyment of whatever makes them happy, and I would never suggest banning or restricting pro sports.  I just happen to be in the small minority who get tired of having my head pounded by the propaganda day after day, season after season.

Maybe like me, you just hate what they've become? Money fueled ratings wars.

You hit the head on the nail for me.......

I'm waiting for my money from the hundreds of millions that are said to be coming into Cleveland because the Browns are here. I've been waiting for 53 years. Is it going somewhere else?